Chapter 41 - Judgent for Judgent (2)
My regression count had reached 222. That also ant that I had challenged Judgnt twelve tis so far.
‘I’m starting to get used to this.’
Judgnt had a lot of unorthodox attacks, which gave so trouble, but I had grown accustod to his irregularities.
Yes, the ti had co to finally take down Judgnt.
‘Since I’m going in with the intent to catch him this ti, I should probably attend my classes diligently.’
Of course, I had already attended these classes during my first attempt, but that was that, and attendance was attendance.
Early in the morning, I left the dormitory, neatly dressed in my cadet uniform.
It felt a little awkward, as from my perspective, it had been almost a month since I had last gone to a lecture. Of course, in chronological ti, I had gone to a lecture just yesterday.
‘I really didn't want to go to class.’
To be honest, there was no need to skip all my classes during those twelve regressions.
Even if I listened to them repeatedly, lectures related to combat could have been helpful.
But I didn't attend those lectures either.
The reason?
To avoid the stress of their backbiting.
The way to the lecture hall was the sa as ever. As usual, the academy cadets were whispering amongst themselves. The topic was obvious. They had sothing to chew on right in front of them.
-To think he’d walk around so shalessly after doing sothing like that…….
-Why? What did he do?
-You still haven’t heard? The reason that degenerate suddenly got strong. A cultist…….
The slander I rembered hearing soday was still the sa. The feeling of hearing sothing I’d heard once before again was truly strange.
-Disgusting…….
-How can a person be like that?
In the past twelve regressions, I had been relatively free from such slander because I had avoided people to so extent, but this ti I couldn't. I had to attend all my lectures.
-When are they expelling that human scum?
-Did the cultists erase all the evidence? He should have the sense to get lost on his own, that vermin-like bastard.
‘This sucks.’
It was literally a series of crappy events. Enduring my temper, which was about to explode, was also quite an ordeal.
Yes, I had been quite patient.
But even that had reached its limit.
***
On Friday morning, there was a lecture called ‘Understanding of Weaponry’. It was a lecture where one learned weaponry through theory and practice, and on that day, it was the practical session’s turn, so the lecture was being held in the training grounds.
“Alright, alright, everyone choose from the distributed weapons and practice! I'll go around and provide guidance~.”
The professor of this lecture, Jenna Lindholm, said with a smile. As I had heard during the entrance examination, she had her usual refreshing voice and pink hair.
‘Intense.’
Acaite had a pretty strong personality, but she certainly had a way with strong personalities. It felt like my energy would be drained if I spent ti with her.
Anyway, I was concentrating on my training while having such idle thoughts. The weapon I chose was… a dagger.
Shwick-.
Thwack-!
I was practicing throwing the dagger in my hand and sticking it into a scarecrow. I did have a pistol, but if I honed this skill, it could be used as a mid-range response in ergencies.
Dagger Throwing Proficiency[C]
: Your proficiency in dagger throwing.
: Currently at [Junior Knight] level.
As I had been taught by Acaite along with marksmanship, my dagger throwing skill had also improved considerably.
Thanks to that, I could easily stick daggers into a stationary scarecrow.
“Oh- you’ve improved several tis over since last ti, Cadet Rain.”
As I was practicing, Jenna approached good-naturedly.
“It’s thanks to your good teaching.”
“You’re just saying that~.”
Shwick-.
Thwack-!
I answered Jenna while continuing to stick daggers, and Jenna guided by giving various pieces of advice and correcting my posture.
-That disgusting mongrel bastard. When is he dropping out?
-It’s obvious without looking. He’s just chasing after won’s tails, that guy.
-Pfft…….
Just then, I clearly heard loud chatter from the opposite direction. It was obvious they were saying it for to hear.
Those guys weren't practicing as they were supposed to, but were whispering amongst themselves while leaning on a practice scarecrow.
‘Sigh.’
I didn't show any particular reaction. Their goal was probably to increase the gossip by getting a reaction out of .
I maintained a poker face and just continued to receive lectures from Jenna. Though we did add a little bit of chatter.
“You’ve got a strong ntality~.”
