Chapter 49. An Unfair Deal

Serena Viscontin. Right now, for the first time in her life, she had been kidnapped.

Blindfolded in the dead of night.

Up to this point, it was a kidnapping that Serena was familiar with.

“Armand Blace. What are you doing? Why did you kidnap the teaching assistant?”

Serena, upon hearing the kidnappers’ conversation, couldn’t help but tilt her head even while feeling fear.

‘Wh-what is this?’

The kidnappings Serena knew of were all secretive acts. Hiding the name of the perpetrator was the most basic of basics. But they were saying their names. And awkwardly at that, as if for her to hear.

“Do we… have to do it this way?”

Armand asked, looking at Maxim.

“Yes.”

Maxim, wearing a mask, replied as if it were obvious.

Armand wanted to say, ‘This isn’t right!’, but at Maxim’s gaze, he just lowered his head.

“Wh-why are you doing this? Armand Blace. Don’t you know who I am?”

Serena, her vision blocked, said in a trembling voice.

Hearing this, Maxim dramatically ripped off the cloth covering Serena’s eyes.

“Kyaak!”

“N-no!”

Serena and Armand were surprised, for different reasons.

“What’s the big deal. We already said our names anyway.”

“Still, this is…”

“This is what?”

“It’s just… you know.”

Armand was seething inside. But since arguing with Maxim would only get him a fist, he cleanly gave up on resisting and looked at Serena.

“Huh? Oh!”

Serena, seeing a familiar face, felt a courage she had never had before spring up.

“You! I saw your face! I really won’t let you get away with this!”

“Does seeing that guy’s face change anything?”

Maxim said to the shouting Serena.

“What?”

“It’s true, isn’t it? Does seeing his face change the fact that you’ve been brought here?”

“...Just you wait until I get out of here!”

“That’s something for after you get out.”

At Maxim’s dry words, both Armand and Serena’s eyes widened.

“Hey, you didn’t say anything about this.”

Armand said to Maxim as if whispering.

“About what?”

“Y-you didn’t say anything about k-killing her.”

“Who’s killing anyone?”

“Huh? You’re not? Then what did you mean by that just now?”

At Armand’s question, Maxim stared at him intently.

“This person is really scary. Are you thinking of killing someone to silence them?”

“Wh-what are you talking about? When did I?”

“You just whispered it.”

“N-no!”

Just as Armand was about to say, ‘Who said anything about killing?’, Serena started screaming, ‘Help! Someone help me!’

Maxim and Armand just watched Serena quietly.

“Someone hel… p…”

Serena had thought the two people in front of her would be flustered, but she herself was flustered by their calm demeanor.

“Why don’t you continue?”

Maxim said.

“Someone… Agh, damn it.”

Serena, having some sense, gave up the foolish struggle.

“Now! Shall we get started then?”

Maxim looked at Armand, signaling him to ask the questions as prepared.

“Sigh, what sin have I… I did. I did. U-um, Teaching Assistant. About the entrance exam questions. Did you tell anyone before the exam started?”

“...Huh?”

Serena frowned as if she didn’t know what he was talking about, and looked back and forth between the masked Maxim and Armand.

“Hey, you leaked the entrance exam questions. Who did you tell?”

“You are indeed Armand, but who is that friend?”

“Hey… can’t you just answer? I’m telling you, you’ve been kidnapped right now.”

“Hey! Mask! Who are you? This is a crime. You two, can you handle this? If you let me go now, I’ll act as if this never happened. Come to your senses and untie this. Hurry!”

“……”

As Serena ignored his words, Armand scrunched his face and let out a long sigh.

Maxim, watching this, let out a snort as if it were amusing and shook his head.

“Do you have something to hide?”

The smile disappeared from Maxim’s face. Then, a cool energy emanated from his entire body.

“You clearly heard me, yet you keep talking about other things.”

Maxim said, staring at Serena with venomous eyes.

Serena also felt the air around her turn sharp.

“N-no. Wh-when did I talk about other things…”

Maxim, hearing Serena’s words, let out a breath as if it were pathetic and approached her.

“Wh-what are you going to do? Why, why are you doing this?”

Serena, frightened, trembled and struggled.

Maxim grabbed the armrest of the chair she was sitting on. The eyes of Maxim inside the mask and Serena’s eyes met, with the distance of a single fist between them.

“You’ve been kidnapped right now.”

“……”

A dreadful silence descended.

Maxim’s gaze mercilessly pierced Serena’s pupils.

Serena wanted to turn her head, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Tears streamed down her face. She wanted to cry out, but she bit her lip until it bled to stop herself. She was feeling the fear of death right now.

“Hey, what’s with the crying? I’m just telling you the facts because it seems you don’t quite understand the situation.”

“H-hic.”

“Hey, don’t cry.”

Serena nodded, tensing her face to hold back her tears.

“Now! Tell me. Who did you tell the exam questions to, and why?”

At Maxim’s words, Serena mumbled her lips, hesitating to answer.

Maxim, watching this, let out a long sigh.

“What did Bryn promise you if you kept your mouth shut?”

“Huh?”

Armand’s eyes widened as he looked at Serena. It was because he hadn’t expected Bryn to be mentioned here.

Serena’s face turned bright red. The tears that had been flowing down her cheeks until a moment ago disappeared, leaving only a trace, as if it had happened yesterday.

“Armand.”

“Uh, huh?”

“What’s this person’s title?”

Maxim asked, pointing at Serena.

“Since it’s Viscontin… Viscountess. Yes.”

“Nothing special. Does her family have some money?”

“I don’t know about that… Ah! She’s known Bryn since they were young.”

