He seemed to still be in the Academy, but I hadn't seen him since that incident.
When I asked
"He attacked niisama, so he deserves to die."
"Sue. You shouldn't say such things carelessly. Still, I can't accept that he got off scot-free."
The culprit who attacked Parton and the others apparently ended up committing suicide without revealing any information.
The detention facility where they were temporarily held apparently wasn't prepared to extract confessions.
Incidentally, when it comes to important cases where forced confession is deemed necessary, a certain item is used.
It's a cursed tool imbued with the power of Heterodox Magic, which is considered forbidden.
Heterodox Magic is said to be magic that violates the soul, and the Church has forbidden its acquisition.
Those who possess this magic Skill are apprehended by the Church and either placed under Church supervision for life or executed.
Of course, items infused with such Heterodox Magic power are also strictly controlled by the Church, but their use is permitted if you apply to the Church and the request is deemed justified.
In this incident's case, after the culprits were transferred to the Royal Capital, that item was supposed to be used to force their confession.
Their suicide was likely committed in anticipation of that.
It really drove home once again how different this world was from my previous one in Japan.
"Even if a connection to the attackers couldn't be proven, the fact remains that a member of another nation's royal family personally assaulted someone. Doesn't it seem wrong that he faces no consequences for that?"
I couldn't answer Kathia's question.
The fact that I was attacked by him was undeniably true.
And yet, he received no punishment.
That was something unthinkable in Japan.
"There's nothing strange about it. This is just how the world works."
The one who answered Kathia's question was
"You guys in your positions probably don't notice it, but social standing in this world holds far more power than people realize. I was originally an orphan and a commoner, so I've witnessed plenty of it firsthand. There was a person who got executed for punching a noble — on the grounds that the noble's hand hurt from the impact. There was a whole family executed because there were bugs on the vegetables they sold. Stories like that are scattered all over the world."
Not just me — Kathia was speechless too.
Maybe we had understood absolutely nothing about this world.
"The divide of social status is absolute. Hugo is the next emperor of one of the world's most powerful nations. Sweeping an incident of this scale under the rug is easy."
Kathia's expression turned bitter.
I probably wore a similar look myself.
"That's why true equality can only be found in the Divine Words! The Divine Words don't discriminate against anyone. The Divine Words bestow equal blessings upon all people. The Divine Words are the truth of this world — the light that embraces everything!"
I ignored Yuri as she started getting carried away.
At this point, it was hopeless.
She'd keep going on about how wonderful the Divine Words were even without anyone listening.
In the beginning, I'd humor her and listen along, but by now I'd gotten pretty good at pretending to listen while letting it all go in one ear and out the other.
While tuning out Yuri's wide-eyed praise of the Divine Words, I thought about Hugo.
What would become of him going forward?
His Status had been lowered, and he'd lost all his Skills.
Like me, he'd probably lost even the imperial Skills he was born with.
All that remained was the mysterious Skill "n％I＝W," whose effects were unknown.
The Teacher had spared only this one Skill.
Had they intentionally left it? Or were they unable to remove it?
This mysterious Skill appeared to be something unique to us reincarnators.
Both Kathia and Yuri possessed it as well.
And probably the Teacher too.
What on earth was the meaning behind this Skill?
As far as I could tell, this Skill had yet to demonstrate any actual effect.
It was just there, showing no signs of doing anything.
Something like that was practically the same as not having it at all.
When you thought about it that way, Hugo had essentially lost every Skill he had.
His Status was on par with the weakest Monsters.
He had no reliable Skills to fall back on.
Frankly speaking, the current Hugo had fallen to the very bottom — the weakest class among humans.
Sooner or later, word of Hugo's weakening would spread.
If that happened, there was no telling what would become of his future.
At worst, he might be disowned by his homeland.
His homeland, the Rengzant Empire, was supposedly a meritocracy where strength was everything.
Would they really keep him as the first in line for the throne after he'd grown so weak?
When I thought about it that way, maybe this truly was the punishment dealt to him.
Hugo had been intoxicated by power.
So consumed by it that even his mind had become sick.
Now that he'd lost all that power, did he have any hope left to live?
And if I didn't have
I didn't think that was an impossible scenario.
I knew people who were stronger than me.
And yet, even so, there were moments when I'd suddenly catch myself getting drunk on my own strength.
