Chapter 6
“Graaagh!!!! I’ll never forgive you!!! I’ll never forget this humiliation!!!!”
Even as Roy was carried off to the infirmary, he screamed at me at the top of his lungs.
【The target feels humiliated】
<Praise Points: -100(0→0)>
‘So this is how it goes.’
I’d made sure to do it with zero points left, just in case, so it didn’t matter.
Wasn’t I afraid Roy would hold a grudge?
‘His feelings were already hurt to begin with….’
More importantly,
It’s better to have someone curse you out like that than to have them whisper behind your back in some romance-fantasy fashion.
‘It feels like things are getting a little more normal.’
It was as if one layer of the romance-fantasy veneer over <Astra Radius> had peeled away.
Maybe by the time I graduated, the academy would be completely ‘normal’ again.
‘But this is going to limit what I can do.’
For now, I’d just gathered 1,000 points and spent them all at once, so it didn’t matter. But later, I’d have to make purchases worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of points.
Like an endgame weapon that you could only get in the latter half of the game.
Wouldn’t I have to keep my mouth shut while saving up points for that?
Ding!
【Hidden Quest:〈First Use & Activation〉Complete!】
〈First Use & Activation〉
Objective:
- Use 1 item
- Activate 1 skill
【New Shop Category Unlocked as a Reward: Trait Support】
‘Oh?’
【Shop】
〈Category: Trait Support〉
- Point Protection (30 points)
- Next Praise Recommendation (300 points)
(…)
‘So this is a category that supports and strengthens my trait.’
Then that upgrade was exactly what I needed right now.
Finding someone to compliment was easy enough for now, but that would be a useful ability to have later.
As I looked over the shop, a female student approached me.
“Gilliam Everchess.”
Sharp, severe-looking eyes.
She was a noble named Supi Valliera, one of the supporting characters.
I was pretty sure… she wasn’t a playable character, just a resident NPC in the open-world game.
“That was amazing. I can’t believe you beat Edgers so easily. I’d love to hear how you did it. Would you come to a party later?”
“A party?”
“Oh my, you didn’t know?”
Supi’s eyes narrowed with amusement.
“It’s a party for the new students to get to know each other. Only this year’s incoming students will attend—no upperclassmen. Of course, it’s only for nobles.”
A party among the nobles in a romance fantasy, huh.
It would surely be a place full of exhausting, ridiculous power plays and roundabout remarks.
“The invitation…”
Wait a second.
A party for the new students on the very first day of the academy?
A beautiful woman sitting alone in the middle of the room.
No one goes near her. As though they’re afraid of her.
“Sounds good. I’ll go.”
There was someone I needed to meet now.
And I already knew how the party was going to unfold.
“Oh, and you’ll be bringing a date of the opposite sex, of course, right?”
Supi’s gaze swept over Maron from head to toe.
“…”
Avoiding her gaze, Maron’s irises turned a melancholy navy blue.
‘Going to the party with Sir Liam….’
She hated parties. Nothing good would come of going to one.
But.
If she went with Sir Liam, she thought she might not mind going after all.
The problem was…
‘Even if I went with him, I’d be a nuisance to Sir Liam, not a help.’
But—but.
Maybe Liam didn’t have anyone else he could invite, either?
The shocking events had come one after another, and I’d almost forgotten, but today was still only the academy’s first day.
It was common sense that you had to pair up with someone of the opposite sex to attend a party.
So Sir Liam must have accepted the invitation already thinking about which girl he’d bring.
And since she was the only girl Liam knew, it was practically as if he’d already invited her—
“Can’t I just go alone?”
The light vanished from Maron’s eyes.
Even Supi, who’d clearly come over to take a jab at Gilliam, was taken aback by that remark.
“Y-you’re going to the party alone?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t just say ‘yeah’ and leave it at that— H-hehehe…”
Supi desperately clung to her composure, which had nearly cracked.
‘I see. So this is what it feels like when it happens to you….’
She understood why Roy Edgers had lost his noble composure and shouted.
Attend the party alone?
What kind of ridiculous thing was that?
“…All right. I’ll tell everyone that Sir Gilliam will be attending today’s party ‘alone.’ You don’t mind, do you?”
Well, what are you going to do about that?
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“…”
Supi felt a headache coming on.
“W-well then. See you later.”
She absolutely wasn’t running away.
It was merely a strategic retreat.
The various groups started whispering about Gilliam.
‘What on earth does he want…?’
‘How did he do that earlier?’
‘He beat Roy Edgers with ease, and then provoked him like that, too.’
‘We can’t just ignore him….’
‘Should we try to meet with him privately, even now?’
