Chapter 61

### Chapter 61: Lotto's Reasonable Doubt The students, who had been through the not-so-abusive abuse of Professor Plato, were still pale even after taking a rest that included a lunch break for three hours. Some had not fully recovered their strength, while others were terrified of the upcoming lecture. "How tough can the principal's lecture be?" "Considering he's the one who gathered these terrible professors, it must be the toughest." "Didn’t Oknodie attend his lecture during the second period?" "...I'm convinced. That child must be a half-orc. Otherwise, that level of stamina is inexplicable." "It might sound like race discrimination...but honestly, with that amount of stamina, being called an orc seems justified." "Right? Lotto, what do you think?" "Huh?! Um, I'm not sure……." Lotto, who had casually responded to friends she hadn't spoken to in a while, internalized a string of curses upon seeing a friend's regretful expression directed at her. It was a mistake to speak to her as they used to just because she happened to be nearby. If they were going to regret it, they shouldn't have spoken to her in the first place. If they were going to talk, at least they should manage their expressions properly. After the confrontation with Oknodie, she acutely felt as if she had been cast into the abyss. "Let's go. Haha." "Ah, somehow I like the look of those seats over there, right?" The girls moved to another seat amidst awkward conversation. Although they had moved a bit away and lowered their voices, if one paid attention, they could still hear the student who had spoken to her being scolded at an audible level. "Idiot. Lotto isn't part of our circle anymore." "Why did you talk to her?" "Sorry. Somehow the situation felt like the old times." "What if we get lumped in with her?" "Exactly. Princess Masugaki sees Lotto as someone who has disgraced the honor of the imperial nobility, and Oknodie doesn’t have good feelings towards her either. We shouldn't get too close to Lotto." "I know, alright…" If only she hadn't fought with Oknodie. While regretting, the group dubbed as Oknodie's gang sat down together in one corner of the lecture hall. Lotto, aspiring to join the Knight Academy, had a few lectures overlapping with Soh, who she had seen coming and going, and while not as impressive as Oknodie, Soh was remarkable in his own right. Mana cultivation. Mana refinement. A barbaric savage who overcame everything easily with his innate robust bones, foolish strength, and tough stamina, without the two arcane techniques to increase mana quantity and improve physical constitution. It was enough to make one envious of someone so strong who didn’t need training or discipline if they were robust. "Look over there. It's the top of Group B." "How can he wear the same uniform as us and look so stylish?" "One side is chosen by a god as a hero, and the other by one of the twelve deities as a saintess. When you're loved by a deity, the level of charm is different from ordinary people like us." Compared to unknown gems like Oknodie or Soh, she was nothing more than a person who had advanced a bit faster in mana accumulation and constitution improvement through private tutoring, revealing all her shortcomings. Lotto, whose skills and status were mediocre, wasn’t outrightly despised but ended up in an awkward position without colleagues to share even a word of affection. Ostracized from Group B, yet her pride prevented her from attaching to Group A, exposing her to potentially harsher hostilities. She was a lonely figure. That loneliness was heartbreaking. Unwilling to listen to the taunting of old friends from Group B, she was forced to lend an ear to the conversations of Group A students, leading a lonely existence without belonging anywhere. -I've arrived! "Screaaam!" "Uwaaa!" "It's really the principal!" As if a demon had appeared, the students made a ruckus, but then, a huge dragon head materialized on the lectern. The dragon's fiery breath warmed the air, causing the students' uniforms and skirts to flap wildly. -This lecture's title is 'The Principal's Teaching'. I will show you the bitter side of the academy. The principal's large mouth formed a sinister twist. -Begin forming groups of five. This assignment will measure group performance through a group project! Lotto was on the verge of tears. How could she form groups in her first lecture? What about someone like me, an outcast? Does being an outcast mean not participating in academics? "Principal, what happens to groups that don't have enough members to make five?" The principal answered. -They’ll receive a deduction. "!!" Students exchanged desperate looks. Lotto wanted to cry even more. Having received support from her family to attend the world's top Gift Academy, only to return to her family with deductions followed by failure in just a few months. What would her parents think of her? How contemptuously would her sisters look at her? Noble houses around her would mock her for being a failure, and those still in the academy would tell tales of her failure due to being an outcast. As for her family? "We'll find you a husband." Or "Marry this man. Otherwise, spend your life in a convent." Such outcomes seemed inevitable. Her career as a