Chapter 44: CH 40

March 14th, 2023

Although the start was a bit shaky, the progress itself went smoothly. There were parts of the group project topic that were just right for me, and Leona, who had a conflict with Aira, followed along without any complaints after that.

Benjamin, who nearly broke his back in a whale fight, was able to participate in the assignment by receiving a book from Leona. So, the full-fledged discussion took place in the evening after all classes on Friday.

“Oh, when is Ms. Aira coming?”

“I don’t know. Maybe someday.”

It was Friday, and in front of the restaurant that we had set up as a meeting place.

Benjamin and I talked about Aira, who had no intention of showing up. Leona, standing next to us, didn’t say anything, but her already stern expression became even harder.

Since we didn’t even have smartphones, let alone phones, we were frustrated because we didn’t know where she was.

“She clearly said in the military science class to meet here…”

As Benjamin questioned, all of our group members attend the military science class. So after all the lectures were over, Aira emphasized that we all had to meet up by the promised time.

She even promised us that if we were late for the appointed time, she would give us a warning. But now she was the one who broke the promise. What the hell is she doing?

“What if she doesn’t show up? That can’t happen…”

As Benjamin muttered anxiously, I glanced at him. He seemed uneasy about Aira not showing up, as he absent-mindedly nibbled on his fingernails.

It seems like I need to reassure him somehow. I opened my mouth to tell him it was nothing.

“Don’t be too anxious. There may be some unsaid circumstances. If Aira doesn’t come even after 10 minutes, let’s discuss it between ourselves.”

“I-Is that okay?”

“Why not? It’s too much of a waste to disband today just because Ms. Aira is not here.”

“But Ms. Aira is the team leader… We could get scolded if we do it between ourselves and she finds out later.”

At Benjamin’s response, I was momentarily bewildered, thinking to myself, ‘What bullshit is this?’. It was as if Benjamin regarded Aira as someone higher than himself. However, upon careful consideration, Benjamin was a commoner and Aira was the daughter of a marquis.

Due to the enormous difference in social status, Benjamin naturally thought of Aira as a person of higher standing. Although I wanted to say something , I couldn’t say anything, because of the problem with the class system.

If I suddenly brought up my inner thoughts, I might receive strange looks instead.

‘I think I might be the weird one here.’

Probably so.

Even Marie from the Requilis family, who practices noblesse oblige, takes it for granted to be treated with respect by commoners. The reason why I was able to talk to her was because I was, at least, a noble.

Furthermore, it is strictly considered as an act of ‘undermining authority’ for commoners to use casual speech with nobles without honorifics. Even the Requilis family, who never use their power to act recklessly, strictly prevent any approach to their authority.

Instead, authority and authoritarianism must be clearly distinguished. If authority is simply having legitimacy, authoritarianism is using that legitimacy to exercise control.

Of course, there was a time when authoritarianism became so severe that a revolution similar to the French Revolution in my past life, called the Jayros Revolution, broke out. As a result, authoritarianism has weakened regardless of a country, but authority itself has remained strong.

‘However, that doesn’t mean I can ask them to use honorifics again.’

If it were Benjamin, he would obey quietly, but I would feel dirty. The worst thing in the world is giving something and then taking it away.

‘I wonder why our small and petite team leader is nowhere to be seen.’

Even though she has set the time, I’m getting more and more angry because I can’t even see her hair. If this is how it’s going to be, I don’t understand why she volunteered to be the team leader.

“I, I’ll be back in a moment. I’m going to the restroom!”

Benjamin, who had been fidgeting like an itchy puppy for a while, ran to the bathroom after saying that. From the way he held onto his stomach and ran, it didn’t seem like he was just fooling around – he really looked like he was in pain.

Anyway, with Benjamin gone, only Leona and I were left standing awkwardly near the entrance of the restaurant. It was Friday, so there wasn’t a single person walking around in the hallway. The only thing that filled the air was a quiet silence, making the atmosphere even more uncomfortable.

