The Strongest Brother Lost His Memory-Chapter 63

Nesha Saliod.

Ranked third in the entrance exam, she was the only daughter of the Saliod Count Family.

She seemed visibly upset—clearly, she’d been aiming for either first or second place.

Well, it made sense. First and second place came with name recognition, but third? No one remembered who came third.

Saliod Count Family...

I lowered my gaze in thought.

The current Emperor had ascended to the throne as a child.

Back then, the Empress Dowager had served as regent for many years and still held a firm grip over the Imperial Court.

Unlike the Emperor, who sought to curb the Temple’s influence, the Empress Dowager was a staunch supporter of the Temple.

And the Saliod Count Family—the one closest to her, her loyal pawns—acted as her most powerful aides.

If I could drive a wedge between the two, things might get easier in the future...

Of course, Nesha was still young. It would be cruel to use a child as a pawn in a scheme just because of the politics of the adults around her. So I didn’t intend to exploit her.

But if she picks a fight with me first, that’s a different story altogether.

Because children who act wickedly should learn the harshness of the world.

Then another sound echoed through the hallway.

“The Divine Beast appears to be dozing, Zahid Dyfenril. Anyone seeing this might fall asleep too. Minus ten points.”

It was Yuta, nitpicking again, docking points from Zahid for some nonsense.

* * *

The days passed peacefully.

Nothing major happened, aside from Zahid being docked nearly a hundred points by Yuta over the course of a few days.

Zahid, Ray, and I ate lunch together every day.

“It must be the Divine Beast causing the problem.”

After lunch, Ray tilted his head while nibbling on ice cream.

Everyone agreed—Yuta was being unusually harsh with Zahid.

“He’s probably bitter because the Divine Beast doesn’t acknowledge him.”

“I don’t care. Whether he docks me a hundred points or two hundred.”

Zahid, of course, didn’t mind at all.

Grades only mattered if you were aiming to stay on as a teaching assistant.

So his attitude was: What do I care about grades?

“That’s the right mindset.”

I comforted him like a good fiancée should.

“Just because you’re last place doesn’t mean your self-esteem has to suffer. Even if you’re 43rd, you can still live life your own way. Not that I’m 43rd, of course.”

“And what was the point of that last comment, exactly?”

Zahid grumbled but didn’t argue further.

All in all, life was good. The classes were fun, and ever since the first day, no one had come at me directly. After being warned once, Nesha had backed off and started keeping a low profile.

But that didn’t mean I was completely indifferent to what might happen at the Academy going forward.

Getting close to Ray was easier than I expected.

I’d been worried I wouldn’t know how to make friends, but fortunately, Ray had been more proactive than I thought.

If things go well, I might be able to see the Divine Beast of Water at the parent conference.

The Divine Beast of Water currently belonged to the Lavendal Duke.

Meeting all four Divine Beasts—

And gathering clues to find their true master.

That was what the High Priest had so desperately wanted. So getting ahead of things would obviously be helpful.

If I move fast, I might be able to set a trap.

Considering the massive power gap between me and the Temple right now, that was my immediate goal.

And there are still a few more... minor things I need to take care of.

Blinking slowly, I took another bite of my ice cream.

In the distance, I saw the teaching assistants—including Theo and Yuta—leaving the dining hall in a group.

“Rosie.”

Ray smiled gently at me and asked,

“That teaching assistant, Theo Noart—he’s your cousin, right? Ask him sometime. Why does Assistant Yuta seem so obsessed with tearing Zahid down?”

“We’re not close.”

I shrugged.

“Assistant Theo doesn’t acknowledge me at all, honestly.”

Just like I said—Theo and I completely ignored each other.

He didn’t go out of his way to pick on me or anything. He just treated me like any other regular student.

To be precise... he just wasn’t interested in me.

Even after the cheating incident on the first day of class.

I’d heard he didn’t pay much attention to Roystan either in the last cohort. So it wasn’t out of character.

“Ray Lavendal, don’t pretend you don’t know.”

Zahid cut in irritably.

“You know Monica Noart hates Rosie. So why even ask?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Monica was my aunt—Theo’s mother.

