HTACS 60

Chapter 60

The hall was filled with applause.

All of it was cheering for me—Wolfram von Lohengrin.

Ah, this is easy. Zefflin is easy. Excellent.

The professor is crying, and the students are clapping.

Most of the kids here have that tendency.

They love things like reform and rebellion.

Ayla, with her uniquely standout rebellious sense, used to play in a realm even the professors couldn’t understand, ruining her grades and dropping the course this year—but conversely, that means for a normal person like me, who Ayla calls her “rebellion partner,” just imitating rebellion is enough to coast on points.

Love you. Thank you. I’ll use those points well. Even after I graduate, I won’t forget you.

Dreams? Screw that. My dream is to coast as a convenience store manager for a thousand, ten thousand years.

But I can’t say all that out loud.

Maintaining the most expressionless face possible, I returned to my seat and finally crossed my legs, curling the corners of my mouth up.

I did it. I milked it. I milked the hell out of it!

I wanted to laugh like that, but I couldn’t.

In the corner of my vision, pink—no, it was darker than pink, more like black-pink, or maybe I should call it something else—a truly terrifying mix of black and pink was shooting toward me.

Who could possibly have such dangerous thoughts?

“Your Highness Prince Wolfram von Lohengrin.”

Please.

Don’t look at me like that.

Don’t come near me with that insane pink…

“Get lost.”

“Yes. But before I leave, may I ask one question? Would you be so kind as to answer?”

“I’ll allow the question.”

“…Yes. I dare ask—since when… and how far ahead have you been planning?”

Hmm.

That’s a bit of a vague question.

If I infer, she’s probably asking since when I prepared this and how far ahead I’ve planned.

“…A time you cannot even imagine.”

“…Is… that so.”

So… the day before yesterday?

Honestly, when a guy holds clay, first he makes a sword, then a robot, then a car—I just tried making a train with Handy Worker for the first time, and since there were no trains in Zefflin, I just happened to run my mouth a bit.

“Yes. So step back.”

“Yesss. It seems there is no place for me by Your Highness Wolfram’s side right now, so I shall take my leave.”

“……”

“But someday, I hope there will be a place for me on that great path.”

“……”

—

Regina Sierra watched Wolfram’s back as he walked away without a word.

Then she turned around, covered her face with both hands, and lowered her head.

No one must see her face.

This smile cannot be shown to anyone.

“…A time I cannot even imagine. When could it be? Truly, when?”

When he entered Zefflin? No, that’s well within “imaginable” territory.

So earlier than that—from when he was called the “Trash Prince” in the imperial family?

“Just how far is he dreaming?”

Regina Sierra’s specialty is inference and deduction.

The greatest quality required of the eldest daughter of the Sierra family, surpassing even the Trista family, is fragmented cartography—piecing together the whole from fragments and deducing the details. It requires an intensity of work akin to assembling a precision clock from each piece of garbage-like information picked up and collected.

But she could do it. Even with the bloody scent tickling her nose, Regina Sierra could understand—at least in part—the fragments of Wolfram von Lohengrin’s planning.

“…You’re trying to restart the clock of this world that’s been stopped for 300 years, aren’t you, Your Highness?”

Wolfram von Lohengrin’s natural stats are extremely low. As she recalled, stamina 2, mana 3. He can be neither a knight nor a mage.

That’s why after becoming student council president, he engaged in a reign of tyranny. He bought up the Knight Department’s famous swords and the Magic Department’s expensive magic books. It’s known to the public that Wolfram only bought cheap stuff, but that can’t be true.

To be precise, Wolfram bought everything. With imperial money.

After using the power of money to buy up all the military might of both the Knight and Magic Departments—what did he do? Nothing. Rather, he sowed discord, seized interests, and exhausted the students as a whole.

And then he yielded the student council presidency to his younger sister.

Through the method of “usurpation.”

