43. NTR Drift Stage 1 Issued
43. NTR Drift Stage 1 Issued
The midterm exam results.
Cutting out all the fluff and getting straight to the point—
"Congratulations. Chrono, Yuno, Minerva."
""".....???"""
I had snatched 1st place in the entire grade with an inhuman 107 points.
What the teacher said was that 2nd place was in Class A with 87 points, or something like that.
As a reward for 1st place, the teacher handed each of us a scholarship and a certificate.
[Title: 1st Place in the 1st Year 1st Semester Midterms!]
-A single stride of a stork surpasses ten steps of a sparrow.
-No matter how hard you try, you will kneel before an act of god.
Reward: At a certain probability, Sp +1 bonus / A small indulgence voucher toward Lord Cronus
"...So basically, you're making it way too obvious."
I subtly glanced up at the sky.
Was he trying to show off that he was watching, always and everywhere?
My Lord God was someone who played coy but was definitely committed to his own PR.
"Now then, let's begin today's lesson. Where did we leave off yesterday?"
"Page 197, up to 'The Posture of Prayer and the Dynamic Relationship of Faith.'"
The teacher transitioned straight into the lesson the moment homeroom ended.
I also took out my textbook and prepared for class, but from the next seat, Minerva and Yuno began subtly throwing me looks.
"Chrono...."
"Chrono....!"
"............"
Gazes that carried a hint of resentment.
I, for my part, hadn't imagined the gap would turn out this wide either.
To be honest, the exam period, so-called exam period, was basically a short-term intensive leveling window in my eyes.
Of course, once you became a 2nd-year, the [Quest Board] would switch to normal mode and you could level however you liked, but in the early stages like now, you had no choice but to grind like crazy during exam periods.
Only, the two of them who didn't know that would have no choice but to resent me...
"....Still, we got 1st place, didn't we?"
""...........""
I tried to placate their resentment by suitably bringing up the achievement of 1st place.
Perhaps because we were still student cadets, we had received a scholarship and a certificate too.
On top of that, while the ordeal had been exhausting in many ways, we had learned a fair deal, and the compensation for our results wasn't nothing either.
'Roughly, it'll blow over around here, won't it?'
I nodded my head lightly, believing that the trust between those two and me wouldn't break over just this much.
"Chrono... if you run away during lunch, I might get just a little seriously angry."
"Chrono... for this once, I am in full agreement with Yuno."
".....Hm."
The trust didn't break.
Instead, the human relationships might have broken just a bit....
...
..
.
"Chrono, you idiot!"
Idiot, idiot! Idiot-idiot, idiot!
Yuno raised her voice out of the blue.
When I subtly nudged the strawberry cake that had come out toward Yuno, she soon popped a bite into her mouth and mumbled.
"Really... a leader who keeps forcing breakthroughs without considering the state of the party members... mmph, gulp!...deserves being impeached, I think!"
"It's not that I agree wholeheartedly, but... I share a similar sentiment to Yuno. Chrono.
This time, you went too far..."
Taking a sip of her cappuccino, Minerva glanced at me with veiled intent.
If Minerva, who normally described herself as well-trained, was like this, it seemed I really had worked them brutally hard.
'From my point of view, I just took the optimal route...'
Even that was just me aiming for the bare minimum, not even at the level of a goinmul veteran.
If I had done exactly as I pleased, the way I wanted, I would have driven them Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, all four days, trying to squeeze out experience and points somehow.
Even though I had spared them two days considering their condition, I was getting this reaction.
"Hrrrm... what was the problem? I thought we managed stress well enough...."
"...You really think there wasn't a problem?"
"Honestly, I handled almost all of the difficult work myself."
"Well, it's not that I don't know that, but...."
So, knowing that, I endured and held on as best I could, buuut....
"Still, people have their limits, you know...?"
"To be blunt, it reminded me of the joint training under my father in the Athena Guild..."
".....Tch."
They really must have struggled immensely.
Come to think of it, it wasn't a quest meant to be done over just one night and two days.
When you do it as a game, it's just moving a few fingers and clicking a couple of buttons and it says 'collected,' but actually moving in real life, the fatigue was no joke.
So, accounting for that, every time we set night watch shifts, I had continuously played [Ur's Harp] to recover their condition. But apparently, something beyond what could be expressed in mere numbers had profoundly exhausted them.
Ultimately, I kept shoving coffee and sugar into their mouths and gently soothing them, and only then did the furrows in their brows start to relax.
"Hooo... really, if you do this again next time, I won't ever party with Chrono again!"
"I said I'm sorry."
What was this?
Was this non-verbal pressure to offer up one more cake as tribute?
Ultimately, as I was pondering what kind of cake to offer up next, Minerva, seated beside me, calmly followed up on Yuno's words.
"Ah, I will join you. I look forward to working with you for finals as well, Chrono."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you."
As expected of Minerva.
She knows how to separate public and private matters; it seemed the scores really had been sweet for her.
On top of that, having clinched 1st in the year, she'd have nothing more to say.
'Because she's a girl who hangs on results in various ways.'
I sipped the iced Americano in front of me and caught my breath for a moment.
"Ahh! No fair! Now it looks like I'm the bad guy here!"
"Huh? Why would you think th— Ah, ahh! I-I'm sorry! I absolutely didn't mean it like... it's just, from a pure 'performance' perspective, I thought it would be better to go with Chrono, so..."
Minerva was at a loss and apologized to Yuno, while Yuno kept needling Minerva over it.
Thanks to that, Minerva looked like she was utterly stifled, but I didn't go out of my way to step in.
