Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: It's a Dud
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It's a dud.
When the words "Follower Selection" appeared on the blackboard and Adelin began her explanation, Cecilia had already made up her mind.
She would choose Haribal as her follower.
The reason was simple: to grow stronger.
Haribal was her goal. If he became her follower, she'd naturally be by his side, which meant plenty of opportunities to improve.
But there was another reason she couldn't deny.
‘I wanted to know more about Haribal.’
They'd interacted a few times since their first meeting, but it had all been brief visits or small talk.
In truth, she knew almost nothing about him. And he probably hadn't shown much interest in her either.
That made this training the perfect chance. Spending time together would let her learn about him naturally, or so she hoped.
By fate or coincidence, despite her low score, she'd ended up in the same class as him—and successfully became his follower.
‘Now I can take it slow and get to know him.’
That had been her thought...
"Hey, a white shard dropped there."
"Uh, yeah? Got it."
"Keep the white ones safe. We can synthesize them later."
"Y-Yeah."
Right now, she was playing pack mule.
She looked up, but all she saw was Haribal's back.
In fact, ever since entering the dungeon, she'd been staring at nothing but his back.
Monsters appeared, Haribal took them down, and Cecilia picked up the loot.
‘This is what a pack mule does...’
The precious flower of the Ren family, trailing after a guy and picking up scraps.
Even then, Haribal kept walking forward without once glancing back.
Cecilia let out a small sigh.
‘I wasn't hoping for something like this...’
What she'd imagined when entering the dungeon was swinging swords side by side, matching breaths in battle, sharing words amid the chaos, and gradually learning about each other amid the dangers.
But this? What was this?
After her duel with Haribal, Cecilia had definitely grown.
Not just her passion for the sword, but her ability to see herself and others objectively.
Thanks to that, she could vaguely read the subtle emotions her sister Senia held toward her, and she understood Haribal better than before.
So she knew. He was the type who didn't reveal much about himself. But he was undoubtedly a warm person.
Just moments ago, even as he focused on the raid, his eyes had held clear regret as he looked down at the fallen imperial soldier's body.
He seemed indifferent on the surface, but at his core, he was good. So he wasn't deliberately ignoring her.
But...
‘I didn't expect him to be this indifferent.’
Haribal hadn't asked her a single thing about herself so far.
What kind of person she was, her past, her goals.
Not even what she liked or disliked, or why she'd chosen him as her follower.
As if he already knew everything.
That left Cecilia with no openings.
Followers were supposed to spend the month getting to know each other, but this was too unfair.
"Map says the boss room's coming up soon."
"Already?"
"Yeah. Faster than I thought."
Their sixth exchange since entering the dungeon.
Of course, it was just another short explanation.
Cecilia gritted her teeth inwardly.
"Boss is a Goblin Lord. Map says it drops lightning from range."
She'd held back until now, but she couldn't anymore.
"Don't you think you should let me help? You holding up stamina-wise?"
So she waved the white flag. Or rather, she stopped suppressing her usual temperament.
"Haribal Belder."
"What? Got a question?"
"What I like is sipping flower tea while leisurely reading a book, you idiot!"
Haribal turned at the unexpected declaration.
For the first time since entering the dungeon, he looked utterly baffled.
But Cecilia didn't see it. She just kept her head down, words pouring out nonstop.
"I like vanilla cake too, and bathing after training. Sitting by the window staring out on rainy days, filling a new bookshelf to the brim, picnics with my sister."
It was embarrassing.
But once she started, her voice flowed like a burst dam, unstoppable.
"Of course, there are things I hate. Evil god cultists, monsters, black flames—everyone hates those... but waking up early, bland porridge, interruptions while reading. And people who butter me up when I'm being serious—that's what I hate most."
This was the first time she'd opened up like this to anyone.
Not even to Senia. After spilling it all, she couldn't stop her face from burning.
When Cecilia bowed her head again, one might notice her fingertips twisting the hem of her skirt.
Haribal just watched her silently, saying nothing.
It didn't matter. She hadn't said it expecting a reply.
But this, she had to ask.
"You."
"...Yeah?"
"...I just told you everything. So what do you like?"
Of course, she hadn't told him absolutely everything.
Not the peculiar taste she'd developed after their duel—one she couldn't tell a soul, even on pain of death.
But she'd shared most of it. That much was true.
Haribal stroked his chin at her question.
It was a simple answer—why was he pondering so seriously? She'd only mentioned little things like vanilla cake.
Haribal closed his eyes, lost in thought for a long while.
Cecilia felt her heart pounding needlessly as she waited for him to speak.
Finally, he muttered.
"Yeah."
"What?"
"I don't really know what I like."
Cecilia's eyes widened in disbelief.
But Haribal was serious.
"By the time I snapped out of it, I'd nearly died. Wandered aimlessly and ended up enlisting. Days of training and dungeon raids blurred together, and next thing I knew, I was at the academy... Now I'm raiding dungeons with you."
He added with a wry smile.
"Guess I've never really thought about what I like."
Cecilia was speechless.
Looking back, every time she'd seen Haribal, he was either in a hospital bed or swinging a sword in training.
Never enjoying something, never lingering in the little moments of daily life.
"Oh, the honey bread that comes as special rations every month? I like that."
"......Sigh."
So that's the kind of answer he gives.
Maybe the reason Haribal had only shown her his back was because she'd only wanted to see his back.
Cecilia suddenly shoved Haribal's arm aside and snatched the torch from his hand.
Then she boldly took her place at his side.
"You're taking the lead?"
"Yeah. You've been holding it the whole time."
"..."
"So you pick up the dropped shards too. This is my spot from now on."
Haribal shrugged and pocketed a red shard from the floor.
"You're planning to hit the dungeons every day after class, right?"
