School Faction Riot Part One 7

My job was to grant my lady’s wishes, but if I didn’t understand what they were, I wouldn’t be able to help her. On the way back to the classroom after the tea party was finished, I decided to confirm her intentions.

 

“My lady, what are you thinking about?”

“There are individuals with strong thoughts of elitism gathering around the second prince.”

 

It was a round-about way of saying things, but she meant that the second prince was an elitist as well.

I would’ve doubted it if it weren’t my lady saying it. Or rather, in the game, she was the one with the elitist thoughts while the prince was a person who advocated against them.

 

People with those ideals were congregating together– how Lady Sophia was able to assert this in such a short period of time meant that they weren’t even trying to hide it.

It was quite unexpected for the prince to be taken in with such people.

 

Was it part of the setting that he changes his mind in these three years before the game begins, or just like my lady, has he been affected by some kind of external influence… either way, it was necessary to keep a close eye on him. 

 

“…by the way, did you understand what you were doing when you created your faction, my lady?

“Yes, I did.”

 

If the second prince really was an elitist, then their faction’s influence was far stronger than I thought. Even if we tried to avoid them, we’d be swallowed up by their power no matter how much we hated it. Knowing that, it was necessary to take immediate measures to prevent such a scenario from occurring.

However–

 

“Is there not a way to distance ourselves from both powers?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Y-you don’t want to?”

 

I didn’t think that my suggestion would be immediately rejected, so I was left dumbfounded for a moment.

 

“To avoid aligning ourselves from either powers, we’d need to establish ourselves as neutral force, while taking appropriate actions to match that stance, but doesn’t that mean I’d have distance myself from you as well, Cyril?”

“You should do that if it’s something necessary.”

“But it’s not necessary. Why would you suggest something so mean?”

“I wasn’t trying to. My lady, are you really going to put yourself in opposition to one of this country’s royals?”

 

Even if the prince was part of the elitists, Lady Sophia easily had the power to compete with him. Which is exactly why the other parties wouldn’t leave her alone. The intensification of this conflict was inevitable.

 

“I guess it would be better for a daughter of the Rosenberg house to stay away from such troubles.”

“Yes. Which is even more of a reason why you should try to establish yourself as a neutral party.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to go around picking fights. If possible, I’ll try best to keep my distance from the conflict. That’s why I didn’t make my position clear.”

“…I see.”

 

I was relieved to see that she had thought this through, but then she added, “However–”

 

“That’s only ‘if possible.’ If I were ever told that I had to forsake you as part of my duties as a noble, I would resist that fate even if I had to turn the gods themselves into my enemies.”

“…my lady. You shouldn’t make jokes like that.”

“I wasn’t.”

 

The amethyst eyes looking straight at me were clear. My lady was serious about how she’d even turn celestial beings into her adversaries rather than distance herself from me.

 

The feelings I felt at that moment were something that couldn’t be expressed into words. A passion that I couldn’t control began swelling up inside my heart.

But as a butler, and even more so as someone who wishes for my lady’s happiness, what would be the ‘right’ choice to make here? Bringing this conflict inside of me to a close, I exhaled a small sigh.

 

“Understood. My lady, if you’re willing to go that far, then I’ll withdraw the words I mentioned earlier. On top of that, I’ll also do my best to keep you from becoming hostile towards the gods.”

“Okay. I believe in you, Cyril.”

 

My lady said that she wouldn’t make it clear whether she opposed the elitists. This should buy us a little time, but there’s no doubt that both powers will try to make contact with her in the near future.

 

It wasn’t desirable to become openly hostile with the second prince’s faction. With that in mind, we should try to get in touch with commoners in secret and tell them that we’re actually on their side, all while maintaining a neutral stance on the surface. 

 

However, as long as we didn’t know where the elitists were watching, we couldn’t get in contact with them recklessly. We needed a place where this gathering could happen naturally.

