I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 82 : Enrollment (3)

Enrollment (3)

The new student representative selected for the entrance ceremony is not a position you get through something like a game of ttakji-chigi.

Only cadets with proven excellence in their abilities are specially selected for this spot.

Merely rising to that position draws attention from the very beginning of admission and elevates the prestige of the family.

In other words, being a new student representative meant that your skills had already been recognized even before admission.

All students educated at the academy boasted skills worthy of active duty, but the representative stood out among them as the best.

'Don't laugh!!'

Yet, during the oath of the new student representative, laughter erupted here and there.

The representative's pants happened to be wet, making it look as if he had wet himself.

In an instant, the atmosphere turned like a comedy show set, and the representative student, Alio Refilica, trembled with humiliation.

'These bastards!'

He was the third son of the Refilica family.

In the past, both his eldest and second eldest brothers had also been selected as new student representatives and had elevated their family's prestige.

Alio, who admired his brothers, had lived with that very goal in mind.

The crucial moment to finally fulfill that dream had arrived.

Yet that great position was now being tarnished.

'Damn it...!'

Unable to vent his anger in such a public place, Alio let out a silent scream.

He had always looked forward to this day, and now it had become the most humiliating moment of his life.

It was a clear disgrace.

If only he hadn't spilled the cup, at the very least, he wouldn't have become a laughingstock.

Alio turned his eyes to the girl who was essentially the root cause of it.

'That wench...!!'

She was a girl with striking black hair and red eyes.

Her uniform suited her so well that it made his heart flutter for a moment.

But recalling their earlier collision, Alio scowled.

'Anyone could see it was on purpose.'

Even looking back, the way they bumped into each other was odd.

It was a rarely crowded area; no matter how hurriedly one ran, being a bit careful would have been enough to avoid a collision.

The fact that they still bumped into each other meant she practically ran straight at him on purpose.

But what about the chance it was actually a blunder?

'A blunder? Fine, let's say it was a blunder!'

If it truly was a blunder, the first thing to do after getting up should be to apologize.

But what did that wench say after seeing the water she'd spilled?

[Why did you pee your pants?]

That's exactly what she said.

Is that something a reasonable person would say in that situation?

She was the one who spilled the water and yet tried to accuse him of wetting himself—was that normal?

'She's not an ordinary wench.'

Even her older brother's intervention was comical. Saying his little sister had done it without understanding anything?

How did someone so lacking in common sense manage to get into this academy?

How, when only excellent talents are admitted?

'Just wait and see.'

The more he thought about that wench and her older brother, the more suspicious they seemed.

His anger now led him to deeply doubt the two of them.

'They must have been admitted illegally as commoners.'

Only a commoner could behave as they did.

He could not accept that such people were placed on equal footing with him.

After all, Alio's eldest brother had once had his pride wounded by a commoner pretending to be a noble.

'I can't let this go!'

He would never forgive commoners. That was Alio's code.

And besides, the shame inflicted on him was unforgettable. He would never forget it.

****

After the entrance ceremony, Louis had a headache. He had never imagined that something like what Rio did at the ceremony would happen.

'Should I just take care of Rio?'

He had not anticipated that Rio would be so lacking in social skills.

Knowing Rio's boldness—who would draw a sword at the slightest provocation—he'd expected that a fancy party atmosphere would be nothing but a joke to Rio.

But seeing her shiver like she was at a graveyard in such a place was still unbelievable.

'The Refilica brat must have noticed.'

Alio Refilica. He was the noble offspring who was the student representative.

Unless he was a fool, he must now be suspicious of both Rio and Louis.

After all, they had behaved in ways that went beyond common sense at an academy where only the best gather.

Louis realized he had been short-sighted.

He should never have tried to sneak someone as unsociable as Rio into this place.

He would have to finish this job quickly before something even bigger happened.

'I'm tempted to pull her out right now, but...'

Rio was a great help in searching for the Crown Prince.

He could expel her after the search was over—it wouldn't be too late.

Right after the entrance ceremony, Louis searched the academy for the hidden Crown Prince.

No matter what artifact the guy used to disguise himself, Louis figured that with his senses, he'd find him right away.

He remembered the Crown Prince's scent.

He memorized the smell soaked into the Prince's trophies from the Imperial Court.

His hearing also helped. When pushed to the max, he could even pick up whispers from places not in view.

Rio too followed behind Louis, searching for the Crown Prince among the new students.

By tasting someone's blood, Rio could immediately discern the person's family.

That power was as skillful for finding people as Louis's own senses.

'Fortunately, she hasn't turned anyone into a bloody mess.'

All she did was take a small taste.

If she ever actually left someone drenched in blood with that excuse, it would go beyond lack of social skills—she'd be less than human.

He had strongly warned her not to fight with the other students, so he felt relieved.

Thus, two days passed as they continued their undercover investigation while posing as students.

****

"He hasn't turned up."

At a table in the academy's park, Louis slumped with his face on the table.

"What do you mean?"

Silia, sitting across from him, asked with a startled expression.

Like Louis, she was also part of the infiltration. Moreover, she needed to stick with Louis because he needed her spells.

"I mean what I said. Not only has the Crown Prince not shown up, but even his subordinates haven't shown themselves."

Louis spoke again with a helpless look.

They had searched the entire academy over two days, but not even a single hair of the Crown Prince was found.

"It's only been two days. Isn't it too soon to be impatient?"

Just as Silia said, undercover operations rarely end in just two days.

Thorough investigation and perfectly grasping on-site conditions would take several times longer.

