RATH 85

TL: Eevee

10. We came, we saw, we won (10)

For some reason it feels like I just got dunked in a mud pool.

“Innit cuz the students’re cussing owner out?”

“No, that’s normal. My ears don’t even itch anymore.”

It can’t be helped.

To begin with, the teachers hated most by students were the ones that were always the ones that were most proactive for them.

The best teachers as a student are the ones that don’t care no matter what you’re doing!

The teachers that don’t yell at you to cut your hair, or sleep during class are never cursed at.

But teachers like me who look after their students with love and diligence are always hated.

Why the hell are you sticking your nose in my business, they say.

These young students still don’t appreciate that this is all part of a teacher’s dedication and affection.

But once they graduate those teachers are the ones that last the longest in their minds.

The ones that would hit them, yell at them, and despite all that, see them the most!

“Yeah, nup, nuh-uh. I guarantee ya once those kids graduate they won’t even look anywhere near where owner is.”

“It is common sense that disciples do not tread on even their master’s shadows, nor may they look them in the eye!”

“Wait, that wunt what I meant..”

I ignored the metal bat’s face that reeked of some frustration of some sort, and checked Yugrasia’s scoreboard again.

[Arucia: 0pt]

[Marcis: 7pt]

[Yugrasia: 34pt]

[Mercaria: 0pt]

“Kaah, beautiful.”

“But owner’s ex-disciple still worky worky really hard and got 7 points?”

“She did.. I really wanted to bring her over, out of everyone else..”

No.17 left a deep impression on everyone as she powered up like a protagonist, and struggled on her own to bring two victories to Marcis.

But now she should be approaching her limits as well.

“There are nine events left. Since the final Siege event lasts the entire day, she needs to win the majority of the events in these last two days in order for Marcis to even have a hope of overturning Yugrasia’s lead. Even for No.17, that’s impossible.”

Unless the last day was worth 100 points like some of the old variety shows I watched, it’s impossible for them to win.

Because since most of the events took place alongside each other, the most events someone could participate in a day was two at the absolute most!

Even if she takes out two wins per day, there will be no way that could make a comeback!

“..was what I’d been thinking until just yesterday!”

“Owner, it’s sumthin’ ya say a lot. Cut ya foot on ya trusted axe. That’s a really good phrase for this, ya know?”

Perhaps the admins of the imperial festival were going crazy, but the match timetables we got at lunch were weird.

[All of today’s events are worth 10pt each.]

The first day’s events of the imperial festival were worth 1 point.

Out of the 6 events of the second day, 1 was worth 2 points and the rest were worth 1 point.

On the third day, there were 6 events, similar to the second day. But they were worth twice as many points at two points each, and the event that No.17 won was worth 4 points.

And yesterday’s events were worth 3 points each, with one being worth 6!

But each event is worth 10 points from Day 5 onwards? If one were to win just two events, wouldn’t that put them within range of a comeback victory?!

Where the hell did the ‘equal for all’ imperial festival go to!

“Owner, if that’s whatcha gonna complain about, then the Mercaria kids’ll probably have more to say on that than you do?”

“They’re just here to make up the numbers so they’re not important! They’re boring as well!”

“The imperial festival’s gone boring cuz’a Yugrasia as well. Ya know how boring an event that’s already got a winner is? The gamblers especially are probs going nuts right now?”

“Although the people that bet on Yugrasia are probably kicking up more of a storm than them.”

“Like owner?”

“Yes, like me!”

In the end, I bet 5000 gold on odds of 15 to 1 at a secret gambling den.

Although of course it was unofficial!

The official odds actually exceed a whopping 100 to 1, but the amount of gold you can bet is too small, and it also has the drawback that you need to go retrieve the money in person from the imperial Treasury offices.

Rather than running the risk of getting caught, a place where I wouldn’t get caught, and was much more profitable despite the smaller odds was better for me.

“If I win, 75000 gold! If it’s that much then at least I’ll break even on my investment!”

“If owner gets rich then I’ll get to eat all the tasty things I want too!”

The metal bat beside me was just as excited as I was.

But for a metal stick, just why the heck was it so fixated on finding things to eat?