I really was strong, after all.
Hugo had grown that arrogant, and around him there must have been very few people who were actually stronger than him.
Even in the supposedly fierce battleground that was the meritocratic Rengzant Empire.
In that case, whether I leaned more toward magic or physical abilities, my Status was roughly on par with his — which meant I was considerably strong.
If circumstances had been different, maybe I would have been the one who ended up like Hugo.
That thought sent a chill down my spine.
Maybe the one who should have had their Status and Skills stripped by the Teacher was me.
The Teacher — that person was terrifying too.
Having enrolled in the Academy and reached a certain age, I'd acquired a few magic Skills as well.
I didn't know what would have happened if the Teacher hadn't intervened back then.
Whether I won or lost, it would have been an intense battle either way — one that wouldn't have ended with both parties walking away unscathed.
I knew I'd been complacent, but even so, in that situation, I'd have at least launched a counterattack.
However, when it came to delivering the final blow, I definitely would have hesitated.
When I thought about it that way, Hugo — who had no such hesitation — probably had the higher chance of winning.
And the Teacher had neutralized that Hugo in an instant.
That meant I, too, stood no chance against the Teacher.
What if — what if the Teacher tried to weaken me or Kathia as well?
I had no means to resist.
The Teacher had stopped showing up to class again after the incident.
That was nothing new, but coming after what had happened, their absence felt even more unsettling.
What was the Teacher really doing behind the scenes?
How had they obtained that much power?
With that much power at their disposal, what were they trying to accomplish?
I didn't know.
I didn't know anything.
But I didn't think asking them directly would get me any answers.
Besides, I was afraid that prying too deep would only make things worse.
Still — it was just a gut feeling — but I didn't think the Teacher was an enemy.
I had no idea what they were doing behind the scenes, but I didn't believe they were doing anything to harm us.
I couldn't push into it yet, but I was sure that one day, the Teacher would tell us everything.
Until then, I'd put my faith in the Teacher and wait.
"So! Shun, you should join the Divine Words Faith too!"
Before I knew it, while I'd been tuning her out, Yuri had grabbed my hand and was pressing in close.
"Ah — I'll admit the Divine Words Faith is admirable, but I'll have to pass."
I broke into a cold sweat under Sue's silent pressure and gently unclasped Yuri's hand.
Lately, Yuri had been aggressively trying to recruit me into the Divine Words Faith.
Each time, I'd gently decline, but Yuri showed no signs of giving up.
Each time, Sue looked like she was about to blow her top, which really stressed me out. Would she please just stop?
Hm?
Sue was glaring at Yuri as usual, but Kathia wore a peculiar expression.
At times like this, she'd usually be off to the side looking exasperated, but what was up?
"Kathia, is something wrong?"
"Hm? Nothing at all? Why do you ask all of a sudden, Shun?"
"Well, your expression seemed a little off."
"Haah. It's nothing. I'm perfectly fine?"
"Really? If you're not feeling well, just say so."
"Yes. Please don't worry about it."
She said nothing was wrong, so I guessed it was fine.
But when I turned around, this time it was Sue and Yuri who had peculiar expressions.
"Now it's you two. What's wrong?"
"No. Nothing."
"...?"
Sue and Yuri exchanged glances, both wearing peculiar expressions.
I had no idea what was going on.
In the end, that day ended with everyone wearing peculiar expressions as we parted ways.
*** "Sue-chan, what do you think?"
"Not yet. But it's not impossible."
"So you think so too?"
"That would be bad. Very bad."
"Yeah, bad. Very bad."
"But we can't stop it."
"This one might end up being a formidable enemy."
"Hmm. Nothing's been decided yet."
"That's true. All we can do is pray it doesn't come to that."
*** "Son of a bitch! This isn't how it ends! This world is mine! Mine — just mine — a world for me alone! I won't accept this ending! I won't! Not until I've claimed everything in this world!"
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Acquired Skill "Desire LV1".》 "Those damn elves! I'll get my revenge! I'll never forgive them! Never!"
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Acquired Skill "
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Acquired Skill "Purloin LV1".》 "Just you wait! I'll destroy everything they care about! And then I'll laugh while I ravage that screaming, damn woman!"
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Acquired Skill "Lewd Technique LV1".》 "Just you wait! I'll take this world back!