Chapter 5
For some reason, this restroom was on a different floor from the lecture hall, where no one ever came.
And yet Professor Kadisha had gone out of her way to come here instead of using the restroom right next to the lecture hall.
Putting those two facts together, the answer was obvious.
‘This is the faculty restroom…!’
No, if that’s the case, at least put up a sign or something!
‘Tsk.’
I didn’t want to be remembered as the guy who sneaked into a female professor’s restroom on the very first day of the academy.
‘If she’d just wash her hands and leave….’
But the things you hope for most desperately have a way of going wrong right before your eyes, just to spite you.
Like Professor Kadisha entering the stall right next to ours.
“….”
“….”
I met Maron’s gaze.
From the next stall came the sound of fabric brushing against itself, then a sigh.
“Haa….”
Then came the sound of running water.
‘What kind of situation is this?’
I was in the faculty restroom, pressed up against a girl from my class while listening to a pretty female teacher pee in the next stall.
‘Why did Maron even find the faculty women’s restroom on her first day?’
Maron came out of the empty women’s restroom.
She had a half-eaten sandwich in her hand.
Maybe something had put her off her food, because her irises were the color of murky storm clouds.
Our eyes met.
Maron hurriedly looked away.
Maron, Maron…
Had you been wandering around the academy from the very first day just to find somewhere to eat?
I was about to cry.
From now on, I had to make sure to eat with her.
Maybe Maron was the kind of character who encouraged daily logins in the game by asking, ‘O-oh, you’ll eat with me again today…?’
Then if you logged in after a few days, she’d welcome you with a wan smile and say, ‘While you were gone? I-I was fine! Eating alone has its perks, too!’
‘You generous free five-star….’
Ding!
【A sudden quest has appeared!】
〈Praise the Awkward Girl〉
Objective: Compliment Maron’s personality and earn a positive response.
Reward: 500 Praise Points
‘A sudden quest, huh.’
<Astra Radius> was set up as an open-world subculture game.
So it wasn’t strange for a sudden quest like this to appear.
It was a little unusual that it asked me to give a compliment suited to my ability, though.
‘Praise the Awkward Girl, huh.’
But it had pinpointed exactly what I should compliment.
Her personality.
The hardest thing to compliment, of course.
But the reward was sweet.
A whopping 500 points.
Even the points I’d earned by making Professor Kadisha feel “immense euphoria” had only amounted to 300.
But this quest gave me 500 points in one go.
I couldn’t possibly pass that up.
‘If I can get those, there’s an item I really want to buy right now.’
All right. As soon as Professor Kadisha leaves—
Time limit: 10 seconds
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!!’
You expect me to whisper compliments in Maron’s ear while the trickle, trickle sound is still coming from the next stall!?
Time limit: 7 seconds
I cupped the area around Maron’s ear with my fingers and whispered in the lowest voice I could manage.
“Maron.”
“!?”
Maron flinched and silently protested with her eyes.
For some reason, it felt like I was doing something terribly wicked.
Not to Professor Kadisha, but to Maron.
‘I’m sorry, my awkward girl. Just hang in there a little longer.’
Time limit: 4 seconds
“You’re really kind.”
“…!!”
Maron’s body trembled. Her foot suddenly jerked up and kicked the stall door.
Thud!
From Professor Kadisha’s stall came a puzzled voice.
“Hmm…?”
“….”
“….”
But when we stayed quiet, she seemed to assume the person in the next stall had just bumped into the door.
And Maron…
“—!!”
She glared at me as if she wanted to shoot me dead.
Her irises were a vivid, scarlet red.
【The target feels great joy】
<Praise Points: 30(468
→
498)>
Her reaction was honest, even if her expression said otherwise.
Ding!
【Sudden Quest:〈Praise the Awkward Girl〉Complete!】
【500 Praise Points awarded as a reward (498
→
998)】
Professor Kadisha pulled her stockings back up, opened the door, and disappeared with the clicking of her heels.
Even after that, we held our breaths for a long while.
“Do you think she’s gone?”
“I think she’s gone.”
And at the same time, we both let out a breath.
“Phewwww….”
“Haaaah…!!”
Maron whispered, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Liam…! The professor was in the next stall! How could you do that…?”
“Sorry.”
“We should get going, too… Uuugh, I’m so startled because of you, Liam, my legs won’t hold me up…!”
“Want me to support you?”
Maron’s irises turned orange.
“…I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“….”
Maron stared at me.
“Are you going to keep making me spell everything out for you from now on?”
“Huh?”
“…You know exactly what I mean, so don’t pretend you don’t. Honestly, you good-for-nothing….”
What?
What is it?
If you put it like that, I won’t know what you mean.
“Let’s go for now. We’ll be late for the next class at this rate.”
On the way, I complimented Maron’s hair and earned two more points.
As expected, nice, round numbers are easier on the eyes.
.
.
.
The next break.
“Liam.”
Maron whispered to me.
“This time, let’s go somewhere else and…”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I’ve got enough already.”
“….”
“What’s wrong?”
“So this is what they call being used and dumped.”
“Please. I don’t know what that means, but I’m sorry. Just don’t use that phrase.”
I heard someone click their tongue conspicuously. When I turned around, Roy glared at me, then looked away.
‘What?’
If he had something to say, he could just say it.
What a character straight out of a romance fantasy.
Though, technically, I was in one.
And at last, the mock duel—the final class of the day—began.
After introducing himself, the professor explained the purpose of the class.
“This academy is also an institution for developing the combat ability necessary to fight the Voidbeasts.”