“Professor, you must have heard the rumors, but you’re treating surprisingly normally.”
“Well, if you weren’t Senior Acaite’s… no, the Professor’s favorite student, I might have kept so distance?”
“You have strong trust.”
“Well.”
Yes, I was thinking, at least there are people who aren't swayed by public opinion like this.
-He’s clinging so damn much. Trying to get close to Miss Serene and the Princess sohow.
-He was doing that to the Magic Tower Master’s daughter too. His intentions are so obvious, it’s fucking disgusting.
-He gets along well with the barbarian even though he’s a guy, huh? Maybe their levels are the sa?
-The commoner bitch who hangs out with him is all happy and giggly. Isn’t she the sa?
-That bitch just likes n. Should I try hitting on her too? She looks like she’d be fun to play with.
Hmm.
I wasn't particularly angry. If anything, I felt the boiling thing inside harden into sothing cold.
“Professor Jenna.”
I listened silently before opening my mouth.
“Yes?”
“This ti, I’ll try to hit a target that’s a bit farther away. The current target is too close.”
“Huh? That’s fine, but so suddenly…….”
After saying that, I turned around and threw the dagger.
“Wait……!”
The target was the cadets who were chattering to their hearts' content.
Shwaaak-!
Thwack-!
“Ugh, agh!”
“Wh-what’s this?”
……It was the scarecrow they were leaning on. Naturally.
I stood still in the dagger-throwing posture, looking in their direction.
What do you think their reaction was?
“You mongrel bastard……!”
Each of them grabbed a training sword and began to walk towards , fuming. If they had just practiced properly with the swords in their hands, this wouldn't have happened.
“…….”
I grabbed a training sword to match them and walked forward to face them with a blank expression.
“Cadet Rain……!”
I heard Jenna's voice from behind, but I didn't look back and continued to walk forward.
Whatever happens, happens.
The distance between and them grew shorter, and I tightened my grip on the training sword.
‘Just enough not to kill them… no, I don't need to control my strength. I can just regress.’
That thought flashed through my mind. They were also approaching without any signs of intimidation, probably thinking they could push with numbers.
As I walked, no thoughts ca to mind. All I could think about was swinging this training sword at them.
The distance slowly closed. 30 paces, 25 paces, 20 paces, 15 paces-.
Finally, when the distance dropped below 10 paces, I prepared to raise my sword.
However.
“Alright-!! You cadets over there, you’ve been waiting a long ti, right? Shall we see what weapon skills you’ve honed first?”
……Of course, Jenna wasn't one to just stand by and watch.
Having watched the situation, she must have thought things were really about to happen.
Jenna overtook as I was walking and spoke to the cadets approaching .
“Professor, that bastard……!”
“Now, now, nothing good will co from making a big deal out of this. Calm down…….”
***
Should I call it a relief? Thanks to Jenna's diation, the fight fizzled out. I thought they might co looking for afterward, but whether they were scared or what, nothing of the sort happened.
In fact, as long as Jenna was watching, there was no way and those guys would have actually fought. It was sothing I could have figured out with a little thought.
And yet, the fact that I had genuinely thought of beating them up… that I had, so to speak, suddenly snapped, must have ant my head wasn't screwed on right.
“I should be careful……”
What I learned from this incident was that when my head completely snaps, my mind is surprisingly clear. That's why the brakes didn't kick in.
Normally, I wouldn't have been provoked by such re words. It wasn't sothing I had experienced for just a day or two. I thought I had grown used to it.
But seeing it explode like this…….
‘Was stress building up?’
I let out a small sigh. I had never thought about the accumulation of stress until now.
Anyway, after the ‘Understanding of Weaponry’ lecture, I was sitting on a bench in a quiet campus garden during a free period. It was to organize my thoughts a little.
“Stress relief……”
Lately, I had been having such thoughts from ti to ti. The thought of just killing everyone and then regressing to reset everything.
It seed like that would certainly relieve stress. However…….
‘It's a bit unsettling.’
It might seem like a risk-free act at first glance, but in terms of my ntal managent, it wasn't a good choice.
