Love Letter From The Future

Chapter 301: Interlude: Between a Lover and a Pet (7)

From the start, my opponents showed no intention of fighting back.

As soon as I appeared, a few screamed and fled, while others hesitated before quietly kneeling.

That was their way of surrendering.

I considered chasing down those who fled but quickly dismissed the idea.

After all, only one of them had directly harmed Senior Elsie.

There was no need to go after the rest.

Although, it would’ve been a different story if they tried to come at me.

Thanks to that, for the first time in a long while, I was able to resolve the issue peacefully.

It was a moment that reminded me of my old nickname.

What a splendid title that was.

In the end, sincerity will always be recognized someday.

Just look at how everyone, recognizing my love for peace, has quietly settled down.

Now, the time had finally come to say goodbye to the bloodshed and violence that had plagued my academy life.

Before I knew it, a content smile had spread across my face.

Of course, that didn’t mean that everyone had let go of their hostility.

Take the girl who seemed to be the leader of the gang, for example.

She was glaring at me, biting her lip as faint groans slipped through her teeth. The wound I inflicted on her seemed quite deep.

When our eyes met, I couldn’t help but to stop and think for a moment.

She looked familiar, as if I had seen her somewhere before.

After rubbing my chin for a while, I soon recalled her name.

“…Senior Ludmilla?”

Despite the academy being so vast, it was also a small world.

Even though it was impossible to know every student’s face, after spending years together there were certain people you couldn’t help but recognize.

These were the so-called ‘celebrities’ of the academy.

People like Senior Delphine, Senior Elsie, Celine, and Seria all fell into this category. So did Yuren, the Saintess, Senior Neris, and even the Princess.

Living at the academy, it was impossible not to know their names.

That was because rumours spread so fast at the academy.

Even Celine was well-known as one of the two flowers of the second-year Knight division, wasn’t she?

Similarly, you’d also come to know those who were a bit too infamous to be called ‘celebrities.’ Senior Ludmilla was one such person.

I remembered that she had once been a notorious figure within the academy, even if she toned it down at some point.

Though not quite to the extent of Senior Elsie, she was still someone to be feared during our junior years.

And yet here she was now, trembling in front of me.

Time really did have a way of changing things.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter inside.

I wondered what difference there really was between Senior Ludmilla, who once used her power to dominate others, and myself.

In the end, I was merely lucky enough to have become a bit stronger.

Thinking about it that way, I felt a twinge of regret, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

A calm voice escaped my lips.

“So, what’s this about?”

“W-Well… I-I mean…”

Senior Ludmilla had been so bold when she brought up the ‘Disciplinary Committee.’

Yet, when I questioned her again, she seemed to shrink back.

Her pupils trembled as she kept glancing at me, unable to hide the fear in her eyes.

My calm and composed demeanour might have made her even more terrified.

After all, confidence begets persuasion.

I genuinely didn’t care if Senior Ludmilla reported me. There was no need to pretend otherwise—it was an undeniable fact.

Now, it was Senior Ludmilla who had something to worry about.

What on the earth could I possibly be relying on?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Whatever I was relying on, it was clearly beyond her understanding.

Or perhaps she even feared that I might kill her on the spot.

With her fear and doubt piling up, her bravado must have faltered.

If she had a stronger resolve, things might have turned out differently.

But she was nothing more than a typical opportunist, strong against the weak and weak against the strong. She never had the courage to stand up to an overwhelming force.

In the end, Senior Ludmilla resorted to excuses.

“…Th-That’s right! I-I just wanted to get an apology!”

My eyes subtly shifted to Senior Elsie.

Senior Elsie avoided my gaze, fidgeting nervously.

Is she ashamed of being overpowered by Senior Ludmilla, or is she simply not ready to face me yet?

Either way, it was Senior Ludmilla who was leading the conversation.

As Senior Elsie kept quiet, Senior Ludmilla spoke with even more fervour.

She revealed a hideous scar on her arm as she rolled up her sleeve.

“I-I was a victim of this bitch in the past! It was school violence… So I just wanted to get an apology, especially since I heard she’s been going around apologising these days, wasn’t she?”

Hmmm, a quiet hum escaped my lips.

In that case, there wasn’t much reason for me to intervene.

Cornering and threatening Senior Elsie was wrong, but the level of violence needed to leave such a scar was on another level.

No matter how much I cared for Senior Elsie, it was hard to justify her actions.

“I acted in self-defence! It was this bitch who tried to assault me when I was just asking for an apology…!”

“Senior Elsie.”

I softly called out her name.

Senior Elsie’s body flinched as she lowered her gaze.

To be honest, it was hard to believe everything Senior Ludmilla claimed.

Up until now, the people Senior Elsie had unilaterally assaulted were mostly commoners or low-ranking nobles.

So the idea that she had recklessly messed with a high-ranking noble like Senior Ludmilla seemed suspicious, to say the least.

That’s why I asked such a straightforward question.

“Is that true?”

She silently scratched at the ground with the tip of her shoe.

It was a habit of hers whenever she was uncertain or struggling to find what words to say.

I patiently waited for Senior Elsie to respond.

