Everyone was at a loss for words. In the breathless silence, Urschel continued to speak matter-of-factly.
“A lot of nobles have personally asked us to bring down the Nyschager’s young master here. But, Father ordered me to halve the number of study mates… What a tall order! I feel rather troubled by it. I’m sure that behind Father’s request, there are the orders of more important people, but I can’t help but wonder why it must be me who has to do this? Anyway, since I’ve been ordered to, I might as well do it. When I think of whom I should weed out, I think of one criterion… That is, people who mess with the House of Minusle.”
So, this meant that Urschel-sama truly had no interest in the close aide position? And he didn’t become a study mate simply because he was pushed to be one— rather, he was sent here to… cut down the number of the study mates?! By the sounds of it, his mission was dictated by someone of higher status than the Duke himself… in other words, the royalty.
Thus, this meant that he received the royal order through his father.
All at once, the faces of the noble sons there went pale. Amidst that, despite his trembling, Hauser-sama acted brazenly.
“Y-you, just what can you do…! You’re nothing but a weak little child!”
Urschel-sama’s height was short and his body delicate-looking. From Hauser-sama’s perspective, he didn’t look like someone who could hurt even a fly.
Wistfully blinking, Urschel-sama smiled at Hauser-sama.
“Wasn’t it you who said that someone like me, who has no brains, nor a family with big achievements, is not fit to be a close aide? Then I’ll return those words to you… Hauser-sama, what does the term match-fixing mean to you?”
“Wha—?!” Hauser-sama gasped at the question.
Urschel carried on talking.
“You know, when I first began to dig up information on the House of Nyschager, it never occurred to me that I would discover that the proud, knightly family, who topped all others in strength, victories, and spectacular achievements, had been throwing their weight around by forcing them to purposefully lose in matches with money as exchange; and this has lasted for more than a decade.
On top of that, there were instances of bribery involving the tournament organizers. And just recently, there was a sword fighting tournament within the nobility of the knightly family. The winner was you, Hauser-sama, wasn’t it? But the runner-up, the son of a marquis, was a very competent fighter. He already had practical experience in battlefields— Oh! And the Count’s son that you went against in the quarter final, he was also a powerful contender. He even won first place overall in a meritocratic martial arts tournament that was held in a neighbouring country!
…Isn’t that strange? You, as a study mate, normally hold a pen, not a sword; and when you’re faced with someone you don’t like, you’re only capable of kicking them down the stairs or surrounding them in a circle of people. So tell me, do you really have what it takes to win all those competitions?”
I felt the air tense.
In a moment of what must’ve been an impulse, Hauser-sama seized Urschel-sama by his shirt and tried to strike him.
But—
Urschel-sama grabbed Hauser-sama’s arm in return. With a practised move, he twisted that arm. A sudden, painful crunching noise rang out.
“AAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!”
Hauser-sama’s screams echoed through the salon.
Where in such a delicate body did such strength come from? Just a moment ago, Urschel-sama had broken the arm of Hauser-sama—someone who was many times larger than him.
“AAHHH, AH, AAAARGGH…!!”
The normally prideful Hauser-sama yanked his arm away from Urschel-sama, wailing in pain, and fell to his knees.
“I’m sorry. My hand slipped,” Urschel said, still smiling, his tone eerily familiar.
…It was exactly what Hauser-sama had told him when the parfait was destroyed.
Hauser-sama was a sobbing, half-crazed mess. As an aspiring knight, he was supposed to be used to wounds and broken bones. Thanks to his training, he should have at least some experience with them… But looking at him now, it didn’t seem like he’d ever even trained to the point of getting injured.
Hauser-sama glared tearfully at Urschel.
Even still, Urschel retained his smile. “Isn’t it embarrassing to be injured by a boring office worker of a noble? I thought that the House of Nyschager had all the talent and accomplishments— so how did I, the youngest study mate, manage to make you cry?”
“…Urk.” Hauser-sama collapsed onto his bottom, seemingly having lost all energy. His face paled white, and his lips began to tremble.
