A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The author has something to say: Well, let me explain here. Everyone seems to have a misunderstanding. They all think that every rejection is an abuse, so being rejected three times in the future means that you will be abused three times.

Not really.

Each rejection situation is different, including funny situations, stupid rejections, and the little prince's pretentious rejection...

…

Well, it's so boring to have only one rejection mode.

How can I always use the same trick against you little goblins? (Evil smile x2)

Countless tall pillars support the vaulted roof, and the spacious school hall is bathed in bright sunlight as usual. The wind blowing from the large lotus pond on one side carries the fragrance of lotus flowers and passes through the open hall.

On the soft blanket spread on the ground, many teenagers were sitting cross-legged. A middle-aged scholar was handing out the parchment papers to the hands of each boy in turn. Most of the grades on the papers were top-notch.

After everyone received their papers, they did not read them immediately. Instead, they rolled up the parchment paper in their hands to cover up the results, and then secretly looked to the other side.

On the other side of the more special cushions, the blond little prince sat cross-legged, with his head raised and a pair of big amber gem-like eyes looking at a certain priest standing in front of him.

The priest of Shamash stood there, holding a piece of parchment in his hand, which seemed to be Garlan's examination paper. However, he did not give the test paper to Garlan immediately. Instead, he frowned and stared at Garlan, as if thinking about something.

That stern and stern look made even the teenagers who were just watching tremble with fear. The little fat man who was nearest was even more nervous. He looked at the frowning Shermer with fearful eyes, and then looked at him with fear. He looked at Garlan with worried eyes.

Could it be that His Highness Gallan's results this time are the worst ever?

Is that why Mr. Shermuel showed such a stern expression?

Everyone was thinking so nervously, and for a while, the school hall was silent, and the teenagers were waiting in fear for the next storm.

But the child who was in the center of the storm that was about to break out showed no nervous expression at all. It was as if he didn't feel the tense atmosphere at all. He raised his head and stared at the child with a serious face with his big eyes blinking. Shermour.

The priest of Shamash stared at the blond little prince for a long time, and then handed over the examination paper in his hand.

Garlan took it and opened it in public without caring.

Everyone gasped and saw that the grade on the paper was actually an 'average'.

Did Prince Garlan pass?

His test paper actually passed? !

Almost everyone couldn't believe their eyes. After all, in the weekly tests for more than two months, Garlan's test scores had always been inferior, that is, he had failed.

Every week on this day, the priest Shemuer would scold Garlan mercilessly - so they were all prepared for the priest to get angry today.

…

But, wait a minute, since His Highness Gallan has passed the exam once in a while, why is Lord Xemuel's face uglier than before?

All the teenagers looked at each other in confusion for a moment.

Fatty Tarr, on the other hand, was heartless and didn't think much about it. When he saw that Garlan's grades were as average as his own, he immediately cheered.

"Your Highness, we are the same, we are the same!"

He happily came over and showed his paper to Garlan. The little fat man was very happy when he saw that the prince's test results were exactly the same as his own.

"Look, we are all average-"

All the young people: “…………”

What did Prince Gallan like about this stupid fat guy who only knew how to flatter?

They thought very puzzlingly.

And it was absolutely impossible for them to guess that Garlan chose Tal as his escort in the first place simply because he was the worst among them all...

Listening to Tal's cheers, Shermur's face became even more ugly.

He looked down at Garlan and said: "Your Highness, knowledge can be learned slowly. We still have a long time, but..."

He paused and his eyes became more severe.

"This is the academy, where Solga's gaze is focused. Under Solga's gaze, falsification is absolutely not allowed!"

On the land of Aaron Landis, when every newborn baby is baptized, others will bless him - 'May the light of Shamash always bathe him, and may Solga bestow wisdom on him. ’

Solga, the god of the sky, is in charge of all knowledge in the world, the god of wisdom, and the god of learning.

It is said that his wise eyes are always watching every school on the earth, and students who cheat in the school will be severely punished by him.

Garlan tilted his head and raised his little head to look at Xie Muer.

"You mean I cheated?"

He rolled his eyes and said, "Well, let's do it this way. Shermu'er, you can directly test me here. If I answer all the questions correctly, will it prove that I didn't cheat?"

Seeing Garlan's determined tone, Shermuel's expression softened.

But the next second, his face turned dark again.

Because Gallan said: "As you know, I never care about grades."

The child smiled and said: "So why should I go to all the trouble and cheat for something I don't care about?"

