WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 54: I’ll Go First

──────

“Would you care to keep company with me?”

My voice rang clearly through the bustling classroom.

The students who had been chatting all fell silent at once.

Had they been shocked?

Either way, I held both of Javert’s hands tightly.

“......”

A dazed silence dragged on.

No one dared to speak.

I could only feel everyone’s attention fixed on me, Javert, and our interlocked hands.

Either way, I quietly took in the warmth of the red-haired woman’s hands.

“Hehe.”

“......”

I smiled faintly as I looked at Javert.

She showed no particular reaction.

As always, only a lifeless glimmer flickered in her green eyes.

She stood there silently, looking up at me as if she were simply listening closely.

‘Still... she must’ve been surprised.’

I could see it.

Her pupils were wavering, faintly but clearly.

‘Her emotions are muted, not completely absent.’

Javert’s flustered expression was a rare sight.

Recognizing it, I smiled.

Of course, to the students who couldn’t tell, it probably looked as though Professor Javert had turned serious.

Tension hung thick in the classroom, and the students were breaking into cold sweats.

“Ahem.”

“......”

I enjoyed the contrast for a moment.

The strange silence continued.

Unexpectedly, the first person to speak was Alice, who had frozen stiff as a stone.

“U-Um... Viktor...?”

“Alice? What is it?”

“What did you just... Why did you suddenly ask Professor Javert to, to keep company with you...?”

“Ah, I spoke about something private too openly. I apologize if it bothered you.”

“N-No, it’s not that...”

Her eyes wavered uneasily.

“Keeping company means...”

“I left out too much. Professor Javert made me a promise before. She said she’d grant me one request, whatever I asked for.”

“Anything... one thing?”

“You know about when we exposed the traitor last time, right? I helped Professor Javert then, so she made that promise as thanks.”

“A-Ah... I see. T-That’s what it was.”

Alice nodded as if she finally understood.

Her fingers fidgeted, and she asked with a slightly relieved look.

“Then... asking her to keep company with you was wordplay, right?”

“Wordplay?”

“U-Um... not keeping company as a man and woman, but more like association between a student and teacher... something like that. Viktor, you usually like those kinds of jokes. Y-You play pranks often, too...”

Her voice gradually shrank, as though she was becoming less certain.

Her face had turned red, perhaps from embarrassment.

The way she tightly clutched her sleeve made her look especially innocent.

Her pure reaction made me snicker.

“Well.”

I let the word trail off casually.

Then I tilted my head and looked at the still expressionless Javert.

“I think it’d be faster to ask the person involved.”

“Huh? Ask Professor Javert...?”

A request to keep company.

Not as teacher and student, but as a man and woman...

“Would that be a problem, if that’s what I meant?”

“......”

Alice’s face went pale on the spot.

Javert still said nothing.

I tilted my head as if urging an answer.

“Hm?”

“......”

Then, shortly afterward, I received a highly satisfying answer.

“No.”

Her voice was dry of emotion.

Without a hint of hesitation, the cold-looking woman spoke.

Her crisp, precise words echoed through the classroom.

“I will. If that is your request.”

The students had been watching while barely breathing.

Then the atmosphere in the classroom turned upside down once again.

* * *

A few hours later.

After the final lecture ended, I visited Professor Javert’s office.

“Please have a seat for a moment.”

She greeted me while wearing glasses, apparently in the middle of paperwork.

Javert’s office was suffocatingly neat.

A desk without a speck of dust, books lined up in perfect rows, even tiles without a single pattern.

It was monochrome in the truest sense. There was no splendor or decoration at all, hardly what one would expect from a woman’s room.

I thought it suited her perfectly.

“Tea.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Two cups of tea were placed on the table in front of the reception sofa.

Javert had already removed her glasses.

Her uniform was as immaculate as ever.

Even in a private space, there wasn’t the slightest flaw in her appearance.

She calmly sat on the sofa across from me.

“The aroma is nice.”

“It is lightly brewed snow-cold herb tea. I’m glad it suits your taste.”

Snow-cold herb.

It was one of the most commonly consumed tea leaves.

It had a mild flavor without tasting cheap, so she seemed to use fairly expensive leaves.

The surface of the tea rippled beneath my fingertips. I passed the time by tilting the cup a few times.

“So.”

Only after about five minutes did the red-haired woman speak.

“I would like to hear the exact details of your request from earlier.”

“Hm?”

“The request to keep company with me. You do not intend to tell me you were serious, do you? If you intend to waste time on that sort of joke, you may leave. I do not enjoy wordplay.”