In the awkward situation, I glanced at Leona briefly. Coincidentally, Leona was also looking at me with a sidelong glance.

“… …”

The two of us looked at each other sidelong for a moment before turning our heads away completely. As I turned my head, I noticed Leona’s expressionless face.

While I was wondering what to say in this situation, surprisingly, Leona spoke first.

“Hey. Penguin.”

Her tone was so different from before, even though she was maintaining the same concept. I was briefly taken aback by her chic demeanor, and when she mentioned the word “penguin,” I couldn’t help but narrow my eyebrows.

It was ridiculous to call me a penguin when I had a perfectly good name. Frankly, I was dumbfounded.

By the way, there is also an animal called a penguin in this world. They live in extremely cold regions such as the Antarctic or Arctic, where ice sheets are formed, and their appearance was exactly the same as the one in the encyclopedia.

However, as this is a fantasy world, there is a species that lives in the lava zone, not in the polar regions. They are monsters that harm people, not animals.

Anyway, enough of the explanation, the priority is to answer Leona. I don’t know why she referred to me as a penguin of all things.

“Why are you calling me a penguin, leaving behind a perfectly decent name?”

“You just look like a penguin.”

Leona laughed and teased me, wondering if she abandoned the concept since there was no one around, I was momentarily dumbfounded but immediately counterattacked.

“You’re like a dog.”

“…Do you want to die? It’s not a dog, it’s a lion.”

Leona frowned and growled like an animal. She seems angry about being called a dog rather than being insulted.

At this, I tilted my head slightly and brought up another question. I couldn’t think of anything other than dogs or cats when it came to beastmen.

“Then a cat?”

“Would you please not compare me to the mere Miao tribe? As a member of the great lion tribe, it is greatly insulting to me.”

“You called a human being a penguin.”

“… …”

Leona scratched her head, seemingly at a loss for words about that point. Then she grew sullen, turned her head, and started to act unreasonable.

I snorted at it and opened my mouth.

“So why did you call me? Do you have something to say?”

“I called you because I was curious about what you think of that woman.”

When she said ‘that woman’, was she referring to Aira? I guess she was.

After hearing Leona’s question, I thought carefully. After all the team projects I had in my previous life, I had a rough idea of what Aira was like.

Moreover, every time I thought of the crazy party, I automatically thought that we had it better. If it had been Jackson instead of Aira, the team assignment would have been a total disaster.

“I don’t know. She’s proactive in her own way, but I just wish she would focus on her own work. That’s about it. What about you?”

“I don’t like her attitude. While everyone else is working hard, she just wants to play and have fun by herself. She’s like a noble in appearance, but in reality, she’s nothing special.”

Perhaps because her first impression was so bad, the harsh criticism continued. Although I can’t deny it because it’s true.

I quietly watched her as she grumbled, then suddenly thought of something and asked her.

“Are there no nobles in the Animers?”

Animers is a nation of beastmen founded 300 years ago. They gathered beastmen scattered all over the world, and they built their own civilization.

Leona shook her head from side to side after hearing my question. Seeing that, I thought that there were no nobles in Animers, but that wasn’t the case either.

“There are no marquises or anything like that as in the human world, but the authority depends on each individual’s power. You may or may not know this, but among beastmen, there is a deep-seated culture of revering power.”

“So are there separate social classes then?”

“Of course there are. Do you want me to tell you about them?”

I nodded my head. I rarely had the opportunity to learn about the ecosystem of beastmen, but I was lucky this time.

After I nodded, Leona smiled and raised her chin slightly. It seemed like she was organizing her explanation for a moment.

“Let’s see. First of all…”

“Guys~!”

Before Leona could speak, a familiar voice entered my ears. It was a cheerful, prepubescent girl’s voice.

At that, Leona closed her mouth, and I moved my gaze in the direction of the sound.

As expected, our team leader, Aira, who was late for our appointment, was coming towards us with a bright expression on her face. Seeing her smiling like that even though she was late made me think she was quite shameless.