It's true that this situation sucks, and it's also true that there are plenty of guys who cross the line.
But the essence of that act, no matter what, was relieving my anger through murder.
If such things were to be repeated, I didn't know what kind of madman I would beco, even if not right now. That was sothing I very much wanted to avoid.
There might be the excuse of ‘just this once’… but that was also out of the question.
Let's say I kill soone to relieve stress because I'm angry here. And then I regress and make it as if it never happened.
Is there any guarantee that I won't do it again in the future? The first ti is always the hardest for anything; from the second ti on, it's easy.
I never thought the day would co when the so-called concept of corruption could be applied to , but anyway, I was wary of corruption.
……It was surprisingly cringy for to be wary of my own corruption, but anyway.
Because of this, I was trying to be as cautious as possible about acting on impulse. But today, I acted a little impulsively.
-‘Just enough not to kill them… no, I don't need to control my strength. I can just regress.’
……It was the impulse I feared the most.
In fact, aside from the self-reflective part, there was another problem with this incident. It was the issue of my reputation.
It was obvious. Rumors would spread that I had threatened them by throwing a dagger when they were just standing there. It was a bad direction in many ways.
That's why I also had this thought.
Should I just regress and handle my conduct more perfectly?
And that thought unconsciously slipped out of my mouth.
“……Should I just die?”
The problem was that it ca out like a remark from soone who was ntally cornered.
Haha, it would be a big deal if soone heard that.
Thud.
……?
As I was thinking that, I suddenly heard sothing fall from behind the bench I was sitting on. And when I turned my head in that direction…….
“You, you…… just now, what did you…….”
Yuna was there. It seed she had dropped the drink she was holding, as a beverage cup was rolling on the ground.
…….
Yes, a very awkward situation was unfolding.
How do I explain this…….
***
Lately, Yuna had been feeling the increasing severity of the slander against Rain firsthand. It was a natural thing, as that was all she heard wherever she went.
When she first heard the stories, she was angry. That they would say such things without knowing anything about Rain, just getting swept up in the rumors.
She wanted to refute those stories. To say that Rain wasn't that kind of person. To tell them not to say such things without knowing anything.
The mont she thought that, Yuna realized. That she, too, knew nothing about Rain.
‘……I’ve just been receiving help from Rain all this ti. Without knowing a single thing.’
And that realization simultaneously brought another one.
‘I’ve only been receiving one-sidedly, and I couldn't even talk back to those slanders. Because I don't know anything.’
In fact, if one were to be cool-headed about it, it was a natural thing. The period Rain and Yuna had known each other was just over a month. It was too short a ti to open up to each other.
Perhaps the slanders so far were true. Rain might just be trying to use Yuna.
But for Yuna, that wasn't a reason to turn her back on a friend who was being slandered.
One who believes until the end, even if betrayed. That was the essence of the hero nad Yuna.
She couldn't rationally explain the reason for making that choice, but that's how it was.
Rain said he was fine, but there was no way he was. There was no one who wouldn't be hurt by such collective criticism and slander.
Moreover, from what she heard, it seed Rain had been subjected to this kind of slander his whole life.
It was telling enough that even Yuna was vaguely aware of the whispers directed at Rain.
Therefore, Yuna decided on her future course of action.
Let's talk with Rain and slowly get to know him.
And then, let's comfort him.
Once her task was clear, Yuna imdiately took action. Since it was ti for Rain's lecture to be free, wandering around the academy to find Rain was the first step.
It was a bit of a hit-or-miss approach, but luckily, she was able to find Rain quickly. In a secluded garden of the academy.
Rain was sitting on a bench, just staring blankly into the air. With those eyes that held a deep emptiness.
‘……He pretended to be fine.’
Rain's face was gaunt. In truth, he already had a gloomy impression, so it was hard to tell, but he probably looked more depressed than usual.
He looked precarious, as if he could collapse at any mont.
Seeing that, Yuna made a decision. To buy a drink and go talk to him. To ask about Rain.
When she approached with two drinks in hand, Yuna heard it. Rain's murmur.
“……Should I just die?”
That one phrase.
It was truly a delicate trick of fate.
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