As for Urschel-sama… he continued smiling, to the point that it was frightening.
Following that, the study mates who were circling Urschel-sama shrank back. Everyone there instinctively felt that they shouldn’t lay a hand on Urschel-sama, nor refute him.
Urschel-sama was no common noble son. He was still a child, and yet he’d received a secret order from someone who was either his father or royalty. Only moments before, he’d completely humiliated Hauser-sama by exposing one of the many dirty deeds the House of Nyschager committed—the match-fixing. The others here had the hunch if they went against Urschel at this moment, their lives wouldn’t be spared.
All the scheming and ploys among the study mates I had seen so far were nothing but child’s play…
Urschel-sama took his eyes off Hauser and looked at the people who had just ridiculed him. Then, with a jovial voice, he spoke.
“I didn’t know that it was the nobles’ way to push someone down the stairs or corner them with a group. Thank you for the references. But I won’t be putting them into practice. What I learned from Father was far less petty and much more effective… Our method is to crush the noble house altogether.
Zyle-sama, your family has been evading taxes, am I right? Your estate’s income and expenditure report never add up no matter how they calculate it I heard. The finance and judicial bureau is waiting for you people with ropes in hand to tie you people, you know?
Kyrnis-sama, do your family even know about labour laws? Death from overwork that has been happening in your territory is twelve times any other place! Oh, apparently there’ll be a rebellion soon. I wish your family can all survive in one piece!
Jackal-sama, you’ve taken it upon yourself to bribe various people in order to become a close aide, haven’t you? Your family is taking responsibility for this.
Hansem-sama1, you’re in trouble too. Your family has financially collapsed, and they’ve decided to flee. What a ridiculous thing it is, to be drowning in debt due to womanizing.
Nancel-sama, nice to have you here until now. I heard that you drunkenly beat a high-ranking nobleman and his Majesty found out about it. Since you failed to cover it up, very soon you’ll have to give up your peerage, you know?
Clement-sama, your family is involved in collusion, right? From leaking bidding prices for public works projects carried out by the state to facilitation of the construction of such projects… It’s a good thing that the nobleman working at the government office in the capital and the prominent figures from his home territory are such good friends, isn’t it? And what fun they’ll have developing their friendship even to the jail together— It makes me cry with laughter!
…Last but not least, Marcus-sama. From your perspective, it seems like I know nothing about being a noble, so will you teach me about it? You swaggered the fact that you’re His Highness’s study mate and hooked up with the well-known ladies; is that how a noble is supposed to act? Three days ago, it was only Milena-sama from an earl’s family, but last week, you also hit on Anne-sama from a marquess’s family, Martha from a baronial family, Marie-sama from a viscount family, Midelia-sama from a marquess’s family, Salinya-sama from a baronial family—what a tremendous number.
Oh, it’s not just this, is it? I’ve had the whole records that spanned for several years, so I know exactly who you’ve been having relations with, when and where. You are so arrogant when you are only a close aide candidate, not even a close aide yet. Are you using the name of a study mate as a pick-up line? Thanks to that, families of those ladies are now furious: they want Marcus-sama to be castrated.
On top of that, it is said that the other day, Marcus-sama, your father lashed out at Makina-sama, who was the princess of the previous king and now the Duchess of Schwann. Some of the remarks were derogatory to the King, and Makina-sama is demanding serious charges. From the rumours… Makina-sama has joined forces with the family of the aforementioned ladies and they’re planning to crush Marcus-sama’s family, or something like that…?
I thought that as a noble, the more you throw your weight around, the more wrath you would incur, let alone getting off with whatever you do, but did I get that wrong? But Marcus-sama’s father doesn’t seem to know his own status, so it’s kind of a given that your family will be crushed—this is the reality. Yes.”
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Lastly, Urschel plainly made his statement to the eight people, who struggled to simply stand and looked dead like corpses. It was like he was giving out the death sentence.
“As you wish, I’ll voluntarily withdraw from being a study mate. But there’s going to be a price to pay, and I’m someone you can never afford.”