Chapter 31

༺ The First Letter (31) ༻

Words are strong, but they aren’t as powerful as ‘Vision.’

Even if you were to hear an explanation hundreds of words long, it would still be easier for you to understand a concept if you see it for yourself. That’s the power of sight.

Hearing, smell, touch, taste. Although all of them were senses, no sense was as overpowering as sight. Some scholars have even argued that some of the human senses even depend on vision.

Thus, a heavy silence descended upon the knight’s training ground.

As in front of them, a vivid visual material was being enacted above all else.

The visual material’s name was Thean. Due to his messy, bruised lips, he struggled to speak.

“You better be careful. That bastard is completely insane... ... .”

He trudged and approached the three women who were making fun of Seria. The closer he got, the paler the women’s faces became.

Without even asking, they hastily began to come up with excuses.

“Wh-Wh-Who said what?”

“Yes, we didn’t say anything, we were just talking about an acquaintance......!”

However, their excuses didn’t last long. It was because Thean, who stood in front of them, uttered a single word in a voice mixed with sighs.

“I said that as well.......”

Thean’s index finger pointed towards his own face. Thean, who was about to tap his wound, frowned and stopped. Even doing that much seemed to be too painful.

Cold sweat formed on the foreheads of the three women who were mocking Seria. It was a warning.

A horrifying warning that the next ones might be them.

Thean looked at the girls whose faces were dyed white, and scoffed.

“......Do you think it was just me who’s in this condition?”

He beckoned the girls to look behind him. There, the gang, who were usually with Thean, entered to attend the lecture.

What they had in common was that they were limping or had bruises on their faces. Anyway, they for sure seemed to be in a terrible condition. At least it was certain that it wasn’t an accidental injury.

Having their face riddled with so many wounds must have taken a toll on their pride. It was obvious, after all, no one would want to spread evidence of their defeat to outsiders like that.

Nevertheless, they forced themselves to come to this place.

That fact meant one thing. It meant that it was more to appease someone’s wrath than having their own one’s self-esteem hurt.

Weren’t they the prideful Thean’s gang? The students had no choice but to maintain this icy silence.

They got chills down their spines. While mocking Seria, the tragedy they were worried the most had materialized and stood right in front of them.

One of the girls mocking Seria gulped and asked in a trembling tone.

“M-Maybe... Did you get beaten one by one?”

“No...”

His voice trembled in fear as he couldn’t even dare to finish his sentence. It was because Thean declared that with a grim face.

The women’s faces had already turned pale a long time ago, and now even their eyes trembled violently in fear.

They were swordsmen as well. They were as accustomed to being beaten as they were to knocking someone down, but the reason they were so afraid was that the memory of that day was still vivid and fresh in their minds.

The so-called ‘Yurdina’s Beating Incident.’

They still remember that one-sided and brutal spurt of violence very well. What if it was them who were standing there?

Just thinking about it made their hair stand on their ends. Even Thean’s gang couldn’t endure it either.

Thean tapped the shoulder of the woman closest to him, as if to comfort her. He then said in a low voice.

Quietly, but just so that anyone who was overhearing the conversation could hear.

“We charged at him like a horde, but we were beaten nonetheless. Didn’t I already mention? That bastard is insane... Be careful, you guys.”

Meanwhile, Thean glanced at Seria before turning his gaze away once more, who still seemed to be confused.

“...... Next, I think it will be you.”

Hiik, and the women hiccuped and looked at Seria in fear. They looked like they were pleading for something while not knowing how to beg for it.

In an instant, their positions were reversed. With Thean’s appearance, the gazes of ridicule and criticism toward Seria were immediately dyed in the shade of fear.

Those who had taken part in tormenting Seria, either directly or not, glanced at Seria’s eyes. Of course, it was the same with Thean’s gang.

After all, they were a textbook example of what would happen if they were to touch Seria.

Unable to bear it, one of Thean’s gang shouted.

“What you looking at, you bastards! Didn’t you see enough?!”

At that moment, the students withdrew their gazes. Abeast, whose pride was hurt should never be touched. Common sense dictated that.

Thean heaved a sigh, as if his arduous work was done, and trudged away. The sound of his footsteps continued until he was in front of Seria.

Thean had a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face, but he immediately bowed his head. It was a sign of apology.

“I apologize for everything I’ve done so far. I won’t mess with you in the future.”

“......Why?”

Seria asked in a daze. Thean face twitched.

“How can you change your attitude so quickly? And even if you did, why did you come out like this.. ....”

“You seem to be mistaken.”

Nevertheless, there were some points in my recent behavior that I couldn’t understand. It all happened after I lost my memory.

