Scumbag Fate System-Chapter 18: Plan In Motion

The next morning, Reinhard spotted Yor in the library. She sat alone at a corner table with books piled around her.

Her head bent over pages filled with notes, with her hair falling over her face in a curtain. She scribbled with a kind of desperate energy, hand shaking slightly after every thought committed to the page.

He walked over and sat across from her.

"Morning," he said.

Yor kept writing, her eyes never left the page. She wrote one more line, finished a sentence, then started a new paragraph. The pen moved smoothly, but he could hear the faint scratch of the nib against the paper.

"Remember me? Reinhard from the club yesterday."

No answer. She flipped to a new page.

"Got you this." He set down a wrapped pastry. "From that bakery by the gate. It’s good."

Her pen stopped moving for just a moment. Then started again.

Reinhard got up with a smile. "Later."

As he walked away, the pastry sat untouched on the table.

The next day, he found her in the courtyard. She sat on a bench under a tree with a book in her lap.

"Hey, Yor," Reinhard said while sitting beside her.

She shifted slightly away from him while her eyes stayed on her book.

He sat on the far end of the bench, not too close but not out of reach. "Nice weather today," he observed, glancing upwards. "Not too hot. You don’t get days like this back in my old city."

Silence.

He took out a small bag of grapes and shook it gently. The fruit glistened with condensation, perfectly ripe. "Want some?"

Yor turned a page and said nothing.

"I’ll just leave them here then." He placed the bag on the bench between them.

He lingered, taking in the silence, letting it settle between them like dust. For five minutes, he didn’t speak or move, and Yor didn’t either. Then, satisfied, he stood up.

Finally, he stood. "See you later, Yor."

She didn’t respond. But as he rounded a hedge, he caught, in the corner of his eye, her hand moving over to the bag. She plucked one grape from the cluster, considered it, then popped it in her mouth as though testing for poison. Reinhard smiled to himself and kept walking.

Three days after that, Reinhard waited outside the Magic Department building. Students streamed past as classes ended.

Yor came out with her bag over one shoulder. She walked with her head down.

"Yor." Reinhard called out to her as he walked towards her, but she didn’t stop and kept walking.

He matched her pace. "How are you?" he asked, genuinely curious to hear if she would answer.

She didn’t.

He kept going anyway. "I wanted to ask about the distortion. How do you close them? Is it something natural to you, or more of a technique?"

She walked even faster, evading the students in front.

"Sirin said you’re the only one who can do it without getting hurt. That’s incredible," Reinhard said, making it sound like a compliment while watching closely for a reaction.

At the next corner, Reinhard almost collided with her when Yor abruptly stopped. She turned to face him with her eyes narrowed.

"Leave me alone, if you know what’s good for you." She said, her voice so soft it barely carried.

Then she continued walking until she disappeared into the crowd of students.

Reinhard smiled and muttered. "She is now willing to speak with me."

For the next two days, Reinhard kept trying speaking and getting Yor to give him her time. He brought her tea in the morning. Left books he thought she’d like on her usual bench. Waved when he saw her in the halls.

She walked past the tea without breaking stride. Left the books exactly where he placed them. Didn’t acknowledge the wave.

But on the second evening he passed her bench and found the book still there. It was open, face-down, to a page roughly two-thirds through.

She’d read two-thirds of it.

He picked it up, noted the page, and left a different one in its place. Throughout all of this, he noticed she never told him to stop trying to speak to her again.

On the seventh day, the blue light appeared in Reinhard’s room. He was reading a book from the club about Fiends.

[Host! I have an update!] A blue rectangle instantly appeared in front of him.

"About Yor?" He asked with a raise brow.

[No. Well... Yes, but that’s not the important part. Your methods don’t seem to be working. You haven’t gotten closer to her.]

Reinhard laughed, leading to the system’s text to change.

[Why are you laughing? This is serious! Don’t you think it’s about time to change strategy?]

