Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Philip's Breakdown
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“I never thought you’d cry that loud…”
“Aaahhh!”
He clamped his hand over my mouth like he was punching me. His scream right in my ear made my eardrums ring.
I tried to stay calm and spoke softly.
“Easy now, Philip. You’ve spilled cola everywhere.”
“H-How could I forget about that…!”
“You forgot about that…? Impressive.”
“……”
Philip clutched the back of his neck.
Looking at his face, he could keel over backward any second.
I felt a little bad.
Then, a sudden idea hit me, and I jumped to my feet.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
“What? Hey!”
I warped to the dorm, yanked the blanket off my bed.
Pie, who’d been sleeping sprawled out, snapped his head up.
“Pie.”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry to wake you, but could you cast an invisibility spell and follow me?”
“Uwooo…”
He was basically a bear.
This was unusual—he must really be sleepy this time.
I grabbed a cloth to wipe up the cola, slung Pie over my shoulder, and warped back beside Philip.
“Here, wipe it up.”
“Oh, uh… thanks.”
The cloth was just an excuse. I had another goal.
I used divine power to speak to Pie.
—“Pie, can you check if anyone’s watching us from around here?”
I’d infused him with divine power before warping, so his energy perked up fast—his eyes were bright and alert.
“Anyone watching~?”
—“Yeah.”
I looked down at Philip’s puffy face as I replied.
I hadn’t planned this exactly, but I could use the current situation.
‘It’s about time to start investigating the Adelbert incident.’
Narke had predicted it would turn out badly for me.
She must’ve used her foresight, but the future depends on what I do.
‘If it looks like it’s going south, I can just figure out the culprit first.’
There’s no rule saying only the obvious victim is the target.
In other words, Adelbert collapsing might not have been the goal—it could’ve been a crime set up to attack me socially.
‘Adelbert was already emotionally unstable. And that guy was in and out of his room a lot…’
Adelbert made the perfect tool.
Of course, it’s just a possibility—no hard evidence on who’s the target and who’s the means.
What matters is the culprit will move again soon.
Since they failed this time, whoever the target is, they’ll either cause another incident to achieve their goal or try to slip off the suspect list entirely.
If the aim was to make Adelbert snap naturally, now’s pretty much the only chance. Everyone knows he’s weak mentally and physically.
But if Adelbert wasn’t the target…
Then trouble would hit Philip, who’s tangled up with me.
Specifically, only Philip.
‘Let’s see what they do.’
Of course, if they don’t move, I can just investigate every possibility.
‘Let’s see who wins.’
For now, though, focus on building goodwill. I smiled, draped an arm over the backrest.
“That’s not the only surprising thing, Philip.”
“…What else…?”
“You know how concentrating mana in your senses lets you detect what’s right inside a wall or door? But sensing an entire floor of a building? I had no idea you could do that.”
“…I was just born with sensitive senses, that’s all.”
“Sure, whatever. Point is, it’s a huge time-saver.”
As I finished with a smile, a popup appeared near Philip.
Favorability +1
‘…Hmm~’
That makes it +1*.
My stomach churned a bit, but thanks.
As I said it, I leveled up the trait one more step.
Just boosts the application rate, so I dumped points straight to level 5.
Charm Lv. 5
—Applies with 50% chance to targets at 0 favorability or below, 5% chance to those at 1+ favorability
—‘I want to be friends!’ Favorability +5
—‘You must be right.’ Persuasion +40%
‘40%? They’d believe bullshit?’
Wonder how far it goes. Let’s test it.
As I marveled at the +5 favorability and 40% persuasion, he mumbled and spoke up.
* * *
“You…”
Philip trailed off, and Lucas tilted his head.
“Yeah, exactly.”
That kind tone made Philip clamp his mouth shut.
He’d been feeling it for a while now, but the fear was subtly fading.
No—still scary, but differently. Before, it was terror of getting killed quietly somewhere. Now…
‘…Why?’
He couldn’t bring himself to meet the guy’s eyes human-to-human.
Guilt? Shame?
The change was so sudden, he couldn’t make sense of it.
But one thing clicked.
If it were him, he wouldn’t act like this guy.
If he were Lucas, he’d use every means to torment the guy. Magic skills, family background—all perfect for it.
“Philip. Cat got your tongue?”
“…Why aren’t you doing anything?”
“Doing what? If it were me, I’d mess you up so bad you couldn’t show your face. Why aren’t you?”
What? How does this bastard know?
No way?
Philip paled as he replied.
“Huh? Oh… yeah, that.”
“Philip.”
A smile spread across Lucas’s oblivious face.
“You think I don’t get you?”
“…What’s that supposed to mean…?”
“You serious?”
Philip shut his mouth.
“Of course, I’m not okay with it. I remember everything you did. But…”
Lucas reached toward Philip’s shoulder, who flinched and scooted away.
“See, you being scared and dodging like this? If I can’t control my revenge urge, it messes with the mission. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
“There was friction that could cause issues, sure. Honestly, those memories of you bullying me are still fresh. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t mad.”
Philip bit his lip without thinking.
