Vol 1 Chapter 17 – Change, Part 2: Middle【Vol 1 — A Happy Childhood】

“It’s been a while…”

The royal capital.
As expected of the central city of an entire kingdom, the energy buzzing through its streets and the sheer density of people were on a completely different level from our village.

“W-Will-kun…”

An anxious voice.
The hand resting on my shoulder tightened with a squeeze.

The one hiding behind me was Sophia.

And as for why the two of us had come all the way to the royal capital—

“Are we going to be okay…?”
“…Well, for now, just… leave it to me.”

Honestly, I had zero confidence.
But what I could do wasn’t zero.

Alright then. Let’s see how far one ordinary nobody like me can push back against a high-and-mighty noble.

◯

Hmm, so this is the school Sophia attends…

Looking up at the building, I was genuinely struck speechless.
It was far larger and more lavish than I’d imagined. And apparently buildings just like this were scattered all around here. Truly terrifying.

Well, it was a school for the sons and daughters of nobles, after all.

I’d heard the grounds alone were bigger than our entire village.

Sophia’s school had a structure similar to a university back in Japan.
You chose what you wanted to study yourself—or more often, your parents chose for you—and learned accordingly.
Incidentally, if you had a connection with a student, outsiders could get inside surprisingly easily.

Well, none of that mattered right now.
It wasn’t like I was enrolling.

The problem was finding that guy—Regen Blum.
Apparently he shared quite a few classes with Sophia.

“…Yeah, today I have a class with Blum-san starting from the afternoon…”

In other words, I could run into him here today.

Well, it was still early morning, though.

Still, there was a chance he’d arrived early.

I stepped forward to go find Regen Blum.
All while keeping an eye on Sophia, who was pressing close behind me as if trying to hide in my shadow.

◯

What I could do.

For now, let me be clear about the difference in standing between Regen Blum and me.

Regen Blum.
The only son of the lord who governs, as his primary domain, the major city of the Medical City of Medisia—a metropolis of tremendous power, recognized even on a global scale.
On top of that, his father had grown weak with age, and Regen Blum himself held the practical authority of head of the household.

Against that, I was a completely average village kid (age 7), apparently liked by Sophia, the only daughter of the fairly ordinary lord, Fullo-san.

And on top of that, Fullo-san had incurred a debt to the Blum family—large enough that it couldn’t be ignored.

Looking at it from the outside: hopeless. Utterly hopeless.

But.

If the biggest problem—Regen Blum—was still a student, with insufficient knowledge and experience, and on top of that was exactly the kind of skirt-chasing idiot I suspected him to be…

I couldn’t say there was nothing to be done.

Alright then. Let’s go—time for a direct confrontation.

◯

“Ah…”

As we wandered around the school grounds, Sophia let out a small sound.

I looked around, and there, among the crowd of students moving back and forth, I spotted Regen Blum.

“Alright… Sophia-neesan, stay here.”
“N-no, Will-kun!”

Sophia said it in a panicked voice.
The hand she had on my shoulder dug in with painful force.

“Sophia-neesan…”

I knew she was worried.
But I felt the same way about her.

And besides, for this particular situation, I was better off alone.

“It’s fine, Sophia-neesan. So please—stay here.”
“I said no!”

Sophia wrapped her arms around me from behind.
There was a strength to it that made it clear she wasn’t going to let go easily.

“B-because, if you go alone and that person does something dangerous to you…”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”

Honestly, that was exactly what I was counting on.

I tried to calmly talk Sophia down, but she showed resistance right up until the very last moment.

I was worried I’d lose sight of Regen Blum, so I ended up using the incident where Sophia had nearly jumped me the other day as leverage to threaten her into staying put—practically prying myself free from her grip as I headed off toward him alone.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I could see Sophia standing there, face on the verge of tears, wavering between chasing after me and staying put.

Well… at least I managed to keep her back for now.

◯

“Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk?”

When I called out, Regen Blum turned around and found me.

The moment he registered my presence, undisguised hostility filled his eyes, and he fixed me with a sharp glare.
Same as the last time we met.
Kind of petty for someone dealing with a seven-year-old… Well, in this particular case, that worked just fine for me.

“Ah, you’re Sophia’s… What do you want.”
“I just told you. I want to talk. Did you not hear me?”

My tone seemed to hit a nerve.

