Because We're Friends
It only just occurred to me, but the Romance Academy that had become reality was vastly different from the one in the game. Conversations with characters that used to be nothing more than picking choices, classes that ended after a few clicks, events locked into predetermined routes. But the biggest difference of all was, without a doubt, the skills.
'It's completely different from the game.'My Own Little Fortune Teller Shop and Cleanliness were obviously never meant to be used this way. Cleanliness ranked somewhere around common trash skill tier one, and while I'd never obtained My Own Little Fortune Teller Shop, similar location-summoning skills I'd seen were all just for show. Forcing an enemy to accept an invitation to buy time, or restoring objects so thoroughly it was like reversing time—these applications were only possible because Romance Academy had truly become real.
'If that's the case, maybe there are practically no useless skills...?'
Ah, of course the class skill was still garbage. That damn Fortune Telling was nothing but a tarot card generator. And even my two reliable skills had major drawbacks.
'My Own Little Fortune Teller Shop needs a three-hour cooldown before I can enter it again after using it.' It could buy time, but having to wait three hours just to gain five seconds was ridiculous. 'As for Cleanliness... it's a car right now, so transferring ownership was simple. But if it were an actual room in a house, acquiring ownership would be far more complicated.'
The requirement that it had to be used in 'my room' made the boundary rather vague. Another drawback I had never noticed in the game. If anything, it was a limitation that only existed because this had become reality.
In the end, I needed to reorganize my skills. Once class ended, I'd have to review the skill list back at the base...
"Yo, Namgung Min."
"...Oh! I'm sorry, Miss Liu Yen. What can I do for you?"
"It's nothing special. I just have a question."
The now-pristine jeep was racing across a barren plain without a single tree. This terrain wouldn't occur naturally in the middle of a mountain, so it had to be a location prepared by the Academy. If we kept going, we would probably reach the destination soon. With that thought, I gazed at Liu Yen's driver's seat from the back.
"You said you had a question? Ah, don't worry—the jeep's ownership will be returned to you right—"
"—How did you know?"
"Pardon?"
...The jeep's rearview mirror. Liu Yen's cold eyes were staring straight at me through it. Suspicion, anxiety, doubt, and more suspicion, all tangled together. Her true nature was glaring at me.
"Noticing the armor immediately could be explained away as quick wits. That armored woman... Lily White-Rose is a celebrity even I know about."
"............"
"But how did you know the armored woman was going to throw her spear?"
"...That was obviously—"
"Ha, don't tell me you're going to say it was fortune-telling?"
Liu Yen cut me off with a light snort and let out a disbelieving laugh.
"I was watching you the entire time. From the starting point all the way here."
"..........."
"You always used tarot cards or that tree branch to tell fortunes. I can accept that. But back there, you didn't have any of those at all."
She had blocked my all-purpose escape route. Liu Yen's eyes gleamed as if she had finally caught the thread of her suspicion.
"You knew a spear was flying in without even reading a fortune? None of us—not me, not Lucas, not that vicious bitch, not even Her Highness the Princess—had any idea?"
"..........."
"Explain it to me."
Liu Yen didn't even use her usual stream of curses. She simply glared at me, her suspicion both ice-cold and burning hot. Maybe I had been underestimating her.
Liu Yen was one of the world's foremost asset holders, a Great Wealthy, and a severe paranoia patient who distrusted people. But how had I seen her? She had shown that side during the entrance exam, but from the entrance ceremony until just moments ago, she had acted incredibly friendly and open. As if she were deceiving me. As if she were trying to lower my guard and find my weakness.
And I had been bitten.
...Deeply.
"............"
Liu Yen remained silent. She was waiting for my explanation. How she treated me from now on might depend on what I said here. Liu Yen's paranoia only flared up toward 'people who could threaten her.' She didn't even consider it worth suspecting objects or people who posed no threat. If that happened, every connection between me and Liu Yen would vanish. She wouldn't listen to a word I said. She wouldn't care about my story at all.
So what should I tell her?
'If I provoke even more suspicion... I don't know what will happen.'
Keeping her suspicion alive like when I took her payment would be easy. I could just flash a meaningful smile and say something like It's a secret. But I had already done that and ended up in this situation. Was I supposed to keep fanning the flames of doubt?
"............."
"...Miss Liu Yen, you really are perceptive."
I truly didn't know anymore. We had just worked together to defeat a powerful enemy, yet here we were again with suspicion and exhaustion. I was starting to understand why people avoided Liu Yen and how her infamous reputation had been born.
Still...
'She's a friend.'
Even if she didn't see it that way, I did. After thinking it over carefully, I opened my mouth.
"You're right, Miss Liu Yen. The reason I noticed Lily White-Rose's spear throw wasn't because of fortune-telling."
