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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Academy's Troublemaker (3)
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The clear change in Sei-an's demeanor from yesterday, coupled with the smile he showed in the cafeteria today, began to spark a liking for him in all of them.
From the very beginning, when Sei-an first enrolled, his appearance alone had garnered a lot of attention.
His looks were certainly enough to make a favorable impression on people.
The problem, however, was his pathetic and stubborn personality.
So, now that his personality had changed, it didn't take long for him to regain people's favor.
But due to their past history of tormenting him, a mix of emotions had them all confused. This created a strange atmosphere, leaving Sei-an feeling perplexed.
"By the way, isn't Lark attending class?"
However, Sei-an seemed uninterested in their reactions and posed a different question to Kanto.
He had heard that Lark, whom he met this morning, was also in his class. But yesterday, and even today, he couldn't see him anywhere in the classroom.
"I told you, he's the academy's troublemaker."
"Hmm."
"Have you ever seen a troublemaker actually attend class properly?"
In response to Sei-an's question, Kanto clicked his tongue softly and reiterated his explanation about Lark.
*Creak!*
"...Yes, I'm seeing one right now."
"......!"
But no sooner had he finished speaking than the classroom door opened, and someone walked in. It was Lark.
Sei-an chuckled, retorting Kanto's words, while Kanto stared at Lark, who was entering the classroom, with wide, surprised eyes.
"......!"
And everyone else was the same. His appearance, given that he barely showed up for class once a week, left everyone flustered.
"......"
But soon, as if afraid to even make eye contact with him, the students quickly bowed their heads and began reading textbooks that weren't even registering in their minds.
And they fervently prayed, silently calling upon gods they didn't even believe in, just hoping he wouldn't sit near them.
"There's a seat here."
"Sei-an!"
"......!"
"......!"
But breaking the silence in the classroom, someone spoke to Lark. It was Sei-an.
At that, Kanto and everyone else in the classroom stared at him with shocked expressions.
"Isn't this seat empty?"
"B-but..."
"......?"
Sei-an, instead, looked at their reactions with a puzzled gaze, then turned his head to look at Lark.
"......"
He also looked at Sei-an for a moment, then walked past him as if ignoring him, heading towards the very back seat by the window.
"H-huh! Ah, I understand."
At that, a student who was already sitting there sprang up, vacated the seat, and quickly ran to another empty spot to sit down.
*Thud!*
Having taken the seat he wanted, Lark simply laid his head down and began to sleep.
"......"
Sei-an watched Lark, his gaze lingering with interest.
Strangely, his eyes kept drifting to him. Among the gathered figures of nobles and children from wealthy families, Lark exuded a distinctly different aura, a rebellious vibe that constantly drew his attention.
It was also amusing to see him standing out alone amidst a crowd of identical, conventional individuals.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"I told you to stop paying attention to him."
"I think it might be fun to be around him..."
"What?"
Kanto stared at Sei-an with a bewildered expression at his reply.
He wanted to argue, asking if there was nothing else in the world that could be fun besides someone as dangerous as Lark, but Kanto ultimately swallowed his words with a long sigh.
"Haa."
Birds of a feather flock together, they say. Kanto chuckled, thinking that perhaps the unusual pair of Sei-an and Lark might actually get along surprisingly well.
However, there was one thing he hadn't realized: he himself was already associating with the unusual Sei-an.
After all, by being by Sei-an's side both yesterday and today, he too was drawing everyone's attention.
***
"Are you sure you delivered the message?"
"Yes, yes, I definitely delivered it."
"Then why isn't he coming?"
"W-well, we don't really..."
"......"
After all classes had ended, Illnis was waiting for Sei-an to arrive at the club he had founded.
But a long time passed, and he showed no signs of coming.
Illnis subtly twisted his expression as he looked at Rubin, whom he had ordered to deliver his message.
"I called him. Surely he wouldn't dare not come, would he?"
"Ah, he'll probably come."
"He always came right away before, didn't he?"
Illnis felt an unidentifiable sense of displeasure, and his expression didn't ease despite the others' words.
'He wouldn't dare ignore me, just like that insufferable Lucian, would he?'
There was a separate reason why Illnis tormented and hated Sei-an so much. It was because of Sei-an's older brother, Lucian, who had enrolled and graduated a year before him.
When he first enrolled here, he had been certain he would be the object of everyone's admiration.
With a powerful father and his own superior qualities in both appearance and academics, he had no doubt that he would complete his academy life with satisfaction.
'That damn bastard!'
But not long after enrolling, he had to realize that it was all just a dream.
Lucian, who had enrolled two years before him, was already the object of everyone's admiration within the academy.
With talents superior to anyone else in both swordsmanship and academics, he was a figure revered by everyone, regardless of gender.
Moreover, thanks to his impressive looks, he had strong support from the girls, making him all the more detestable.
'How dare he ignore me!'
Furthermore, Lucian's complete disregard for him made Illnis grit his teeth in frustration.
As a noble from the same empire, Lucian, instead of revering and catering to him, the son of a duke, would look at him with a pitiful gaze as he led others around like subordinates.
He wanted to torment him somehow, but it was too difficult to provoke Lucian, who had the strong support of many students.
In the meantime, Lucian graduated first, and as Illnis couldn't find a way to vent the resentment he felt towards him, he cheered when he saw someone new enroll two years later.
It was none other than Sei-an, Lucian's younger brother, who had enrolled.
Illnis was able to unleash all the stress and anger he'd accumulated from Lucian onto Sei-an.
He made sure all the students in the academy ignored him, and whenever he had the chance, he'd call Sei-an over to completely crush his pride.
For example, he'd make him kneel and wipe dust off his shoes with his own clothes, or force him to eat food that had fallen on the floor... things like that.
And of course, Sei-an would always cry and run out of the place whenever they played such pranks.
"Are you really sure you delivered it properly?"
"O-of course."
"I definitely delivered it."
Illnis, who had intended to relieve his stress by seeing Sei-an, who had returned after a long time, felt his face contort as Sei-an failed to show up.
"......"
Yet, he still thought that someone like Sei-an wouldn't dare ignore his words, so Illnis continued to wait for him a little longer.
"What's wrong?"
"Hmm... I feel like I've forgotten something I was supposed to do."
"Huh?"
"Well, if I can't remember it, it probably wasn't that important."
Meanwhile, Sei-an, who was heading back to his residence after classes, tilted his head slightly, feeling like he'd forgotten something.
But that thought was fleeting, and Sei-an soon erased it from his mind.
He figured that if he couldn't recall it so easily, it probably wasn't a very important matter.
Thus, Illnis was becoming a forgotten and ignored presence for Sei-an, just as he had been for Lucian.
Of course, he himself was completely unaware of this fact, and continued to wait for Sei-an in that spot until the sun set that day.