The villain sank into the shadows, and the students felt that a new world under a new student council was about to unfold.

Yes. A new world would come.

Now they can only live on the happiness provided by Eve von Lohengrin.

They had already been robbed of their most precious things by Wolfram.

High-level magic books and famous swords.

The symbols of power for both departments.

Because all of that is now tied up in the student council.

The student council currently has no money. They’re squeezing every last drop.

That’s crystal clear when looking at Zefflin’s budget.

That’s because Eve von Lohengrin refuses to release the “famous swords” and “magic books” Wolfram bought into the market.

Thanks to that, even basic iron swords and standard clothing have skyrocketed in price, but the student council has no intention of withdrawing this policy.

Because swords and magic are power above money. And money itself is the most rotten power of all.

After hollowing out Zefflin’s military power, sowing discord between the two departments, and handing authority to his younger sister, Wolfram continued to get along well with Eve von Lohengrin. Reports said that while they raised middle fingers and cursed each other, there was an intimacy like that of commoner siblings beneath it all.

If it ended there, he’d be a president who successfully abdicated to his younger sister. But Wolfram reappeared as a regular student.

He earned favor from “graduate students”—those who would be immediately combat-ready upon entering society.

At the same time, he showed a good side to “freshmen”—the naive chicks who don’t know reality.

This means investing in both the present and the future simultaneously—when Wolfram graduates, the established graduate students will welcome him, and the freshmen will join his support the moment they graduate.

“Magical Sweets. The Sleeping Mountain Range expedition.”

Regina personally saw the Magical Sweets—”buffs that don’t exist in the present world”—breathing dreams into the faculty. With this, he can neutralize the biggest opposing public opinion: the high intellectuals.

And she also obtained information that he personally tested it with Eve von Lohengrin’s “student council” and led the expedition to success.

“And the train and rails he showed today.”

Wolfram von Lohengrin.

A man carrying the greatest bloodline yet possessing the lowest aptitude.

But all of that was a disguise.

He was a tiger, a lion, a dragon.

“His blade will point beyond Lohengrin.”

Beyond the eastern forest—further into the deep. Beyond the western mountains—further into the harsh. The ends of the ice fortress and the place beyond the desert where sky and earth meet.

For now, expeditions cost far too much—but if all those paths were woven together with rails, and steel warhorses ran upon them?

Supply would become easier, troops would move, and expeditions would begin.

If the First Emperor wove together kingdoms and tribes to build an empire, then he would connect empires and expand them even further.

“The greatest dreamer since the First Emperor.”

*Creak*. Her teeth ground together.

Not out of hatred for someone—but resentment toward herself.

Why did she reject and underestimate him at first?

“Your Highness’s fiancée is the young lady of the Trista family. …There’s no place for me as a lover.”

With a castle built from the weakest power—financial power—one cannot stand beside Wolfram von Lohengrin.

That’s only natural—he can easily brush aside annoying merchants just by distributing a small amount of what he makes.

And Wolfram von Lohengrin trusts Ayla Trista. As proof, he has already handed all handling rights for “Magical Sweets” to the Trista family—specifically, to Ayla alone.

“Moreover, he intends to become the scale itself.”

This point is certain.

Wolfram von Lohengrin judges people with his own eyes and keeps them by his side.

Already, only the renowned gather around him. “The Radiant Student Council President” Eve von Lohengrin. “The Black Crystal” Ayla Trista. “[The Abyssal Dagger]” Rudika Hassan Shadow.

Her own talent as a magic merchant is also sufficient… but her current value isn’t that important.

The moment Wolfram chooses someone, they walk the path to success.

A prime example is the eldest daughter of the Sabre baronial family, who is slated to receive a title soon as a first-year—Mille-feuille von Sabre—she broke the grade’s top student under his guidance.

“First, now is the time to lower my head.”

There’s no way around it. The Wolfram faction is already complete. There is still no place for Regina Sierra within it.

