<h4>Chapter 275 [Illustration]</h4>
Charlotte’s ability was currently stable, but it could be dangerous at any time.
Moreover, Sabioleen Tana, while not in the best condition, had struggled to manage the situation in the Spring Pce the week before.
To prepare for any eventuality, the imperial family had dispatched her to handle any potential outbursts of Charlotte’s power.
There was also another reason why Charlotte was staying in the dormitory instead of the Spring Pce.
It concerned me.
Charlotte was staying in the dormitory so that I could intervene in any emergency while keeping me from being exposed.
Of course, being a dormitory supervisor wasn’t a bad job, but it was highly unusual for the captain of the empire’s First Knight Order to suddenly be a Temple supervisor.
Both Vertus and Charlotte seemed to have anticipated this oue, and while I found it rather unexpected, it still felt like the right move.
The captain of the First Knight Order was a significant role, but the safety of the First Princess was a more critical issue that warranted her temporarily stepping down from that position.
—The captain of Shanapell...?
—Why would she...?
Those who knew about Sabioleen Tana were all taken aback. It seemed no one could understand the situation.
Who could easily ept such a situation? Without knowing the circumstances, one might think it was some bizarre April Fool’s joke.
Ellen Artorius was the only one who seemed clueless about the situation.<i> ‘I should have eaten a bit more breakfast,’</i> her face said.
Sabioleen Tana stood in between Mr. Effenhauser and Ms. Mustang, wearing a two-piece suit instead of her usual knightly armor.
“Just calling me ‘teacher’ is enough. Additionally, if needed, I can also oversee your personal training.”
At the prospect of the world’s strongest person overseeing their training, those interested began to sparkle with excitement.
The most notable one was Ludwig, who looked thrilled beyond measure.
***
There usually wasn’t a dormitory supervisor for each grade. Dormitory supervisors were assigned without regard to grade, and patrolled all floors.
However, Sabioleen Tana had been given the unique position of being the dormitory supervisor for only the first-year students.
Her primary concern would naturally be ss B, where Charlotte was, so she wasn’t going to pay much attention to ss A.
In addition to the newly-introduced dormitory supervisor, the final exam period had begun.
After the general education exams on Monday, many students spent their free time chatting.
Of course, someone like Connor Lint seemed to have no interest in the exams, and was only thinking about enjoying the uing festival.
“Aren’t you excited about the festival?” he gushed.
“I’ve only heard about it. What exactly happens during the festival?” Erhi asked.
“You don’t know? There’s a beauty pageant!”
<i>‘Of course he’s interested in that.’</i>
He seemed to think that the beauty pageant alone gave the festival immense value.
The official names of thepetition were Miss Temple and Mister Temple.
There was also a cross-dressing contest.
Usually, students from the Royal ss would be busy training for the showmatch as well, but now that the Orbis ss had been terminated, that event had been canceled altogether.
I knew the student council was struggling to find an alternative.
Because of this, there wasn’t much for the Royal ss students to prepare for, and we could just enjoy the festival.
Connor Lint was so excited that he even spoke to me. “Reinhart!”
“Yeah, what?”
“Aren’t you entering the tournament?”
“The tournament?”
“Yeah, I mean... with your skills, you could probably ce pretty high, right? They’re opening applications today.”
Although the showmatch between the Royal and Orbis sses had been canceled, the Temple-wide tournament was still taking ce.
There were grade-specific tournaments and an unlimited ss tournament open to all grades.
I had no ns to enter the tournament because I didn’t think I had a good chance of winning.
However, the rewards forpleting the rted challenges were substantial.
[(Festival) Open CategoryLimitless Tournament Victory - 15,000 points]
[(Festival) First Year Tournament Victory - 10,000 points]
With the Orbis ss now disbanded, the chances of the ex-Orbis ss students participating were very low, and even if they did, I had awakened Mana Reinforcement, Incantation, and also had Self-Deception.
Realistically speaking, in my current state, no one but Ellen could beat me. Of course, this was assuming that my Mana Reinforcement would work properly in a tournament setting.
My abilities were particrly effective in realbat, but would Mana Reinforcement work in a sparring match like the tournament?
In the Spring Pce, it had worked immediately once I tried it.
Ellen had previously said that she wouldn’t participate because her victory seemed too certain.
Final exams aside, it seemed like entering the tournament was the right move.
Achievement Points aside, winning the tournament also meant receiving a trophy and a prize from the emperor.
“Hmm, should I give it a shot then?” I said.
The three troublemakers looked at me.
At some point, they had begun to see me with a sense of reverence.
Of course, there was someone else I needed to get a definite answer from first.
I approached Ellen, who was sitting in the front row. “Hey, Ellen. I’m going to enter the first-year tournament.”
“Okay.”
“But you shouldn’t enter.”
“Okay,” she replied as she nodded coolly.
<i>‘Does this mean my victory is guaranteed?’</i>
The expressions of the three troublemakers changed. <i>‘This punk. He’s fixing the match!’</i>
There was no way I would ever win the tournament if Ellen participated, even if my life was on the line.
Second or third ce meant nothing. If I didn’t win, I would get nothing except a few coins. I had to eliminate Ellen as a variable beforehand.
And just like that, with a single short conversation, I had prevented a strong contender from entering.
It felt a bit like cheating...
Ellen stared at me, then said matter-of-factly, “If you don’t win, I’ll be mad.”
“Wait! Last time you said just getting to the quarterfinals was enough!”
“The situation has changed.”