“But for now, I’m trying to set emotions aside for the exam. So don’t you think you should meet me halfway?”
“Then after the exam…”
He mustered insane courage for the question, and Lucas burst out laughing.
“If you keep acting like this, I won’t tell my family, Philip.”
“Like this?”
Lucas didn’t answer, just said his piece.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to fear me this much. I thought I’d been merciful. Like with the notes. They boosted your grades a lot, so I figured I helped. Was I wrong…?”
‘What bullshit.’
Merciful? Out of his own mouth?
Philip squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to cry blood tears.
All semester, mornings to afternoons copying lecture notes like mad—arms aching daily, vision blacking out on fast-talking prof days.
‘…But…’
Thinking about it, he had a point.
Lucas’s leniency kept him out of disciplinary committee and in school. True.
Notes did bump his rank a bit. Also true.
“Think about it, Philip. To me, you weren’t worth expelling. Better to win-win. Perfect attendance, notes from first to eighth period? So diligent. I wanted to reform you, but that didn’t click, huh.”
Reform?
Or was it just stealing notes from the start?
‘But… it’s convincing.’
Why does it ring so true?
Philip listened intently for a while.
* * *
“…So if you focus on your job, I basically have zero interest in you. I was even planning to sync schedules after advancing to university?”
“For notes?”
“Yeah. No AI, so gotta. Do me a solid in college too.”
“…Okay….”
He said it and sank into thought.
Answering half-assed repeats seriously was weird.
Soon, he nodded like it clicked.
“Thinking back, you’ve done me tons of favors. You always considered me, but I assumed you’d act like me without noticing…”
‘Working perfectly.’
AI talk seconds ago, and he replies spot-on?
I swallowed my surprise and smiled.
“Hmm, no. Philip, so you won’t freak like before now, right?”
“…I’ll try.”
Lied through nonsense out of laziness, but nailed the conclusion.
Power of 40% persuasion. Politician material for sure.
Kinda scary power.
Just this guy, so I spammed it. Careful with other students.
A crisp white message popped up.
Ding—!
Favorability +1
I checked his favorability window again.
Philip Garling
Favorability +3* [(Stage 2/5)]
‘Tied with Cheringen now.’
Cheringen or Adelbert at +3 was fine, but seeing it on this guy churned my gut a little.
Night fell, training time arrived as scheduled.
Thought only our team booked this slot, but other teams were practicing too.
Beep—
[Exam ending.]
The announcement made our team glance at me and Philip.
Mimesis off, I lightly offered a hand to Philip beside me.
He hesitated, then slapped it away with a twisted smile.
‘…We’re saved.’
I didn’t show it, but I cheered inwardly.
No more trouble from him, our team’s synergy lives.
He still flinched meeting my eyes, but no more screams or jumps.
Cheringen noticed the change, whispered to me.
“Lucas, what’d you do?”
Cheated with a trait…
Couldn’t say that, so I bullshitted.
“Just talked seriously. Grades on the line, he got it quick.”
“Yeah? You’re a smooth talker.”
Cheringen grinned satisfied.
“Oh, Lucas. Thoughts on advancing the second-year joint training?”
“Why rush?”
“Scouting other teams’ skills sounds good. They suggested adjusting schedules too.”
“Hm, sure.”
Didn’t matter to me.
Dramatic skill jumps in two weeks? Nah.
Two-week prep isn’t skill grind—it’s team bonding.
Day one of round two, edges showing, everyone itching to scout.
Suggestion accepted that day.
In my room, now the friends’ hangout, I listened to Leo.
“School advanced all exam schedules. Probably ’cause Pleroma switched drugs.”
“So joint training’s next Monday?”
“Yeah.”
Narke and Leo looked grim.
Makes sense.
Drug riskier now, so don’t throw students in sooner to “finish faster,” right? That school logic?
‘Gotta add exam phases.’
If I push in Bayern, Prussia follows—school too.
But more pressing now…
“What’s up, Eli.”
I asked Elias, head drooping like a corpse.
He lifted it a beat late.
“Huh?”
“…What?”
Even Leo, who skips check-ins, chuckled in disbelief.
Elias’s face was ice-cold. Dark circles not normal.
‘Scary.’
Now I get why other students and Pie fear him.
Elias spoke in a chilling voice.
“Guys, know this?”
“What?”
“Teeth that won’t open with hands? Grip with molars, they open.”
“Born yesterday?”
Leo blurted instinctively, then snapped to.
Using his rare gentle tone.
“Something wrong? What’s with the sudden vibe.”
“Waaaaa…”
Elias wailed instead, collapsing.
No words needed—instinct said it.
‘Team synergy fucked.’
Didn’t expect even Elias struggling day one.
Plenty of students like this now, probably.
Wish I could swap teams for them.
Two Philips and an Ainsidel Family guy? No issue for Elias.
Ainsidel barely cares about teammates anyway.
Narke caught on, started comforting Elias.
Knock knock—
Someone knocked outside.
No usual visitors, so friends’ eyes turned to me.
[Lucas.]
‘…Huh?’
Thought he didn’t care?
The voice outside was Class 1-A Ainsidel’s.