The Only Male Student in the Academy - Chapter 157



157. To the county (1)

I think about a man named Ariel Beheritt.

The first time I saw him was during the placement test.

He arrogantly said that he obviously had no intention of being friendly with Lucius, and after that he quarreled with Claire Entirus.

-“Gather as much information as possible about Cler Entylus. He is the closest aide to the princess.”

-“I don’t know about Ariel Beheritt. It might turn out to be a hot potato, or it might turn out to be nothing. Take care of yourself.”

Because of Benit’s order, Nina knew about the two to some extent.

However, I didn’t do a lot of research. I didn’t follow them one by one, so I only knew as much as others knew.

Above all, it was Tia and Rose Eiffeltain who actually became the hot potato, so Nina conducted her research mainly on that side.

So I can’t say I know much about Ariel Beheritt, but

I know he’s not as crazy as you think.

If I was really a fool, there would be no one around.

But aren’t Marie Ruhelif and Claire Antirus following him?

‘Clair Entylus was a shallow human being.’

Count Findel Nerka When he was with me, he was already aware that he had set foot in Ariel Beheritt’s bed. That too naked.

From a quick glance, Claire Entylus seemed to be obsessed with Ariel Beheritt.

… She was said to be a woman who would become the powerhouse of the academy, but she never thought that she would be a lecherous human being.

I thought that Ariel Beheritt would also be a vulgar person, but what about her now?

After all, humans know best that they are dual.

You can tell just by looking at her own master, Benit Findel Nerka.

Benit looks like a bright and strong woman in front of others, but when she gets involved with her family, she gets hysterical.

Claire Entylus is also a lewd person, but there are times when there is no gap on the table and there is no blood or tears.

The same goes for Ariel Beheritt. Although she seems arrogant, in reality she is not a mean person.

After watching it a few times, I could tell that he wasn’t an evil person.

Is that enough?

I don’t know anything beyond that.

It’s just that we’ve talked a few times.

“Thank you for your hard work, Ms. Nina.”

Rachel appeared with the sound of a wheelchair dragging.

Nina, who had been dazed for a while, finally came to her senses.

“Rachel ni…, Rachel.”

“Yes, this is Rachel.”

She almost inadvertently called her Miss Rachel.

Rachel also noticed that, so she giggled. She got a little shy.

“Sorry, I’m not used to it yet.”

“I understand. I’m a servant too. Well, if it’s really inconvenient, wouldn’t it be nice to add something to the end of the name? Like I’m calling you Nina Miss.”

“I see. Then, Rachel… What did you come for?”

“It’s hard to keep the library by yourself, right? Try this.”

With that said, what Rachel held out was a snack. She must have bought it from a nearby shop.

“No, you don’t have to give me this…”

“You brought me a book the other day, right? I’m probably going to ask Nina-san in the future, so that’s my return. It’s because I feel uncomfortable if I don’t do something like this.”

“……Is that so?”

Nina accepts, thinking that it is somehow difficult for her to refuse.

Then Rachel smiled broadly.

“Then I’ll go to the young master’s side. Work hard, Ms. Nina.”

After giving her food, Rachel disappears.

As she stares blankly at the back of her, silence comes after some time.

Loneliness blooms in silence.

Nina picked up one of her snacks from her Rachel and put it in her mouth.

“…Sweet.”

It is the 14th day since school closure started.

Claire returned to the floating island.

“Welcome, Claire.”

Upon returning to the dormitory, the first thing that greets her is her roommate ── Flora Meldis.

“I’m back, Flora-senpai. Is work going well?”

“Oh, do you start talking about work as soon as you arrive?”

Flora let out her laugh as she opened the refrigerator door.

What I took out from inside was a drink I bought from her shop a little far away. The drink received by the temperature maintenance magic of the refrigerator is as cool as if it had just been bought.

“Flora-senpai thought that she would prefer a practical story rather than a trivial greeting.”

Taking the drink, Claire sat down in a chair.

Although it has only one eye to see, its movements are graceful. Even the gesture of holding her sweet drink is graceful.

Looking at her appearance, she thought that this woman would never live in poverty, she thought Flora.

So I am a little curious.

Why is he so close to Ariel Beheritt, who is rumored to be banished from the family?

“The boy has been interested in something unusual lately. It seems like he met people from the horticulture department.”

Flora said that and placed some of her prepared documents on the table. It was a summary of the current state of the automaton materials.

The reason I delivered the documents with completely different contents from what she said was because she was doing the tasks entrusted to her without any problems, so that there was no need to explain them verbally.

It is also recognized as Claire.

After giving her one look at her papers, she puts up a purse that appears to have been prepared in advance.