Of course, I had a plan too.

No matter how powerful Count Rinella was, it could not be compared to the Yurdina family. Seria was a family member who received the surname of Yurdina. Even though she wasn’t the eldest daughter, there was no way Rinella would want an open conflict with her.

That’s why they must have said that there was a ‘hint of displeasure,’ it was because they couldn’t express it explicitly. It’s just that how could the second son of a countryside Viscount, not even Seria, dare to mess with their children?

It didn’t seem like they were going to take any action. No matter how different the prestige of our families was, I was still a member of the nobility. They didn’t want to outright protest against an event of violence that happened within the academy.

Rather, the rumors spreading about the countryside Viscount’s second son would hurt his reputation. Although Count Rinella prestige was high, they weren’t such a powerful family that could single-handedly crush a noble family.

If it was the Yurdina family, it could be said that they had that level of prestige and influence. They were one of the top five Aristocratic Households of the Empire.

Nevertheless, it was true that the warnings of the Rinella family were concerning. Not for me, but because of my family.

I was afraid that Count Rinella might unknowingly exert pressure on my family. It would be an issue if they were to do so. I rely on my family for the academy’s expensive tuition, so it was difficult for me to not get concerned.

The Saintess glanced at my complicated expression. Then, pretended not to notice and said.

“I explained Ian Oppa’s situation well.”

“... ... ?”

My curious gaze turned to the Saintess.

She said ‘I explained it well’, but this was only putting a good word at most. A slightly more implicit meaning was as follows.

‘I sent someone capable, so they won’t be able to use their means.’

But why the hell? Upon noticing the suspicions lingering in my eyes, the Saintess heaved a sigh.

“Heaven protects the righteous. I’ve roughly heard about why Ian Oppa used violence once again.......”

As it was time to leave, the Saintess got up and winked at me. She had a charming smile.

“There is also the favor of last time.”

“......What do you mean by favor?”

“Hehehe, if you don’t remember, that’s fine.”

I still had a bewildered expression on my face, but the Saintess answered mysteriously.

Just when she was about to leave the hospital room, she left a riddle as if she had just remembered.

“Come to think of it, your complexion has improved a lot since then.”

“Then?”

“Yeah, fatigue was evident in your eyes back then. I’m glad you’re fine now... Well then, I’ll take my leave, Emmanuel.”

‘Fatigue was evident in my eyes.’ I could roughly guess what was going on.

Again, during the time I lost my memories of, it seemed that I had done something. But what the hell did I do?

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find an answer. It’s been a long time since the memories of that week were completely erased from my mind. However, since she said ‘favor,’ I can only guess that it wasn’t a bad thing for me.

My unanswered worries didn’t last long. It was because, as soon as the Saintess had left, someone poked her head out.

“Ian Oppa!”

With a grin, I immediately guessed the identity of the visitor.

It was Celine. As usual, she waved her hand with a bright face and quickly approached me like a bullet.

“I heard about Thean. Did you really smash those bastards? Uh-huh, since when were you the type of man to do such a cool thing?”

“What type of manly woman are yo– Ugh!”

‘Slam,’ Celine’s palm slammed into my shoulder. Since I was still wounded, I could only scream and writhe in pain.

Celine’s face turned pale in an instant. She then grunted.

“You still can’t read the mood. How could you reply so rudely in this situation?”

“It wasn’t meant to be a joke.”

Humph, Celine harrumphed like that and folded her arms. There was a blatant discontent in her eyes.

“You ruined your whole body for that kind of woman. Is it that difficult for her to even say a word of gratitude?”

“Even if it were you, not Seria, I would have stepped forward as well.......”

As I continued to speak, I blurted those words out at the end of my speech. Celine turned her head away from me looking a bit sullen, but she glanced at me to see as if she was curious about the next part.

A groan came out of my mouth. I was hesitating.

Celine urged me in a slightly annoyed tone, frustrated to see me hesitating like that.

“Wh-What did you say?!”

“...... Yes, I have to ask you.”

In the end, I couldn’t resist her prompt and opened my mouth. Celine’s brown eyes turned to me. I hesitated a little longer and asked.

“Do you hate Seria?”

Celine didn’t respond for a while when she heard that.

She just kept looking at me. As if to gauge the intents of my question, I decided to ask a more explicit question.

“The nasty rumors about Seria, I thought it might have been you who spread them.”

Upon hearing that, Celine’s expression hardened. She slowly opened her arms.

Two piercing gazes collided in mid-air. My eyes sank deeply.

Celine didn’t say anything for a while.