Does Liana Have No Friends?

"I'm dying of exhaustion...."

It had already been seven days since I left the infirmary. Thanks to recovery magic and the stamina potions Liana had given me, my body had recovered to the point where I could call myself fully healed, but the fatigue weighing down my entire body showed no signs of disappearing. Too many things had happened recently, but the biggest reason was...

"I don't want to go to school...."

...because I had to attend the academy. Professor Gwain had kindly come to inform me: "It looks like your attendance won't meet the requirements for normal promotion to the next year. This incident will be treated as an excused absence due to the circumstances, but even accounting for that, missing a few more classes will make retention unavoidable."

Thanks to Professor Gwain looking out for me, I'd been granted about seven days of grace even after leaving the infirmary, but the time had finally come. At first, there had been some excitement about learning in a game world, but studying was still studying.

"What am I supposed to do when I can't even understand the lessons..."

Magic classes were an insurmountable wall for someone like me with zero foundational knowledge. Even history, which was at least doable if the language barrier wasn't an issue, was filled with unfamiliar terms that made my head spin. The Kingdom of Iberina that existed before the founding of the Kwen Kingdom? All I know is Iberico pork. Microhistory? Historiography? Terms so obscure you'd only hear them in a college liberal arts class.

...The real tragedy was that it was Professor Helwin's class—the history professor who had taken a liking to me—so I at least had to pretend to pay attention. The history was so detailed it made me wonder if this game had really been designed with such meticulous settings. This wouldn't do. Unless I burned every textbook in this world...

Thud.

While lost in these idle thoughts, I found myself arriving at the academy classroom. Even though it had been a while, I'd left early, yet several students had already arrived before me.

"...You guys are the future."

I could barely remember where my own seat was after being away so long.

"...Logue."

"What is it?"

While I was sitting down and contemplating the most comfortable sleeping posture, an unnecessarily handsome man approached and spoke to me. It was Hero.

"......I have something to say."

Hero spoke with a hesitant expression, as if unsure what he wanted to say.

"Go ahead."

"...I wanted to apologize for going too far last time. I'm sorry."

Why was he suddenly acting like this? It was a positive sign for improving our relationship, but it was completely out of the blue.

"And..."

And?

"...Never mind. I just wanted to say that."

There were two ways to make someone angry: the first was to stop talking mid-sentence, and...

"Come to think of it, I think I saw an alert saying I leveled up after catching the homunculus..."

"I leveled up twice."

Looking at the status window, my level had increased by two since the last time I checked. Since I hadn't leveled up after killing Ares Draconix, it seemed killing people didn't grant experience points. How oddly moral.

While pondering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠where to allocate my remaining stat points, a question surfaced in my mind.

"Just how strong am I...?"

Looking at my stats alone, my Constitution had reached an untouchable level. Most of the opponents I'd fought so far, aside from a few, had been mid-boss level, so I was aware I was quite sturdy. In this game, defense also increased to some extent as the Constitution stat rose. If that weren't the case, I would have already left this world after taking the homunculus's magic barrage.

...The fact that I'd survived the homunculus's self-destruction was also because I'd had some confidence in my durability.

"Am I a broken character...?"

Even so, my Constitution stat was abnormally high. Investing in other stats now would be difficult too...

I had no choice but to invest all my remaining stat points into Constitution.

The higher the rank, the more noticeable the changes felt. When I saw attacks flying toward me, I instinctively thought, "Huh, maybe I can tank this?"

"Well... I guess it won't be much use in this game where instant-death patterns run rampant..."

The original complete homunculus had absorbed multiple magic department students and freely combined spells, sometimes using insane wide-area instant-kill moves. Fortunately, it hadn't evolved much this time. Melek's desperate struggle patterns had also been treated as near-instant-death due to their extremely enhanced attack power. Without Invincibility, we might have been slaughtered in an instant.

"...Also."

It seemed Goliath's Shield no longer increased Strength and Agility once Constitution reached a certain threshold...

"...Logue!"

"Hm?"

...Was that someone calling me? I'd been so absorbed in thought that I hadn't heard. The owner of the voice was Isabel.

Fortunately, she no longer looked scared when she saw my face, so it seemed she'd overcome her trauma.

