The Vermont family has a unique characteristic. It is a trait that has been passed down through generations, almost like a hereditary disease.
Specifically, an overwhelming killing intent exudes from them when they feel intense anger.
Normally, killing intent is something that appears only when mana is imbued with emotions, but for the Vermonts, it automatically emanates from their bodies.
It doesn’t matter if they try to hold it in or let it fester inside.
Whether they want it or not, just feeling anger automatically releases the killing intent.
Because of this, members of the Vermont family often did not fit in socially and were frequently ostracized.
However, Aslan was an exception in this regard.
The reason was that Aslan would get irritable even before he could feel anger.
Like a frightened Chihuahua, he would throw tantrums over the slightest annoyance, leaving no room for anger to build up.
Thus, Aslan was an unusual presence in many ways.
He was always angry, but no one was afraid of him. They just regarded him as a bad-tempered dog.
Aslan may have garnered a lot of resentment, but he never instilled fear.
Because he was such a frivolous person, someone who had never truly experienced anger, Sylvia witnessed something for the first time today—Aslan Vermont exuding killing intent.
“Mister, Mister!”
“…?”
“Keep a lookout for me!”
“Lookout?”
There were already signs from here.
The signs were already evident. Charlotte and Julia, running briskly to the bakery, divided their roles skillfully.
Julia kept an eye on the surroundings and signaled Charlotte, who quickly grabbed the bread.
The two children returned triumphantly, like lionesses who had successfully hunted.
What greeted them was the subtle killing intent emanating from Aslan.
“Here! Eat!”
“…”
“Huh?”
Although it was much weaker and lower in intensity compared to the explosive killing intent Irene would display, it was undoubtedly killing intent.
Sylvia’s body froze, seeing a side of Aslan she had never seen before, no matter how much he usually got annoyed and irritable.
If it surprised Sylvia this much, how terrified must the children be?
Even if they didn’t know it was killing intent, they could still feel it.
The children’s laughter instantly disappeared, and their limbs began to tremble.
It seemed as if they were desperately trying to figure out what they had done wrong.
“Do you understand what you did wrong?”
“Giving you only one piece of bread…?”
“…”
Charlotte, mustering courage, handed over two pieces of bread.
At that moment, the killing intent dissipated in an instant.
His anger… subsided?
Aslan chuckled.
Although the killing intent was gone, his chilling smile left all three of them feeling uneasy.
“You little rascals. Stealing, even though you’re under me? This is an insult to me and a disgrace to the Vermont name.”
“Oh! We didn’t know… we’re sorry…”
“S-Sorry…”
The two children immediately bowed their heads in apology.
They had never shown such courteous behavior before.
Perhaps, despite lacking other forms of education, they had become adept at apologizing through frequent practice.
Aslan, watching them, sighed deeply.
Bending slightly, he met the children’s eyes.
Charlotte and Julia flinched, startled by Aslan’s reddish eyes.
Despite seeing them countless times over the past few days, they still weren’t used to them.
“So. Why is stealing wrong?”
“For… for your honor, Sir Aslan…”
“Because it damages your dignity…”
“I was short-sighted. I misled you completely. My dignity is my concern, and what you should care about is your own dignity.”
The two children tilted their heads in confusion.
Suppressing a smile that threatened to escape at the sight, Aslan forced a stern expression.
“I don’t particularly care whether you steal or not, as long as it doesn’t bring trouble to me. But from now on, think carefully. Does stealing not damage your own souls and dignity? How do you feel? Is stealing a shameful act?”
“…Yes.”
“Why is it shameful?”
“Um… I don’t know…”
“That’s the perfect answer. Even without knowing, it’s normal to feel ashamed. That means you are still noble beings. Whether you continue to live in shame or choose not to feel shame is up to you, and I won’t interfere. Now, what are you thinking?”
“We should go apologize… to the bakery owner…”
The two children, murmuring with genuine shame, hung their heads.
Only after confirming that their gazes were not on him, Aslan allowed himself a slight smile.
A plain, not unpleasant smile?
Sylvia was startled.
Could he even smile like that?
Instead, she felt disconcerted.
“Alright. Go ahead.”
“Yes!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Use this money to make up for it.”
With a ping, Charlotte and Julia caught the silver coin Aslan had flicked to them and ran off toward the bakery.
Though it was hard to hear what they were saying, it was clear they were bowing deeply and speaking loudly.
The bakery owner initially flew into a rage.
However, when Aslan cleared his throat loudly, the owner glanced over and was startled into a quick change of demeanor.
One silver coin was an overly generous compensation for two loaves of bread.
The amount was more than enough to amicably resolve the situation.
Soon, Charlotte and Julia returned, their steps lighter as if a burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
“We apologized…”
“When we said we were sorry and promised not to do it again, he forgave us!”
Faces that look much more refreshed and voices full of energy.
Aslan, seemingly indifferent, turned and continued walking.
Charlotte quickly caught up to him, grabbing his sleeve.
“They said we can keep the bread since we compensated for it. We didn’t steal it this time. Would you please… eat it?”
Charlotte’s voice trembled slightly as she carefully offered the bread.