Afterwards, Aira stood in front of us and raised her eyebrows in surprise. It seemed like she was wondering because there were the two of us without Benjamin.

“Huh? Why are there only two people? What about curly hair?”

She even called Benjamin curly hair. It was clear that she was looking down at Benjamin, a commoner.

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When she stared at me and asked a question, I opened my mouth to answer. I couldn’t believe she was asking about hym going to the bathroom. She was the one who was late.

“Benjamin went to the bathroom for a minute. He’ll be back soon.”

“What? The bathroom?”

My response that Benjamin went to the bathroom made Aira furrow her eyebrows. She seemed to be fully expressing her frustration, as if asking if I was kidding.

Then, she crossed her arms and asked me for confirmation in a suspicious voice.

“He didn’t run away, did he?”

“No.”

“When did he go to the bathroom?”

“He left about five minutes ago.”

“But seeing that he hasn’t come back yet…”

“Since he went to do the big one, you don’t have to be suspicious.”

Before Aira had any unnecessary suspicions, I took the initiative. She has shown authoritarian tendencies since becoming the team leader, and I am worried that she might do it again.

Originally, the team leader was closer to a ‘person in charge,’ but in this world where the class system exists, it has degenerated into a position of authority. We can roughly understand this from the fact that Aira warned Leona last time.

After listening to me, Aira looked at me hesitantly and then smirked. It was an expression that seemed to say ‘you’re just like the others’.

Then she put her hands on her waist and spoke in a very refreshing tone.

“Do we really need to wait for him?”

“…yes?”

What kind of bullshit is this? This is a statement that goes beyond hypocrisy and is as if her conscience has exploded.

In the meantime, Aira confidently voiced her thoughts, putting her hand firmly on her chest. Even though I didn’t know what she believed in, it was like she had put a steel plate on her face.

“I’m the leader, so you have to wait unconditionally, but he’s not? Besides, I’m not too late, and it’s his fault that he couldn’t wait for that time.”

“… …”

“So let’s just leave that curly hair behind and go alone. We can make some excuses if we’re asked where we went later.”

Where did you leave your conscience behind to say that? While I was in shock and speechless, Aira quietly grabbed my arm and gently pulled me.

It was like someone was trying to take me away. I was startled by the feeling and quickly pulled my arm out.

“…what are you doing?”

As I pulled my arm away, Aiira’s voice rapidly lowered. Her face was also crumpled, as if her mood had soured after I pulled my arm away.

But whether her mood worsened or not, I had to say what needed to be said. Although I wanted to get angry, I held back at least once.

“Rather, I want to ask you, Ms. Aira. What the hell are you doing?”

“I just wanted to go quickly. What’s the problem? Oh! Are you worried that we won’t be able to discuss because there’s one commoner missing? Don’t worry about that. It won’t be a problem if we just have us, even if one commoner is missing.”

Does Leona not count as part of us? Even though Aira giggled to herself, she didn’t even glance at Leona.

I was confused whether it was Aira’s mentality that was strange or if it was just the mindset of the nobles. No matter what, this is pretty serious.

“Aira, the professor also mentioned this. It would be better for the team if we bring all members to the end. If you leave with Benjamin, it will be a disadvantage for you as the leader.”

Finally, Leona, who had been ignored, advised Aira. She spoke in her usual tough and blunt manner according to her concept, but there was a slight anger underlying her words.

However, perhaps because it was advice from Leona, who was not a noble but a commoner, Aira’s expression became even more hostile than before.

Despite her doll-like elegant appearance, a bloody energy emanated from her.

“The two of us are talking right now. Why are you interrupting?”

“I was just worried that Ms. Aira might be at a disadvantage.”

“Is it just because of this that you’re worried about me being at disadvantage? Aren’t you being too naive? I’ve heard from my father that there has never been a case where points were deducted just because one member was missing. Instead, Professor Beerus gave zero points to that member.”

