WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 11: Meeting My Favorite
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The next day.
Viktor entered the classroom riding something.
“Good morning. Nice to see you all.”
A smiling mask.
An even brighter morning greeting.
But the Class E students couldn't possibly return it.
They could only stare at the clown with uneasy expressions.
““...?””
Their faces were utterly bewildered.
Their eyes asked what exactly they were looking at.
The boy smiled as though their reaction pleased him.
An eerie echo seeped through the mask.
“Having a ride really is convenient! The Class E main building is quite far from the dorms, after all.”
It wasn't a short distance.
That was why student trams had been placed throughout the academy.
The academy was practically the size of a city, so it had its own transportation system.
“The ride is nice, too. I'll have to use it often.”
From the context, it sounded like he was fascinated by the tram he had ridden for the first time.
But the tram wasn't what had impressed him.
Something creaked beneath Viktor's feet.
Once the students noticed it, every last one of them fell silent.
“As expected, a rickshaw powered by human sweat and hard work is better than a tram powered by mana.”
It was a huge rickshaw.
The base alone looked large enough to be at least one pyeong, with a roof built over it.
There was even a white bed beneath its cozy shade.
It was a striking design.
A wide rickshaw, with a single bed inside.
The clown lay on it in perfect comfort.
“Traveling will be nice and soft from now on.”
And at the front, where the rickshaw was pulled.
On the handles packed closely together...
“Haa, haa...”
“Ugh, eck...”
Several students stood there, completely exhausted.
They were the students ranked second through eighth in the class.
They were pulling the rickshaw.
They must have overworked themselves, because all of them looked half-dead.
“Goddamn it, ngh... This is fucking...”
One student cursed through ragged breaths.
As though he had heard it with ghostly precision, the clown poked his head out.
“Oh? Do you have a complaint?”
“Eek! N-no, Boss! I can run for another two hours!”
Shake, shake.
Their face went pale in an instant as they frantically shook their head.
The other rickshaw pullers reacted the same way.
““...””
When Viktor leaned his mask toward them, they quickly forced pleasant expressions.
They closed their mouths as if trying to silence even their panting.
We have absolutely no complaints.
It felt as though those words could be heard in their silence.
Though they couldn't hide their pouring sweat or twitching brows.
“Everyone, are you perhaps tired?”
““No, Boss!””
“This is great for building muscle and stamina. You're getting plenty of exercise, right? It'll really help you.”
““Yes, Boss!!””
They looked thoroughly cowed.
The only one with anything close to a normal reaction was the second-ranked student.
Luyan alone hadn't smoothed out their frown.
Sweating as though they might die, Luyan chewed on a string of curses.
“Fucking... What the hell, making something like this in one day...”
“Luyan.”
Of course, even Luyan caught a frightened breath the moment their eyes met.
Luyan tried to glare at the clown, but fear was plain in their eyes.
The masked boy watched Luyan as though he found them amusing.
“Luyan?”
“...”
“Is it heavy?”
“...No.”
“You'll get stressed pulling a rickshaw. You need that kind of stress, too. You'll probably think about it a lot before bed.”
“...”
“You're grateful I'm training you, right?”
“...Yeah.”
Fuck.
Luyan really would think about it a lot before going to bed.
Luyan answered with their lips clenched tight.
The reason things had ended up this way was simple.
It had happened in the not-so-distant past, yesterday afternoon.
‘Of all the lunatics to get caught by...!’
The Class E students had plenty of complaints.
Especially those near the top of the class.
What bothered them most was the ranking that made no sense.
-No... Putting everything else aside, how can an E-rank be first in the class?
-It's ridiculous. Forget being first, I doubt someone like that should even be able to enroll.
-Isn't this some kind of admissions corruption?
-Something is definitely wrong...
Absurdity, confusion, suspicion.
Their brows naturally furrowed.
-On top of that... Do you know what those bastards from the other classes said earlier?
-They said Class E was a place where even trash like that could enter as the top student.
-If something like that is first in the class, you can tell how low the level of everyone beneath them must be.
Of course, those words were far from the truth.
Even the students in Class E had grown up being called gifted somewhere.
They had worked themselves to the bone, hit walls, broken through them, and made it here.
Simply entering Grandia Academy qualified them to be considered promising members of the next generation.
-Damn those bastards...
-Over one little rank gap...
But things were different for the people involved.
Rankings could make someone arrogant or make them feel small.
The world of numbers was cruel.
Students in higher classes naturally looked down on those below them, while students in lower classes stared upward and suffered from inferiority.
It was a common phenomenon in a competitive society.
The Class E students were only victims of the system.
They felt cheated because their potential and efforts had been denied.
-Why does something like that get to wear the top-student badge...!
-Things already suck enough. What do you think the other classes will think of us?
Their sharp, bristling feelings turned toward an undeserving target.
That target was Viktor.
They glared at the easiest person to pick on.
If they had thought about it properly, they would have realized how cowardly that was...
-Are we just going to let it be? Are we really going to let some E-rank stay above us?
-None of you like it either, right? We all feel the same way.
-I don't know if it was admissions corruption or what, but that bastard has met the wrong people.
They were buds that had yet to bloom.
Immature sprouts still growing.
Those who had never even produced a flower couldn't possibly know how to bear fruit.
-Can't we just teach him a lesson?
-He's just some commoner from the countryside. No need to test the waters.
-Why lay hands on him carelessly? We can just threaten him a little.
Their judgment had been swayed by emotion.
And that judgment exploded after Viktor provoked them.
-What the hell did that bastard say earlier?
