Chapter 2
I complimented her, but instead of earning points, I lost them. Maron was terrified.
‘How did this happen?’
“I’m so sorry you had to see these hideous eyes, young master of the ducal house… I’ll make sure to stay out of your sight from now on, Sir Liam….”
Ah, right.
This was a romance-fantasy world.
Maron had mistaken my compliment for sarcasm or some kind of hidden meaning.
Ding!
【Soul Trait - Power of Praise (Mythic)】
〈Rules〉
1. Praise Points are proportional to the joy the recipient feels upon receiving the compliment.
Complimenting someone earns points.
If the recipient is only a little happy, you get a few; if they’re very happy, you get a lot.
And what if the other person actually feels worse because of the compliment?
Your points go negative. Regardless of my intentions.
‘If the points are proportional, then of course they can go negative.’
Okay. Got it.
Ding!
〈Rules〉
2. Sincere compliments also earn bonus points.
‘So sincere compliments get more points, while halfhearted ones get fewer.’
Intuitive.
Of course a sincere compliment is worth more than a halfhearted one.
‘Then if I compliment someone insincerely, I get negative points… Oh? Wait a second.’
If I gave someone a false compliment and made them feel bad, the negative and negative would multiply, and—
Ding!
〈Rules〉
3. However, if a false compliment makes the recipient feel offended, your remaining Praise Points are automatically set to 0.
So that won’t work.
‘It’s not as simple as I thought.’
I thought I could just shower anyone and everyone with random compliments and make points out of thin air, but there were actually stricter conditions.
The difficult part was…
‘This world is an open-world subculture game, but it’s also a romance fantasy.’
Putting people down.
Scheming.
Betrayal and alliances.
A romance-fantasy world where all of that was everyday life.
The heroine had conquered the academy in that romance-fantasy world by being the most underhanded of them all… but she was definitely not the only one like that.
A world where beating around the bush, sarcasm, and office politics were the norm.
If I fired off compliments without thinking, they could backfire.
Like Maron getting scared just now.
‘Then the ideal strategy for me here is obvious.’
Carefully gauge the other person’s state and mood, then deliver only compliments that will make them happy, at exactly the right moment.
However…
‘If I were capable of that, I wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble at a female-dominated company in the first place.’
An ideal strategy?
I know.
But I can’t do it. I really can’t, so I don’t.
Therefore, rule number one: do my best, but don’t get my hopes up.
Of course, I’m not going to look at a bald guy and say, ‘Your scalp is so shiny, it’s lovely’ and call that a compliment. That’s a matter of common sense, not social awareness.
But rule number two.
You earn points in proportion to how sincerely you compliment someone.
‘That, I can do.’
And…
Even if they misunderstand and feel offended at first, if I keep complimenting them sincerely, eventually my feelings will get through to them.
That’s my strategy.
Now to put it into practice.
“…Sir Liam?”
Even after being so startled, Maron spoke to me again.
No, maybe it was the other way around.
Was she talking to me because she was startled?
“Miss Maron.”
“Yeees….”
Maron’s eyes welled up with tears.
“There was no hidden meaning in what I just said. I meant exactly what I said.”
“!!”
【The target feels uneasy】
<Praise Points: -10(
0→
0)>
I ignored it. I decided to ignore it.
My balance was zero anyway.
A man with nothing to lose has nothing to fear.
“I was sincere before, and I’m sincere now.”
I looked into her eyes so my feelings would come across clearly.
“Miss Maron. I think your eyes are as fascinating as they are unusual.”
“!!”
Maron’s irises changed color again. This time, they were purple.
“I thought they were fascinating from the moment I first saw them. But the more I look, the more I find those eyes, which change color along with your emotions, enchanting.”
It was something I’d always thought, even while reading the scenes where Maron was self-deprecating in the original story.
“My eyes? Haha… They look monstrous, don’t they? Hideous….”
Maron Clerias hugged herself.
Her gestures said it all: how much she hated herself.
That didn’t seem right.
They’d actually look quite pretty in person, I thought.
“It seems you don’t like your eyes, Miss Maron.”
To emphasize that I meant it, I leaned a little toward her.
“Let me say it again.”
Looking her straight in the eye, I spoke clearly.
“I think your eyes are very beautiful.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
That’s strange.
Why wasn’t she reacting at all—
【The target feels flustered, but also happy】
<Praise Points: +1(0
→
1)
【Congratulations!
You’ve earned your first Praise Point!】
I’d finally succeeded.
Even if it was only one point.
Maron slowly turned her head to the side.
The ear I could see was red.
“….”
“…Miss Maron?”
“….”
“I really do think your eyes are pretty.”
“….”
