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Chapter 179

Ellen’s feelings toward Heinrich were clear: “disdain”. Harriet seemed to think he was “pitiful”. Adelia initially felt “a bit of dislike”, but after his tirade against commoners the night before, her true sentiment was now “utter disgust”.

Most importantly, there was Riana de Granz.

“... Why should I apologize to him?”

“Just listen to me and do it.”

“... I don’t remember anything.”

“Then just apologize for not remembering.”

Riana de Granz was showing considerable generosity toward him, the same as the night before. She was instructing Heinrich to apologize to give him one last chance to atone for his mistakes yesterday. However, Heinrich was clearly unwilling to do so.

The most important person’s opinion—Riana de Granz—on Heinrich was definite: “complete vermin”.

Not only that, but he woke up around lunchtime, long past morning. All of us skipped breakfast because we felt too queasy in the morning.

One of the servants seemed to have noticed something was up and was speaking to Riana. The strong smell of alcohol was impossible to miss.

Heinrich was arguing over lunch about how unfair it was to be told to apologize without knowing what he did wrong. He insisted that he shouldn’t have to apologize for something he didn’t remember.

“Forget it. What’s the point of receiving that kind of apology? There’s no way an apology for something you don’t remember could be sincere,” I said.

“...”

Heinrich frowned at my comment.

It was easy to get under his skin. The more he showed his immaturity, the more magnanimous I would appear, and the more he would damage his own reputation.

Riana’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

“Huh, Reinhart, you’re all grown up now, huh? You can even tolerate things like this now?”

“I can’t stay childish forever, unlike some people.”

“... Are you talking about me?” Heinrich asked.

I chuckled as I picked up a strip of bacon.

“What, do you feel guilty?”

“Are you mocking me? Do you want to settle this right now?”

Heinrich seemed to have gained quite a bit of confidence in his abilities lately, and he showed it while drinking yesterday as well as before that.

It felt like it was time to settle things.

“Hey,” I called out.

“What?” he replied.

I grabbed my fork and stabbed it into a slice of steak.

“Let’s have a talk after we eat, just the two of us.”

There was only so much I could tolerate. I didn’t want to do this, but it seemed like it was necessary to settle things.

***

I always had a rough way of speaking and used to scare the other kids with threats about gouging their eyes out and whatnot. However, my calm invitation to have a chat must have seemed like a serious warning to everyone else because they all tried to dissuade me from it.

“I’m just going to talk,” I reassured them.

Heinrich seemed confident, no matter what I said or did. In the end, pushing everyone aside, I left the mansion with Heinrich.

We walked to a secluded spot behind the mansion where no one could eavesdrop on us and turned to face Heinrich. I had tolerated his annoying behavior long enough.

“So, you want to try your luck? Come at me if you can,” I said.

Heinrich didn’t look scared. His newfound confidence in his abilities and his assumption that I’d acted in a cowardly fashion while in the Dark Land made him think I wasn’t much of a threat.

“You do realize I’ve been showing you a lot of consideration, right?” I said.

“What?”

I hadn’t paid much attention to his provocations partly because I found them bothersome and had other things to worry about.

In reality, though, I’d shown him plenty of consideration just by letting him be until now.

“Anyway, you seem quite confident. Let’s see what you’ve got,” I said.

It was the moment he had been waiting for, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.

“You might die, you know? I can’t control my strength very well anymore,” he warned, seemingly confident that he could take me out right then and there.

I sighed as I looked at him. Unlike brawling, pyrokinesis wasn’t exactly something you could practice sparring with.

He seemed incredibly excited. He was finally going to pay me back for the humiliation he’d suffered in the first semester.

“I’ll show you that I’m not the same as I used to be,” he declared, focusing intently.

His breathing grew labored as he started to concentrate.

“Hey, you idiot,” I called.

Swish!

I enhanced my body and charged at him while he was gathering his focus.

Thunk!

I drove my knee squarely into his abdomen.

“Guh... ugh!”

“Did you think all I’ve done is play around while you were training?”

Why did this idiot think he was the only one who had gotten stronger?

“Ugh... Ugh! Argh! Ack!”

I looked down at him as he keeled over, dry-heaving. His concentration had already been shattered.

One knee to the abdomen. That was all it took. There was no flashy exchange of powers or abilities.

The difference between us was too vast, and the chasm between our basic physical abilities was too wide.

“Just like you’re not the same pocket flint you used to be, I’m not the same guy who smacked you on the forehead back then,” I said.

I stood in front of him until he regained his senses, hunched over and dry-heaving.

He’d managed to bring the five-second focus time he needed to ignite his flames down to about one second. However, a single second was an incredibly long time in an actual fight.

I could now break that one second down even further. Therefore, there was no way I could lose to Heinrich von Schwartz.

While I could have taken advantage of his groggy state to thoroughly trounce him, I didn’t go that far.

He staggered back, staring at me in confusion.

