Receiving news that Leon had left for the royal palace, three sub-race exclusive servants gathered inside the student dormitory.
One of them was “Meole,” the exclusive servant of Leon’s older sister, Jenna.
The tall, muscular, cat-eared man stood before Leon’s room along with his companions.
“That Kyle guy betrayed us. He won’t lend us a hand.”
The other two calmed Meole down.
“He’s the saint’s servant. He can’t afford to do any reckless conduct.”
“The elves as a whole are strange people, isn’t that why he refused? More importantly, it’s a good thing we got the key.”
“You mean this?”
Meole, having obtained a key to Leon’s room, made a smirk.
“When that woman went in and out of this room, I took the key and, well, you know. That foolish woman is too easy to deal with.”
Those weren’t words to be said towards a servant’s master, but slavery is a relationship defined purely by contract.
Slaves have no intention to work earnestly.
Unlocking the door, they entered Leon’s room while being cautious of their surroundings.
One of them stood outside the room to be on guard duty, so Meole and the other servant carried a package into the room.
“What do they plan on doing with this thing?”
“As if I’d know. We place this in the guy’s room and we receive money, end of story.”
The exclusive servants hated Leon. One reason being that he defeated the exclusive servants who tried to make a move on Milaine during the school festival.
There was a legitimate reason as well, but nevertheless, from the viewpoint of the exclusive servants, Leon was a unlikeable boy.
Their current action was a form of revenge.
Once the three finished their work, they then left the room.
It was odd that there were exclusive servants in the boys’ dorms, but no boy there dared to question them.
◇
It was the next day after school.
I had a tea ceremony to host.
The guys had to periodically do tea ceremonies or else the girls would spread ill rumors of them.
Well, it’s not like my reputation matters at this point though.
Besides, tea ceremonies, or rather tea, is a hobby I’ve come to enjoy after arriving in this world.
Hmm, such an intellectual hobby indeed suits me.
However, today’s guests were quite unique.
There was the daughter of an earl, “Deirdre Fou Roseblade,” who had blonde hair in ringlets. She wore red lipstick, had a strong-willed appearance──and had an amusing personality.
“You’re quite carefree.”
While in front of a seemingly dissatisfied Deirdre, I drank the tea I made.
“Today’s perfect.”
While I was satisfied, there was another girl there who seemed a bit irritated.
“Clarice Fier Atlee,” Jilk’s former fiancee, spoke with me about royal court affairs.
“Leon, you’re in a very dangerous spot. Do you know that? The Redgrave duke household is weakening and has lost its influence in the royal palace. The emerging Marquis Frampton is advocating that strict action should be taken against you.”
Since I’m the commanding officer for Marie’s bodyguards, it seems that he’s also the one who wants me to be responsible for her debt.
I can’t help but laugh at how high-handed he is.
“The debt is not my responsibility. It’s the responsibility of Marie──or rather, her household.”
Deirdre crossed her legs and put her elbows on the table.
“Foolish. He doesn’t care about the reason. He wants to hunt you down. Furthermore, he wants to steal your airship. They’re just a group of people trying to come up with a pretext.”
“How frightening~.”
It seems that the nobles have quite a lot of spare time if they’re trying to find fault with me.
I can understand his desperate desire to take Luxon away from me, but he’s not the most righteous person for conspiring with others to reach that goal.
“It seems that Marquis Frampton is quite acquainted with her Highness Hertrude. The reason why the principality is quite lenient right now is because of Marquis Frampton’s faction taking control of power.”
Deirdre, perhaps looking for what kind of response I would make, had a serious expression.
She’s a genuine noble’s daughter, so her information on the royal court should be accurate.
In addition, Clarice, being a noble of the royal court, would be even more knowledgeable on the subject.
“Currently, Marquis Frampton is pushing his way trough, a bit forcefully even. Leon, you need to be cautious.”
It seems that this has turned into a troublesome matter, but I don’t really want to get involved with the royal palace.
──That feeling hasn’t changed, even now.
“In that case, just demote me already.”
Deirdre smiled.
“You really are a fool. You think those people are going to be that lenient? Before you know it, they’ll pull the carpet from under you at any given──”
Deirdre’s voice was interrupted by a sound of hurried footsteps.
A great number of knights and soldiers entered the room, pointing their weapons at me.
“Are you Leon Four Baltfault? You’ll have to come with us.”
Clarice stood up.
“──Quite impolite, isn’t it? He’s officially a viscount of the lower-fourth rank.”
The knight raised the corner of his mouth and laughed at the dauntless Clarice.
“Rank has no meaning for a traitor. Now then, come along, brat!”
The knights seized me from both sides and dragged me out of the room.
“A traitor? He’s a hero.”
Deirdre exclaimed as such.
“Hero? You can’t call him a hero when he’s been making secret dealings with the principality. Now then, excuse us.”
The knight had a stern look.
Secret dealings with the principality? Well now, what’s this all about?
◇
The girls’ dorms.
Anjie, entering Hertrude’s room, was breathing a bit roughly since she came in a hurry.
Hertrude, who calmly looked at Anjie, sat down on a chair while crossing her legs, placing a hand on her knee.
It was as if she had been waiting for Anjie.
“You’re in quite a hurry. I’ll forgive your rudeness just this once.”
“What are you planning?”
Hertrude smiled.
“Hmm? Whatever are you talking about? Speak clearly.”
