I´m the strongest Cheat Lord in the whole world!

Chapter 12 ─ Academy Ruler

"So they've been interrogating you for days now?"

"Yes. They're very irritable."

"Even today I had to get up early just because Rose told me I had to."

It has been a few days since Rei delivered various documents to Sigurd, which contained secret and detailed information about the corrupt people in the Kingdom and some Calvinists.

Of course, the palace got wind of it and Rei has had to go several times to answer the knights' interrogation.

Which of course, in trying to intimidate Rei or wanting to go over his head, ended up with some fractures.

Rose lectured him and even threatened to deny him affection whenever he wants it.

Just like a dog, Rose tamed Rei with what he likes the most.

After leaving the palace a few minutes ago, he headed to the academy for lunch.

At a free table he sat down to eat in peace, but after a while, Oliver and Isaac arrived to sit down without permission.

In Oliver's case I get it, it seems that muscle brained idiots consider brute force as a sign of friendship.

Even Rei has kicked him a few times, but Oliver always pops up saying something like "Nice punch" or "You certainly have a great talent as a warrior".

I'd feel bad for this guy if he wasn't an airhead.

Speaking of airheads, it seems that Isaac after seeing the spell Rei activated the other day, asked him something unreasonable.

"Please show me those spells!"

He was amazed by the spells Rei used, in fact, Rei taught them to him since he wanted to show off, he was the only one who took Rei's skills seriously.

The other students saw the crazy things Rei did, and took them as falsehoods.

I don't know if it's because they're idiots or simply because they refuse to believe they saw a guy fly.

In either case, I would take both options as true.

"You won't have any trouble with this in the future. I mean, did I hear from my father from a letter that the prime minister is upset? Since according to the document you delivered, the black king was in cahoots with him."

"Even I wonder, how did you know that?"

Isaac's question as a curiosity was valid, but the answer was simpler.

He's not going to tell Rei that he was told by god!

Even when he told Rose about me years ago, she didn't believe it!

The worst thing is that since that time Rose maybe thinks Rei is someone "special" and that's bad!

So, no one will know this.

Rei answered him what I told him to say.

"My cheating abilities are beyond human comprehension."

"Uh... right."

No matter that it was a vague answer, it's the best answer since after seeing Rei's powers, your head would only hurt if you tried to understand it.

"More importantly Rei, is it true that you frequent an almost daily tea party with Princess Elicia?"

"I've heard that too, is it true?"

*Chew*

"Yes. The princess is very cute, plus she seems to like the stories Kuro─ my grandfather used to tell me as a child."

Oliver and Isaac seemed a bit worried about that.

It was Isaac who said the most obvious thing to Rei.

"The princess doesn't have a fiancé, but Rei, she's still part of the royal family. You can't run around with her just because you feel like it."

"Even her brother, His Highness Prince Sigurd is someone who keeps an eye on her."

*Chew*

"About that... we already agreed that she stays out of it. I'm simply waiting for the opportunity to take the bull by the horns."

"Huh, bull? What's a bull?"

"... No idea."

It's like Rei says, very soon, the time to move will come, just wait.

◇

Again today he was called to answer about the documents, this time it was at the academy as the interrogation room was trashed by him when a knight tried to threaten him.

He walked down the long corridor in no mood as we were two hours answering "No" at every turn.

As he turned a corner, we found something odd.

"Huh?"

A crab.

"What the hell?"

The crab was in human form... I'd like to say it was a real crab, but it was definitely human.

A person was walking like a crab as it had a large basket of dirty clothes on its back.

Rei's face and anyone else's would undoubtedly be that of someone wondering "What the hell am I looking at?"

Then, the human-shaped crab spoke.

"S-Sorry."

"It spoke!"

Rei said in surprise.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, but could you help me take this off if it's no bother?"

"... How did you end up like this?"

"S-Some girls lured me here because I didn't buy them exactly what they wanted and they said it was my punishment..."

What the hell?

In this academy there are bullies too?

Rei walked over and with a pull, pulled out the laundry basket, which had dirty clothes in it. For that reason, this person couldn't take it off.

Just as I imagined. The voice belonged to a girl, from her tie I understood that she was a first year like us.

She slowly stood up shaking and placed her hands on her back.

"M-My back hurts... I was in there for over half an hour... I think I'm okay now..."

(No, no, no. What the hell happened for you to end up there?!)

We were observing her appearance, her jacket was too big that it covered her hands, her hair was dark brown in a bob-like style, which reached her shoulders, the most interesting detail on her face was that her bangs totally covered her eyes.

It reminded me of those genre-specific anime where a boy with similar hair came out.

The girl spoke.

"Th-Thank you very much... bye..."

Staggering a little, the girl left.

"What the hell was that?"

 ◇

"Another boring day waiting for 'it' to happen."

