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Chapter 37 - The Rumor
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 15:52:59 +0000 UTCDamian still hadn’t gotten used to the food he received at the Second Battalion. Coming from the main line of House Nemo, he was accustomed to grand banquets and exotic dishes. In the mess hall, however, you found the complete opposite—bland food, lacking texture and life. But at least he had learned to force the food down his throat.
His table was always packed with other boys and girls from his battalion. Although it was easier to make friends with the boys since they were in the same dormitory, he put in significant effort to build relationships and bridges.
‘You never know when one of them might be useful,’ Damian thought.
Controlling monsters was his Boon; controlling people was his technique.
Although he was still unhappy with the outcome of the exercise, having placed 41st, at least he had managed to cancel the event. Obviously, a few people had been injured, but that happened all the time at the Academy. It wasn’t something he needed to worry about.
As he scooped another spoonful of whatever mixture was on his plate, he began to hear a voice.
“Damian! Damian!”
In front of him was Leo, waving his arms to get his attention while trying to make his way to the table. After pushing through a few people and squeezing past others, the short boy finally reached him. With his brown hair and round glasses, the boy had an unassuming appearance. Still, Damian trusted him, mainly because Leo was from a branch family of House Lot, which meant he never got much attention. But he had a knack for gathering information.
“What is it, Leo?” Damian wanted to understand the boy's excitement.
“The last two students from the exercise have arrived. The ones who got left behind.” Leo explained, though Damian already knew. Basically, everyone knew that two students hadn’t returned with the main group, but few knew who they were or why they had been separated from the rest.
“What about them?” Damian inquired.
“I heard it was a boy from the Second Battalion and a girl from the First Battalion.” As Leo explained, the rest of the table leaned in to listen closely.
“But the most surprising thing is that the girl… she’s a Princess.” As soon as the last word left Leo’s mouth, the blood drained from Damian’s face.
‘Holy crap, a Princess,’ Damian cursed inwardly.
The Academy accepted the loss of students at any moment in exchange for cadets capable of reaching higher levels of evolution. Even the Houses wouldn’t push for a thorough investigation. Many heirs had gone through the training and understood how rigorous it was. However, Great Houses, especially those controlling entire planets, were on another level. Worse yet, this was someone from the line of succession—a Heir.
‘There’s definitely going to be an investigation… and what if it leads back to me?’ Damian thought, unaware that his legs had begun shaking with nervousness. His anxiety was through the roof, unsure how much they would discover.
“And it seems that Captain Caine was investigating the boy, some guy named Oliver,” Leo continued, making Damian’s eyes light up upon hearing Oliver’s name.
‘I just need to redirect the attention, take the heat off me,’ Damian thought while planning his next moves.
“It makes sense. I saw him during the battle, shooting from a distance. He probably shot at the separated horde and then tried to flee, getting left behind.” Damian needed the others at the table to believe him, so he mixed truth with lies. If they started spreading rumors that Oliver was responsible for the incident during the exercise, it would be unlikely anyone would waste time analyzing the Crabbits' movement.
“He was ranked pretty high, wasn’t he? Maybe he tried to gain more points by targeting other enemies, but it backfired,” Leo continued, conspiring with Damian.
Leo didn’t know why Damian was spreading rumors, but he understood it wasn’t for nothing. He wasn’t physically strong, but his ability to read people was exceptional. Staying in Damian’s good graces would help him rise and perhaps even leave House Lot for House Nemo.
With the two boys dropping bits of information and speculating on what Oliver might have done, it didn’t take long for the rumors to spread and grow.
“Oliver, the boy who caused the accident during the Weapon Combat class.”
“Oliver, the boy who faked kills during the Weapon Combat exercise.”
“Oliver, the boy who the York Princess saved.”
These were just a few of the rumors—some were even worse—but all pointed to the same person. Oliver was no longer seen as a suspect; he was guilty.
Only a few hours had passed since Oliver had fallen asleep on his bunk when someone burst into the dormitory. Making as much noise as possible, Alan ran between the beds until he found him.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up.”
With a slap across the chest, Alan jolted Oliver awake.
“Holy crap! What’s the deal with waking me up like that?!” Oliver scowled, trying to make sense of what had happened.
“First, you send a message and then fall asleep. Second, have you seen what’s going on in the chat?” Alan asked nervously, pointing at the gauntlet.
“No? I just sent a message to you guys,” Oliver explained.
