Chapter 9
A scene straight out of a coming-of-age movie.
Two guys sitting side by side on a park bench, canned coffees in hand, talking about the future.
“Hey, look, Magnum. Your build already screams tank.”
That was exactly the vibe. The only difference was that we had black tea in paper cups instead of canned coffee.
“I-is that so?”
“Of course it is, man! Train to boost your defense and stamina, and imagine yourself in massive armor carrying a tower shield. Even an S-rank Voidbeast’s fangs wouldn’t get through.”
And then I’d be safe behind him, even from an S-rank Voidbeast.
Every game with tank-DPS-healer roles revolves around the tank. Tanks. Secure your tanks. If you see a newbie, raise them as a tank.
“But… our Rodrimoor family has produced swordsmen for generations.”
“No, I’m telling you, you have the makings of a warrior.”
I thumped Magnum on the back.
“Just look at those broad shoulders. You’re built to be a warrior.”
“I-is that so?”
“Yeah. You’ve got talent. When you charged at me earlier, if you’d been holding a sword, I could’ve just dodged. But imagine if you charged in with a tower shield this big.”
I thumped Magnum on the back again.
“You’d just become a wall. A wall. Imagine how reassuring you’d be to the allies behind you.”
“A wall…!”
I wasn’t just saying that. I meant it.
“Honestly, even you have to admit it, right? Hey, which do you think is more likely—you becoming a great swordsman or a great warrior?”
“…Our family…”
“Oh, you idiot.”
I leaned my shoulder against the bench and took a long sip of hot tea.
Was the tea so fragrant because this was a romance fantasy, or because it was a subculture game?
Either way, I welcomed that it wasn’t a medieval fantasy reeking of horse manure.
“You’ve got way too much useless tension in your shoulders.”
“…My older brother is already an excellent swordsman.”
“So what? Your brother’s your brother, and you’re you.”
“…!”
Magnum’s grip tightened around his cup.
【The target gains hope】
<Praise Points: +5(450→455)>
‘So I do get points for praising a man.’
But why so few?
With Maron, Professor Kadisha, and Princess Elettra… I’d farmed several hundred points with only a few compliments each.
Was there a specific reason women gave more?
…Could it be the system was misandrist?
Gasp.
‘And I was complimenting him pretty sincerely, too.’
Again, Magnum really does have the makings of a tank.
More useful than being a Taimanin—
“Uuuugh…!!!”
“Why are you suddenly doing that?”
“I just inflicted psychological damage on myself.”
Magnum laughed as if he couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t know… you’re a little different from the infamous Gilliam I’d heard about.”
“People can change.”
“…I suppose they can.”
Magnum sighed.
Seeing him like that…
“Hey, you like Princess Elettra, don’t you?”
Magnum jumped.
“What kind of absurd thing are you saying…!! My feelings are nothing but loyalty!”
“Sure, sure, loyalty, yeah, okay, sure.”
I trusted that about as much as, ‘We’re just childhood friends~.’
Elettra seemed not merely uninterested in Magnum, but actually repulsed by him.
“Still, you should probably stop pushing so hard.”
“…Are you rooting for me?”
“It’s not like it has anything to do with me.”
Elettra was pretty, sure.
But it wasn’t like she had any particular affection for me, either.
Anyway.
“Right, help me find my dorm room. I forgot where it is.”
“I don’t mind, but… room? What are you talking about?”
“?”
A row of cottages stood along one side of the academy campus.
“…These are the dorms?”
You've got to be kidding me.
Even if this was a subculture game, commoner students had to share rooms in communal dorms, while the noble young masters each got their own private cottage?
‘…Or was it? A depiction of the upper classes enjoying this kind of privilege was entirely plausible.’
Among them, I found the cottage with a plaque reading ‘Everchess.’
‘Ah, this one.’
It was a two-story cottage, identical to the ones on either side.
The only difference was that the ground-floor window was broken. By a rock someone had thrown.
“Hmm.”
How childish.
‘Did they think they could get away with it if they did it while I was gone?’
Truly childish.
As I was about to go inside, a woman poked her head out of the neighboring house.
She had a languid air about her and white hair.
In true subculture-game fashion, she was revealingly dressed and had a truly enormous chest.
“Hey, boy.”
“I’m not exactly at an age where you should call me that.”