It seemed that Ellen’s expectations of me had grown substantially
Sessfully mastering Mana Reinforcement had its downsides.
Our strongest rivals, the Orbis ss, had been disbanded, and its remaining members dispersed into the other regr sses.
I didn’t know if any of them would participate or not, but without Ellen’s participation, I would be a strong contender to take the win.
Somehow, it hade to this.
—Isn’t anyone from our ss entering Miss Temple, though?
<i>‘Hey, moron. If you’re going to talk about that kind of stuff, do it quietly so everyone doesn’t hear!’</i>
Harriet and Riana shot disdainful looks at Connor Lint for his randomment.
<i>‘You need to realize that you’re cutting your own throat in a different way than I am.’</i>
“Ah, n-no! I just... thought they might be good candidates...”
<i>‘Just shut your mouth already!’</i>
<i>m!</i>
“Reinhart!”
All of a sudden, the door to the first-year ssroom burst open, and Olivia Lanche appeared.
<i>‘Why isn’t she studying during the exam period? Whye here in person?’</i>
She ignored the stunned reactions to her sudden entrance, hurried over to me and thrust a piece of paper in my face.
I nced at the top of the paper and was struck dumb.
<i>[Miss Temple Application Form]</i>
“I’m entering Miss Temple!”
I stared nkly back at her. “W-What’s that got to do with me?”
“You’re going to vote for me, right?”
<i>‘What is this woman thinking, entering something like this?’</i>
“Ughhh! Why are youing to me about this?!”
<i>‘What does telling me all this aplish?’ </i>
She even tried to rub her face against mine, but I pushed her away in disgust.
<i>‘No! The kids are looking at me weirdly again!’</i>
This woman was even causing a scene in the ssroom.
When I finally managed to push her away, she nced around the now chilly ssroom.
“Hmph. It doesn’t look like I have anypetition here.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
Riana, Ellen, and Harriet’s expressions all turned bizarre. <i>‘Why is she suddenly picking a fight with us?’</i>
I couldn’t understand what was going on. <i>‘Why is she drawing attention like this?’</i>
Oliviaughed gleefully at the sour expressions of my ssmates, caused by her provocative remarks.
Then, she suddenly strode across the room.
She halted when she reached the front row, right next to Ellen.
“Aren’t you entering?” she asked.
Ellen red at Olivia, dismayed by the sudden provocation.
“Why would I enter something like that?”
Olivia covered her mouth and looked down at Ellen. “Are you afraid you’ll lose?”
“What?”
“Do you think you’ll lose without even trying?”
<i>‘No! Why do you always pick on the quiet ones?! Just leave her alone!’</i>
I was about to step in and say something when<i>—</i>
<i>Grasp!</i>
“Ah!”
Ellen stood up and grabbed Olivia by the cor.
The other kids stared at them in shock, and my reaction was no different.
Ellen had snapped.
Ellen held Olivia by the cor and red at her.
“I don’t know why you’re like this to me, but get lost. I don’t want to deal with you,” she said fiercely.
“Oh my... Now you’re trying to hit your senior...?”
Just as I was about to intervene and prevent Ellen from causing trouble, something unexpected happened.
<i>Squeeze!</i>
Ellen’s eyes widened in shock.
“Just remember that the world is a big ce.”
Olivia, smiling brightly, grabbed Ellen’s wrist.
With just her grip strength, Olivia effortlessly pried Ellen’s hand off her cor.
Ellen was the strongest among the first-year students, and recognized as an extraordinary monster...
Everyone watched in shock as Ellen, despite ranking highly in terms of stats, was overpowered in strength. Olivia, having removed Ellen’s hand, smoothed out her clothes and smiled.
<i>Poke!</i>
She then poked Ellen’s forehead with her index finger.
“I know you’re confident in your skills, but there’s always someone better than you. Remember that, okay?”
“...”
Ellen was staring at Olivia with wide eyes.
“So, do you want to face me in the Beauty Pageant or the Open Tournament? I’m confident I can beat you in both Miss Temple and in the tournament.”
Leaving the stunned Ellen behind, Olivia looked over at me.
<i>Wink!</i>
Olivia winked at me and then left the ssroom.
Ellen stared nkly at the door Olivia had exited from. The others looked back and forth between the dazed Ellen and me.
—I used to envy that guy...
—He definitely won’t die a natural death...
That was Erhi and Kaier, muttering away quietly.
Connor Lint patted my shoulder.
“Hey... hang in there.”
I never thought the day woulde when I received sympathy from <i>that</i> guy.
No matter how strong I had be, I still couldn’t even think of challenging Ellen.
And Olivia Lanche, who was clearly stronger than Ellen in terms of raw strength...
Everyone seemed to believe that I would be crushed between these extraordinary individuals, like a shrimp caught between two whales.
Anyway...
<i>‘Sis. We need to talk. You’re dead.’</i>
A littleter...
“I told you to stop picking on the quiet ones!” I eximed.
“I-I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”
I stormed into the fifth-year ssroom and exploded at Olivia.
“Do you want me to flip out? Should I flip out? Do you want to see it? Do you need to see it?”
“Okay, Reinhart! I went too far! Okay? I’ll apologize! Should I apologize to her?”
“Forget the apology, just leave her alone! Are you going to keep acting so immaturely? Huh?”
“Okay! I’ll leave her alone!”
All the other fifth-year seniors stared nkly as a much younger student scolded their senior like a misbehaving child.
In the end, I made Olivia cry and beg for forgiveness.
I didn’t expect her to actually cry, so I was a bit taken aback myself.