Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Philip's Fear
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“…What conversation.”
“Yeah, no need to drag it out. Why do you keep getting startled?”
“Ah, startled? What the hell…”
Philip forced out a laugh.
As I took a step closer, he flinched and backed away.
I asked with a smile.
“Not startled?”
Philip’s face twisted.
Just then, the doorknob turned but stopped abruptly.
Chelringen’s panicked voice came from outside.
[Lucas?]
“Go on ahead. I need to talk to Philip.”
[…Ah~ Got it.]
Chelringen seemed to catch on and chuckled.
He must’ve been annoyed by Philip’s behavior too.
With no one trying to open the door, Philip’s face crumpled in shock.
“…I’ve got nothing to talk about. Move.”
“Same here, Philip. You think I want to chat because I like you?”
“What?”
“You might have nothing to say, but your score doesn’t agree.”
“…….”
He clamped his mouth shut.
I checked the clock in that moment.
About 15 minutes until the next team’s reservation.
I drew my wand from its holster and said.
“Let’s talk while sparring. 15 minutes is plenty.”
“…What, no, why now…!”
“Why? You’re overly scared of me. How can we get teamwork points like this?”
We can’t.
The 1st to 3rd grade victim response mage teams active in Bayern were handpicked by me.
If we applied the same criteria here at school, our team would be out.
No way a normal team dynamic works when one side unilaterally fears the other.
It seemed to hit a nerve—Philip’s face flushed as he huffed.
“Scared? Don’t make me laugh! Who do you think you are…!”
“Then prove it. Draw your wand.”
“…….”
“If you want to run, I won’t stop you…”
He kept retreating with every step I took.
I snapped my fingers to pull over the space magic artifact from across the room. Then I summoned an empty training field.
[3, 2, 1. Begin.]
“…!”
Everything turned pure white.
I had my back to the entrance, so I couldn’t see, but it was probably gone. Inside Mimesis, we couldn’t leave until time was up.
‘Won’t stop you if you want to run,’ my ass.
Just words. No way out.
Sure enough, shock flashed in Philip’s eyes as the entrance vanished.
“That’s gotta be surprising. I was the one scared of you before, and now you’re the one avoiding me.”
I kept my eyes locked on his as I spoke.
“Philip.”
His expression was quite the sight.
I wished Luca were here. The guy who used to ignore and bully you is totally reversed—don’t you want to see?
I tilted my head with a smile.
“Scared I’ll drink your blood?”
“…!”
Kwaaang—!
I crossed my arms to block and poured mana into my legs.
Philip’s brownish mana scattered into the air after hitting my barrier.
He’d hit hard—I’d been pushed back quite a ways.
As I slowly straightened up, Philip aimed his wand at me, hands shaking wildly as he yelled.
“Don’t come closer. For real, fuck, just try it! I’ll kill you.”
“You think I’m a mosquito or something? Think about it logically, Philip.”
“I said don’t come! Ah, fuck. Where’s the artifact?!”
My ears were rotting.
I tried to empty my mind and smiled.
“Fine, whatever. Since you’ve got your wand out, let’s do this properly.”
Kwaang—!
I parried his attack and unleashed a basic spell formula.
A look of disbelief crossed his face.
“Wand or sword? Which is more comfortable?”
“…What….”
Of course he’d go for the wand.
He wouldn’t want close quarters.
I preferred wands for lower mana cost anyway, so no issue.
Might as well show him close-range wand work isn’t bad.
“Or if you hate both…”
“Uwaaaak!”
As I closed in, he screamed like a madman and swung his wand wildly.
His completely random attacks left me speechless. Then I burst out laughing.
‘What the hell is this.’
I’d long known bullies lack substance, but it’d been ages since I saw one so perfectly two-faced.
Trauma from being called a coward as a kid, maybe.
His bullying was probably a defense mechanism and proof of the high status he craved.
I stood still, swatting away his attacks as I said.
“Talk. Then I can fix it or whatever.”
I poured mana into my legs and kicked off the ground.
Kwaaang—!
Closing right up to his nose was laughably easy.
If it were Leona or Chelringen, I’d be smashed into a wall going straight at them.
Watching Philip desperately twist away, I shifted my body’s mana to my right rear.
“…!”
Using mana to pivot 180 degrees instantly, Philip bit down hard—too busy to counter.
As I kept pursuing, his wand trembled even more pathetically. Attacks that had hit my barrier moments ago now scattered without reaching.
‘This guy… Hans was way better.’
Though him running backward contributed to his crap skill.
I lowered my output to match his level.
“If my guess on why you’re so startled by me is wrong, tell me yourself.”
“Hah, we already finished training properly! What’s the problem if I’m startled?!”
“What’s the problem.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
He flinched even at that.
Kwaang—!
I blocked the mana stream coming from behind with a barrier.
Trying to attack from my blind spot, huh.
But for that to work, you need secondary attacks to split attention—he didn’t. Couldn’t spare the focus with me chasing.
