Deron wanted to be the best. Though second place was not bad, to achieve his dreams, he could only be the best. That's why he was now walking with brisk steps toward the infirmary clinic.
Rumors of Alfir committing suicide had spread far and beyond the academy. At first, Deron didn't believe the rumors and just ignored them. However, when he realized that Alfir was not present on the first day of class, he decided to check if the rumor is really true.
Maybe this was Deron just being romantic. Thinking of Alfir as his rival, it would be in his best interest for him if Alfir were not to die… commit suicide… give up… or do anything stupidly 'unrival~ish' at all.
Reclaiming the victor's crown sounded egotistic and selfish, but Deron is speaking purely from his heart. When he was by the clinic's door and was about to knock, someone called to him.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Turning from where the voice came from, Deron met eyes with Lorie, another competitor that Deron strongly acknowledged.
"A visit." He succinctly replied.
"Me too." Lorie didn't even bother to knock as she pushed the door open. Deron followed her, conscious of his manners he awkwardly made his way inside.
Seeing the Academy Doctor Celine casually idling in her desk, Deron gave a polite bow. Lorie frowned at Deron's over-politeness. Because she was an imperial princess, Lorie knew how to keep up appearances. So like Deron, she bowed too.
"We are here to visit Mr. Alfir," Deron asked the fatigued Celine. The Academy Doctor looked overworked and is barely hanging on.
"Hmm… go on," Celine grunted, finally, she could not take it anymore. She took a pillow from out of nowhere, placed it over her desk, and then bent over to have a quick shut-eye.
Deron scratched his nose rather embarrassed. But Lorie didn't mind. She checked the clinic's partitions one by one.
"Hey! What's your problem?"
"A-ack… Privacy, woman!!"
"Ugh… My stomach hurts."
Lorie without regard for boundaries ignored the patients' cries. She reached Alfir's partition in no time at all. Deron hurriedly apologized to the disturbed patients and closed their partition.
"What the?" Deron suppressed his shock.
"Hmmm…" Lorie is shocked as well, but she tried her best not to show it.
The person in front of them looked too unrecognizable. Was this really the same guy they fought in the tournament setup?
Make no mistake. Though the public eye saw Alfir to be lacking in strength, Deron and Lorie were quite sure in their judgment.
Especially Deron. He was at the stand at that time when he watched the most baffling fight in the academy ever. Alfir's fight with Zia was too bizarre of a sight no words could describe it, but as an intuition-type mutant, Deron could put a finger or two on what was happening.
Lorie also knew the stories. As an imperial princess, she would definitely pay close attention to her political rivals like Zia Zaratul. She too did have an inkling of the fight, in which case, at least an estimate of the strength of those involved.
Though the two don't understand what happened at all, they have their own considerations. Zia Zaratul is a dangerous and difficult opponent, and Alfir made a rug rat out of her.
It was true that the result of the tournament setup's finals was too out of their expectations. Because they lacked a great amount of information about Alfir, the two of them lost… But that was not really it either. If they deemed it hard enough, they could make more excuses for their loss.
However, that was not the point.
The point was… they lost. And for that, they acknowledged Alfir's strength. It didn't make sense to them why such a guy attempted suicide.
Covered in bandages from head to toe, and in deep sleep, Alfir looked pathetic.
"What do you think? Is it really just luck?" Deron warily asked Lorie. As the expert in understanding luck, she must have an answer, right?
"…"
No, she doesn't. Still, Lorie offered a conjecture of her own.
"Coincidence and luck are actually parallels. The former happens because of a series of chains of events coming together. Meanwhile, the latter only happens because of belief."
Deron showcased his 'I-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about' face. Lorie massaged her forehead annoyed that she even bothered giving her own opinion.
"Hmmm… Peasant, listen carefully. I won't repeat myself twice."
"Yes, princess!!"
"Luck is intangible and cannot be quantified. Coincidence is a different matter, it can be machinated. An example of luck is… you pick up a four-leaf clover and blessed by luck, you suddenly won the lottery. That's luck. It's superstitious, chaotic, and cannot be reasoned."
"Umu… Okay, princess… I understand. That means your Special Ability is only limited by your imagination and is not determined by a logical function."
"…"
Lorie regretted expounding her conjecture to Deron. But as a person who liked to keep appearances, she continued anyway.
"What happened to this bastard is—"
"Who's the bastard?"
"…"
Lorie pointed at Alfir lying in his bed.
"Oh, whose bastard was he? So, his father abandoned him?"
"…"
Lorie felt like smacking someone. Was he playing her a fool? Was he? Well, she could not imagine it happening. Come on!! It was Deron who we are talking about. He grew from an orphanage at a young age, and was sensitive to words related to 'orphan'… 'Bastard' kind of belonged in that category.
"Ahem," Lorie faked a cough and continued. "What happened to this basta— Alfir, is too coincidental. His fight with Miss Zia Zaratul is the only fight that I could think to be sincere. The other fights? I don't think so. It looks like we'd have to investigate ourselves. Even the finals felt like a lie, you know? Even now, I am in denial."
"You are suggesting that someone manipulated it behind the scenes." Deron frightfully asked, subconsciously reaching for his sword in his waist. But there was nothing there.
They have classes an hour later, which explained why Deron was currently unequipped. When he noticed he was trying to reach for his sword, Deron wryly smiled.
…
Lorie left earlier than Deron. She would love to interrogate the bastard who stole her luck, but that can be left for another time.
Looking around the empty backyard of the academy, Lorie cautiously made sure that there was no one around. If anyone learned what she was about to do, there would be a big scandal.
Touching the pendant on her neck, she activated her [Inventory Storage]. She summoned what can be described as a picker and a sack.
The picker looked modernized, it was the kind of thing you would use to pick trash, dead leaves, and stuff. Lorie carried her sack and started her community service, the daily trash collection!!
One might ask. What was she doing? Was she being punished by the academy? Or maybe, the princess had a strange fetish?
It might blossom into worrisome misunderstandings, but there could only be one truth. This is for her Special Ability— Luck or Fate. The name of her Special Ability is very direct.
Since her enrollment at the academy, a lot of her luck was used. Though it would recover over time, which would be for the far future, Lorie preferred to have something more immediate. That was where her knowledge of mysticism comes in— Cycle of Karma…
By doing good deeds, Lorie was able to earn some of her luck back. With this sacrifice, she hoped to return to the peak of her strength.
"E-excuse me, what are you doing?"
"Hi-hiiik~"
'Busted, I am dead-dead-dead-dead-dead---'
Lorie slowly turned around, only to grow more anxious. The person who called to her… it was JANA!!!
Lorie wanted to be the best. Whether she liked it or not, she was sharing second place with Deron. Though second place was not bad, to achieve her dreams, she can only be the best.
That's why she was now working hard at taking care of the trash and maybe gaining some of her luck back while at it...
However, all of that hard work might come crashing down on her right at this moment.
It felt terrible knowing that she was just one step away from being ruined. At that moment, Lorie had a fleeting thought of murder. Just a thought though, in her mind, she already killed Jana hundred times over.
'Whose bad luck was it that was rubbing to me that I need to face this? Huh!? Did I do the goddess of fortune some shit now that I have to suffer like this?'
...
Second Place was not so bad. Some people were not just content with it. Instead of focusing on becoming the best version of themselves, people have a tendency to desire to become the best out of everyone.
Jana didn't give this place/s or ranking much attention. In her mind, what only mattered was herself. This selfish attitude has a unique charm to it.
That means if she were to compete, that would be only against herself. Out of all people in the academy, it was unexpected that the person who enjoys the healthiest competition was Jana herself.