Chapter 75

Chapter 75

Since the festival had been canceled, all the official events must have been as well. Therefore, when Charlotte and Vertus returned the next Monday, they didn’t seem particularly tired.

On the Monday when regular curriculum resumed, the overall atmosphere of the Temple was deeply subdued. It wasn’t just an issue for the Royal Class; everywhere, the expressions of the passersby seemed dark or extremely tense.

The air within the Temple was weighed down with a depressive energy.

The Temple felt empty the day before because there were literally no people around. This time, however, it felt empty despite the fact that people were around.

A heavy atmosphere hung over the Temple, exerting an invisible pressure on its inhabitants.

And the most desolate and subdued place in the Temple was none other than the classroom of Classes A and B of the first year of the Royal Class.

“You are probably all aware that the security in the Temple is comparable to that of the imperial city. As long as you do not wander outside carelessly, your safety is assured,” said Mr. Effenhauser.

“However, given this unusual incident in the imperial city, we are fully aware that the parents of each student might be worried. The Temple will prioritize safety, but if you genuinely feel at risk, you are permitted to apply for a leave of absence.”

Indeed, since these children belonged to formidable families, there was always the possibility that the families would pull their children out of the Temple if the imperial city was deemed unsafe. Therefore, the Temple was making the exception and offering to allow a leave of absence during the semester. Extraordinary situations called for extraordinary measures.

‘Wait, did he say a leave of absence?’

“Mr. Effenhauser.”

The one who had suddenly raised her hand was Harriet de Saint-Ouen.

“Speak, Number 4.”

“What happens if we take a leave of absence? Can we just return next semester?”

“No. If you take a leave of absence now, you will be held back a year. You cannot enter the second semester without having completed all the general education classes of the first semester. Unfortunately, there’s a general education curriculum, so there’s no other way around it.”

Taking a leave of absence was allowed, but one should be prepared to be held back a year. General classes had to be taken by every student, even those with a specific major, and were being held on Mondays and Thursdays. If the Temple allowed a student to move up a grade after taking a leave of absence for the first half of the school year, that would mean that there would be no penalty for only attending one semester of classes.

I had never introduced the concept of a leave of absence in this novel in the first place. I meant for the Temple to be sort of like a college, but not an actual one.

However, because of the unprecedented terrorist attack, a setting I had not explicitly written about was now popping up arbitrarily. This system where one could take a leave of absence only applied to those who had graduated from the higher education program and were attending something equivalent to graduate school. At our current level, though, while the leave of absence was possible, being held back a year was an unavoidable consequence.

Watching the future of this world getting tangled up in real time made it feel like my brain was freezing up.

In any case, a leave of absence would guarantee being held back a year, whether you liked it or not. No one liked the idea of being held back, but it was something that some would accept if they deemed it more perilous to stay in the imperial city and brave the potential dangers just to study.

In other words, anyone who took a leave of absence would effectively be leaving this class altogether.

Each of them was a member of the main story, and if even one were to be absent, the story would surely deviate significantly from what I was anticipating. It had already gone off-track, but this would further derail it.

For now, it was a slice-of-life story, but these were all characters that had major roles to play further along in the novel, so anyone being held back a year would mean a crucial change to the plot.

This was troublesome.

And to make things worse, it was Harriet who had asked the question.

“Number 4, are you considering taking a leave of absence?”

“Ah, well...”

Harriet glanced around at her classmates, and her expression grew gloomy.

“My parents say it’s too dangerous out here...”

Number 4 of Class A. Harriet de Saint-Ouen, the one with magical talent...

The one who I often teased because of how innocent and charming she was.

She was the youngest and also the most cherished of the Saint-Ouen family. Given this, it was entirely plausible that the family would prefer to take their precious daughter away from the dangerous imperial city as soon as possible, even if it meant she would be held back a year.

“Come and see me after the assembly.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was not only Harriet. Riana de Granz, the electrokinesis user who had been quiet all along, also raised her hand.

“Mr. Effenhauser, I would also like to have a consultation.”

“Number 3, you come too.”

“Yes, sir.”

If this continued, an unprecedented event would occur, in which two students would potentially leave Class A.

Damn it.

The repercussions seemed to be piling up in real-time.

