Chapter 33 Promoted to Heroine Position
A senior from 3rd Year Class A won the first place in the Battle Fiesta and the tournament safely concluded. The mysterious woman who injured Razé didn’t appear again later, might be because forbidden magic couldn’t be used anymore.
The regular classes were resumed, and Razé was enjoying her school life while making moderate effort with her study. She had become used to the life at Centrior, and there was nothing unusual happened other than the game events. After the class was over, she normally would go to the library or return to the dormitory with both Folia and Carna, or at least with one of them.
But there was one thing that had changed recently.
Folia: “Razé-chan, I’m off to the chapel now.”
Razé: “Okay. See you later.”
Folia had stopped writing letters in the morning. Instead, she had started to pay frequent visits to the chapel. Razé sent her off with a smile.
The reason was simple; Zale Ile Moldir had been assigned to work in the academy’s chapel as a priest. Razé didn’t expected that he would join the academy. The power of love was terrifying.
Since Lord Moldir was a very good-looking man, a group of girls had soon established his fan club. Although Folia was unaware of her own jealousy, she had been visiting the chapel frequently. Personally, Razé felt that there was nothing to worry because it was obvious that Lord Moldir came here for Folia.
Meanwhile, Carna and Ruben were lovey-dovey as usual.
Razé walked along the corridor alone and heaved out a sigh. “There’s no new findings … It’s scary when it’s too peaceful.”
Razé still hadn’t found any clue about the enemies who tried to kill her. It was very rare for her to take a wait and see attitude. But there was not much information to proceed with. Based on the fact that the enemy had used forbidden magic, there was a high possibility that they were from Magenda but there was no proof to confirm it. Since this world had magic, Razé was hoping that someone could do something but she couldn’t really complain since even Principal Harlens was helping with the investigation.
She was walking alone towards the dormitory while watching the snowfall. Then, she noticed a male student was swaying his sword at the training ground all by himself.
“Hmm… Isn’t that Ian-sama? He’s still practicing even during snowy day. I’m impressed.” Razé stopped to watch Ian doing suburi[1] and felt that he looked agitated.
Time flies so fast, it was already winter. In a month there would be a tournament match. Razé assumed Ian must be training hard for the tournament.
The first year of her happy school life was almost over. It made her felt a bit lonely. She continued to walk down the corridor with a melancholy feeling.
“Hey, you!”
Suddenly, Razé heard someone called out to her with a little harsh tone. Razé lifted her head and saw a young lady wearing school uniform that was fully customized like a dress. Behind the young lady, there were a few more girls. The situation felt like a confrontation by a villainess.
… Wait a minute? Villainess?
Razé felt something was not right.
“I can’t stand this anymore. Just because you are the scholarship student, don’t get too carried away. You’re just a commoner. Carna-sama is being nice to you out of sympathy because you look so pitiful. If you’re really smart, why don’t you try to think about this?”
… Wow. Razé was unable to close her mouth looking at the ridiculous situation. She had never thought that she would experience this herself. It felt like a scene that came out of manga. Could it be…did I get promoted to the heroine position? Razé thought to humor herself.
The girl continued, “This is an aristocratic school. It’s Centrior. You should learn to know your place, Miss Commoner.”
I’m sorry. I didn’t tell anyone but I do have an honorary title. Of course, Razé didn’t say that out loud. She was listening to them quietly. She wondered if she had been embroiled in an event by the otome game.
“Are you listening to me?”
Razé: “… Yes. But even if I’ve taken advantage of Lady Mortens’ kindness, she has acknowledged me as her friend. I’m not going to stay away from her.”
The girl was shocked with her answer. “What?! How can you be so shameless?!”
Argh, I really can’t stand naïve woman with sheltered upbringing. In order to avoid producing another victim like her, Razé deliberately provoked the girls. There was a possibility that this event was meant for Folia, so Razé felt that it was her duty to be the substitute. Although she didn’t like getting bullied, she had experienced similar situations in the military so she was used to it.
