Speaking rights: 0.
The words written on the gray card felt, strangely enough, heavier than a sword.
A sword could be avoided.
Poison could be identified.
Documents could be read.
But a condition forbidding me from speaking?
That strangled my throat.
I was a commoner teacher.
I had combat ability.
I could see mana circuits.
I even had knowledge from seven playthroughs of the game.
But in the end, the weapon I had used most until now was words.
Stop.
Put it on the record.
First, let me ask.
Do not laugh. State the facts.
Not "but." "And."
But now, I could not use any of that.
Speaking rights: 0.
Fine.
Not fine at all.
Clarisse Elvine handed me the card.
"During the observation in the central corridor, Leon Cart has no speaking rights."
I nodded.
I did not speak.
Clarisse immediately wrote something down.
"Silent response to explanation of conditions."
She really recorded everything.
Eveline spoke quietly beside me.
"You really are quiet now."
I looked at her.
I did not speak.
Eveline smiled very slightly.
"Nice, isn't it?"
I kept looking at her.
I did not speak.
Eveline raised her handkerchief and covered her mouth.
She seemed to be trying to hide her laughter.
Was this growth?
No.
She was simply teasing me.
Seria looked at my gray card and tilted her head ever so slightly.
"A situation where the teacher cannot speak. It is rarer than I expected."
I looked at Seria.
I did not speak.
The corners of Seria's mouth tried to rise.
But she stopped herself.
"A joke. One that does not stab."
Clarisse wrote.
"Lady Seria Blanc, attempted nonaggressive joke. Self-correction maintained."
Seria's expression dimmed slightly.
Liana looked at the gray card, then at me.
"Teacher, are you all right?"
I nodded.
I was not all right.
Not all right at all.
Still, nodding did not count as speaking, did it?
Clarisse spoke.
"Excessive nonverbal signals may also be regarded as intervention."
I immediately stopped nodding.
Eveline muttered.
"She really is a formidable enemy."
Seria nodded.
"Yes. She can make people stop without a sword."
Clarisse looked at them both.
"Your impressions of the evaluator are not currently among the evaluation criteria."
"Then you will not record it?"
Eveline asked.
"I will."
"I knew it."
The public observation in the central corridor began immediately after the afternoon bell rang.
The Academy's central corridor.
I had passed through this place countless times in the original game.
First-class guidance.
Club recruitment.
Unexpected duels.
Saint Candidate events.
The first observation in the prince route.
And Eveline Rosette's public rampage.
On the game screen, it had merely been a wide hallway.
White stone floors.
High ceilings.
Stained glass.
Guide boards bearing the royal golden crown crest.
But the real thing was different.
This was not a corridor.
It was a stage.
Candidates stood along both walls.
Children of nobles.
Scholarship candidates.
Knight candidates.
Mage candidates.
Cathedral Office candidates.
They all pretended to be waiting for guidance.
But their eyes were not waiting.
They were already watching us.
Eveline Rosette.
The Red Rake of a Young Lady.
Seria Blanc.
The Smiling Poison-Tongued Woman.
Liana Bell.
A Saint Candidate scholarship student.
And a commoner teacher walking a little distance behind them.
Speaking rights: 0.
I stood half a step behind them.
Because of Clarisse's condition.
"Leon Cart will not stand within the formation of the three candidates. The formation itself could be interpreted as instruction from the educator in charge."
Accurate.
Unpleasantly accurate.
So the three of them had to arrange themselves.
Eveline spoke first.
"I'll walk in front."
A natural reaction.
The instinct to block danger.
Seria immediately said,
"Then it will look as though we are hiding behind you."
Eveline's brow rose.
"Then do you want to walk in front?"
"Then it will look as though I am controlling the situation."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
Both girls looked at Liana.
Clarisse immediately spoke.
"Caution: pressure through eye contact."
The two of them looked away at once.
Good.
Awkward enough to be funny, but good.
Liana took a moment to steady her breathing.
"I will decide."
The two young ladies stopped.
Liana looked toward the entrance of the central corridor.
Then she spoke slowly.
"I will walk in the middle."
Eveline's face stiffened.
"That could make it look like you are caught between us."
"Then we will keep a step of distance between us."
Liana moved her feet herself.
She stood in the middle.
"I will walk in the middle by my own choice. Please stand on either side of me, but do not take my arms. If I ask you to stop, please stop."
Good.
Very good.
This was not the posture of someone being protected.
It was the posture of someone choosing her own place.
Eveline gritted her teeth, then nodded.
"All right."
Seria spoke as well.
"We will do that."
Clarisse wrote.
"Miss Liana Bell, directly selected travel position. Accepted distance conditions for candidates on both sides."