"What's 'it' you're talking about?"

Again Oliver and Isaac came to eat at Rei's table.

The only difference was that this time Alfred and Sigurd were with us.

It was the prince asking questions.

Rei would answer him after finishing a snack.

"Nothing important. Rather, when will the palace accept my engagement to your sister?"

"... That is for the king, my father, to decide, not me."

"I have a question, Duke."

Alfred felt intrigued about something and asked Rei.

"Tell me."

"If you had all that information about corrupt and Calvinists for years, why didn't you give it to your father to give to the palace?"

"......"

"I simply wanted to do it my way."

"Why that brief pause?"

"There was no such pause."

"This isn't it!"

We were all enjoying lunch, but that calm was destroyed by a scream.

In the distance, we watched as a girl with gathered braids emptied a yellowish-colored drink over the head of the same girl we saw yesterday.

After finishing pouring the contents over her head, she threw the can as if by accident, hitting her in the face.

The girl fell to the ground.

"I told you I wanted a can of orange soda."

"B-But it's orange, my lady."

"Are you an idiot!!! It's diet flavor I want, you brought me regular flavor!"

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll get another one!"

"No I don't want it anymore, I came up with something better!"

The girl stood up and placed her foot on the table."

"Lick it. Because of your mistake, my shoe got dirty so you must clean it!"

Everyone in the dining room stared, then Rei said"

"Hey, prince, why don't you do something?"

Sigurd was looking away when the girl ordered the poor girl with the fringe on her face to clean her shoe.

Sigurd, with all the embarrassment on his face responded after raising his hand to Alfred who looked like he was going to respond.

" +She is Finne, a second year student and belongs to Bartolt Household."

"Bartolt Household? Who are those?"

"You don't really know them?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot to ask if I knew them?"

"... My fault for asking that."

"You see, Bartolt Household is a family of frontier barons which is feared by our enemies as they are always looking for a fight."

"Is that bad? Are you afraid of them because of that?"

"It's not that... they, they are a family of criminals."

The expression on his face showed how nasty he was.

"That family has hundreds of relatives, despite being from a family of barons, their military power rivals that of a duchy."

"What did you say!"

"Several years ago the palace tried to stop their expansion, which has gradually taken over territories of smaller nobles, but they somehow, with bribes perhaps, have managed to prevent any intervention on our part."

"In the academy there are several of that family's relatives, and the royal family does not wish to seek litigation with them since they have several legal businesses that are in the capital."

"I see, you guys are miserable cowards."

"...!"

At Rei's comment, Sigurd's expression showed how strong that comment was.

Alfred came to his defense.

"You don't understand how dangerous that family is to the palace!"

"No. You are just cowards, you are afraid of them. That's why I said Elicia didn't need a coward like you who won't act."

"A princess needs a real man, so watch, you useless prince."

Rei got up from the table and went straight to them.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?"

The girl named Finne, looked at Rei with a sneer on her face.

On the other hand, Rei himself...

"Rose told me that hitting a woman is wrong, but I will prove that a man should not use violence on a woman, as it would only prove him to be a coward."

"That's why..."

He raised his hand and then what had to happen happened.

"I'll make sure you don't screw up again."

"Beetle Rain."

Using a teleportation cheat, Rei lured a bunch of forest beetles into the duchy.

The beetles landed on the girls.

"Kyah! My hair!"

"I have a phobia of insects!"

"How gross is this, it bit my cheek!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Rei started laughing at those girls after pointing at them, grabbed the harassed girl's hand and then they proceeded to walk out of the dining hall leaving everyone with their mouths hanging open.

◇

Rei brought the girl outside the dining room.

He used a spell called "Quick Clean" which removes any dirt that touches your body or clothes.

The reason he created this cheating ability is because Rei once "accidentally" smudged Rose's face when she was polishing his shoes.

Rose got angry as her hair was sticky and punished Rei.

"You're clean now tell me, what happened in there?"

"W-Why are you helping me, we don't even know each other?"

"Much less your name."

"I'm Rei. Reidel Redblade, the new duke of the duchy."

The girl made a surprised expression which was intriguing.

"Rei? Just in case, do they call you young master Reidel?"

"Many call me that, there's nothing special about it."

"N-No. I mean yes, does a short, chubby man call you that?"

Rei showed interest in that question, he answered in the same way as his face showed how intrigued he was about that description.

"Are you talking about Harold, do you know him?"

"Y-Yes!"

"He's my father. I'm Zoey, Zoey Bluegarden. My father has told me a lot about you since, thanks to the business you've done together, the company has grown a lot to the point where it's one of the largest nationally."

"Oh, I didn't know that. I mean Harold had a daughter."

(Rei, he did tell you he had a daughter...)

The girl began to show her respects in a funny way.