 

The best I could think of was the new student welcome party.

Before the heroine even enrolls into the academy, I’ll make contact with the Lacourt Company’s Libert and make him understand that my lady is an ally that doesn’t have elitist thoughts.

 

For that goal, it was necessary to continue the new student welcome party’s setup. With my classmates’ aid, I made the resolve to push forward our work with full force.

 

 

 

The students weren’t professionals, but kids. Just as professor Tristan said, there were still many deficiencies in my classmate’s work. They couldn’t compare at all to the servants of the Rosenberg Marquis house.

 

However, they weren’t just any kids, but the most elite of their age group. They absorbed my knowledge and experience like dry sand to water.

They covered for each other’s insufficiencies until the work they put out finally met my standards.

 

Also, being a minority consisting of only a third of the class actually worked out pretty smoothly.

If it were the school festival of my previous life, it’d be better to have more hands because we did everything ourselves. However, the welcome party was a so-called social event.

This allowed me to hire contractors for assistance.

Therefore, if there were too many people in charge of each task, the individual sense of responsibility will fade. It was only because there were so few of us that we were able to work together all the more strongly.

In short, the party’s set up went amazingly well.

 

Just like that, a month passed until it was the day before the event. The site venue had reached a standard that even the Rosenberg Marquis house would accept.

 

However, we weren’t finished yet. The actual party was tomorrow. In order to prevent even the slightest deficiencies in the event, I had gathered everyone in the classroom to make one final check.

 

“–the orchestra will be staying here tonight as planned, and there’s no problems with the venue’s setup either. The preparations for tomorrow’s party are flawless.”

 

While listening to Luke’s report, I checked over the documents with my own eyes. Thanks to everyone’s cooperation, it could be said that I accomplished something that I could proudly declare to be the work of my lady’s exclusive butler.

The work my friends had done was exceptional as well. As expected of A-class students.

 

“–Okay, everything seems to be fine. Everyone, thank you so much for your hard work!”

 

The moment I said that, everyone broke out into cheers.

 

“Cyril, you did great out there!”

“Thanks for everything, Cyril. Its been really fun working with you!”

“Thanks for all of your hard work, everyone. However, we can’t relax until the event is over. Please make sure to do your jobs properly tomorrow as the venue’s security.”

“We won’t let you down!”

 

Over this past month, I’ve grown closer to them and made some friends. If I ever get tasked with setting up another party, I’m sure they’d lend me their aid. Our bonds have grown strong enough for me to think so.

If the opportunity ever presented itself, I’d like to work with them again too.

 

Come to think of it, my surroundings were just the slightest bit older than me.

My lady was also of a similar age, but she was more like someone I served. For me, these people here were probably the first friends I’ve ever made since I was born in this world.

 

“Cyril? Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

 

While a warm feeling gradually spread throughout my chest, I started to wrap up business for the day.

 

“Everyone, please make sure to get enough rest for tomorrow. Once again, thank you so much for your hard work.”

 

After dismissing my friends with words of gratitude, I started towards the party venue to check over everything one last time.

 

“Cyril, where are you going?”

 

Luke was the one that chased after me.

 

“It’s the last check. It’s not that I don’t trust everyone’s reports, but I just wanted to see the final results with my own eyes.”

“In that case, is it okay if I come too?”

 

As he asked that, Luke started walking beside me before I could reply.

It was an expected action. Over the past month, I had grown really close to him. The feeling of incongruity I felt when we first met was completely gone.

On top of that, he seems to have grown accustomed to working as my assistant.

 

“You’ve made a lot of progress in this past month.”

 

At first, Luke was unfamiliar with the work and I had to constantly watch over his progress, but by the end of things, I was actually able to leave him in command for a while.

Thanks to that, I had the free time to follow up with everyone, which quite noticeably improved the setup’s quality.

 

“It’s due to you being really good teacher. I’ve been told before that I’m not suitable for leading others, but I think I’ve gotten the knack of it now because of you. So thanks, I’m grateful for what you’ve done.”