I applauded internally.
I did not actually clap.
Even applause would probably be recorded as intervention.
The moment we entered the central corridor, rumors arrived before we did.
"Those three came together?"
"Aren't they the candidates from the tea party incident?"
"The Saint Candidate is in the middle?"
"Did Lady Rosette threaten her into coming?"
"Lady Blanc is there too. Better not drink any tea."
The corner of Seria's mouth twitched.
Eveline's handkerchief crumpled.
Liana's steps slowed ever so slightly.
I nearly opened my mouth.
I did not speak.
It felt as though my tongue had stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Clarisse walked silently behind us, writing as she went.
"External rumor provocation has occurred. Candidate reactions under observation."
The first person to approach was a noble young lady in a pale pink dress.
I did not remember her name.
She must have been a background candidate in the original game.
Probably the sort who gave Eveline a cold look once and disappeared.
She spoke gently to Liana.
"Miss Bell. If you are all right with it, come this way. There is no need for you to remain among dangerous people."
Dangerous people.
Neat.
With a kind tone, she had classified both Eveline and Seria as hazards.
Eveline's handkerchief crumpled.
Seria's eyes turned cold.
But neither of them spoke.
Liana had to handle this.
Liana paused briefly.
Then she said,
"Thank you for your concern."
Good.
She accepted it.
"And I am standing here by my own choice. If I need help, I will ask for it."
The young lady in the pale pink dress fell silent for a moment.
"Still..."
Liana spoke again.
"I am all right for now."
Short.
Firm.
Clarisse's pen moved.
"Miss Liana Bell, maintained her chosen position after receiving an external offer of protection. Stated that she retains the right to request assistance herself."
A system window appeared.
[Liana Bell: Stated her own will in response to an external offer of protection]
[Resistance to Being Used as a Shield increased]
[Failure Condition: Liana Bell's silence — avoided]
Good.
The first audience member withdrew.
The second came from the knight candidates.
He was a large boy.
He was not even a formal knight yet, but he already wore far too many armor ornaments.
In the original game, this type was generally fuel for duel events.
He looked at Eveline and spoke.
"Lady Rosette. I hear you intimidated the Saint Candidate into giving a statement. Is that true?"
A direct attack.
The air in the central corridor shifted.
People fell silent to listen.
Eveline's handkerchief crumpled sharply.
I held my breath.
Do not speak.
I could not speak.
Eveline looked at the boy.
That look alone nearly made him take a step back.
But Eveline did not move.
She said,
"I am angry."
The central corridor went quiet.
Probably no one had expected that answer.
Even now, every time I heard it, it still felt a little new.
Eveline unfolded her handkerchief.
Not completely.
But she unfolded it.
"And I will answer. That suspicion is currently under review at the Preliminary Archives Office. Miss Liana Bell speaks for herself."
She did not look at Liana.
Instead, she looked at the boy who had asked the question.
"I will not speak in her place."
Good.
Very good.
The boy was flustered.
"Th-that is not what I meant..."
"That is how it sounded."
Eveline's voice was slightly sharp.
But it was not a blade.
"And if I heard you wrong, then ask your question again."
The boy closed his mouth.
Clarisse wrote.
"Lady Eveline Rosette, gave procedural response after expressing emotion. Refused proxy speech. Requested question be rephrased."
A system window appeared.
[Eveline Rosette: Successfully responded to public provocation]
[Failure Condition: Public emotional rampage — avoided]
[Maintained resistance to fiancé-emotion provocation]
Good.
We had cleared the second one too.
The third was Seria.
No, what approached Seria was not a person but a sentence.
"Lady Blanc, did you not prepare tea today?"
Someone on one side of the corridor said it with a laugh.
Several candidates laughed along.
Tea.
Blanc.
Tea party.
Eloise's collapse.
The accusation of poisoning.
It looked like a short joke, but the entire incident was contained within it.
Seria's eyes slowly curved into a shape that did not smile.
Dangerous.
She was not trying to smile.
That was the face she made when she wanted to stab someone.
I could not open my mouth.
Seria took a breath.
"I am offended."
Good.
She continued.
"And I will not use that offense to make you laugh or to stab you."
The corridor fell silent.
Seria looked toward whoever had asked the question.
"Someone collapsed yesterday, and treatment is underway. It is not appropriate to reduce that matter to a joke about tea."
She paused very briefly.
"I will not offer tea today. And that was not a joke."
Good.
Very good.
Seria did not win with a joke.
She stopped the joke.
Clarisse's pen moved.
"Lady Seria Blanc, refrained from a poisonous verbal counterattack. Distinguished the facts of the incident from its inappropriateness."
A system window appeared.