“Gardening department. Among the items, there were things like Ulcoa seeds, so it seems like you’re trying to grow them yourself.”

“It looks like that. However, it seems like Ariel didn’t grow it herself, but rather left it to Rachel. It seems like she gave gold coins to the horticultural staff as well.”

“Hey, is that so?”

Claire put up a few more gold coins.

There are many people in the academy who want to impress Claire, but the reason why Claire became a roommate with Flora Meldis is because she is easy to deal with.

Of course, unlike an ardent admirer like Alex, some care must be exercised in handling.

He’s not a person to be easily shaken by, and he’s definitely a nuisance if you turn him into an enemy.

Conversely, he is a very competent person to use as an ally, and is easy to use if you know Flora’s behavioral principles. If you give me money, I’ll do pretty much anything.

Of course, it is not omnipotent. Flora would never do something unfair, even if she gave her hundreds of millions of gold coins.

Conversely, she is also a good person, so you don’t have to worry about being betrayed.

“And it seemed like the twins came back four days ago.”

In that way, Flora talked about the situation on the floating island while Claire was away.

There was nothing grandiose about it.

As it is during the school closure period, the floating island has a stagnant atmosphere. It’s a difficult period for something like this to happen.

So it is easy to summarize. Ultimately, information can be classified into four categories.

The first one is useless information…. Well, if you just memorize this, you might find yourself using it later.

The second is information that Claire must know. Whether it was a social gathering among nobles, the princess leaving the floating island for the first time in a while and returning to the imperial castle, or Hilca Mardis digging again.

The third story is about Ariel who is left on the floating island…. Well, the most certain thing would be to meet and hear from Ariel herself.

The fourth is information about Lucius’ gang.

“It looks like her twin sister went out to the floating island again yesterday. With her companions… no, I think Benit was with her too.”

“Hmm? She might be thinking of going to County of Findel Nerca, too. But she must have been completely sealed off.”

“Benit might have at least one or two tools in case of emergency. I’m not quite sure what those are, though.”

“Hmm.”

“And I think Captain Andy followed Lucius.”

At Flora’s last words, Claire inadvertently frowned.

There is a lot of information. But do you think the context is not clearly captured?

Lucius’ gang…… Well, it’s a pretty famous party at the academy.

There is Tia, who is a cursed clan, and there is Lapisca, the third-year chief and second-in-command of the academy. It is also the cause that destroyed the faction of the old Duke of Bamir, and Rose Epeltain, who was a key figure in it, also belongs.

In addition, Lapisca signed a blood brother contract with Lucius to share his soul.

As a member of the princess’s faction, Claire was keeping a close eye on the situation on the side of Duke Bamir’s faction.

Then he couldn’t help but listen to Lucius even if he didn’t like it, and the princess said it after the semester started.

-“Lucius. That’s a name I’ve heard before. A commoner with the cursed clan.”

The princess cares about them, albeit weakly.

That way was good for Claire too. Because Claire didn’t really want the princess and Hilka Mardis to touch Ariel.

So, it was better to collect information from Lucius in order to divert attention from the princess, but

‘Somehow Ariel seems to be paying attention.’

They are not overtly intertwined, but they are intertwined in a strange way. Ariel also seems to know something.

Shall we check it out?

“I heard you well. Then I’ll have to get up soon.”

Claire slowly rose from her seat.

“Ah, that’s right. If you don’t mind, please do the packing for me. I’ll pay for your labor.”

Leave the dormitory and walk down the street.

It’s quiet because it’s school closure. It is a strange feeling to not be able to see a person.

Summer is ending and it is entering autumn, and the surrounding scenery is also changing along with the cool weather.

But neither the color of the leaves, nor the setting sun announcing the end of the day, nor even the scent of flowers give Claire much stimulation.

Unfortunately, I did not have the hobby of engraving the beauty of nature in my heart. However, they do not enjoy works of art such as masterpieces, nor are they excited about the delicacy of foreign architecture.

Those things just feel a bit fresh when you see them for the first time.

To Claire, everything is just a passing scene.

That’s why Claire was lost in contemplation rather than looking around the scenery.

‘What will happen to Count Findelnerca in the future?’

Think about it for a moment.

In the County of Findelnerca, an infection has already broken out, and many people are probably dying at this moment.

Even if we manage to solve the problem somehow, the number of villagers will be greatly reduced. A decrease in population leads to a decrease in taxes, and not only the power of the territory, but also the Countess of Findelnerca suffers from financial difficulties.

If there is a problem with financial power, there will be a problem with maintaining dignity. His honor as an aristocrat would be considerably diminished.

However, it would be impossible to accept new colonists. Who would like to set foot on the land where the plague lurked? Rather, there is a high possibility that many people will leave the county.