Voidbeasts.
The monsters appearing all across <Astra Radius>.
It was a setting straight out of a subculture game.
In the original romance fantasy, this was where they got emotional, going on about how the academy students were practically child soldiers and how they were bound by fate, and so on.
The actual battle scenes, though, were beyond awful.
“And it is my belief, as well as the academy’s educational policy, that there is no better way to improve your combat ability than mock battles. Minor injuries are permitted, so take this seriously.”
Roy raised his hand and asked a question.
“Professor, may I go first in the practical exercise?”
“Edgers, is it? Very well. Who’s your opponent?”
“Everchess agreed to take me on.”
“Everchess…?”
The professor furrowed his brow.
His gaze was unmistakable.
‘Surely someone like Gilliam Everchess could never be a match for you.’
The professor gave Gilliam the same look.
Gilliam nodded.
“Yes, we agreed.”
“…Hmm.”
The mock duel instructor, Pell Lux, stroked his beard.
‘That’s strange.’
He’d heard about the good-for-nothing playboy of House Everchess, too.
Hadn’t the professors already been gossiping—no, holding concerned discussions—and saying he’d probably be the biggest headache among this year’s new students?
‘His eyes are different, though.’
Had something happened to make him turn over a new leaf?
At the very least, he didn’t look like a loser who’d given up and was ready to take a beating.
“All right. Both of you, get up here.”
Roy and Gilliam stepped onto the square dueling platform and faced each other.
Roy asked,
“Professor, how far does the ‘minor injuries’ you mentioned go?”
“Injuries that can be healed within a day with the infirmary’s recovery magic. Specifically, one or two broken bones.”
“Two broken bones, huh.”
Roy fixed his gaze on Gilliam.
By now, word of what had happened between them had spread even to the students who’d attended the other morning classes.
“How terrifying.”
He lifted one corner of his mouth in a sneer.
‘He’s provoking him so blatantly.’
‘Is there any need to go that far against someone as pathetic as Gilliam…?’
But Gilliam’s response far surpassed everyone’s expectations.
“Scared? If you’re scared, you can forfeit.”
He even raised an eyebrow slightly, as if he genuinely didn’t understand.
‘Huh…?’
‘He’s got some nerve.’
‘That was pretty impressive for Gilliam….’
Roy clenched his teeth and thought,
‘That was close.’
For a moment, he’d almost lost his composure and rushed at Gilliam.
‘He knows perfectly well I didn’t mean it that way, yet he’s pretending not to get it…!’
If this was a strategy to annoy the nobles to death, Roy couldn’t help but acknowledge it.
‘I’ll beat him so thoroughly he won’t be able to hold his head up…!’
But there was one thing that bothered him.
He still had no idea what Gilliam was thinking. Why had he suddenly picked a fight with the Crown Prince faction?
Well, he could ask him about it later, at his leisure.
“We’ll start when I count to three. One… two… three!”
Roy immediately unleashed the spell he’d prepared.
“<Mana Blizzard>!!”
A two-star ice spell.
A blast of intense cold surged forward.
Then, without delay, he began another incantation.
“<Ice Lance>!!”
A three-star ice spell, one rank higher. A long ice spear formed, then shot forward like a harpoon.
Professor Pell Lux watched and exclaimed in admiration.
‘As expected of an Edgers.’
The consecutive incantations. His control of mana. His movements.
There wasn’t a single flaw.
His strategy was simple, but effective.
First, deal ice-element damage with <Mana Blizzard>, then maximize the impact by driving in with <Ice Lance>. Of course, he’d blunt the tip of the spear.
One or two broken bones were acceptable.
Roy had interpreted that to mean that anything just beyond that would still result in only a light punishment.
And House Edgers had enough power to smooth over a light punishment.
The students’ assessment was much the same as the professor’s.
‘Excellent. His spellcasting and power are both impressive.’
‘As expected of House Edgers….’
‘But that guy….’
Even as Roy cast his spells, Gilliam simply stood there.
‘It’s over.’
‘Watching any more of this might be a little too tasteless.’
‘It’s practically an execution circus.’
Gilliam casually extended one hand.
‘Use <Ice Resistance Scroll>.’
【Item Used: <Ice Resistance Scroll> (Duration: 1 hour)】
Whoosh.
The cold from <Mana Blizzard> split around Gilliam.
And immediately after…
‘<Lesser Shockwave>’
【Skill Activated: <Lesser Shockwave>】
<Ice Lance> had a weakness: a frontal impact could throw it far off course.
Besides, Roy had completely dismissed Gilliam, so he hadn’t cast any other spell to cover that weakness.
As a result,
the spear took the shockwave head-on and spun vertically, flying right back toward Roy.
“Wha—”
With a loud WHAM, it slammed down Roy’s body, from his face to his stomach.
“Guh…!”
His head rang. Blood poured from his nose. He stumbled backward.
And because he’d been standing too close to the edge, Roy toppled right off the dueling platform.
“Gack…!”
As he hit the floor, the air burst out of his lungs.
The mock dueling hall fell into complete silence.
The outcome had surpassed everyone’s expectations.
Even the professor, who’d predicted Gilliam would do something, hadn’t imagined it would be this one-sided.
Gilliam, perfectly calm.
Roy, sprawled on the floor, groaning and bleeding from the nose.
A contrast clear enough to be cruel.
And in this situation,
Gilliam delivered the cruelest words a victor could say.
“Roy.”
“Grrk…?”
“You’re a talented mage.”
Unable to bear the humiliation, Roy screamed,
“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!”