Published at 21st of November 2020 09:29:19 PM
Chapter 3: 3
Chapter 3: The Academy’s Worst Student (3)
“Such a shame . The coward couldn’t even kill himself properly . ”
As David spoke confidently, the man called Jack next to him shook his head .
“Nah . Someone saw that son of a bitch sneak a bunch of sleeping pills from the infirmary yesterday . He must’ve heard the rumors that you could die a painless death by swallowing a bunch at the same time . ”
“He must’ve not taken the pills then . ”
David agreed with the other man Anthony .
“I think so, too . ”
“Damn it . Want to make a bet, then? I bet ten meal tickets that he died . ”
“Then I bet that he didn’t . ”
“Same . ”
“Let’s do five each . ”
Looking at each other, they grinned . The other students in the classroom glanced in their direction distastefully . No matter how they thought about it, David’s wickedness had gone too far . It was unbelievable how he could bet on others’ lives so easily . Even so, there was no one who dared to openly defy him .
It was not just his behavior that kept some of them quiet . David had better skills and was from a house of much higher status than them . But such students were usually indifferent to the business of others . They were the type to not move until David’s party tried to murder someone in the classroom . The rest of the students were weak and clumsily avoided Frey out of fear of being targeted . Some were even thankful for Frey being there .
It was then that the door opened, which quickly caught David’s attention . A handsome man entered the classroom . His neat figure and calm expression exuded indifference . Though now was not the time for such empty thoughts .
‘Isn’t that Frey?’
He almost didn’t recognize him if it weren’t for his unique, faded grey hair .
“What?”
“That’s Frey, right?”
Other students also chatted among themselves . It seemed that David was not the only one bewildered by his sudden change .
Frey looked around the classroom and leisurely made eye contact with David . For a short while, their gazes were locked onto each other . David thought that Frey’s expression would be full of dread as usual, but it wasn’t . He didn’t know what happened last night, but human nature did not change so easily .
‘Hurry and lower your eyes already . ’
He had it seen dozens of times . The self-conscious demeanor that was unfitting of someone from the distinguished Blake House . But it was natural for Frey, the disgrace abandoned by his family and the academy’s worst student .
However today’s Frey was different from usual . He ignored David and his typical high-strung appearance was strangely relaxed . He had never seen Frey walk with his back so straight .
Frey went to his seat, sat down, and took out a textbook from his desk . He started reading each page in fascination as if he was lost in his own world .
“Hah . ”
David unwittingly exclaimed, dumbfounded . His reaction was rather dry . Meanwhile Jack and Anthony’s faces were already distorted . They made eye contact with Frey and had the same reaction . Jack became impatient and wanted to speak up, but David called Frey’s name first .
“Frey Blake . ”
Frey turned his head and looked at David with indifference . Even his uselessly glossy face today was unpleasant . He continued boldly .
“Look . Didn’t I tell you? The bastard’s a coward who’s too afraid to even die . ”
Jack and Anthony, who had frozen at David’s words, quickly remembered their roles . Their faces filled with ridicule and contempt .
“Yeah yeah, you win . ”
“God this sucks . Here, your meal tickets . ”
Among them, Jack felt the worst . Not just from Frey’s attitude, but also because he just blew 10 meal tickets . He calmed himself, approached Frey and sneered .
“What’s wrong? Did you eat something wrong yesterday?”
He spoke in a gentle tone that seemed to be filled with friendly concern, but his expression was murderous .
But Frey did not respond and just kept reading his textbook . Jack’s face hardened . Infuriated, he walked over as fast as he could and took away Frey’s book . Only then did he look up at him .
“What’s your problem?”
“‘What’s your problem?’ Hah . ”
Jack was about to spew a string of curses . However, the moment he received Frey’s attention, he stopped without even realizing it .
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‘W-what’s with this bastard . Those eyes…’
His bottomless gaze seemed to peer inside of him . Jack forced himself to keep smiling, feeling both unnerved and terrified .
“Y-You thought sleeping pills were good for your skin, huh? Seeing the oil oozing from your face . ”
“Pfft haha!”
Anthony busted out laughing at his joke, causing Jack to regain confidence .
“Give me your meal ticket, Frey . ”
“Meal ticket?”
“Yeah, I just lost ten from my bet . ”
The tension from earlier had completely left him . Waving the book he took from Frey, Jack continued .