“From the shadows a bit more… I’ll plan so that someday I can become the most brilliant supporting player on the stage he orchestrates.”

Finishing her thoughts, Regina Sierra raised her head. As always, a composed and neat smile settled on her face.

“Ah. Wolfram von Lohengrin. You’ve broken me three times. At the competition. And just now in the practical exam. And… in this very moment, in the scale of your dreams and ambition, I’ve lost. A complete defeat.”

Regina Sierra giggled. Light bloomed in her eyes.

Deeper than the eyes of a girl in love, her gaze was filled with unknowable emotion.

“Even if you hate me, I’ve fallen for you.”

With a pure laugh, Regina lightly stepped toward the Atelier district, where artists were said to frequently stay.

“First, shall I order a portrait of Wolfram-sama to decorate my room? Life-size would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

—

After that day.

I had to feel gazes watching me from somewhere.

But what was truly frightening was that when I looked toward them, there was no one there.

…I remember this story.

Where was it—if you open Regina’s route, while walking through campus, a message would pop up: “You feel a gaze from somewhere.”

And the Regina Corps lunatics would say that meant you’d been “chosen” by Regina-sama, calling it an “industry award” and all that nonsense… that’s your industry. I’m not part of it.

“What’s wrong, Master?”

When I stopped abruptly, Patrasche tilted his head.

“…No, it’s nothing. There’s something extremely ominous, extremely annoying… No, never mind.”

“Tired? That makes sense, given your stamina.”

“…Mhm. Maybe.”

I forcibly erased from my mind that girl dyed in an unimaginable color—black-pink.

Her route opens after being broken three times.

But I’ve only broken her twice, so it won’t open. If it opens, that’s a bug. No matter how I count, it’s two times.

“Let’s hurry back. If your stamina runs out and you collapse, I’ll be inconvenienced.”

“…Mhm.”

Following Eve’s advice, I decided to bring Patrasche along whenever I went outside.

It helps maintain imperial dignity, and it seems to work out.

“By the way, I heard the exam results came out?”

“…Mhm. They did.”

“How did it go? I’m somewhat curious.”

I chuckled.

Do I even need to explain?

—

When I returned to the convenience store, Ayla was waiting.

“Wolfram. How were your exam results?”

“…Hm.”

How should I explain this? If I don’t explain to her, it’ll be annoying.

It seemed like it’d become extremely troublesome, so I summarized it.

“It was rebellious.”

“……As expected. I knew it!”

She beamed with a full smile, grabbed my hand, and shook it vigorously.

Hey. Hey. My arm’s going to fall off. I’m not joking—my joints are in danger.

“…Let go, Ayla.”

“Ah, yes! …Mmm.”

Ayla let go of my hand and tapped her palms together, her face flushed.

Her face was oddly red—maybe shaking my arm so much improved her blood circulation.

“How did you do?”

“……Heh.”

At my words, Ayla spread both hands into V signs.

“For the first time, I won!”

“What?”

“We tied for first with perfect scores on the written, but she made some strange mistakes on the practical. So—first place! From this midterm to finals…”

Ayla placed both hands on her chest, took a couple of deep breaths, and answered with a beaming smile.

“Ayla Trista is the top student of the Magic Department!”

At that flawless, clear smile, I found myself momentarily stunned.

“……Good work.”

“Yesss!”

“That’s rebellious.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Mhm. You really worked hard. That was truly rebellious. And… mhm.”

As I paused, searching for more praise, I felt a hand grab mine.

“I didn’t succeed in rebellion alone! You succeeded too, Wolfram!”

“……I suppose.”

Limited to Social Development and Magic.

Top scorer.

Wolfram von Lohengrin.

“This is a real rebellion that we both accomplished!”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“Rebellion, rebellion!”

“Yeah.”

“It’s rebellion!”

“……Yeah. You’re right.”

Well.

If you’re happy, that’s enough.