Even when Zahid snapped like that, Ray only smiled serenely.

“A mother and son are separate people. Just thought I’d ask—can’t be too sure.”

Hmm.

Something’s different from before the regression.

Zahid and Ray don’t seem to be very close... Especially Zahid—he seems to dislike Ray quite a bit...

Do they still have a long way to go before they become friends? But it’s already been almost a month.

“Anyway, I really didn’t mean anything bad when I asked about Assistant Theo.”

Ray said casually, eating his ice cream.

“I’m telling you, Assistant Theo definitely doesn’t dislike you. He only seems interested in magical nanoscience. I’ve seen his lab lights on even in the middle of the night.”

I let out a yawn and nodded slowly.

“Yeah... Those exhibits in the lobby? They’re labeled as group research projects, but they’re all his work, right?”

The piece called Sky Pocket was incredibly beautiful.

They said once our class graduates, it would be presented to the Empress Dowager, so everyone made sure to take a good look at it while they had the chance.

It was such a rare item that you might never get to see something like it again.

So many high-quality materials were used that it had to be displayed on a specially made enchanted table just to prevent damage.

“It really is a masterpiece. He’s so obsessed with magical nanoscience—do you really think he cares about the Noart succession?”

Ray swung his legs lazily and continued.

“So Rosie could actually get along with him, is what I’m saying.”

“Why are you being so nosy? I don’t care why Assistant Yuta hates me, so don’t listen to him.”

“But I’m curious. So Rosie, can I talk to you about it? And why are you getting so worked up?”

Hmm.

But seriously, how long will it take for Ray and Zahid to become friends?

In any case, it was now obvious to everyone—not just Ray and Zahid—that Theo had absolutely no interest in me.

That afternoon, during Theo’s class.

“You there in the back. Please read from page 473.”

“Uh... yes. Kiolisa—no, Kiolis... Understanding Kiolister Ore... This mineral is so hard that it cannot be broken with ordinary tools...”

He could clearly see that I didn’t know how to read the name of a mineral I’d never heard of before, but Theo didn’t make any effort to help me. His attitude was: Everyone else reads aloud, so you will too.

No one openly mocked me anymore. But every time I stumbled over a word, I could hear quiet snickers coming from Nesha’s side of the room.

Sweat was trickling down my back, but I kept stammering my way through the textbook.

It just means Theo has no intention of accommodating me. Honestly, even with a stranger, if a kid struggles to read, you'd usually skip them over...

But this would be the last time.

Today was our final theory class. Next time, we’d begin practical lessons, so there’d be no more textbook reading.

“Now, let’s take a look at the tools we’ll be using starting tomorrow. Please place your kits on your desks.”

We all took out the supplies we’d been instructed to purchase before entering the Academy and set them on our desks.

“Gah... Rosie?”

Ray nearly spit out his drink when he saw what I’d laid out.

“What is all this?”

The other students started murmuring, crowding around to peek at my desk.

Even the kids around Nesha looked stunned, their eyes going wide with amazement.

“...Hah.”

In front of me, Theo shook his head in disbelief.

I gave a sheepish laugh and muttered,

“Like I said... Grandpa insisted everything had to be top-tier—highest of the high, the absolute best of the best...”

We were supposed to have basic student nanotech toolkits.

But Grandpa had bought me the most elite professional-grade set available on the continent.

Typical student kits included about five tools at most. Mine had over fifty.

Theo muttered in disbelief.

“...This is a professional set. Only Academy researchers use these. What kind of student... And these are made from such durable metals, they can easily destroy common artifacts—they’re not even sold to the general public...”

He shook his head and closed the lid on my ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ toolkit.

The custom case was inlaid with dazzling gemstones and had my name engraved in elegant script.

“Rosie Noart, we’ll provide you with a spare student toolkit from the Academy. Please use that for your practical sessions. It wouldn’t be wise to set a precedent like this.”

“Yes.”

I quietly nodded in agreement.

We didn’t want future students to start showing up with professional-grade toolkits just to keep up.

As Theo handed me the Academy’s spare kit, I noticed Nesha staring fixedly at me from her seat.