Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Out of Their Minds
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Not in their right mind.”
“Where do you think you’re going! Finish this, Aren Bright!”
Richard shouted, steadying his staggering body.
His gaze was fixed on the backs of Aren and his group as they moved forward to block Victor.
But Aren replied without even turning around.
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“In a moment like this... you’re still going to ignore me to the end?”
Aren answered Richard’s voice, laced with anger and despair, in a calm tone.
“As long as you’re standing here, I won’t ignore you.”
Aren knew.
That the culprits behind the civil war were waiting for them inside the room they were heading toward.
And that Richard, standing alone outside with sword in hand, no longer shared their path.
“From back then until now, I’ve always looked at you straight on.”
“Then why...? You know better than anyone what I’ve done to you all?!”
“That’s why I know. That you’ve never crossed the line.”
That was why Aren entrusted him with this task.
“So I’ll leave the other students to you. Richard Dain.”
As a fellow academy student.
And as a friend.
⁎⁎⁎
In the original story, Richard Dain was little more than a sacrificial pawn for the Dain family.
The Dain family, as part of the noble faction, had to check the imperial family while also crushing the rising commoners.
But they couldn’t just ally with the other nobles either. Even the central Reigal family of the noble faction was a target to be wary of for the Dains.
Caught in the middle, the Dain family wielded young Richard like a blade, turning him arrogant and haughty.
That earned him the nickname of the Dain family’s wastrel.
But what he truly wanted was a friend who would look at him straight on and acknowledge him—not as a subordinate.
Through his duel with Aren, Richard reformed and survived even the great purge of noble families after the civil war scenario ended.
Dozens of petitions noted how he had protected the academy’s commoner students from Victor’s magic.
After that, Richard shifted to a tsundere yet bumbling ally role, coasting safely to the ending.
Having seen the ending multiple times, I knew exactly how to handle Richard.
Suggesting friendship at just our second meeting would get me dismissed as a lunatic.
His reformation had hinged on his weakened physical and mental state.
So I approached him differently.
“This is loot from the dungeon. If you’re going to use a spear from now on, wouldn’t you need it?”
“That’s... a dungeon spear, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Spear of Shattering. I’ll give it to you if you want.”
“......Why would you give something like that to me?”
Of course, no “Get lost!” came out. The Spear of Shattering was far too enticing to refuse.
Naturally, I had no intention of giving it away for free.
So I spilled the beans.
“If your weapon at the entrance exam had been just a bit better, the result might’ve been different.”
“......?!”
“I fought you all with the weapon the duke prepared for me. But you only had a standard-issue noble sword.”
Richard’s eyes flickered wildly.
It might’ve seemed like awe at how I knew, but it was standard procedure to use issued weapons in the exam anyway.
And it went without saying that better gear gave an edge.
“I rate your skills pretty highly, Richard. So think of this as a gift.”
“......I refuse! I don’t need your gifts!”
‘Playing it like that, huh.’
Well, for an honorary noble from commoner stock, accepting something like this for free would inevitably seem suspicious.
That’s when I dropped the line I’d prepared from the start.
“If it’s a burden, just buy it.”
“......What?”
“Not me giving it to you—you pay a fair price and buy it.”
At that point, Richard had no grounds left to back down.
Not charity from me, but him claiming it himself.
That was exactly what Richard would’ve wanted.
Richard fell silent for a long while before murmuring in a low voice.
“......How much?”
I didn’t hide my smile as I delivered the final prepared line.
“As much as you want to give.”
Richard hesitated a moment before tossing me his pouch. Every gold coin he had.
The money from Richard was hefty enough to cover my expenses for a good while.
“If someone asks about the weapon’s origin, what should I say?”
“Say you got it from a friend.”
“......Who said you’re my friend?!”
He yelled with a face full of disgust, but he didn’t seem genuinely upset.
That was when it happened.
“......That.”
“......?”