“Is that so?”

A peculiar light flickered in Maxim’s eyes.

“She helped him because they’ve known each other for a long time? Something like that?

Hmm. It doesn’t matter either way.”

He took out a dagger and cut the rope binding Serena.

At the sudden event, Serena looked up at Maxim.

“What? Did you think I was going to stab you or something?”

“N-no…”

“The sun will be up soon. Go.”

Maxim gestured towards the exit with his dagger.

But Serena just sat in her spot, breathing heavily.

“You don’t want to? Then stay.”

Maxim turned away, exuding an aura of having finished his business.

At that moment, Serena shot up from her seat and grabbed Maxim’s arm with both hands. Desperately.

“I-it’s a secret. A secret! You must never tell anyone anywhere. Never tell. Never!”

Serena, her eyes bloodshot, shrieked at Maxim.

Maxim stared at her blankly.

“You must never tell. Never. H-h-how did I e-even become a teaching assistant.”

“How did you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re an interesting person.”

Maxim snorted and tried to continue his steps that had been halted.

At this, Serena clung to Maxim, expressing her desperation with her whole body.

“Please. I’m begging you, please.”

“Why should I listen to that?”

“Consider it saving a person…”

“Die.”

Serena, meeting Maxim’s icy gaze, lost her words. She knew she had to say something, but her voice wouldn’t come out.

Maxim squatted down and met the eyes of Serena, who was just opening and closing her mouth.

“If a person wants something, they should pay a suitable price. Is it okay to just throw a tantrum like this?”

“...I’ll pay, so please don’t tell anyone. Please.”

Serena was desperate. She was a graduate. She was supposed to leave the academy and go home. But Serena did not want to leave Saint-Denis Academy. Because if she went home, she would have to get married. Not to a man she wanted, but to a man her father had chosen. Serena hated that so much. The fact that she couldn’t decide her own life. So she strongly wished to remain at the academy.

‘If I lose the teaching assistant position, I have to go home. I can never let that happen.’

It was as clear as day that she would be fired from her position if the fact that she leaked the exam questions became known. So she was desperate. Desperate enough to break down the high walls of reason she had built and leap into the unknown world Maxim had wide open. Even while thinking it might be hell.

“You’ll do anything, is that it?”

Maxim, looking at Serena who had swallowed the bait, smiled more brightly than ever. He then patted Serena’s hand that was gripping his arm and said, ‘This will be a good deal.’

Armand, who was watching this whole flow of events, placed a hand on his chest and mourned for the new victim.

***

“Idiot.”

Dwight said, looking at Hans who was drinking tea.

Hans’s brow furrowed. He slammed his teacup down roughly and glared at Dwight.

“Why are you picking a fight?”

“If you have the leisure to glare, you should at least clean up the mess you’ve made.”

“What does that mean?”

“Maxim.”

At Dwight’s words, Hans sighed as if to say, ‘that again.’

“Didn’t I tell you last time? If you’re going to do it, do it properly.”

“I didn’t do it.”

At Hans’s answer, Dwight let out a snort.

“Even a dog on the street would laugh at that.”

“Ah! Damn it! I told you I didn’t do it!”

“You probably didn’t do it directly. The ones who wipe your ass did it for you.”

“……”

“Idiot. Can’t you even use people properly? Well, it’s not like there are any useful bastards around you.”

Dwight clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Ah, damn it. It has nothing to do with me.”

“If you want to say it has nothing to do with you, then really make it so. Or go and handle it properly. Don’t stir things up clumsily and make the whole neighborhood noisy.”

“Ah! Really.”

“Hey.”

Dwight’s expression hardened as he glared at Hans.

At this, Hans swallowed and wiped the annoyance from his face. It was because he couldn’t beat Dwight yet. Neither in influence nor in strength.

“It’ll get tiring if Mother finds out, so clean it up.”

“A-alright. But did you ask to see me today just to talk about that?”

“Am I crazy? To call you just to say something that hurts my mouth?”

“Then why did you ask to see me?”

At Hans’s question, Dwight took out a document.

“What’s this?”

“Sigh, there’s no helping an idiot who can’t even accept what’s given to him.”

“No, so what is this…”

“Just look at it. Don’t ask.”

At Dwight’s words, dripping with seriousness, Hans shut his mouth and picked up the document.

The document detailed the reorganization for this semester.

“What? They’re suddenly getting rid of all the classes? Why?”

“Some idiots must have been up to some nonsense.”

“What? Sounds like you’re talking about me right now.”

“Would it be better if you weren’t? Have you ever gone out yourself when an assignment came down from the academy?”

“……”

“It’s because there’s more than one bastard like you that this is happening. Trash who just do what’s convenient for them after taking over a class and then leave with a half-assed score.”

“Do I have to do trivial things like finding items and helping with chores?”

“That’s why you’re a failure.”

Dwight stood up, his face clearly showing that he didn’t want to talk to Hans anymore.

“If the classes are completely gone, what are they going to do from now on?”

“Do you have eyes just for decoration?”

Dwight clicked his tongue and left.

Hans watched Dwight’s back and muttered, “Annoying bastard.” He then began to read the document Dwight had left behind carefully.

“Assignments will be given according to achievement level. Teams must be formed directly according to the assignment. Haa, this is getting damn annoying.”

He grumbled and turned the page.

“Next assignment is a common task, ruin exploration.”

Hans, who had put down the document, straightened his furrowed brow. As his mind worked, his pupils moved from side to side.

“It’s not all bad. I should take this opportunity to deal with it properly.”

The corners of Hans’s mouth lifted into a wide grin.