Chapter 47
When I visited the library again, Senior Libri pushed a book toward me.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a book you might be interested in, Junior. I recommend it.”
「A Collection of Fateful Cases Throughout History」
It really was the sort of book I’d be interested in.
“There are others, too, like 「The History of the Stars and the World」 and 「Introduction to Mana Studies」.”
The library committee’s big data. How terrifying.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing….”
Senior Libri looked shy.
“I heard. They say you saved the lives of most of the second-years, thanks to you?”
“I was just lucky.”
I meant it.
I really had just been lucky.
I just happened to know things about the original story, and I happened to discover the poison through Senior Yungt.
If those two coincidences hadn’t overlapped, this incident would’ve passed without me having any influence on it at all.
‘Wait a second.’
Then what happened to Roderick in the original story?
Was he already dead at this point?
‘That can’t be right, can it?’
With midterms approaching, soon it would be…
“I heard you were a complete delinquent, but you have a kind side, too.”
“I’ve never done a single bad thing in my life.”
“…Liar.”
“That part was a lie, actually.”
Still, how could anyone go through life without doing something bad even once?
“…Pfft.”
Senior Libri laughed, covering her mouth with her book.
“You’re surprisingly playful.”
That’s right. Come to think of it.
“Senior Libri, do you happen to know someone named Yungt?”
They must already have something going on between them.
I thought that if I helped get them talking, maybe I could help their relationship progress… but.
“?”
Senior Libri tilted her head.
“Who’s that?”
“He’s a second-year, like you. Um, he’s about this tall, with a really muscular build.”
“Oh… Ohh… Now that you mention it, there was someone like that in our year. But why are you asking about Mr. Yungt all of a sudden?”
“…I guess you two aren’t seeing each other, then?”
“Seeing each other…? We’ve barely ever spoken to each other.”
So it was a one-sided crush.
But still, maybe I could help him if I tried?
“Besides, I get intimidated when I see someone built like that… Ah, n-not that he seems like a bad person. It’s just an instinctive reaction….”
“I see.”
Senior Yungt.
I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help you with this. Just give up on your unrequited love.
I could help them along if they liked each other, but I couldn’t force an impossible relationship into existence.
‘What a shame. I wanted to help.’
Even this part of him is like Magnum.
He had a one-sided crush on Elettra, too, but he was nowhere near her type. The more he tried to get close, the more he made her dislike him.
“Oh, and, um….”
Senior Libri’s face turned red.
“You know that question you asked yesterday? About forbidden knowledge.”
“Oh, yes.”
“If we’re talking about the most well-known kind of forbidden knowledge….”
She hid her whole face behind the book, then.
“M-maybe something sexual?”
“Something sexual?”
“Y-yes….”
It was a little unexpected, but.
‘Huh? Now that she mentions it, isn’t that exactly right?’
Sexual knowledge is the most classic taboo. It’s taboo in every culture, too.
‘Could I clear Maron’s Bond Quest with sexual knowledge?’
There was no guarantee.
But it was worth a try.
“Thank you. I’m glad I asked you, Senior Libri.”
“I-I’m glad I could help….”
“Can I check out the books you recommended?”
“You’ve got a library card, right?”
As I put the books in my bag and got ready to leave, Senior Libri asked me.
“But… why did you ask about forbidden knowledge?”
I gave her a suitably vague answer. My mind was full of thoughts about how to bring this up with Maron.
“Ah… Actually, I have to do it with a woman.”
“!!”
Senior Libri hurriedly hid her face behind her book, peeking out only around the eyes.
“W-with a woman….”
“Yes.”
“W-would you happen to have someone in mind to do it with…?”
Shyly.
She swallowed nervously.
“Have you already, um, decided?”
“Oh, yes.”
“….”
“So I’m going to see if it works on her. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, Senior.”
“…Junior.”
“Yes?”
“I thought you weren’t a worthless delinquent. I almost made a mistake.”
“Hm? Isn’t that an odd thing to say?”
“No, not in the slightest.”
——————
When Maron wasn’t with Gilliam, she was generally alone.
She was no longer openly bullied as a candidate for villainess like before.
The bullies feared Gilliam’s retaliation even more than Maron herself.
‘…I shouldn’t be satisfied with this. I need to become a better person, too.’
There was a limit to the peace she could gain by having someone else protect her.
Maron was clever, so she knew that.
But.
To be honest.
The feeling of being protected by her man stirred something dark in her as a woman.
Her man was protecting her.
No.
Not as a woman, but as a female.
The instinct to depend on a strong male. The instinct that caring for him was her duty and her happiness.
Primitive and foolish… and all the more powerful for it.
‘Uuuugh….’
Maron’s face burned.
‘Still, I can’t just settle for this.’
Just as Gilliam protected her,
she needed to become someone who could offer something to Gilliam, too.
Unlike Lucy, Maron had no intention of settling for being a convenient mistress he could bring along wherever he went.
She wanted to become Gilliam’s legal wife.
Even if her rival was the Imperial Princess Elettra.
So Maron was studying hard even on her day off, in the reading room attached to the library.
‘It’s nice and quiet in here.’
The reading room was almost as empty as the training hall.
After all, most cadets were attending tea parties and social gatherings instead of cultivating their abilities.
Maron, born and raised in a romance-fantasy world, didn’t feel any sense of urgency about that, though.
“Uuugh….”
Maron stretched.
“Maron.”
“Yes?”
Maron turned to the side with both hands raised above her head, and saw the man she loved.
“L-Liam-kun…!?”
“Shh. This is a reading room.”
…He was right.
He was right, but why did it feel so unfair to get a sensible reminder from Liam-kun?
Anyway, Maron answered in a whisper, too.
“W-what is it?”
〈Next Praise Recommendation (LV.3)〉
【Automatically identifies the target → Maron Clearias】
Would it recommend praising her for her studious attitude?
Recommended line: 「Maron, even your armpits are sexy」
Mood: Grinning slyly
This is seriously not easy.
“Maron, even your armpits are sexy.”
“!!”
Maron quickly lowered both arms and covered the area around her armpits with her hands.
Then she puffed out her reddened cheeks in a pout.
“…Now you’re acting more like Liam-kun.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know.”
【The target feels shy and euphoric】
<Praise Points: +2100 (33300→35400)>
*A ×3 multiplier is applied
Why did that get me 2,100 points?
‘Still, I’m steadily getting closer to a four-star skill.’
I only needed 14,600 more points to reach my goal.
I really wanted to complete the Bond Quest with Maron as soon as possible.
So.
“Maron.”
I whispered in her ear.
“Would you like to go get sex education with me?”
“…Pardon?”
The academy infirmary.
In the white room that smelled of herbs, just like always, Professor Mella Tonishika crossed her legs.
“…So that’s why you came to see me?”
And you even brought Maron Clearias with you?
“Yes.”
Mella calmly nodded at the two cadets in front of her.
“Good. You did the right thing.”
“I knew it was a good idea to come to the infirmary professor.”
Yeah, right.
Mella swallowed a curse under her breath… and then realized.
‘Could he be trying to seduce me indirectly?’
And the fact that he’d gone out of his way to bring Maron all the way here meant…
‘…A threesome?’
Wow.
That was exactly the kind of thought only a scum-of-the-earth delinquent could have.
But wait, the Gilliam Everchess standing right in front of her was that very scum-of-the-earth delinquent, wasn’t he?
‘…A threesome, huh.’
Of course Mella knew about such things.
But.
‘I don’t really want my first time to be a threesome….’
No.
No, no.
What are you thinking, Mella? Get a grip.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want a threesome. It was that he was a cadet and she was a professor, so it was out of the question. Think straight.
If she laid a hand on a cadet and got fired from her position as an academy professor, she’d have far too much to lose.
She still had to support her younger siblings, too.
Until Everchess graduated, she couldn’t give in no matter how much he tried to seduce her.
“I’ll give you some study materials to work through on your own later. Use those.”
“Ah, I suppose that would be enough.”
“….”
“Professor Mella?”
“What?”
“Are you angry, by any chance?”
“No? I’m not angry at all.”
You seduce me, then when I turn you down, you immediately act like, ‘Well, I don’t need you anyway~’? I’m not even a little mad about that, okay? Getting mad over something like that would make me petty and weird, wouldn’t it?
‘You piece of shit womanizer.’
Mella renewed her resolve.
‘One day, I’m going to fuck you senseless until you’re bawling and begging me to stop.’
But that day wasn’t today.
“Anyway, Everchess. I have something serious to discuss.”
“I was serious, too.”
“…All right.”
How was she supposed to respond to a cadet seriously trying to seduce her?
Changing the subject was the right answer.
Mella followed the right answer.
“I wanted to thank you, as the infirmary professor, for discovering the Merchoa poisoning.”
“…This is more serious than I expected.”
Gilliam straightened up. Maron, who’d been swept along with him, straightened up too. Her breasts bounced.
“So I’d like to give you a reward… but technically, I’m not allowed to hand out supplies to cadets on my own, you know?”
So.
“You know the field west of this city?”
“Yes.”
“Go pick some herbs there for making potions. It’s a simple quest.”
As if she’d prepared it beforehand, Professor Mella took out a sheet of paper.
〈Quest Request〉
Then a system message appeared before my eyes, too.
【Side Quest】
〈Herb Gathering〉
Requester: Mella Tonishika
Objective: Gather Bellflower Petals (0/10)
Reward: A modest allowance, Medium-Grade Healing Potion ×5
“So this is what it’s usually like….”
“Hm?”
“It’s nothing.”
I stood up.
“Then I’ll be off.”
“I’ll give you the study materials you asked for at the same time.”
“Yes. I’ll finish quickly so I can receive your sex education, Professor.”
“I’ve been wondering for a while—do you say things like that on purpose?”