-What? He said he could kick our asses? Some nobody who crawled out of who knows where...
-I didn't like that weird mask he wears from the start.
-He doesn't look like someone we can handle with words. Should we rough him up a little?
So, after the day's schedule ended, they surrounded Viktor.
The atmosphere was hostile.
Honestly, they thought the clown would be frightened or run away.
Every stat except theory was E-rank. What else could that mean?
He was a bookworm who could only handle desk work.
There was no way he wouldn't be intimidated when the top students, including the second-ranked student, gathered to pressure him.
-You sure talked a big game earlier. You said you could kick our asses?
-Then why are you in such a hurry to leave? Scared?
-We still have business with you.
Anyone would have been intimidated in that situation, not just the boy.
Seven healthy boys and girls had surrounded him.
They had planned to scare him a little and settle the hierarchy, but...
-Shall I wipe the floor with you right here?
-If we're doing this anyway, why don't we make a bet? It'd be a shame for it to end just like that.
The boy's reaction was somehow different.
It was far outside their expectations.
-The loser has to do whatever the winner wants for the next year.
They didn't remember much after that.
It was hard to tell what had even happened to them.
All they knew was that they had been beaten senseless.
At the end, they thought they'd begged desperately, hands clasped.
-Hmm... You're surrendering already? What a shame.
The grotesquely twisted mask.
That was about all they could remember.
-You remember the conditions, right?
-From now on, you'll obediently listen to what I say, understood?
Heh heh.
The voice behind the unpleasantly smiling mask.
““...””
And now, here they were.
“You'll all make some serious muscle gains. This is really helping you.”
The clown lightly stepped down from the rickshaw and patted the students' shoulders.
‘Fuck...’
The students put away the rickshaw with resigned curses in their hearts.
* * *
A few days later.
I spent my days happily playing around with my underlings.
There were exactly two days left until the Freshman Welcome Test.
‘No... Having an exam just one week after the entrance ceremony is a little insane.’
Maybe that was what it took to be a place for elites.
The best educational institution on the continent and all that.
Wriggle, wriggle.
Whenever I got lost in thought for a moment, the front pocket of my uniform started wriggling again.
[Viktor!]
“Yes, Princess.”
[It seems you are not spending time with those children today.]
“Are you referring to Luyan's group? I let them rest for a while. We had plenty of fun yesterday.”
[That is true. You were particularly harsh to them yesterday.]
“Harsh? What kind of bullying is that between kids? It was all just playing around.”
[Is that so? Human culture is difficult to understand no matter how many times I hear about it.]
We continued chatting lightly.
Then Carmilla asked as though something had just occurred to her.
[Come to think of it... Did you not say you were meeting someone in Class E?]
“I did.”
[You said you deliberately came to the lowest-ranked class to meet that child.]
“That's right. But they haven't stood out at all. I don't know if they're hiding or skipping class...”
[How strange. To think there are things Viktor does not know.]
“What do you take me for?”
[An exceptionally capable retainer?]
“That's an overestimation, but thank you.”
[No! I mean Viktor is amazing! Yesterday, you even pulled out that child who had dived into the lake, saying they would run away, with a single gesture...]
The bat's eyes sparkled.
It was true that I was weak, but she didn't seem to believe it at all.
Still, she was cute, so wasn't that enough?
I gently stroked her head with a finger.
[Geh... I-it is disrespectful! Do not stroke my head!]
The princess scolded me, but she melted under my touch anyway.
Maybe she became drowsy right away, because a soft purring sound slipped out.
Her fur was soft, too, so it felt nice.
As I walked along, I suddenly noticed someone's presence.
Rustle.
“...?”
The bushes shook unnaturally.
I stared toward the sound.
‘Are they watching me...?’
Actually, it wasn't that I sensed their presence. I could simply see someone behind the tree.
How would I even sense a presence?
An E-rank couldn't do that.
Besides, a head was peeking out from pretty close by.
‘Who is that, and why are they doing that?’
Should I check?
Tap, tap.
I stepped forward.
After a few deliberate missteps, space crackled.
I stepped on that wavering haze and sprang forward.
The next moment, I was behind the bushes.
At the same time, my eyes met blue ones.
‘Huh?’
Black hair fell around her as she turned her head.
Gloomily drooping locks, with deep, clear blue eyes set between them.
Perhaps startled, she fell backward on the spot.
“Eek...!”
Her body disappeared into the bushes.
I blankly looked down at her.
A little moisture had gathered around her eyes.
“I-I'm sorry for spying on you...!”
“...”
Even her timid, trembling voice.
She was the girl I remembered.
‘Why is she...?’
Her identity was none other than the person we had just been looking for.
The girl who had made me enroll in the lowest-ranked class in the first place.
The Seed of Disaster.
Exactly two years from now, the monster who would destroy half the academy.
The grinder that would kill countless supporting characters.
‘And yet.’
Ngme.
(Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen)
My favorite supporting character from the original game.
The character who had made me cry several times.
A child of tragedy.
A girl immersed in dreams.
‘Alice.’
She looked exactly like she had in the illustration.
Her pupils trembled, and her hair was a complete mess.
As I looked down at the girl, a mechanical sound echoed in my mind.
Ding-!
[Story ‘Alice's Nightmare’ in progress.]
[The main quest begins.]
A status window appeared before my eyes.
[Main Quest]
-Prevent the fall and rampage of the third Doom, ‘Alice.’
-Time remaining until Alice is consumed by nightmares: 2 years and 1 month
I stood before the Doom I had loved most.
Footnotes:
Ngme is the established Korean abbreviation of Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen.
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