“You really think highly of me?”
I nodded, and after a pause, Richard added in a creeping whisper.
“...Mind if I drop by sometimes?”
“Doesn’t matter to me.”
“...What’s my excuse?”
Nobles really love their pretexts.
“If I get extra gear or shards, you can buy those too.”
And just like that, I—a total ragamuffin—gained a steady income source.
Under the guise of friend fees.
⁎⁎⁎
People really need money.
With financial leeway comes a clear mind.
The downside of being a student: less training time.
The upside: more time to think.
Thanks to that, I could sort out potential future variables while half-assing my classes.
“Please take good care of me!”
“Haribal Belder. Looking forward to this semester.”
“Yes, sir!”
Weapon Basics class worked by having students who’d chosen weapons pair up in rotation to coach each other on form and movements, with the instructor occasionally intervening.
But...
‘Why are there so many sword nuts?’
The original story clearly had students using other weapons, yet the five ahead of me were all swordsmen.
And they all stood there with sparkling eyes—like instructor and pupil, despite being peers.
But I suck at teaching others.
Hell, I couldn’t even if I tried.
“Here’s the stance.”
So I roughly mimicked the Belhart Style basics Adelrin had taught me, and the students cycled through with faces full of awe.
Then came the sixth student.
‘Another swordsman.’
I lightly thrust my sword.
“?”
But the male student didn’t dodge at all.
Eyes gleaming, waiting only to be struck.
Flabbergasted, I lowered my sword and asked.
“Why didn’t you dodge?”
“I heard the spirit of the Haribal Style lies in taking hits.”
‘What spirit?’
When a sword style was registered at the Imperial Swordsmanship Academy, part of it got documented and shared with cadets.
According to this guy, the Haribal Style’s “spirit” was listed as “being struck.”
Not in their right mind.
“I’ve been practicing the Haribal Style for two years before even entering the academy. You can’t imagine how moved I was when you appeared on the exam platform.”
Two years ago? That’s barely a year after I beat Shukarit, right?
Hey, our experience gap isn’t that big, dude?
‘Hold on.’
I glanced around.
The five students who’d passed through me earlier were all braced to forcibly take the strike, just like this one.
No way?
“There are probably quite a few who chose the sword because of you. You’re the hope for commoners like us.”
Yeah, now I got why there were so many swordsmen.
The snowball I’d started was unintentionally wrecking the academy.
“For the record, my goal is to master Haribal Break within the year.”
“......”
I mentally checked off a box on my list.
Visit the Imperial Swordsmanship Academy and withdraw the Haribal Style.
Confirmed.
After sending off the sixth student, I stretched.
‘More to do than I thought.’
Beyond conquering the Doll Dungeon, I had a ton on my plate.
Investigate Senia and Luna.
Had to visit Adelrin at least once.
Couldn’t fall behind on farming.
And also...
“Ah, Haribal. Our turn.”
“Aren.”
‘Right, this guy.’
Time to collect the bait I’d planted with Aren at the entrance exam.
I’d been thinking we needed a real talk anyway.
Though he didn’t seem as hung up on it as I’d figured.
Meanwhile, Aren assumed the stance of the Extreme Divine Single Sword.
I matched him with my Haribal Style.
No sparring in today’s class.
This was just to check how well each understood their weapon.
So it wasn’t about swinging fast—instead, linking movements slowly was key.
Fundamentals, I guess? I’d done this drill with Adelrin before, but it wasn’t as easy as expected.
Aren swung his sword at me slowly.
“Do you remember what you said at the entrance exam?”
He was bothered by it after all.
Good. Him brushing it off would’ve been riskier.
Aren’s expression was more complicated than I’d thought.
It was meant to accelerate his growth, but I hoped it wouldn’t become shackles.
But the fact that Aren needed to grow hadn’t changed.
No plans to retract it.
Just guide him naturally, like in the original.
“No need to fear it. It’s your power anyway.”