"I-I thank you deeply for what you have done for us! I-I thank you in my heart of hearts for turning a small company into one of the biggest in the country!"

"Enough, tell me why those bitches were bothering you."

"B-bitches? Ah, you're talking about Finne-sama and the others?"

"Don't treat them politely, call them bitches because they are."

"W-Well, my father didn't have to tell you or maybe he did, the thing is I'm adopted."

"My background is commoner, my father one day traveled to my village which was poor to sell us things we needed."

"I was using some wind magic to move leaves, he saw that and was surprised."

"He talked to my parents, and after giving them a large sum of money, he adopted me."

"Is adoption really like that?"

"I-I heard it's different since it involves the palace."

"But my father is a noble without territory, and here in the capital or fiefdoms, a noble without territory, even depending on the rank they hold, is insignificant to nobles with territory."

"Instead of going to the class for nobles, I'm in the class for the scholarship class. Since the first day those girls have been bothering me with different things."

"I can't refuse to disobey them..."

Zoey clutched her shoulders every time she told what those girls did to her.

"They've thrown garbage on my bed, they've stolen my clothes, they've thrown me against the wall just for fun. They're horrendous, I can't take it anymore... I want to go home..."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks showing how much she has suffered.

"Why don't you joke something? Like notifying the academy."

"The academy won't help, everyone is afraid of Bartolt Household... besides, my father is currently doing business with them."

"I see..."

Rei's hand moved and stirred her hair.

The beautiful light orange eyes were visible, reminding me of tangerines.

"If you remove the fringe, your face is very beautiful."

"... Huh?"

Zoey's face turned red at Rei's words, which brought her face closer to hers.

Her hand went to her cheek and then went down to her chin

"What do you say if you become mine."

"...?!"

"If you become my woman, not only will I give you a good life, I will also never put you in a situation like that again, that bitch or her family or whoever messes with you, I will destroy them."

"I will protect you only if you decide to be a duke's woman. It's not a threat or extortion, just a confirmation of what will happen to your enemies."

His fingers passed over Zoey's red lips, making a seductive motion.

"What do you say?!"

"... W-We barely know each other and you propose something like that..."

"You're right, I'll give you three seconds."

"Th-That's irrational!"

"But I really want you."

"Th-That's more irrational!"

"Then what do we do? I really want you as one of my women."

"S-Stop saying that please! I-It's embarrassing..."

Zoey turned to the side before replying.

"... Would you let me ask my dad and have a little time to answer?"

"Fine with me, I'll also use this time to wait for 'it' to happen to prove my superiority."

"'It'?"

Rei smiled in a sinister way as he answered.

"Something that will make everyone understand once and for all that a Cheat Lord is someone to be feared."

While I was...

(Don't joke with me!)

(That's Zoey! Zoey the commoner!)

(One of the most important heroines in the game as she becomes the first female minister and then prime minister at the end of the game!)

(How is it that she is Harold's daughter?)

(Also, why is the Bartolt Household already mentioned so early on?)

(This game world acts as it pleases!)

◇◇◇

In one of the academy's rooms reserved only for important people.

Darrell was busy as he listened to Finne.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"That son of a bitch threw bugs at us that he pulled out of somewhere!"

"That sounds... very repulsive..."

"It is... listen to me and stop doing it!"

Darrell was paying little attention to Finne as his hips found themselves smacking the back of one of the female teachers at the academy.

She was a happily married, middle aged woman, Darrell thought she was very pretty so he decided to have some fun with her.

His followers were in the room eating or reading books while Darrell humiliated the married woman who was hiding her head.

"Finne, we've been friends since we were kids. But I can't butt into every problem you have."

The soft white skin bounces every time his hips moved to make the impact sound louder and louder.

"Precisely because we're friends you must help me!"

"That guy is the same guy who goes around spreading horrible things about your dad!"

Only there, Darrell stopped his hips.

"You're talking about Redblade aren't you?"

"That one. I think that's his name, a mean looking guy with red eyes."

"Yeah. That's him."

"... Well Finne, I'll help you, you can rest easy."

"I'll tell a vassal of my father to file a formal complaint against him, I'll have him not only executed but, I'll take away his territory and make that busty elf my sex slave─ ahhh."

With that pathetic sound, Darrell ended up inside the woman.

Which was clinging tightly to the pillow.

After standing there for a while making a repulsive face, she withdrew his hips and then a maid cleaned him up.

"That felt good, don't expect me to take over if you end up pregnant."

"Now Finne, by tomorrow morning you'll see that guy begging me hahaha."

"I hope so, hahaha."

The unpleasant laughter from both of them was heard too loud.

◇◇◇

The next morning.

"What is this?"

Darrell asked, who had woken up at noon.

He had missed much of class and it was time for lunch.

As a maid was dressing him, someone knocked on his door.

A follower opened it and there was a box.