“My, when did you figure it out?”

“I knew from the beginning. I did not think Student Viktor would waste my promise in that manner.”

“What do you mean, ‘in that manner’?”

Even my shameless question didn’t shake her.

“Receiving a professor’s patronage within Grandia holds great significance. Each professor has considerable authority, and every one of them is among the continent’s most capable people. Why else would cadets desperately compete for teaching assistant positions?”

“Of course. I heard that teaching assistants at Grandia Academy, especially direct aides who work closely with professors, face fierce competition. If you count both current students and graduates, getting in is harder than squeezing through the eye of a needle.”

“So you know. It is embarrassing to say it myself, but even among those professors, I am effectively second in command. You had an opportunity to gain something from someone like me, so I simply thought you would not throw it away on a pointless joke. Especially not Student Viktor.”

“What kind of person do you take me for?”

“A thorough one. You noticed beforehand that I was watching you, then used that to arrest the traitor. You formed such a plan in only a few hours. You always pretend to be swayed by emotions and act playful, yet at crucial moments, you move with strange precision.”

“My shoulders feel heavy after such high praise.”

“I would like an answer.”

Clink.

Javert quietly set down her teacup.

The movement made her look like a lifeless machine.

“The request. You intend to make it properly, correct?”

“Of course.”

“I would like to hear it. You must already have something in mind, given that you played such a joke.”

“Of course.”

I nodded at her sharp observation.

Tapping the edge of my mask, I spoke.

“A direct aide.”

“......”

“I would like to become Professor Javert’s direct aide.”

Javert’s eyes narrowed.

“You may not know this, but since I began teaching, I have never taken on a direct aide. I had no intention of doing so in the future, either.”

“I know.”

“You are confident. Do you think I will accept your proposal?”

“Yes. I believe Professor Javert certainly will.”

“I would like to hear your reason.”

“That’s because...”

I smiled.

The corner of my mask’s mouth seemed to twist slightly.

“Professor, you still suspect me, do you not?”

“......”

Javert was rigid and stubborn.

She would not consider me completely cleared just because I had escaped suspicion of being a traitor.

After all, she suspected me not of being a traitor, but of being the culprit behind the unauthorized conquest of the seventieth floor of Purgatory.

‘Javert isn’t someone who suspects people easily.’

But once she did, she kept suspecting them to the end.

That was her philosophy.

A rule she had followed since she was young.

From the moment I came under her suspicion, I never thought it would be easy to escape.

‘If I can’t escape it... I might as well turn it to my advantage.’

That was why I had thrown out a proposal Javert would find tempting.

Her gaze remained cold and steady.

“...It seems I gave myself away.”

“I’m fairly perceptive.”

I shrugged casually.

“What will you do? If you take me on as a direct aide, I’ll spend more time at your side. You’ll have an opportunity to observe me more closely and thoroughly. You’ll also have more ways to verify your suspicions. And while I remain your direct aide, I’ll humbly accept any surveillance or questioning from you until you’re satisfied.”

“......”

“In return, I’ll enjoy the authority of a direct aide. I’ll be able to do far more within the academy, and with you behind me, no one will look down on me anymore. Of course, I intend to carry out every duty required of a direct aide perfectly, without complaint, so you needn’t worry. It’s a win-win proposal.”

“......”

“What do you think?”

It was an awfully arrogant attitude, an arrogant proposal, but Javert did not get angry.

She only fell into thought, as if judging the proposal’s practicality.

After a moment, she finally nodded.

“I accept.”

A short answer.

No excuses or explanations.

Talking with Javert was easy for that reason.

As long as one did not stray from the rules and reason she had set, she was refreshingly straightforward.

It almost felt like dealing with a robot programmed with several rules rather than a person with emotions.

Javert had emotions too, but they were extremely minor compared to the other elements that made up who she was.

‘Well, she is that headmaster’s foster daughter...’

I came to my own conclusion.

“Good.”

I smiled in satisfaction.

Either way, Javert lifted her teacup again.

“However, I will set a condition.”

“What is it?”

“Every activity in which you use the authority of a direct aide must be reported to me. Whether you act first and report afterward, or report first and act afterward. If you fail to follow that condition, regardless of the reason, this proposal will be considered void.”

“That is not a particularly difficult condition. It does not seem you intend to restrict the activities themselves, either.”

“That is correct. In addition, I will take care not to excessively intrude on Student Viktor’s life. If you want personal time, or if I ask something you find too difficult to answer, you may refuse my summons or questions. I will not hold that against you in any way.”

