Drener Azerum.
The illegitimate son of the current Emperor of the Azerum Empire and the protagonist of Spell Breaker.
A man who concealed his family name and entered the academy disguised as a commoner so that he could take revenge upon the Emperor who had abandoned him.
The Drener before me was every bit as infuriatingly handsome as he had been in the game.
His cold black eyes and sharply defined features complemented his blue hair, giving him the unmistakable air of a strong man.
Despite his appearance, however, he should still be weak at this point. For Drener to begin the game already powerful, the player had to awaken his Imperial Blood at an absurdly low probability during character creation. More importantly, awakening it caused visible changes to his appearance.
Drener addressed Cain Tromer in his characteristic low voice.
“Did you not hear me? I told you to give me even one valid reason why I should apologize.”
Cain could only let out an incredulous laugh.
Drener sighed.
“You cannot offer a rebuttal because no reason exists.”
Cain clenched his fists and ground his teeth.
Unlike the two men standing on the verge of violence, the surrounding students chattered excitedly.
“Are they going to fight before the entrance ceremony?”
“Nothing beats watching a fight!”
“Does anyone have something to snack on?”
They cared only about the spectacle, not about who the participants were.
The event unfolding before Drener was the most ordinary of thug encounters.
It occurred when the player ate dinner in the student dining hall before the entrance ceremony. Cain attempted to harass a female student, and Drener intervened to save her.
Despite the painfully familiar premise, mishandling the event caused it to connect with another character’s future storyline. From that point forward, problems would erupt repeatedly in later events.
For players attempting to save Reina, that was fatal. The encounter was notorious enough to be called the Hard Mode Trigger.
Fortunately, avoiding the problem was easy.
One simply had to lose the fight.
Then Cain would take no interest in Drener, and the linked events would never occur.
This was reality rather than a game, so it might even be possible to settle matters through conversation.
“If you have nothing to say, leave. I do not wish to injure someone before the term has even begun.”
The protagonist clearly had no intention of doing that.
Cain naturally drew his wand.
The students surrounding them cheered, creating an atmosphere in which the noble boy could no longer retreat.
Drener sighed as if the whole affair were tedious, and the fight began.
Cain cast 【Fire】. Drener answered with the same spell.
The two had used identical magic, and Cain even possessed a wand, yet Drener’s flames swallowed his whole.
“Do not go out of your way to confirm a hierarchy that is already clear.”
Putting that painfully theatrical line aside, did this bastard truly not know the strategy guide?
I had sought Drener out to assess his condition and determine my own course of action.
My original plan had been to leave the main events to him and focus solely on stopping the assassins who targeted Reina.
If he behaved like this, that plan was impossible.
While I deliberated, Cain shouted in fury.
“You bastard!”
He cast the First-Circle wind spell 【Wind】 and launched a violent gust.
Drener easily evaded it, closed the distance, and kicked Cain in the abdomen.
“Gah!”
As Cain collapsed, clutching his stomach, Drener pressed a palm to his forehead.
“If you wish to flaunt your authority, become stronger. If you cannot, keep your head down.”
The battle had been brief, flawless, and decisive. The students applauded.
Drener turned away as if the matter were settled.
Cain’s eyes, however, were dangerous.
He drew a ceremonial dagger from his coat and charged with a roar.
“You son of a—!”
By announcing his ambush at the top of his lungs, Cain gave Drener time to turn. It was still too late for him to evade the dagger.
The blade never reached him.
I stepped between them and seized Cain’s wrist.
It was a dangerous choice.
I could have been injured in Drener’s place. More troublingly, I could no longer predict where the altered chain of events might lead.
But this was an event from the very beginning of the game, and I understood its entire structure. I judged that a small intervention would not derail anything important.
Besides, now that Drener had already defeated Cain and spilled the water, someone had to clean it up.
The dagger was coated in a curse-inducing drug. Being cut by it inflicted a stat debuff that lasted until the end of the next event.
And yet Drener was staring at me with an expression that plainly asked, What are you doing?
I should have let him get stabbed.
Cain ground his teeth and spat my name.
“Van Astraea……!”
Apparently too irrational to think, he continued straining to drive the dagger into Drener.
But Cain was a mage.
Someone with perhaps one to three points in Martial Power could never overpower me when I possessed fifteen.
After several futile attempts, he realized resistance was useless and shouted,
“Why are you protecting him?!”
I could hardly answer, Because he will handle the main events in my place.
So I behaved like the scoundrel everyone believed me to be.
“Who knows? I simply felt like it.”
“You insane bastard!”
Most people took care not to provoke Van. Cain had clearly lost all reason if he could antagonize me so openly.
He still did not understand the situation.
I tightened my grip. The bones in his hand scraped together.
CRRRRK—!
“Aaaagh!”
The instant his strength faltered, I dragged him forward, seized his throat with my other hand, and lifted him off the ground.
Cain thrashed in an attempt to escape, but it was useless.
I tightened my hand and raised one corner of my mouth.
“You know I’m that Scoundrel Van, yet I can’t understand why you’re behaving this way.”
“Ghk……!”
“Have you not heard the rumors? People who stand in my way tend to burn……”
Cain stopped struggling and swallowed.
“Connections or ability—which one do you have?”
I did not need to add that if he lacked either one, I would burn him alive.
His pupils were already trembling violently.
As though I would truly kill him if he did not answer immediately, I gathered mana in my hand.
