Invincible
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#135
🕑 Added 2024-10-26 08:42:46 +0000 UTCThe Future (2)
Dorosian lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with displeased eyes.
She was not feeling well.
“I refuse.”
When she extended her hand, he rejected it immediately.
She hadn’t felt any sense of control in the conversation with him.
Above all, what bothered her the most was...
“I've faced dozens, hundreds of failures, and I always came back to try again.”
It was his unbearably arrogant statement after finding Magic Stone.
"...He has no idea how I feel, how dare he."
There are things in this world that can be achieved with effort, but also things that can’t be done no matter how hard you try.
Hearing that, she wanted to teach him a lesson about reality.
When he was heading toward the real location of Magic Stone, she was tempted to secretly move it.
But she stopped, knowing such a petty act would only make her feel like she had lost.
Instead, the discomfort of feeling like she was the one being manipulated caused Dorosian to bite her lower lip hard.
"All that arrogance, just for finding that one thing..."
Dorosian started to feel annoyed by him.
She wanted to see his distorted face later, when he realized he was wrong.
How fun would it be if she could laugh at him then and say, ‘See, I told you so.’
Rising from her seat, spurred by the growing desire, Dorosian looked out the window at the Schlaphe Hall with cold, piercing eyes.
“Should I just force him to say what I want to hear?”
But Dorosian quickly shook her head.
To be satisfied that she had truly broken his beliefs, it couldn’t come from mere submission to overwhelming power.
It would only be meaningful if he fell into despair and helplessness, sincerely admitting it of his own accord.
“...Sigh. In the end, it's frustrating not being able to act one way or the other.”
Dorosian let out a deep sigh and flopped back onto the bed, trying to sleep again.
But it was a night when sleep wouldn’t come easily.
***
Due to finding Magic Stone late, I could only arrive at the dormitory at night.
As soon as I stepped into the lobby, a group of Schlaphe magic students, who had arrived earlier, swarmed around me.
They asked with worried faces.
“Hersel, you were paired with Dorosian, right? Was everything okay?”
“She didn’t bare her fangs and kill you, did she?”
“You idiot, Dorosian already went back to her dorm.”
I realized they had misunderstood.
Well, I should probably clear that up.
With a shrug, I responded in a calm voice.
“What do you guys think Dorosian is? She’s actually a kind-hearted person. All those rumors you’ve heard are lies made up by people who are jealous of her. Oh, and she asked me to pass on a message to you guys.”
Ricks widened his eyes in surprise and asked,
“P-Pass on a message?”
“Yeah, she said she wants to get along. You know, share meals and have light sparring sessions, just enjoy academy life together. She seems to like you all. So, drop your biases and get closer to her. Then you’ll be able to have fun and laugh together.”
The group began to murmur among themselves.
They were devils who had leisurely found Magic Stone while making me the scapegoat.
I sincerely prayed that they would walk into the lion’s den and be torn apart, but their leader, Ricks, was no easy opponent.
“That’s probably because you’re Hersel. Dorosian must’ve noticed right away that you’re strong. That’s why she didn’t dare treat you carelessly, don’t you think?”
Tch, slipping out of it like that.
“But, Hersel, did you check the training ground?”
When Gravel asked, I tilted my head.
The training ground I passed by had been desolate.
It was probably because I arrived late at night and the timing didn’t match.
“Why?”
“Well, it's just... Leana is still running around the training ground by herself.”
“Is that so? Well, she’s probably training hard.”
Leana was a woman who trained a lot.
She excelled in stamina.
If she didn’t train enough to her satisfaction, she wouldn’t sleep well.
It wasn’t a big deal, but what Gravel said next caught my attention.
“One of the Ten Elites was supervising her alone.”
“Bernal of the Eight Seat?”
“No, it was someone who recently returned from the demon world training. Was it the Fourth Seat?”
The Seven to One are the elites.
I don’t remember the name, but the Fourth Seat was probably a woman.
“That woman, you say?”
I asked, and Gravel, with a heavy expression, answered with concern.
"Yeah, the atmosphere was tense, and it felt a bit dangerous."
"Really?"
This was definitely strange.
It was still too early for the elites to interact with the main characters.
They usually got crushed by the main characters around graduation and left.
"And your younger brother, Erucel. They were using him as a chair."
"Erucel?"
"Yeah. I heard those people have been taking him with them a lot lately..."
Hearing Erucel's name, I started to get a feeling.
Recently, I've been clashing with them.
The only reason Erucel is being bullied is because he's my younger brother.
"Thanks for letting me know, Gravel."
I didn’t know what had happened with Leana, but I could figure that out from now on.
