High School Girls Love Sweets (1)
Additional rewards, hm.
Nothing like this ever happened in the Soul Academy game.
Agra's intervention itself was already generating new farming content — there was no reason to stack extra rewards on top of that.
So this had to be our Incompetent Chief God stepping in, didn't it.
Would've been nice if He'd done this from the start.
If He had, I wouldn't have spent all this time calling Armadi a helpless, incompetent, pervy, trash-of-a-god, now would I have?
I'm oh-so-sorry, Lord Armadi!
I can't exactly deny your karmic debt, so I trust you'll be magnanimous about it!
✦ Divinity will be enhanced.
✦ The functions of the Cross Necklace will be enhanced.
That's surprisingly reasonable of Him?
I'd fully expected the Incompetent Chief God to stab me in the back here, honestly.
Enhanced Divinity meant all my current divine magic would become more effective — obviously something to welcome. And an enhanced necklace function meant...
Luck going up, right?
Considering I'd guessed my way through the last magic theory exam and still scored over half, my luck was clearly good at the moment, but I couldn't quite tell whether that translated into any lucky situations in day-to-day life.
Either way, there was no reason to refuse a free gift, so I'd accept it gratefully.
Compared to all the dirty tricks Agra had pulled, this seemed pretty small-time, but I supposed even this much was a struggle for our Incompetent Chief God.
I understand. Perfectly.
What can you do? You are a scrub of a god, after all.
The moment I provoked Armadi in my heart, another message window popped up.
Haha! What's this, Incompetent Chief God? Guess even you can't do anything in the face of the Mesugaki Skill, huh?
✦ One random skill you possess will be enhanced.
...I'm sorry, random?
Hold on. Hold on just a moment.
Heo-jeop. No wait. Incompetent. Not that either. Look, Lord Armadi!
Please wait just a moment!
I have been disrespectful!
Here I am, complaining about insufficiency after You granted me rewards, of all things!
I shall go to the church personally and offer penance for this sin of ingratitude!
So please, please, just remove the word "random" from that sentence!
The instant I laid eyes on it, I couldn't help but envision an unfortunate future, and I am begging You!
You don't even have to give me anything at all — I'm begging You!
I prayed with the desperate fervor of a madwoman, but the Chief God did not know the hearts of men.
☠ The Mesugaki Skill will be enhanced.
Gyaaaaaaagh!
This is insane!
Do you have any idea how many skills I currently hold?! And out of all of them, the Mesugaki Skill gets enhanced?!
This is rigged! I'm telling you it's rigged!
Hey! Armadi! Pull up the probability tables for me, will you?!
Don't tell me the Mesugaki Skill is the only thing on that chart?!
No matter how I think about it, this doesn't make sense.
I have good luck, remember?!
You just said you were enhancing my luck, didn't you?!
So why, of all the options on that wheel, does the absolute worst one come up?! You son of a bitch!
Calm down. Let's stay calm here.
You never know, right?
"Enhancement" doesn't always have to mean numbers going up.
Sometimes even penalties count as enhancements.
So maybe the Mesugaki Skill's translation just got a little smoother, that's all.
Yes. I'm sure that's exactly what it is.
☠ Taunt effectiveness enhanced. The physical stat growth gained from provocation has increased.
Like hell it is.
Armadi, you helpless, incompetent, pervy, trash-brained, garbage, defective excuse for a deity.
What kind of god screws over his own Apostle like this, huh?! HUH?!
Just you wait.
One day I'll grind your head under my heel while calling you a scrub god who gets stomped by his own Apostle!
"Lucy Aln? Are you feeling all right?"
While I was busy swallowing my inner rage, Arthur, who'd been following behind me, looked at me with concern.
From his perspective, knowing nothing of the situation, I must have looked like I'd frozen up the instant we entered the Safe Zone — no wonder he was worried.
But that didn't mean I could explain my circumstances to him.
How exactly was I supposed to say, "A scrub god just screwed me over"?
So I simply nodded.
Thanks to the scrub's mercy, my body was in perfect condition, but from the outside I still looked like someone who'd been beaten half to death.
"Rest until the rescue party arrives. I'll keep watch in the meantime."
There was no reason to refuse Arthur's consideration, so I sank down against the wall and let out a sigh.
Everything after that went smoothly.
Nothing happened the whole time Arthur and I stayed in the Safe Zone.
I was just settling in for a rest when Karl and the professors arrived and joined up with us.
Karl, seeing what a mess I looked like, kept fussing over me, asking if I was all right.
He was so persistent about it that he wouldn't even let me walk on my own two feet.
Anyway, that's how we got rescued — and since I insisted the dungeon's boss couldn't be cleared through any legitimate method, we escaped through the entrance on the first floor instead.
Luka?
That son of a bitch had somehow already merged into the crowd of teachers.
The moment he spotted Arthur, he came blubbering about how relieved he was that His Highness was safe — it honestly made me think that if that bastard had been born in my old world, he'd have won an acting award.
And his ability to cut loose a scapegoat? Impeccable.
By the time we made it back, the professor who'd handed the magic tool to Arthur had already taken his own life.
Conveniently, every last bit of the blame landed on that dead professor, and Luka was left standing there as nothing more than a pitiful victim.
Every fiber of my being wanted to scream, That bastard's the one who did it! But Luka's reputation stood so far above my own garbage one that I had no choice but to give up.
With zero evidence, anything I said would've been dismissed as lunatic ravings anyway.
Now was the time to wait — to wait for that one moment when I could sink my teeth into him for good.
The big picture was more or less settled.
There were a few loose ends — the dungeon being closed for several days while they inspected its magic, for instance.