[Seria Blanc: Resisted provocation toward public verbal venom]
[Failure Condition: Public poisonous remark — avoided]
[Trust Recovery Training Progress: 22% -> 25%]
Twenty-five percent.
Still low.
But it had risen in a public corridor.
That was significant.
The three began walking again.
I did not know why merely walking had to be so difficult.
Left foot. Right foot.
Quietly forward.
That was all, but in the central corridor, every bit of it became a sentence.
Who walked in front.
Who walked in the middle.
Who looked at whom.
Who answered for whom.
Who remained silent.
And who smiled.
At the end of the corridor, beneath the golden crown crest, stood a public noticeboard.
The candidates had to confirm their names and preliminary orientation times in front of it.
In the original game, Eveline had exploded here after seeing Liana's name.
Saint Candidate scholarship student.
A name assigned to the same group as her fiancé.
Back then, Eveline shoved Liana, and people shouted.
The Red Rake of a Young Lady is at it again.
That scene had been the public beginning of Eveline's ruin route.
Now, three names were displayed on the board.
Eveline Rosette — Subject of preliminary conduct observation.
Seria Blanc — Subject of preliminary conduct observation.
Liana Bell — Scholarship candidate / recommended by the Cathedral Office.
And below that, in small print:
Joint observation conditionally on record.
I did not know who had posted it, but it was extremely Archives Office-like.
Probably Clarisse.
Eveline looked at the noticeboard.
Her grip tightened around her handkerchief.
"This makes me uncomfortable."
She said it.
Good.
An expression of emotion.
No action.
Seria looked at the board as well.
"Me too. Having 'subject of observation' written next to my name is not beautiful."
Clarisse spoke from behind.
"Aesthetic assessments are not reflected."
"I expected as much."
Liana stared at her name for a long time.
Scholarship candidate.
Recommended by the Cathedral Office.
Joint observation conditionally on record.
She spoke quietly.
"It feels like my name... can be read with too many meanings."
Eveline was about to speak.
She stopped.
Seria was about to speak too.
She stopped.
Liana sensed that silence.
And this time, she spoke for herself.
"But my name belongs to me."
Silence.
Good.
Really good.
Liana looked at the noticeboard and spoke again.
"And I will say what kind of candidate I am."
Clarisse's pen moved.
"Miss Liana Bell, stated that she retains the right to define her own name."
A system window appeared.
[Liana Bell: Stated her right to define her own name]
[Resistance to Being Used as a Shield increased]
That was when it happened.
Applause sounded from the opposite end of the corridor.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Slow, polite applause.
Arsene Berhardt stood there.
A navy uniform.
Silver adornments.
A gentle smile.
He was not alone.
Several noble candidates stood around him.
Children from houses close to House Berhardt.
And candidates who had simply gathered to watch.
Not observers.
An audience.
The system window had been right.
Arsene spoke slowly.
"Impressive."
The entire central corridor heard his voice.
"Lady Rosette, Lady Blanc, and Miss Liana as well. It is rare to see people show such consideration for one another."
Nice words.
That was why they were dangerous.
Eveline's handkerchief moved.
Seria's eyes narrowed.
Liana's hand trembled slightly.
Arsene looked at me.
No, more precisely, he looked at the gray card behind me.
Speaking rights: 0.
His smile deepened ever so slightly.
"It seems Teacher Leon Cart's instruction has been quite effective. The three of you speak the same way, stop the same way, and check on one another the same way."
There it was.
The faction frame.
The manipulation frame.
Even when the three of them did well on their own, he bound them together as all being the same.
Three candidates gathered under a commoner teacher.
Those words stabbed at me, but they also stabbed at the three girls.
I could not speak.
Speaking rights: 0.
It was truly a maddening condition.
Arsene continued.
"At this rate, it seems a small classroom has formed even before the Academy entrance."
A small classroom.
Rumors spread through the central corridor.
"Leon Cart's classroom?"
"A commoner teacher with noble young ladies?"
"Even the Saint Candidate?"
"Then are those three on the same side?"
The same side.
A faction.
A classroom.
When the contact restriction had been blocked, Arsene was now turning solidarity into a faction.
His persistence was astonishing.
Eveline tried to step forward.
She stopped.
Seria tried to smile.
She stopped.
Liana drew in a breath.
And the three of them did not look at one another.
Good.
They were not looking to each other for an answer.
Liana spoke first.
"I am not beneath anyone."
Her voice was small, but clear.
The corridor fell silent.
Liana looked at Arsene.
"I am preparing for my preliminary evaluation. I will accept help when I need it, but I will speak for myself."
Good.
Arsene's smile remained.
But his eyes did not smile.
Eveline was next.
"I am not in Leon's classroom."
