Chapter 26: Do You Care About Him That Much?

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Do You Care About Him That Much?

"Are you talking about Victor?"

Lilia and Caius walked side by side along the main path of Lien Academy.

"Yeah." Lilia nodded. "It seems he took the day off today."

"Do you think I did something to him?" Caius asked.

Lilia looked at him. She didn’t say it aloud, but her meaning was perfectly clear. She thought, "Well, didn’t you?"

After all, his reaction last night had been so extreme that Lilia thought he would euthanize Victor the moment he got the chance.

"It wasn’t me," Caius denied without hesitation. "A commoner isn’t worth me lifting a finger."

True enough.

This guy looked down on absolutely everyone. In his eyes, anyone other than himself was simply trash. She had no idea how he had developed such a personality. However, looking down on people didn’t mean he actively looked for trouble. For instance, when it came to Griffin, Caius would only issue a warning if the guy pranced right up to Lilia’s face. Usually, Caius acted as if Griffin didn’t even exist.

If it wasn’t Caius... then who could it be?

While Lilia was lost in thought, someone suddenly grabbed her wrist. Caius pulled her toward him, helping her dodge a pedestrian walking in their direction.

Snapping back to reality, Lilia asked, "What has Griffin been busy with lately?"

"I don’t know." Caius kept his grip on her wrist and refused to let go.

"Do you think Griffin did it?" she pressed.

"...Do you care about him that much?" Caius squeezed her wrist a little harder.

"Isn’t it perfectly normal to care about a classmate?" Lilia’s tone was entirely matter-of-fact.

She felt her guess was highly plausible. Griffin was the most stereotypical Noble imaginable.

Because of their pampered upbringing, the Noble students at Lien Academy were all arrogant to varying degrees, always maintaining an air of superiority when facing commoners. Perhaps once they matured, they would realize the value of commoners and treat them with basic courtesy, but teenagers simply didn’t have that kind of perspective.

Among them, the better-tempered ones like Caius would treat the people they disliked as thin air. The slightly more malicious ones—such as Griffin Freg—would actively ostracize and even bully those who didn’t fit in. In their eyes, simply sharing a classroom with a commoner was utterly unbearable, let alone the fact that Victor’s talent surpassed theirs. It would be more surprising if he wasn’t targeted.

At this thought, Lilia flipped her hand over and grabbed Caius’s hand in return.

Caius glanced down at her. His expression remained unchanged, but his heart beat a fraction faster.

"Help me warn Griffin," Lilia said.

"For that commoner?"

"It’s also for your reputation," Lilia said glibly. "Hasn’t Earl Sir always told you to expand your network? Victor is a genius with an A+ talent rating. Isn’t a potential asset like him worth investing in? You should strongly support him before he fully matures, so you can bring him under your wing in the future."

"A genius is only a genius if they manage to grow up," Caius replied lightly. "If he dies halfway due to some accident, wouldn’t I lose everything?"

"Investing always involves risks." Lilia couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. "If you don’t want to help, forget it. I’ll find another way."

Lilia tried to leave after speaking, but Caius pulled her back.

"Who else are you planning to find?" Caius stared at her profile, his eyes turning gloomy. "Besides me, no one can help you."

"Is that so?" Lilia had always been rebellious to the bone.

If this guy’s Favorability was high enough, she might have let it slide, but he was threatening her with a single-digit—or possibly even negative—Favorability? She was no pushover.

Lilia looked back at him. "Worst comes to worst, I’ll just go directly to Griffin. I think he would listen to me."

"..." Caius gritted his teeth, but he had to admit that her judgment was absolutely correct. If she actually went to Griffin... Caius felt he would probably go insane with anger.

"...I understand." He suppressed his emotions. "I will negotiate with him."

Lilia was finally satisfied. That was more like it.

"Remember to be quick," she urged.

The current gap in power between Victor and Griffin was simply too massive; the latter could easily crush Victor like a bug. Although the probability of a murder occurring inside the academy was low, who could truly guess what was going through Griffin’s mind? It was better to resolve this kind of matter early to avoid any unforeseen complications.

"Alright," Caius agreed in a low voice.

In a secluded corner of the academy.

The teenager was kicked to the ground, his back slamming against the wall with a dull THUD.

As severe pain washed over him, Victor felt his mind go entirely blank. Before he could even react, another flurry of kicks and punches rained down upon him.

"You’re just a lowly commoner, yet you dare to fight back?" Griffin didn’t participate personally; instead, he stood to the side, sneering down from his high horse. "Try resisting again, let’s see what happens. Where is your Magic? Where is your talent?

"How come the famous commoner genius looks like a complete cripple right now?"

Victor remained silent.

This was not the first time he had been beaten. At first, Griffin had merely hired thugs to ambush him outside the academy. Over the past two days, however—whether out of growing resentment or some other reason—Griffin and his lackeys had started getting their own hands dirty.

Students were not like the street punks outside who had nothing to lose. The moment Victor realized that the lowest-ranking person before him was the descendant of a Viscount, he wisely gave up resisting. If it escalated into a full-blown brawl and the teachers got involved, instigators like Griffin would, at most, be forced to write a letter of apology. As for himself—the sinner who had caused them to lose face in public—he might just quietly end up dead in some sewer in the West District one day.

He thought self-deprecatingly that these people were just venting their emotions anyway. They didn’t even know where to hit him to cause the most pain. They would eventually stop once they got bored.

Sure enough.

Perhaps they were tired from the beating, or maybe they found his lack of reaction boring. Griffin waved his hand, and his lackeys immediately stepped back.

"Get lost, trash."

These words were directed at Victor.

Victor gritted his teeth. Under their mocking gazes, he used the wall for support, stood up, and limped away.

Griffin smirked sarcastically. The moment he and his lackeys turned around, they spotted a familiar figure—Caius.

He seemed to have been waiting there for a long time, yet he hadn’t made a single move to interrupt their actions.

"It’s rare to see you so patient," Griffin said with a laugh. "Do you need something?"

"Others know that you’re targeting the commoner," Caius said.

"You came all the way to find me just to say that?" Griffin looked surprised, as if it were his first time meeting the guy. Then, he added indifferently, "So what if they know? Don’t tell me someone is actually going to stand up for that lowly commoner?"

Offend the son of an Earl over a powerless, penniless commoner? Whoever did that would have to be sick in the head.

With an apathetic expression, Caius added, "The person who knows about this is Lilia."