Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Wolfram von Loengrin
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Aila Trista simply stared, wide-eyed, as Wolfram turned away after delivering his piece without another word.
"……."
Wolfram von Loengrin.
Her fiancé. The one chosen by their families.
Her first impression of him had been utterly untrustworthy.
It was a betrothal tangled in political interests—a mere contract.
Though they'd known each other since childhood, what existed between them was reason, not emotion.
Hand over a low-ranking imperial prince to a powerful family and secure the imperial family's loyalty.
Wolfram and Aila might have been childhood friends, but the contract had formed before any affection could bloom—or fade.
So when he was betrayed by his own sister and stripped of his student council president position, she felt a profound sense of disappointment.
He couldn't even fulfill the terms of their contract.
Wasn't he supposed to marry her and soar on the wings of rebellion? Why was he crawling in the dirt instead?
Even when he came to see her, that disappointment lingered, but Wolfram claimed he had a reversal play up his sleeve.
A fallen prince hitting rock bottom, only to rise again.
She wanted to see that.
But deep down, she might have thought something like this:
[Wolfram von Loengrin needs Aila Trista's support.]
Of course.
Wolfram's foundation was weak right now. Just look at him paying rent to live in one of her family's buildings.
So perhaps, in some hidden corner of her heart, she'd slightly underestimated his moves.
But not anymore.
Wolfram von Loengrin had calmly declared he would take down Regina Ciella.
It wasn't arrogance, hubris, or overconfidence.
He was simply stating the plain truth.
He saw Regina Ciella—the one Aila had never once defeated—as not even worth considering a real opponent.
Was that possible?
Could he really surpass someone Aila had never beaten, just like that?
"…I'm curious. Really. It's driving me crazy."
True to her straightforward personality, Aila Trista headed straight to Wolfram's convenience store in her own building to ask him herself.
And from outside the building, she peeked at what Wolfram was doing—and her eyes went round.
[Next one's this. Try it.]
[Ugh… I'm full, senpai.]
A pink-haired girl who looked utterly smitten. Her necktie marked her as a first-year.
He was piling up a mountain of snacks in front of her and handing them over.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Wasn't he supposed to be plotting how to defeat Regina Ciella? And here he was, cozying up with a junior?
"Th-this immorality!"
Aila was about to kick open the convenience store door in a rage, though she couldn't quite pinpoint why she was so angry.
But the next voice she heard made her freeze mid-step.
[No time. Hurry.]
[Eek.]
[You can eat it bit by bit. It's just for checking buffs anyway.]
[Eeeek.]
[Do this, and you'll take down Kelters while I beat Regina Ciella. Now eat.]
[O-okay.]
This was supposed to be his way to beat Regina Ciella?
Aila stopped at the door and watched the scene intently once more.
Looking closer, it wasn't just a faint pink aura or whatever.
"Feeding time?"
It was a surprisingly apt description.
***
If I said I'd win, I have to win.
Honestly, I'd bluffed to Garra to shake off that annoying Regina, and it landed perfectly.
Imperial Bloodline skill is the best. Even lies get taken as truth.
Anyway, back at the convenience store, I grabbed the snacks I'd made over the past 24 hours and turned to Milfeuille.
"How about this one?"
"Uh, um. Ah, I think I could deflect wind arrows pretty well!"
"Wind-element projectile resistance, huh."
I'm using Milfeuille like a cash shop item for checking options, but at least this D/Z SAGA has no probability manipulation.
"Fifteenth one. Wind-element projectile resistance. Still beginner level. Long way to go. Sixteenth."
"U, uu."
"Not tasty?"
"No, it's delicious. Really delicious, but… eating like this will make me gain weight…."
"If it's tasty, you won't gain weight."
"Wha? Really? Is, is that true?"
"Yep."
I nodded, and Milfeuille's eyes sparkled.
Sorry.
