Chapter 39
“What a sight.”
When I heard the explanation from Cayer, I was dumbfounded and burst into laughter.
What transpired just now was a tradition passed down from generation to generation in Class A.
They called this ‘Draining’. They did this to prevent the nobles and royalty, who were said to be narrow-minded, from acting up. It seemed that this absurdity came into being as a means to show everyone that they were equal.
As a result the 2nd graders would come and knock down the 1st graders. They would also tell them at the same time that they should never lose to Class B and that they would kill them if they ever lost to them. They were trying to do that today, the first weekend after the start of the school year.
That’s why they were making people lie down regardless of their status, telling them that there were only the seniors who were superior to them regardless of their status. So it was rather ridiculous for me to act like that towards her, so that brat was dumbfounded.
I had no idea something so absurd was a tradition in Class A. This was mainly due to my focus on the Class B dormitory. That unwillingness to lose to Class B of Class A was also coerced by their seniors. Something like that?
The students of Class B would have fun, eating good food with some nice seniors…
Students from Class A sure had a lot of personality, regardless of grade, huh?
Well, I was sure to be the one who had the biggest personality of them all though…
“So a commoner upperclassmen would come here to teach the freshmen of Class A like this every year?”
“That’s what I heard….”
“Who was that brat just now?”
“She’s a sophomore and her name is… Her name is…”
“Redina, she didn’t tell us her talent.”
Kono Lint who was next to him told me in his stead. So originally, this was an important event of a commoner completely crushing the sense of authority of the royalty and nobility. This year, that little brat was the one in charge.
Anyway, they probably felt it was ridiculous for everyone to be treated like that, but as it was a tradition they were clenching their teeth. Even if it hurt their pride a little, it would hurt a lot more having to leave Royal Class.
They must have thought that all the other nobles and royals of the Royal Class had received that treatment.
Anyway, the royals and nobles swallowed their pride and were quietly undergoing the process of de-authorization, to find out what it’s like to be a beggar.
“……”
Everyone was focusing their attention on me for some reason. Everyone was just staying in the gym wondering if it would be alright to leave like this.
“Hey.”
No. 4, Harriet de Saint-Owan, called out to me worriedly. That Harriet with the Magic talent.
“What?”
“Will you take responsibility if this goes wrong?”
It was like she was asking me why I didn’t just leave that pride that had already been bent, bent. She had a pretty face, but was ferocious, and a total jerk.
“And what would happen if it went wrong?”
“We’d look bad to our seniors.”
I thought she was talking about what image the seniors had of us.
“And what would happen if they see us in a bad light? What then?”
“Huh?”
“What will happen if the seniors see us in a bad light?”
“Tha, that’s it….”
“Won’t you be able to go to class or won’t you be able to sleep? If they beat us up, we should report it to the teachers. Why did you flop on your belly if that’s all there is to it? Do you guys have no guts? How could you have even less pride than me who came from the streets? Tsk.”
Sigh. When I looked at everyone disdainfully and tsked, everyone, except Ellen and Cliff, had red hot faces.
They probably thought that if they didn’t listen they would get into trouble, so they clenched their teeth, thinking about the honor and social recognition they would receive after graduating from the Royal Class.
They felt like shit, but they tried to bear with it, but that’s when I waltzed in and flipped the table.
“Anyway, it’s your responsibility! We did what we were told! There’s nothing wrong with that! Okay?”
Harriet yelled at me, thinking that she had just lost all her pride and face.
“I’ll kill you if this will mess up my life at Temple.”
It seemed that Harriet thought that I would be no harm to her because I kept still and didn’t touch her before.
What a joke.
“Kill me? Were you just saying whatever came to your mind? Do you think I can’t beat you?”
“Wha, what?”
“Where could status and rank, as well as the difference between man and woman be found in the Royal Class, which views everyone equal before talent? If you act big, you’re gonna have my handprint imprinted on your cheek for the next few weeks. You hear?”
I’m quite experienced when it came to death. I had already died once after all.
None of you have died before, right? Well, I have!
As I took a step closer, Harriet slipped back in surprise.
“The only thing you got going for you is a hard head. So how are you gonna kill me?”
“He, he…. H, Head?”
“Yeah.”
When I treated the Princess of the Saint-Owan Grand-Duchy as someone whose only strength was her hard head, everyone’s expressions became strange.
“Hu, huh…. Huh! Huh!”
Harriet felt more insulted and humiliated then when she had to lie on her stomach, so her face turned apple red and she couldn’t bring out a single coherent word.
-Bang!
“Come forward, you bastard!”
And.
This time a group of people stormed into the gym.
* * *
There were a total of five people who stormed in. They were probably in their second year of high school, so they were 18 years old. Of course the kid from earlier was among them as well.
“Is it him?”
“Yes!”
The little brat called Redina hid behind a male classmate and pointed at me. What, you were just some cute little brat with your classmates, huh? This looked like a little sister calling her big brother after a fight. That guy looked like he was about to shout “How dare you mess with our child with that attitude of yours?”.
The senior who seemed to be the leader of the group, was looking at me with a twisted expression. Wow, it was so bizarre to see a high school student do this in real life.