There had been a fair distance between us, but he probably hadn’t even seen my approach.

His abilities had grown stronger, but so had mine.

He hadn’t expected this. He never thought he would be floored by just one undodgeable knee strike.

“How ashamed would you have been if you were reduced to this pitiful state in front of the others?” I asked.

“...”

I’d deliberately chosen a place where no one could see us. Had this happened in front of others, the humiliation would have been unbearable. I could have easily chosen to disgrace him and trample on his pride in front of everyone, had I wanted to.

Even up to now, though, I’d held back. I was telling Heinrich von Schwartz that I’d been considerate toward him.

“This is the last time I’m protecting the pride of someone who hates me.”

“...”

“And don’t try to start a rivalry with me. I have no interest in Granz, so why are you being so hostile towards me?”

“What, wh-what?!”

My sudden, seemingly nonsensical statement left him flustered. He clearly didn’t expect me to know that he had an interest in Riana de Granz.

“Wh-What are you talking about? What do you mean?”

“Do you think I haven’t noticed how you get all antsy every time you see her?”

“N-No. It’s not like that at all. Not at all!”

“Oh, really? Then why does your face darken every time Granz and I exchange even a single word?”

“Th-That’s... that’s because...!”

His face turned beet red as he stammered then trailed off. I realized that even a pompous and rude royal snob like him could get embarrassed over something like this. It revealed just how much of a child he still was.

“Enough. Anyway, I have no interest in her, so stop acting like a fool around me. If you keep it up, I really will beat you down in front of everyone. Don’t blame me then. There’s a limit to how many times I can let things slide.”

As I brushed past him, I quietly added, “And when we get back, apologize to the others. If you don’t, you’ll regret it even more.”

After that, he no longer bothered me.

***

I’d reluctantly given Heinrich, who was under the delusion that he had become much stronger than me, a lesson. I could have been more aggressive, but I chose not to.

After all, he was a classmate, one that I would have to see regularly. While I couldn’t befriend everyone, I didn’t want to be enemies of anyone either. At the beginning of the semester, I had acted aggressively because I didn’t want to be ignored, but now, that wasn’t necessary.

If my relationship with any classmate deteriorated to the point where they were ready to stab me in the back at any time, it wouldn’t benefit me at all. That said, I wasn’t about to turn into a groveling pushover who went out of my way to help someone like Heinrich.

When we returned to the mansion, Heinrich apologized in front of Riana and the others for ruining the atmosphere.

“Um, everyone, I’m sorry... I was a bit rash.”

He added that he didn’t remember what happened the day before, but assumed he had made a mistake and was sorry.

Everyone seemed confused, probably wondering what I had done to make Heinrich apologize all of a sudden. Since I had left no visible marks on him, it didn’t look as though I had hit him.

“As long as you understand. Just don’t do it again,” Riana said, trying to wrap things up.

After saying that, Riana glanced back and forth between Heinrich and me.

“By the way, you two... You didn’t get into a fight, did you?”

“...”

“Uh, w-well...”

Heinrich hesitated for a moment before scratching the back of his head awkwardly and forcing a laugh.

“No, we didn’t. We were just talking, and I realized I was in the wrong...” he said.

Hearing him admit such a thing left me and everyone else feeling slightly stunned.

In the end, Heinrich had realized that he was still no match for me. I could have pummeled him in front of everyone but had chosen not to. Instead, I’d called him aside and simply demonstrated the difference in our abilities.

I wasn’t sure if he was more upset about getting hit or if he actually realized that I had shown him some consideration. He wasn’t exactly grateful, given that I had struck him, but he didn’t seem to hate me either.

It seemed like he understood that I had been holding back quite a bit, and that it had been for his own dignity, not mine.

Riana noticed the subtle air between Heinrich and I and smiled.

“Alright then. How about we have a drink to reconcile tonight?” she suggested.

“... What?”

“Heinrich, if you drink too much and pass out again tonight, I’ll knock you out myself. So be careful.”

Was she seriously planning to drink again? Was she so addicted to alcohol that she was making any excuse for it?

“Knock me out...? I passed out yesterday?”

Heinrich’s face turned pale as he realized that he hadn’t just blacked out; Riana had knocked him out cold.

***

Heinrich had been somewhat out of place until now.

To be precise, he had been too fixated on me to properly enjoy himself. He’d always been on edge and paid too much attention to what I was doing.

Realizing the difference in our abilities after I struck him, coupled with me declaring that I had no interest in Riana, seemed to have made him more comfortable. Although it might take some effort on his part to polish his tarnished image, Heinrich no longer tried to test me. He seemed to be keeping an eye on me in a different way, but I chose to ignore it.

Ultimately, the less Heinrich focused on me, the better he fit in with everyone else.

Since Riana, the lady of the mansion, was fine with it, the others kept any displeasure they might have had to themselves. Ellen, as indifferent as usual, showed very little reaction.