Of course, Gilliam himself…
‘Thanks for inviting me.’
Wasn’t thinking about anything at all.
More precisely, he was thinking, but not about anything like that.
‘I should start investing in stats soon. I’m sure every single one of this Gilliam guy’s stats is F.’
How could he get stronger?
How could he get stronger ‘efficiently’ and ‘quickly’?
“U-um…”
“?”
When I turned to the side, Maron was fidgeting as if she wanted to say something.
“You really are going to the party alone…?”
“I really am going alone.”
“!?”
Honestly, I did want to bring Maron along.
But a socially awkward girl like Maron would probably have a fit just from getting near the party hall.
‘Did she perhaps mean to come with me for my sake?’
How thoughtful. As expected of a free five-star character. She really does stick by the protagonist.
‘Though I’m a villain, not the protagonist. Whatever.’
Villain Gilliam was dead.
From now on, I’d live like the protagonist. Not of a romance fantasy, but of a subculture open-world game.
“S-Sir Gilliam Everchess.”
Why was she suddenly calling me so formally?
“Then I hope you’ll eat lunch separately starting tomorrow?”
“What are you talking about?”
If that happened, I’d surely see Maron walking into the faculty restroom with a sandwich, like she had today.
“Let’s keep eating together from now on. Unless you don’t want to, of course.”
Maron’s eyes lit up a brilliant red.
“Yes! Th-then that’s fine!”
What was fine?
Well, she seemed happy again, so it was probably all right.
Someone whispered.
“That’s the girl they call the Phantomblaze Star (幻爛星)….”
“Shh, she’ll hear you.”
Subculture games often have one overarching theme running through them.
The theme of <Astra Radius> was stars.
And the Phantomblaze Star was the name of a star intertwined with Maron’s fate.
If she followed the right path, she would become a witch who saved the world.
If she were twisted down the wrong path, she would become a witch who destroyed it.
“Hehe….”
The socially awkward free five-star gave an embarrassed smile.
As if she were used to people talking behind her back.
——————
When I arrived at the hall that evening, right on time for the party, it was already in full swing.
“He really came alone…?”
“What was he thinking…?”
On top of that, he was still wearing his academy uniform.
“How uncouth….”
“Just as you’d expect from the Everchess delinquent.”
“…But was he the delinquent type in that way?”
Whispers spread, but Gilliam paid none of them any mind. He was looking for someone.
‘Ah, there she is.’
Just as described in the original, a woman sat alone despite this being a party for the new students to mingle.
Though she was a fellow freshman, no one dared approach her.
They couldn’t.
Golden hair.
A beautiful yet cold, expressionless face.
The Second Princess, Elettra Xanthias.
Found her.
My living hidden piece.
I’d spent half of the 1,000 Praise Points I’d saved up to defeat Roy.
And with the other 500, I’d bought a consumable item.
<Petal of Syndras>
Description: Snow-white petals with medicinal properties. Can revive a spirit lifeform once.
If I gave this to Elettra, the princess would become a living hidden piece.
“Wait.”
A large male student blocked my way as I approached Princess Elettra.
“What do you want?”
“I have business with Her Highness, Princess Elettra.
“You? Gilliam Everchess?”
Princess Elettra, who’d been looking bored all this time, lifted her head at the sound of my name.
Curiosity glimmered in her blue eyes.
‘The reputation of the Everchess delinquent is useful at times like this.’
“Gilliam Everchess, know your place.”
“…Who are you?”
I really was asking because I didn’t know, but the veins in the male student’s neck bulged.
‘Why is he so angry? He doesn’t seem to be Elettra’s guard, either.’
Tsk.
What a pain.
I knew parties in romance fantasies weren’t for me.
“Your Highness.”
Through the blind spot of the student blocking my way, I casually slid over an envelope containing the Petal of Syndras.
The envelope slid across the table and tapped Elettra’s hand.
“…It seems you won’t understand unless I speak plainly.”
The male student clenched his teeth, just about to teach this insolent delinquent a lesson the hard way.
“What kind of disrespect are you showing Her Highness—”
“Wait!”
After opening the envelope, Princess Elettra hurriedly stood up.
“Take your hands off him!”
“Y-Your Highness?”
The student who’d been pestering Elettra for a while was flustered, but her attention was fixed solely on Gilliam.
She personally shoved the male student, who’d frozen in place, aside and approached Gilliam, her sapphire-blue eyes sparkling brightly.
“How did you know I needed this so badly!?”
Everyone in the party hall turned their attention to Gilliam.
To the man who’d appeared out of nowhere and stolen Her Highness’s attention in an instant.