【The target feels happy】
<Praise Points: +3(1
→
4)
She didn’t say a word.
But the Praise Points kept coming.
A toy that dispensed points when you pressed it—no, a person.
IF compliment → +P
IF not compliment → 0P
“I think your eyes are pretty.”
“….”
【The target feels very happy】
<Praise Points: +10(4
→
14)
“The way they change with your emotions is charming, and each of their colors is beautiful, too.”
“….”
【The target feels even happier】
Praise Points: +30(14→44)
“And more than anything, they suit your smile so well—”
“You there! Pay attention to class!”
The female professor shouted angrily.
‘Oh no.’
I’d gotten so absorbed that I’d forgotten class was in session. I promptly apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“Late on the very first day of class, and now this… Tsk.”
The professor clicking her tongue was named Kadisha Flareheart.
Long, blue-silver hair.
Slender legs encased in black stockings.
And a youthful face that seemed at odds with her age left a strong impression.
“You’re Gilliam of House Everchess, aren’t you? Let me make this clear in advance: no matter how high your noble rank, it won’t affect your grades. I won’t go easy on you!”
That wasn’t true.
Even if the academy was nominally fair, it was impossible not to cater to the nobles.
But Professor Kadisha was someone who could say that and get away with it.
Because she was the one person who actually lived by what she’d just said.
And that was what led to her downfall.
“You want me to falsify the grades? I can’t do that.”
Even in the oppressive atmosphere of the chairman’s office, Kadisha didn’t back down.
“Professor Flareheart, this isn’t just a matter of your conscience. It concerns the entire academy. Can’t you imagine what would happen if you made the Crown Prince repeat a year?”
“I still can’t do it. If you insist, then fire me and bring in someone else to do it.”
“…It seems I was mistaken about you.”
The chairman sighed.
“So you’re saying you won’t listen unless I dismiss you?”
“Yes.”
“Then get the hell out of here.”
“…What?
”
The chairman declared in an angry voice.
“I’ll dismiss you, then. And don’t think that’s the end of it. I’ll make sure you understand just how small the academic world is.”
Kadisha eventually struggled to find another job, became a villain who harbored hatred toward the academy, and attacked it.
In the end, she was ‘put down’ by the main male lead, the Crown Prince, and Kadisha Flareheart’s life came to a tragic end.
So what happened to the Crown Prince, the real culprit?
He put on a show of crying in front of the heroine, saying, ‘To think this was all my fault…’ And the heroine just sat there comforting him, saying, ‘It wasn’t your fault.’
Naturally, there wasn’t even a mention of punishing the Crown Prince.
It was one of the scenes I hated most.
“Professor Kadisha.”
“Since when do students address their professors by their first names—”
“This may sound sudden, but there’s something I’d like to compliment you on, Professor.”
“…Huh?”
Professor Kadisha looked at me like I was some lunatic. How unfair.
“Aren’t we meeting for the first time today?”
That was true.
“I heard about you.”
“Huh… Yes, you heard about me.”
Professor Kadisha frowned.
Why was she doing that?
“I was going to let you off with a mild warning since it’s the first day, but you’re determined to make a scene, aren’t you?”
The students in the classroom began whispering, too.
“Why is he doing that all of a sudden?”
“Is he picking a fight on the first day…?”
“Tsk, how inelegant.”
Eyes poured down on me. Half were reproachful, half curious.
The sharpest glare of all came from Professor Kadisha herself.
“Then do tell me, Sir Gilliam, heir to House Everchess, which holds the Dukedom of Lotrand, the Marquisates of Kshul and Fiores, and a host of other lesser titles.”
She was laying on the sarcasm thick.
“What exactly did you hear about me? I’m sure it was something complimentary, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Well, let’s hear just how complimentary it was—”
“I’ve heard a great deal about how fair and impartial you are, Professor Kadisha.”
“…?”
Professor Kadisha froze.
Blink.
She blinked again.
“What are you talking about? I mean, after going to all this trouble to create a situation like this, you say—”
“I’m sincere.”
“No, that’s not the point—”
“What could be more important than sincerity? It’s true that you won’t tolerate injustice, and that you’d never give in even if someone asked you to falsify grades, isn’t it?”
“S-Sir Gilliam!”
【The target feels happy】
<Praise Points: +5(44→49)>
“Then if someone asked you to falsify grades, would you do it?”
“Well, of course not, but that’s not what I’m trying to say—”
“Professor Kadisha, I mean it.”
Though there was some distance between us, I met her eyes directly.
“You’re an excellent educator. I think you should be proud of that.”
Professor Kadisha’s face turned as red as tomato sauce.
“H-Hwaaa…?”
【The target feels immense fulfillment】
<Praise Points: +100(49
→
149)>