5-3 Control
In my previous life, I led a fairly significant faction at the academy. It was a group formed by those attracted to the name of the ducal family, but in the end, it proved useless.
Other such factions exist at the academy. As in my previous life, people tend to gather around children of influential nobles. Even now, people congregate around Prince Edward, who is in the same year as us… though not as many as before.
Until now, there hadn’t been any conflicts between factions. Nobles must maintain an outward appearance of grace. Even if issues arise, they don’t confront each other directly. They showcase their authority while subtly undermining others through rumors. I was executed in my previous life for directly acting against Eleanor.
In this life, my reputation among other factions is terrible.
After all, Richard and Emma are violently expanding their influence, Isabel and Oscar are plotting schemes, and Alice and Louis are increasing their supporters, or rather, followers. There’s no way to compete using traditional noble methods. If I were in their position, I’d find it extremely unpleasant.
In such cases, it’s common to spread rumors to damage the opponent’s reputation.
In my case, people say things like:
“It seems the servants of Lady Selina of the Rosenberg Ducal Family are poorly educated.”
Of course, since I’ve trained my servants as assassins, it’s natural that they lack a conventional education. I have no particular objection to this.
However, my servants wouldn’t let it slide. Oscar and his group quickly traced the source of the information , gathered witnesses, and came to me saying:
“There are people showing defiant attitudes towards Lady Selina. Would you mind coming with us for a moment?”
When told this, I have no choice but to act.
Nobles are concerned about appearances. Moreover, as a member of a ducal family, I can’t ignore being told I’ve been insulted.
…I wish they wouldn’t tell me these things.
So, today I came to see Karen, a second-year student and daughter of Count Silverrain.
Normally, it’s frowned upon for first-year students to enter second-year classrooms.
Indeed, as soon as we entered, a male upperclassman confronted us.
“Hey! First-years shouldn’t barge into second-year classrooms! Don’t you know proper etiquette within the academy? Just because you’re of high status doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want!”
It’s a perfectly reasonable argument. I agree. His face seems familiar, so he’s probably from a fairly important noble family.
However, such reasoning and status don’t apply to my servants.
Richard leaned forward, placing one hand on a nearby five-seat long desk.
“I apologize, senior. We don’t determine importance based on age differences.”
With those words, the long desk Richard had his hand on shattered. He used not only physical strength but also magic, a technically advanced skill wasted on mere intimidation.
Screams of “Eek!” and “Kyaa!” echoed from various directions.
The face of the upperclassman who had warned us turned pale. By the way, I’ll probably end up paying for the broken desk later.
“Hey, shall we talk in the hallway, senior?”
Richard grabbed the upperclassman by the collar and dragged him out to the hallway. At this point, the other upperclassmen could only look down and remain silent.
“Lady Selina, that’s Lady Karen over there,” Isabel said, pointing towards the back of the classroom.
There sat a typical noble lady in a white dress, looking haughty and surrounded by four students who appeared to be her entourage. In my previous life, I probably looked similar.
She’s fairly pretty, but with slightly upturned eyes giving her a stern appearance. She seems strong-willed.
“Do you need something, Lady Selina?”
Karen directed her gaze at me. As expected of a high-ranking noble’s daughter, she showed no sign of fear towards us. Her demeanor, at least, was admirable.
“I hear it’s not I who have business with you, but rather you with me, Lady Karen. I’ve been told you said I’m ‘only good at fighting’ and that I’m ‘the least suitable person to be queen.’ If you have something to say to me, I thought I’d come hear it directly. That’s why I’ve taken the trouble to come here.”
“My, did I say such things?”
Karen pretended not to know. It’s a common evasive tactic.
“Yes, I’ve heard this from multiple students.”
“Who might have said such things?”
Karen maintained a defiant attitude. She probably thinks there’s no evidence. Or perhaps she believes she can talk her way out of it easily. Poor thing. My servants aren’t that naive.
“Who? The people around you.”
“Huh?”
Karen looked around at her entourage in surprise.
Then, one of the female students in her group, her expression blank, began to speak monotonously.
“Yes, three days ago, Lady Karen said that Lady Selina is ‘only good at fighting.'”
“Elina, why are you…”
Karen stared at Elina, the testifying student, in disbelief. According to Isabel, Elina was the most devoted to Karen. That’s why the impact on Karen is so significant.
But being “devoted” was merely an illusion based on status and appearance. Such things crumble easily. Just like with my former self.
To begin with, I surpass her in both status and appearance. On top of that, my servants applied physical and mental pressure, so she easily switched sides.
Elina wasn’t the only one who turned. A male student standing next to Karen opened his mouth.
“Yesterday, Lady Karen said that Lady Selina is ‘the least suitable person to be queen.'”
“Ed! You too!?”
Karen looked as if she might faint at any moment.
Apparently, Ed was a student in the magic class who had feelings for Karen. His noble rank was too low for it to be a viable relationship, but Karen knew about his feelings and kept him close.
However, Ed had been struggling with his magical abilities. When he asked Alice, the top first-year student, “How did you become so proficient in magic?”, he was led to believe that pledging allegiance to me would improve his magical power.
Ed, on a whim, decided to believe in her, and as a result, his magical abilities improved.