Aristocrats from the County of Findelnerca are also hindered in their activities.

It’s not a crime, but once you start being shunned, you can’t live in an aristocratic society. In the end, in order to maintain the family, you have to get married, but who will go to Count Findelnerca?

In that case, you may have to lower the rank of your marriage partner and accept him as a viscount or a baron,

If that doesn’t work, you may have to marry a commoner.

Can’t even go to the center. In order to become a central aristocrat, in the end, which faction you belong to is important, so there is no way that any faction will accept Count Findel Nerca.

Fall is virtually certain.

Perhaps in the future I will live as a commoner.

“Ah, that’s why.”

The reason Lucius and the others are helping Count Findelnerca.

After Eiffel Tein, the author lost all of his successors, and the legitimacy of Rose Eiffel Tain as his successor is questioned.

So Rose Eiffeltain tried to gain recognition by joining the faction of the Duke of Bamir, but she became obscure.

Currently, she is staying with Lucius and the others and monitoring the situation, and this time she might be trying to coax Count Findel Nerca.

I don’t think the two families will create synergy, but it’s not something I can’t understand because it’s a feeling of holding on to even a straw.

“Hmm… The composition is interesting.”

Shall the Marquis of Entirus give a little support? In an instant, I felt that way.

It might not be a bad move.

Along with the anti-popularity that the writer after Entity Russ gives to the lesser aristocrats, it seems like an opportunity for her to prove that she is one step above the writer after Eiffel Tane.

I thought that for a moment, but… , Well, it’s just a thought I’ve done once.

It seems that the risk outweighs the benefit.

It may seem like they are defending the source of the virus, and above all, if you support Count Findelnerca, you will lose nothing if it collapses.

Well, we can observe the situation in the County of Findelnerca for a while and judge slowly.

Claire came to that conclusion.

“──We are going to County of Findelnerca.”

And within 10 minutes, that conclusion was overturned.

Reading room in the library.

It was a strangely cramped place with the smell of antique wood. Claire thinks that confining herself to read or study is, in a sense, a prison-like place.

In that respect, Claire tended to dislike reading rooms, but it was still better than gathering in a shelter in a stinky underground canal. If the smell gets on your clothes, your authority will fall.

By the way,

“You’re going to Count Findelnerca?”

“Yes. The four of us will go to Count Findelnerca.”

Ariel said so.

From noble mtl dot com

Data and books are piled up like a mountain on the desk. Perhaps he was also researching automatons.

If you look around, you can see other people.

Ms. Marie is still hesitant. And Rachel, smiling.

Era’s figure is not visible.

Well, that person is new and rare, so it would be easier to treat him as someone who doesn’t exist.

“I don’t understand… Ariel’s hobby is suicide? What is she going for?”

No matter how much I think about it, there is no reason to go.

Even if you help Count Findel Nerca, nothing will come back, and even if Count Findel Nerca escapes her downfall and creates a link, there will be no great benefit.

There are no great specialties in the county, and Benit, the owner of her secondary, is just an ordinary aristocratic girl.

Then what is it for?

“I’m going to grow up.”

“……What?”

“Didn’t you hear. She said she was going to grow up.”

“Ha.”

Claire was dumbfounded. It’s growth

As an adventurer, growth is important. I know how important it is to catch monsters, gain experience, and improve my skills.

But isn’t there a time and a place?

“If it’s a dungeon, you don’t even have to be in the County of Findelnerca. Do you know what you’ll face if you enter the infected zone? I’m against it. There’s no reason to go.”

Claire crossed her arms.

I don’t know what Ariel was thinking, but Claire, as the person in charge of the party’s vanguard, is in a position to think about the safety of the party members.

And according to Ariel’s words the other day, ‘infection’ is easy to catch if both your faith and mental strength are low.

In that respect, aren’t both of her sheep dangerous?

Of course, if Rachel was present, she would be able to protect her to some extent, but it was really dangerous for her to go to Count Findel Nerca.

“It’s not that I don’t know what you’re thinking, Claire. But I have to go.”

“Then explain the reason properly.”

“I see….Claire, come here for a second.”

Ariel beckoned her.

Claire is puzzled and goes to his side.

Ariel sitting in a chair.

Naturally, the composition of Claire looks down on Ariel.

He had a hesitant expression on his face.

Somehow he seems reluctant. But that face, as if there was no other way.

What the hell are you trying to say?

When Claire tilted his head,

Ariel had her hand on her collar.

“What?!”

Claire was startled, but at some point he was grabbed by the collar, and he had no choice but to bend his back.

Ariel pulled Claire’s hair right in front of her own nose and whispered in her ear in a small voice.

“Don’t be shy, shut up and follow me.”

“Yes heh…♡”