***
The next morning, Bellman, who had arrived early at the lecture hall, looked at the empty seat where Leana had yet to arrive.
Silla, sitting next to it, kept staring anxiously at the door.
Erucel, sitting in front, grumbled at just the right moment.
"Ugh, my legs hurt. It's because of those Ten Elites or whatever they’re called..."
Erucel had been dragged off for several days now to endure grueling discipline from them.
The official reason was misconduct, but recently, there had been friction between them and Hersel.
It was clear to anyone that they were persistently bullying him just because he was Hersel's younger brother.
And Leana...
"Here we are, Mircel. You’re not late for class today."
"Thank you."
Bellman sighed deeply as he watched Leana bring in Mircel.
If they bullied Erucel just because he was Hersel's younger brother, there was no way they'd leave Mircel alone.
Yesterday, for instance, those Ten Elites had bribed the student council and handed Mircel's servant the wrong class schedule, causing him to be late.
They even got the 2nd and 3rd years involved, creating a hostile atmosphere and ordering the 1st years to ostracize him.
Unable to stand by and do nothing, Leana took care of Mircel despite the warnings from her seniors, and now she had been openly marked.
Bellman thought their methods were incredibly childish.
‘They don’t have the guts to act out openly, so they resort to such petty tactics...'
However, such childish incidents were quite common in aristocratic politics, and they still happened frequently.
There were more grown-ups acting like children than one might think.
"Erucel, does Hersel know about this?"
Bellman asked, and Erucel shook his head.
"I do have some pride, you know. It's hard to tell him about every little thing like this. Besides, knowing Mircel’s personality, he’s too proud to easily talk about it either."
"So, you’re planning to handle this yourselves... Do you have any ideas?"
"We're thinking about it. But isn’t this something that Bernal, as the dorm representative, should be handling? He's also one of the Ten Elites, isn't he?"
Bellman sighed bitterly.
"He doesn't have any power. It’s better not to expect anything from him."
The Ten Elites operated by majority vote.
Whenever a new rule was created, they voted on it and proposed it to the student council.
The things led by Kerndel, the 1st seat, were often readily accepted by the student council, as if there were some kind of close connection between them.
People tiptoed around and submitted to this power.
"The top seven are united, but among the 1st years, the only ones friendly are Bernal and Emeric. The remaining one doesn’t even care about the Ten Elites, just sitting in their seat."
In the end, unless you can take over the majority, it’s meaningless.
Hearing the grim news, Erucel asked with a frustrated expression.
"So, do we have no choice but to ask big brother for help?"
Bellman adjusted his glasses and delivered a colder truth.
"Even if Hersel were to take the 1st seat position, it would be the same. Kerndel would immediately take over the 2nd Star position and continue wielding power. That would probably push Emeric out of his seat. Whoever gave up their seat to Kerndel would challenge Emeric."
"Couldn't that be resolved if Emeric just refused the challenge?"
"No, the Ten Elites is a position gained through challenge. If he refuses, it will be considered a forfeit, and he will automatically lose his seat."
In the end, even if they were pushed out, those people would simply re-establish the 7-to-3 ratio.
"There’s only one way to solve this. We need at least five people. Five of our own people need to take root in the Ten Elites."
Hearing Bellman’s words, Erucel's face grew pale.
"T-That's impossible. Even Riamon hasn’t beaten Bernal yet..."
Next to Erucel, who had been lying down asleep, Riamon lifted his head.
"Hmm? Did someone mention me?"
“Well, I was discussing some of the things I’ve been going through with Bellman, and your name just happened to come up in the conversation.”
Erucel’s words made Riamon chuckle.
“Honestly, it’s not that tough for you, is it? You haven’t even been doing your individual training recently. Isn’t it actually easier for you now?”
Bellman silently nodded. Erucel, displeased, retorted at Riamon.
“Even so, it feels awful. I’ve got pride and self-respect too, you know, and being used as a human chair is just humiliating.”
“...Did you even have such things? Ugh, whatever. Just wait until graduation or something. If you feel so wronged, you can pass it down to the juniors like they did to you.”
Riamon lay back down, already drifting off to sleep again, snoring softly.
Bellman glanced around at the 1st-year students from Adele Hall who were waiting in the lecture hall, lost in deep thought.
‘If we leave things as they are, their tyranny will only get worse.’
What was happening now was just an appetizer.
Most of the students here were probably feeling relieved watching a few scapegoats being bullied.
But over time, the 1st years would begin to follow the lead of the Ten Elites, and the bullying would intensify.
That was how mob mentality worked.
‘Taking over the Ten Elites is practically impossible. So...’
Bellman stood up before the professor arrived and walked toward the podium.