The truth is, it was thanks to Alice’s casual advice that Ed had become my follower since then.
…Somehow, this feels quite different from how I had imagined ruling the academy. Is it just my imagination, or does this seem more like a secret evil organization?
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Karen, betrayed by two of her trusted followers, turned desperately to her remaining two followers. In response, they smiled.
“Lady Karen, please don’t worry. We are on your side.”
“Yes, Lady Karen should just believe in Lady Selina. Then we can all stay together.”
I don’t know what methods were used, but those two had also switched allegiance to my faction. The four former followers weren’t sheltering Karen; they were merely surrounding her to prevent her escape. By the way, Karen’s servant is being kept away by these four.
“Eek!”
Karen’s usually confident face twisted in fear. She showed signs of wanting to flee, but being tightly surrounded by the four, she couldn’t go anywhere.
“Lady Selina, thank you for your trouble. We’ll handle the rest from here.”
Oscar addressed me respectfully.
I don’t know how they’ll handle it, but judging from past examples, Karen and the others will likely be greeting me at the school gates from tomorrow.
Oscar had a sadistic expression on his face. I don’t know what he intends to do, but I don’t remember giving such strange training. How did things end up like this?
The next morning, Karen and the others were at the school gates to greet me.
Since Rosewood Academy is a school, naturally, we have to study and take exams.
This is my second school life, but I don’t remember the details from sixteen years ago. I only vaguely recall things like “this came up in class.” To begin with, in my previous life, I hardly studied at all, and it was only through the combined efforts of tutors hired by the duke’s family that I barely passed.
In this life, to play the role of a well-behaved lady, I’ve been studying diligently since childhood, imitating Eleanor. Eleanor was not only a saint but also excelled academically, ranking first in her previous life.
In this life, I’m the top student, with Eleanor second. It’s only natural, given that I’ve had the memories of an 18-year-old since childhood and have been studying from there. Oscar and Isabel follow after Eleanor. Those two are quite good academically as well.
Alice and Louis are in different classes, so their exams are different, but both of them are top in the magic and priest classes respectively.
Richard and Emma aren’t academically gifted but receive high evaluations in practical skills. After all, they’re stronger than the instructors in the knight class. No matter how bad their behavior, their evaluations can’t help but be high.
So, we stand out in various ways.
It’s common for those who stand out to attract envy.
In my case, several factions secretly united under the banner of “Defeat Selina!”
The “secretly” part was just their sentiment; Oscar and Isabel were fully aware. These two created spies, disguised as collaborators, everywhere by exploiting others’ weaknesses, gathering information.
The “Defeat Selina!” alliance targeted Richard. After all, he was big in both body and attitude. They probably thought that if they could just get rid of the obviously strong Richard, they could handle the rest.
“What foolish people,”
Oscar laughed.
“When Lady Selina is the truly dangerous one.”
Hey, isn’t it a bit much to call your master a dangerous person?
The alliance’s plan was to lure Richard out alone and ambush him with ten people. However, real swords were apparently prepared as weapons.
This was dangerous. For the attackers.
“With real swords, I won’t be able to hold back,”
Richard said with a wry smile when he heard about it.
We’ve fought monsters many times. Honestly, students are no match for us, even with swords. However, when faced with real swords, he naturally can’t hold back either. Richard is a man who can knock down monsters with his bare hands. If he gets serious, he could kill his opponents. That would be problematic.
“Annihilate the enemy peacefully before you kill them.”
That was the order I gave.
The ten students from the knight class gathered by the “Defeat Selina!” alliance had assembled in the designated warehouse. That’s where they were supposed to receive the swords.
The warehouse was in a corner of the academy grounds, usually storing wooden swords and armor used for training. It was dimly lit inside, with a unique smell and dampness.
The gathered students looked around the warehouse. However, the promised swords were nowhere to be seen.
As they wondered what was going on, the sound of the back entrance door closing echoed through the warehouse. When the students turned around, they saw Richard standing there, blocking the door.
“Hey, I didn’t mind if you guys used swords, but Lady Selina was worried I might not be able to hold back and end up killing you. You should be grateful to the kind Lady Selina. …Oh, you can use wooden swords if you want. I’ll give you that much of a handicap.”
Richard slowly advanced, cracking his knuckles. The students frantically grabbed wooden swords, but the outcome was already decided.
Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the alliance, consisting of noble children, were being dismantled by Oscar and Isabel.
Isabel kidnapped one of the male students and whispered in his ear.
“Lady Selina is merciful, so if you join her side now, I think she’ll forgive you. Oh yes, I picked up something like this in the warehouse earlier. Is it yours?”
What Isabel showed the male student were the student IDs of the ten knight class students who were supposed to attack Richard. They were covered in blood.
The male student, the heir to a marquis family who usually had a big attitude, could only turn pale and nod his head repeatedly.
By the way, Oscar was doing the same thing to the female students, successfully causing one after another to defect from the alliance.
Thus, the “Defeat Selina!” alliance was annihilated within days of its formation. From then on, any forces opposing Selina were thoroughly eliminated.
TLNOTE : While waiting, I implore you dear readers to read other masterpiece novels that also written by the same author :
- When the Monster Meat I Ate Led Me to the Throne
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
The poll is open again, please vote!!!
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome