Chapter 3
‘Woohoo!’
Total points: 149.
Thanks to earning 100 points in one go, I’d literally moved up to a whole new level.
‘With these points, I should get that ready.’
Since this was the first class, I must have possessed Gilliam on the morning after the entrance ceremony.
If so, there was an event coming up soon.
Mock duel class.
It was exactly the sort of class you’d expect in a subculture game: students paired off to spar one-on-one.
And one thing was certain.
If I couldn’t earn Praise Points and prepare some items or weapons, I’d be humiliated in that mock duel class.
Which meant I couldn’t afford to pass up Professor Kadisha, who’d just given me 100 points in one go.
“Professor Kadisha.”
Here goes.
With all my sincerity.
“For a long time, I’ve lamented that you haven’t been given the recognition you deserve.”
“…!”
“You’re beyond reproach not only as a mage, but also as a researcher and educator.”
“…!!!”
Professor Kadisha, flushed bright red, trembled.
【The target is experiencing extreme euphoria】
<Praise Points: +300(149→449)>
Wow, just how many points are you giving me, Professor?
A true educator. A god-tier teacher. The Giving Tree.
“I think you’re—”
“Be quiet!!”
Professor Kadisha roared.
“…?”
No, why?
You were enjoying it, too.
Professor Kadisha shouted, huffing and puffing.
“Class! We’re continuing with the lesson!!”
Professor Kadisha turned to hurriedly write something on the blackboard, then shrieked at another part of the lecture hall.
“Everyone, stop chatting and pay attention!!”
The students struck by the professor’s roar flinched, then glared at me.
No, why are you blaming me?
‘Hmm.’
I considered the matter in the silence that had been forced upon us.
‘Still, the points I already earned didn’t get deducted?’
If Professor Kadisha had really been upset, my points would’ve gone down.
‘Does that mean that even though she’s saying all that, she isn’t actually upset?’
I nodded.
‘This is hard.’
My friends used to tell me the same thing.
That I wasn’t a bad person, but I was a little dense and had no sense of what was going on.
“L-Liam…”
Maron whispered beside me.
“What on earth are you thinking…!?”
“What?”
“There’s no way you don’t know! If you say something like that out loud on the very first day, in front of everyone…!”
Maron’s eyes turned gray.
“Do you realize who you’re screwing over?!”
“….”
No, I didn’t.
Who had I screwed over?
“You there!! I said no chatting during class!!”
I found out exactly who I’d screwed over as soon as Professor Kadisha’s class ended.
“We’ll pick up from here next time!”
Professor Kadisha left the lecture hall as if fleeing.
And immediately, the whole group that had been whispering earlier—and gotten snapped at—came over to me.
The male student at the front glared at me.
“You’re Gilliam Everchess, right?”
——————
Gilliam Everchess.
A good-for-nothing with nothing but his family name.
All he ever did was crack crude jokes at women and snicker, then laze around and drink.
If he’d at least done that well enough to become a rich, young widow’s kept boyfriend, Gilliam might not have been so despised.
But Gilliam couldn’t even manage to be a good-for-nothing properly.
He hit on women, then muttered irritably to himself when they recoiled.
Even when he drank, he sneakily sipped in a corner, keeping an eye on his surroundings.
A pathetic, contemptible man.
The shameful disgrace of the prestigious House Everchess.
That was Gilliam.
Even the academy’s new students had heard of his infamy, if they were nobles.
And yet.
That pathetic Gilliam had suddenly changed. On his very first day at the academy.
“Professor Kadisha.”
In a serious, clear voice unlike anything he’d ever used before.
“This may sound sudden, but there’s something I’d like to compliment you on.”
And then came the bombshell.
Praise for Professor Kadisha, who would never agree to falsify grades.
The contrast left the noble students stunned.
‘Had he been hiding his true nature all this time?’
‘Was he deliberately pretending to be an idiot…?’
‘If he’d been hiding his claws until now, why show them today of all days?’
One of the male students muttered.
“Grade tampering… That’s a sore spot for our Crown Prince faction.”
As soon as class ended, the student went straight up to Gilliam.
“You’re Gilliam Everchess, right?”
Of course, he knew who Gilliam was.
Even so, he deliberately asked again.
Meaning: You’re completely different from how you’ve been up until now. What exactly are you up to?
