16. Invisible Affection Grinding is Scary
16. Invisible Affection Grinding is Scary
Amidst the relocation exam, a vacation declaration.
The way he brought all those items, racking up a massive point penalty in the process, was akin to volunteering to become a treasure goblin.
The cadets, pretending nonchalance while sizing each other up, all wondered how to snatch that tantalizing bundle of luggage.
"You... stick right next to me."
"...You have to tell me if you get hurt anywhere, okay?"
Seeing the openly predatory atmosphere, Mars and Yuno circled around me and kept their guard up.
Truly, I was grateful and it lifted my mood, but what should I say?
"You don't really need to do that."
"Shut up! I've decided I'm doing it, you bastard!"
"This time, it's our turn to help Chrono!"
No, that wasn't what I meant...
"Disembark in order. The exam begins at exactly 12:00 PM, and each of your positions is arbitrarily assigned at the teacher's discretion."
""..........""
The starting point was random in the first place.
**********
"Hmm..."
I sat there, all alone.
I couldn't see a thing in front of me.
It was because of the blindfold the teacher had put on me before we got off on the island. She said it would vanish on its own at noon and then just left.
What if I got attacked by wild animals while sitting like this? No matter how I thought about it, when you reflect a game into reality, something always felt a bit off, a screw loose somewhere.
Of course, maybe they anticipated all that and there was some background setting or whatever, but—honestly, none of that mattered to me.
"....Ah."
Suddenly, my vision brightened.
The blindfold was gone. I stood up and looked around.
"The location... roughly southwest?"
If you asked how I could tell just by looking around,
Every time I started this game, to finish the tutorial, I had to come here at least once. How could I not recognize the surrounding terrain and landmarks?
Just seeing roughly where a mountain peak was gave me a clean grasp of the topography.
"What now...?"
Other people would probably look for water, or find another cadet to form an alliance.
Or go hunting, or scout the terrain, but...
"...Hmm."
In the first place, I had the entire geography of this place in my head.
I knew where to find drinking water and where to get food.
Of course, I didn't know everything about randomly spawning medicinal herbs or poisonous plants, but if I knew that much, why would I even play this game?
If my head were capable of calculating RNG conversions, I'd probably be in graduate school somewhere by now, not here.
"First, I think I know roughly what the teacher intended."
The southwestern part of the island was a place with truly nothing.
The only thing it had was a dense forest, so you could easily get wood and firewood, but in return, the environment was extremely lacking in food.
With no drinking water and no food, the reason they placed me—who had all those things—in the southwest was probably... a way of telling me, 'Since you volunteered to be a treasure goblin, realize your own arrogance'?
'...Did I bring too much?'
Still, even so, sending a treasure goblin—whose stats were literally the lowest, so easy pickings that catching him would mean an easy life—to the front lines...
No matter how you looked at it, these were people with nasty personalities.
...Well, it didn't really matter either way.
"Let's see... First, should I secure some food?"
I slowly moved my feet and stepped forward.
My first event since being possessed with not a single quest.
If I didn't enjoy it to the fullest, wouldn't that be a loss?
"Cadet Mars plunged straight into combat, didn't she?"
"Cadet Minerva is recruiting other cadets first."
"Cadet Ter's case is small and elite... Their individual personalities really show, it's quite entertaining."
Outside the island.
On the boat that had transported the cadets, the teachers monitored the cadets' status.
To immediately respond to dangerous situations or if any cadets collapsed from exhaustion, some were on-site, while others observed from the boat.
"Ms. Eve... it was Cadet Chrono? You were definitely in charge of Cadet Chrono, right?"
"Yes. He is the cadet under my care."
Among the observation targets, Chrono was naturally included.
Eve, the apostle of Hebe, the goddess of youth, and the one in charge of morning exercises, watched Chrono with a fond smile.
"Of all the many places, the southwest... they must really dislike him, it seems."
"No. I don't dislike him. On the contrary, he's a cadet I find extremely likable."
"...You find him likable, yet you sent him to the southwest?"
The southwest was a wasteland with literally nothing but trees.
It wasn't even the season for edible fruit, so it truly had nothing but trees and firewood—essentially isolated support.
Cadets placed there had to be the first to escape, and they had no choice but to struggle to find food somehow.
Lacking resources.
Lacking food.
Given that, there was no way the 'resource-rich' Cadet Chrono wouldn't be targeted...
...Could she be trusting 'that'?
"He certainly showed many good sides during the dungeon experience... but is he a cadet you can expect that much from?"
The dungeon experience.
A simulated dungeon created by the academy.
He was a member of the party that defeated the final boss, the 'Champion', there—but no matter what, wasn't this expecting too much?
"Yes. I can state it with confidence."
"Hmm... but still, his stats are too low..."
She stated it with confidence. But no matter what, it was still a no.
It was obviously a no.
'His stat level is almost on par with a normal person...'
