A few days later.
A peculiar rumor began circulating through the academy.
Professor Harsen had been indicted on multiple criminal charges and referred to trial.
The students were shocked — that kind, gentle Professor Harsen had been a monstrous criminal all along.
Along with that came the news that the one who had apprehended him was Ofilienne.
"That's the Moretti family for you."
"I heard Senior Ofilienne witnessed the criminal in the act and stopped him herself. How… truly remarkable."
"Still, what a shock. To think Professor Harsen was that kind of person. He even bought me a meal once."
"They say he had photographs of young girls at his home."
"Disgusting bastard…"
Ofilienne's reputation spread like wildfire among the students.
Wherever she walked, compliments and praise followed in her wake.
'Good. It worked out.'
Tap, tap, tap.
Early dawn.
Cutting through the cold morning air on his jog, Matyos exhaled the ragged breath clinging to his lips.
His own influence and strength were still far too limited to have stopped Harsen's crimes on his own.
This was Porca, a city-state. A place where equality and democracy had flourished.
Forcing matters in territory that wasn't the empire's would have been more than he could handle. And Matyos had no political leverage to speak of.
'But Sister is different.'
Ofilienne had spent three years enrolled here.
Her political influence was stronger than most Porca council members.
Simply having evidence wasn't enough to arrest Harsen. Political power mattered more than evidence.
Ofilienne had that political power.
There had likely been a great deal of behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the course of arresting him.
And above all else, she had real, tangible force at her disposal.
'Quistian would have stepped in.'
He thought of the aging butler of the Moretti household.
That butler had given Matyos fond memories, too.
Though he had never treated Matyos as his 'lord.'
He had only ever shown him the courtesy due a 'young master.'
'He must have judged that Sister is better suited to be Family Head than I am.'
By Matyos's own assessment, Ofilienne was exceptionally capable as a Family Head.
Razor-sharp judgment, outstanding charisma, superior leadership.
And Ofilienne had brought Harsen to ruin, exactly as Matyos had hoped.
This affair had benefited Ofilienne as well.
By catching the criminal Harsen, she had earned considerable fame.
For someone of her standing, money was not what mattered. Honor was. To become Family Head, she needed achievements.
Harsen's arrest would have been a significant one.
At any rate — this had prevented a terrible catastrophe that would have unfolded in the future.
Harsen would not receive his orders, would not take an entire year hostage, and no demon would descend upon this place.
'I changed it.'
A complicated emotion flickered across Matyos's eyes as he slumped onto a bench and drank deeply from his water bottle.
Relief that he had averted a disaster in which an entire year's worth of students would have been taken hostage and a demon summoned — and alongside it, a nameless dread at what butterfly effects this change might yet bring.
Perhaps this choice had been a mistake.
No one could say whether Harsen not causing that catastrophe might lead to an even greater one instead.
'Even so.'
He didn't regret it.
He had saved innocent people.
That was enough.
From here on, the knowledge of the original story would no longer serve as an absolute guide. To survive, he would need nothing but his own strength.
'I have to get stronger. Fast.'
Ugh.
He pushed himself up.
Ran again. He intended to push himself to his limit.
That was when a sharp gust of wind swept past him.
A shadow trailing a black ponytail, pulling away in an instant. It was Professor Vilhelmine.
He stared blankly at her retreating figure.
"She's genuinely fast…"
Like a black panther in motion.
Come to think of it, Professor Vilhelmine also ran every morning without fail. He felt a pointless surge of competitive spirit and pushed himself harder.
By the time his breath was clawing at the top of his throat —
Tap, tap, tap.
Elastic footsteps from behind, drawing steadily closer. Then passing him.
The black ponytail swept past again.
The track he was running was oval-shaped.
Keep going long enough and you'd inevitably cross paths.
But the speed was something else entirely. He couldn't tell if that was a person or an animal.
Instead of her usual restrained uniform, she wore form-fitting athletic wear, and the defined lines of her abdomen, visible beneath the short top, were as sharp as if carved by a sculptor's hand.
Each time her long legs struck the ground, the firm muscles of her thighs rippled with fluid power.
By the time Matyos had barely completed one lap of the track, Vilhelmine had lapped him five times.
The sight of her cleaving through the air with an expressionless face was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
That alone was enough to make him feel like he might die. He collapsed face-down onto a bench.
"Hah… hah…"
He reached for his water bottle.
Tilted it into his mouth — one single drop fell out, and that was it.
Empty.
He got up dejectedly and started toward the drinking fountain.
A cold leather canteen touched his cheek.
He spun around in surprise to find Professor Vilhelmine, beads of sweat dotting her forehead and neck, holding out the cold leather canteen toward him.
"…You want me to drink?"
A nod.
"Thank you."
He dipped his head and drank from Professor Vilhelmine's canteen.
