Chapter 72: Chapter 72

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: An Unexpected Alliance

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Whispers rippled through the students.

And for good reason—an utterly unprecedented group was making their way.

The top student in Martial Arts, Third Princess Iris Hysilion.

The top student in Magic, Sharin Sazaris, daughter of the Blue Archmage.

The second top student in Martial Arts, Hania Rapidia, daughter of the Imperial Knight Commander.

Isabel Luna, whose stock in Martial Arts had recently risen.

And me, the lightning brat.

"..."

Is this really okay?

A nudge.

At that moment, Hania, who was beside me, nudged my side with her elbow.

Was she asking me to nudge her back?

"Don't raise your finger."

She's quick on the uptake.

Hania quietly sighed and whispered to me.

"What happened with Isabel? Weren't you two on bad terms?"

As Hania said, Isabel and I were very much on bad terms.

To be precise, we *had been* on bad terms.

But what had gotten into Isabel?

When our eyes met, she gave me a sweet, beaming smile.

That smile was one she only showed to people she was close to.

"Aren't you two a little too close?"

At that moment, Isabel suddenly blurted out a question.

Her eyes were definitely smiling.

"…If we're pretending to be a couple, we need to be at least this close."

"That's true."

Isabel understood more easily than I expected.

But even so, Isabel didn't take her eyes off me.

Hania shot me a look.

It was her way of telling me to do something about Isabel, fast.

My expression became complicated.

I knew Isabel was seeing Lucas, who was dead, superimposed on me.

I also knew that this was making her uneasy.

'Could it be?'

After hearing the news that Hania and I were dating, her unease had intensified.

Was she trying to keep something like that from happening again in the future?

'This really can't be explained by anything other than a love-hate relationship.'

I never imagined something like this would happen just because Hania and I became temporary contract lovers.

"Haaah… See you later."

Sharin, the only one who had been dozing and showed no interest in the situation, left.

Before I knew it, only silence remained between us.

Iris had received an order from Duke Robliaj yesterday and was not in a good mood.

Hania, considering Iris's mood, deliberately maintained silence.

Isabel kept glancing silently in my direction.

It was an indescribable sight.

And so, in silence, we all arrived at the academy.

"Oh, Lightning Sw…—"

Seeing me, the first to open the door, Seron raised his hand high, about to greet me.

It seemed he was excited to talk about what had happened at the main house.

But Seron saw the three people entering one after another and slowly lowered his hand.

Then he stared at me with a blank expression.

"Lightning Sweet Potato has turned into Harem Sweet Potato…"

To what extent would Seron's 'sweet potato' nickname evolve?

I couldn't guess.

Isabel didn't follow me from here either.

She simply went and sat in her usual spot, as if we had merely arrived together by chance.

Iris, also in a foul mood, sat down without a word.

"Hanun."

Hania tugged at my collar.

"Please stay by Lady Iris's side today."

The warmth of the Fire Flame still lingered on my body.

Being by Iris's side would make her feel a little more at ease.

"I will."

In that strange atmosphere, we took our seats.

Today, Seron didn't come to sit next to me.

It was because he'd noticed the peculiar atmosphere flowing through the martial arts class.

He was a guy who was incredibly good at looking out for himself.

***

And so, amidst that peculiar atmosphere,

The first day at the Martial Arts Academy concluded without incident.

"I have business with Lady Iris, so our acting ends here for today."

My act as Hania's lover ended today.

Iris would have to move quickly to take over the student council in the future.

She'd have to plan how to seize control of the student council immediately.

'According to the original scenario, she would find the boycott group and support them from behind.'

But there was a problem here.

'There's a high probability that the boycott group hasn't properly formed its forces yet.'

Although Nikita's incident had caused a stir,

Unlike the previous scenario, the First Prince's faction immediately blamed the Third Princess's faction for Nikita's assassination.

As a result of the two factions clashing,

Jerion Academy itself was affected by this.

The public opinion that Nikita's death was the student council's responsibility hadn't properly formed.

'Since I don't know the current strength of the boycott faction…'

It was possible that Iris might not choose to support the boycott faction this time.

So, I needed to ascertain the boycott faction's strength as soon as possible.

'I know where the boycott faction gathers.'

An abandoned building that was once used but no longer.

The boycott group held regular meetings in the chemistry lab on the third floor of that building.

'Today is a regular meeting day.'

Once a week, on Mondays.

Entering the abandoned building where they gathered, I activated a magic enchantment.

My form then blended with the surroundings, rendering me invisible.

I silently ascended the stairs, muffling my footsteps.

Upon reaching the third-floor chemistry lab, I could hear hushed conversations.

'How many are there?'

The original boycott students numbered thirty.

At least that many people were needed to forcibly occupy the student council room.

Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to attempt it.

'Perhaps there will be fewer this time.'

The moment I peeked my head past the window, harboring such thoughts,

I froze on the spot.

"Huh."

My face went blank, enough to make a sound escape me involuntarily.

Fortunately, the two people inside didn't hear me.

Yes, two people.

There were only two people inside.

'Wait a minute.'

The boycott members were always between thirty and thirty-five.

The number varied slightly depending on the event branch.

