Chapter 112

Eddie calmly explained the plan to join the Rancross team.

“First, you know the name of the academy’s Rancross team, right?”

“Plameus. It’s the academy’s historical sports club. It’s also a team that has produced many of the empire’s most renowned players.”

Just as Joy said, Lieferden Academy’s Rancross team, ‘Plameus,’ was famous.

It was a team that had been famous even in Eddie’s previous life.

Therefore, Eddie was already well-acquainted with the process of joining Plameus, and he continued his explanation with that in mind.

“Once we submit the application, we’ll have an interview and a practical test. Based on the results, we’ll either become a pro member or a regular member.”

“If you pass, you pass, and if you fail, you fail. What’s a regular member?”

“A pro member is a member who can become a team player, and a regular member is just a member who enjoys Rancross as a club activity.”

In short, it meant the members were ranked according to their skill level.

Joy nodded as if she understood.

“So, even if you’re not good at Rancross, you can still join one way or another.”

“That’s right. So even I, who am not very athletic, can get in. You have the skills, so you could even aim for a pro member spot.”

“Wait a minute. You’re not very athletic?”

“Ah… did I not mention that?”

Eddie scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Joy was already looking at him with her red eyes twinkling with interest.

“I’m good at everything else, but… sports are just… not my thing. It turns out sports aren’t something you can do with just a good head on your shoulders.”

“…Pfft.”

At Eddie’s uncharacteristically drawn-out words, Joy couldn’t hold back her laughter.

To think there was something the great Eddie Summerson couldn’t do.

Having only seen Eddie’s overwhelming presence until now, this was a very unexpected side of him.

“But Rancross is a sport where you use magic too, right? Is it so bad that even your incredible mana can’t make up for it?”

“…It’s more that Plameus is such a huge team, the standards for pro members are quite high.”

“Right, I get it. Heh heh…”

Despite the belated excuse, Joy let out a small, amused laugh.

Eddie felt a little embarrassed, but he let it be, thinking it was good that Joy had relaxed.

“Anyway, if both of us get into Plameus, it will be much easier to figure out Kylie’s intentions.”

Whether she was really interested in Eddie.

And whether that interest was of her own volition or someone else’s.

Joining Plameus was the bait to find that out.

* * *

The discussion about the plan ended there.

The rest was about persuading Joy’s grandfather to move here and organizing personal affairs.

Joy wore a bitter expression for a moment as she pondered.

Then she asked Eddie.

“Ah, but how are you going to get to school tomorrow?”

“School?”

“Now that you’ve left Kirhausen, you don’t have a transport ship to take you anymore. The newspaper said you might be taking Dean Devens' transport ship…”

“The Dean’s transport ship? Of course not. I have to take the Archimedes.”

“…Ah.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m no longer a retainer or anything, just an ordinary academy student. I should go to school in a way that befits that.”

Joy’s mouth fell open slightly in surprise.

She had actually been expecting something.

Since Eddie had accomplished such great things, she thought he might show some other incredible method.

But Eddie’s answer was unexpected ‘by the book.’

It was so cliché that it felt fresh.

Eddie let out a small laugh and started walking toward the cabin first.

And Joy stood there for a moment, dazed, watching Eddie’s back and thinking.

‘Everyone at the Great Plaza of Ratmol is going to be stunned tomorrow.’

* * *

The next morning.

Commoner students in their academy uniforms gathered in front of the fountain at the Great Plaza of Ratmol.

Being a small minority, even with students from all grades gathered, their number was just a little over 30.

While waiting for the transport ship, the students chatted amongst themselves.

They shared what had happened during the holiday or talked about the midterm exam results they would soon find out.

But of course, the hottest topic was Eddie Summerson.

The higher-grade commoner students were especially interested in Eddie.

They asked the younger students, particularly the first-years, about Eddie.

Most of the questions were about Eddie’s next move, and everyone anticipated an answer from Joy, who was closest to him.

And Joy responded to all those questions with silence.

She thought there was no need for her to speak up when the person himself would soon appear anyway.

And sure enough.

“Uh…?”

A sixth-year student looking at the back of the plaza had his eyes wide open.

“Eddie Summerson…?”

At the name he softly murmured, all the commoner students turned to look.

Eddie was really there.

“The Archimedes, we board it here, right?”

Eddie asked nonchalantly as he blended into the group of commoners.

He approached without minding that everyone’s jaws had dropped and their eyes were wide.

Joy, too, just shrugged her shoulders and treated him casually.

In a tense moment where the children, unable to contain their curiosity, were about to bombard him with questions.

Whoooooosh-

A wind blew, and the Archimedes appeared in the sky above.

* * *

The Archimedes landed at the Lieferden Academy Transport Ship Landing Field.

Eddie emerged, mixed in with the line of commoner children.

The eyes of the upper-class students who were already at the landing field widened when they saw him.

Murmur, murmur.

Buzz, buzz.

