Chapter 2
Lanne Kihano.
The eldest daughter of the venerable House of Count Kihano,
a girl who had even been granted a knightly epithet despite her young age.
She was currently sweating nervously.
‘What on earth happened···.’
Today was the day of the entrance exam.
She had left her family home and was on her way to the academy.
-Help me!
As she rode along, she heard a cry for help from somewhere.
As someone who revered chivalry and considered selflessness a virtue, this was not a situation she could ignore.
Lanne turned her horse around without the slightest hesitation.
At the end of the hoofbeats, a massive death awaited her.
A monster chanting spells while clutching hundreds of grimoires.
-Grrr, grrr···.
It was clearly an apostle serving an Evil God.
Lanne gripped her spear and confronted it.
But she was outmatched.
The gap was so vast it felt immeasurable.
The girl's spear could not even leave a scratch on the apostle.
In the end, Lanne was battered beyond recognition and prepared herself for death.
“I'm just a passing traveler.”
“······.”
That was when it happened.
The man before her appeared.
‘That just now··· an apostle of the Evil God, with nothing but a twig···.’
He had suddenly appeared and disposed of the apostle in the blink of an eye.
Lanne could not make sense of the situation.
She herself was one of the strongest among her peers, after all.
He had defeated an enemy she could not even scratch.
‘Strange.’
An attack that seemed capable of crumpling the entire world.
But what was even stranger than that···.
‘I couldn't sense any energy at all···.’
The strike had been more than overwhelming; it had been grotesque.
Yet she could sense no energy whatsoever from it.
She should have been able to sense mana, aura, divine power··· or at the very least demonic energy.
‘There was none···.’
It had been tranquil.
She could not sense a thing from the man's attack.
It was as if it were saying that nothing had happened at all.
A situation that made her doubt her own perception.
Then, a saying she had heard once brushed through Lanne's mind.
-When the gap in skill is so overwhelming that even the words ‘difference in ability’ fail to explain it,
-they say there are cases where even the opponent's presence feels blurred.
-Remember this, Lanne.
When she was young.
Advice she had received from her father, the greatest knight in the North.
-If what happened moments ago feels like a dream, and everything appears to be an illusion···.
-never, ever treat the person before you as an enemy.
Her mouth went completely dry.
This was exactly the kind of situation her father had described.
“······.”
She could not even begin to gauge it.
How vast was the gap between him and herself?
The boy wore a meaningful smile.
He looked so relaxed, as if this did not even qualify as amusement.
For the first time in her life, Lanne felt uneasy at someone's smile.
‘Please.’
Let the person before her not be an enemy.
Lanne prayed inwardly.
***
Jangbungi had vanished without a trace.
She had not answered even after he greeted her.
“······.”
“Hmm.”
The poor thing's frozen solid.
Maybe she was really scared.
‘Well··· Jangbungi did look pretty terrifying.’
It had been a sight that made one's knees tremble.
Even though she was an unyielding protagonist, at heart she was still a girl who was not yet an adult.
Seeing something like that would have been mentally exhausting.
“Are you all right?”
“······Ah.”
When I asked once more, the girl came to her senses.
She lowered her head stiffly.
Her violet eyes trembled.
“Th-thank you for saving me···.”
“Think nothing of it. I merely helped because I happened to come across you?”
I replied in a gentle voice.
I held out my hand with the most harmless smile in the world.
“My name is Victor.”
“Ah··· I'm Lanne Kihano.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Kihano.”
We exchanged a light handshake.
Her reaction was strange.
Even though I spoke gently, Lanne could not meet my eyes.
I suddenly wondered how suspicious I must look.
A man who had repelled an apostle of the Evil God with nothing but a single twig.
‘Huh.’
Could it be that she was afraid not because of Jangbungi, but because of me?
Only then did I notice Lanne's shoulders trembling as if she were tense.
Alarms went off in my head.
‘She doesn't think I'm a suspicious person, does she?’
I could understand it.
If I were in her place, I'd probably be scared too if someone suddenly appeared and beat an elephant to death with a pair of wooden chopsticks.
‘······Or not?’
It might actually look kind of cool.
Anyway, this was no time for that.
I had to show her first that I wasn't hostile.
I had saved her from danger, but I was still a suspicious stranger whose identity was unknown.
Especially now, when she was physically cornered, Lanne's response would be more sensitive than usual.
‘I'm going to die···!’
No matter how exhausted she was, a protagonist was still a protagonist.
I, on the other hand, was a pathetic weakling with every stat fixed at Grade E.
She could kill me with a mere tap from the back of her sword.
I could handle bugs, but in every other respect I was frail.
“Um··· excuse me, Sir Victor.”
“Yes, Miss Kihano.”
First, I had to make my harmlessness clear.
Otherwise, I might die!