The disclosure of stats between cadets could only happen with mutual permission, but teachers had the authority to view them without consent.
As such, Chrono's meager stats were public knowledge to all.
Although divine protections, blessings, and the effects of held items didn't show up, you could still grasp his approximate level from that alone.
That was true.
"Stats are nothing more than 'physical strength.' That child, Cadet Chrono, possesses something beyond that."
Because you couldn't know his divine protections, blessings, or the effects of his items,
And because you couldn't see the 'pride' and 'guts' inscribed within him,
That was all the more reason Eve liked Cadet Chrono.
"That child comes out to the training ground every single day. He comes out sooner than anyone, and he always finishes to the very end."
"If you're that diligent, couldn't anyone do that?"
"As you said, ma’am, if his stats are like that—would he even think of coming out in the morning? Even if he did, he'd only last a day or two."
"..........Hmm."
Effort was something you could only put in if you had some prospect of hope.
Who would endlessly water a barren field where you couldn't even tell if seeds had been sown, saying 'They'll sprout someday!'?
Some would look at him and call him a fool, while others would feel pity at such a pitiful sight.
Moreover, if the process was so tough it made him vomit every time, most would have already called it quits.
"That child, that cadet, will definitely show us."
Eve doubted nothing about that future.
"...He certainly is showing us something."
Starting with a 100-point penalty before it even began.
A concept none of the cadets had thought of.
They had expected that perhaps he intended to latch onto someone stronger and live as a merchant.
"It's only been 3 hours since the exam started..."
But what was this?
Overturning every single expectation,
[Meat... so damn good! F*ck! This is what makes life worth living!]
"What is that?"
Somehow, he had hunted a rabbit.
He even skinned it well and butchered the meat.
If he had just grilled it over fire, they could have dismissed it with, 'Well, you can do that, sure.'
[I'm so glad I packed all this, me. Salt and pepper are a total jackpot. Too much of a jackpot.]
"...Vacation?"
Salt, salt, salt.
Pepper, pepper, pepper.
He even made a frying pan, and gathered up greens he had foraged somewhere, setting a proper meal for himself.
He even accurately got his bearings, escaped the southwest faster than anyone, and settled down by a small lake in the southeast.
"First... let's start scoring."
Foraging points and hunting points.
After assigning points based on the set table, they turned their eyes back to the screen.
[That looks delicious... wanna share a bit with me?]
[Munch munch... Hmm?]
"..........."
Drawn by the smell, perhaps, Cadet Chrono immediately encountered another cadet.
He chewed and swallowed the meat he had in his mouth, and then—
[—Pssht!]
[...Uh...huh...?]
"....Wow."
Without warning, he just shot.
The bullet lodged itself properly near the right thigh.
Perhaps because of a divine protection, and because Cadet Chrono hadn't attacked with full intent, it didn't result in a serious wound—but the sudden strike robbed the other cadet of their mobility in an instant.
Then Cadet Chrono approached the cadet clutching their leg and spoke.
[If it were girls like Mars or Yuno, that might be different—]
[W-wait. I won't come back! No, I'll give you my points and everything!]
[—but do I look weak enough to be underestimated by you guys?]
[Ah...!]
"EN -3, 14. One cadet."
Eve picked up the radio and connected the line.
The teacher on-site would probably retrieve them on their own.
When she put down the radio and turned her head, the face of the teacher who had been chattering excitedly earlier had frozen stiff.
"...No hesitation at all."
"If he had hesitated, he would have already been knocked out during the entrance exam sparring."
The opponent was the only daughter of the 'Ares Guild'—'Mars'.
In contrast, Cadet Chrono had no backing, merely a case of being 'coincidentally selected as a cadet'.
At a moment where defeat seemed all but certain from any angle, he snatched victory, overturning everyone's expectations.
Maybe it was because the divine protection he was chosen for was good?
Looking at it that way, the divinity instantly felt from him was on par with a run-of-the-mill C-rank.
A cadet whose divine protection wasn't even that great, who just happened to awaken.
What choice did such a cadet have to make in order to survive among those beasts?
"I believe this."
Eve spoke.
She clasped her hands tightly, as if deeply moved.
"Youth—is making oneself shine brightly."
"No matter how dark it is, how hard it is, even when it feels like everyone is cursing you,"
"Despite all that, it's the power to keep shining brilliantly."
And in that regard—Cadet Chrono was utterly perfect.
The weakest talent.
The worst conditions.
But he had guts, and he had venom.
A heart that never backed down in the crucial moments.
[Bond Rank—1 (New)]
"Yes. I know it shouldn't be this way—but it seems I've grown fond of Cadet Chrono."
Eve smiled brightly as she looked at the teacher next to her.
"That, really... he's gotten involved with a person with a nasty personality."
"Oh my. Aren't those words a bit harsh?"
[Condition: Attend morning exercise for a certain period of time.]
Even without Chrono present, he was diligently grinding affection.