But it was Senior Ludmilla who began to panic.

She raised her voice in a burst of sudden emotion.

“Of course it’s true…!”

“…And if it isn’t?”

That is, if Senior Elsie hadn’t cautiously asked her question first.

I quietly watched Senior Elsie.

She still wouldn’t meet my eyes, speaking in a timid voice as she repeated her question.

“And if it isn’t, then what are you going to do?”

It wasn’t like Senior Elsie to look so timid.

For days, she had been going around, apologising to her past victims and enduring all sorts of humiliation.

It must have been the first time she experienced her self-esteem hitting rock bottom.

It must have been agonising.

And yet, the victims hadn’t necessarily forgiven her. After all, such a small gesture couldn’t possibly make up for the suffering they’d gone through.

So, it wasn’t surprising that her usual confident demeanour had faltered.

Hearing the subtle unease in her voice, I quietly shifted my gaze to Senior Ludmilla.

She shouted desperately.

“C-Can you really trust what she says…? I’ve got a scar right here…”

“Yes.”

And with that, I delivered a sharp kick to Senior Ludmilla’s abdomen.

Senior Ludmilla collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as her trembling hands clutched her chest.

Before she could even look at me in disbelief,

I calmly stepped on her hand that was pressed against the ground.

“Gah, ugh… Aaaaaargh!”

As her screams filled the air, I casually made my point.

“I trust her.”

Senior Elsie had never lied to me, not even once.

Especially when the conflicting testimony was coming from a gangster, there was nothing more to consider.

I decided to side with Senior Elsie.

Just as I had promised her before.

***In the end, it wasn’t long before Senior Ludmilla confessed the truth about that day.

To summarise, here’s what happened.

The gangs led by Senior Elsie and Senior Ludmilla clashed frequently in the past.

It was nothing more than your typical power struggle.

Unlike Senior Elsie, Senior Ludmilla had a habit of keeping her victims under her thumb.

She treated them like convenient lackeys she could summon at will.

Senior Elsie couldn’t stand the way Senior Ludmilla tried to act like a queen without knowing her place, so she frequently picked fights with her.

Her usual approach involved driving away the victims Ludmilla had recruited by threatening them.

If Ludmilla tried to confront the victims about this, Senior Elsie would step in.

As a result of that, a full-blown war erupted one day.

As a result, Senior Ludmilla suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Senior Elsie, who left what she referred to as a ‘glorious scar’ on Senior Ludmilla’s arm.

In other words, that’s how it went.

“…So it was just a turf war between gangsters?”

“N-Not exactly…”

Senior Elsie, feeling awkward, blushed and averted her gaze.

I decided to let Ludmilla and her gang leave in peace.

The assault wasn’t that serious, and tormenting someone who wasn’t unnecessarily resisting wasn’t my style.

As long as they left Senior Elsie alone from now on, I wouldn’t have a reason to see them again.

In fact, I felt a bit grateful to Senior Ludmilla.

She’d given me a chance to be alone with Senior Elsie, even if things were still a bit awkward between us.

I wrapped a bandage around Senior Elsie’s shoulder.

It was over her clothes, but it would suffice to temporarily stabilise the fractured area.

While I was deep in thought, a wry smile crossed my face,

“So why didn’t you fight back? It’s not like they were innocent. Stopping them would’ve prevented any more victims., so it could have ended well.”

At my question, Senior Elsie hesitated.

But soon enough, with a voice full of uncertainty, she finally spoke.

“B-because you don’t like it, Master…”

My hands, which had been wrapping the bandage, stopped.

Then, I looked at Senior Elsie’s face.

Her earlobes, flushed with redness, stood out even more.

“Master, you don’t like it, right…? When I beat people.”

“…So that’s why you’ve been going around apologising?”

A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily.

The words I said absentmindedly had eventually pushed Senior Elsie to this point.

In truth, it was a problem that needed to be resolved sooner or later anyways.

Because Senior Elsie had no choice but to atone for her sins herself.

If she didn’t address it now, her victims would be left carrying their scars forever, without even receiving an apology.

That’s why I needed to sincerely clarify Senior Elsie’s mistake.

“Senior Elsie, did you really apologise because you genuinely felt sorry?”

There was no response from Senior Elsie.

I almost wished that she’d lie, but ever since she heard me say ‘I trust her’, it seemed she had developed a sense of obligation.

She couldn’t bring herself to lie to me, not even a little.

All she did was shudder and avoid my gaze.

Huuuu, I let out another deep sigh, this one heavy with frustration.

“Senior Elsie, that’s not a real apology. It’s just self-consolation. You’re just apologising to make yourself feel better… While the victims trembled just at the sight of you, how could you even think of going without a genuine intention to apologise?”

That too, was just another form of violence.

At least, that’s how I saw it.

But despite my reprimand, Senior Elsie remained silent for a long time.

Her body just trembled, as a single tear fell from her eye.

All the humiliation and scorn she had endured up to this point seemed to be for nothing, falling with the tear.

“T-Then what am I supposed to do…?”

Her voice sounded unusually weak.

It was clear she was trying to hold back her sobs.