Life Is a Battlefield (1)
I watched as Tia signed the forced contract with trembling hands. A satisfied smile lingered on my face the entire time.
Just as planned.
In the original story, Tia doesn’t survive. Just like Lillia mentioned earlier, she was supposed to be killed off inside that cave. But this isn’t a game anymore. It’s reality. I need to make use of every resource available to me.
It does sting a little that I had to spend points to buy the contract, though.
Still, I considered it a necessary investment for the future.
— My disciple is far more thorough than he appears. Not that it’s a bad thing.
At that moment, Miroel let out a small sigh and gently stroked the top of my head.
It seemed my recent bold actions had made her uneasy. I quietly nodded in response to her words. To be honest, having Miroel by my side had been a tremendous mental support.
Just then—
“You’ve worked hard, Baran.”
Lillia approached with quick, light steps. I turned to her and asked,
“Did you complete the contract?”
“Yes. She will never be able to betray me now.”
The fear in Tia’s eyes told me the statement was true. It looked like Lillia had made the contract ironclad.
“Then shall we head back now?”
Lillia smiled with her eyes and linked her arm with mine. I tilted my head slightly.
“Aren’t you going to clean up the mess?”
“Oh, Tia will take care of that, so there’s no need to worry. Right?”
“Y-yes!”
I wondered what kind of contract could make a woman like her so terrified. Suppressing my curiosity, I changed the subject.
“By the way, how do you plan to return to the academy? Isn’t it a bit far to walk?”
Our original plan had been to return tomorrow. I thought the carriage had been reserved for then as well. When I voiced my confusion, she answered with a seductive smile.
“You don’t need to worry. Tia arranged a carriage in advance so she could escape quickly.”
“Ah.”
“Tia, finish cleaning up here and return tomorrow on the carriage we reserved. Report back to me then.”
“Understood.”
Tia nodded obediently at Lillia’s command. Lillia waved the contract paper teasingly in front of her.
“You know what happens if you betray me, don’t you?”
Tia nodded vigorously. With that, we left her behind and headed toward the carriage waiting at the mountain entrance.
The two of us rode inside the carriage. For a while, an awkward silence hung between us.
“……”
“……”
Now that the incident was over and we were alone, it felt like there was nothing left to say. Lillia quietly observed Baran sitting across from her.
How strange.
Whenever she was with him, her heart felt strangely at ease. Why did she feel this way only around him? She studied his body with curious eyes, eventually reaching a conclusion.
Is it because of his eyes?
Merchants usually had to read their customers’ expressions. They wore fake smiles during negotiations no matter how unpleasant it felt. But with Baran, she didn’t need to do any of that. After all, he was blind. Naturally, she didn’t have to watch her every move around him. Of course, she still smiled out of habit sometimes.
But those smiles are genuine, at least to some degree.
Unlike how she dealt with customers, most of the smiles she showed Baran were sincere. Because she was truly interested in him.
Now that I think about it…
A memory she had forgotten suddenly flashed through her mind. She turned to Baran, who had been sitting quietly beside her, and asked,
“Baran. Would you answer the question I couldn’t ask earlier?”
“Hmm?”
“You didn’t forget, did you?”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Baran responded with a gentle smile, as if he had remembered all along.
“You’re asking why I helped you back then, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. I thought you might have forgotten, but you remembered?”
“Hahaha. Of course I did.”
In truth, he had forgotten until just a moment ago.
“I’ll ask again. So why did you help me? There’s clearly no benefit for you in helping me, is there?”
She looked up at him with genuine curiosity. In all honesty, Lillia couldn’t understand why Baran had helped her. They weren’t particularly close. And helping her wouldn’t give him any clear advantage. Yet he had gone above and beyond to assist her. He had even given her that expensive mana contract to secure even greater gains.
She had never received such unconditional kindness before. That was why she couldn’t help but question his motives. No one had ever shown her favor without expecting something in return.
As she continued to stare at him, he tilted his head and spoke.