"Yeah. But I won't stick to the same one. Once we get results, we level up."
"Follower period's only a month, but getting dragged into dungeons with you every day feels unfair, don't you think?"
Haribal nodded after a moment's thought, and Cecilia seized the chance.
"So, fifteen days."
"...What?"
"We split the month in half. Fifteen days your way, the next fifteen my way. Got it?"
Haribal's expression visibly stiffened.
As expected, he'd planned to dungeon-crawl the whole month.
But Cecilia had no intention of backing down.
It made sense logically, and it was the right thing to do.
Even considering the academy's spirit, the assignment couldn't possibly be to dungeon non-stop for thirty days.
So Cecilia resolved herself.
During their time as follower and leader, she'd find out what this stone-headed guy liked, no matter what.
If nothing else, she'd make him like something.
Even if he hated it, no choice. What Cecilia was best at was doing things her own way.
Haribal replied reluctantly.
"...Fine, whatever."
In that instant, a clear blue light burst from his pocket.
Cecilia's eyes widened.
The glow was unmistakably coming from Rene, the one she'd given him.
"W-What is it?"
But the light vanished like an illusion.
Right after, Haribal pointed Rene at Cecilia and let out a hollow chuckle.
"Hah."
"What? What just happened...? Something wrong?"
"Not exactly..."
His face was the picture of disappointment, but Cecilia knew instinctively.
That light was anything but ordinary.
After it faded, her heart was pounding harder than before, for some reason.
Cecilia vowed.
She'd uncover the truth of that light, along with everything else about Haribal.
⁎⁎⁎
- Kyyyaaah!!
"Hoo..."
"Haa..."
With a final scream, the Goblin Dungeon's boss, the Goblin Lord, crumbled to dust.
It had been way tougher than expected.
Even with a defense-focused shard build, the lightning bolts it hurled packed too much punch to ignore.
Still, the damage stayed within predictions, and we'd taken it down without major issues.
My arm bore a red burn mark from the lightning.
‘Not turning into Red Haribal over this, I hope.’
Then, the glowing particles on the floor seeped into the wound, healing it in seconds.
Cecilia's core, Lumen's effect.
Just like in the original story, it worked on party members too.
At this level, it could replace a healer without menders. Meaning Cecilia was a must-have for dungeon runs for now.
One more realization: physical attacks aside, timing Just Guard on magic like lightning was way harder.
‘Can't rely on Just Guard alone.’
But the biggest gain from this fight was something else.
‘Was that just now... an affinity event?’
Right before entering the boss room, when Cecilia suddenly started listing her likes out of nowhere, I'd been baffled.
What the hell got into her?
Her face strawberry-red, rattling them off like a machine gun—it was nothing like the original Cecilia would've done.
When she turned it back on me, asking what I liked, my mind went blank.
‘Likes, huh...’
Farming? Rare shards? Should I say that?
No. It was necessity, not enjoyment.
I muddled through vaguely, and she hit me with an unexpected demand.
Half the thirty days—fifteen—for her.
Outrageous.
But that resolute look... I nodded despite myself.
In that moment, Ja-jae flashed, and a new window popped up on Rene.
[Cecilia Ren's affinity level has increased.]
[Affinity Level: 3]
If this were a game, choices would've appeared for sure.
1. Accept the proposal.
2. Reject the proposal.
I'd picked "accept," boosting her affinity.
Wonder what would've happened if I'd rejected.
Anyway, in the boss fight after the affinity up, Cecilia's extra attacks hit way harder than before.
‘Not a bad choice, then.’
Truth is, investing fifteen extra days wouldn't dramatically boost my power anyway.
Once I got Crushing Sword and a two-stage shard setup, it'd be a spec plateau until the Doll Dungeon.
No way Crushing Sword doesn't drop in a month.
But if those fifteen days with Cecilia led to spec ups?
All the better.
"So what's that? Wasn't there before."
Then Cecilia pointed to where the Goblin Lord's corpse had vanished.
An old wooden chest oozed demonic energy.
"No way... a treasure chest? Heard about them from Father."
‘So this is how it looks.’
In the original, a clear screen spun the Abyss Core, bringing up a selection interface.
In reality, it just popped out after downing the boss.
The setting held: demonic energy needed Abyss Core purification.
I held Rene to it, and with a click, the lock sprang open.
A red flash erupted from inside.
Crushing Sword?
[Greatsword of Shatter (II)]
It dropped.
A greatsword, not a sword.
‘Of all things, a greatsword. Total dud.’
End of Days Academy had plenty of weapon types, but greatswords were prime dud tier.
No playable character mained one.
Protagonist Aren was a swordsman, so usable, but...
[Attack 10 / Fluidity -10]
Speed killer.
True to the Shatter series, huge attack boost—but fluidity drops by 10.
A weapon trading one big hit for crippled movement. Not even chicken ribs.
Plus, real-world reasons I couldn't use it: no clue how, and way too heavy.
"A greatsword, huh."
Cecilia's reaction was lukewarm too.
Her endgame was a longsword based on Blue Night, so no interest from the start.
"...What if we split it in half for dual swords?"
‘Doubt it. Never seen splitting a sword end well.’
"Still, first treasure chest drops this... Kinda disappointing."
My enthusiasm deflated too.
Shatter series on first try was promising, but unusable for me.
The academy wasn't an unfair game, but this situation grated.
Why give a weapon I can't even equip?
Meanwhile, Cecilia grunted as she lifted the greatsword.
Maybe because she was a swordswoman, she checked the weight and balance, trying a swing.
But she shook her head, worn out quickly.
"Won't work. Too heavy to swing."
Then she tossed out a casual line.
"No one but Sis could handle something like this."
My gaze naturally turned to Cecilia.