There was a new revelation about Riana as well: she was an alcohol lover.

That night, under the guise of having a reconciliatory drink, we gathered quietly once again and drank. This time, Heinrich wasn’t just sipping alcohol alone; he joined in various topics of conversation.

The atmosphere was different from the previous night.

“You called him a commoner... degrading him like he’s some piece of dirt...”

“I... I did that?”

“Yeah... Heinrich, I know you’re a high-ranking noble, but... hearing that made me feel sad,” Adelia, now drunk, spilled the beans about Heinrich’s remarks from the previous night, which hit him hard.

She didn’t call him a bad person outright, but let him know how his comments to me had also hurt her. It was a different kind of confrontation.

“I-I... Did I say that? I’m sorry... I’m so sorry, Adelia.”

Learning about his drunken behavior, Heinrich’s face turned beet red in embarrassment. He finally seemed to understand why Riana had insisted he apologize.

“It was surprising to see Reinhart keep his cool yesterday. Normally, he’d throw a punch in this kind of situation,” Riana said.

Even as Heinrich apologized to Adelia, he kept glancing at me, seemingly unable to believe it himself. Given my normally volatile nature, he probably expected that I would have retaliated immediately.

Of course, I had held back because silently tolerating his buffoonery was the quickest way to get under his skin. Heinrich seemed to realize just how much restraint I had shown.

Despite everything he said, I hadn’t thrown a punch. It dawned on him just how much I had held back.

In the end, he even apologized to me. “Uh, well... I’m sorry, Reinhart.”

“It’s fine. As long as you understand what you did wrong.”

I didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Of course, Ellen’s threats to kill Heinrich or the true nature of the events that had transpired in the Dark Land did not come up. Fortunately, that night, no one got drunk and caused a scene. Riana ended the gathering before things could get out of hand.

Before going to bed, I headed to the beach around midnight to clear my head.

This scene was similar to one that had played out on the deserted island, but with subtle differences. As I sat on the sandy shore, someone joined me.

“Not sleeping?” I asked.

“In a bit,” Ellen responded.

Ellen sat next to me as if it were the most natural thing to do, then leaned her head on my shoulder, just as naturally. I was used to this by now.

We watched the waves come and go in silence for a while.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“... Yeah.”

If talking to the others yesterday had alleviated some of her distress, then I was glad for it.

“I didn’t have any nightmares last night,” she said.

“That might have been because of the alcohol.”

“... Really?”

“Whether it was the alcohol or not, it’s good that you didn’t have any nightmares.”

It didn’t matter whether it was the alcohol, or the effects of sharing her burden. For one night, at least, Ellen had been free of her recurring nightmares.

Since she’d had some alcohol, I could feel Ellen’s warm breath against me. After a while, I asked, “Are you asleep?”

“...”

“Hey, what am I supposed to do if you fall asleep like this?”

Ellen had suddenly fallen asleep while leaning on my shoulder.

***

Harriet was preparing for bed in her room. The buzz from the alcohol made her feel dizzy, and she felt ready to fall asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

After changing into her pajamas, she found the moonlight too bright and went to close the curtains. Outside the window, the beach was visible—a beautiful sight any time of day. It wasn’t much different from the view on the deserted island, but here, it was tranquil and safe.

The beach at night, as seen from the mansion window, was truly beautiful. Unlike on the deserted island, there was no need to worry about heat, humidity, or survival.

Dressed in clean clothes, Harriet could simply enjoy the view.

Despite this, her memories of the deserted island weren’t entirely negative. She should have disliked it. It should have been the worst experience of her life—yet it wasn’t.

She gazed out at the nighttime view, lost in thought, and noticed someone walking toward the beach, then sitting down to watch the sea.

‘Reinhart...’ she thought.

Even from behind, Harriet could tell it was Reinhart.

‘Is he having trouble sleeping?’

She thought about going out to talk with him for a bit.

As she stood by the window, contemplating, she noticed someone else heading toward the beach.

It was Ellen.

Ellen casually sat beside Reinhart, leaning her head on his shoulder. Reinhart didn’t react, as if it was a familiar occurrence.

Harriet couldn’t hear their conversation and didn’t know what they were discussing, but she understood.

She knew that Reinhart and Ellen were very close. Since they’d shared such a traumatic experience, it was only natural that they would rely on each other and become closer.

It was inevitable.

Harriet had already noticed the change in their relationship after seeing Ellen so worked up over Reinhart’s issues, as if they were her own.

She knew it, but seeing it with her own eyes was still painful.

Swish!

Unable to bear the sight any longer, Harriet closed the curtains.

‘Would things have been different if I had gone with them?’

Harriet felt wretched for even pondering such a thought.

The memories from her time on the deserted island should have been the worst, but they weren’t.

The memories from her time in this mansion should have been the best, but Harriet felt that they wouldn’t stay that way.

She didn’t think she would remember her time here as pleasantly as she wanted to.