What he said was so reasonable that even the priest Shemuer was speechless.

The teenagers on the side looked at Shermer who was speechless and unable to lose his temper due to Garlan's words. While they felt admiration for Garlan, they thought silently in their hearts. With.

Glancing at the smiling child, the expressionless priest raised his hand and patted away a little dust that had just fallen on his sleeve.

"It's just a passing grade. It's too early to be proud and complacent." He said coldly, "When will you be able to achieve results like Prince Heimos? It won't be too late to be proud."

If an ordinary child had finally achieved some results, he would probably have withered away after receiving such a cold blow from Shermer.

However, Garlan was no ordinary child. He blinked without showing any signs of discouragement.

To be honest, it would be easy for him to get a top grade in a test paper of this level.

Just thinking that it would be too strange to suddenly rush from inferior to superior like a rocket, so he considered it and got a passing grade.

It will be gradually improved in the future.

After all, he hid his clumsiness in the past so that Shermur could persuade King Camos to depose him as the king's younger brother. But now it seems that Shermur has determined that he has other qualifications and is just lazy, so he is full of energy. He was urged to study every day, and it seemed that he had to polish this stubborn stone into a beautiful jade.

Since this approach is useless, Garlan feels that it is better to give up this way of pretending to be stupid.

What's more, it was intentional to antagonize Xie Mu'er like this before. He pretended to be an ignorant child and wanted to embarrass Xie Mu'er in this way, and deliberately made Xie Mu'er go away... Thinking about it now, his behavior was simply ridiculous. It's like a childish child, saying that he wants to deal with an annoying adult, but deep down in his heart, he vaguely wants to use this method to get the attention of that 'annoying person'...

It turned out that the importance of this person who was like a teacher and a father to him had never disappeared in his heart.

"Um."

Gallan sat cross-legged on the cushions, tilting his head and smiling at Shermer. He looked extremely well-behaved.

"I will continue to work hard."

The little prince's rare well-behaved appearance made Xie Mu'er feel uncomfortable for a while. He regretted what he just said, thinking that the prince had rarely started to work hard. He should not question it, but should praise it.

Therefore, the priest coughed slightly and said something a little uncomfortable.

"Take your time. Even though it's only average, it's progress."

He continued to add.

"Don't be arrogant and complacent, you must be like Prince Heimos."

Then, he began to explain to Garlan the wrong questions on the exam paper. It was just that Xie Muer felt something was wrong as he was talking. Although the little prince was listening obediently, he just felt that something was missing.

He glanced around him in confusion, and immediately realized that something was missing.

Heimos sat quietly on the other side, flipping through the books on his lap.

His behavior not only made Shermer feel puzzled, but also the teenagers next to him found it strange.

In the past, every time when Shermur explained the test papers to Garlan, Heimos would go over and stay with Garlan. When Shermur explained briefly or difficult to understand, he would whisper Explain it to Garlan in detail. He is much more patient with Garlan than Shermer.

As time went by, Shermer also acquiesced in this approach.

At this moment, Heimos sat there motionless, and the surprised people all peeked at him and started whispering in low voices.

Some interested people even discovered that this afternoon, the two princes Heimos and Gallan did not seem to have said a word to each other from the time they met until now.

Although Xie Mu'er was a little strange, he was not a gossip. After teaching Garlan, he left quickly as he still had matters to deal with.

As soon as he left, little fat Tarr came over and asked Garlan in a low voice.

"Your Highness, did you have a quarrel with Prince Heimos?"

When asked this question, Garlan subconsciously raised his eyes and glanced at Heimos not far away. However, Heimos seemed to have heard what Tal thought he was whispering, and turned his head almost at the same moment.

The two people's eyes suddenly collided.

Garlan didn't react for a moment and was stunned for a moment.

There was no expression on Heimos's face. He just looked at Garlan deeply. Instead, he turned his head back first and looked away.

Garlan lowered his eyes, and the shadow of his eyelashes fell on his cheeks. He pursed his lower lip, then let it go.

He answered Tal softly: "There is no quarrel or quarrel. He and I are not familiar with each other."

Although he spoke softly, in the silent academy, almost all the young people were holding their breath and paying attention with their ears perked up.

Naturally, those who were relatively close to Garlan heard these words. Although it seemed to be just an understatement, it was like a big stone smashed into the calm lake, and it suddenly caused an uproar among the teenagers.

Although they did not dare to say anything openly, they all communicated with each other with their eyes, and some gathered together to whisper.

