My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Gai’s outfit was admittedly ornate. But for a gathering with nobility, it was fitting enough. Gai covered his body with both arms and spoke.
“I mean, it’s the only one. If I take this off, what am I supposed to wear?”
“Put on my clothes.”
“Exchange this rough sacking for my outfit? No, let go of me!”
The young men dragged Gai away bodily. A short cry rang out.
The outfit was ready. But looking well-dressed alone wasn’t enough. I needed something that would catch attention. As I chose my shoes, I spoke to Jenia.
“Jenia. Fetch the wooden box from the drawer in my room.”
“Yes, Master!”
Jenia bounded up the stairs like lightning and returned carrying the box. It was an old wooden box.
Inside were property deeds, documents to land, and other valuables. Jenia rummaged through it and withdrew a commendation.
“Master, what is this?”
“A commendation. The kingdom grants them when you accomplish something worthy.”
“There are so many, and they’re beautiful. Our Domus was more impressive than I thought.”
At the sight, I laughed silently. Now it was all past glory. Though one day I would reclaim it.
Wearing the commendation would certainly draw notice, but I had something better. I withdrew a thin badge the size of my palm. When Bella saw the badge gleaming with white light, she spoke.
“A White Jade Badge. Issued by the Management Bureau.”
“Yes. Balanus received it long ago.”
“It would be difficult to pass off as White Jade Rank with this. The name’s been erased.”
When credentials were revoked, the name engraved on the badge vanished as well. The Management Bureau was thorough about such matters.
It was a largely meaningless object now. Though it still had its uses. I tucked the White Jade Badge into my breast pocket.
“It still has a purpose, though.”
“Where would you use it?”
“For the performance.”
Life sometimes demands bluff and theater. An aristocratic gathering, for instance.
A gathering in name only—it was really a kind of market. A place to identify promising organizations at bargain prices.
With the White Jade Badge in hand and the finest shoes on my feet, I felt as though I had climbed a single step higher.
Attending the gathering meant climbing the stairs, and climbing them again.
At the end of thousands of steps lay the place I yearned for. Our home, where we would all belong together.
* * *
Candles burned in such abundance that the ballroom blazed with light, yet this brightness meant there were no shadows—nowhere to hide.
Between the scents of champagne and wine crept the smell of sweat and tension. Though many people were present, none danced.
I surveyed the surroundings. Everyone wore formal dress, yet it was immediately obvious who was nobility and who was not.
One person’s fingers gripping a champagne glass were too thick at the knuckles; scars marked the corners of their eyes; their fingernails were worn and dulled. Especially their gaze—everyone wore the same look.
All were people accustomed to fighting. I likely wore that same expression. By comparison, the nobles had merely beautiful faces.
The aristocrats conversed with those wearing gold or platinum badges.
The badge on my collar was silver. Rank alone would be insufficient to draw the nobles’ attention. To make an impression on them…….
“Genevieve, don’t!”
“Aaaaah!”
When I turned around, something entirely out of place appeared in the ballroom.
A black panther with a lustrous coat. A genuine black panther. The panther had the arm of a fallen man clamped in its jaws.
In an instant, the ballroom filled with bloodlust. As the leaders’ eyes changed, the panther too bared its wariness.
Despite threats from all sides, the beast held the man’s arm in its teeth. Just as someone began to incant a spell, a plaintive cry rang out.
“Don’t cast at our Genevieve! They’re just playing!”
The person who rushed forward before the panther was a young woman in an elaborate dress. Jewels of various sizes adorned the accessories draped across her body.
That’s playing?
The bitten man’s left chest bore a gold badge. A man who would be treated as a leader elsewhere laughed with difficulty.
“Yes! Just playing! It only tickles, haha……!”
He looked moments away from being torn apart, but given what the man himself said, others hesitated. Meanwhile, one of the aristocrats approached the woman.
“Morban Princess. You’ve brought Genevieve along today as well?”
“I couldn’t help it. Since I raised her from infancy, she follows no one but me.”
The Morban Princess.
In this kingdom, few had not heard the name of the Morban Duke. Among the rare ducal houses, theirs was particularly renowned.
Hearing the name Morban, a face began to take dim shape in my memory.
The princess wore an expression as innocent as childhood. The problem was that she maintained it even while someone was being mauled.
“Genevieve, let that go and play with this instead.”
At her words, the panther released the man. But it gave not a glance to the doll the princess offered.
It was looking at me.
The moment its pupils contracted sharply, the beast sprang. In a single bound, the distance narrowed in an instant.
―Shriek!
I stepped back and snatched the tablecloth in the same motion. The champagne glasses atop it trembled briefly.
The white cloth billowed and covered the black leopard’s head. The moment its vision vanished, the beast froze.