Handle it yourselves.
Catfights are sometimes a necessary thing.
As long as it didn't escalate to bloodshed or serious punches, I figured I was fine to spectate.
'Since I'm not included, for one thing.'
They say the most entertaining things in the world are watching a fire and watching a fight, right?
"I don't care. Minerva's an idiot-idiot, idiot, just like Chrono."
"I'm sorry, Yuno. Um... would you like another slice of cake, perhaps?"
"Do I look like a glutton who only likes cake to you?"
"Ahh, that, I didn't mean it like that...!"
'Ah, that.'
At an angle where Yuno couldn't be seen, the corners of her lips were twitching slightly.
In truth, she wasn't really angry at all—she simply found teasing her fun.
It looked like her sulk was over. I casually tapped my fingers on the table in front of Yuno to call her attention.
"Don't tease her too much. She'll really cry at this rate."
"Ehehe... think so?"
"...Huh-huh...?"
Yuno, who'd been prickly and pretending to sulk with all her might, suddenly melted, leaving Minerva thrown off in turn.
As soon as Yuno revealed it had been a joke, Minerva set her breath down as if she'd just barely survived.
"I... really thought you were angry..."
"Ahaha! As if I'd get angry at Minerva over something like that. Minerva is my precious comrade, you know!"
"...Yuno..."
Looks exchanged back and forth.
Comradeship. Love and affection.
Amid those mutual looks of trust flowing between them—
'Ah... the caffeine's kicking in.'
Seems I wasn't part of it, for now.
It was a bit disappointing, but also kind of funny thinking they were doing it on purpose.
I tipped the remaining ice from my cup into my mouth and watched the garden of yuri blooming between Yuno and Minerva.
In the past, I'd wondered why people watched yuri stuff.
Now looking at it, it seemed decent enough for eye-cleansing purposes.
"...Hm?"
Crunch. While chewing the ice and casually scanning my surroundings, I spotted one person near the edge.
Orange-hued hair. A small frame. Even a hoodie worn over her uniform like a trademark.
'Merk...?'
Merk was there.
In the cafe. Alone. Merk was?
'There's no way...'
I knew Merk's personality, her disposition.
At least I knew she wasn't the type to buy and drink coffee with her own money.
So it had to mean she came with someone. But Mars wouldn't be buying something for Merk. In that case, that left...
"Did you wait long?"
"Oooh~~ I've been waiting forever! Don't you know a gentleman shouldn't keep a lady waiting?"
"Sorry. Something came up."
"In exchange, you're buying the coffee? Ah, and cake too!"
'...It's Protagonist, after all.'
Protagonist entered the cafe and settled right in front of Merk.
I peeked, watching him go to the counter and place an order at the kiosk before returning.
'I can't be caught.'
I mustn't be caught, and I mustn't even be noticed.
At the very least, if Yuno and Protagonist became aware of this situation right now, it could spell ruin in more ways than one.
Given that Protagonist was an NTR-series Protagonist with Dense as his default passive, he was a bit better off, but....
"Hmm... a little lacking. Should we add one more cake? This time I'll buy!"
"No!"
No.
Don't move.
Stay right there, still, stay, stay...!
"...Chrono?"
"I'll buy it for you."
"Eh... but..."
"I want to buy it. That's why."
"............"
In an instant, Yuno's eyes narrowed.
What the hell.
Why.
I thrashed around trying to blur the surroundings—why was the attention focusing on me?
"Chrono, you're hiding something, aren't you."
"No! There's nothing. Where would you find a person as clean as me?"
".........Really?"
"Ehehe, hey, that's why I keep saying, what are you trying to stand up for?"
"............."
"......Mm."
A look that said cut the crap.
Now that I thought about it, Yuno was the Apostle of Hera—the heroine who served Hera, the goddess called the goddess of jealousy, as her Main God.
The apostle of the goddess who, if one tried to muddy the surroundings to hide the infidelity of Zeus, would demand to know what kind of mischief this was, steal one's voice, and banish the offender to a cave.
'I've dug my own grave.'
Though technically, it was other people's graves.
Ultimately, despite my restraint, Yuno rose from her seat and smoothly looked around.
"Ter...? With Merk...?"
"Tsssk..."
The two of them faced each other enjoying their desserts, having brought coffee and cake at some point.
I tried reaching out a hand to cover it up, arguing that we were the same as fellow party members right now, but—
"Huh?"
"Ah..."
In that instant, Yuno and Merk's eyes met.
Soon, Merk gave a bright grin, and...
"Ah~~~ng!"
".....!!!"
Executed a fox-like 'say ah' move.
She was laying out an NTL angle.
"Mmm... delicious! Maybe it's because Ter fed it to me? It feels incredibly sweet and tasty!"
".....Ter."
Protagonist, the Dense-type NTR Protagonist.
He fell for the fox-like move completely and went along with it.
'This is, a bit...'
Dangerous.
I subtly turned my eyes toward Yuno.
".....You told me, that you loved me, and yet..."
'Ah, shit.'
A highly familiar CG unfolded vividly before my eyes.
NTR Drift Phase 1 Declaration.
If things were left like this, it was heading into Mating Press, pussy spanking, ahegao double peace territory by an NTR villain.
...But come to think of it, wasn't I the peak Named Villain among NTR villains?
"Chrono."
"Yes."
A thought that flickered through my brain in an instant.
A sliver of hope.
That complacent thought that it wouldn't happen.
"This Saturday, let's go out and hang, just us."
"............."
That thought, it had become reality.