She paused for a moment.
"Though I am learning from him."
The central corridor stirred slightly.
Eveline Rosette had publicly said she was learning.
From a commoner teacher, no less.
This was dangerous.
But it was strong at the same time.
Eveline continued.
"And what I have learned is how to stop before hitting someone. If that is a faction, then it must be a very boring faction."
Good.
Rough, but good.
Seria was last.
She looked at Arsene.
"I do not believe speaking in the same way is the problem."
The corners of her mouth did not rise.
"The problem is the side that silences people in the same way."
Sharp.
Dangerous.
But had she stabbed him?
Seria immediately added,
"And if these words sound like an accusation aimed at a particular person, it is because my sentence has not yet been refined enough. Please record that. I am still learning even now."
Clarisse's pen moved quickly.
"Lady Seria Blanc, responded to faction framing through the learning process. Self-limited the possibility of accusing a specific person."
Good.
Arsene stopped clapping.
He smiled.
"Interesting."
I said inwardly,
That word is reserved for Lady Clarisse.
I did not say it aloud.
Speaking rights: 0.
Clarisse stepped forward.
"I will share the provisional record of the public observation in the central corridor."
Arsene bowed his head.
"I am listening."
Without looking at any document, Clarisse spoke.
"First. Miss Liana Bell stated her own will in response to an external offer of protection and faction framing. She did not remain silent."
Good.
"Second. Lady Eveline Rosette showed an emotional response to public provocation and remarks concerning her fiancé, but did not turn it into action."
Eveline's ears turned red.
But she endured it.
"Third. Lady Seria Blanc stated both facts and self-restraint in a situation with the possibility of a poisonous verbal counterattack."
Seria quietly let out a breath.
"Fourth. Leon Cart adhered to the condition of zero speaking rights during the central corridor observation."
I nearly fell to my knees inwardly.
I had followed it.
At last, I had followed it.
A system window appeared.
[Public Observation in the Central Corridor: First Stage Passed]
[Failure Condition: Eveline Rosette's public emotional rampage — did not occur]
[Failure Condition: Seria Blanc's public poisonous remark — did not occur]
[Failure Condition: Liana Bell's silence or proxy speech — did not occur]
[Leon Cart Speaking Rights: 0 — complied]
Good.
Really good.
But the system always added something afterward.
[Caution]
[A new external frame is emerging.]
[Frame: Leon Cart's Private Classroom]
[Danger: Suspicion of a commoner teacher's private organization of noble candidates]
Of course.
Arsene had lost, but he had not lost completely.
He had scattered seeds throughout the central corridor.
Leon Cart's classroom.
A commoner teacher's faction.
The strange solidarity of a Saint Candidate and villainesses.
People remembered rumors longer than rampages.
A rampage ruined a day, but a rumor ruined an entire season.
Arsene knew that.
He spoke gently.
"I respect the Archives Office's judgment. However, how this scene appears to outsiders today is something everyone will judge for themselves."
Then he withdrew.
Polite to the very end.
Unpleasant to the very end.
The corridor's stares remained.
Eveline unfolded her handkerchief.
Seria did not press down the corner of her mouth.
Liana looked again at the noticeboard bearing her name.
I said nothing.
Because my zero speaking rights had not ended yet.
Clarisse looked at me.
"Leon Cart."
I looked at her.
"The observation has ended. The speaking restriction is lifted."
I slowly let out a breath.
I could speak.
Finally.
But strangely, the words did not come out right away.
Even without me speaking, the three of them had not fallen apart.
They had not been perfect.
They had not stopped the rumors either.
A new frame had emerged as well.
But they had not fallen apart.
I swallowed that fact first.
Then I said,
"Class is over."
Eveline immediately said,
"Liar."
Seria spoke as well.
"There is another lesson now, isn't there?"
Liana carefully said,
"A lesson on dealing with rumors?"
I looked at the three of them.
Accurate.
Far too accurate.
"Yes," I said.
"The next lesson is how not to look like a faction."
Eveline's face fell.
"What is that supposed to be?"
Seria sighed.
"That sounds difficult. We are already walking around together."
Liana spoke softly.
"But we should do it, right?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
Clarisse wrote beside us.
"Next educational assignment: conditional solidarity that does not appear to be a faction."
I looked at her.
"You are recording that too?"
"Yes."
"I hear that a lot."
Eveline immediately said,
"That is my line."
Seria said,
"The inheritance dispute is not over yet."
Liana laughed.
This time, in the central corridor.
Where people were watching.
Her laugh was not loud.
But she did not hide it.
Good.
Arsene had left behind rumors.
We had gained homework.
And the Academy had not even begun yet.
It was an entrance exam so long it was practically damned.
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