I loaded up some likability-raising lines onto the tip of my tongue.
The girl hesitated for a long while before speaking.
“Sir Victor, why did you help us···?”
“What a strange question.”
“I-I suppose you're right···.”
“Does one really need a reason to help another person?”
If there was one thing in my favor, it was that I was a seasoned player.
I knew Lanne better than anyone.
We had spent no less than 14,000 hours together.
I had seen the ending of this world a thousand times alongside her.
We had cried, laughed, started, and finished all over again together from the other side of a monitor.
“Chivalry.”
Lanne Kihano.
Epithet: Don Quixote de la Mancha.
“Fight for those who cannot fight, and knowing fear, never retreat.”
The thing she revered.
The Seven Virtues.
In particular, mercy and courage.
“That's what I was taught. So I couldn't simply pass by people in trouble.”
“······.”
An aspiring knight.
Lanne had grown up listening to tales of the Northern knights' exploits and naturally admired them.
To her, chivalry was the direction of her life, and anyone who followed it was a fellow traveler on the same path.
In the original, whenever the conversation went in this direction, her likability shot up.
In other words, with just these few words, I had···.
“A benefactor···!”
I had stamped myself in her mind as a good person.
Grab-
Lanne's hand seized mine.
Her violet eyes sparkled, without a trace of tension.
Her gaze was so full of goodwill it was almost overwhelming.
“I am deeply moved by your spirit of self-sacrifice, benefactor! Please forgive me for being wary of you, even if only for a moment!”
“Haha, it's quite all right. It must have all happened so suddenly for you too, Miss Kihano.”
“Sir Victor, you truly are a wonderful person!”
“This is rather embarrassing.”
“Please, call me Lanne! I too am an admirer of knights! If we share the same admiration, then are we not fellow disciples who studied under the same master?”
“Then shall I do so, Miss Lanne?”
I smiled amiably.
This was our protagonist.
‘A Northern knight··· Honestly, she feels more like an innocent country girl than a knight.’
Exactly the type to come up to the capital and get swindled by a con artist.
Put kindly, she was innocent; put less kindly, she was ignorant of the ways of the world.
This was a favorable development for me.
It meant she would be easy to manipulate.
“I'm amazed! I never imagined there would be someone as skilled as Sir Victor among people my age!”
“I'm afraid I am still lacking.”
“My father was right. The world really is vast!”
Had all her tension finally disappeared?
Her shoulders, which had been hunched, were now straight.
‘That's right, please don't treat me as an enemy.’
I was only a weakling in terms of raw stats; I was like this because I used bugs.
Even a casual flick to the forehead could KO me.
My stats were so bad that I would lose even to a passing farmer or a yaksha.
I smiled at Lanne while inwardly begging for mercy in the most abject manner.
“Ah··· in that case, I'll go check on the people in the carriage.”
Even while talking with me, Lanne looked back as if worried.
True to her status as the protagonist, she was conscientious in that regard.
I wasn't particularly worried.
Thanks to her and me intervening, there shouldn't have been any casualties.
Taking advantage of the lull after the area had quieted down, I checked the items that had arrived inside my robes.
“Hmm.”
Several objects caught on my fingertips.
They were the rewards I had obtained for defeating Jangbungi.
Ding-!
[You have acquired the rewards.]
-Evil God's Mask×1
-Evil God's Robe×1
-Grimoire That Should Not Exist×1
Mask, robe, and grimoire.
All of them were items obtainable only by taking the route of hunting Jangbungi.
Ordinarily, these were items that could not be acquired until late in the original story, when Jangbungi reappeared.
‘I got them through a cheap trick, though.’
That had been one of my objectives.
Besides saving Lanne, obtaining these things had been another.
Just having these would dramatically change the difficulty going forward.
[Evil God's Mask]
-Category:???
-Grade:???
-Description:Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it···
“Oh dear.”
A rather unsettling description.
The other two items were similar.
Well, despite how they looked, their effects were outstanding.
[Evil God's Mask]
-Effect:Negates three attacks directed at the wearer. Activates only while equipped.
-Remaining uses:3
[Evil God's Robe]
-Effect:Stores items inside the robe. Functions only while equipped.
-Stored items:0/100
Negating attacks and an inventory.
Both had absurdly powerful effects.
‘Especially the mask.’
It didn't matter whether the attack directed at me was an archmage's meteor or a Sword Saint's slash.
An item that would ‘unconditionally’ negate any attack three times.
For me, with every stat fixed at Grade E and no idea where I might die a pointless death, there was nothing I needed more.
In blunt terms, I was the kind of person who would die from one stab while passing by.
‘I should consider myself to have gained three extra lives.’
And then there was the robe.
In the game, I equipped things like backpacks to expand storage because there was a personal inventory, but this was reality.
‘There can't possibly be a separate inventory here.’