Gilliam furrowed his brow, then spoke as if he’d just remembered.
“Was it Roy Edgers?”
They obviously knew each other, but Gilliam acted as though he’d only just recalled his name.
‘He’s insulting not just the entire Crown Prince faction, but me personally, too.’
But only commoners returned an insult just because they’d been insulted.
Hide a blade in your words, a needle in the blade, poison in the needle, and a code in the poison.
That was the language of nobles.
A single movement.
A single gesture.
Nothing was done carelessly; everything had to carry meaning.
“Gilliam, if you’re going this far, you’re prepared for the consequences, right?”
“?”
Gilliam’s face was blank, as if he didn’t understand a thing.
Roy’s blood boiled.
“This afternoon, in the mock duel, I’m going to challenge you.”
“You?”
Gilliam furrowed his brow, then let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s a relief.”
Grit.
Roy nearly lost his composure.
To openly disregard him like that…
He wanted nothing more than to punch Gilliam right in the face.
“…Tsk.”
But Roy clicked his tongue, carefully keeping his composure, and headed back to his seat beside the other students in the Crown Prince faction.
“Roy Edgers.”
“Hmm?”
“You use ice magic, right?”
What a pointless thing to ask.
Everyone knew House Edgers was renowned for its ice magic.
“I do. What about it?”
“No, nothing.
Gilliam’s eyes were fixed on empty space.
Roy’s anger began boiling over again.
He’d asked something obvious, then acted like he wasn’t paying attention.
‘Does he think my ice magic isn’t even worth considering?’
As if.
‘I’ll humiliate him in the mock duel.’
Even after Roy returned to his seat, Gilliam continued to stare intently into space and mutter to himself.
“449… I’m short by 51 points….”
“L-Liam! What are you going to do?”
Maron asked urgently, seeing how unconcerned he seemed.
“Roy is the heir of House Edgers, a prestigious family known for ice magic… But you, Liam…!”
Maron was genuinely worried.
“You can’t use magic or swordsmanship at all, Liam!”
A good-for-nothing with nothing but his family name.
Among the things Gilliam lacked was any personal ability.
In other words,
Gilliam wasn’t just a pathetic, contemptible man. He was also completely useless.
He couldn’t use magic.
Nor could he use a sword.
And it wasn’t as if he had any other talents.
Choosing Gilliam as a mock duel opponent was a declaration that Roy intended to beat him down in public and humiliate him.
It was only natural for Maron to react that way.
‘It won’t happen like that this time.’
<Shop>
- Ice Resistance Scroll: 300 points
- Lesser Shockwave: 200 points
The problem was, I was still short on points.
‘Should I go after Professor Kadisha?’
Praising her nonstop in her office?
‘…No.’
If I did that, she might take it as me voluntarily declaring, ‘Please take me on as a grad student!’
Even I wasn’t so dense that I couldn’t figure that much out.
Then should I grab another student and start complimenting them?
‘I could, but there’s a good chance I’d have to clear up another misunderstanding first.’
If my balance had been zero, that would’ve been fine.
But I already had 449 points.
I had no idea how long it would take to earn them back if I lost them.
That left me with only one option.
‘Maron.’
I’d shower the person who’d already accepted my sincerity with compliments and earn the remaining 51 points.
‘Maron was already a character I liked, too.’
Maron wasn’t kind to Gilliam because the two of them had some special connection.
It was simply because Maron Clerias was a kind and gentle person.
“L-Liam may be a good-for-nothing, but… if I treat him well, maybe he’ll show me a good side of himself.”
That was the sort of person Maron was.
In the story-within-the-story, <Astra Radius>, she was a free five-star, right?
I could see why they’d made that choice.
If I were a game developer, I’d make someone like Maron a guide character you could get early on.
‘Is that why she looks like this, too?’
Subculture-game-style fashion that left her cleavage and sideboob completely exposed.
I’d been too confused to notice when I first possessed Gilliam, but now that I looked properly, it was pretty daring.
Anyway, someone like Maron would definitely grant my request.
“Maron, sorry, but can I ask you a favor?”
“What is it…?”
“From now until the mock duel starts, during every break, come with me somewhere private, just the two of us, and spend some time together.”
“………Yes?”
Maron’s face flushed red.