How To Survive Clichés

Chapter 12

“If it wasn’t an artifact, did you bribe the professors this time?”

I was internally impressed.

*That’s quite plausible.*

Before possession, Damian would have been capable of such heinous acts. However, there was one puzzling point.

*Does this guy have no sense?*

No matter how equal Aethis was to all students, if you didn’t become a certified mage after graduation, it was all for nothing. Because of this, some commoner students couldn’t easily challenge noble students even if conflicts arose, due to the uncertainty of their future.

Of course, if you were exceptionally talented like Yoo Suho, it would be a different story.

Riword was an ordinary person. Yet, his intense hostility suggested that he knew Damian was facing a crisis in his family. The disdain for fallen or excommunicated nobles stemmed from the loss of support from their families.

His certainty in his words and actions was evident.

‘Look at this. He’s even referring to the territory and treating the mana deficiency rumor as fact, as if he saw it himself.’

This solidified my hypothesis:

Either he had been harmed by Damian within the family or he had been harmed by him in the Draco territory.

‘One of these must be true.’

I sighed inwardly. Regardless of what happened, it was all the result of this “delinquent.”

What if I apologized to him here? It could lead to someone hearing the conversation and beginning to change their perception. But if not?

I might end up being dragged around apologizing and failing to break the delinquent cliché, potentially leading to my demise.

Moreover, it didn’t seem like apologizing to him would be the end of it. I could see his magical power swirling more intensely.

*It would be a waste of time.*

After glancing at the students focused on the conversation, I spoke up casually.

“Are you referring to the rumors? I didn’t realize there were people who actually believed them.”

My words were a clear mockery of those who believed in unverified rumors, implying that all his statements were meaningless. The students began to murmur, and some noble students cleared their throats.

“Isn’t it true?”

“I think it is. I heard it from a friend at Calathio.”

“But then, no one has seen it directly. It’s all hearsay.”

“Shh! Be quiet. They can hear us.”

On the other hand, Riword looked incredulous.

“Ha! I saw it with my own eyes. You were drunk and turned our place into a mess, then collapsed while vomiting blood.”

…A shop?

So it happened in the territory.

He seemed too young to hide his emotions and information effectively, which was quite useful for me.

“Is that so? Like this?”

Zing—Zing—!

A gust of wind swirled from my hand, rising with a powerful whirl. The small but fierce vortex was enveloped by an azure lightning that twisted around the wind.

‘Wind God.’

“Survival in the Dimension” is one of the stories in “Ancient Mage’s Adventure,” featuring advanced magic. Once mastered, it allows one to swim through the air like the ocean and wield various elemental magics arising from the atmosphere. In the middle of this dimension, Yoo Suho, who acquired the story, applied it to swordsmanship. Of course, if it were Yoo Suho, he could summon a much larger and more massive wind god, capable of cutting through space. However, it wasn’t me.

“This is fake.”

Although I remembered the drinking, if I couldn’t make the story my own after receiving it, it wouldn’t fully work. This was still my limit. And the red warning window appearing at the right time:

‘[Mana is low!]’
‘[Mana is low!]’
‘[Mana is low!]’

‘Dizzy.’

I tried to ignore it and maintain the magic. However, I soon had to withdraw the magic.

“[Mana has reached its limit!]”

Before the warning window came up, I felt firsthand that mana was lacking. It felt like a burning ember in my chest, ready to burst forth at any moment.

“Damn. It hurts.”

More than during the tutorial. As I hastily withdrew the magic, a chill began to creep over my dried sweat.

I barely opened my mouth.

“Is it somewhat similar to that time?”

“…?”

The students who had been watching hesitated like goldfish before finally starting to speak.

“Hey, what kind of drinking is that?”

“I… I don’t know either.”

“Was it due to mana deficiency or something? There were many people who witnessed it.”

“Ah, I don’t know either. Do they teach things like that at the Magic Academy?”

Among them, Riword’s face was the most worth seeing.

“…How?”

Unlike when he wandered the territory vomiting blood, he now looked quite well, and Riword’s eyes were shaking with confusion.

Riword pursed his lips and said,

“Do you know how hard it was for us because of you?”

