Became a Traitor in an Academy

I’m Even More Sorry

Now, two days after that duel.

It became certain that my classmates were quietly avoiding me.

Naturally the thug and Ageha whom I directly trampled, but even Lapis in the next seat and Jin-hyeon and Yeonhwa in front seemed hesitant, as if unsure how to treat me.

Min-ho was looking at me suspiciously, just like when he first clung to me.

“Um, ah… g-good morning, Blanca…!”

So, while I did it intending to become an undeniable presence in class.

I wondered if I had gone too far, as Justitia said.

“Good morning, Lapis. Yeonhwa and Jin-hyeon too.”

“Eh, yes?! That’s right. Good morning, Blanca!”

I returned Lapis’s greeting that she managed to squeeze out with non-existent courage.

While also greeting Jin-hyeon and Yeonhwa, I recalled the counseling with Justitia that day.

…Though rather than counseling, it was closer to a lecture.

She sternly scolded me, saying my behavior in the duel wasn’t heroic at all no matter how generously you looked at it, and was too excessive.

It wasn’t surprising that she scolded me like that, since she had emphasized there would be no favoritism right up until the day before enrollment.

But still, I felt a bit hurt.

They provoked me first – I only grumbled internally that she could have said a few nice words, but left it at that.

On the other hand, I also felt she was right. I went too far.

If I wanted to firmly imprint my abilities, I could have just sprayed sleeping gas, but I got emotional and unnecessarily instilled fear.

Getting feared by extras was fine either way.

Whether they couldn’t approach because they felt a wall, or couldn’t approach because they felt fear, it made no difference to me.

But if that caused problems with meeting the main characters, that was a different story.

If the main characters started avoiding me, it would not only hurt emotionally but also cause problems with the plan.

First of all, I needed to stick with the main characters to monitor them or suppress their growth, but I couldn’t do anything if they avoided me.

If I followed them while they avoided me, it would only raise suspicion and resistance.

In other words, I needed to somehow improve my image… but I had no idea what to do or how to do it.

I knew how to make people fear me, but didn’t know how to make them feel at ease.

And it’s not like I could just go around spraying tranquilizers in people’s faces.

What should I do? I thought very deeply about what to do while tapping the classroom wall with my tail.

But I couldn’t think of anything until lunchtime.

Even until I sat at the table with Yeonhwa, Jin-hyeon, and Lapis.

“…Um, Blanca. Did you hear something bad from the teacher yesterday? Or did something else bad… happen?”

Yeonhwa asked in the middle of eating if something bad had happened to me.

Just as I was about to casually brush off her question, one thought suddenly struck me.

Wouldn’t Yeonhwa, who’s skilled at dealing with people, know what to do?

“Yeah. There’s something bothering me. But how did you know?”

“Well, your ears are lying flat.”

…Huh?

Is this racial discrimination?

When I looked at Yeonhwa with disbelief, she seemed to realize her mistake and hurriedly explained.

“I-I mean! I have a cat at home, and when the cat’s in a bad mood, its ears lie flat like that! Besides, since Blanca always has that expression, I have to look at your ears and tail to tell…”

Looking at Yeonhwa who seemed really flustered, she probably wasn’t even aware of it.

“…I see. Please be a bit more careful from now on.”

Though Ein race had officially gained human status over 30 years ago, discrimination against Ein race still remained in society.

Of course, there were no cases of foolishly discriminating against the strong based on race.

Such discrimination was mostly directed at the weak.

That’s why most laboratory test subjects were Ein race too.

…Though I have none of the original body’s personality or memories, this body probably experienced a lot of such discrimination.

Maybe that’s why I react sensitively like this now.

Like Pavlov’s dog maybe?

Whatever. Who cares.

After stepping on a landmine but dramatically surviving, Yeonhwa let out a relieved sigh and immediately poured out questions.

“So, what’s this thing that’s bothering you?”

Her intention to somehow smooth over the atmosphere was obvious.

Seeing that made me smile slightly and I went along with her intention.

“I see, I was surprised when the fight suddenly broke out. To cut off bad blood from the entrance exam…”

“The problem is you went too far.”

Jin-hyeon, who had been completely silent until now, suddenly cut in and pointed out my mistake.

Though I suddenly felt really annoyed, I had nothing to say since he wasn’t wrong.

“…That’s right. Because of that, it seems like people are avoiding me, so I want to do something about it. Do you have any good ideas?”

“Wouldn’t apologizing work?”

Wouldn’t apologizing work, as if it could be that simple.

Of course I’d considered apologizing too.

Even fantasized about sincerely saying sorry and them accepting it cleanly with an “okay.”