Perhaps this was the so-called butterfly effect.

As my head was beginning to cloud with thoughts, Mr. Effenhauser called me.

“And Number 11.”

“... Yes?”

My classmates turned to look at me, as though wondering what new trouble I’d caused.

‘Have I already gotten to the point where everyone assumes I’ve already caused trouble whenever someone calls my name?’ New novel chapters are published on

“You’ve earned 1 merit point. I don’t need to explain why, right?”

“Ah. Yes, sir.”

Only then did I remember that I was supposed to receive a merit point for having helped Ellen when she had passed out on the training ground.

Everyone else was shocked that the class troublemaker had received a merit point.

***

Even if the characters were to be held back a year, it wasn’t like they would completely disappear, since they were all characters that played a part in the main story, after all. Of course, if the plot of the novel simply revolved around snippets of life at the Temple from beginning to the end, their absence wouldn’t really matter. However, they would all be very helpful assets on our side once the gate opened.

Each one of these students had their own side plot in the story where they would grow and become stronger. But if they were to step away from the Royal Class, it was uncertain what would happen to them and their development. Obviously they wouldn’t become useless characters overnight, but they should at least be somewhere where I could keep my eyes on them.

As I pondered what to do, Harriet and Riana, who seemed to have finished their consultations, rejoined us and sat quietly through the remainder of the class.

Whether or not they were considering a leave of absence, the atmosphere in the class remained tense, as if we were all walking on thin ice.

Most of my classmates seemed curious as to why I had received a merit point, but that wasn’t important right now.

“So, if you substitute the formula like this...”

The tension was so thick that even the teachers seemed to be on edge. Most of the teachers would be pretty accustomed to instructing children of noble houses by now, but they had suddenly seemed to be very careful not to disturb someone’s mood.

They were all cautious of Vertus.

The week before, a terrorist incident thought to involve demons had struck the imperial city. As a result, all festivals in the city were canceled, and the honor of the empire and its imperial family had suffered a serious blow.

There was even a rumor going about, questioning whether the victory in the Great War was even true.

It was clear that Vertus would be in a terrible mood, and nobody wanted to inadvertently annoy the prince by doing something to offend him.

From where I was in the very back of the class, I couldn’t see Vertus’s expression, since he was seated in the front. However, it was clear that everyone was listening attentively to the lesson, cautiously and silently, as if treading on thin ice.

Likewise, the teacher seemed intent on proceeding with the lesson diligently, trying to hide their desire to leave the classroom as quickly as possible.

***

Lunchtime was one hour, and the atmosphere was just as tense throughout, which made for an unusual experience.

Not only was the mood in the imperial city grim, but the atmosphere in the Temple was also notably dark. During the lunch hour, when students from all grades went to eat, the air in the dining hall was icy cold, punctuated only by the quiet clink of moving utensils.

This was to be expected, as not only was Vertus present, but Charlotte was as well.

Though the two of them were only first-years, even the seniors ate quietly, not wanting to disturb the prince and princess, who were clearly not in great spirits. This was more evidence of the enormity of their presence in the Royal Class.

Out of the blue, Vertus, who was on his way out after showering, patted my shoulder a couple of times as he passed by.

Man, it was so scary to hear that from Vertus while completely naked and in the shower.

Everyone else seemed shocked by what Vertus said to me.

That particular comment from him, though seemingly insignificant, was the first thing he had said all day, which made it even more nerve-wracking.

It felt all the more peculiar because it seemed like a casual remark, without much thought behind it.

***

After physical education, the end of the day approached, and it was soon dismissal time. Mr. Effenhauser left, and the students prepared to head off as well.

The students, perhaps stressed out because they had spent the entire day as silent as mice, exited the classroom as if they were escaping from hell itself, rushing out with marked urgency. Among them, the most eager to leave was Number 9, Erhi de Raffaeli.

As always, he had a chronic habit of picking on Scarlett from the classroom next door while on his way back.

Brushing aside the day’s somber mood as if it had never been a thing, Erhi instinctively slapped Scarlett on the back of her head.

“Hey, Freak Eyes.”

Thump!

“Ow!”

Scarlett flinched and let out a low cry of pain at the sudden blow.

“I told you to stay out of my sight.”

“...”