“Are you playing dumb now? Rumors have spread about Leon supposedly working with the principality!”
“Anjelica, it’s not good to suspect people without any proof.”
In response to Hertrude asserting the lack of proof, Anjie readjusted her breathing and spoke.
“It seems that you’re quite close with Marquis Frampton. What’s the reason for going so far to unseat Leon?”
Hertrude spoke a word of pity for Anjie.
“You went to me for that kind of reason? It’s as the rumors say, you’re quite hysterical. Too much of that and you’ll be no more than a mere fool.”
Anjie brought her face closer to Hertrude, who was giggling.
“What are you thinking? Do you really want to go to war? What can you people do when you’ve lost to Leon already?”
The smiling Hertrude began to talk about Leon’s shortcomings.
“You have quite the high evaluation of Mr. Hero, don’t you? I’ve taken a look at the viscount too, just for a short while though. From appearances, he’s an ordinary person. Perhaps he has some potential, but as a knight, he’s below-average.”
Seeing Anjie’s eyebrows shift to express a sense of discomfort, Hertrude laughed even further.
“I’m right, aren’t I? Kind-hearted knights are just a fantasy. A knight who can’t kill in war is useless. Very different from Bandel.”
Hertrude had been looking closely at Leon.
“He’s a knight who stumbled upon a lost item. That familiar he has is related to that lost item, right? It’s a waste of potential to have it only follow his orders.”
Anjie stopped herself from talking about what Leon could do if he was being serious.
No matter how good he may be, he’s still immature as a knight.
This is a world where war is commonplace.
In this world, a knight who can’t kill is unqualified as an adult.
“Do you hate us that much?”
Hertrude’s smile disappeared.
“What do you know? Do you know the grief of the citizen’s whose children, parents, and families were killed? Don’t think that we’ll forgive you for having attacked us so one-sidedly!”
“How naive. It seems you’re the one who knows nothing. The royal palace was right to have you study abroad. What you need──”
Anjie was interrupted by a group of female knights who entered the room.
“Halt! Anjelica, you’re coming with us.”
“──What?”
The female knights surrounded Anjie.
“What are you all doing?”
The female knights smiled and answered her question.
“How ill-mannered. Assaulting her Highness Hertrude.”
“It seems that the duke’s daughter is uncouth.”
“Now then, this way.”
Anjie understood it all. The female knights, originally thought to be Hertrude’s escorts who served to supervise her, were already working with the enemy.
With a face of disgust, the knights restrained her.
Anjie’s gaze shifted from the knights to Hertrude as she questioned her.
“Are you people getting serious?”
Hertrude stood up and whispered to Anjie’s ear.
“This time, the Holfault Kingdom will be stained with blood. And then, this land──”
Anjie’s eyes widened upon hearing the last few words.
“──will sink. Stop us, if you think you can, Anjelica.”
◇
Seeing my devastated room inside the boys’ dorm, I made a face as if I had bitten into a bug.
There was a letter there indicating that I was connected to the principality.
There were a large collection of letters I’ve never seen before in my room.
──I’m quite impressed that they went this far.
A knight stood before me and unfolded a letter.
“You can’t talk your way out of this one. ──To think that the hero was actually conspiring with the enemy nation behind our backs.”
I shifted my gaze to the shameless knight.
“You’re quite devoted to them, aren’t you?”
I scornfully laughed at the knight, who brought his face close to mine.
“You’re quite thorough in unseating me.”
Thereupon, with a smile, the knight hit me in the face.
As I fell over, the knight’s subordinates gathered together.
“Your compliance, traitor!”
After having been punched despite not showing resistance and lying on the floor, Luxon looked at me.
I gestured that I was fine and then let myself be restrained.
──Though I felt a bad premonition before, this really is the worst possible outcome.
“How does it feel to have risen up, only to have your status soon taken away?”
“I thought it was suspicious. It’s impossible for a brat like you to become a viscount.”
“It seems you were involved in some evil deeds behind the scenes. Be prepared for a thorough investigation.”
As I was tied up, schoolboys gathered outside my room.
Among them, I saw the figure of Meole, an exclusive servant.
He looked at me and gave a telling smile.
“Little bastard.”
Meole’s smile heightened in response to my words.
I was kicked from behind and fell down.
I was then forced to get up, pulled by my hair, and as I walked, I also saw schoolgirls and their exclusive servants outside.
“Serves you right.”
“I thought something was strange from the beginning.”
“I suspected him this whole time.”
As I walked along the path the students made, they spoke their mind and threw rubbish at me.
Really now, they’re making a complete reversal in attitude again? Though──there shouldn’t be reason for them to go this far.
The students in the academy made a complete 180, or rather a full 360 back to the beginning.
Strangely, this feels more fitting.
The knight who kicked me from behind spoke.
“Viscount Leon Fou Baltfault──no, you’re just Leon now. Prepare yourself, criminal.”
They listed a variety of charges, but they were all false accusations.
I was restricted, set to be thrown into jail.
“This is not how I wanted to be demoted.”
Garbage flied around as I cracked a joke, and to make matters worse, I was being kicked as well.
Pushing her way through the crowd of people, Livia appeared.
“Leon!”
I made a small wave to Livia, who called out my name, and then walked while trash was being thrown at me.
Among the crowd, Clarice, Deirdre, Daniel, and Raymond looked at me in worry.
Good grief──this otome game world really is the worst place to live in.