"Think about it. Did you forget that I have a scent recognition function, super hearing, and even a blood recognition ability?"

Louis poked his own chest as he spoke.

With all those abilities, he could find people faster than anyone.

Even if he half-assed it, those abilities should let him find someone instantly.

"Aren't you underestimating this place? It's an educational institution, sure, but it's also a huge city packed with all sorts of facilities. Looking for someone here is no different than searching for a needle in the desert."

Just as Silia said, a massive city lay beside the academy.

In a crowded city, finding someone by sense alone was never easy.

"Did you try searching among other grades or the staff?"

"Of course I did. Did you find anything?"

"I went through all the student records. I checked for any suspicious activities or students whose data looked falsified, but..."

Nothing, it turned out. That meant the Crown Prince had never actually snuck into the academy.

But the enemy had forged a student ID. Unless their purpose was to enroll undercover, they wouldn't have needed to make it.

Perhaps the Prince had concealed himself so thoroughly that even Louis's senses were useless.

"Are you okay?"

Louis asked Silia with concern.

"What do you mean?"

"You have bad memories of this academy, don't you?"

"......"

This was where her younger brother had been killed. Silia had infiltrated alongside Louis even knowing that.

"Are you saying you want me to stop if I'm having a hard time?"

"Well, yes. It might bring back your trauma."

"Then who would support you with spells here? Planning to use some other officer?"

Silia was the only officer able to control the special task force.

Any other officer would be unfit to go undercover with Louis and Rio.

"Let's wait a little longer. If we can't even find him by the time the next academy event comes around, then we'll have no choice."

The academy event would be held in three months.

Silia decided that she would keep pretending to be a student until then and see how things unfolded.

"By the way, we might not have to wait that long. I have a collaborator coming today to help us find the Crown Prince."

"A collaborator?"

"Someone sent directly from the Imperial Court. Probably by now..."

Just as Silia was about to elaborate, a student ran over to her.

"Teache Talia! Something's happened!"

Currently, Silia was using the alias Talia. Having grown used to the name, she handled the situation skillfully.

"What is it?"

"One of your students, named Rio..."

Upon hearing those words, both Louis and Silia jumped up from their seats.

****

Since the entrance ceremony, Rio had gotten a real scolding from Louis.

She had often been scolded before, but it had been a long time since he'd been so serious.

Seeing her young master's devastated expression, Rio was terrified.

The young master was very angry. That meant she had done something wrong.

Only after Louis pointed out her mistake did Rio realize:

'I was the one in the wrong.'

Shivering at the entrance ceremony, bumping into someone without apologizing, and even making fun of him for wetting himself—it was all Rio's fault.

The student representative she'd bumped into was clearly the victim.

If the young master hadn't scolded her, Rio might never have realized it in her entire life.

She was glad to realize it now, even if it was late. But the water had already been spilled.

"Are you Rio Dexter?"

A student with glasses blocked Rio's path.

Unlike the others, this student wore a cape on his back—a decoration reserved for the academy's upperclassmen, as Rio had heard.

Today was the day upperclassmen returned to school.

"Do you remember the new student representative from the entrance ceremony? I am his second elder brother, Selion Refilica. I heard you humiliated my younger brother."

If Rio hadn't made a blunder that day, his little brother Alio wouldn't have become a laughingstock.

Thus, as his big bro, Selion felt nothing but anger toward Rio.

Fortunately, now that Rio was reflecting, she understood.

"I'm sorry."

So, she bowed politely and apologized.

But if Selion intended to let things end with just an apology, he wouldn't have come looking for her.

"Did you really think you could fix this with just an apology? What you're doing now is just closing the barn after the cow has escaped."

Of course, the party involved wasn't going to let it go so easily. Rio wasn't surprised.

But then...

"Why are you talking about a barn all of a sudden?"

"What?"

"Isn't this an academy, not a farm?"

Rio didn't even know it was a proverb and took the words literally.

"And who's raising cows here?"

Selion's expression stiffened at Rio's genuinely curious face.

"Are you saying you don't even know what that means?"

"Do you like beef, by any chance?"

She really had no idea.

Even if that was the case, shouldn't anyone be able to glean some meaning from the context?

Wasn't she supposed to be a genius admitted to the academy?

"I knew you were suspicious...!"

Now he could be certain. He now understood why his brother Alio was so angry at this girl.

"You'd better be ready. In the name of my family, I'll thoroughly uncover how you got admitted with illegal means. Not just me—the whole second-year class will pressure you."

If even a hint got out that Rio was a commoner, they would all cooperate.

The academy had long been vigilant about commoners pretending to be nobles.

"A few years ago, someone suddenly broke in here and ruined the faces of some top students. The culprit turned out to be a graduate, a student pretending to be a noble. Among the victims was my own elder brother!"

Remembering his elder brother's caved-in face still hurt him. It was only natural as family.

"Commoners in noble clothing. I could never forgive such scum! I'll utterly ruin you!"

"Who are you talking about ruining?"

Selion jumped at the voice from behind. What kind of fearless person would dare surprise him?

"Who the hell are you...!"

The moment he turned around with a frown, he saw a girl with blond hair, surrounded by people equipped with heavy gear.

The girl's face was covered by a mask and hat, and the people at her side looked like bodyguard mercenaries.

"Who the hell are you people?!"

While Selion questioned them, Rio recognized the girl and was startled.

She never forgot the taste of blood she had tasted once.

She immediately realized that the girl was the Princess she had rescued before.

As an aside, all the knights disguised as mercenaries guarding the Princess had black hair—just like Rio.