Which meant I had to use items that served as backpacks in the original.
The Evil God's Robe was easily top-tier among such items.
It was the lightest and had the most storage space.
Therefore, I had to keep the mask and robe equipped at all times.
[Grimoire That Should Not Exist]
-Effect:???
As for the grimoire··· I had a use for it later.
Until then, I would keep it safely stored.
First, I took out the items I needed to equip right away.
‘Let's see.’
The mask's shape was strangely reminiscent of a clown.
Two eyes and a mouth stretched into a broad grin.
‘It's kind of cute, in its own way.’
Without hesitation, I put it on my face.
It was comfortable enough.
It did not obstruct my vision or feel cumbersome.
It felt no different from when I wasn't wearing it.
As befitting a cheat item, even its comfort was on another level.
[You equip the item ‘Evil God's Mask.’]
[You equip the item ‘Evil God's Robe.’]
Since the robe was simply a black cloak, I draped it over my body without a second thought.
Perhaps because they were set items, they looked fairly impressive together.
Ding-!
[Set items equipped. Additional synergy activated.]
-Your presence becomes vastly more imposing.
-When others look at you, they are overcome by an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
-The seal of ■■■ is released for the duration of the eclipse ‘Night for Clowns.’
A blemish on the jade.
Imposing presence and foreboding.
Thanks to these two effects, it became difficult to raise other characters' likability after equipping them.
‘Well, I suppose I have to accept this much.’
I finished setting up.
Apparently, Lanne had finished tidying up as well.
It was nearly time to leave.
‘Time to take the exam.’
In order to take the academy entrance exam.
***
Once the situation had been sorted out.
“That reminds me, I was surprised. I had no idea you were also on your way to take the entrance exam, Sir Victor.”
“What a remarkable coincidence.”
“I can't tell you how fortunate I am. To be honest, this is my first time leaving the North, so I was feeling rather tense. Having someone accompany me is a great relief.”
“I wasn't bored on the way here thanks to you either, Miss Lanne.”
No unfortunate incident like arriving late for the entrance exam occurred.
The people we had saved gave us a ride in their carriage.
Since it was nearby anyway, they said they might as well take us there.
Is this why people say to live kindly?
They bowed their heads several times as they expressed their gratitude.
“But, Sir Victor, what is that mask you're wearing···?”
“It's a fashion accessory. I like to wear it from time to time.”
“Is it the latest fashion! The world beyond the North truly is full of new things.”
After traveling like that for several hours.
We had arrived at our destination.
‘Grandia Academy.’
The educational institution called the finest on the continent.
It was an accolade it had no need to be ashamed of.
They said it was nearly the size of a small city.
To put it simply, the entire academy occupied an area half the size of Seoul.
“It's enormous···!”
“It would have to be this large to be the finest on the continent. I hear cadets usually live in the cadet-only district at the very center. Outside that district are shopping streets, residential areas, workshop streets, and so on. Apparently, all sorts of things are located here.”
“The term ‘academy city’ truly suits this place.”
We joined the line waiting for the entrance exam.
The noise of the students around us hummed in my ears.
Murmur murmur-.
I sank into thought.
My reason for coming to the academy was simple.
To prevent the destruction of the world, I needed to follow the original story's flow.
‘Besides··· there are far more bugs I can use around the academy.’
Neugeume.
(Lanne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen)
As the title suggests, the academy is the main setting of the game.
Since it was the stage that appeared most often, it also had the most discovered bugs.
Naturally, the academy itself was more advantageous for activities than the outside.
-The next applicant may enter.
While I was briefly distracted, my turn had already come around.
“Then, I'll go first.”
“Yes! I'm sure you'll pass without a problem, Sir Victor. See you inside the academy.”
“I wish you success as well, Miss Lanne.”
Lanne and I were assigned to different examination halls, so we parted for a while.
It didn't matter, since we could meet again in Class A anyway.
I entered the hall.
A proctoring teaching assistant was standing inside.
The man scowled fiercely when he saw me.
“What an unpleasant fellow. And wearing a clown-like mask, too.”
“Haha, I look forward to working with you.”
Rude words.
It was probably an attempt to intimidate the applicants.
As a seasoned player, I brushed it off with a smooth response.
“Don't get cheeky. Step forward. Follow my instructions and complete each of the tests···.”
The exam itself was ordinary.
A simple measurement of abilities.
They were the sort of things one might see at any academy in a fantasy world.
It proceeded based on various devices measuring strength, stamina, mana sensitivity, and so on···.
I was informed of the results after barely ten minutes.
“Applicant number 3720. Legal name: Victor.”
An exam I had finished with confidence.
The results, naturally···.
“Theory: A+. E grade in every other category. Failed due to insufficient qualifications.”
“Wha.”
I had been rejected from admission.