Or Arthur insisting that since he bore some fault, he deserved punishment, and getting confined to his dormitory for a week.
Or the contest between me and Arthur fizzling out entirely in all this chaos. Small stuff, really. None of it mattered much.
Ah. Actually, there were two things that still mattered.
Let's start with the good news first.
The underdog wins.
"Here you are, my lady."
The moment Karl handed me a pouch holding ten platinum coins — each worth ten gold — I nearly wept with joy.
Thanks to my doting fool of a father Benedict, I'd never had to worry about money in the first place, but now I really, really didn't.
At this point I could live in outrageous luxury for a good while without a problem.
Now then, what to spend all this money on?
Maybe I should talk to Alsaetin and have him track down a decent shield for me.
Yes, I like that idea.
The shield I currently used was nothing more than a mediocre piece of mass-produced equipment.
It cracked every time I fought a strong opponent and had to be replaced — time to get my hands on something proper instead.
What's the best shield obtainable at this point in time, I wonder?
That one deserved some real thought.
"And one more thing, my lady."
'What is it?'
"What now, Incompetent Dog?"
And then, one more piece of news.
This time, the bad kind.
After escaping the dungeon and returning to the Academy that day, I took Karl aside to test exactly how the Mesugaki Skill had changed.
Seeing as this godforsaken skill actively worked against me, I needed to know what it could do before it caused some kind of disaster.
The Mesugaki Skill's translation itself hadn't changed much.
My tone felt a touch more brazen than before, but even so, I was still just the same arrogant brat as always.
The buffed taunt effect, on the other hand, was impossible to miss.
Karl actually told me I should rein it in around now — and I hadn't even been taunting him seriously.
If Karl, who'd long since grown used to my usual provocations, reacted this strongly, what would it do to strangers? To monsters?
The physical stat boost was similarly noticeable.
I could take Karl's full-force sword strikes to a reasonable degree now.
The problem was that the Mesugaki Skill's signature euphoric high had grown right along with it.
Ha. Shit. I really do need to get my hands on some kind of mental-protection skill, no matter what it takes.
If I keep taunting people while blacked out like I did yesterday, sooner or later it's going to blow up in my face.
Karl — who'd been treated like a dog ever since we'd met in that dungeon — gave a wry smile and continued.
"Lady Partran was looking for you, my lady, so I brought her along."
At those words, I turned my head — and there stood Joy.
Gah! How long has she been standing there?!
"How do you do, Lady Aln?"
'Hello, Joy.'
"Hey there, Airhead Lady."
???
Hey. Mesugaki Skill.
Why are you suddenly dropping honorifics?
You've used polite speech when it counted before, haven't you?
Why are you suddenly talking down to Joy of all people?! Look!
She's glaring at me right now!
Knowing Joy's personality, she's probably just flustered, but it's scary anyway!
"Lady Aln. Why are you suddenly speaking informally to me?"
Joy squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again and asked me that.
But I couldn't answer her either.
I don't know either! The Incompetent Chief God "enhanced" things and now I'm doing this — how am I supposed to know why?!
If you're going to blame someone, blame the helpless, incompetent Chief God!
'No idea.'
"Seriously. Why? Is the Airhead Lady too much of a coward to take casual speech from the person who saved her life? So tall, and yet your heart's the size of a pea. Fascinating."
Thanks to the Mesugaki Skill, there I was, snickering away while locking eyes with Joy, who just stared blankly back at me. The corners of my mouth felt like they were freezing in place.
Welp. I'm screwed, aren't I?
I was supposed to invite Joy to the café with me, and if things stayed like this, the Stoffe Special Ticket and everything else was toast.
Could this be salvaged at all?
"Haaah."
At the sight of Joy letting out an ostentatious sigh, I hunched my shoulders inwardly.
The Mesugaki Skill, meanwhile, puffed them right back out.
What on earth are you so smug about?!
"Lady Aln."
'Yes, ma'am!'
"Seriously. Why? Airhead Lady?"
Like a prisoner awaiting sentencing, I braced myself for Joy's verdict.
I'd groveled like a dog through the entrance exams just to claw my way up to a decent favorability rating — and now I had to come crashing down like this?!
It's not fair! I'm telling you, it's NOT fair!
Damn you, Armadi!
You're deliberately sabotaging my quest clear, aren't you?! Admit it!
"I came to deliver a message from the Third Prince."
Joy's message went roughly like this:
Thank you for saving my life.
Once my confinement ends, I shall formally acknowledge my defeat before a public audience.
I still find it displeasing that you call me the Pitiful Prince, but I will not press the matter.
In return, become someone worthy of never being pitied.
"That's all. Congratulations, Lady Aln. The Third Prince doesn't hate you anymore."
Joy delivered her congratulations in a perfectly ordinary voice, but whether it was because of something I'd done or not, it sounded absolutely nothing like a congratulation.
You're happy that things worked out... right? Right?
"Well then, I'll be going. I have a prior engagement."
The moment the conversation wound down, Joy rose from her seat.
What do I do?
Somehow, if she walked away like this, I had a bad feeling I'd never get another chance to extend the invitation.
But asking someone who looked that annoyed to come hang out with me felt wrong too...
Ahhh. Dammit. Whatever. Just throw it out there and see what happens.
If it really comes to it, I'll just drag Frey along. Whatever.
Not that the girl who wanders around half-conscious would even know what cake tastes like.
'Hold on a second!'
"Freeze right there, Airhead Lady."
"...What is it?"
I pulled the Stoffe Special Ticket out from inside my coat and held it up for Joy to see.
'A Stoffe Special Ticket!'
"You know what this is, don't you?"
At the sight of it, Joy's eyes went wide — trembling without mercy.