"Don’t worry. My approach is working." Reinhard said as he closed the book.

[Huh?! How is it working? She isn’t even paying you any attention or stopping to have a conversation with you.]

"I know, but that isn’t what I’m after." Reinhard crossed his legs. "Right now, I’m just making my presence familiar. So, when she collapses, and I help her, she won’t be suspicious."

The text froze.

[So, she won’t be suspicious... Is it because you plan to appear when she passes out?]

Reinhard nodded. "Exactly. If I just show up when she collapses, she’ll wonder why. But if I’ve been around all week trying to be friendly, it makes sense. And besides, this also help make her not forget me."

[Host, you are so smart!]

"You wouldn’t appear without something important happening," Reinhard said. "So, what’s up?"

[Oh! Right! The three first years from before have gathered some second and third years to attack you later.]

"When?"

[When it is close to nighttime. They’re planning to ambush you on your way back from the library.]

Reinhard leaned back in his chair. A smile spread across his face. "Well, I expected this."

[What are you going to do?]

"Of course, I will pay them a visit." Reinhard stood and walked to his window. "And then make them understand that touching me isn’t so easy."

[How?]

"I need to set up a trap first. Lead them somewhere specific." His smile grew wider. "Somewhere with witnesses. Or better yet, somewhere the school will notice."

[What if that still doesn’t work?]

"Then I’m impressed. Oh well, if they still touch me after this, then I might have to try trauma."

[Host... You look scary with that smile on your face.]

Reinhard’s reflection in the window showed teeth. His eyes glinted in the dim light. "Do I?"

...

The evening air was cool as Reinhard walked across campus. Most students had already gone to their dorms. The paths were empty and quiet.

Then he saw them. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Three figures stepped out from behind the library building. Darius walked in the middle with his arms crossed. Felix limped slightly to his left. Ruth stood on the right while cracking his knuckles.

Reinhard kept walking at the same pace and then the three spread out, blocking the path. Darius sneered. Felix glared with angry eyes. Ruth grinned coldly.

"We’ve been patient," he said. "That ends tonight."

Felix said nothing and he noted the bruising under his eye had faded to yellow at the edges. Ruth cracked his knuckles once and that was all, no more words were said.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

Reinhard didn’t look back since he’d been expecting this. Shadows moved in the darkness. More students appeared from all sides, their steps echoing on the stone path.

Two more. Then four. Then six. The group kept growing.

Reinhard counted to himself and noted there was twelve behind him now.

Felix’s expression shifted into something that wasn’t quite a smirk. "Still have something smart to say?"

"Still deciding," Reinhard said pleasantly. "Give me a moment."

"What’s the point? You should just honestly accept your fate. It will be so much easier for you." One of the students said from behind.

"Fifteen," he said finally.

"What?" Ruth frowned.

"Fifteen of you." Reinhard tilted his head slightly. "Against one person with no Sigil who embarrassed three of you in a corridor last week." A pause. "I’m trying to work out whether to be flattered."

"Shut up! A failure like you should have gotten kicked out of the academy on day one." Someone shouted from behind.

"Acting tough won’t help you now." Another voice called out, "Time to learn your place, first-year."

A second-year student stepped forward with a sigh. "I bet you used your family to stay here. How disgusting, don’t you have any pride?"

"What’s the point of asking." Someone else added. "People like him have none."

Felix eyes narrowed. "You made us look bad, and well... Let’s just say some people don’t like that."

"And so, this is your revenge?" Reinhard’s smile grew. "Jumping me when you can’t do anything by yourself?"

"Call it whatever," Ruth said, stepping even closer. "You’re not walking away without learning your place."

"Not only will you really learn your lesson." Darius said, making fists. "But you will never dare to look at us in the eyes again."

The circle closed in, making Reinhard looked around calmly, as if they were just chatting about nothing important.

"Well." He said softly. "If you’re sure."

Then he moved.

His leg shot out fast and hard. His boot connected with Felix’s groin.