“If anything, you all were the ones helping me.”

 

It felt a little ticklish, but apparently I seemed to be suited for instructing others. The time I’ve spent with Lady Sophia helped me find this side of myself.

In the future, it might not be so bad to become a teacher like professor Tristan.

 

As we continued our chat, we finally arrived at the party’s venue. After greeting the guards, we stepped into the site for the final check.

 

The event wasn’t limited to only those of the same grade, students from other years could come too.

Being able to accommodate hundreds of people, the site venue was no different from the Rosenberg Marquis house’s party hall that I was used to.

Looking at everything as a whole, no one would doubt it if they were told that it was set up by professionals.

 

However, it couldn’t be said that there were no deficiencies at all. As I looked over the finer details such as the furnishings and tables, Luke– who was watching me work from behind, opened his mouth.

 

“…by the way, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, anything.”

“How are you so talented at your age?”

“Even if you say that, its not like I did anything special. I just worked my hardest everyday to become someone suitable for my lady.”

“…I think you’ve gone far beyond the level that others would be willing to go though.”

 

Luke whispered that in an amazed tone behind me.

I felt a little bad, but no matter how close we got, the fact that I had the memories of my previous life was a secret. What I said was true though, I was only a student majoring in magecraft back then. I didn’t have any skills a butler would need developed at all.

The reason why I’m the way I am now was due to nothing but the effort I put in.

 

“Is it okay if I ask something this time?”

“Huh? Why’re you acting so formal?”

“The fact that you were looking into my background, was that simply because you were curious, Luke? Or is it… because someone ordered you to investigate me?”

 

I couldn’t confirm his expression with him standing behind me.

For a while now, I’ve noticed both him and Chloe making moves to pry into my identity. There wasn’t any hostility in their actions though, so I let it slide because it didn’t seem like something they wanted revealed.

 

I turned back towards him after giving him enough time to fix his facial expression. However, Luke had a bitter smile on that didn’t try to hide at all.

 

“…how long have you known for?”

“I’ve been suspicious from the beginning. Chloe knew my name even though it was our first meeting, and the explanation she gave after you were caught glaring at me felt really forced.”

 

It would’ve been a different story if they had seen the still images of me in the game, but that probably wasn’t the case.

 

This meant that they had the opportunity to confirm my appearance somewhere in advance.

So Luke at the time was observing me, but he was being explicit to the point where I was starting to grow suspicious. Chloe noticed that, and tried to mislead me into thinking that it was only because he was jealous of my grades.

This was the truth behind their farce.

 

They weren’t the only ones though, there were others making such actions as well.

Like when Fol started mentioning the ‘rumoured Sophia.’

Or when professor Tristan tested my personality when he fanned the flames in the class conflict.

With all of this, the truth was obvious. Someone was looking into me.

 

Of course, there was always the possibility that I was just overthinking things. In terms of probability, it most likely was just my imagination, but Luke and Chloe were the ones to confirm my suspicions.

 

“It’s my loss. You knew from the very beginning? Incidentally, if I confess that I was investigating you under another’s orders, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing, really.”

“…what do you mean?”

“I don’t know what your intentions are, but I’ve seen the hard work you’ve done over the past month. You’re a serious and competent helper. There’s no reason for me to distance myself from you.”

 

There was nothing strange about investigating the talented daughter of a Marquis Lady Sophia and her surroundings. Anyone serving a noble house would try to more or less get some information about her.

So I didn’t intend to do anything about it, I only asked because I’ve been wondering about it for a while now.

 

“It’s hard to believe that we’re the same age. You’re just like my mentor.”

“…your mentor?”

“There’s nothing more I can say, but they’re the one that taught me everything.”

“So that’s how it was. You were looking into me on that person’s orders?”

