Chapter 9
Chapter 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Uncertain Investment for the Future
-----------------------------------------------------------------
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 10 p.m. It was a dark night.
Philip slowly walked down the girls' dormitory hallway.
"……."
Thanks to the bright moonlight, he didn't need any light-emitting artifacts. Besides, Philip's senses were exceptionally sharp.
Even with just a slight focus, he could hear the students tossing and turning in their rooms.
The first and second floors of the girls' dormitory were for upperclassmen—the fourth- and fifth-years.
Instructor Diana had said it was okay to be a bit lenient with them, and since they were seventeen or eighteen, practically adults, Philip had no intention of entering any rooms unless absolutely necessary.
After checking up to room 112 at the end of the right hallway on the first floor, Philip stood at the base of the stairs leading to the second floor.
That's when he heard a very faint voice from room 110.
"…Do you know who's on night duty tonight?"
"Instructor Perek, I bet? Why?"
"Can't sleep. Mind if I have a glass of wine?"
"You got any for us?"
"Not for free. Bring snacks."
Philip hesitated for a moment. First floor meant eighteen-year-old fifth-years. In this world, eighteen was treated as adulthood, so a bit of drinking was fine.
They were graduating soon, so some flexibility was needed.
Philip minimized his presence as much as possible. Using mana to muffle his footsteps and even control his breathing so it was barely audible, there was no way they'd notice him approaching.
Counting to three in his head, he flung the door open. The girls gasped, their eyes widening in surprise. They were gathered around a table in the middle of the room, dressed in nightgowns.
"H-Hello, Instructor."
The student about to uncork the bottle startled into a hiccup.
"Hic!"
"…I was going to tell you all to submit penalty points, but since you got caught before even opening it, I'll let it slide this once."
"Ah, thank you."
"If you really want to drink, just pass around one glass each. Gotta do something if you can't sleep."
With that, Philip closed the door again. He deliberately made footsteps fading away, then listened to the voices inside.
"I-I thought my heart was gonna stop, Lily."
"Isn't that instructor Philip Oswald?"
"I saw him once at a party when I was little. I bumped into him while running around, and I thought I was gonna die of fright back then. But now he seems like a totally different person."
Philip let out a deep sigh.
'Philip, how the hell did you even live like that?'
He trudged up to the second floor.
The fourth-years seemed to all be in bed without much movement. Heading up to the third floor for the third-years, Philip spotted someone walking the hallway, still half-asleep.
"Hello. Yawn."
Curly hair and horn-rimmed glasses. It was a girl from his memory.
"Cheryl, right? Where are you off to? It's bedtime."
"Yawn… Gotta pee, to the bathroom… Oh."
Cheryl, who had been blurting out whatever in her drowsiness, suddenly snapped awake. Standing before her was the handsome instructor who had witnessed her dark history.
She smiled awkwardly to herself.
'How should I die so it doesn't hurt?'
Falling asleep right after getting back from extended hours at the library had been her downfall. Philip gave an awkward smile.
"You must be exhausted. Hurry back and get some good rest."
"…Yes."
Out of consideration, Philip headed straight up to the fourth floor. He ignored the sniffling sounds from behind.
The second-years were mostly fine, except for some chattering in a few rooms.
Whispering under the covers with friends was practically a dormitory right, so Philip left them alone except for the really noisy ones.
Then he heard muffled crying from upstairs.
Philip quickened his pace. He knew which room Lua was assigned to.
'…Sigh.'
Room 507. That was her room. As he approached, an irritated voice came from beyond the door.
"Stop crying already. I get you're hurting and sad, but enough. We shouldn't have to suffer because of you. Didn't you grow up in the mountains? Is that why you don't know what 'being a nuisance' means?"
"Sorry. I'm sorry… But…"
"If you're sorry, then shut up. Sorry fixes everything?"
"Hey, you're the loud one right now. I can put up with her crying, but your voice is annoying. Flaunting your noble status?"
"What did you just say?"
Sensing the tension, Philip quickly opened the door. A fight was about to break out.
The girls eyed each other nervously at the instructor's sudden entrance.
"What are you all doing right now?"
As Philip glared sternly, a girl in silk pajamas stepped forward indignantly. She was one of the swordsmanship students too.
Olivia Nuees, lady of a baron's family.
Her twin pigtails made her memorable.
"…Instructor, she's been crying all night for days now. At first, I thought she'd calm down, so I endured it quietly, but three nights straight is too much. That's why…"
"I see. It's not your fault, and I don't blame you. I just think your approach might come off as a bit aggressive to your friends."
Olivia's eyes widened at Philip's words. She'd expected a scolding.