‘We have to unite quickly, before anyone starts getting influenced by them.’
The sooner, the better.
As he stepped onto the podium, all eyes focused on him.
Bellman scanned the room and then fixed his gaze on Mircel.
“I plan to get up early tomorrow and bring Mircel to the classroom with Leana. Since I’m in the magic division, I guess I’ll just act as a guide.”
The students started whispering among themselves.
What he had just said was clearly a declaration of defiance, ignoring the warnings from their seniors.
Seeing the uncertain expressions on their faces, Bellman revealed his true thoughts.
“I don’t want to get involved in their childish pranks. And I know you all probably feel the same. You don’t want to sink to their level, and you're probably wondering if it’s really worth going this far.”
Bellman’s strategy was to openly mark the 1st to 7th seats as public enemies.
There was no better way to strengthen internal unity.
“Of course, I’m not forcing anyone. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to join. But I know most of you aren’t going to sit this one out.”
At that moment, Silla raised her hand high.
“I’ll go too.”
Erucel also raised his hand.
“I’m in. I’ll wait in front of Mircel’s dorm in the morning too.”
Mircel gave Erucel a sideways glance, squinting.
“What’s with you? Why’re you suddenly acting like a big brother?”
“You brat. Can’t I act like a big brother for once? Just stop talking and accept it.”
“Ugh, I feel like throwing up...”
Despite Mircel's dramatic gagging, more and more students started raising their hands to join.
...If you guys are doing it, I might as well rebel too.
“If I don’t join, I’ll just look like the bad one, won’t I?”
Before long, everyone except the still-sleeping Riamon had agreed to stand together.
Mircel, quietly watching, tilted his head in confusion.
‘But, do they really need to go that far? Can’t I just destroy the Ten Elites and leave them crippled?’
After all, that was exactly what Mircel had planned to do.
But now, things felt... different. It would be awkward to act alone now.
He didn’t quite understand how things had escalated like this.
‘Wow, life at the academy is more complicated and difficult than I thought.’
At that moment, the sound of angry footsteps echoed through the room.
It was the professor, and with a furious expression, he yelled so loudly that the classroom reverberated.
“You lot! What’s all this chatter before class?!”
Bellman quickly scrambled back to his seat.
***
Athera, who had a knack for gathering information, had overheard most of what happened.
Looking apologetic, Athera approached me and whispered.
“…It feels like this mess blew up because of us. Should we tell them now?”
“Tell them what?”
"You caught the Viper. If they hear about that, they'll be scared out of their wits."
I had long known that Athera and Emeric’s gang were conspiring to cover up the truth and pull me and the Ten Elites into their gambling game.
But it would’ve happened even without their involvement.
I had met with the Seventh Elite by the fountain, and the friction had already started without their interference.
Moreover, these guys, being like prized little treasures, would clearly resort to petty means to keep me in check if strength alone didn’t work.
The Ten Elites, a group composed of the academy’s top talents, would never leave a student they deemed stronger than them alone.
In fact, if I really thought about it, their meddling was a good opportunity for me.
These treasured ones were obsessed with appearances, so in front of those they deemed weak, they acted relaxed and careless.
That carelessness would create an opening for me to strike.
If things went well, I could even deal with Kerndel, the First Seat, on my own.
After calculating all of this, I reassured Athera.
"Forget it. Just keep it under wraps."
"Really?"
"If you tell them now, they’ll just act annoying, right? They're a bunch of idiots, after all."
"Hmm, yeah, I can kind of imagine that. Anyway, sorry about all this. Because of us, your brothers ended up getting hurt."
Strictly speaking, the fault lay with those guys, not Athera.
So, I responded again as if it were no big deal.
"Do you think one apology is enough? My brothers are suffering because of your seniors. How do you plan to compensate for that?"
I tried to create a serious, tense atmosphere, and Athera, looking terrified, quickly fled.
"W-We’ll talk about that later."
Now, what should I do?
The war with the Ten Elites is moving faster than expected.
Even if I managed to defeat Kerndel, we’re still five members short.
Oh, right.
Earlier, I mentioned that the Ten Elites wouldn’t leave a student they thought was stronger than them alone.
There was a prime example of this—someone who had already proven this fact.
Dorosian El Grice.
Her reputation was massive.
And now, when she's surrounded by only three magic seals, this would be her weakest moment, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
To the Ten Elites, it must’ve seemed like the perfect chance to take her down and claim her fame for themselves.
But eventually, they'd lose and be stripped of their positions.
"So, I just need to find four more."
I sat back in my chair, deep in thought.
What I need now are individuals who stand a chance of beating the Ten Elites at this moment.
It seems I'll need some time to carefully select them.