―Grrrr?
The dangerous predator was no longer a threat. It merely flailed its massive paws, trying to drag the cloth away.
I could have subdued it, but if the leopard were injured, that would be problematic. After all, it belonged to the Morban Princess.
“Genevieve! Honestly, you’re such a troublemaker.”
The Princess rushed over, stripped away the tablecloth, and fastened a leash around the leopard’s neck. It sat obediently, as if it had never misbehaved at all.
She looked at me. Her face was innocent, unmarked by hostility or suspicion. Yet her eyes were different—the eyes of someone taking measure of another.
“You’re the first person to calm Genevieve like that.”
The words were brief, but the air around us shifted subtly. I felt the weight of surrounding gazes.
“Without hurting her, either. Some people act recklessly around her, you see.”
The Princess looked me up and down.
“Which organization are you with?”
“I am Dein, the Leader of Balanus Domus.”
“Oh! A Domus? I hear it’s difficult for Domus to achieve high Ranks.”
That was the truth. In the Guild, members could be dismissed or recruited based on their abilities.
Domus was different. Regardless of who belonged to it or what strength they possessed, they remained together.
Which meant that around Silver Rank, Domus rarely stood out. The Princess’s eyes began to gleam more brightly.
“How old are you? You are an adult, aren’t you?”
“I am twenty years old.”
“A leader at such a young age—how fascinating! Is it because you’re the strongest among them?”
Because I was stronger than my disciples, because I taught them, was I the leader? I let a brief silence settle before I spoke.
“I am someone who can never leave.”
A bird may abandon its nest, but the tree remains alone. A person who, even if their body is severed, can endure as a stump. That is what the Leader of Balanus must be.
The Princess tilted her head, then laughed brightly.
“How poetic! I like you more and more. Would you come to the Hunt Festival with me?”
At the Princess’s invitation, all eyes turned toward us at once. The nobles’ gazes gleamed with interest; the leaders’ with caution.
The Hunt Festival was a hunting spectacle held by the nobility. If one made an impression, they might earn a noble’s patronage.
But I had something more important than patronage. Information about when Aspenheim was invaded.
A high-ranking noble was concealing the truth. To uncover it, I needed a way to infiltrate noble society. The Hunt Festival would serve as an excellent bridge.
Just then, a man hurried over—the Gold Rank Guild master who had been bitten by the leopard moments before.
“Your Highness, weren’t you going to bring us to the Hunt Festival?”
“But Dein looks stronger, and younger, and considerably more handsome.”
The leopard-bitten man gripped his bleeding arm as he stared at me. His eyes held no warmth.
“His movements are nimble, but his true strength is unclear. And Balanus is dangerous, besides.”
“Why?”
“The invasion of Aspenheim—that was because of Balanus.”
The Princess’s eyes widened. This label, it seemed, would follow us forever.
“Moreover, wouldn’t those of us at Gold Rank be more reliable?”
“Hmm, higher Rank is certainly preferable. The strength is more assured.”
It was a feeble slight. As the man finished speaking, I stepped forward quietly.
“Are you concerned about my strength, Your Highness?”
The Princess nodded.
“A little. I’ve never actually seen you fight.”
“Then I shall prove it.”
I drew a badge from my coat. A White Jade Badge. The leopard-bitten man stiffened, but soon spoke calmly.
“Isn’t that an artifact from the past? Even if Balanus held White Jade Rank in those days, that doesn’t mean you possess such strength now.”
He knew more about us than his age would suggest. I studied his face carefully before I spoke.
“Yes. It is merely a relic of the past.”
Those around us watched the object in my hand with fascination. The timing was perfect for a performance. I turned to the leopard-bitten man.
“Can you destroy white jade?”
“Destroy white jade?”
His voice was skeptical. And rightly so—white jade, black jade, and spirit jade were all gemstones far harder than steel.
I retrieved a decorative sword hanging on the ballroom wall. It was little more than a blunt iron rod. That was enough.
Even without an edge, it was a sword. I was a swordsman of Balanus, and a wielder of Black Mana.
Black light gathered at the blade’s tip. I flicked the White Jade Badge with my finger, sending it spinning into the air.
In that instant, it seemed as though all sound around us ceased—the clink of glasses, the low laughter of someone nearby.
―Slash!
A sharp metallic sound rang out twice. Two halves of the White Jade Badge fell rolling across the floor.
Still, not a word escaped the onlookers. Yet the air had unmistakably shifted. Shock, fascination, wariness—all swirled in the silence.
I turned my gaze away from the relics of a severed past. Before me stood the black panther man and the princess, their eyes wide with wonder.
The princess’s face glowed with delight. I smiled toward her.
“If that’s not enough, what shall I cut next?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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