Sensing its flow, Cain began thrashing again and finally cried out,
“I-I’m sorry! I apologize!”
I smirked and released him.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Cain staggered, then fled without looking back.
When I turned toward the remaining students, they coughed awkwardly, avoided my gaze, and dispersed.
The problem was solved, so I prepared to leave as well. Drener stopped me.
“That was unnecessary, Van Astraea. You had no reason to interfere.”
The man who would have been writhing unconscious by now if not for me could not even offer thanks. I was dumbfounded.
“I still helped you. Surely you can at least say thank you?”
“I told you that your intervention was unnecessary. Even without you, there would have been no problem.”
He truly refused to lose even a single exchange.
Still, that temper was exactly what made him Drener.
I had not acted for his gratitude, and he would suffer more than enough in the future, so I did not care much.
As we spoke, a female student pushed through the departing crowd and approached him.
“Thank you for helping me!”
She was a plainly dressed girl with long, light-brown hair: Sonia Serium, the character widely considered Spell Breaker’s main heroine.
The player could befriend her after saving her from Cain’s harassment during the dining hall event.
Her affection rose naturally without requiring any major event, and she possessed a variety of useful talents, including combat support, research, and alchemy.
She was also guaranteed to survive and remain at the protagonist’s side no matter what happened. Players adored her enough to nickname her the Newbie Helper.
Whatever choices Drener made, Sonia would be immensely useful to him.
I turned to leave them alone together.
Then Drener spoke.
“Remember this, Van Astraea. If you ever face the same situation, I will interfere on your behalf.”
I could not help smirking.
Honestly, it was impossible to dislike him completely.
He was rude and hopeless at showing consideration, but as the protagonist, he had traveled through this world with me thousands of times.
I did not care for him as much as Reina, but he was still a good character.
I answered his prickly expression of gratitude with a smile.
“No thanks. Even without you, there wouldn’t be any problem.”
“I was not asking permission.”
“Then do whatever you like.”
I started walking again.
His relentless prickliness reminded me of a younger brother who had just entered puberty.
Our conversation had nevertheless allowed me to decide my future course.
I would save Reina while doing whatever I could to support that newbie.
My workload had increased, but the solution was surprisingly simple.
As a novice, Drener would miss numerous powerful companions and Hidden Pieces.
So I would devour all of them myself.
It was a small price for managing his life on his behalf.
Once we had moved farther away, Reina approached me.
“Van! You startled me when you suddenly ran out there!”
“Sorry.”
“Do you know that boy?”
“Technically, we don’t know each other.”
“Hmm…… Then why did you help him?”
“I told you. I simply felt like it.”
Reina prodded my side with her elbow.
“Ohh. That was rather cool.”
I appreciated the compliment, but embarrassment kept it from sounding entirely flattering.
I had acted according to the image of a scoundrel noble in my head. In retrospect, I had merely behaved like someone afflicted with eighth-grader syndrome.
Perhaps crafting those clothes had damaged my mind.
“Anyway, let’s go eat. I heard they’re serving something good tonight.”
“What? Are you embarrassed?”
Please just let it go……
I pushed Reina toward the dining hall.
“I’m starving. Let’s hurry.”
“All right, all right. Stop pushing.”
***
The student dining hall served free food of mediocre quality and was intended mainly for commoners and lower-ranking nobles.
Compared with conditions outside the academy, the meals were quite good. Compared with the restaurants used by wealthy students, however, they were markedly inferior.
Albert had given me a respectable amount of money, but spending it on food seemed wasteful. Reina had also chosen the student dining hall, so there was no reason to go elsewhere.
Tonight’s menu was assorted fried food.
Serving nothing but fried dishes was questionable, but fried food was generally delicious.
I prepared to bite into a fried shrimp. With Reina sitting across from me, however, the food barely entered my awareness.
“Aren’t you eating?”
“I prefer to eat slowly.”
“I see.”
Reina ate as heartily as she trained. She had already emptied five plates.
She was not shoveling food down. She chewed every bite carefully, yet somehow ate at astonishing speed. The sight reminded me of a puppy and was unbearably cute.
While enjoying another piece of fried food, Reina suddenly asked,
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Does that rumor truly exist?”
“……What rumor?”
I knew at once what she meant, but clenched my teeth and pretended otherwise.
Reina raised one corner of her mouth and reached out as though seizing someone by the throat.
“Have you not heard? People who stand in my way……”
“Stop, stop! I know what you mean!”
I understood, so please do not reenact it!
Reina smiled in triumph.
“You should have admitted it immediately.”
“Yes…… I really should have……”
“Anyway, is that a real rumor?”
“Probably?”
I had merely blurted out something that sounded like a rumor Van might inspire. I had no idea whether it truly existed.
“Hmm……”
Reina began staring directly into my eyes.
“……Is there something on my mouth?”
“No. I was just looking at you and thinking, So that’s how it is.”
Her eyes curved in amusement. She reached for another piece of food, then paused to ask,
“Oh, and are you busy today?”
“No.”
“Then, if you have time, would you come to Trihi Hall with me……? It’s a training facility, and going alone feels a little awkward.”
Trihi Hall was a training facility on the academy’s eastern side.
Training immediately after a meal instead of smoking afterward was certainly typical of Reina.
But why was she asking so cautiously? It was not as though she were inviting me on a date!
My mouth moved reflexively before my thoughts could catch up.
“Of course I’m going.”