He tilted it from above, careful not to let his lips touch the opening — proper manners. The cold liquid running down his throat made him feel human again.
"Phew. Thank you, that was good."
"Stop running for today."
"Pardon?"
"Excessive exercise becomes poison. Especially for a beginner like you."
Professor Vilhelmine took the canteen back and drank from it herself.
She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and continued.
"What matters is consistency. Today, tomorrow, the day after. Don't burn through all your motivation in a single day — come out at this hour and train every day."
"Understood."
He agreed with that.
His body was already reaching its limit. That was enough for today.
He stood on trembling legs. But he had pushed himself too hard — his legs gave out entirely and he crumpled.
Thud.
Professor Vilhelmine caught him by the shoulder.
"As I thought."
"Thank you."
He looked up at her.
She held his gaze for a brief moment, then resumed her run.
Once again, the black ponytail vanished into the morning mist.
* * *
He met with his group members at a café to prepare for the Thorn Forest expedition scheduled for the following week.
"Ah, hello. My name is Damian Ladon. Pleased to meet you!"
Damian was a chubby male student.
He wore glasses and hunched his shoulders timidly.
"Ohen Ran Dshpalt. You'd have no reason not to know me — Young Lord of the Dshpalt Marquessate."
"Wow… it's an honor! Young Lord."
"At least the pig has eyes."
"P-pig…?"
Ohen, heir to an imperial marquessate.
He swept his gaze over the group members with an arrogant eye, and the moment it met Matyos's, he turned his head away with a look of contempt.
"Yuri Ayende."
Flat, expressionless eyes visible through cropped silver hair. With those three words, Yuri closed her mouth. Her gaze remained fixed on empty air throughout, making it impossible to read what she was thinking.
"Matyos Binna Moretti. Just call me Mati."
"Mati."
Yuri repeated his name quietly.
The meeting ended quickly. The atmosphere was awkward, and there wasn't much to do.
Yuri headed straight for the library the moment the meeting was over, and Ohen dragged Damian off toward the dining hall.
'I've got time to spare. Maybe I'll head to the library too.'
He was about to follow Yuri's footsteps when he spotted Tiana in the shadowed corner of a building.
He started to call out to her — then stopped.
"How dare a commoner refuse me?"
"You little — who said anyone was going to do anything to you? That's not it. I'm just saying let's hang out a bit. Is that so hard?"
"Oh my~ how funny. What on earth gives you the nerve to act like this? Do you not know who's standing right here?"
Tiana, surrounded by students, being tormented. She was on the verge of tears.
Third-years and second-years, boys and girls all jumbled together.
And among them were several faces he recognized. Faces he had seen when his adoptive father had dragged him to social gatherings against his will.
'That's the Crown Prince's faction.'
If you asked who held the most influence among the current academy students, the answer was obvious — the Crown Prince, the emperor's grandson.
His character and ability might have been nothing to speak of, but his rank shone brightest of all.
The group tormenting Tiana were nobles who followed the Crown Prince.
The largest and most powerful faction in the academy. Even professors tended to leave them alone rather than risk the confrontation.
'…Right. This storyline existed too.'
Tiana being bullied by the Crown Prince's faction.
'Targeted' might be the right word for it.
The faction that had set their sights on Tiana would torment her throughout the semester.
Subtly, and brazenly, all at once.
But Tiana would hide it from everyone around her — even her brother Taibeon.
Because she didn't want him to worry.
Eventually, though, things would come to a head.
One member of the faction would try to take Tiana by force, only to be caught by Taibeon. He would barely manage to save her.
This episode was meant to symbolize the Pilrn siblings' bond, and it served as the crucial opening act of the academy's central conflict arc.
And right now, this was the starting point of months of relentless torment.
"……"
He looked at those green eyes, wet with tears.
At the same moment, those green eyes found him.
Tiana looked at him, her lips trembling.
Her lips parted as if to call his name — then, as though she had made some quiet decision, she dropped her gaze to the ground.
…Is she thinking of me?
The Crown Prince was his sister's fiancé.
This faction was the Crown Prince's faction.
If he stepped in for Tiana, there would be trouble with the faction, trouble with the Crown Prince — and beyond that, a rift between the imperial family and the Moretti house.
Tiana was pure, but she was not foolish.
She understood. What his position was.
That he was not in a place where he could offer help so freely.
"…"
Irritation surged through him.
His vision blurred.
The clean, brisk exhilaration he had built up step by step through the cold morning air was hurled into the trash in an instant.
Watching this made him feel sick.
The faces of those laughing, drunk on the taste of petty power — and those green eyes crumbling apart between them.
His stomach twisted with rising revulsion.
"…What's going on here?"
And when he came back to himself, he was standing in front of Tiana.
The Crown Prince's faction stared at him as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.