“I bet ten meal tickets on you dying, so how could you show up to class like this? Thanks to you, I’m gonna starve for a while . ”
“Bwahaha!”
“Yeah it’s Frey’s fault!”
David and Anthony jeered enthusiastically . In comparison, Frey’s reaction was simple .
“F*ck off . ”
“…”
Once again, silence engulfed the classroom . The students gaped at Frey with their eyes wide open . Of course, Jack’s expression stood out the most .
“What did you say?”
His hesitation toward Frey disappeared in an instant and turned into anger . Jack had a very imposing physique and vicious impression for a magician . When seen by others, he would even be mistaken as a mercenary .
When Jack grated his teeth threateningly, some of the weak-hearted students paled .
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Frey, on the other hand, remained calm . Actually, he was rather annoyed by him .
“Give me my book back and get lost . ”
Jack was not the type to be babbling over such provocations . He immediately put his anger into action . His cauldron-sized fist struck Frey in the face .
“Huh?”
Or so he thought .
‘What?’
Jack quickly realized that Frey was standing right next to him .
‘W-what happened?’
When did the guy who was just sitting in his seat stand up? He felt like he had seen a ghost . Whereas Frey simply stared at the dumbfounded Jack .
‘What the hell is up with this guy?’
As he scrutinized these guys in more detail, Frey’s memories clearly surfaced – from the moment he had entered the academy to the end of his life .
In the beginning, his life was decent . Everyone smiled and treated Frey well, and he was happy . He felt as if he had finally found a place to belong .
That was until they had discovered the truth . He had a hopeless mana sensitivity and could not even use 1-star spells properly . Even worse, he was a totally abandoned son of the Blake House .
“Trash . ”
“A bastard like you doesn’t even deserve to attend the academy . ”
“I’m begging you, so just hurry up and die . ”
In Frey’s memory, David’s horde were devils . Even Lucas’ impregnable mental strength could not prevent Frey’s body from trembling so weakly . He could guess how much he had suffered until now . He had had a hard and painful life . Above all, it was due to the fact that he had no one to rely on .
“…”
Frey accepted his memories completely . And at the same time, he made a judgment . Frey did not intend to retaliate against David and his party . This was because the level difference was too great . It is like an adult getting involved in a playground dispute .
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But it was not the same . David’s party’s atrocious acts were as vicious as any other corrupt aristocrat .
“I can’t . ”
“W-what?”
Jack was a little scared from the sudden change in Frey’s attitude and how he vanished and reappeared like a ghost . But mainly it was his eyes .
His eyes were like bottomless pits . Just by looking into them, he felt as if he was being sucked into his soul .
Frey recalled his memories when he was Lucas . By the time he was hailed as the Great Mage, he had garnered another name, the Great Teacher . He raised, led, and supported many of his disciples .
However, he did not consider himself a good man . Because Lucas never forgave those who pointed a sword at him . Nevertheless, thanks to him nurturing a spirit of deep discipline, unnecessary disputes tended to be avoided as much as possible .
But now it was different . 4,000 years .
He had been sealed in the abyss for a long time . Regardless of how much Lucas kept his reason intact, it was difficult to stay alone in a space where there was nothing . He had been on the brink of madness hundreds of times, and had several occasions where his consciousness had nearly been consumed .
But Lucas had succeeded in maintaining his self-awareness .
How? There was only one way . He expelled his violent emotions endlessly . He constantly recalled the beings who had sealed himself away . His outrage neared bloodthirst . For months, he would mutter words of hatred and curses so profane that they were difficult to say aloud .
Clear mirror, still water (明鏡止水) was essential to increase the rank of one’s magic, but Lucas at that time had no choice . Had he maintained only such static emotions, his consciousness would have been consumed by the abyss ages ago .
Phwack!
“… Kgh!”
Jack was unable to make a sound . All of a sudden, he felt severe pain in his abdomen and could not even breathe properly . He felt like he had been impaled by a spear . His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness, his body slamming against the ground with an audible thud .
“W-what was that?”
“What’s going on?”
Jack had fallen down in an instant . At least it appeared that way to the students in the classroom . No one saw what really happened .
‘…’
It was Frey . His actions were surprisingly simple . After activating mana all over his body to drastically improve his physical ability, he brought his fist into Jack’s stomach . And with a faster move than the previous, he recovered it .
However, this series of processes was unorthodoxly fast . At least to an extent the other students would never realize .