And so we passed the sixteenth, seventeenth, and reached the nineteenth snack.
I can fill 24 mana per day, which means 24 snacks total.
Here's hoping for a change within the next five.
"Uh…."
"What's up?"
"This one… it's a bit different."
"Can you describe how?"
"Huh? Sure. Well… all swords? No, spears. No no. All melee… yeah, I think I could dodge all melee attacks pretty reliably."
Here it comes.
Finally, a 'battlefield-useful buff' type.
This means my Magical Patissier skill has reached intermediate proficiency.
"True Physical Evasion."
"True Physical Evasion? Isn't that a Magic Division skill?"
"Exactly. An 8th-tier buff skill. Now it's finally an artifact worthy of real combat."
"…Giving buffs with snacks is new to me, and 8th-tier…."
Milfeuille shuddered.
Excluding the talented first-years, most were just entering 9th-tier.
An 8th-tier buff would be a huge help here.
"Right. Just eating it applies a genuine 8th-tier buff— a true 'buff snack.'"
"Magical Sweet."
"…Why fixate on the name like that?"
"I don't wanna think I ate a ton of weirdly named snacks."
Fair enough?
Whatever, the name doesn't matter.
"Fine, Magical Sweet. Lower tiers only gave weak buffs, but hitting 8th-tier? That's real winning potential."
"R-right!"
"Finish the rest."
"Eek. I'm stuffed."
With that, the chick started pecking at her feed, and of the remaining five snacks, one more was an 8th-tier buff. I don't know exactly when it hit intermediate, so I can't pin the probability, but two successes is encouraging.
Time to use it, then.
"Milfeuille. Room for one more?"
"…Eek. Yeah. I'll… manage somehow."
"I'll show you something good in return."
"Huh?"
"Watch closely. You don't see this often."
As I've said before, Magical Patissier is a solid buff skill.
But think about it—I played this game until I was total burnt-out trash.
For a skill to earn a 'solid' from me? That's no ordinary thing.
Magical Patissier.
It's genuinely fun and solid early-game.
"Truth is, snacks are all about what you call 'em."
"…??"
First up: 【Chiffon Cake】
Once the chiffon cake cools, decorate it with cream made from Mix Beans.
Now, what happens?
What should I call this now?
"As expected."
"Huh? Wh-what?"
The system I knew didn't betray me.
This is the real fun of Magical Patissier.
Mix Sweet.
[MI X WEET!]
[Calculating applied magics.]
[Two magics shimmer faintly in silver light.]
I nodded at the system prompt.
"…Not a perfect success."
"S-senpai, what does any of this even…."
"Just eat it first."
I sliced the chiffon—no, cream cake—and handed a piece to Milfeuille.
"It's different from usual… Huh? Wha?"
"What's the magic effect?"
"S-same as before. True Physical Evasion. But, but…."
"Go on."
"I think I could dodge fire magic too."
"As expected. One was beginner-level. Additive synthesis."
"Y-yeah. Nothing like this has ever… Huh?"
As Milfeuille tilted her head, I sank into thought.
This is why Magical Patissier is so fun.
For example, I just made a chiffon cake and infused it with magic.
Decorate that chiffon cake with cream again—is it still a chiffon cake?
No. It's a fresh cream cake.
In other words, Magical Patissier lets you stack for bigger effects the more you layer.
Theoretically, you could play around endlessly as long as mana allows, but with Wolfram's max mana at 3, it's been one stack max so far. Two snacks: 1 for Mix Sweet, 1 trash body.
"W-wow. You're… amazing, senpai! With this, you could win Magic Craft! For real!"
The chick chirped excitedly, eyes shining as she looked my way.
"Nah. This is only half a success."
"…Huh? There's more?"
"Yeah. There's Shining Patissier at 7th-tier, Miracle Patissier at 6th. Settling for mere 8th-tier Magical? That's quitting."
"…Wow. You're really… on another level…."
