Chapter 121

Chapter 121

I had no idea what to do, but I impulsively walked up to the 7th floor and knocked on the door marked “Monthly Royal Class”.

Bang, bang!

I was thinking of going directly to each member’s class if no one was there, but then the door opened. The club room, although significantly smaller than I expected, was still considerably large, probably because it belonged to Royal Class students.

Three individuals were seated around what appeared to be a meeting table. The one who had come to open the door was a male student who looked like a senior.

“Are you... Reinhart?”

“Yes, I am.”

I was about to go in and start yelling at them and demanding to know what they were up to when suddenly, my mind went blank.

The faces of the other people were covered in shadow, and there among them sat someone else, who was unmistakably not a member of the club. Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

“... Reinhart.”

Charlotte, who was propping her chin with her right hand, had taken up a prominent seat, and was looking at me with disdain.

She sighed, then continued, “I knew you’d come in person.”

She shook her head, clearly having predicted that me, with my temperament, would show up personally.

***

The seniors maintained a solemn atmosphere, all of them keeping their mouths tightly shut. I sat opposite Charlotte.

‘What’s she doing here?’

“Why are you here?”

“... I came because I knew for a fact that you would create a huge scene here if I didn’t stop you.”

“Oh.”

Charlotte had already anticipated my actions.

‘Hey, to be fair, I initially tried to restrain myself, you know. I didn’t want to come, and only ended up here because Harriet kept provoking me!’

... In any case, Charlotte had read me correctly—I had indeed shown up.

She’d read the situation and knew that this was going to happen, and so she came here in advance, anticipating that I would get angry and cause trouble with the seniors. It was kind of creepy how accurately she had read the situation.

The seniors seemed frozen, taken aback by the sudden visit from the princess. Charlotte, looking at the monthly newsletter that was on the table, wore a subtle smile.

“Of course, I’m also here because the story in the magazine played out differently from what I’d expected, given what I’d said in my interview, which made me wonder why.”

When they heard that, all three seniors visibly flinched. Despite the fact that Charlotte was very much their junior, all three of them seemed like mice before a cat.

Anyway, were there really only three members of this club? I guess it made sense, since there were so few students in the Royal Class itself.

Charlotte smiled, making eye contact with each one of them.

“Seniors, I believe I mentioned in the interview that Reinhart was a good friend. It seems that the contents of your article contradict that, doesn’t it?”

She was scary when she had a stern face, but her smile was also quite terrifying in its own way, especially in the context of what she was saying. It was a different kind of threat compared to Vertus.

In response to Charlotte’s comment, which sounded more like an interrogation, the person who seemed to be the club president opened his mouth.

“W-Well, in that case... When we compiled the interviews... From the contents of the interviews with the first-year students, it seemed like they were afraid of Reinhart... So we focused on the unspoken details.”

“Ah, so you mean to say your article is mere speculation, and that your assertion that Reinhart might be bullying his peers is based on what was implied between the lines?”

“It’s not speculation. We judged it to be almost factual, and that’s why we wrote it...”

The difference in tone with which each of them spoke was so extreme, and the fact that the senior was speaking so much more politely to a junior student was jarring.

“So, in your article, you basically chose to present things based on uncertain reasoning over the certain facts?”

“N-No, that’s not it! We—”

Charlotte, still smiling, cut the club president off. “In any case, what I said in my interview, where I spoke of Reinhart as a diligent student and good friend, was completely ignored, correct?”

Clearly she was implying that completely ignoring what the imperial princess said in an interview was a greater crime than slandering Reinhart.

‘So scary... Sometimes you’re even scarier than Vertus!’

“W-Well, that... that...”

“Of course, I agree that Reinhart only gets along with female students, and because he riled up various incidents at the beginning of the semester, he was indeed labeled as a troublemaker.”

‘Wait, you’re going to agree with them suddenly? And if you’re going to talk badly about me to them, you might as well just say to my face!’

Charlotte looked at each member of the club with a stern expression.

“... You guys are really courting disaster, aren’t you?”

“Do you guys really want to vanish from this world?” Charlotte seemed to imply.

Naturally, Charlotte was furious.

“Wow... I’m just glad no one has been reading this until now. Do you guys think this is acceptable behavior, just because you are students of the Temple’s Royal Class? This is not only defamation of the Order of the Holy Knights, but also of the royal family! Be thankful that no one has taken issue with this kind of baseless and speculative article until now!”

Charlotte was truly angry, for her to be raising her voice in front of the seniors.

However, I completely understood the real reason behind Charlotte’s anger. This article had made deductions that came uncomfortably close to a truth that both the royal family and the Order of the Holy Knights was trying to hide. Essentially, it was calling out something rotten for being rotten.

Charlotte’s anger stemmed not from this, but from the fact that the lives of the writers could be endangered if people who paid close attention to these unfiltered articles realized this.

It was as if she was asking if they had a death wish.

Everyone in the room was trembling in fear of the princess’s extreme anger, and I was no exception.

‘Noona, you’re scaring me!’

Charlotte did not stop scolding them while she looked through the other past issues.

“All these are full of rushed-out articles crammed with speculation and false information! What’s this nonsense about there being demon worshippers of the Demon God Cult within the Temple, a revolutionary force within the Temple, and a magic society infiltrating the Temple? Really, it feels like you write about whatever comes to mind?! And wow, these aren’t even worth mentioning. Ghosts in the Temple? What’s the reason for even reporting on such things?”

Suddenly, I was faced with a problem.

[New Event Update - Revolutionary Force]

[Details: There are rumors about a revolutionary force within the Temple.]

[Objective: Discover the truth behind the rumors.]

[Reward: 300 Achievement Points]

[New Event Update - Magic Society]

[Details: There are rumors about a secret magic society infiltrating the Temple.]

[Objective: Discover the truth behind the rumors.]

[Reward: 300 Achievement Points]

[New Event Update - Ghosts of the Temple]

[Details: There are rumors about ghosts within the Temple.]

[Objective: Discover the truth behind the rumors.]

[Reward: 300 Achievement Points]

Three events were suddenly triggered.

‘Is this place an event vending machine or what?’

“And what’s this now? A demon spy inside the Temple? Not even in the imperial capital, but in the Temple? Really? The Temple is protected by a barrier that blocks demons. How could a demon infiltrate that?”

[New Event Update - Demon Spy of the Temple]

[Details: There are rumors that there’s a demon spy within the Temple... Oh, it’s just you.]

[Objective: Lol... my bad... XD...!!]

[Reward: ┌∩┐( ̄▽ ̄)┌∩┐]

[The event ‘Demon Spy of the Temple’ has been canceled.]

‘Oh my god. Is this scumbag trolling me again?’

Charlotte shook her head, seemingly deciding that these matters could not be ignored any longer. A fire of determination burned in her eyes.

‘... A demon spy, huh. Perhaps this club is actually only able to tell the truth.’

Charlotte seemed dumbfounded, flipping through the publications with a bewildered chuckle.

“And what in the world is this now...?” Charlotte uttered.

“Um, Ch-Charlotte. W-Why don’t you stop and take a break?” I suggested.

‘Stop it! I don’t want to be flooded with any more events!’

1. Yellow journalism is a style of reporting that focuses on sensationalism over facts. ☜