“I won’t apologise for what I’ve done. However, both Chloe and I, in addition to our mentor– have no hostility towards you at the moment.”

“…how honest.”

 

‘At the moment’– as in, depending on the results of their investigation, hostilities were possible. Or at the very least, they may become that way in the future.

 

But for Luke himself to confess that, he must’ve decided that there wasn’t any chance of it happening. I didn’t know who he served nor who his mentor was, but it seems like it would be better to not make an enemy of them.

 

“At first I was just going to be an observer, but now I’m actually really happy that I got to work with you.”

“I’m honoured to hear that… but what’s with this so suddenly?”

“I’ve heard some stories from the courtyard group. Apparently, they’re really envious of us.”

“…they’re envious of us?”

“Yeah. They decided to work under Raymond’s command, but it seems like they’re being pushed around by him. Then, after hearing about how our site was going, they really started lamenting their situation.”

“Oh… I see.”

 

How Raymond was doing things wasn’t necessarily wrong, but you needed a lot of charisma in order to have everyone follow you that way.

Moreover, each student had things they wanted to do. In such a situation, if you just continued to give out orders unilaterally, it was only natural for a rebound to eventually happen, this definitely wasn’t good.

 

Although it’s been confirmed that there weren’t any problems with the setup itself… from what I’ve been told, it doesn’t seem like they were very motivated while doing it. Just because their work was completed, didn’t mean we could rest assured.

During tomorrow’s event, it may be necessary to take precautions for the other group’s site.

 

“Luke, tomorrow let’s send someone who’s free to investigate the courtyard venue’s current situation.”

“Huh? Who cares about them… wait, are you being serious right now?”

“If a problem they can’t handle occurs, we’ll move to support them.”

“Hey, are you really going to send salt to our enemies?”

“…our enemies? No, not at all.”

 

I started to laugh at Luke’s misconception.

Professor Tristan was the one goaded on the confrontation, and when he divided the group, he said:

 

‘The head of the class is Cyril.’

 

The head, or representative of the class was the person responsible for the setup.

It was the job of the person in charge to take responsibility when something happens. With that in mind, as the class representative, the scope of my duties covered the entire class. 

The group that set up the courtyard were also members of the class. They were never enemies from the beginning.

I was currently in a position to follow up for them when they had problems.

 

Tomorrow, if I left the courtyard group to the wolves and lost myself in victory, professor Tristan would undoubtedly say:

‘You have neglected your responsibilities as the class representative.’

 

It was a similar problem to how I had to prove myself as Lady Sophia’s exclusive butler. As this class’ representative, I couldn’t make such mistakes. I was the one who was supposed to cover for them, not the teacher.

That’s why I then talked to Luke about the preventive measures we would put in place for tomorrow.

 

 

 

–The next day, the welcome party for the new students was held as scheduled. The recent admissions that had just entered the junior high section were chatting happily as they listened to the orchestra’s performance.

Both the teachers and the students seemed to be having pleasant reactions to the venue.

 

Of course, various large and small problems did occur, but thanks to the discussion on countermeasures we had in advance, everyone was able to calmly respond to them.

 

Shortly after that, I heard that a dispute had broken out in the courtyard venue. Apparently, some trouble had been stirred up after some nobles had appeared there.

 

“Luke, can you take some people over to assist them?”

“Okay, leave it to me!”

 

Raymond would definitely hate it if I went to help him. As I thought that, I delegated this duty to Luke with the reasoning that the person in charge of this area shouldn’t abandon it. As he was now, I knew I could safely leave this to him with peace of mind.

 

After finishing up that business, I then received news that Lady Sophia was asking for me, so I left my position to Chloe and visited the venue.

 

“You called for me, my lady?”

“Cyril, I’m sorry for disturbing you when you’re so busy. Is this okay?”

“Of course it is.”

 

As long as I was her exclusive butler, her needs would always be my top priority.