“Actually, I’m the one who doesn’t understand.”
“Pardon?”
“Why would I need a reason to help a classmate?”
“……”
His unexpected answer left her speechless. She had assumed there must be some ulterior motive—like trying to get on her good side. After all, she was known as the daughter of the Eldorado Merchant Guild. Everyone knew that.
But…
No, that can’t be the reason.
Baran might be blind, but he wasn’t stupid. He had probably already noticed the tension between her and Highrun. From his perspective, siding with Highrun would have been the obvious choice. It was the easier path.
Yet Baran had ignored that easy route and helped her instead. All for the simple reason that she was his classmate.
Now that I think about it…
It had been the same during the previous practical evaluation. He had claimed there was a method, but in reality, he had bought time against the brainwashed Sherry, who had been the most dangerous opponent. No matter how strong he was, defeating her should have been impossible. Yet he had stayed behind and sacrificed himself.
This feeling… it’s new to me.
Ever since being adopted by Highrun, she had lived calculating every gain and loss. She never imagined a day would come when someone would help her for no reason at all.
Lillia gazed at Baran. He stared straight ahead, unaware she was watching him. How could she possibly repay him?
Of course I’ll give him an elixir, but…
Somehow, that didn’t feel like enough. Her gaze naturally drifted to his lips. At the same time—
Ugh…!
An indecent thought crossed her mind, and her face began to burn. No matter what, a kiss would be far too forward. So the most she could do was—
Chu.
She kissed him on the cheek instead of the lips. Baran flinched in surprise. He had wondered why she kept staring at him, but he never imagined she would suddenly kiss his cheek.
“This is the greatest expression of gratitude I can offer right now.”
Lillia answered in a calm voice. Unfortunately, her face was flushed bright red, completely different from her usual composed expression.
And so, the two of them spent the rest of the carriage ride to the academy in the most awkward silence imaginable.
— Ugh! Disciple, don’t stop me today!
Of course, Miroel swung her fists wildly at Lillia, but they simply passed right through her.
After riding in the carriage for a while longer, we finally arrived at our destination. Once we stepped out in front of the academy, we each had things to do and immediately went our separate ways.
To be precise—
“I have something I need to take care of, so I’ll be going now.”
Despite her relaxed tone, Lillia ran off with a face as red as a tomato.
— She’s finally gone. That vixen.
Miroel looked absolutely delighted now that Lillia had disappeared. It seemed that cheek kiss had been quite stimulating for her.
Well, even I was caught off guard.
Her favorability had increased a bit before, but Lillia had never been so openly affectionate. I had no idea why her favorability had shot up so dramatically.
Hmm. Honestly, I don’t even have time to date anyone right now.
With that thought, I headed off to give Dale a fabricated report about today’s events.
But at that moment—
“Baran.”
Edin called out to me from the entrance of the main building. I tilted my head at the sight of him.
“You’re already back from the field trip?”
“Yeah…”
He nodded slowly with an awkward expression. What was going on? Why did he look so nervous?
“Did something happen?”
“The second-year seniors said all the first-years from Class A should gather at the training grounds.”
“What?”
What kind of nonsense was that? The seniors who had left us alone until now were suddenly calling us to the training grounds?
Is this a military academy or something?
I spoke while holding back my disbelief.
“Should I head there right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm. Before I go, could I ask you for a favor?”
I asked Edin for one precautionary request. He nodded.
“Got it. I’ll bring them right away.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Edin went inside the building. At the same time, I began walking toward the training grounds.
A short while later—
To think I’d live to see classmates getting hazed in another world.
When I arrived at the destination, I let out a dry laugh at the scene before me. The classmates who had just returned from their field trip were all doing push-ups on the ground.
Just then—
Teach the Senior a Lesson
📍 Objective: Make one second-year senior suffer today
🎁 Reward: Unknown
I looked at the quest window that appeared before me and smirked.
Looks like I’ll have to screw over one senior today.