"What is it?"

"...It's not like I came here for anything specific... I just wondered what was going on since you hadn't been coming to the academy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lately..."

So she'd just been curious why I wasn't attending the academy. It was a bit awkward to tell the truth...

"...I had my reasons."

"Those reasons... could it be because of money?"

Money? I was definitely short on funds, but why would she think that?

"The other kids were saying that. They said you might have been kicked out of your family and were working outside, so you couldn't come."

"..."

How did the other kids know about me being kicked out of the family? Maybe rumors about me had spread in high society. While I was at a loss for words, dumbfounded...

"...If it's because of money, I can help."

It seemed Isabel already saw me as some impoverished beggar.

"Logue...! Is that true?!"

Liana had appeared out of nowhere again, speaking in a trembling voice as if shocked.

...No, you're the one who shouldn't be saying that...! You came to visit me every single day!

"You already know why I missed the academy, don't you...?"

When I approached Liana and whispered quietly, she flinched slightly.

"Y-you're too close! Ah... that's right... But is it true that you were kicked out of your family...?"

"That's correct. ...But why are you here? Isn't this a different building?"

The alchemy department building and the main building here were close if you considered it, but there was still quite a distance, and making the round trip required considerable effort. That's why there was almost no interaction between alchemy students and knight or magic department students.

"Do you... have no friends...?"

Maybe Liana actually had no friends.

"W-what! I do have friends! Don't look at me like that!!!"

People who were hit where it hurt tended to raise their voices. Just as the theory that Liana had no friends was about to solidify ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my mind...

Squish.

A soft sensation pressed against my arm.

...I could tell who it was without even looking now.

"Kiene... why are you here again? And why is my arm..."

"I... came because I wanted to see you..."

After I'd fixed Kiene's younger brother, the distance between us had grown much closer.

...To an uncomfortable degree.

She probably meant it as a display of friendliness, but with her sparse speech and peculiar personality, she often said or did things that could be misunderstood.

"...You should refrain from saying things that could cause misunderstandings."

"Hm...? What...?"

"That's right! And why are you hugging him again?!"

Liana grabbed Kiene's shoulders and tried to pull her away from me. But due to the overwhelming difference in Strength stats, Kiene didn't budge.

"...?"

"No, this person's strength...!"

Just as Liana's flustered appearance contrasted with Kiene's calm expression started to seem a bit amusing...

"Pfft... You... sure are popular?"

Isabel, who had been watching the scene, spoke with a laugh, unable to hold it in.

...Me?

"W-who said Logue is l-liked?!"

Liana raised her voice in embarrassment. Her face had turned bright red—she must have really hated being misunderstood.

"...I didn't say anything about liking him, though?"

"Urgh!"

Isabel grinned and teased Liana.

...At this point, it was almost pitiful.

"That's enough teasing, Isabel. There's no way Liana would like me."

I constantly made her run potion errands and dragged her into dungeons against her will, making her suffer. There was no way Liana would like me.

Hearing my answer, Liana spoke coolly with a somewhat dissatisfied expression.

"...That's right. There's no way I'd like Logue."

"I... like Logue...?"

"...Thanks."

I'd probably need to educate Kiene later. Whether it was "like" as a friend or "like" in a romantic sense, it was probably the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠former. If she misunderstood...

"Kiene. Would you go out with me?"

"...That's a bit much. I'm grateful you saved my brother, but I'll have to politely decline."

I pictured Kiene rejecting my confession in a firm tone, unlike her usual way of speaking. Just imagining it brought tears to my eyes.

"Ah, really...?"

Isabel had an awkward expression. An uncomfortable silence followed. Just as I was about to say something...

"Logue.. I'm hungry.."

Kiene, who had been clinging to my arm, whined that she was hungry.

...The blood wasn't circulating, so let go already..

"......Then shall we eat together? I actually came here to ask Logue to eat with me in the first place.."

"...Together? Sure."

"(Nod)"

So that's why Liana had come here. Instead of eating with the alchemy department students, she'd come all the way here on purpose...

Does Liana really have no friends...?

Holding that thought in my mind—one that would make Liana angry if she knew—we all headed to the student cafeteria together.