I feel like I want to open up her skull and peek inside her brain. I wonder what kind of family education she received that has instilled such a mindset in her.

If not…

‘Is it to drive out Leona?’

It’s also possible that she intentionally said those words to drive out Leona, not for Benjamin. She may have recognized that Leona is the type to speak her mind from their first encounter.

So Benjamin is just an excuse, and she made an unreasonable suggestion just to find fault with Leona.

“But it’s not impossible. We waited for Aira-nim, so I think we should wait for Benjamin too.”

“Then you wait to your heart’s content and have a cozy discussion with each other. I’ll talk to him alone.”

At Leona’s comment, Aira acted as if it was the right time, so she grabbed my arm and pulled it toward her chest. Unlike Cecily, which was soft, a flat feeling was conveyed through my arm.

Anyway, both of us were equally taken aback. I tried to pull my arm out of the unexpected physical contact, but it was unsuccessful because she held on tightly.

In the end, I had no choice but to shout at Aira.

“W-What are you doing right now? Please let go of me quickly.”

“I don’t want to. You’re going to come with me, right?”

I thought it was crazy to be alone with her, but despite my inner thoughts, I couldn’t help but hesitate when I met Aira’s gaze.

The corners of her mouth went up subtly with the eyes that were deep and wet with greed. Her expression oozed with a sticky obsession, indicating that she wouldn’t let go of her prey no matter what.

‘What did I do?’

Why was she showing this side of herself when she had no ulterior motive before? As I stared at her expression, I quietly spoke up.

“… Ms. Aira.”

“Yes.”

“Right now, Ms. Leona is right. So please let go of me.”

“… …”

When I took Leona’s side, the corners of Aira’s lips, which had been upturned, fell vertically. The creepy look in her eyes also instantly turned cold, and the strength she had exerted on my arm was released softly.

As I slowly pulled my arm out, Aira’s fallen lips rose again. Her gaze also started to emanate a dangerous energy.

“Didn’t you say your last name was Ducker Michelle?”

“…Yes. That’s right.”

Why did she suddenly bring up the family name? I tensed up as a sense of foreboding rose within me.

All this time, Aira started playing with her hair with one hand and spoke with a sly tone.

“As you may know, the Marquis Matheus family has a very famous order of knights. It’s the Navy Knights.”

“… …”

“And I heard from my older brother a few days ago that the son of the former knight commander recently joined the team. His name was probably… Dave?”

Flinch-

I flinched when I heard Dave’s name mentioned by Aira. Without realizing it, my fists clenched when my family’s story came out of someone else’s mouth.

Without noticing my reaction, Aira continued with what she wanted to say. She was not just confident but arrogant.

“Navy Knights are mainly responsible for protecting the borders and blocking any threats to the empire in advance. It may seem honorable on the surface, but in my eyes, they are just foolish people who recklessly engage in dangerous activities.”

Is it appropriate for a noblewoman, especially from a military family, to say such a thing? Not to mention, the Navy Knights often confront tribal beastmen , and often fight with the Elven Reconnaissance Squad.

Although it is called a border, it is practically a front line. If you see that the mortality rate of the Navy Knights is more than three times higher than that of other corps, you can roughly estimate how dangerous the situation is.

However, Ai-ra seems to be underestimating such knights too easily. She claimed that they are foolish people who sacrifice their freedom to protect the country. She, who belittles them, does not deserve to be a daughter of a military family.

“You know what I’m talking about, right?”

Aira crossed her arms, tilting her chin slightly. It is a message that is close to a threat, stating that I can never refuse her proposal.

It seemed like she had a trick up her sleeve for what to do with Dave if I were to refuse. Perhaps, she could send him somewhere even more dangerous than the border. As the daughter of a prestigious military family, it is not entirely impossible.

At these thoughts, I took a deep breath as I listened to her threatening question.

“Yes. I understand.”

Now that it’s like this, I can’t help it.

“Bitch.”

Let’s all look into it together.

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