By letting this happen, I was essentially notifying my family that my position at school was still poor.
Since the school uniforms were custom-made by the family, any damage to the uniform would inevitably be reported back home.
If it were Luca, he wouldn't explain why the clothes were damaged. Naturally, I wouldn't either. There's no need to unnecessarily involve the family.
'...Of course, if they have any sense, they'll figure out why my clothes are damaged.'
Even so, there's no need to worry about the family's honor.
It's a misconception to think that the family would go berserk at the notion of someone harassing a member of the Ascanien family.
I'm not practically part of the family, and everyone knows that.
'The family's reputation has only improved thanks to 'consistently caring for a demon-possessed child – although there's no progress – providing food, clothing, and a good education.''
In other words, the entire empire considers Luca and Ascanien separately.
Even those who fiercely bite and criticize Luca would bow their heads if they met a 'real' Ascanien.
Therefore, there's no need to worry about the family stepping in; I only need to consider whether my brother will hear about this.
If he finds out, my brother...
'He'll be grinning ear to ear.'
Should I make him happy for a while?
I threw off my jacket.
"Wow, you threw it on the ground for us to step on?"
Thud—!
Someone stomped hard on the jacket. Dust flew up from the boisterous kicks.
"Hahaha!"
"Hey, make sure you do it properly."
Other students laughed and cheered.
'...Sigh...'
I felt a strange sense of unease. Watching them genuinely rejoice in kicking someone else's clothes made me question where I was.
More importantly... the certainty that the family wouldn't intervene unless this incident spread widely was something only Luca, who grew up in that house, could have.
While people might look down on Luca, separating him from Ascanien, physical trouble is a different matter altogether.
The reason Luca hasn't been openly harassed is that as long as he bears the family name, the family can apply 'nominal' punishment or pressure.
'In other words, these guys...'
They can't see even one step ahead.
It's surprising that these thoughtless idiots haven't hit Luca before now.
"No, but look at this guy. He's not even reacting."
Feeling confident from the cheers, one of them stepped up and grabbed me by the collar.
"Isn't it enough that you did what we asked? Now you expect a reaction too?"
"...What..."
For a moment, the guy holding my collar looked confused.
No matter how he looked, this wasn't the Luca they knew.
Last year, if I had been called out here, I would have been so pale and terrified that I seemed ready to pass out.
'...I thought he was just pretending to be tough.'
Can someone keep up the act even in this situation?
Once someone grabbed my collar, I expected him to drop the facade and reveal his cowardly nature.
The guy's grip tightened around my shirt.
I widened my eyes and leaned in close.
"Would seeing me cry make you feel like you've won?"
"You bastard..."
"Then you'll never win."
My taunt made the guy's eyes narrow.
His hand moved to his wand at his waist.
Boom—!
"Ugh!"
"Hey, wasn't the plan to be quiet?"
I was thrown against a wall by his attack.
The surrounding students, not expecting magic to be used, shouted in panic.
"It's fine, we're far enough away that no one will hear."
The guy spat on the ground and stood before me.
The pain in my shoulder was quickly followed by a headache.
I clutched my head and glared at him.
'They don't know when to stop.'
The fact that they're worried about the noise spreading shows the others aren't sane either.
Should I just use magic? With my divine power, I can silence them, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
'No.'
That's a last resort.
I slowly got my bearings and stood up.
The guy, thinking he had me cornered with his previous attack, regained his initial composure and smiled.
"Look at those eyes. Don't you know what happened on your side a few days ago? You should take after Leo and that blue-eyed hunter. No, take after me first, you bastard."
I tilted my head, unable to believe my ears.
Unfortunately, he didn't repeat himself.
'Damn... what did I just hear...'
The surrounding students, oblivious to my reaction, laughed.
"This guy is just spouting nonsense."
"Haha, if he takes after you, his eyes will rot."
The guy chuckled at his friends' comments and pushed them aside.
"I'm talking here. Hey, you should start acting like Leo and try to rehabilitate. We've all noticed."
"Noticed what."
"That you want to be like Leo or someone like that."
'Hmm?'
Publicly, there's no connection between Leo and me. It's a stupid conclusion based entirely on subjective judgment without a single solid basis.
"He probably didn't want me to outrank him."
If I, who have already surpassed them in terms of family status, got my act together and lived properly, there would certainly be a chance for a shift in rank, even if I couldn't use magic.
In the end, all this happened to somehow prevent me from fitting into the 'normal' category.
"While you're struggling to act normal, Leo was out there with other mages fighting demons. If you want to be normal, you should at least do that, right?"
"Hey, come to think of it, it doesn't make sense that Leo and this guy attend the same school."
"Of course, this bastard can't even use magic."
Laughter echoed in my ears.
I bowed my head and clenched my fists. My nails dug into my palms.
'I hadn't thought of this.'
I have no idea how to emulate myself. At this moment, I missed my long hair that I had cut off. I couldn't control my expression, furrowing my brows as I sighed.
"…While I'm messing around with things that don't suit me, he's contributing to society, is that it?"
A student raised their eyebrows sympathetically at that and then burst into laughter.