The follower entered the box as it was addressed to Darrell.

Upon opening it, Darrell and the others were shocked.

Inside were the heads of three people.

One was of the official who had ordered him to file the complaint against Rei, the other was of a nobleman who came as a witness, who was a friend of the prime minister and the last head belonged to the great knight who came to take Rei under arrest.

As they were all sleeping and the servants never left the building, they did not know that Rei cut off the heads of the three last night and sent their bodies to the palace.

Of course, around their necks was a folder containing their crimes.

They were crimes that deserved torture and execution.

It was impossible for anyone to know that.

But Rei knew, or rather, Kurono knew.

Darrell was horrified, but not frightened.

"That... that peasant dares to mock me!"

"Come on everyone, I will personally go and punish that peasant!"

"A mere country nobleman can do nothing against the prime minister's son!"

Darrell ordered to dress him to get ready to leave."

◇◇◇

In the middle of the garden were some tables.

There are times when the dining room gets crowded, and they serve the food outdoors.

Some enjoy this place as they can feel the wind on their faces.

But most prefer to be inside since they are sons of important nobles.

While Rei was with his "friends" eating outside, Darrell came in angry are his followers.

"Hey, peasant, what was that you sent?"

"Huh? Don't tell me you just saw it?"

"It's been there on your doorstep for hours, nobody saw it?"

"I asked you what was that thing you sent!"

Rei stood up and looked into Darrell's face with a wicked grin, more wicked than he'd ever made in his life.

"The palace sent a letter of complaint against you, you are committing a foul."

His eyes focused on Sigurd who was eating quietly.

"Prince Sigurd, how can you allow him to disrespect a palace order?"

"... If he breaches it, it is his problem. So the palace will have to use force."

Darrell smiled and looked into Rei's face with a confidence that indicated he was right, but the prince himself ignored everything and then indicated to the others at the table to stand down.

Why did he do that?

Rei instead said.

"That means the palace will try to stop me, right?"

"That's right. Having killed a witness, an official and a grand knight will get you hanged."

Rei's smile grew bigger and bigger.

"Does that mean the palace── became my enemy?"

"Of course. Are you an idiot?"

"Your life is over. So now, hand over that busty elf to me."

This time, Rei's smile, was just like a monster's, it formed a crescent moon from cheek to cheek, his eyes shone in such a way that it could be considered as a bloody moon if someone were to look at the sky.

Rei grabbed the neck of Darrell's shirt and threw it against the floor to say...

"That means the prime minister and the palace are my enemies! No? So it's okay to do what I'm going to do! Right, Kurono?"

"... Poor idiot, he fell right where you wanted him Rei."

"It's punishment time for insulting a Cheat Lord!"

*Punch*

Rei's fist slammed into Darrell's face, not once, but several and repeated times.

"Take that!"

"Die!"

"Don't you dare go against me!"

The students watching such barbarism, could do nothing.

Rather, they did not want to.

The demonic image of Rei mercilessly beating Darrell's face, which had not only a broken nose, but his teeth were coming out.

A follower grabbed a chair and tried to hit Rei, but his hand stopped and pointed at the boy.

Without turning to look at him he said.

"Edit... accept."

The boy's head exploded into pieces which scattered all over the place.

Rei was still beating Darrell relentlessly, while Sigurd and the others.

"I knew something bad would happen from listening to such madness yesterday afternoon."

"Is it okay to do nothing, Your Highness?"

"Ignore him, we're not seeing anything, we're not hearing anything, we don't even know what's going on behind."

"Magic shouldn't be used in such a way... huh, Oliver?"

"That's it Rei! Hit him harder!"

"Idiot don't turn around or encourage him!"

◇◇◇

In one of the rooms is the academy, a beautiful girl was drinking tea until she heard something shocking.

"Is it true what you say?"

"Yes."

The girl put her finger to her chin to think for a brief moment. Then she said.

"Contact my father and tell him what happened, this incident will not stay like this."

"Something very big will definitely happen before tomorrow."

"Roger."

◇◇◇

In a room in the royal palace, a man was smoking a cigarette.

He was a very tall and too burly man, his pecs were about to tear his shirt.

He banged loudly on the table from what he heard.

"What was that?!"

"Just as you heard my lord. Apparently the current duke, not only killed members of the prime minister's personal circle, it seems they were all in cahoots on something foul, plus the prime minister's son was beaten by the current duke."

The muscular man stood up, before leaving the room, he picked up the plaque that had his name and position which fell to the floor.

It read, Minister of Finance, Dominic Harvey.

The subordinate hurried out behind him.

"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but no doubt Harrisburg will move to take revenge."

"If this is an opportunity to corner that rat, I'll use it!"

"Don't let the palace move at all!"

And so, "it" ─ Rei's plan to screw the prime minister, was set in motion.