The Skill Thief

The conclusion regarding the Skill Thief was simple: Lily White-Rose's reelection as Student Council President was now all but guaranteed.

Kim Hae-neul had officially withdrawn from the race, citing personal reasons. Even Crown Prince Kim Seong-il, after a certain "conversation" with Lily, had announced his withdrawal and declared his support for her. With the election tomorrow and candidate registration required at least three days in advance, Lily White-Rose stood as the sole candidate. Her reelection was inevitable.

In other words, all I had to do was sit tight until tomorrow and everything would resolve itself.

"I beg you, fortune teller."

What the hell is this guy's problem?

I hid my unconsciously clenched fist beneath the table and answered Lucas with a polite smile.

"Lucas, a love reading? What do you..."

"I know. It must be hard to believe."

If you know that, why are you even asking? Weren't you the one who absolutely hated Lily during our first class on the mountain? You practically recoiled the moment you saw her. So why are you suddenly coming out with this confession that you actually like her now?!

"Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but from what I remember, you didn't seem particularly fond of the Student Council President."

"That's correct."

"And yet now you like her?"

"Yes."

You expect me to believe that?

Lucas must have noticed my utter bewilderment because he cleared his throat and averted his gaze. No, don't look away—explain yourself properly.

"The truth is... there was someone else I liked before."

"Who? Liu?"

"Well, Liu is one of them... but that was an immature love from before I met her."

Oh, he's speaking with such composure. But as far as I know, you're a lifelong solo, aren't you? Can you really say all that about "immature love" without wanting to kick your own blanket in embarrassment?

"Then...?"

"Originally, it was a black-haired classmate of mine. Unfortunately, she already had a boyfriend. I felt a tiny bit of resentment for a moment, but I gave up right away."

It looked more like you were seething with jealousy after finding out she had a boyfriend. No matter how much you talk about being a meritocrat, you really are the most twenty-year-old person here, Lucas. Full of youthful vigor, somewhat immature, desperately trying to act composed—exactly like a twenty-year-old student.

Though... I guess I'm not much different. Looks like Lucas and I are the only normal ones around here.

"While I was feeling down about it, Lily White-Rose approached me and offered comfort."

"Comfort? From the Student Council President?"

If it were that crazy woman, I would've expected something like, "A true knight blows away melancholy through training!" and then force you into physical conditioning. So she actually knows how to comfort someone?

"Yes. She advised me, 'Instead of wallowing in depression, why not shake off that sadness through training?'"

She doesn't know how to comfort people at all. It's exactly as I predicted. Lily truly is a legend...

"So I followed her and trained with her... and embarrassingly enough, my heart started pounding."

"......"

Isn't that just because you were exhausted?

"However, now that I've become aware of my feelings, approaching her feels difficult—especially since I once looked down on her in the past."

"So..."

"That's why I've decided to borrow the power of fortune-telling. Please, give me a love reading...!"

Hmm. After listening to all that, I roughly understand the situation. I can feel how genuinely desperate Lucas is.

"Lucas."

"I'll pay ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever fee you want! So please!"

"You do know that the survival exam at the Great Lake is next week, right?"

"...Of course."

"Do you remember how I was forbidden from doing any readings before the last survival exam even began?"

"...No way."

"It's exactly that way."

In truth, there wasn't actually any such prohibition yet. But if the academy says so, what can you do about it? Honestly, between you and the crown prince, all this love reading nonsense is giving me a headache!

"T-then..."

"Let's do the reading after the exam is over."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Lucas Arthur's face had looked like the world was collapsing, but now it brightened with relief as he grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.

Lane, please come take your brother away.

'But why does this only happen to me?'

Is this also karma? Maybe I should've just said I couldn't do love readings. But since I've already sown these seeds, I have no choice but to quietly reap what I've planted.

...Though there is one thing that makes me uneasy.

"Um, Lucas?"

"Hm?"

"If—and this is purely hypothetical—if there were a romantic rival competing with you for the Student Council President, what would you do?"

"...Hmm."

No matter how much I think about it, I can't understand the tastes of these two—the crown prince and the mage. But it's not my place to interfere in their personal affairs. I could intervene through fortune-telling, but I can't actually suppress their feelings themselves. In that case, I have to consider the worst-case scenario.

'One woman, two men.'

No matter how you look at it, this is headed for catastrophe. So between Kim Seong-il and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lucas, at least one of them needs to have the maturity to yield...

"I'll fight."

"...Pardon?"

