༺ Social Gathering (5) ༻

The party was in full swing.

I made my way over to our meeting place. The party venue in the third building of Palace Hall.

Inside the fancy party venue, nicely dressed students were slightly intoxicated as they chatted pleasantly with each other.

There was where Dorothy was supposed to be.

‘Where’s Dorothy?’

I quickly scanned the venue in search of her.

After resolving to attend the social gathering at Atla Hall, I changed my mind and decided to accept Dorothy’s proposal to be her partner.

Would I stand out if I was with Dorothy? Well, it wasn’t like I needed to hide myself like a mole burrowing underground after all.

Alice couldn’t act rashly right now because the academy’s staff knew about the informant.

Moreover, there were plenty of other students with the ice element who were far stronger than me, so it was unlikely for her to identify me as the Black Monster.

The scenario itself had become twisted.

Even Dorothy was on my side.

And even the groundless rumors about me and Luce being in a relationship hadn’t really done any harm.

‘In that case…’

It was better to show off my friendship with Dorothy than it was to go out of my way to avoid attention.

This way, even if Alice ended up taking an interest in me, she wouldn’t be able to harass me if the fact that I was under Dorothy’s protection became widely known.

I only need to hold out until the Alice subjugation anyway.

Naturally, I was only going to emphasize the fact that I was close with Dorothy at the gathering today. I had no intention of clinging to her and using her in the future.

…But all this was just an excuse.

‘I just felt a little tired.’

To be honest, I wanted to take a short break. I was human too, so I couldn’t keep running like a madman forever.

I needed to take breaks every now and then, just like back when I was studying full-time.

I expected to be exhausted after dealing with Malrog.

And just as I had expected, my energy was rapidly grained as soon as my nerves relaxed. The war of nerves I had waged against Malrog left me really fatigued.

I had expected this, so that’s why I’d decided to spend a day off with Dorothy, who had asked me to be her partner.

But, for some reason… I couldn’t find Dorothy anywhere. I couldn’t find her no matter where I looked.

‘I am a bit early…’

Is she not here yet because I got here early?

I was lost in thought when I suddenly heard a familiar voice next to me.

“What a coincidence. You’re attending the gathering too, I see.”

The voice exuded an elegance that was befitting of a young lady but also had the sharpness of a blade as well.

I turned around to see who it was.

The owner of the voice was wearing a crimson rose hair clip in her brown bob and a crimson dress. It was Rose Red Rivera.

Next to her was a handsome young man wearing a stylish suit.

His hair was the same brown as Rose’s and a crimson rose was pinned to his chest.

It looked like he was a student from the Knight Department, judging by his muscular physique and the sword at his waist.

‘I think I’ve seen him in the game. He’s probably…’

Ah, right, Rose’s older brother. A senior.

He was about a head taller than me. I was around 175 cm, so he was pretty tall.

“Oh, good to see you.”

In any event, I greeted them with a smile.

Rose and I couldn’t be said to be on good terms even with empty words, but let’s let bygones be bygones.

Surely she wasn’t about to pick a fight with me in the middle of a party, right?

…And yet, Rose was scowling in displeasure.

“Looks like you don’t have a partner… Then again, who’d want to be partners with someone like you?”

I knew it was too good to be true.

Wait a minute, didn’t you drag your brother here with you because you don’t have a partner either?

“Who’s this brat, Rose?”

“Remember, Lord Brother Razel? He’s the asshole I told you about before.”

Rose crossed her arms.

There was blatant malice in her laughter-filled speech. It looked like she was spewing hot air because she had her reliable older brother with her.

Razel, Rose’s older brother, frowned and looked back at me mockingly.

“He’s a very lousy and cocky man… He also hurt me before, and he’s the same pig who screwed me over.”

She was suddenly reminding me of the saying about throwing people under the bus.

After all, Rose had always been the instigator of our little feud.

“Isn’t that all in the past? Besides, you were always the one who started…”

Smack—!

I felt a sudden impact against my cheek as my head whipped to one side. It had happened out of nowhere.

‘What the hell…?’

My cheek was throbbing. Razel, Rose’s older brother, had punched me in the face.

“You didn’t collapse. You’re better than I expected.”

Razel had taken out a handkerchief and was wiping off his fist. He was acting like he had touched something dirty.

The atmosphere inside the party venue cooled rapidly. Even with the music still playing, it was glaringly obvious because everyone had suddenly stopped talking.

Everyone had turned to look at us, wondering what was going on.

“That was for hurting Rose, my beloved little sister, and making her upset. You need to be put in your place.”

[Razel Red Rivera] Lv: 78

Race: Human

Elements: Fire, Lightning

Danger: Low

Psychology: [Feels humiliated by you.]

My mood cooled.

This asshole is pissing me off even more because he sounds well-educated and high-class.

His slander had been said with decorum, but it was filled with his disdain for me nonetheless.

“Even after all the things you have done to my sister, you have the audacity to say, ‘Good to see you’…? You have neither shame nor sense, I see. Don’t you think your greeting was improper?”

Razel finished wiping down his fist and put his handkerchief back in his pocket.

It wasn’t as if he’d gotten blood or filth on his hand. He hadn’t actually wiped away anything. Except for the dust on my skin, perhaps.