He had intended to just utter that one contemptuous remark and walk away, as he had always done, since everyone had always ignored his behavior.

It seemed that my words of advice to Scarlett, to just fight back for once, had had no effect on her. At this rate, Scarlett would continue to be bullied for a long while.

However, it seemed the situation that day was about to take a turn for the worse.

Not for Scarlett, though, but for Erhi.

“Hey, you, stop right there.”

An icy-cold voice stopped Erhi in his tracks as he was trying to flee the scene.

“Wh-... what?”

It wasn’t just Erhi who stopped; all the other students had stopped as well.

It was as though time in the corridor had come to a stop. Everyone stopped at one person’s single command.

The command was meant for Erhi, but the voice was so piercingly cold that it froze everyone.

“I was just going to observe and see how far you were going to go with this, but I can’t let it slide anymore.”

“Huh? W-what... what do you mean...?”

The person who had spoken walked slowly toward Erhi, staring him down with a chilling expression.

It was Ludwig, who had been destined to come to Scarlett’s aid at some point in the novel.

Only those who were not part of the original story could disrupt the plot and bring about a change to such predetermined storylines.

One of those disruptors was me.

“Who are you to keep messing with my classmate?”

And the other was Charlotte de Gradias.

“Oh... that... because...”

Erhi had been picking on Scarlett because she came from a low background. However, even though Charlotte was in Class B, Erhi had no intention of talking back to a princess.

“Because what? Spit it out.”

“Well, she... she just annoys me.”

“From my perspective, you’re the one that’s annoying, hitting my classmate for no good reason, just because her hair and eyes are a little red. Is that a good enough reason for you to bully her?”

Erhi, who had simply intended to continue his usual harassment like any other day, had triggered Charlotte’s temper. Normally, she might have let it pass to avoid stirring up trouble, but Charlotte was in a particularly foul mood today.

In such a state, witnessing this aggravating scene must have irked her enough for her anger to boil over.

As the atmosphere continued to sour, Vertus stepped in.

“Oh, come on. Why are you like this? I’ll talk to him and make sure it’s sorted out.”

Charlotte stared at him intently. “You’ll talk to him?”

“Yeah, of course. It’s bad behavior, so I’ll make sure he understands and doesn’t do it agai-...”

“Yeah, do me a favor and manage your people better.”

Charlotte’s cold words cause Vertus’s mediating smile to freeze. She favored Vertus with a passive-aggressive, almost mocking, smile.

“Make sure your people don’t engage in the sort of disgraceful behavior that tarnishes the empire’s honor. That’s what I’m trying to say,” Charlotte said, punctuating her words with a chuckle. “Oh, you realize that I’m talking about Class A, right?”

She was implying that those in Class B were her people, and those in Class A were Vertus’s. Although she made the comment about the Class distinction, I sensed there was something deeper behind it.

It was evident in Vertus’s tense and hostile expression.

The backers of the black market were Vertus’s people.

“...”

Charlotte’s comment about managing his people better was essentially a jab at Vertus to manage his power or information network more strictly.

Charlotte turned away, nonchalantly taking hold of the bewildered Scarlett’s hand as she did so, and the two of them left the building together.

Vertus seemed momentarily stunned, thrown off by Charlotte’s unexpected comment, made straight to his face. However, it didn’t take long for his usual composure to return.

“Erhi.”

Erhi looked pale, as he believed that he was the reason for Vertus’s humiliation.

“Ye-... yeah...?”

“Consider it bad luck. My sibling is not in the best mood today.”

“Oh... y-yeah... Yeah, okay.”

Vertus gave a wry smile, patted his shoulder quietly, and continued to watch Charlotte’s departing figure.

“It’d be nice if those two grew closer from this incident, actually.”

‘I think I know what’s going through his mind right now.’

Instead of feeling insulted, Vertus was focused on the fact that Charlotte had drawn Scarlett in and called her part of ‘my people.’

He was the type of person who understood the power of knowing who others valued.

That was why Vertus was happy for Charlotte and Scarlett to become friends.

No matter how you looked at it, he was definitely a scary guy.

Vertus suddenly turned his gaze on me.

“By the way, Reinhart, could we talk for a moment after we go back?”

‘Why me all of a sudden?’