No, I’ve asked this question several times before, but how is it even eating?

“That’s, a secret!”

“Yes, yes.”

I nodded my head and looked over today’s event schedule.

One individual event, and three team events.

What was particularly noteworthy was that two of those team events were massive ones involving over a 100 people from each school.

“If it’s a team event there’ll be a couple of academies that think they might have a chance.”

The most formidable opponent is as always, Marcis.

No.17 and her winning streak in the events she appeared in from Day 3 onwards was of course a problem in itself, but if over 100 people all concentrated their firepower on us, then our side could expect significant casualties as well.

“If it’s No.17 who’s back to normal, then before all her teammates become useless, she’d have them squeeze out all their mana and launching long-range bombardments.”

“Stuco pres’ll probs be a necessity to stop that kinda barrage?”

“But we don’t know which event she’ll appear in.”

Aris wanted a rematch against No.17, but she failed to get one yesterday.

We thought she’d show up in the 6 point match, but she showed up in the 3 point match and defeated the vice-president Karen to take three points.

Moreover, since all the events today were worth 10 points, it was impossible to predict where No.17 would appear based on the point allocations alone.

Well, things would hardly go a different way.

Even a certain cheat rabbit took 8 volumes before he fought against the heroine again, after all.(1)

“Enough aya bullshite and wurk, owner!”

“Yes, yes.”

The imperial festival was a match between academies, not between students.

And thus the roles of the teachers weren’t to say ‘we’ve taught you all up till now so get out there and fight!’ and kick back and watch, but look through records of past events based off what events the students were going to be participating in, and look over what tactics and strategies had been used up til now.

“Although if ya look at owner that’s just watching and munching on that thing ya call popcorn that’s not at all what it feels like!”

Of course not, dummy. Even if I look like this I’m still the mastermind behind the Flood of Salsu.(2)

Although of course I didn’t do anything after that! All I did was watch the kids fight while munching on popcorn!

“Uwiit, can’t ya at weast thinka where owner’s ex-disciple’s gonna show up?”

As the metal bat started showing signs of annoyance, I made a questioning face.

“Why are you so enthusiastic all of a sudden?”

“It’s cuz, owner’s ex-disciple was raised by beating her up with my little sister, meaning my little sister’s disciple! And on this side, I got th’ students I raised by personally hitting them myself, and hence my disciples! I can’t allow my tasty unni to lose to owner’s ex-disciple that tasted the hands of my little sister!”

“What a personal reason.”

So you’re saying it’s a match between No.17 who grew up getting hit with the wooden bat versus Yugrasia, who grew up getting hit by the metal bat.

Although the one who was taught by me personally was No.17, there was only about a year’s worth of difference between how long she was taught for compared to the Yugrasia kids.

That kind of gap can be closed with the metal bat.

“Now that does seem quite an amusing prospect.”

“Hmph! This is my unavoidable fight with my little sis! As the big sis I can’t lose to my little sis!”

I know for a fact that this thing was produced 7-8 years after the wooden bat, yet she continues to claim that she’s the elder sister.

Well, is it the difference between having an ego and not?

In that case, the wooden bat has a chance of evolving into an ego weapon later on!

“So what, my little sis got sold to owner’s disciple cuz’a bad owner.”

“Now that I think about it, I wonder how Rein’s doing..”

When I considered No.17 running around perfectly fine, it did seem like he’d handed them over safely, but who knew if he might have gotten caught by the imperial princess and getting tortured in some underground dungeon somewhere.

“Wait, owner? Ya said that wasn’t gonna happen? Owner’s last disciples are all from good households, so he could get away safely if he just handed them over!”

“So what, it’s the imperial princess we’re talking about. Even the emperor can’t touch her, so you think any of the other nobles could?”

“Poor boy, I feel so sorry for him!”

“Well, that’s the worst-case scenario.”

When I took Rein’s face-reading, his fate was one to get stabbed over a love affair, not at the hands of the princess.

“I dunno what this face-reading thing is, but I bet owner’s entire fortune that the latter fate is owner’s fate!

“If I bet my entire fortune on a bet with myself then I don’t win anything?”

“But, this is something owner already admitted would happen!”

Well true, although that’s only a story for if I get caught.