“I’m not talking about our group; I’m talking about the Second Battalion channel,” Alan replied.
Oliver sat up in bed and opened the chat.
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| Channels
| Second Battalion [143]
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| Second Battalion
| [PeachMy] No doubt, it went to his head.
| [Born2CS3] Haha, he must’ve been happy about getting a good rank and screwed up.
| [Fulbrac] It’s still under investigation, don’t forget.
| [KhadCool] Investigation, my ass! They just don’t want to blame a student. It would tarnish the Academy’s image.
|
“What are they talking about?” Oliver asked, still not understanding what he was reading.
“They’re talking about you! Ever since you got back, there have been rumors…” Alan explained.
“Rumors about what?” Oliver frowned.
It didn’t make sense for there to be rumors. In theory, the investigation was just between the captains, and he was innocent.
“Rumors that you’re the one who caused the incident during the training,” Alan kept pacing back and forth while explaining.
“Ahh! How did they find out about the investigation?!” Oliver exclaimed, continuing to scroll through the seemingly endless stream of messages. “Well… the investigation should wrap up soon, and they’ll prove I’m innocent.”
“Come on, Oliver! Don’t you use any social media? It doesn’t matter if you’re innocent or guilty, especially during the stress peak of training. They just want someone to blame,” Alan raised his voice, clearly frustrated.
“To be honest, I don’t. I only use the Net for chat or watching videos…” Oliver scratched his head, trying to think of what to do. “So what do I do now, oh wise and all-knowing Alan?”
Alan turned, seeing the sarcastic expression on Oliver’s face, and replied seriously. “Let the dust settle. Responding or trying to fight back will only fuel the rumors.”
“And maybe the investigation will clear your name. That would help a lot.” Alan scratched his chin, thinking about what might happen in the next few days.
“What do you mean ‘maybe clear my name’? I am innocent,” Oliver said, incredulous that his friend would question his innocence.
“Oliver… it’s so cute to see someone so innocent. It’s like seeing a slow unicorn. Unique, but you wonder how it’s survived this long.” Alan laid on the irony, shaking his head and wiping away imaginary tears. “Did you not learn anything from what I told you? I believe you’re innocent, and maybe the Academy knows you’re innocent. But will they openly protect you?”
“The York family is far more powerful than you can imagine, and to make matters worse, she’s a Princess. If they put too much pressure on the Academy, they’ll need a scapegoat, and you might end up being the ‘guilty’ one.”
Oliver was still reeling from the possibilities Alan had raised.
“Princess?” Oliver asked, furrowing his brow as he began to understand better what he had heard.
“That’s what they call the Heirs of the Great Houses. Princes and Princesses. They’re the few who have power within the Senate, aside from a House’s Patriarch,” Alan explained.
To Oliver, half of what Alan was trying to explain sounded like another language, but at least he understood the basics of Katherine’s impact on the Senate and Imperial politics.
“If that’s the case… I don’t think anything will happen to me. I managed to save Katherine. As soon as she wakes up in the infirmary, she’ll be able to clear everything up,” Oliver reasoned, feeling like there was a simple solution to his problems.
“Here’s another issue: she’s not in the infirmary. She was taken to be treated outside the Academy. Do you really think they’d let her stay here after the disaster that was this exercise?” Alan delivered the final blow to Oliver’s last hope, making the boy clutch his head in despair. It seemed like the universe had conspired to get him into trouble over the past few days.
“Well… then I’ll just stay quiet. Keep my head down and avoid getting involved in any more problems. Soon, they’ll forget, and with some luck, when Katherine returns, this whole misunderstanding will be cleared up,” Oliver concluded, sketching out his plan with Alan.
Alan nodded while still watching the messages flying in the channel. “At least now you’re famous. There’s probably not a single person in the Academy who doesn’t know you.”
“And what good is that?” Oliver asked.
“Absolutely none, unless you want to join a House someday,” Alan replied without much thought.
The two boys returned to watching the chat until Alan couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer.
“Come on. Spit it out. How did you save a Princess?” he asked, giving Oliver a judgmental look.
The two boys started talking again, with Oliver recounting every detail of his recent experiences and close calls while Alan criticized every poor decision Oliver had made.
By the time the day was over, and they finally went to bed, Oliver was content—worried but content. He felt like he was back home, or at least in something that felt like home. His optimism made him believe he would get through these rumors without any major issues.
Unfortunately, as usual, Oliver was wrong.
