Chapter 123
Clael's first class had come to an end.
The students filed out of the sanctuary one after another, and among them was a boy trembling with frustration.
"Tch... I can't believe I was actually out-argued...!"
The boy who exited the sanctuary last—Abrus Pick—clenched his fists and stomped the ground.
Abrus had challenged Clael, the newly appointed theology teacher, to a debate, but was thoroughly defeated.
Having been humiliated in front of the other students, Abrus's face was flushed red with anger and shame.
"Hey, hey, calm down. Abrus!"
"Yeah, yeah. That was just sophistry. Don't let it get to you."
His male friends who were with him tried to soothe Abrus.
All three of them aspired to become priests, their families knew each other, and they had been childhood friends.
"Still... that Clael guy really pisses me off. Getting all chummy with Lady Reina like that...!"
"They say he's been certified as a Saint or whatever... but when you meet him, he's just a normal guy! I don't care if he raised the Saint or not, he probably just used connections to climb the ranks! He even overtook our dads and rose above them—so annoying!"
The reason they hated Clael was simple. It was just jealousy.
They—or rather, most of the male students attending the Royal Academy—harbored feelings for Reina, the Saint.
They were intensely jealous of Clael, who seemed close with Reina at first glance, and wanted to bring him down somehow.
The reason Abrus challenged Clael to a debate was also to humiliate him in front of the Saint and the other students.
"In that case, let's mess with him! How about hiding his stuff?"
"Or graffiti on the sanctuary walls? Wait, no—that'd be blasphemy..."
"Maybe splash water on him from the second floor? Though timing it right would be tough."
"Should we spread some nasty rumors? Like he's a womanizer or has a gambling problem?"
"Hey, you guys! Cut it out!"
The boys were getting excited over ways to sabotage Clael... but Abrus snapped and shouted.
"Even if he's getting too friendly with Saint Reina Laurel, we can't use underhanded tactics! If we're going to bring that man down, we have to do it fair and square in an open match!"
"A-Abrus?"
"H-Hey. What's gotten into you?"
"This time, it's my loss. Yeah, that's right. I admit it. But next time, it won't go like this!"
Abrus steeled himself and made his declaration.
"Let's see... Maybe next time I'll debate the whereabouts of the vanished Holy Land of Bethlime. Or whether the Holy Lance supposedly owned by the Kingdom of Lux is genuine? Or maybe whether the sunken city of Atlancia actually existed..."
Muttering to himself, Abrus walked briskly down the hallway.
His friends hurriedly chased after him.
Apparently... Abrus Pick was fundamentally a serious person, and couldn't bring himself to attack even those he disliked through malicious means.
"Just you wait... Next time, I'm going to win for sure!"
The boy clenched his fist and thrust it toward the ceiling in determination.
As Abrus charged down the hallway, his friends exchanged troubled glances, and the other students walking nearby looked at him in confusion.
"Kuma kuma"
"Kumaa"
Abrus wasn't being watched by just the students.
Hidden in the shadows, a plush bear was watching them.
"Kuma"
"Kuma kuma"
The two plush bears nodded to each other and returned to the sanctuary.
For now, no punishment was necessary. That seemed to be the conclusion they had reached.
Honest and upright people are spared.
Thanks to his straightforward nature, Abrus had unknowingly escaped death.
After that, Abrus challenged Clael to debates many more times... but before he knew it, his goal had shifted to simply defeating Clael, forgetting his original intent to humiliate him.