“Hey, junior. What’s your name?”
“Reinhardt.”
“Huh. You’re probably from some great noble family and don’t know how the Royal Class operates….”
“I’m not a noble though?”
It seemed like I was mistaken for some kind of aristocrat, and despite the circumstances, laughter erupted among my first-year classmates.
“Why are you laughing? What’s so funny?”
The atmosphere behind me became chilly again due to this senior’s criticism.
“So what? Are you a royal?”
“Nope?”
“……What?”
Then the boy’s expression turned strange. I was neither a noble nor a royal. So there was only one conclusion.
“What are you saying? The only one from the Imperial Family here is supposed to be Bertus? You’re Reinhardt, right?”
“Who’s from the Imperial Family?”
I laughed and then said:
“I’m not a noble, nor am I a royal, nor a part of the Imperial family, but just a beggar from the streets, what about it?”
Everyone was stunned by my bold declaration.
“…. A beggar? You are a beggar?”
“Yeah, a beggar.”
Everyone seemed shocked at how casually I was saying that. The one that seemed like their representative looked at me with his arms crossed, completely speechless.
“No, then why are you acting so high and mighty like the nobles and royals do?”
“If you don’t want to do something, you don’t. What’s the big deal? Can’t a beggar have pride?”
“Oh, is that so?”
He clenched his fist and began to approach me.
“Then I’ll just have to beat it out of you. Let me give you a good beating.”
-Pow!
I felt it as soon as I got hit.
That guy was the real deal.
* * *
The atmosphere was even chillier than before.
“Urg….”
It hurt like hell. That was all I could think off. His fist hit really hard, no joke.
“And haven’t you been really silent since earlier?”
When I stepped back holding onto my stomach, he started approaching me slowly.
I’ve been acting like I was mad up until now, and I thought I would be able to get this guy like that.
However, this was unexpected. This guy was a senior after all, not one of my classmates. It seemed clear that our physical abilities couldn’t even be compared with. That was the difference a year could make.
“If you are part of Royal Class.”
-Pow!
“Urg!”
“Follow the Royal Class’ traditions.”
-Pow!
“Ugh!”
“If it were up to me, you would be long dead. Got that?”
I was getting helplessly beat up by an 18 year old kid while he was casually talking. I couldn’t stand getting beat up like that, so I ran towards him.
“Heh.”
-Pow!
“Urrg!”
“Did you just try to hit a senior, huh?”
Although he was startled by the fact that I tried to punch him, that guy avoided my fist just by moving his head a bit. He then laughed and grabbed my hair.
“This bastard is for real.”
-Pow!
He beat my chest.
“Really.”
-Pow!
“Urgh!”
He hit me in the abdomen.
“Do you want to die?”
-Pow!
“Heup!”
I got hit in my face. My classmates and seniors were watching me get beat up blankly.
What was surprising, was…
The look on their faces wasn’t a refreshed one. They were obviously looking scared.
I realized it as I got hit in the head.
Even though I couldn’t fight.
I felt like I had won.
“You’re just a little bit-….”
“Hey.”
-Kak!
“Urgh!”
“Got you now, you fucking bitch.”
“Kuaaaaarg!”
I grabbed that man’s crotch with all my strength. It slapped me right in the face, so I just grabbed it like a crown of victory.
Well.
It was average for a high schooler.
“Say “Spare me”. Go for it.”
“Arggghhgghgh! Hey. Hey. Let go. Let go, while I’m still being niiiiaargh! Please!””
That guy was now being tested on the limits of his vocal cords and his balls.
The other seniors who witnessed that astonishing scene now approached to stop me.
“I won’t stop!”
“Ah, no! You, you crazy bastard!”
“Don’t come any closer, you bastards!”
“Yaaaarggghghghg! Urrrgggggghhhhaaaah!”
“It’s twisting. Huh? Ain’t it twisting nicely? Huh? If you come any closer, I’ll twist it all the way around! Oh, looks like he’ll have to live as a seedless watermelon for all his life then. Ah. Dunno how long it will take, but if you come any closer, then this guy can say his descendants goodbye! Huh!”
Hearing my threats everyone was unable to rush to his aid, as I put even more strength into my grasp.
“Le! Le! Let goooOOoOOOOoooh!”
“Say, please spare me.”
The male students all cringed unconsciously at that scene of horror.
“S, sp, Spare! Spare me!”
“You have to add the please. Mind your language! Please! Do it!”
– Clennnch!
“Please spaaaaaheaaaare meeeiiiiik! Eerk!”
Boy, you’re starting to sound like a girl.
“Letting go now? Not a chance.”
-Clennnch!
“Uwaaaarrrrrrrrkkkkkkk! Krrrrk! Aeeeek!”
He just let out some really weird voice.
I was getting goosebumps now too.
“Take your friends and get out.”
I muttered grimly.
“You can come beat me up whenever, but if you do it, I’ll really break your stuff here until it can’t be fixed, so be prepared. Oh, and next time I’ll really twist it all the way around.”
I let go of him and then looked down at the man now collapsed on the ground.