"My class as a Mage, my position as the eldest son of the Arthur family, all the companies and assets registered under my name, my social standing in Europe... I'll mobilize everything to crush that romantic rival."

"............"

"Hah! Let anyone who dares come at me. This Lucas Arthur never runs from a fight that comes his way, nor does he ever back down!"

......Yeah.

I should definitely keep the crown prince's love reading and dates a complete secret.

'Maybe this is all because of the fortune-telling.'

My head hurts. Let's just go with that.

Today, once again, groundless hatred had struck the fortune-telling.

"You all know this already, but the exam is tomorrow."

It was the same as the first day—the class where we ran through the mountains toward our goal. Thanks to Liu, Lane, and the imperial princess, we cleared it without any issues again. Just as we were about to head home, Instructor Scarlet Redfield approached us with a smile.

"Namgung Min, what is the theme of this exam?"

"As previously announced, it's 'survival.'"

"Correct. This exam at the Great Lake... will be different from the previous survival test. You can look forward to it."

Instructor Redfield smiled in a rather sinister way. With that scar-covered face, the smile looked genuinely terrifying.

"Liu Yen, have you decided which artifacts you'll bring in advance?"

"I already reported them to the academy."

"Good. Lane Arthur, are your preparations complete?"

"Of course."

"As for Her Highness the Princess..."

"There's no need to worry more than necessary."

"Haha! Please consider this the meddling of an old man. Lastly, Namgung Min."

"Yes."

"Have you... made your preparations?"

Scarlet Redfield's sharp gaze pierced right through me. It seemed like she was watching me so closely because I tended to draw aggro every exam. Honestly though, this exam itself wasn't that important to me.

"I'm not very confident."

"Hm?"

"Since I'm not particularly outstanding..."

It might actually be better to get eliminated quickly this time, so planting some bait in advance seemed wise. In reality, what I would be evaluated on was mostly my "fortune-telling" and "incitement." So showing weakness in this survival-themed exam wouldn't be strange at all. Therefore, by acting unconfident, I could stop them from paying me unnecessary attention...

Wait a second.

"............"

"........."

"............"

"……………."

"......?"

What is this? Why did everyone suddenly go quiet?

Confused by the inexplicable silence, I turned to Liu standing beside me. She looked at me with an expression that said she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

"...Are you serious?"

"Miss Liu, I'm always sincere."

"Hmm. All I can see is you pretending to fail again and then stabbing everyone in the back later."

Ah, right. I had a track record. I'd forgotten because of the crown prince and Lucas's love readings.

"Haha, that time was a special case, so please don't worry too much."

"Ha... this fortune teller bastard."

Liu let out a sigh.

"N-Namgung Min. I... believe what you said."

Lane stuttered but still affirmed it positively.

"Well, from Namgung Min's perspective, it was just good strategy."

"Your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Highness, we suffered the same punishment together, so why..."

"Ahem, hm!"

The imperial princess responded with a strangely gentle attitude.

'...Come to think of it, things have changed so much from the beginning.'

I suddenly remembered the entrance exam, when I had to take a separate test. Back then, everyone had looked at me with suspicion and contempt. Liu had interrogated me. Lane had threatened me. The imperial princess had blackmailed me.

I'd overcome all those obstacles and finally made it this far.

'Am I being too sentimental?'

The first semester of freshman year hadn't even ended yet, but so what? There was nothing more satisfying than reflecting on what I'd accomplished.

And it wasn't just these three female students. I'd been called a comrade by the Saintess. I'd become good friends with Lucas. I'd earned the crown prince's favor. Charles Teddybear was grateful to me. Aileen Teddybear was showing me far more goodwill than I deserved.

'Is all of this what they call friendship?'

Friendship. It was a rather nice word. It was almost a shame that I'd never experienced it during my actual school days.

"Miss Liu."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For everything. Always."

"...Hmph! Fortune teller bastard, you finally realized how much you owe me? Then become my underling already!"

"I'd rather become your friend than your underling, Miss Liu."

"W-what?! Do you think becoming friends with this great tycoon Liu Yen is easy?!"

"Of course it must be difficult. But precisely because it's so difficult, I want it even more."

"............"

"Do you think I could manage it?"

"...We'll see how you do."

Liu turned her head away with a pout. Because of that, I couldn't see her face. But I was satisfied. It felt like we'd become close enough.

"...Ahem. This old woman has talked too long. You may all head home now."

"Thank you. Miss Liu, I'll head down first."

"Y-yeah!"

"See you all at tomorrow's exam!"