"............"
"I—"
"Ah, forget it."
"...Pardon?"
"I said forget it, you bastard."
Huh? What was she doing all of a sudden? She had been threatening me to speak just moments ago, but the second I tried to answer she cut me off. I could only blink in confusion.
At some point, the suspicion had vanished from her eyes.
"...Just forget it, you bastard."
"No, you built up the whole atmosphere and now you're telling me to forget—"
"I said forget it! Forget!"
Beep—— Beep——
As if trying to drown me out, Liu Yen just kept hammering the horn. The piercing noise drew scattered complaints from the people still collapsed in the back seat. But my eyes stayed fixed on the rearview mirror. From the back seat I couldn't see her in the driver's seat, so the mirror was the only place where our eyes could meet.
"...Why did I... This crazy..."
But Liu Yen's face wasn't visible in the mirror. She had her head bowed so low she could barely drive.
"What the hell am I doing... It was the perfect chance..."
She sounded as if she couldn't believe her own actions.
"Why did I say that...?"
She simply kept muttering to herself, over and over.
*
"...It had a nice ring to it, though."
Clang.
Lily White-Rose tossed her crumpled, caved-in helmet aside without ceremony. The armor had been made oversized to account for such crushing impacts, so she hadn't been hurt, but she still sighed at the loss of her cherished suit.
"How much did this cost, my dear juniors?"
It had been a long time since her family cut off their support. What was she supposed to do?
'Charging in like a proper knight and taking the money would be the right thing, wouldn't it?'
Lily nodded to herself, thinking the insane idea was perfectly knightly.
"Ah, then I suppose I can take it off now."
Crack!
She tore the crushed armor off with brute force, since it could no longer be removed normally. Having ripped apart steel plating as easily as a milk carton, Lily fully extracted herself from the armor. Long, flowing white hair. Sleepy-looking eyes. Lean, trained muscles visible on her long limbs.
Lily's exceptional appearance was why she could become student council president despite being called a madwoman in both name and truth. Even Lucas Arthur had declared that God was fair for giving her a brain somewhat lacking in divinity.
"There are so many excellent juniors."
The female student who had sent her flying with a single kick—what was her name again? The princess of the Unified Korean Empire?
"She's more useful than the prince, it seems."
She appeared stronger than the prince named Kim Seong-il who had arrived here first. The moment that prince saw her he had frozen up and stammered something like 'U-um... Perhaps a cup of tea...', so she had knocked him out with a surprise attack. Ambushing an opponent might not align with chivalry, but since the prince had spoken to her first, it was essentially the same as issuing a duel challenge.
'Ambushing a duel opponent is perfectly chivalrous.'
Lily looked proud, deeply moved by her own knightly spirit, when she suddenly glanced toward where she had thrown her spear.
The trees and boulders torn up and swept away by her thrown lance. She had adjusted her power, but it should have been more than enough to wreck that jeep.
"It was that junior after all..."
The fortune teller junior who had bought time against her. To be honest, she had looked down on him for having the Fortune Teller class, but she had still been paying attention. Yet she had been completely fooled. From the way he spoke and moved, he seemed to be the leader of that group.
"The leader of such unique members."
Leadership was a rare quality. Even more so when it involved commanding a group of extreme personalities from the special class division.
"It seems she's found a fine squire."
He had more than enough qualifications to join the Knight Club. If invited, he would probably weep with gratitude and bang his head on the ground in thanks. Hmm.
Having arbitrarily renamed the student council the Knight Club the moment she took office, Lily nodded to herself with a satisfied hum. It was the mindset of a true madwoman.
Beeeeeeeeep——
"Ah, it seems we've arrived."
A sharp sound that shook the entire mountain. The signal they had agreed upon for when someone reached the objective. It was supposed to be celebratory, yet it sounded exactly like an alarm. Lily, who knew the reason well, clicked her tongue.
"My juniors are in for a rough time."
She wasn't referring to the first-years, but the second-year juniors. This class had originally been designed to be impossible to pass. Instructor Redfield had claimed they would spend about a week rolling around the mountain to train mind and body, but even Lily had been skeptical.
'Of course training can only be done through real combat where you risk your life.'
Wasn't that only natural for a knight? In any case, the class expected to take at least four days had been cleared in less than one, so Instructor Redfield's fury would surely be directed at... the second-years who had played the role of obstacles.
Wishing the second-years—who would now be rolling around like dogs in place of the first-years—a peaceful rest, Lily began walking. After all, she too had been one of the obstacles. She was scheduled to roll and roll again before Instructor Redfield.
"Haha! A knight's training is always a joyous affair!"
...At least, that was what Lily herself believed. Across the entire mountain, the wails of the second-years echoed. The sound of joyful training.