“Oh, do you really need to accommodate me that much...?”

“I am not accommodating you. I am only following the boundaries that must be observed when dealing with a student.”

“You suspect me of being dangerous, yet you still intend to protect my rights as a student... How interesting.”

“I have heard enough of your impressions.”

That was part of Javert’s charm.

She was strict about the boundaries she drew for herself.

She protected them no matter what, and never made excuses for herself.

‘Though later, those rules will corner her until she takes her own life...’

That was something I could solve.

From the moment I decided to become her direct aide, it was no different from deciding to pull her onto my side.

I took good care of my people.

“I will process the necessary paperwork and send it to you as soon as possible.”

“I will wait.”

“Would you like me to announce it soon? If you want, I can announce immediately that Student Viktor has become my aide.”

“No, that is fine. I would rather delay the announcement a little.”

“May I ask why?”

“Hehe... There is someone I’d like to take down a peg before the news spreads.”

“It appears you mean that student. The top student of Class B. Was her name Caitlin?”

“That’s right. You remember.”

“I have memorized every student’s name.”

“That is even more surprising. You’ve memorized the names of every student in the academy.”

The woman gave a flat response to my amazement.

Javert brushed her empty teacup and asked.

“It seems you intend to clash with the top student of Class B. Are you confident you can win?”

“I would like to ask you the opposite. Do you think I will lose?”

“Well.”

She let the answer trail off.

Maybe it was not an issue that mattered much to Javert.

“Well... it seems we have roughly finished talking. May I take my leave?”

“One last question.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Her eyes held an unreadable look.

Javert was always so lifeless that it was difficult to read her expression.

Her scar-covered hand tapped the sofa seat.

“So... why did you really do that? Asking me to keep company with you in the classroom earlier.”

“Huh?”

“No matter how much I think about it, I cannot understand the intent behind that one thing.”

“Eh?”

What was that?

She was asking something obvious.

“Because it’s fun?”

“......”

I looked at her as if that were the obvious answer.

Javert furrowed her brow at my tilted-head reaction.

Even if her emotions were faint, I could tell that was the expression of someone dumbfounded.

“I see. I have confirmed it.”

Javert gestured as if telling me to leave.

I walked out of the office with a broad grin.

‘Yes! Free backing, jackpot.’

Come at me, all of you.

I had the chief investigator backing me up.

‘At this rate... I could slap some low-ranking professor a few times and probably get away with only a light punishment.’

Of course, I had no intention of actually doing that.

Anyway, three cheers for Javert.

Javert is the best.

Javert, yahoo!

The vicious, emotionless, cool-type old maid is the best!

‘Good, good.’

The smile would not leave my lips for quite some time.

* * *

The next day.

There were no lectures, so I was lazing around in my dormitory.

“Agh, I have been tricked again!”

“You could say this was a breeze.”

I had bought something like a board game at the academy store last time. I thought it would be fun to play with the princess, so I had set it up.

Maybe because it incorporated magitech, the rules were unusual and it was really fun.

“Hehe, you cannot fall for such a simple technique.”

“W-Wait! Is that not far too underhanded?!”

“Even that is skill.”

“It is invalid! We must play again!”

“Accept the result gracefully.”

It was an ordinary, lively day.

Days spent with the princess were enjoyable.

Just as the game was in full swing, someone knocked on my dormitory door.

Knock, knock.

‘Who could it be...?’

I tilted my head.

I stared toward the entrance with a question mark over my head.

There was no one who would have reason to come all the way to my room.

‘I wasn’t given any notice, and the soundproofing is good, so it can’t be someone complaining about upstairs noise...’

I wandered over and opened the door.

Then I found two figures waiting outside, one golden-haired and one black-haired.

“...Oh. Ranne? Alice?”

Ranne. Alice.

The two of them had come all the way to my dormitory.

They looked uneasy, as though something had happened.

“What brings you to this humble place...?”

“Sir Viktor, is it true?”

“V-Viktor...”

“Huh?”

Ranne leaned forward first.

Alice timidly clutched Ranne’s sleeve beside her.

I could only scratch my head at the cryptic question.

“Um, what are you talking about...?”

“I heard you started keeping company with Chief Investigator Javert!”

“Eek.”

“Is it true? Tell us!”

“Viktor, did you really...?”

The two looked at me with intense eyes.

I could not help feeling flustered.

‘What?’

What was this?

Why were they acting like this?

Footnotes:

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