But there’s no way it would work out like that.

Is saying sorry enough?

They might try to squeeze more out of it.

Looking at the thug’s personality still, the possibility was high.

When I expressed such thoughts, Yeonhwa shook her head and seriously advised:

“That could happen. But you know, Blanca. If you want to receive something, you inevitably have to give something too.”

If you want to receive goodwill, show goodwill first.

Yeonhwa spouted such simple-minded words.

It sounded perfect for becoming a sucker no matter how you looked at it.

However, as if reading such thoughts from my gaze, Yeonhwa smiled brightly and said:

“Come on, don’t be like that. Give it a try! It’s better to try something than do nothing at all!”

“I-I also… think Yeonhwa is right… if you don’t do anything, nothing will change…”

Moreover, even Lapis hesitantly told me to give it a try.

“Alright… for now. Thanks for the advice.”

Sigh. Should I really close my eyes and try it?

Since an expert recommends it so strongly, it should work.

Strike while the iron is hot, as they say – toward the end of lunch break, I went to find the victims/losers settled in the corner.

They seemed so full of energy until the entrance ceremony and the next day.

Mainly having heated discussions about how to punish me.

Now the atmosphere was completely sunken as if they were all in mourning.

Why even gather together if they’re not going to talk.

“…Why are you…”

Ageha was terrified as soon as she saw me like she’d encountered a rank 1 monster, while the thug had an expression like “so you’ve come.”

I came to apologize, but actually standing in front of them wasn’t easy.

Though I’m confident in saying things I don’t mean, for some reason apologizing specifically just wouldn’t come out.

As I stared down at them, Ageha snapped as if even a worm would squirm when stepped on:

“…What is it?! Did you come to mock us?! Say something at least!”

I couldn’t tell if she was tearing up from anger or fear.

But, right. I didn’t come to mock them.

Forcibly moving my uncooperative mouth, I bowed to the thug.

“…Sorry. I hurt you too much then. I went too far.”

Though I’d practiced hundreds of times in my head, when it actually came out of my mouth it was terribly awkward.

It was such a clumsy apology that I’d have nothing to say if someone hit me on the head with a book saying “you call that an apology?”

More than that, when should I raise my head?

As I was looking around not knowing that either, the thug who had been maintaining silence opened his mouth.

“No, you don’t need to apologize. Like you said then, I was stupid and arrogant.”

“Yamaguchi-kun…?”

“I’m the one who should be sorry. Though I was weak, I was conceited thinking I was stronger than you. Instead of thinking about improving my skills, I was just jealous of your ability.”

The thug, no, Fukukin knelt down and lowered himself even more than me.

Eh, what?

Was he this kind of person?

Why is he suddenly like this?

No, I knew he was a power supremacist but. Did he feel that much of a wall?

Other classmates seemed equally perplexed, murmuring while looking at me and Fukukin.

“Wait, wait a minute, Yamaguchi-kun! We still haven’t received an apology for the entrance exam-“

“That too, if we had enough skill we could have avoided it completely. It’s because we lacked ability.”

As if his personality had completely changed after being thoroughly defeated by me, there was no trace of thuggishness left in him. I mean, he did change to this personality after being completely defeated by the protagonist in the middle part.

…Looks like he came to his senses too early because of me.

This is awkward.

Well, it’s not like he particularly affects the story, and his role is just getting called out whenever a troublemaker is needed and getting beaten up for acting up…

So I guess it doesn’t matter much.

I just meant to apologize in front of everyone for the duel to somewhat recover my image, but somehow it turned into a mutual “I was more wrong” competition.

Well then. Should I just go with the flow?

“…No, even I think that was going too far. I’m sorry. I apologize.”

Even while saying it, I thought “this is actually working.”

Well, even if their personalities aren’t great, they’re kids who are serious enough about becoming heroes to get into Class A.

Though they might be immature, their nature probably isn’t evil.

As the atmosphere flowed this way, Ageha also seemed to run out of things to pick at and was apologizing in an ant-like voice without a subject.

Surprisingly, apologizing first isn’t so bad. I thought that while watching things flow into a warm atmosphere.

“Though I’m not sure exactly what happened… I’m glad things worked out well, Blanca. Right?” When I returned to my seat, Yeonhwa said it seemed to have worked out well anyway.

“Yeah.”

Though really, only Fukukin reformed on his own and the rest probably just got swept up in the atmosphere.

Still, my image should be recovered.

“Please take your seats. Before ability training today, we’ll have a brief club introduction time.”

In other words, now I can freely follow the main characters around.

Thinking that, I met eyes with Min-ho who was watching me.

And smiled broadly. Because I was looking forward to it.