"You got it. Know your place. We pity you. Of course, you want to be like Leo, but you can never match him. So, just…."
I waved my hand dismissively in annoyance.
"Yeah, you're saying I should just live like before. Maybe you're right. I might not have the same abilities as Leo."
"It's not that you might not; you just don't."
"Well, true. But…."
I smiled and nodded.
"But that doesn't mean I'll go back to the way I was. Especially after hearing this from you guys, I definitely can't."
"…Really?"
The student put on a threatening face and stepped closer.
"You don't get it, do you?"
"Hey, calm down. This place echoes well, so don't make too much noise."
"Ah, forget it. I'm going to end this now."
He had another student fetch the bag he had put down far away.
"If you want to change that much, we can't help it. Live diligently. Instead… let us help you with one thing."
"No, I don't think your help will be necessary."
At my words, a student standing behind sighed as he looked up at the sky.
"This bastard is seriously annoying to the end…."
"Enough. As you know, Lucas, your source of magic is blood, right?"
"You believe that?"
"You were using magic in the first week. Since then, you've just been standing around like an idiot again…. Do you know how much that pained us? Now you can't use magic like other Pleroma because you don't drink blood."
"That's a lot of meddling."
"No, it's not meddling; it's concern as classmates."
"I don't need it. No matter what you do, I can't use magic."
I shook my head to finish the conversation appropriately.
At that moment, three students standing around him grabbed my arms. I lost my balance in an instant.
"…!"
"No need? That's funny. How would you know if you haven't even tried?"
In this unexpected situation, I bit my lip.
'Should I knock them down with magic?'
Actually, there's a way, so using magic wouldn't be a big problem. Should I just use it and shut them up?
No. It's better not to use magic unless absolutely necessary.
But….
'It depends on what they do.'
If it's just a moderate beating, I should wait. Anything more than that, I'm not sure.
Then, he pulled something out of his bag with a grin.
"What do you mean by not being able to use magic no matter what? We'll make sure you can. We're just helping you in our way. If all you can do is pathetic magic, that's your destiny."
He laughed as he spouted nonsense, holding a soft lump in his hand.
I frowned and examined the lump.
"What is this…."
The moment I identified it, I was speechless.
A creature, hard to tell if it was a rat or a rabbit, dangled lifelessly in his hand.
"You recognize it now."
I looked at the creature with puzzlement.
Why? They didn't bring this for me to observe an unidentified animal, right?
At that moment, an absurd hypothesis flashed through my mind. I shifted my gaze slowly from the rat to him.
The student met my gaze and, with a vile grin, thrust the limp rat in my face.
I could hear the snickers of those holding my limbs, but they soon faded from my consciousness.
"Eat it."
"...."
"We caught it for you kindly. There happened to be a rat running around the dormitory hallway."
They're insane. How can they think of making a person do this?
Judging by the looks of it, the creature wasn't contaminated. It seemed they had just caught a perfectly healthy animal.
It looked clean but remained motionless. No matter how I looked at it, the rat didn't intend to move.
"It's not dead."
He shrugged nonchalantly and lifted the corners of his mouth.
"You have to kill it. Like you did last year."
"…Last year? That's ridiculous. Have you forgotten that's just a rumor you spread?"
"It's true anyway. Change your eye color before you say that."
The claim that absorbing someone else's magic turns your magic color red is just Pleroma nonsense. I glared coldly at them.
The student now shoved the rat right in front of my nose.
"I'm really concerned about you. A person must know their limits. That way, they don't have unnecessary expectations. Those who give up first and accept reality are the wisest, don't you know that?"
"Stop it already."
"Why should I?"
He quickly grabbed my jaw. His weight was added to the arms holding me.
"What, are you scared that we'll find out you really can't use magic? Don't worry too much. Eating it alive might make a difference. Who knows? Maybe you'll suddenly be good at magic."
"That would be fun."
"Mmmp…!"
'Are they crazy?'
These bastards really intend to make me eat this. My heart began to race like crazy. In my struggle, a student pressed down on my legs. Meanwhile, the animal's warmth touched the skin around my mouth.
"We're helping you use magic? Let's just verify that rumor first."
A malicious smile hung at the corner of the student's mouth.
At that moment, a red flash, like a spotlight, burst out.
Boom!
"Argh!"
"What the…?!"
The student clutched his dirt-smeared face and screamed. The sudden flash left an afterimage, making my vision unclear. The students holding my arms groaned as they rolled on the ground, hit by the magic.
I broke free and panted, trying to steady my shaky vision.
"…I don't know who the real Pleroma scum are. Who's calling who…."
"What's going on?!"
"So this is how you help me use magic? It's certainly effective…."
I chuckled, grabbing a handful of stones and dirt rolling on the ground.
Then I grabbed the student holding the rat by the collar.
"Raise your head. You'd better open your mouth before I pry it open."
"What, what…."
The student stammered, looking back and forth between my face and the dirt in my hand. He didn't understand why I was holding dirt in this situation.
The student hastily glanced at his friends around. Following his gaze, I looked around, then pressed down on his jaw as if to crush it.
"Don't hold back. We need to leave here as humans today."