And so, I will never, ever let myself get caught!

#19 Their story: A certain former host’s (current slave) story.

He’s definitely going to get caught.

“That’s how it’s going to happen.”

In a certain giant room, that unlike what one might expect, had nothing in it aside from a giant bed.

When I arrived here, I heard from Lady Iris about the instructor.

Contrary to what he’d said to me when he said he’d go to some village at the end of the world to farm the land, he was acting as a teacher in one of the key educational institutions of the empire, Yugrasia.

But even so, the imperial princess discovered him.

“Rein, you need to stay right here. Because of what you said back then, let alone all of the intelligence agents in the empire, all of the key members of His Highness the Crown Prince’s faction ended up searching all the villages in the middle of nowhere.”

“Yes ma’am.”

When I nodded my head, the young lady nodded in turn and stroked my cheek with a wistful expression on her face.

“Our opponent being who he is, you did nothing wrong, Rein, but there might still be someone who wants to take their frustrations out on you after being made to roam the empire for a year. So Rein, rest up here until I get back.”

Let me ask a question to the young lady who’s looking at me as if she’s truly regretful she has to leave.

“Um, Lady Iris..”

“Iris! How much longer are you going to call me ‘lady’ between the two of us!”

“Hahaha, y, you know, Lady Iris.”

“Really, Rein..”

As the young lady made a disappointed expression, I raised my had slightly and pointed at something.

“This, could you please take it..”

“No.”

“R, right?”

As the young lady instantly turned to me with dead eyes, I could do nothing but shut my mouth.

Because if I said anything more here, it felt like something might happen.

“Mm, it’s alright as long as you understand. Then.. you really need to stay quietly here, alright? If you need anything, ask the maids and they can get it for you.”

When I nodded again, moisture welled up in her wide eyes as she pulled me into her embrace.

“When the imperial festival ends, I can take some time off as well. Then, let’s do all sorts of things that we couldn’t do because I was too busy.”

“Ye, yes.”

I didn’t dare ask what ‘all sorts of things’ were meant to be, and could only see the young lady off.

“I have to escape.”

After I sat around quietly for thirty minutes just in case, I made my resolve.

I have to escape. That’s what my instincts were telling me.

I understood why the instructor continued to run away when the princess of the strongest nation in the world, and a beauty 20 years younger than him to boot, wanted to marry him.

Although the fact that I was experiencing it with my own body, was most unfortunate for me!

“But how..”

This is one of the ducal houses of which only three existed in the entire empire, and the only one who was active in the imperial palace itself, the Leonhart family, who was arguably the leader of the Ten Great Families, and I was at their main residence!

And in said main residence, I was in a room on the highest fifth floor.

“I don’t think I could run even if I wasn’t collared..”

I muttered as I touched the collar attached to my neck.

This collar was actually a special one that the imperial princess herself commissioned from the dwarves, all to catch the instructor!

Without even a keyhole, the only way this collar could be opened by its original user, and if she so desired, the young lady could paralyse my body, render me unconscious or know my location in real time.

“But still.. at least..”

In the fear that I would lose something important when the young lady came back after doing whatever it was she had to do, I opened the door a crack..

“What is it?”

“Did you need anything?”

“Ah, ahhaha! I was wondering where the bathroom was.”

Eight pairs of eyes were trained on me as their owners smiled brightly.

But, their dress aren’t that of maids, but clearly and perfectly knights, milady?

Rather than maids, aren’t they guards set to watch over me?

“The bathroom is inside the room.”

“Ah, thank you.”

She was smiling, but the aura she exerted was yelling at me to shut up and get back in the room, so I nodded and went straight back inside.

“Now that I think about it, there isn’t even a window.”

How was it that there wasn’t a single window in this giant room.

Had she blocked them all up because I was coming here?

As I entered the bathroom thinking that, as I thought, there were no windows in the bathroom, either.

“The smell’s going to be a problem when I have to do a big one.”

Although of course, it’s a bathroom designed for my own personal use, but still.

“Yep, let’s run.”

It was a room that seemed impossible to escape from, but the more it felt like that, the desire to escape became stronger and stronger.

“But.. how do I escape?”