Damn it. Is this what you meant when you shot the arrow to hurt? At least Damian broke things, but he didn’t hit people. The magical power in his hands was bigger than before.

Suppressing a sigh, I said,

“So you were supported by your family. Are you not receiving support now?”

The Aethis sponsorship system. The Draco family was generous even with commoner students. It wasn’t hard to find out that Riword, who came from the territory, was also receiving support.

Riword looked embarrassed.

“I’ll receive it when I graduate—”

“Yeah, when you graduate. They can stop supporting you if you cut ties with them now.”

Talking about his family, Riword smiled bitterly.

“How? Everyone knows you’re about to be expelled within the territory.”

“Yeah? Then why did I come here instead of being expelled immediately?”

“T-That’s—”

I had always been curious about this part as well. Cedric Draco had seemed relieved when he smeared Damian, so he kicked me out.

It was strange to give Damian, who was only an eyesore, another chance.

For now, I kept talking.

“Even if you’re kicked out of your family as you said, what did you think I would do wrong? It’s about the store in the territory. If I meet your name, I can find it soon.”

“W-What?”

“What should I try this time? Should I break the wall? No, I could burn it all down. Maybe by then, the one who has already been broken will be a member of the Draco family. You won’t get compensation.”

“W-What does that mean—”

“That means I could do that.”

The magical power that had been swirling in Riword’s hands seemed to lose its will in an instant and diminished. It seemed he finally realized what might happen because of me. Riword, with his face turned pale, spoke up.

“Then, what should I do now—”

“Well, I don’t see why I should have to tell you.”

At my ambiguous response, Riword bowed down completely and apologized.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll do anything. Please, just spare our store.”

He made himself out to be a villain and bowed his head so low it didn’t seem like he intended to raise it. He changed his attitude suddenly, from provoking and threatening to begging. Yet he still tried to manage his expression while keeping his head bowed.

“What is he hoping to achieve?”

But it wasn’t entirely useless.

“You don’t have to apologize.”

“…Pardon? Then—”

Riword lifted his head slightly to look at me, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

No chance.

I smiled and whispered to him, and after hearing my words, Riword returned to his place with a dazed expression.

* * *

The princess’s brows furrowed involuntarily. She had noticed that Damian’s magical power was running low.

“Fainter than yesterday.”

It was a natural result, given the large amount of mana expended from the test with Professor Morax, the duel with the commoner Riword, and the unknown magic used.

“What was that?”

It wasn’t just simple magic. It seemed like ancient magic. And within it, a small but intense whirlwind had been activated. If Damian had fully unleashed the magic, not only the commoner but the entire classroom would have been swept away and devastated by a storm.

Moreover, he had freely used other elemental magic as well. Even for a princess, discerning the true nature of ancient magic she had never seen before was challenging.

“Clearly a commoner.”

At that moment, the princess’s face flushed red. She remembered Damian’s words.

“Is he talking about the rumors? There were people who believed those to be true.”

It felt like the students who spread unverified rumors, from mana deficiency to being a troublemaker, were no different. The princess used a cooling spell on her face to calm the heated expression.

The cold aura began to clear her thoughts. At this point, the Damian Draco she had imagined seemed to be a completely different person. Not only was his magic extraordinary, but he also handled the commoner’s insults with composure and turned the situation in his favor.

Nobility insult laws. In a class-based society, laws were established to maintain the order of ranks. If the actions during the duel were combined with the insult to the nobility, Riword could face expulsion rather than mere discipline.

But Damian didn’t do that. He managed to soothe the commoner’s anger naturally while asserting his own views, and even dissipated the magical power that seemed ready to attack him.

“Especially… what did he say at the end?”

This was a topic of curiosity not only for the princess but for other students as well.

“What did he say to Riword?”

“I don’t know. Whatever he said, Riword’s probably done for, right?”

“Yeah. We wouldn’t have backed down from nobles if we didn’t have to.”

Among the students, speculation was rampant, but unless the parties involved revealed it, it was unknown. The princess, seeing Damian’s actions defy expectations, felt a peculiar sense of defeat. At the same time, her heart began to race intensely.

She was bewildered by her unusually fast-beating heart but quickly realized the cause.

Yes, It was pride in Damian.