Sylvia couldn’t see Aslan’s expression as he had pulled his hat down, obscuring his face.
“It’s delicious. I’m full.”
Aslan said, taking a big bite of the bread before handing it back to Charlotte.
The children, each holding a large piece of bread in their hands, followed closely behind him, nibbling away.
When did it start?
At some point, the children, who had been eager to walk ahead, had settled into walking on either side of Aslan.
“This is delicious! It tastes better than the bread made by the mansion’s baker!”
“Julia, is it that delicious? Let me try a bite.”
“It’s the same bread as yours…”
“Young master.”
“…?”
Sylvia called out amidst the children’s playful banter.
“What did you mean by what you said earlier? I thought the Vermont family taught that the end justifies the means, even if it involves committing crimes…”
“Are they Vermonts? No.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I have nothing more to say.”
“And I figured I’d raise them according to my tastes. I might like bad women, but I don’t have a thing for cheap women.”
“…”
With that ambiguous statement, Aslan returned to the children, leaving Sylvia momentarily frozen in place and trembling.
“What the maids said was true…!”
The maids had gossiped that Aslan was raising the children with great care to eventually take them as partners…
Initially, Sylvia had dismissed it as idle talk born of boredom.
But as time went on, the pieces seemed to fit together, sending chills down her spine.
***
Imperial Magic Academy Dormitory Café.
With each heavy step, the shoulders of the female students visibly shrank in fear.
It was an instinctive reaction.
“Eek!”
“The mad dog is coming!”
“Everyone, run away!”
The pride of their noble upbringing, ingrained over the years, had vanished.
Instead, only animalistic instinct remained.
The female students hastily abandoned their seats, not caring if they dropped their teacups or overturned tables in their rush to flee.
“Ahhh!”
“I’m sorry! We have to survive!”
Even when one tripped over a chair, the others mercilessly left her behind.
The lone girl on the floor clutched her swollen ankle, whimpering in pain, when a long shadow fell over her, and she trembled.
“Do noble girls leave without cleaning up?”
The person who appeared at the cafe was none other than Yuri Brussels.
The youngest among first-year students.
The only commoner.
And the only special admission student.
He was an exception to the rules, the one and only.
“P-please don’t hit me! I don’t have any money!”
“Do I look like a thug who extorts money?”
Looking down at the crying girl covering her head, Yuri laughed helplessly.
The female students are busy running away whenever they see him.
The reason for this farcical situation was the chaos that had erupted yesterday. The female students, following the academy’s tradition, had been extorting seating fees from the newcomers wherever they went, be it the café or the library.
Yuri, outraged by this, had taken action.
He seized the extorted money by force and tracked down the victims to return it.
When word of this spread, senior male students came seeking revenge.
Yuri engaged them in combat, and despite being outnumbered, he emerged without a scratch, while several seniors ended up hospitalized.
Witnessing this, the students began calling him the “Mad Dog”.
‘The real mad dog is someone else.’
He didn’t particularly like the nickname.
They hadn’t seen Julia throw a fit from lack of sleep.
If they had, they wouldn’t be calling him the mad dog.
Yuri smiled and helped the girl to her feet.
“Ahh! Please! Don’t hit me, mad dog!”
“You don’t even know my name. It’s Yuri. Yuri Brussels. Call me that from now on.”
“Ah, okay. Yuri…”
“Your ankle is pretty swollen. You need some ice on that. I’ll carry you. Is that alright?”
“Aahhh!”
Flash.
Yuri held the girl in his arms as if holding a piece of paper.
The girl’s cheeks turned red as he lightly carried her without breaking a sweat.
Now that she looked at him, she thought he was a bit pretty for a commoner, maybe even handsome?
“…What is all this commotion?”
“Ah! Headmaster! Just the person I was looking for!”
“Eek!”
Seeing the headmaster, Yuri’s face lit up.
He promptly dropped the girl onto the floor and ran to the headmaster.
“It’s getting harder to cover for you. A brawl, and now you’ve trashed the café…”
“That wasn’t a brawl; they ganged up on me. The café was already a mess when I got here. I’m innocent.”
“Your flippant tone remains unchanged. The students are lodging numerous complaints about you. Why not try to get along with them?”
“I can only get along with people who are worth it. But, more importantly!”
“…?”
Yuri opened his hand wide, as if expecting something.
When the headmaster didn’t respond, Yuri’s face fell into a disappointed expression.
“Still no reply from my sponsor?”
“I haven’t received any letters to deliver.”
“Are my letters even getting through? How is it possible there’s no reply? I’ve asked so many questions. Should I take this to mean they’re ignoring me?”
“I’m not sure…”
Seeing Yuri’s anxious look, the headmaster started to sweat.
He’d heard that Yuri’s friends were being held hostage by the Vermont family.
…If Yuri discovered the truth, what would happen?
‘What a dangerous tightrope Aslan Vermont is making me walk. Damn him.’
Would only Aslan Vermont face retaliation?
Or would he also suffer the consequences of hiding the truth?
The headmaster deeply regretted allowing this uncontrollable “mad dog” into the academy.