I thought the number might be a bit lower this time, given the series of incidents.

But even so, two was far too few.

"We will overthrow the student council that disregards student rights and justly assert the rights of students!"

A third-year male student stood atop a chemistry lab desk.

Rozamin, the central figure of the boycott, delivered a long speech.

Sitting in front of him, the second-year girl, Ayring, timidly clapped her hands and cheered.

Ayring's eyes were sparkling as she looked at Rozamin.

It was a scene that made it easy to guess why she had joined the boycott.

'Two.'

My mind went blank for a moment.

Could a boycott against the student council truly be initiated with just two people?

The answer, of course, was NO.

'What should I do?'

The flow of the scenario always moved in unpredictable directions.

Even now, I was barely managing to maintain the framework of the scenario.

Many events had significantly changed.

With Lucas's position vacant,

The scenario changing was an unavoidable part of it.

However, at least one representative event for each act needed to occur for the scenario to progress smoothly.

The student council boycott incident was the scenario that kicked off the first chapter of Act 4.

Iris would seize control of the student council in Act 4 using this incident as an opportunity.

It was the stepping stone for her to shake the entire Jerion Academy, with Duke Robliaj as her backing.

Furthermore, through this boycott incident, numerous corruptions would be exposed.

It was an incident that would shake Jerion Academy far more than expected.

'The student council's authority would be brought down by the boycott, and instead, Iris, who had gained control in the next academic year, would lead the student council.'

In that process, the Third Princess's name would be even more highly regarded among the students.

Additionally, professors would be fired due to corruption, and new professors brought in by Duke Robliaj would lend their support to the increase in the student council's authority.

Consequently, the student council would gain the most powerful authority in Jerion Academy's history.

'This boycott incident was supposed to strongly support the early stages of the scenario.'

Yet, there were no people to initiate the boycott.

A headache instantly struck me.

Iris wouldn't even spare a glance at a scale this small.

After much deliberation, I finally raised my head.

'This boycott scenario…'

I'll lead it.

I lightly tapped the veil's bandage.

At that moment, my appearance began to change from Hanun to something else.

My height increased, unlike before.

My hair had turned white, and my face had become that of a handsome noble.

Bikamen Niffleheim.

He was a third-rate villain who had been expelled from the academy in Act 1.

He wasn't supposed to be here, by rights,

But at the moment, Bikamen was the only suitable person I could think of to cooperate with the boycott.

Once a decision was made, there was no hesitation.

Creak—

"Whoa?!"

As I boldly opened the door, Rozamin, who had been giving his speech, fell off the desk.

"Wh-who's there!"

Hearing Rozamin's shout, I smiled faintly.

"You were saying something interesting."

"Uh, uh? Bi-Bikamen?"

Rozamin knew me.

Indeed, Bikamen was famous, whether for good or ill.

His face itself was simply too striking.

Add to that the notoriety of being expelled from his family and the academy.

All the third-year students remembered Bikamen.

"You were expelled, weren't you?"

"I was. But after hearing that Nikita died, I snuck in to verify the truth."

A chilling aura began to emanate from my eyes.

Seeing this, Rozamin and Ayring instinctively held their breath.

They had sensed the intense rage emanating from me.

In truth, my rage was directed at the boycott group, which consisted of only two people.

But if I could use it, anything was fine.

"And Nikita truly was dead."

The fact that Bikamen liked Nikita was common knowledge among the third-year students.

Rozamin looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

In his eyes, I must have appeared as a vengeful person who had lost a loved one.

"I cannot forgive the student council that Nikita was a part of.

If they had cared about her, they could have stopped Nikita when she showed signs of going berserk. But they just let it happen."

I turned to Rozamin.

"Rozamin, you're planning to boycott the student council. I'll help you with that. I'll make sure those bastards understand the void Nikita left behind."

It was more than enough motivation to join the boycott group.

"I completely understand that feeling!"

At that moment, an unexpected reaction came.

Ayring, who had rushed forward, grasped my hand, her face overcome with emotion.

"That feeling of losing a loved one and seeking revenge. I truly feel it. Let's definitely get our revenge together!"

Ayring, moved by my story, exclaimed.

It seemed she, being in love, had inadvertently empathized with me.

But it wasn't a bad situation for me either.

My gaze fell on Rozamin.

Then Rozamin looked at me and grinned.

"Alright, Bikamen. I didn't think highly of you before, but if you're someone who can step forward like this to fight injustice, I'll gladly join you."

Rozamin extended his hand to me.

Ayring placed her hand on top of his.

Both of their faces were filled with complete determination.

…But why do I feel strangely more uneasy?

But even so, I couldn't back out.

I also placed my hand on top of theirs.

"We will definitely stop the student council and make them realize their mistakes!"

"Yay! Down with the student council!"

As Rozamin shouted loudly, Ayring echoed his cry.

I responded appropriately.

Thus, the three members of the student council boycott were formed.

Twenty-seven more to reach thirty.

Let's work hard to gather them.

I firmly resolved.

Creak—

"…Down with the student council?"

Isabel Luna.

That is, until Isabel Luna opened the chemistry lab door and appeared.