fighter would end before it even started, and a political marriage to salvage 'the value of a noblewoman' seemed like an unavoidable fate. Either marrying a brute from a powerful family or a depraved man with multiple wives but a hideous look and a bulging waist, who looked at her with lecherous eyes, yet she wished to believe he was kind-hearted. A tragic future. A severed career. A future waiting only to live as someone's wife, a mother of a child, without freedom. The downfall of a devalued noblewoman played out in her mind like a tragic opera. She didn't want to become someone's wife, mother, or a nun. Absolutely not. She couldn't face such an outcome. "Hey! Do, do you want to form a group together…?" Though she had spoken with conviction, Lotto quickly shrank back, and her former friends exchanged glances before shaking their heads. "Sorry. We just wanted to try syncing up with people we're close to. You understand, right?" As expected, they cut her off. With a sociable smile, everyone seemed to speak with their eyes, telling her: Don't cling to us. Don't talk to me. Do you want to be embarrassed? Fury surged within her at the sight of those who had egged her on into a fight now cowardly turning their backs on her. "Princess Masugaki! You know we only have you, right?" "Ha~ Since you like me so much, I suppose I can't help but join you for a bit~?" Princess Masugaki’s faction of the Second Princess. "Hero. Your abilities are far less than the rumors suggest. Would you like to join forces with us?" "Sure." The top hero of Group B’s faction. "Shall the heirs of distinguished families join forces to overcome this group assignment crisis?" "I refuse. Why would I join hands with a fledgling from the Chicken House?" "Treating someone from the same meritorious noble families with respect only to have them not know their place. Watch out, Potato Pizza House fledgling, your group will be the first we eliminate if a team battle arises!" Two of the Three Great Meritorious Noble Houses of the Holy Central Empire. The Chicken House faction and the Pizza House faction. In the midst of fierce competition, Lotto turned her gaze away. If all of Group B had abandoned her, then it wasn't the time to be lingering around Group B. To simply wait around and become an outcast, forcing her to return home where Lotto's personal life and freedom would end, would be the ultimate disgrace. If necessary, she must endure joining forces even with commoners! "You, you guys! If you wish, this Lotto, who is proficient in combat, could become your ally." She assumed the local nobles from Group A would be dazzled by the offer from a central noble like herself. Especially Lady Arcadia, the head of the Group A female students, who was known to be interested in the culture of other countries. If she, an imperial noble, joined them, they would surely welcome her with open arms. "Huh? Do you have no shame? There’s no way we’d accept someone who insulted our dear Di." Her surefire plan crumbled instantly. It wasn’t only Arcadia, the spiritual pillar of Group A’s female students, who was hostile towards her. Andersen, the spiritual pillar of Group A’s male students, also spoke with an annoying face. "Oknodie is a student our Seo Academy values highly. Did you think anyone in Group A would join hands with someone who made an enemy of her?" "Why the hell are you deciding everything on your own? Is everyone in Group A your underling?" "Jigoku. You again? How about showing some cooperativeness for once?" "Eh? Want me to shoot?" "...I was foolish to expect cooperation from a pirate." Lotto, who thought she wouldn’t find a single ally and would be eliminated, found at least one person willing to be her teammate. Not a woman but a man, not from Group B but A, and not exactly normal but slightly quirky and trigger-happy, but still, having a team member was fortunate, wasn’t it? "...I’ll join too." "Hestia! I, I was harsh to you before. And yet, you’re willing to be a team member?" "I'm not doing this because I like you. It's just that I didn’t have any other team to go to…" Lotto was shocked by Hestia’s words and looked around. Sure enough. Most of the 44 students in the advanced class had already formed groups of five. Even the mysterious Group C, shunned by both Group A and B, had all five of their members together. "Oh, what's this? Are we the leftover group? Then who's the last one?" To Jigoku's intrigued question, an unexpected individual tugged at her sleeve. "Me!" "Eh? Oknodie?" One of the most popular candidates for team members had become one of the four outcasts. -The formation of groups is now complete. -Those four who did not manage to form a full team will be deducted 400 points as a penalty! -And as a consolation, 500 points will be awarded! "???" "Yippee!" Oknodie, seemingly knowing it would turn out this way, smiled. Looking at her face, Lotto recalled. Even during the sparring match, this girl had enough influence to intentionally cause a blackout in the academy’s training ground. ‘Did she already know she'd get extra points?’ Otherwise, why would she mix her usual companions with a forest keeper kid and a guy who follows him around, only to end up in the outcast group herself? A reasonable doubt crossed her mind.