I descended the mountain. Up there, Liu would still be looking away, with Lane and the imperial princess watching her in silence.

Today's class had ended rather late. There wasn't much time left to prepare anything else for the exam.

"...Ah."

When I returned to the base and lay down on my bed, I suddenly remembered something I hadn't done yet.

"Class skill."

As expected, Lily White-Rose had become the Student Council President. Naturally, the class quest Wow!! Namgung Min! Wow!!! The Hidden Power Behind the Throne! had also been cleared.

There were two rewards for completing that infuriatingly named quest. The first was an enhancement to my class skill.

'Are they just openly mocking me now?'

The class quest hadn't been that difficult, but increasing it by just 1% each time was really crossing the line. And on top of that, they'd changed the skill name from Great Fortune Telling to Super Great Fortune Telling.

'I won't be able to use this in front of other people anymore...'

How could a skill name be Super Great Fortune Telling? And why did I have to shout the skill name to activate it? What a shitty trash game. That's what happens when your little sister makes the game, I guess.

...What was even harder to understand was the other reward.

'What am I supposed to do with this?'

Now they've even hidden the conditions. And since it can't be used like a normal teapot, I've just been using it as a decoration. The only advantage is that I can summon it instantly no matter how far away it is. But it's not like I'm going to use a teapot as a weapon, so there's no point.

Despite such despair-inducing quest clear rewards...

'Let's try using it.'

The story progression I knew was changing. Even the character events were shifting. Setting aside the ending, I would definitely need my class skill to survive in this academy.

With mixed feelings, I got up from the bed.

"Super Great Fortune Telling."

More importantly, who names these skills? If it's you, Ji-soo, just know you're getting hit one more time. For real.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tarot cards fluttered down from the air. I caught them roughly and shuffled them.

I already had a question prepared.

"What is the first thing that will happen after tomorrow's exam begins?"

The more I used it, the more I doubted this class skill's performance, but I'd figured out one thing: the more specific the question, the better.

Vague questions like How will tomorrow's exam go? would give nonsense answers like when I first used the skill. But if I narrowed down the content, I'd get proper results like when I read Wang Pei's fate.

The problem was that the accuracy rate was still less than one-third.

After asking the question, I shuffled the cards again and drew three at random before flipping them over.

"Hmm......"

The Fool upright, Temperance upright, The Devil reversed.

What these cards meant was...

"...It's exactly what I thought."

The Fool upright meant "unexpected event," Temperance upright meant "cooperation," and The Devil reversed meant "barely breaking free." Of course, this was the standard interpretation, and since different people could interpret them differently, I'd been curious how it would turn out. But it was the same as I expected. There seemed to be some additional commentary, but... well, let's just be grateful that I got a normal result.

But this...

'Does it mean I'm the one cooperating? Or other students? And what does breaking free even mean?'

This was the problem with fortune-telling. Because of the Fortune Teller's taboo, I couldn't read my own fate, so I ended up reading the exam itself. That meant I had no way of knowing who would be cooperating or who would be breaking free.

On top of that, the probability was only 24%—one in four. Even though it was a hard-earned class skill, it only made my head hurt more.

"...I don't know anymore."

It hadn't been particularly helpful, but the more I used it, the clearer the outlines became, so maybe that was a good thing. Yeah. Let's trust my friends. No matter what happens, the friendships I've built here should be enough to overcome it.

"Let's try to get as high a score as possible."

While the Skill Thief was more important than the exam itself, there's no harm in having good grades. I closed my eyes, vaguely imagining a wonderful future.

Hoping that my efforts and connections would shine brightly.

"Lane Arthur! This is a temporary alliance, just for today!"

"Miss Liu, I still haven't forgiven you yet!"

"Move according to my attacks!"

"What are you saying! You should be matching my psychic powers!"

It was the long-awaited day of the exam. The spectacular survival game at the Great Lake had finally begun—

"I'll join as well."

"Your Highness?"

"Your Highness?!"

"This is a temporary alliance, just for today. Follow my timing!"

"Don't get in our way!"

"Miss Liu, how can you speak that way to Her Highness?!"

"Let's put our quarrel aside for now. We're going right away! Three, two, one!!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

—Exactly ten seconds later.

"Namgung Min, eliminated!"

"........."

The fortune teller, betrayed by friendship and connection, had been eliminated. It was a joyous first elimination.

"This might be... quite a dangerous combination, don't you think?"

"...Saintess?"

"I gave it a try. Seeing the fortune teller fly away feels quite refreshing."

"............"