– Kick!
“Urgh!”
“Take this thing away, you bastards.”
As the finishing touch, I peppered a kick into his face.
* * *
Two of the seniors rushed to take him and then disappeared, perhaps because getting that bubble blowing bastard treated was more urgent.
“You crazy psycho pervert!”
“Keep the praise coming.”
That little girl named Redina followed behind that kid who got taken away while crying. She seemed incredibly shocked. However, there was still one senior left in the gym. Although she looked like she had just seen something absurd and terrible, she was a relatively calm-looking woman.
“Aren’t you going?”
“Junior, don’t make the situation worse.”
“Then do you want to beat me up? Will you twist my thing off?”
“Junior, I just want to have a good conversation. Since there is no one else here, why don’t you show me the least bit of respect?”
I felt a certain sense of crisis from that invitation in this kind of situation.
I don’t know what it was about her, but she seemed strange. She looked like an adult, and I guess she just told me to stop this.
I’d talk nice to the people who talked nice to me, and the others seemed to have given up on thinking about this development.
“Yes, well. Sure. So what’s the matter?”
“I’m Adriana, a sophomore at Royal Class, A-2. You said you were Reinhardt, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
She gave me her name. Did she really only want to have a good conversation with me?
“We don’t want to do this either. It’s been done for generations, so the upperclassmen put pressure on us, too. To do it quickly.”
It was the classic hereditary system. How absurd.
They forced them to do it, even if they didn’t want to do it.
“Redina is a weak-hearted girl. She wouldn’t be able to harm anyone, she would rather hurt herself than having to talk harshly to you guys. Her seniors nominated her and forced her to do it.”
“You could just not do it. Why do it, if you’ll only get hurt in the process?”
“Because it’s been done like this for so long. I know it sounds weird. But if one would want to just stop a tradition that had been going on for such a long time for no good reason, things would become troublesome.”
Adriana certainly didn’t seem like she enjoyed doing this. However, with pressure coming from the higher grades, it was eventually decided for the small Redina to do it and she wasn’t even that type of person.
“If we say that we didn’t do it, maybe the third graders will come. At that time…. Will you be able to manage?”
She asked me if I would kick out the third graders by doing some unspeakable, shameful thing again like just now.
“The higher the grade, the harder it is for them to hold back. You. You might actually get hurt.”
Yeah, the more time one spent at Temple, the stronger one would get. I was beaten like a dog by a second grader, but I took advantage of his carelessness and got hold of his weak spot. There wouldn’t be such a chance if the older students started coming.
“Do the teachers just watch this stuff?”
“They acquiesce to it”
It would actually be quite comfortable for the teachers, if the troublesome guys got straightened out like this. They could use the seniors to rail in the ones that danced out of line and rehabilitate them.
“Let’s just do things in moderation, Junior. If things get blown even bigger, we’d get scolded by our seniors, but you would be in even greater trouble.”
In conclusion, “Can’t you just bow down like it usually goes?”. She certainly seemed like a communicative person as she was even trying to gently advice me. Still, she didn’t seem to want to take on the hassle to break this circle of absurdity.
Don’t make a fuss and be nice.
Can’t you just endure it for a bit and pretend that you’ve been convinced?
That’s what she had been suggesting and requesting.
Well, that was possible. I could see that she really was a communicative person.
“Tell the third years to come. Weren’t they the ones who made you seniors do this? If those bastards want it to be done, they should do it themselves.”
“…….What?”
Adriana expressed her astonishment as she didn’t expect me to go down that route.
Second years, third years!
Just come at me!
“Instead, they shouldn’t come today or tomorrow.”
I chuckled.
“Tell them to come on Monday. Monday night, to be exact.”
I knew why they chose the weekend. Adriana bit her lips as she immediately understood what I was saying.
“Let’s see whether those third years can tell Imperial Prince Bertus de Gardias to bend down. Wouldn’t it be better to have all of us present? I really can’t quite understand why you have to do it at this time. We should do it together. I promise that I’ll accept this stuff when they come over on Monday.”
I could see why they would do this on the weekend.
They must have confirmed that the Prince returned to the Imperial Court over the weekend.
No matter how much he was part of the Royal Class, they didn’t want to touch the Prince. They could do these things to other nobles or royals, but I didn’t think they would dare to actually touch the Prince.
“If those third years won’t come on Monday, I believe something like this would never happen again.”
“……”
Everyone was astonished that I dared to mention the Prince. Adriana just sighed briefly with her eyes closed.
“You’re really one great kid.”
The senior with the calm demeanor left the gym with these words.
She didn’t think I was crazy enough to mention the Prince.
I turned around and talked to Harriet de Saint-Owan.
“I took responsibility, alright, you idiot.”
“.……Hey, don’t call me an idiot! I, I’m smarter than you!”
“Yeah, a high quality idiot.”
“Thi, this! This!”
She shouted with her face red, but she seemed relieved that this situation had been resolved somehow.
The looks they gave me seemed a bit different from before as they slowly dispersed one by one.
They felt like they just found a bizarre use for this psycho, a beast that should be avoided.
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