Apparently, Her Highness Princess wants to keep her relationship with me a secret (what does she even mean by 'her relationship with me'?) - 3-9

3-9

Customer Classmate

“Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

A black bolt of lightning falls from the sky, aiming to incinerate both me and Harold. Though it should have been white, with enough time given for chanting, it’s power rose exponentially — making it appear all black.

“Itose… The thing you are wearing, what is that!”

The pressure — greater than Harold’s massive frame — bore down on me.

Is this what a man with 394 consecutive victories feel like? Scary, scary.

[TL: shouldn’t it be 399? Since this is the sixth match.]

“As expected from someone aspiring to be a scholar. This is a Thunder Dispersing Cloak, a family heirloom from her household, or so she tells.”

Amidst the deafening cheers, our voices reached no one.

Harold’s voice, which only I could hear, carried both aimless anger and bewilderment.

“That devilish woman strategizing this, actually still has a sane conscience, huh…”

The cloak I was wearing, is said to divert the lightning into the ground — a secret treasure that my customer, Julianne, had brought from her family home to Westminster.

Even though her mother had told her to ONLY give it to someone she finds precious… yet she lent it to me for today.

Thanks to it, I wasn’t as hurt as I looked. Well, only not as hurt as I looked.

“Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

Harold leaped, trying to escape from that spot.

“I’m not letting you get away.”

“Quit getting in my way, Itose!”

The black lightning continued to swallow us whole. Again and again, as my vision went white — and each time, Harold’s physical functions visibly deteriorated.

“Would you go this far for some silver? I’ve lost respect for you…”

Harold glared down at me, as he caught his breath.

“Say, Harold, you didn’t expect me to pull something like this, did you?”

“Isn’t that obvio–… Oi, who the hell thought of this plan…”

“I did. Every bit of it. But rather than that, Harold, you look better when you are filled with pride.”

“Hah…?”

“Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

“Tch!!”

“As I said, I’m not letting you get away!”

You’re really incredible, Harold — still standing tall even after taking that many direct hits of that lightning.

Amplification Gambit — a monstrous trait that boosts physical abilities fivefold. But, by now, his movements had become a lot slower. Maybe his strength had also dropped to around twice the normal level.

“For the ‘White GrimReaper,’ this is quite a pretty shabby display… Wouldn’t your fans will be disappointed looking at your uncool self… Haha, serves you right…”

“This was the only miserable plan I could come up with to beat you. Here, it comes again.”

“Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

My job was to cling to Harold and buy her chanting time.

Even now, she’s continuously chanting, praying to the sky in a beautiful voice — a song of invocation, just to bring him down.

Meanwhile, I stood charred, smoke-breathing, face-to-face in front of my closest friend.

[TL: What is with this BL scenario.]

“To defeat the holder of the continuous victory streak, Harold Hardy, she relied on me. Thus we tried to come up with the plan together — the best one we could, to help her achieve her goal to defeat you. But there was none. There was no way she had a chance against you alone.”

“……”

Harold’s strength wasn’t just his overwhelming magical quirk. It was his ability to adapt to any situation whatsoever — which made him the best in the school.

Otherwise, 394 consecutive wins would have been impossible.

After all he’s repelled every trick the brightest students at Westminster have thrown at him.

Ah, he’s again puffing out smoke from his mouth.

That’s why we had to gamble on the unexpected.

“………Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

And the result —

My customer, Julianne Transport, was being showered with insults from the audience continuously.

“…”

“For someone who doesn’t use any ranged weapons, my power was just right perfect for stalling you. Basically, I was the ideal match for her magical quirk. In the end, she chose to become the villain, abandoning everything she held dear. Say, even you can hear that, can’t you, Harold?”

For the sake of victory in Combat Arts, for her ambitions — she’d hired a baron’s son, then used him as a meat shield, discarding her Westminster pride whatsoever, putting deaf ears to the swearing insults she garnered.

“Harold… she’s already a splendid villain.”

“…It was a decision she made for herself.”

“………Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

My body tingled *piripiri— the Thunder Dispersing Cloak had long since stopped working. Harold knew I was reaching my limit.

Even he knows, if he wanted to avoid the lightning now, he could easily do it. For, my body had become dead numb.

“Itose… What’ll you do if you end up with a permanent scar because of thiz…? You know full well, whatever you do, you won’t shake my victory anymore…”

“That’s about right. The 394 victory streak that you’ve built up till now, isn’t something cheap that’d break from cheap tricks thought up by us.”

“If you know it all… Then you know that’s a sinking ship, ain’t it…?”

“………Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

However, just like now, Harold was still indulging my rambling. Maybe he was curious, on what I was about to do next.

Maybe he’d already figured out my true objective. After all, he’s sharper than he looks. Back when we were still in our first year, he was the only one who would persuade every baron’s son not to drop out till the very last moment.

“………Come down ——Oh Lightning, Thy Blinding Light!”

Ah, smoke rose from my mouth too.

With an exasperated sigh, Harold put some distance between us, arms crossed. The insults kept raining down on Julianne as she chanted with single-minded devotion.

Harold scratched his messy golden curls, glaring at me.

Haha, what a terrifying aura.

“…Spit it out already. Aren’t you gonna help that crying girl even now? Damn it… What the hell is this feeling… Do you really think an earl’s brat like her can survive as the villain of Westminster after this…”

There was no chance of Julianne beating Harold.

After all, I, as a ‘Third hand’ can’t attack him directly. And just like all can see, his endurance was in a league of its own.

Yet she had asked me to help her win against Harold — even though that’s impossible. No matter what gives. There is no way for Jullian Transport to ever beat the likes of Harold Hardy. Are you some idiot, do you even understand the difference in power? There was not even a single day I never thought that.

“Don’t get me wrong, Itose. In the end, I’ll crush that girl with everything I’ve got. That fact will remain unchanged. The only reason I’m going along with your whims, is because that girl never joined in the bullying against the baron families, that’s the only reason.”

—This is –fine. As the intended outcome had finally come to.

A smile almost crept onto my face.

“…I really pity your fans. There aren’t many scumbags as black-hearted as you…”

Because, from the very start, I’d only ever planned for the outcome where Julianne would lose — and yet achieve exactly what she wanted in the end.