Chapter 39 – “A Strong Alliance”
She must be panicking now that there’s going to be a real combat trial, right? After all, real battle is different. In combat, what matters is talent, bloodline—no amount of pretending to be the perfect student is going to help her.
All that good-girl act in front of the teachers? Meaningless in a fight.
Once the combat trial starts, first-years from every track, the faculty, even upperclassmen will come watch. Under the gaze of the whole academy, she’ll make a complete fool of herself and become a disgrace, an object of ridicule.
She’ll be the laughingstock of the entire school, mocked and looked down upon far and wide.
Isn’t that way better than childish tricks like tacks and graffiti? It’ll show everyone what a Wild Divine Princess really is.
I sneered coldly as I looked at Teresa sitting in the front row, listening intently like always.
I had no idea what her Domain or Divine Authority were, but I was sure of one thing—they couldn’t possibly be strong.
In fact, I was still overestimating her. Not only had Teresa yet to awaken, she couldn’t even release a Domain properly.
After the female advisor finished speaking and class was dismissed, the students began filing out. The young Divine Princesses were all brimming with confidence, talking loudly with their companions about their ambitions and how they’d dominate their opponents in glorious combat.
These greenhorns had barely seen hardship. Their cocky, floaty attitude was clear just from their words—they had no reverence, no sense of the grind ahead.
Teresa walked at the end of the group. She’d always been isolated. In this class, she had no friends, no shared language, no one she could really talk to.
And that was just fine with her—she liked peace and quiet. But it also meant she’d been ostracized, subjected to the class’s silent cruelty.
No one liked the “other,” the illegitimate. Add the ugly scar on her face to that—aside from her dazzling platinum hair and snow-fair skin, there wasn’t much about her that drew attention.
Listening to the snippets of conversation up ahead, Teresa found herself agreeing with Carlis.
These rough stones would be honed one way or another. The ones too soft would shatter, the ones hard enough would lose their edges. Survival of the fittest was the rule everywhere. Only, for Divine Princesses, the selection process was even stricter.
But instead of caring how many of those stones would survive polishing, Teresa was more focused on what she was supposed to do.
The Freshman Divine Princess Trial was more of a friendly match than a ranking battle—meant to complete individual combat data, not to determine placements.
Still, it was real combat. You’d be assigned an opponent to fight against—and Teresa couldn’t escape that.
That orc she’d taken down before? Just a low-level demon beast. And even then, she’d only barely managed, relying on multiple Alchemy Potions.
Actually, that wasn’t even accurate—she barely lifted a finger. Technically speaking, the orc offed itself. She just finished the job.
If the orc hadn’t been such an idiot—if it had even slightly more intelligence than the average orc—then chances were the beastman tribe would have gained a golden elf they could use however they wanted.
That would’ve been a fate worse than death. Not just years, but generations of torment. Even if she managed to outlast every orc in the tribe, they had sons, grandsons, great-grandsons...
An endless line. Who knew how long she’d be kept “in service”?
By the time the tribe was finally wiped out and she was rescued, she’d probably be broken beyond repair.
The thought made her tighten the winged headset on her head again.
Better to keep her Elf identity hidden—not just to avoid the Elf Empress’s obsessive scrutiny, but also because the Gold Elves had long since disappeared. If anyone found out, it’d stir up a lot of unwanted trouble. And Coleman Academy? Founded by Elves.
Plus, on a more personal note... Teresa really didn’t have a good opinion of Elves.
She couldn’t stand their arrogance.
So then—what should she do now?
Slowing her pace, Teresa opened the Golden Chalice Gacha and checked the remaining countdown for her Divine Awakening.
Ten days.
The Freshman Trial will start tomorrow. No way she’d make it in time.
She started brainstorming alternatives, and soon came up with a decent idea.
“Let’s stall it out,” Teresa muttered with certainty.
There was no other option. She couldn’t just scream “My fate is my own!” and magically explode into power, right?
Counting on her Divine Awakening was a gamble, and without it, there was no hope.
Looking at her own small limbs, she figured it was only a matter of time before something unpleasant happened.
***
“That tramp getting humiliated in front of everyone will be a sight to see. It’s just a shame I won’t be the one to serve it to her,” I muttered on my way back to the dorms after parting ways with my followers.
“Why not?”
“Hmm?” I turned and saw a handsome man in refined clothing standing to the side, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.
Slightly pointed ears…
I recognized him.
“You’re... Professor Frand?”
I adjusted my tone respectfully. I knew this particular instructor held considerable influence at the Academy.
“That’s me.” Frand walked toward me, hands behind his back, his smile deepening. “You’re Irene, right? Irene Cardifen?”
“It’s an honor you remember my name, sir.”
“Haha, no need for flattery. That’s not why I came to find you.”
“You were... looking for me?” I blinked, puzzled. We’d only met once in passing—what could this half-elf professor want with me?
“That’s right. Just now, didn’t you say something about it being a shame you couldn’t be the other lead in that little drama?”
“Please, Professor, it was nothing important... just idle talk.”
“No need to hide it from me. You’ve got a first-year classmate named Teresa, right?”
“...That’s correct.”
“You’ve had some friction with her. Want to use this opportunity to teach that disrespectful Wild Divine Princess a lesson?”
“You’re... very well-informed.”
“Of course. Nothing in this Academy escapes my eyes,” Frand said with a chuckle.
“You really want to take her down in the trial, don’t you?”
“I do.” No point in pretending—we both knew exactly what this was.
“Excellent. I’m giving you that chance.” Frand’s smile turned sharp.
“You mean…?”
“Yes. I’ll quietly arrange for you two to be matched.”
“As for payment... give that Wild Divine Princess a proper beating. Crush her baseless confidence. Sounds good?”