“Sorry about that. I apologize. …So, may I have a word?”
“…Do you have any idea what your place is? I’m a noble. You’re a lowly commoner. Don’t even speak to me in the first place. …And how did you even get in here.”
“Oh, I came in with Sophia-neesan and they just let me through.”
“…Tch. …So where is Sophia right now.”
“I don’t mind telling you. If you hear me out first.”

In that instant, Regen Blum grabbed me by the collar.
Hey—! I’m literally off the ground! This seriously hurts…

“Don’t make me repeat myself, you peasant. Being young doesn’t make this acceptable. Now answer my question.”

Then he let go.

Haah… that was rough…
Never thought I’d see the day I’d be lifted off my feet by my collar.

But this was a good sign.

“No, no, no—rank doesn’t matter here. Ah, and age doesn’t either, obviously. I want to talk with you. And you have something you want to ask me. On that level, we’re equal. But I’m the one who brought the offer to the table first, right? So you’ll need to hear me out before anything else.”

After my smooth little speech, the corner of Regen Blum’s mouth twitched.

His right fist, I noticed, was trembling slightly.

Oh? Is he going to hit me?

“Apparently a brainless peasant can’t learn without experiencing pain first…”

His fist came at me exactly as I’d predicted, and I dodged it with barely an inch to spare.

Phew… that was close…

Or so I thought—his kick immediately followed and connected squarely with the bridge of my nose.

A sickening crack rang out.

He’s faster than I expected… I was planning to bait him a bit more, but apparently he had even less self-restraint than I’d anticipated.

The students around us stirred as I hit the ground.
Among them, I spotted Sophia—pale as a sheet.
She was already starting to run toward me.

Bad. If Sophia comes over right now…

“Stop—! I promise I’m completely fine!”

I forced my voice out as loud as I could.
Sophia’s movement froze for a moment.

I shot her a sharp look and gestured with everything I had to keep her where she was.

Watching Sophia stand there, flustered, on the verge of tears, I felt a pang of guilt—then noticed Regen Blum looming over me.

“What do you mean, ‘stop’… Disgraceful as always, these peasants.”

That wasn’t meant for you…

Regen Blum drew back his foot to kick me again.

“Stop!”

This time I said it to him properly.

“…Do you really think it’s a good idea to do something like this in a place this public…? I personally don’t mind, but.”

Also, my nose really hurts… wait, am I bleeding?

“…Tch.”

Regen Blum, who had been listening to me in silence, clicked his tongue in irritation, then reached down and hauled me upright.

He cast a brief glance at the murmuring crowd, then placed his hand over my nose.

A faint glow enveloped it, and the pain eased.
Ah, so that’s medical magic.

He can do that. Impressive.

“…Fine. I’ll hear what you have to say. …Follow me.”

He turned his back and muttered the words.

◯

Where Regen Blum took me was a bare, empty room.
About thirty square feet, maybe?

He was fiddling with something at the door—the only one in the room—but that seemed to be done now, as he turned and walked toward me.

Probably locking it, I figured.

“…Now, then.”

As he stepped closer, he kicked me in the same spot as before.

Whoa, right out of the gate…
That seriously hurts.

I rolled several feet and slammed into the wall.

“…Understand now? Peasant.”
“…Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get that the magnificent noble before me is a muscle-brained idiot—UGH!”

This time the impact landed in my side.
It burned like fire.
Like someone was directly charring my insides over a flame.

“Now. …As promised, I’ll hear what you have to say. Be grateful, peasant.”

His boot pressed down on my face as he spat the words.

“C-could you please move that filthy shoe… it’s a bit hard to talk like this.”

The impact came to my cheek.

My neck made a horrible sound. The inside of my mouth split against my teeth, and blood ran.

So getting kicked for real hurts this much…
I genuinely want to cry.

So let’s just get this over with quickly.

“Um… do you intend to… actually marry Sophia-neesan?”
“Yes. Not that it’s any of your concern.”
“But that’s strange… the way I heard it from Sophia-neesan’s… no, from Sophia’s father, just yesterday—apparently the engagement hasn’t been officially finalized yet.”
“So what.”

Fighting through the pain to turn my neck, I found Regen Blum standing over me with his arms crossed, radiating contempt.

“Well… it’s just strange, isn’t it. Why do you talk about marrying Sophia as if it’s a foregone conclusion.”
“…What?”
“No, I mean, it’s weird, isn’t it? It’s not even settled yet—”
“It is settled.”

Contempt crept into the eyes looking down at me.