Heimos seemed not to have heard this sentence at all, and was still looking through the books on his lap with a calm expression.

But no one saw that when Garlan said those words, his fingers on the parchment paused slightly.

An extremely slight pause that no one could see.

The academy seemed peaceful on the surface, but there was an undercurrent and people's hearts were floating.

However, the little fat man who couldn't understand the atmosphere at all did not feel the huge wave rising among the teenagers. He just thought that His Highness Gallan said that he was not familiar with Prince Heimos, so he was so friendly. Who is familiar with it?

Of course I know him best, Tal! You know, he was specially appointed by His Highness to accompany you!

Thinking of this, the little fat man became even more happy. He came close to Garlan and nodded his chubby face like a chicken pecking at rice. He said, "That's right, His Highness is not familiar with him. He always deliberately behaves better than you, His Highness, causing you to be reprimanded by Lord Shermuel."

He happily patted his plump little chest and promised: "I am different. I will never behave better than His Highness. No matter when, I will never surpass His Highness!"

Garlan: "..."

You want to be better than me, but you don’t have the ability, okay?

He complained in his heart, looked up at the sky, rolled up the book, and stood up.

"I'm going back."

"Okay, Your Highness, see you tomorrow~~"

The little fat man, who was still immersed in rounding up Gallan's words, came up with "His Highness said he is the most familiar with me." He happily waved goodbye to Gallan's back.

He didn't notice at all that Garlan got up and left. Not long after, Heimos, who seemed to be immersed in the book, suddenly rolled up the parchment, put it away, then got up and left.

When the two princes were still there, the academy was quiet. Now as soon as the princes left, the entire academy exploded with a bang. Now there is no need to make eye contact or whisper anymore, everyone is whispering to the people around them who have a good relationship.

In the past, they used to gather around Prince Gallan and exclude Prince Heimos, but later because Prince Gallan did not target Heimos very much, and the two princes seemed to have a good relationship, they stopped doing this. practice.

but now……

If the relationship between the two princes has become sour, then they must change their attitude as soon as possible.

…………

"Garlan."

As soon as Garlan reached the long steps, the familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.

He turned around and saw Heimos standing behind him as expected.

The young man's golden-red eyes looked deeply at him, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. At the same time, his right hand reached out to him, as if he wanted to hold his hand.

However, just when Heimos was about to grab his wrist, another hand suddenly came in from the side and blocked Heimos's hand.

It was a big white-skinned hand with thick calluses on the fingertips and the tiger's mouth.

Heimos raised his eyes, and what he saw was the one-eyed knight who always followed Garlan.

This knight who appeared at an unknown time stood between him and Garlan. His raised left hand blocked his right hand that was stretched out towards Garlan.

"Kayhos."

Huymos called out the knight's name.

The one-eyed knight blocked his master behind his tall body, stretched out his hand, and separated the distance between Heimos and Garlan.

"Please forgive my offence, Prince Heimos."

He said,

"However, this is an order from my master, please understand."

"……Order?"

Kehos stared at Heimos. Even with only one right eye left, the knight's gaze was so sharp that it was impossible to look directly at him.

"Yes." He stared at Heimos with that eye. "Prince Garlan does not want you to come near him."

Heimos's pupils shrank violently.

He didn't speak, just looked at Garlan behind Kaihos.

The child turned sideways, mostly blocked by the knight in front of him, and only half of his face could be seen. His lips were slightly pursed, his eyes were lowered, and his eyes fell in the air without even looking at him.

Kehos said Garlan didn't want him anywhere near him.

Heymos looked at Garlan, and something seemed to be disappearing little by little in his golden-red eyes. That something that existed deep in his eyes, at this time, dissipated little by little with the passage of time.

His pupils, which had contracted violently just now, slowed down and regained their composure little by little.

It is better to say that he has regained his indifference rather than regaining his calmness.

"I just want to ask why you hate me."

Heimos said, his eyes indifferent.

"But now it seems that it is no longer necessary."

Huymos has always been a proud man.

This proud young man would never allow others to trample on his dignity.

At this moment, he looked at Garlan. His eyes no longer had the tenderness towards the child, but became very calm, as if he were looking at a stranger.

The corners of his lips raised slightly, and he couldn't tell whether it meant sarcasm or something else.

At this moment, he seemed to have turned back into the young man who had just arrived in the royal city, calm, deep, and aloof, and could no longer see anyone but himself.

Then, he turned around and left, neatly and simply.

…………

【I do not need you. 】

good.

From now on, you and I are strangers.