Chapter 13
●
“What were you thinking, doing something like that?”
“Hm?”
As I was warming up before entering the final stage, Elijah asked me that.
Judging by Elijah’s bewildered expression, they must have been more than a little taken aback.
“I knew you were skilled, sir, but were you really good enough to challenge the all-time record...?”
“Yeah.”
“...”
Elijah just gaped at me, at a loss for words at my matter-of-fact reply.
“...You’re certainly confident. Is there a reason for that?”
Of course there is.
For one thing, the magical beasts in the artificial dungeon have fairly predictable patterns, so even someone at my level can memorize their timing and aim for their weak points.
It’s not that hard to get the timing right.
And, more importantly—
[This is Conrad. Are you ready?]
“I’ve been ready for a while.”
[Good. You can set the difficulty for the final section. The higher the difficulty, the more bonus points you’ll receive—]
This is where my confidence comes from.
“Please set it to the highest difficulty.”
[...]
After a brief silence, the person on the other end of the announcement suddenly changed.
[I’ve been listening, and I get that freshmen are supposed to be bold, but this is taking it too far! There’s no penalty for losing the bet, so why go this far...? The highest difficulty is basically live combat! It wouldn’t be strange if you died! This is no joke!]
From the voice, I could tell it was Persi.
Even though she was angry, she was still worried about us. A true teacher, through and through.
“Yes. Well. I know.”
Right. Set it up like that, and the magical beasts will come at us with a clear intent to ‘kill.’
“But otherwise, there’s no point.”
[...Pardon?]
“Anything easier than that isn’t worth the effort.”
[...]
I chuckled at the other person’s stunned silence.
That was exactly why I was asking.
That’s easier for me, you know?
●
“Do we really need to indulge him that far?”
“Why are you making a fuss over it? Didn’t we do it at this difficulty when we were freshmen?”
“Not in the Colosseum. Here, you could actually die.”
Persi said with a reluctant expression.
The Colosseum, the final section of the artificial dungeon, is a mode where you defeat as many enemies as possible while more are summoned endlessly.
In other words, the longer it goes on, the more magical beasts appear, so raising the difficulty recklessly could put them in serious danger.
“Would he have said that if he weren’t confident? Let’s watch for a bit.”
“I’m saying this after watching the whole run so far. Are we sure this student deserves such a high opinion?”
Persi said unhappily, folding her arms.
“He has no aptitude for special abilities, and his combat skills are—”
“—a mess. Right. You’re falling for it too.”
“Pardon?”
Persi asked blankly at Conrad’s chuckling reply.
“Just wait and see. If he’s really in danger, we can go in and rescue him.”
While they were talking, the two freshmen on the video feed had already entered the Colosseum.
Seeing artificial magical beasts pour in from every direction and surround the two, Persi sighed inwardly.
As befitted the highest difficulty, even their basic behavior was different from before. Any timid student would be terrified just seeing those bloodthirsty beasts.
‘I just hope he doesn’t overdo it...’
Persi thought as she sipped the tea she’d just been served. Whenever she was worried, she had a long-standing habit of reaching for hot tea first.
The record she and Conrad had set was fifty kills within the time limit. For freshmen, that was an extraordinary record.
But watching that boldness, she couldn’t help worrying that he might recklessly try to break it.
Of course.
Her anxiety vanished the moment Dowd Campbell encountered the first magical beast.
-!
-!!!
Seeing one magical beast get ‘smashed to pieces’ by the sword he swung, she gaped.
“W-What?!”
Conrad snickered beside her as she shot to her feet, shouting.
She wouldn’t have been this surprised if he’d simply cut it down in one strike. Any skilled combatant could manage that.
But it got completely smashed, as if hit by a gigantic hammer, even though he’d only swung a sword?
It must’ve happened because his strike landed squarely on a weak point at exactly the right moment, but how could that even be possible?
“See? Everyone who sees him for the first time falls for it.”
Ordinarily, she would’ve snapped at him for adding that smug little comment, but Persi didn’t even have the presence of mind to retort.
The scene before her was that shocking.
“No, no, no—! How is that even possible?! He was completely ordinary just a moment ago, and then all of a sudden—!”
“Have you considered that he wasn’t ordinary, and was just making it look that way?”
“...”
Persi felt as though she’d been smacked upside the head, then sank back into her seat.
Her gaze then shifted to the records for the two of them displayed on the panel.
A score unrivaled by any freshman in recent years, let alone this year.
The sentence that student had just said kept circling in her mind.
-Anything easier than that isn’t worth the effort.
Was that not a bluff, but the truth?
Had even those records been nothing more than a way to kill time for that man?
“...I can see why you’re interested, Conrad. I underestimated him because my judgment was too narrow.”
“I don’t blame you. I would’ve been completely fooled too if I hadn’t seen him once beforehand.”