“I’ll teach you what it means to have different social status,” said the girl before walking away. It seemed that they had been waiting for Razé in this cold weather and it made Razé felt sorry for them.
And so, Chiffon Tim Rotom from 1st Year Class C and her cronies started to make trouble for Razé. But their methods were cute and funny.
They wanted to destroy Razé’s belongings, but she normally used teleportation and didn’t carry any item around. They wanted to bumped into her and made her fall but she was a soldier, her body steady as a rock.
“Argh! That girl! A lowly commoner!” Chiffon screamed with frustration after all her efforts were ignored by Razé. She seemed quite miserable.
Raze ignored her scream and walked away. Then, she heard a voice from behind. “Scholarship student.” There was only one guy who would call her that name.
Razé: “What is it?”
Adis: “Prince Ruben is looking for you. He wants to know more about the plot.”
Razé: “Alright. Thank you.”
Razé had made peace with Ruben and sometimes provided information to him. Then, Ruben would use that information to deepen the bond with Carna.
“What’s with those girls?” Adis said pointing at Chiffon.
Razé smiled and replied, “Oh. Those ladies are teaching me about hierarchical society. I’d learnt a lot, so you don’t have to mind me.”
Razé had no expectation for Adis to do anything for her. And Adis was well aware of her attitude. But he somehow felt annoyed of the fact that she had lost the first match in the previous tournament.
Adis: “If you show your true capability, those girls won’t dare to do anything.”
Razé: “It seems that true capability has no effect towards status.”
Even in the military, there were a few aristocratic soldiers who dared to challenge her even though they knew that she was Wolf Fang. Those who never joined the war were more likely to act that way.
Razé excused herself and left Adis behind. He stood there with a wistful eye.
* * *
She’s not cute at all.
Adis knew that when Razé had said, “Those ladies are teaching me about hierarchical society. I’d learnt a lot, so you don’t have to mind me,” it meant that those girls were bullying her.
He had noticed that the female students from Class C had been snooping around Razé lately. Now he knew why. He was unaware that Razé was being bullied until he heard her words just now. Based on Razé’s choice of words, it could mean that she had been verbally harassed since much earlier. Or maybe something even more cruel …
The biggest problem was that Razé liked to act tough and said things such as not to mind her. She was the type of person who would do everything by herself without letting others knew. Adis was well aware about that. And he felt that it was not cute and also annoying.
Then what should I do?
Adis recalled her expression when she told him not to mind her. Perhaps he had harbored a sense of rivalry against her due to his inferiority. He hated it when she pretended that nothing was wrong. More than that, he hated himself for not noticing her situation.
Adis turned around and walked towards the direction where Chiffon was heading.
* * *
(Extra) Afterwards – Adis.
Adis: “Excuse me, ladies.”
Chiffon: “A- Adis-sama!”
Chiffon was thinking about how to take the scholarship student down a peg or two when Adis called out to her. Her face broke into a smile.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Chiffon felt that her mood had improved tremendously after seeing such a high-quality young man. The person who was talking to her was someone that seemed close but unreachable to her. She was exhilarated. She pushed her hair behind her ears and glanced up at him cutely.
Adis laughed and said, “Just because you’re jealous of the scholarship student, you think you can use social status to bully her? Don’t you feel ashamed about it?”
Chiffon and her cronies stood motionless.
“Right?” Adis smiled at them but his eyes looked scary. The girls nodded their heads without saying anything.
“It’s good if you could understand. Pay more attention to your political studies.”
Adis walked away with a sinister smile on his face.
Chiffon and her cronies were quivering and they knew it was not due to the cold weather. His hostile attitude was unimaginable from his usual gentle personality. It reminded them that he was the son of the Prime Minister. And at the same time, they felt ashamed for being told to study harder by him.
“Let’s go back.”
The broken-hearted girls went back and studied the Political Studies textbook earnestly.