"What do you mean?"
"I… couldn't even attempt challenges like that. You're so dazzling, senpai."
"Can't challenge? Why not?"
"Everything I do is average… Stats are low too… Knight Division? Stamina and strength suck. Magic Division? Mana sensitivity and mana pool aren't great…."
Hmm. Yeah.
Got it. Low stamina, low strength, low mana.
"Why the sudden gloom?"
"…Even with this buff, if I lose 'cause I'm weak… what then?"
….
More realistic worry than I expected.
Kelters is probably bouncing between 15-16 in all stats now. Or maybe lower, since he missed early classes and growth chances—could have multiple 14s.
But right now, Milfeuille's realistic worry mattered less than her refusing more snacks.
A chick digging into the dirt?
Stealing a mole's job?
Time for some senpai mental training.
This is the guy who volunteered for engineering duty to grind daily wages despite orphan exemption.
Where's she getting that trash mindset from?
Huh?
"Milfeuille von Sabre. Pull up your status."
"Y-yeah. Stamina 9. Strength 8. Mana 11. Dexterity 6."
"I see. Gotcha. That level, huh. Haha. Impressive."
"Ahaha. Too low, right? Honestly, I have no idea how I even got into Jefrin."
"My stamina's 2."
"………………..…………."
She dropped her fork with a clink and rolled her eyes.
Then tilted her head, like she misheard.
"I heard 20 or…."
"2."
"…H-how."
"Ha. How'd I get in? Well…."
"How are you even alive?"
Oof. Straight no-filter hit.
"S-sorry…."
"Whatever. Mana's 3."
"……."
"My tournament rival's Regina Ciella with mana 20."
"The magic merchant senpai?"
"Yep. So no more defeatist talk from you."
"…Y-yeah."
Hmm.
Still not fully buying it.
Time to pump her up with an inspirational tale.
Let's see. Inspirational tale….
Chicks work hard and become hens? So what?
Old falcons pluck their feathers and talons? That's a myth.
Something fitting for Milfeuille….
Ah.
Right. Milfeuille exists.
"Milfeuille."
"Y-yeah?"
"There's a snack called milfeuille."
"Same as me?"
I nodded. Her attention peaked. A snack named after her—what's the story?
Here begins the effort essay I'd seen way too much of from Yi Young-jin.
"This snack's unique. You fold the dough thin, fold again, repeat. And at the end? That dough has 2,187 layers."
"I-I see. Wow… that's amazing!"
"Mm."
Milfeuille stared at me with sparkling eyes, expecting something profound.
What to say next?
Something cool, senpai-like.
So, um….
"A single layer of milfeuille might be fragile."
"!"
"Then shatter boldly. And repeat. After thousands of repetitions, milfeuille reveals itself to the world."
"W-wow… Wooooow…………."
A bit outdated mentalism and childish, sure.
Whatever.
"So. Put in the effooooort."
"Yes! Effooooort!"
"Yeah! Effoooooort!"
"Yesss!"
Boombastic old-man ending, but the chick's eyes were lit with motivation.
DIY grit theory hits this hard?
She good? For real?
"Two thousand layers. Milfeuille. Effort. Shatter and rise again, thousands of times. Become one complete milfeuille…!"
She's making resolved faces on her own now.
Face all flushed too. She okay?
"Thank you, senpai. Back home, they called me a dimwit, and I didn't know how I got to Jefrin."
"…Yeah."
"F-first encouragement like this. Especially from imperial blood… Thank you. Really…."
Huh?
No, the prince thing's irrelevant.
"Has nothing to do with the imperial family."
"Huh?"
"Just my words."
"…………."
Milfeuille blinked, then smiled brightly, cheeks red.
"Yes. I'll effort more! Fighting!"
"Mm."
She's such a pure kid. She fine?
Senpai's worried.
"Now, snacks please!"
"Go home today. I'm out of mana."
"Ah."