After seeing my reaction, my lady then turned to look back at the venue. More specifically, at the dance hall. To the orchestra’s music, the students were currently dancing with each other in a waltz.

 

“…is there something you need from the dance hall?”

“Umm, you see. That’s…”

 

I could guess what my lady wanted, but I wasn’t a participant in this party. I was a manager, and that’s in addition to my status as a servant. As expected, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to dance with her. 

While knowing that the young lady of the Rosenberg family couldn’t be the one to initiate an invitation to dance, I pretended that I wasn’t able to understand her intentions.

 

However, there was a chance that my lady would fall into darkness if I handled this poorly. As I thought that, a boy suddenly approached her and asked, “My apologies for interrupting your conversation, but are you Lady Sophia?”

 

I was familiar with that calculative look and chestnut brown hair. He was the leader of the commoner faction that opposed the elitists as well as one of the heroine’s capture targets, Libert.

 

So he’s the one that was going to make the first move?

Ideally, I would’ve been the one to initiate contact, but this was still within expectations. I didn’t panic and whispered to my lady that he was the son of the Lacourt Company’s president.

 

“Oh my, are you Libert? I believe this is the first time we’ve met.”

“For you to remember the name of one someone like me is an honour. This might be an impulsive request, but may I have this dance with you?”

 

To his words, tension suddenly built up within the surroundings.

Currently, this school was caught up in conflict between the elitists and the common people. My lady had created a faction as well, but still hasn’t clarified where they stood over this past month.

If she agreed to dance with the son of a commoner, the balance of power will be greatly disrupted.

 

From Libert’s perspective, this would become circumstantial evidence that proved they were publicly allies.

I did want to show that we were friendly, but careless contact like this could agitate the elitists.

 

It couldn’t be helped, but I needed to inform him that we were on his side so we could resolve this situation without causing a commotion.

–the moment I thought that.

 

“I finally found you!”

 

The cheerful voice of a girl suddenly resounded out.

Immediately after I turned towards the voice’s direction, I felt my entire body freeze up. Standing there adorned in a pale dress was a bluish-black haired young lady. It was the one person who definitely shouldn’t be here right now, the heroine.

 

“–Cyril, please dance with me!”

 

But before I could even ask myself why she was here, she suddenly invited me out to dance.

I couldn’t understand this.

 

At that moment, the daughter of a Viscount house had requested a dance from a mere butler. Just like when Lady Sophia was asked for one by a commoner, the surroundings were suddenly filled with tension.

I wish she was more aware of the influence her words had considering her status.

 

“…are you going to dance with her, Cyril?”

 

Lady Sophia whispered that.

…or rather, the lights from her eyes had disappeared and they were starting to turn red.

She’s falling into darkness, she’s falling into darkness!

 

No! Calm down, things are still okay, this is fixable!

I was a butler, as well as the person who ran this event. Of course it was impossible for me to dance with the participants. Things would naturally resolve themselves from there if I could just say that.

 

“My apologies but–”

 

I opened my mouth to speak, but had lost my words at the sight of who was drawing near. On reflex, I inadvertently swallowed my saliva.

They came from the other side of Alicia.

With the crowd that had suddenly split in half, I was currently witnessing the sight of the second prince and his two followers heading through that gap to approach us.

He rushed over with a bouncing gait and the innocent smile that captured many of the game’s players plastered on his face.

 

“Sophia, please dance with me!”

 

After which he then presented his right hand towards my lady.

You’ve got to be kidding me! I understand that she’s cute enough to lift anyone’s spirits, but if you really are one of this country’s princes, then read the air a little! Don’t think you’ll be allowed to innocently laugh this off just because you’re a twelve year old kid!

 

No… don’t get upset. I’m Cyril. As the exclusive butler serving Lady Sophia, I can get through this situation easily… I will survive this, definitely… I swear it!

---

Written by Scarlet Rain (緋色の雨)

Translated by KuroInfinity at slothtranslationsblog.com

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