“Perhaps it’s because you haven’t been properly educated. You must be from a poor commoner family. Let me take the chance to spell things out for you right here and right now. This might be the academy, but you should never forget your origins. You need to know yourself better.”

“…Oh yeah?”

“Be respectful when you talk to me.”

Razel’s elegant and aristocratic speech seemed to fill up with frost.

“Don’t you know that juniors are supposed to show respect to their seniors? How dare you speak so casually with me?”

After some reflection, I realized that Razel had a point. It was certainly true that I had greeted Rose improperly.

“You’re right. I apologize, Senior. Please let me give my greetings again.”

This was the proper way to greet her.

I held up my right hand and flipped the bird at Rose and Razel.

“A pleasure to meet you here, you fucking imbeciles.”

Rose started freaking out. I guess she really liked my greeting.

[Razel Red Rivera] Psychology: [Feels insulted and enraged at you.]

Just as I had expected, the emotions vanished from Razel’s face as he began swinging his fist again.

Well, whatever. This will actually help me relieve some stress. Let’s throw some hands, shall we?

“…!”

Just then, a bunch of colorful stars appeared on top of Razel’s head.

Sparkle—.

Swoooosh——!!

“Ack!!”

Razel, who had just been about to punch me, suddenly vanished from my field of vision as if he had been teleported.

His body was being pulled somewhere at an incredible speed.

He was being pulled toward the doors. Rose and I turned around to look, startled.

Thud—!

Sparkle——!

“A-argh!”

In front of the doors.

A woman with lavender hair that complemented her refined violet dress was holding Razel by the head with her outstretched hand. In an instant, there was a sudden gush of wind, and clusters of stars were dispersed.

Razel kneeled on the floor as he struggled, but the woman didn’t budge. It was as if she was an iron wall.

Stars of every color were floating around them.

Starlight magic dealt with all kinds of forces. A powerful, compulsive force had pulled Razel all the way to the woman’s hand.

The woman was employing gravity too as she grabbed Razel’s head with so much force I was afraid it might explode.

She had even cast the highest level of [Basic Protection Magic]. There was no way that Razel would be able to put a single scratch on the woman no matter how hard he struggled.

“…”

Emotionless.

The woman’s eyes, which seemed to contain the universe within them, turned to Razel.

Heavy mana weighed heavily on the air. I could even feel her bloodlust, which involuntarily sent a shiver down my spine.

The other students who were watching the spectacle fared no better.

The orchestra stopped playing. The musicians were also flustered and broke out into a cold sweat as they watched the woman with lavender hair.

The only sound that filled the venue was Razel’s desperate screaming.

“G-aah…! My head, my head…!! Argh!! S-save me…!!”

Razel had been overflowing with dignity just mere moments ago, but it was completely gone now. All I could see was an ordinary animal struggling desperately for survival.

It reminded me that regardless of status, all were equal before death.

The woman with lavender hair stood still as she held Razel by the head.

She was the second year top seat of the Magic Department and the strongest powerhouse at Märchen Academy, Dorothy Heartnova.

“S-shouldn’t someone stop her…?”

“Dorothy, it’s Dorothy…! Who’s even capable of stopping her…? Ack!”

Swish—!

Crash——!

Dorothy tossed Razel off to the side, bringing him crashing down with the gravitational pull generated by her starlight magic.

The floor cracked and formed a crater as Razel’s body was crushed against it.

In the midst of the cluster of stars, he coughed up blood before passing out.

A suffocating silence filled the venue.

“L-Lord Brother…? Eek!”

Then, Dorothy began walking over to where Rose was.

“W-why are you coming this way…?!”

I felt a dense bloodlust. The cluster of stars that twinkled in and out of view around Dorothy were very intimidating.

Rose stepped back in terror, but then she tripped over her own dress and fell over backward.

Dorothy’s face was frigid as she looked down at Rose. Rose was trembling as if she was inflected by the plague.

She probably felt like she was walking on eggshells. Even I could feel her terror just by standing next to her.

“I-I-I… I didn’t d-do anything…!”

And then.

A delicate smile graced Dorothy’s frigid features.

“Sorry, but he’ll be coming with me. He’s my partner, you see.”

Every single attendee could hear her voice loud and clear because the venue was in absolute silence.

Dorothy retracted her stars, grabbed my wrist, and turned around.

“What?”

Rose looked utterly baffled.

The other students shared her sentiment. I could hear them saying things like, “Dorothy’s partner?” and, “Him?”

Dorothy was the strongest powerhouse at Märchen Academy. As expected, the fact that I was her partner garnered a lot of attention on me.

“Let’s go, President~.”

“Senior?”

Dorothy dragged me by the wrist as she quickly began walking away.

Her pull was weak because she wasn’t using any magic, but I let her pull me along anyway.

“Oh, I forgot.”

Dorothy snapped her fingers as if she remembered something.

Suddenly, a faint cluster of stars appeared around Rose’s head.

Swoosh—!

Pow!

“Gaah!”

Gravity suddenly pulled from every direction at once, and Rose’s head suddenly toppled sideways and slammed into the floor.

Rose laid on the floor as she groaned.

That was the last thing I saw as Dorothy and I left the venue.