“Are you not aware? Sophia’s father owes a tremendous debt to me—well, to my father, strictly speaking, though at this point it comes to the same thing. That debt would cause serious problems if it isn’t repaid immediately. …Can a slow-witted child like you follow along?”
“Serious… problems?”
“Yes, indeed. But if Sophia and I are to be married, a bond would form between our families, and the circumstances would shift accordingly.”
“You engineered it that way, didn’t you…”

When I said it, Regen Blum’s eyes went wide with surprise.

Then he burst out laughing.

“Remarkable. I see—just as Sophia said, you’re smarter than you look.”

Then he muttered it with venom, and drove another merciless kick into my ribs.

Ah… I definitely just cracked something…
My insides were on fire.
Hurts, hurts, hurts.

“That’s right, I engineered it. I wanted Sophia at any cost. There is no girl anywhere as beautiful and bright as her.”

Regen Blum’s laughter echoed in the small room.

“You really did all that just to… marry Sophia…”
“Yes, that’s right. Is something wrong with that? Well—I’ll admit it probably looks strange to the outside world. I’ll grant you that. But I don’t mind at all.”

Heat entered his voice.

“Ahh, I love her—Sophia—she’s adorable. Adorable. I love her. I love her, hurry, hurry. …Ah. Ah, what an incredible coincidence! The very first woman to ever move my heart—and her family just happened to have a debt to mine… Hahaha!”

So that’s how it is.

“I’ve never believed in gods before now. But let me offer my gratitude here and now! To the god who blessed this Regen Blum and Sophia—my thanks! …Ah, Sophia, Sophia, hurry hurry hurry hurry, I can barely stand the wait… If I can make Sophia mine alone, do with her as I please—there may be no greater happiness than that…!”

So his goal really was only Sophia.
I’d suspected as much—nothing else would have made sense—but I hadn’t expected it to actually be true.

“But you! You!! That’s right—whenever Sophia talks, it’s always about you without fail…! No matter what topic I bring up, no matter how many times I talk to her, Sophia—she only ever talks about you, about Will Role…!!”

A full-force kick flew straight at the center of my face.

A sound I never want to hear again.
The bones in my face had definitely cracked.

Blood poured from my mouth. A tooth felt loose.

The pain was beyond anything I could make sense of.

Can a person actually feel this much pain?

Another kick.

Hurts. Hurts.
It hurts so badly I’m starting to think dying might actually be preferable. Hurts. Hurts hurts hurts.

This guy seriously has no restraint against a seven-year-old. He’s completely out of his mind.

“G-guh… hk… H-hey… R… Regen Blum… I’ll tell you… one last thing.”
“Hahahaha! What, is this a sore loser’s parting shot? Go ahead, peasant.”

“Last night, while I was in bed, Sophia-neesan told me she wanted me to take her first time. Oh—and that’s not a lie. You know what I mean, don’t you? After all—”

“——————!!”

Alright. That should be enough.

While absorbing Regen Blum’s fury, I confirmed the position of the magic recording device—a video crystal—floating above me.

It had been capturing everything since we entered the room.
Regen Blum had been so focused on me that he hadn’t noticed it at all.

I was going to use it as leverage to threaten Regen Blum. A direct negotiation.

The issue wasn’t the content of our conversation.
I’d had some hope on that front, but there was nothing in what he’d said that I could directly attack him with.
What the conversation proved was only that he was utterly unhinged.
Well—I did agree with him on the point that Sophia was the finest girl around.

What I actually intended to use against him was the simple fact that he had beaten a small child to a pulp.

What would happen if it came to light that the de facto lord of a major city had inflicted this level of violence on a young boy like me?

Given that this world had an organization responsible for maintaining social order—not unlike Japan’s police—the answer was obvious.

I’m so glad this idiot was this stupid…
He fell for my provocation hook, line, and sinker. Serves him right.

Fully aware of the terrible state my body was in after the beating I’d taken, I let Regen Blum’s rage run its course.

Eventually he showed signs of tiring, and the violence began to subside.

Through the edges of my fading consciousness, I caught a glimpse of him glaring down at me, breathing hard.

If I pass out now…

“You—!! You’ve had the nerve to push me around this whole time, you filthy peasant!!”

He kicked me hard, sending me airborne, and I slammed back into the floor. My brain rattled violently in my skull.

Okay, I may have pushed a little too far…

The moment I thought it, I looked up to check on Regen Blum’s state—and my entire body went cold.