“Why form teams if we just ranked by skill? Ever thought about the test’s intent? Even if you hate each other, you can’t show it during exams. That’s why I’m asking—tell me.”
“What?! What the hell!”
I’d been saying it over and over.
Scared shitless, brain not working?
“Why avoid me? Gotta know to fix it or not.”
“Can’t fix it!”
Kwaang—!
I stomped.
Red mana spread everywhere, slamming into Philip.
His face crumpled at the sight. His body tilted backward.
“…?!”
Thud!
Confusion between arms and legs—he tripped over his own feet.
As I approached to help him up, he screamed and scrambled back.
Absurd—I froze. Then he pressed his arms to his face.
His still-visible face was flushed bright red.
Doesn’t he need a hospital? As I peered closer, he grimaced wildly.
“Huh… gasp…”
“…….”
Hm?
My thoughts stalled.
Hiding my fluster, I let out an awkward laugh.
“Hey, are you… right now…?”
He unleashed a near-scream string of curses.
“I’m scared!”
“…….”
“Your magic scares me, scares me you’ll suck my blood like you said, huh?! Scared you’ll retaliate from your family if I guess wrong. Happy now?! Fuck, why keep asking, it’s embarrassing…!”
‘Tells me in detail, huh.’
He started bawling openly now.
Another awkward laugh escaped, but he was beyond caring.
Well…
Various thoughts must be swirling. I don’t get it, but.
‘Saw it coming from his status obsession.’
This must be his real psyche.
Fear isn’t a sin, but hiding it by bullying to seem tough is.
Now it makes sense—belittling Luca was to prove he wasn’t scared of Pleroma like others.
“Hey.”
Whatever. The one crying should be our team, losing bonus points because of him.
I knelt before him and said the best thing I could.
“Get up.”
* * *
I leaned back on a school bench, gulping down cola.
The fizz scratched my throat coolly going down.
‘Nice.’
Cola’s already here. History on it, thinking back.
Faint memories say it shouldn’t be imported yet.
‘Whatever… warped from the North Sea probably.’
Preservation processes and tariffs doubled the mainland price.
Taste different from what I knew, but finding something modern here lifted my mood.
I drained half the bottle from my seat and asked Philip, clutching his tightly.
“Don’t like cola?”
“…Never tried it.”
“Yeah?”
Of course—only me and modern folks would know it’s newly imported from across the continent.
“If you don’t want it, toss it.”
“…….”
He pondered long, then popped the cap.
Stared suspiciously at the contents, then sipped cautiously.
His eyebrows shot up.
I gave a friendly-enough smile.
“Would’ve been better chilled with cooling magic earlier.”
“…Hm.”
Suspicious still, but he kept drinking.
Hate wasting a penny on him, but teamwork’s at stake—gotta lay solid groundwork, no issues.
Favorability too.
My trait boosts persuasion anyway—raise it 1 point at a time, unnoticed.
“Philip. Need you to get this.”
I clasped my hands, gazing at students strolling the school garden.
“I’m not you, so no matter how much I want revenge, I won’t suck a punk like your blood.”
“…Cough?!”
He barely covered his mouth, coughing forever.
I sighed in relief—the seat was clean.
“What the hell outta nowhere?!”
“I’m not Pleroma to begin with. More importantly, why fear Pleroma so much?”
“…….”
“Can’t say? Fine.”
What wouldn’t a scaredy-cat fear.
He didn’t argue now, after whining earlier.
“Honestly, I can use magic without drinking blood.”
“Then why all this time…?”
“No need to tell you that.”
I answered, opening my trait window.
Charm Lv.2
― ‘Wanna be friends!’ +3 favorability on certain targets
― ‘You must be right.’ Persuasion +30%
― 3.0 points to next level
* Owned points: 27.0 points
‘Good.’
Leave about 10 for time rewind.
Peaceful now, but who knows.
‘Just one level up for now.’
Thought so, and the text changed.
Charm Lv.3
― 40% chance on entities ≤0 favorability, 5% on ≥1
― ‘Wanna be friends!’ +4 favorability
― ‘You must be right.’ Persuasion +35%
‘Finally shows application rates.’
It’d always applied to him anyway.
I closed the window, looked at his face.
He’d been slumped lifelessly, but now frowned like he noticed something off. Confusion plain on his face.
His feelings toward me shifted unconsciously—of course.
‘…….’
Favor up is good, but the target…
Anyway, his favor window: value had risen as expected.
Philip Garing
Favorability 0* [Strategizable (Stage 2/5)]
“If you can’t believe I’m not Pleroma after my Bayern inspector check, oh well. No obligation to convince you.”
Philip nodded reluctantly.
Status-obsessed types—if you erase fear by acting nice, they put you below them again.
‘Annoying bastards.’
No clue how much to reveal to snap him out.
Push hard now, and he’ll keep jumping at shadows, hindering us.
Sorry, but mix approaches. I managed my expression.
“Surprising.”