“Well, it’s certainly clear you don’t know how to respect your elders.”
“Aren’t we both new students?”
“How old are you?”
How old was Gilliam supposed to be?
“Who knows? I’m not sure.”
“Heh…”
The woman smiled.
“You’re an interesting boy.”
“I told you, I’m not a boy.”
“Boy, do you want to know who did that to your house?”
“Yes.”
“Heh…”
The white-haired woman held two fingers in a V against her lips.
“I saw it.”
“I see. So it was Supi Valliera, as I thought?”
“…?”
The woman blinked.
“How did you know that?”
Because I saw.
With the skill I’d just bought from the shop for 300 points.
〈Snowfield Hunter’s Eye〉
Description: Makes the target’s footprints stand out. A basic skill for people from the cold northern lands.
Two sets of footprints led away, heading toward a nearby cottage with a ‘Valliera’ plaque.
‘Did she take it badly?’
I wasn’t sure, but maybe she was angry because I hadn’t gone along with what she wanted after inviting me to the party.
‘Well, it could happen.’
Someone could get mad and break another person’s window when they weren’t home.
And if they could do that, then so could I.
“H-hey? Where are you going, boy?”
“….”
Come to think of it, maybe I should compliment this woman, too.
“You have a pretty face.”
“Hic!”
【The target is confused】
<Praise Points: -30(155→150)>
*150 points are protected.
‘Good thing I invested in Point Protection.’
I was about to compliment her a little more, but just then Supi Valliera herself came out of her cottage.
“Well, see you tomorrow.”
“Uh, yeah… sure…”
I bent down and scooped up a fistful of gravel.
“Hey! Supi Valliera!”
Supi and the man beside her turned to look at me, then sneered together.
“Oh my, what is it?”
“Are you dissatisfied with your lodgings compared to the Everchess ducal mansion?”
I strode toward them.
“Oh dear, what happened to make you so angry?”
“You look as if you’re about to resort to savage violence!”
I flung the gravel clenched in one hand.
And with a little extra force.
【Skill Activated: <Lesser Shockwave>】
Dozens of pebbles shot out like buckshot.
CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every window on the front of Supi’s cottage shattered at once, and the wall was pitted, with pebbles embedded in it.
“Huh…?”
“…W-what….”
The man and woman were too stunned to even react.
Supi recovered faster of the two.
“W-what are you doing!? How could you do something so barbaric!!”
“What do you want me to do? You broke my window, too.”
“D-do you have proof!? And even if you did, we only broke one window, but you wrecked the entire front of this house!!”
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
Gilliam frowned.
“Eek….”
Supi shrank back in fear.
“Why should I only return what you did to me? If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have picked a fight in the first place.”
Gilliam shook his head as if she was pathetic, then went back into his own house.
“Uh…”
Supi muttered blankly.
“The Everchess… hooligan…!!!”
——————
The next day.
Following my schedule, I went to a different classroom from yesterday, and Maron spotted me, her eyes lighting up.
“Liam! Over here, over here!”
She looked like a big dog wagging its tail at the sight of someone.
There was no reason to go elsewhere, so I sat beside Maron.
“We have this class together, too.”
“Hehe, we do… I’m happy….”
“Hm?”
“N-nothing! By the way, Liam… did something happen yesterday?”
In fact, the moment I entered the classroom, I’d been met with a barrage of piercing stares.
What had happened yesterday?
A lot had happened, actually.
“What did you do yesterday?”
Come to think of it, Maron hadn’t gone to the party after all.
“I read a book in my room and fell asleep…”
“Good for you. Reading is a good habit.”
“Hehe….”
【The target is happy】
<Praise Points: +30(150→180)>
Women really did give more points.
This misandrist system.
‘I guess I’ll have to focus on complimenting women from now on.’
“Is this seat taken?”
A voice I recognized.
I looked up to see Princess Elettra pulling out the chair beside me.
“Your Highness is taking this class, too?”
“I wasn’t originally, but classes haven’t started yet, so I changed my schedule.”
“Ah. Did you become interested in this subject?”
Princess Elettra propped her chin on her hand and stared intently at my face.
“Your Highness?”
“…I’ll just say that I did become interested.”
The intensity of the piercing stares aimed at me suddenly increased several times over.