“Did I say that?”
“What do you mean? I asked Ran about it too, and he said it was just to me. To others, it was all ‘Do you understand...!’ or something.”
Huh. He’d dug that deep.
It had weighed on him more than I realized.
I slowly swung my sword to parry Aren’s.
“Just said it to throw you off.”
“That’s really all?”
“You looked scared, so I thought it’d help.”
At that moment, Aren froze.
This time, I swung first, slowly.
“...I looked scared?”
“Seemed that way.”
Aren twisted to block my sword.
He kept moving while mulling my words, it seemed.
“Scared...? Could you explain...”
Before he could finish, I cut in.
“You’re from Baran, right?”
“Oh, yeah. How’d you know?”
“Heard it from Ellia Walk.”
Aren’s hometown, Baran, was a small coastal city at the empire’s edge.
Called rural, but also famous as a resort.
In the original, Aren visits Baran with companions on break and triggers his awakening event there.
That’s why stealing Aren’s opportunities meant nothing.
Aren was the protagonist who underwent tons of sudden awakenings, fueled by mental growth.
His opportunities were all in his head!
“Ah... Ellia, huh. She was nowhere yesterday, but you two know each other?”
But timing needed adjusting.
When they hit a wall unable to conquer the Demon God’s Dungeon, Aren tries everything to break through.
Sweeping dungeons across the empire or even recreating the Evil God’s Abyss as a Shadow Dungeon.
Of course, all player busywork.
No results, and right then—by pure chance—he visits Baran and awakens.
So I needed to hint: If things go south mentally, skip the nonsense and head to Baran.
“Isn’t Baran famous for its sea?”
“Yeah. Everyone visits for the ocean. Christoph stops there too, so getting here’s pretty easy.”
Bringing up Baran noticeably brightened Aren’s voice.
Strong hometown pride, as expected.
‘Though it’s not really his hometown...’
“I love Baran. Mornings, you see the sun rise over the sea, and the harbor always smells of salt. Evenings, you catch the sunset over the horizon.”
I tossed it out casually toward the reminiscing Aren.
“Someday, I’d like to see the sea myself.”
This world’s Haribal had never seen it.
At that instant, Aren’s sword halted.
“You’ve... never seen the ocean?”
“Nope.”
My matter-of-fact reply widened Aren’s eyes.
Then came the unexpected line.
“Then... wanna go see it together next time?”
‘Oh?’
Not bad at all.
Now I had a pretext to drag Aren to Baran anytime I wanted the sea.
No—jackpot?
“Yeah, if there’s a chance.”
And so, during class, I smoothly redirected the entrance exam aggro toward Baran.
We chatted about Baran for a while.
“So you’re discharged now?”
“Conditionally. I could return if I wanted, but probably won’t.”
“Where’re you staying then? Didn’t see you in the dorms yesterday.”
Dungeon life for me.
As that nearly slipped out, I recalled the original setup.
‘Wait. Aren’s dorm room... Wasn’t it empty in the original?’
Academy students basically live in dorms.
Usually two per room, but some get singles via privileges.
High nobles like Cecilia, Luna, Eugene. Senia too, probably.
Aren got his due to his weight as the Extreme Divine Single Sword’s final disciple—the board caved and gave him a single.
In the original, there was even an episode where he took in Ellia—fistfighting his roommate over shard converter obsession—and let him crash.
I was homeless anyway.
Could I mooch off Aren?
Sharing a room, I could coach his growth with original knowledge.
Hand over Sun Shine naturally once obtained.
Above all, rooming with the original protagonist would only benefit future plans.
“Actually, I was worried about that. The mansion I was supposed to move into isn’t done yet.”
“What? Then where are you sleeping?”
“Since it came up, mind if I ask a favor?”
“A favor?”
So I went for it.
“If it’s okay with you, could I crash in your dorm for a bit?”
Oddly, no reply came for a while.