"And Annis Prallin, that goes for you too. You two have similar personalities, but I believe your relationship can start off better than this. After I leave, it wouldn't hurt for the braver one to apologize first."
Annis, the only daughter of the Prallin Merchant Guild, chewed her lip and bowed her head.
"Yes… Instructor."
"Good. If I see you all having breakfast together tomorrow morning, I might feel like giving out some bonus points."
With that, Philip wrapped up the girls' squabble and turned to Lua.
"…I've been thinking about how I can help you. And I've decided."
Lua's face was deathly pale without a drop of color, her lips dry and cracked. Philip squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
The image of Lua from the game flashed in his mind.
A lively, strong-willed girl with great affinity.
It would take at least another month for her to regain that.
'I can't do it.'
Since entering the world of Academy Heroes, he'd reviewed future plans hundreds of times, but plans and reality always differed.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't push this young girl into hardship and trials.
It would be no different from abuse.
'No choice now.'
With his resolve set, Philip slowly approached the bed and scooped Lua up in his arms. Her hair, touching his arm, was split from days without proper meals.
"Ah."
Lua seemed quite startled but didn't push him away or resist.
He didn't seem to have bad intentions, and besides, she lacked the strength to rebel. Her body, starved of sleep and food for days, wouldn't obey.
'…Warm.'
And she craved someone's body heat.
"Let's get you out of here for now. You all, it's bedtime—get back in bed."
"Ah, yes."
"Y-Yes."
Philip confirmed the girls lying down before leaving the room.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Philip carried Lua piggyback to his room and asked the maid on duty with him to look after her. Then he returned to finish his shift.
And morning came.
—Whoa, she looks like that after crying herself to sleep? Master.
Back in his room, Philip felt his chest tighten looking at Lua.
He never imagined her sense of loss, glossed over so casually in the game, was this severe.
Dried tear tracks ringed her eyes, and milk crusted her lips. The maid must have fed her warm milk to help her sleep.
—What're you gonna do with her?
"What else? I've already set my course."
—…?
"I'll manage her directly from the start."
'I was the idiot. Me possessing Philip is a massive variable already—there's no way the story follows the original.'
Philip stroked his chin thoughtfully.
If he really wanted to stick to the original, he'd have to fight Lua mid-second semester, get expelled from the academy, and wander off somewhere unknown—but he had no info on that part.
Things were messed up from the start.
'No helping it now. I'll keep her close and raise her myself.'
Lua was the sole successor to the one and only 'Sword Saint Solbein' in this world.
With her transcendent potential confirmed, there was no need to cling to the variable-riddled original plot.
She'd grow as Philip fed her the right path.
But even spoon-feeding needed buildup. Philip was about to start the first step.
"Let's begin with some financial therapy."
—Financial therapy? What's that?
"You'll see."
Philip left the room again.
His destination was the shopping district outside the academy.
It catered to attendants of noble students renting mansions, faculty families, and academy affiliates—a well-developed commercial area. As a freely accessible map in the game, it was packed with hidden Easter eggs and secret pieces.
—Master, looks like no one's open for business. Everything's shut!
8 a.m., the streets were still quiet.
Alchemy workshops, armories, boutiques, ateliers—regular shops hadn't opened yet. Even restaurants were just preparing to.
Of course, Philip's target wasn't a shop.
He crossed the district to the canal on the outskirts. It connected to Lake Aldea, dozens of kilometers away.
—…Why are we here?
"Something to pick up nearby… Ah, here it is."
Near a dam built for flood control, where the grass grew unusually short—that patch of ground was his goal.
Philip stepped onto the spot and stomped a few times. His sharp senses whispered of a hollow space meters below.
"Definitely here. Then… 'Uncertain Investment for the Future'."
As he uttered the code, the ground shook like an earthquake.
—Eek! What's happening?
Philip stepped back, and the earth cracked open, revealing a square passageway with stairs leading down.
—Master, you're not going down there, right? Please say no.
"We are."
—Eeeek… It's scary in the dark.
"…It'll light up once we descend, so don't worry."
As Philip said, after two flights of dark stairs, light appeared ahead. An underground chamber dug from earth with stone walls.
'Gotta take those too.'
He smacked his lips eyeing the dozens of glowing stones embedded in the ceiling—high-value knickknacks worth ten gold each, from memory.
The stone room held only an old desk in the center, no other structures. Atop it sat a box the size of two human heads combined.
'Yusuf's Golden Seal.' That item should be inside.
It was the key to purchasing a special membership in the world's most secretive merchant guild, wielding immeasurable influence.