Even the faculty hadn’t paid him the slightest attention until they saw his true abilities in a spar with the Hero.
“But setting an even higher record is a different matter. By its nature, the Colosseum summons stronger magical beasts as you go on—”
Persi’s sentence was cut short.
It was probably because she’d seen the magical beast in the second wave get smashed to pieces by Dowd’s sword, just like the one before it.
‘...Huh?’
The question slipped through her mind.
What followed was a scene that shattered both her expectations and everything she thought she knew.
The third wave, which came after they cleared the second, was also smashed in a single strike.
Again, again, again.
The same pace. No matter how strong the opponent became, the result was always the same.
‘...’
Were magical beasts really that easy to beat?
Even when she and Conrad had broken the all-time record, they hadn’t done it like that.
As if he were cutting down weeds.
As if it weren’t a battle, but a simple repetitive task.
So absurdly easily that even the Hero candidate fighting hard beside him seemed insignificant.
The waves were definitely supposed to get stronger as they continued, so why was the same thing happening as before?
Had the system bugged out?
‘...No, no.’
That wasn’t it.
It wasn’t something so trivial.
The more she watched the footage on the screen, the clearer that feeling became.
‘He’s getting stronger along with them.’
As the opponent grew faster and stronger, the man named Dowd Campbell grew faster and stronger too.
‘How is this even possible...!’
While she thought that, her hands trembling, the magical beasts’ death counter on the panel kept climbing at an incredible pace.
In just one minute, they’d hunted down more than ten.
By the halfway point of the time limit, they’d long since broken Conrad and Persi’s record.
Even so, Dowd Campbell’s pace didn’t slow.
If anything, he was getting faster and faster.
As if the stronger his opponent became, the stronger he became too.
And then, when—
When all the time had run out,
silence settled over the area, so profound that even someone’s breathing sounded loud.
[ Congratulations! An incredible feat! ]
[ You have set a new all-time record! ]
[ The Dowd Campbell & Elijah Crisanax duo successfully hunted 100 magical beasts! ]
The teacup in Persi’s hand slipped and shattered on the floor.
But no one nearby looked her way.
Everyone was staring at the record, dumbstruck.
“Bravo.”
In the silent room, the only sound was Conrad clapping, a fierce smile on his face.
●
“Well, not bad.”
In more ways than one.
Traits tend to develop through actual combat, so even my proficiency in Tristan-style swordsmanship had shot up.
“You call this ‘not bad’?”
Elijah, standing beside me, said as they brushed their bangs back.
Why are you scolding me?
“No, this is...”
They stared incredulously at the paper in their hand.
It was something Conrad, looking pleased, and Persi, looking dazed, had come over and handed us.
It said we could choose one item from Elphante’s ‘Vault of Secrets’ and borrow it.
“Isn’t the Vault of Secrets the kind of place that only opens if the Imperial Family requests it...?”
“That’s why it says they’ll lend it to us. If they outright awarded it, there’d be problems.”
I answered in a calm tone.
Of course, getting this ridiculously early was something else.
The Vault of Secrets only opens twice in the entire game.
Both times, it’s after you resolve major incidents that happen much later in the scenario. There’s no way you’d get access to it as a freshman.
And one chance to ask Persi, head of the Magecraft Department, for ‘anything you want’...
‘This is seriously great, isn’t it?’
Even by my veteran-player standards, this was an excellent start.
“...”
As I mulled that over, Elijah turned to me with a strange expression.
“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you’re calm no matter what happens, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You always give off this vibe like you knew everything in advance, planned it all already, or expected it to happen. Hmm...”
They said that, stroking their chin.
What?
“All right, then. I guess I’ll have to prepare a little surprise.”
“...What?”
“You’ve got something going on, don’t you? I was already thinking about it, but after that mock battle, I’m even more sure. If I don’t stake my claim now, people everywhere are going to snatch you up before long.”
“...”
What are you talking about?
As I stared at Elijah in disbelief, they grinned and held out a fist.
“...What’s that?”
“A fist bump. Don’t guys do this with their friends?”
“...”
It bears repeating.
Just like in the original, Elijah seems sociable, but there’s something oddly clumsy about them.
Thinking that, I bumped my fist against theirs, and they flashed me a bright smile before dashing off.
“Well, see you tomorrow, sir! I’ll send a letter to your dorm!”
“...”
The way you put it makes me a little nervous.
And just the fact that you’re saying we’ll see each other tomorrow is worrying.
< Gift-Related Character Alert >
▼ Elnore
[ Trust Level 5 ]
[ You are close to a change in trust status! ]
[ Important character. A special event will occur if the status change succeeds! ]
[ Related event in D-1 ]
▼ Elijah
[ Curiosity Level 5 ]
[ Rewards cannot be claimed yet! ]
[ You are close to a change in trust status! ]
[ Important character. A special event will occur if the status change succeeds! ]
[ Related event in D-1 ]
Tomorrow is the day.
