I, Reincarnate as the Leader of the Villainous Knight Order - Chapter 141: The Fight Incident

Chapter 141: The Fight Incident

“As you were informed earlier, the room assignments are listed here as well. Place your luggage in your rooms and return to the dining hall. The layout should be similar to the previous dormitories, so you should figure it out.”

On the bulletin board near the entrance, the room numbers and names were written. Since there were no new recruits, everyone should be able to read their names. After acknowledging, they all stared at the room assignment list and headed upstairs.

Once they were out of sight, cheerful and lively voices echoed from the upper floors,. It was probably due to the excitement of the new, freshly furnished building. However, a few minutes later, a loud *crash* echoed through the building.

“What was that?”

“Is it Leon again!?”

As I glanced up at the ceiling, Eric muttered bitterly and headed for the second floor. We followed. And when we entered the room with shelves and bunk beds on either side, we found two apprentices in the middle of a fight.

“Of course, it’s you, Leon! Stop it right now!”

Eric grabbed the wrists of the apprentice named Leon, pulling him away from the other apprentice, who was lying on the floor after being punched.

“Let go! This guy—”

“I said stop it!”

Eric sharply cut off whatever Leon was about to say. The apprentice who had been punched had tears in his eyes. But despite that, he grinned as he looked at Leon being restrained. While I didn’t expect everyone to get along perfectly, it was clear that there were some troublemakers.

“Orel, has everyone else already placed their luggage? Show them around the dormitory. Ryuka, you should go with them to familiarize yourself with the place.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

With that, the only ones left in the room were the apprentices who would live in this four-person room, along with Eric and me, making six in total.

“So, what happened? Each of you, state your name, age, and explain what you saw in order.”

Leon, now freed from Eric’s grip, positioned himself protectively in front of two boys: one with a cute, flushed face holding his cheek, and another with a strangely mature, handsome face.

“I’m Oscar, eleven years old. I was trying to put my nightclothes on the bed when Leon suddenly attacked me.”

Oscar, the one who had been punched, was the first to speak. But Leon immediately shouted in protest.

“That’s not true! Oscar shoved Emil first!”

“……Leon. I asked for your name, age, and what you saw.”

Leon glanced away awkwardly before stiffening and standing up straight.

“I’m Leon, eleven years old! The beds were assigned beforehand, but Oscar pushed Emil off the ladder because he wanted the top bunk. That’s why we fought!”

It seemed that the loud crash earlier was the sound of Emil being shoved off the ladder and hitting the floor. The cheek he was holding was likely hurt during the fall.

“Emil, why don’t you explain first?”

“O-okay… I’m Emil, eleven years old. I was climbing up to the top bunk when Oscar pushed me off, saying he wanted it. Leon got angry after seeing me fall, and that’s how the fight started…”

Prompted by the older-looking boy, the apprentice called Emil explained with teary eyes. He looked small and sad like a little animal. I almost reached out to pat his head, but stopped myself.

“Lastly, it’s my turn. I’m Louis, also eleven. When I turned around at the sound of the crash, Emil was on the floor, and Oscar was standing next to the ladder with his hands out. That’s when Leon got angry, and the fight started.”

It seemed Leon, Emil, and Louis were close. Oscar, on the other hand, appeared isolated in this four-person room. As I was thinking that, Oscar sneered and spoke.

“Hmph, orphans! Why do *I* have to sleep below an orphan!?”

I see. The issue stemmed from Oscar looking down on them because they were orphans. I approached Oscar and grabbed his head, as if gripping a ball.

“Eek!”

“Oscar. You caused this incident just because these three are orphans? What’s wrong with being an orphan? I don’t know who your parents are, but what if they suddenly died from illness or an accident right now? You’d become an orphan too. Besides, the Third Knight Order doesn’t favor anyone based on their background—it’s all about ability here. You should rethink that attitude. If you don’t like it, why not join the Second Knight Order instead?”

“Now, now, Commander Vandière… they’re just kids, and it’s true these three are orphans, so…”

Huh?

I felt a vein pulse at my temple. The attitude he had when we entered the room earlier and the way he quickly blamed Leon—it all made sense now. The Second Knights had been discriminating against orphans.

“I told you before, background doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you violated the rules. Unlike the Second Knight Order, who stay comfortably in the capital, in the Third Knight Order, those who can’t follow orders risk losing their lives. What matters most is teamwork. Looking down on or discriminating against your comrades is utterly foolish.”

“……!”

As I glared at Eric, a sharp, unpleasant smell suddenly reached my nose.

“Hic… sob…”

It seemed that Oscar, still held by the head, had wet himself. It was likely out of fear from the killing intent I had unintentionally let slip. Being only eleven years old, the embarrassment overwhelmed him, and he started to cry. This was definitely my fault. Even Eric had frozen up, so of course a mere apprentice would be terrified.

“Cleanse. Ah… sorry. I shouldn’t have let out any killing intent like that. Oscar’s still the one at fault. But Leon, you also made a poor choice by immediately resorting to violence. You need to develop the habit of thinking about the best course of action before you act. Now, follow me as I show you around the dormitory.”

I figured Oscar’s punishment would be the embarrassment of what had just happened. Releasing his head, I quickly left the room, trying to cover up the situation as best I could.