The landing field grew noisy with the debate surrounding Eddie.

The reactions were divided in two.

Either they mocked and criticized Eddie for arriving on the Archimedes,

or they simply watched in silence.

The former were mostly the children of the Kirhausen-faction families who had supported Eddie’s expulsion.

They were wary of Eddie, who was causing a stir in the magical world, and continued with speculations that were close to rumors.

“To leave Kirhausen with such bravado and then ride the Archimedes, how absurd.”

“Looks like the nobles of Lacania and the Embas Kingdom didn’t have the guts to offer him a transport ship, huh?”

“Still, thanks to that, he secured about 30 commoner followers on the way. I guess that was his strategy. Heh heh heh.”

Sharp comments were heard, but Eddie didn’t care.

He had already expected their reactions.

What was important, anyway, was the latter group who remained silent.

The children of the Lacanian nobles who secretly supported him, and the children of families who were still neutral.

They were maintaining their silence, not swept away by the Kirhausen faction’s public opinion manipulation.

And their numbers were surprisingly larger than Eddie had expected.

Either the supportive public opinion centered around Leodimir and the Lacanian nobles was gaining more strength than he thought.

Or it meant the resentment that had been secretly building up against Kirhausen was greater than he thought.

Either way, it wasn’t bad from the perspective of confronting Kirhausen.

“Then I’ll see you there during lunch.”

“Okay.”

Eddie bid a short farewell to Joy and left the landing field.

The commoner students who came with him looked a little disappointed, their gazes following Eddie’s back.

They had gotten quite close to Eddie while riding the Archimedes and wanted to exchange a few more words.

But they couldn’t show their disappointment, knowing well the reason why Eddie was leaving first.

‘He probably doesn’t want us to be caught in the crossfire of the criticism aimed at him.’

Joy looked at Eddie’s back and conveyed her gratitude in her heart.

And Eddie looked at her with a slightly bitter expression.

* * *

Arriving at the dormitory, Eddie looked at the empty space in one corner of the room.

When he came up to the room, the place where Marcel’s furniture and belongings should have been was empty.

Kirhausen had moved Marcel’s room.

Looking at the space where the furniture had been, Eddie let out a hollow laugh.

“Well… given the situation, it’s not a surprising development.”

As long as Eddie knew the family’s shame, the most urgent problem for Kirhausen was Marcel.

They had to somehow prevent Eddie from telling Marcel about the family’s corruption.

That was why they had started the public opinion war for his expulsion as soon as Eddie left the family.

At first, they would have naturally tried to move Eddie’s room, not Marcel’s, but since he was no longer a retainer of the family, they couldn’t force him.

Having publicly announced the severance of ties, to openly intervene would be a great disgrace.

So, it would have been better to coax and appease the young master.

It must have been quite a blow to their pride to separate Marcel as if they were running away.

The image of that whole process in his mind made Eddie’s smile deepen.

And on the other hand, he thought about Marcel, who was probably in the infirmary right now.

The news that Marcel had been very sick during the holiday and had been in the infirmary for days came mixed in with the murmuring voices.

The voices went on to speculate that Marcel’s illness was probably a lie.

Because Eddie’s changed status had made Marcel look even more ridiculous, they were saying he was hiding under the pretext of being sick.

Looking only at the revealed situation, it was a plausible speculation.

But Eddie didn’t think Marcel was faking it.

His being bedridden was probably real.

He must have received the shock of his world collapsing; how could he be okay?

Of course, what Marcel found out was only the tip of the iceberg.

But for a guy who had lived his whole life with pride in his family, even this much would have been a huge shock and wound.

‘Anyway, it’ll be hard to see his face for a while.’

Eddie thought only that far and stopped.

There was no particular rush concerning Marcel anymore.

There was still more time before the interview with the Westin Post would be released anyway.

‘I’ll wait until Kirhausen gets impatient and makes a mistake first.’

With that thought, Eddie turned his head and looked at his desk.

There lay a white envelope with the academy’s seal on it.

It was the midterm report card delivered to the students who had returned from the holiday.

Eddie opened the envelope and checked the report card.

The grades were in the upper-middle range, as expected.

The only noteworthy thing was that, just like in his previous life, he had gotten an overwhelming first place in the practical subjects.

But grades were no longer important to Eddie.

Eddie put the report card away and took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

It was the application form he had received from the sports department’s general office on his way.

Click-

Picking up a pen, Eddie filled out the application without hesitation.

He wrote ‘Plameus’ as the name of the sports team he wanted to join.

He fluently wrote down the motive and ambition for joining that he had thought of in advance.

“Done.”

Looking at the completed application, Eddie smiled with satisfaction.

Then he checked the clock on the wall.

After filling out the application, it was already time for the first class.

Eddie packed his textbooks and the application form and left the room.

“I hope lunchtime comes quickly.”

At the thought of meeting the well-raised child of the Penrose family, Eddie felt both nervous and excited.

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