The day the main quest and character events happen at the same time.
‘Considering the original, I don’t think anything much happens then...’
The main quest at the welcome party, as far as I remembered, was no more than a ‘magical beast disturbance.’
But with two character events tied into it, there’s no way I can let my guard down.
“What are you thinking about so intently?”
A question came my way while I was lost in thought.
So I turned in that direction.
Elnore was there, radiating an ominous aura with her entire being.
“...”
“...”
What?
What’s with her?
Her expression was still blank, but the slight furrow between her brows and the twitching corners of her eyes showed she was furious.
“You two seemed to have had a lovely time together. Do you like that freshman, Elijah?”
“...”
So, what now?
Life-or-Death hadn’t activated, so it didn’t seem like she intended to do anything to me, but I still had a bad feeling that something terrible would happen if I didn’t soothe her somehow.
I have to say something...!
“Um, well, Student Council President?”
“What?”
“I missed you.”
“...”
The moment Elnore fell silent, an unwritten phrase from an imaginary dictionary flashed through my mind.
Absolutely hopeless at reading the room—synonym: Dowd Campbell.
Would something like that really work on the imperious student council president?
“...I see.”
But her voice sounded much softer than before.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but her expression seemed to relax, too.
‘...Huh?’
It worked?
That?
That utterly haphazard sentence I’d blurted out without thinking?
While I was still bewildered, Elnore crossed her arms and said, looking sulky,
“You mean that even while you were with that freshman, you kept wishing you could see me?”
“...”
That wasn’t exactly what I meant.
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean in a romantic sense... Ahem. I mean it as friendship. We’re not at that stage yet.”
“...”
I didn’t say anything.
“...Yes, well.”
“Then that’s settled. Just remember your priorities properly.”
“...”
What priorities?
What are you talking about?
“Well, since I’ve come all this way, I’ll give this to you now. I’d originally planned to give it to you tomorrow.”
Elnore said that and held out a letter.
What’s this now?
“...Make sure you open it somewhere private. Well, then.”
With that, Elnore vanished in a flash.
She seemed terribly embarrassed to hand it over.
“...”
What is it, seriously?
What’s with Elijah and Elnore suddenly giving me letters?
I should hurry back and open them.
●
“I should’ve just left them unopened.”
I let out a groan like a dying old man.
Elijah’s and Elnore’s letters lay open on my desk.
They said exactly the same thing.
They were asking me to be their ‘partner’ at tomorrow’s freshman welcome party.
“...”
Being their partner itself wasn’t that big a deal.
It just meant going around and having fun together during the event. In other words, a date.
Taken at face value, it was an innocent bit of interaction between a boy and a girl, but this event was in the original game, too.
If you turned them down, their affection would drop dramatically, and later, when you proceeded with their scenario, you’d suffer a brutal penalty. You might as well consider yourself dead when you got to that part.
So in the original, you were usually given a choice between two characters you could ‘sidestep.’ Someone you could at least handle.
“...”
But of all people, one of them is the protagonist, and the other is the final boss.
No matter which one I choose, it feels like only hell awaits. If I make even one of them my enemy, my life will be hanging by a thread.
I can’t avoid the event, either. Like I said before, this is where the ‘main quest’ takes place. If I don’t attend, there’s a high chance of a game over. Straight to death.
Turn them both down? Then I’d just stack penalties with both of them. That’s also a one-way trip to death.
Caught between a rock and a hard place. Surrounded on all sides.
The greatest crisis of Dowd Campbell’s life.
No, if it were actually a date, at least I wouldn’t feel so wronged about being threatened with death over having to choose between them.
There’s no way these two are seriously asking me on a date in this situation. Their status indicators say ‘Curiosity’ and ‘Trust.’ Not love or anything like that.
It’d be more accurate to call it curiosity.
‘But I can’t just sit back and die.’
I gritted my teeth and racked my brain.
Think, Dowd Campbell.
There has to be some way to avoid hurting either of them and save my own life. Anything...!
“...Huh.”
Just then.
A plan came to me.
If it fell apart, I’d definitely die, but if it worked, it seemed like I might be able to get through this somehow.
“...”
It was kind of scummy, though.
Still, it was practically my only way out. My life was on the line, and I had no choice...!
I closed my eyes and thought furiously. I dredged up every detail I remembered about the event and put together a plan.
“...Seems doable?”
Yeah.
It didn’t seem impossible.
“...”
Now that I thought about it, no matter which one I chose, I was basically dead anyway.
So then.
“...What if I meet them both?”
As long as they don’t find out about each other, right?
●