Chapter 19: Never a Quiet Day (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19: Never a Quiet Day (4)
Looking at Nox, it was clear his spirit had been completely broken after yesterday's duel. A tiny spark still flickered in his eyes, but it was a hostility that amounted to a matchstick at best.
When I stopped by his hospital room, I had slipped a sashimi knife into my inner coat pocket just in case, fully intending to slash him the moment he showed any suspicious movement.
Still, I wanted to resolve things peacefully through conversation if possible. His family was the one and only assassin clan in this world. No matter how strong I was, I couldn't take on all of them.
So, to nip any trouble in the bud, I left him with a warning before walking out: if they planned to get in my way, I would annihilate the Auditore family.
Of course, it was a bluff fueled by pure bravado. Since my Blessing's time limit was only thirty seconds, taking on the entire family was impossible.
Well, I suppose I could kill about ten of them within thirty seconds, but that was a worst-case scenario, and I always wanted to avoid killing. I didn't want to get any more accustomed to the sensation of cutting people down.
Judging by his pale complexion, my warning seemed to have worked perfectly. It was a face I had seen a few times in my past life—the look of a broken human being who could never recover.
It wasn't pleasant. After all, I was the one who had shattered the will of a boy who had been revered as a genius his entire life.
I scratched my head as I walked out of the hospital, brushing off the smell of medicine clinging to my clothes.
The faint purple hue of the setting sun was disappearing beyond the horizon.
I stared blankly at the sunset for a moment. Surely, just a few days ago, I would have been moved by such a spectacular sight. Now, I felt absolutely nothing.
'Have I gotten used to it?'
I clicked my tongue softly and patted my heavy chest. Today had been an exceptionally tiring day. Deciding to just settle for instant ramen for dinner, I headed toward the campus convenience store.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, the sun was high in the sky.
I turned my head to check the time on my phone. After tossing and turning under the blankets for a bit, I finally got out of bed. It was the start of a lazy routine, waking up late.
'Weekends really are the best.'
I half-opened my eyes and let out a long yawn. Perhaps because I had slept so deeply, my body, which had felt like a waterlogged ball of cotton, now felt light.
When was the last time I had slept this soundly? Scratching the back of my neck, I grabbed the bottle of water sitting by my bedside.
I immediately chugged it down to rinse my mouth. With an old-man-like sigh of "Ah, now I feel alive," I wiped the water from my lips.
I hadn't even been drinking, but I looked exactly like a modern man suffering from a terrible hangover.
'I want a beer.'
I craved a cold 500cc draft beer so badly my head tingled. In my past life, I used to pour myself a glass from the draft machine while cleaning up after closing the shop.
The foam caressing my tongue, followed by the refreshing, fizzy bubbles hitting the back of my throat.
My mouth began to water. I wiped the drool with my sleeve. My fate really was a bizarre one.
Just last year, I was living a normal life, drinking beer, but now I found myself standing in the eye of an extraordinary storm.
Just yesterday, two beautiful girls were at each other's throats with weapons right in front of me. Come to think of it, I had just gone to the guy I slashed and threatened to wipe out his entire clan. A dry laugh escaped my lips.
'Have I lost my mind too?'
I ran a hand through my hair, shaking off the idle thoughts. Dwelling on such trivial matters would only drag me deeper into things. As long as nothing unexpected happened, I could probably ignore Nox now. The real problem was Rachel...
Driven by her Miracle Blessing, her personality was pure YOLO. "Completely unpredictable" was the perfect description for her.
Even when I played the game, she was the type to make aggressive, flirtatious advances toward the protagonist, Leon, yet she was actually conquered later than the main heroine, Abel.
It felt like I had gotten tangled up with the person I wanted to avoid the most. While I refused to run away like a coward, I couldn't think of a proper way to deal with her either.
'I'll think about that later.'
I had a lot to do. First and foremost was preparing for the upcoming midterm exams in two weeks. Since the reward was the B-rank Armament 'Murasame', I intended to take it seriously.
Even though it was a longsword, for someone like me who was practically unarmed, it was something to be grateful for. Also, the fact that it fell outside the standard specifications of a Blessing was a merit in itself. Well, if it didn't suit my hands later on, I could just take it to a blacksmith.
The exam required students to form a five-person team, regardless of class, to subjugate a horde of magical beasts. Practical training and exams at the Academy were mostly focused on cooperation.
They said that while individual skill was important, trust between comrades was far more crucial for surviving on the battlefield, or something like that.
Well, thanks to that, if I got good teammates, I could just get carried and grab the reward for free, so maybe it was a win.
For reference, the magical beasts to be subjugated in the midterm exam were D-rank magical beasts called 'mermans', which had the upper body of a fish and the lower body of a human. Simply put, you could think of them as bipedal Magik*rps.
'Fuck.'
They looked incredibly unpleasant even in the game, and the thought of seeing them in real life made me shudder. I had spent my entire life catching fish, so the thought of facing fish with legs made curses well up in my throat.
If they were at least female mermaids, it would have been easy on the eyes.
'But those ones are Majin.'
The 'Majin', the main force of the Demon race. Compared to them, magical beasts were practically just guard dogs.
Even though they had signed a truce with humanity seven hundred years ago and were quiet for now...
As the saying goes, there is no history without war in human history, and there had been frequent conflicts, both big and small.
A prime example was Basmon, the 6th Corps Commander of the Demon King's Army, who had unilaterally crossed the truce line half a century ago.
He had invaded alone, using some bullshit excuse about resurrecting the 1st Corps Commander, Lycan, who had been sealed by the Hero of the Origin, Balor Joaquin.
To oppose him, humanity deployed the Seven Star Heroes, composed only of the strongest among heroes, and after a week of bloody battle day and night, the Seven Star Heroes emerged victorious.
However, out of the seven victorious Seven Star Heroes, three lost their lives to Basmon, excluding the Sword Emperor, the Sage, the Spear Saint, and the Archery Saint.
The Demons evaded responsibility by dismissing it as Basmon's rogue action, and humanity let it slide, fearing that pushing the issue further might snap the fragile thread of the truce.
'If three of humanity's strongest seven died fighting just one of the Demon King's executives...'
To make matters worse, Basmon was a Corps Commander who possessed the classic cliché attribute of "he was the weakest among us." It made Balor Joaquin, who had sealed the 1st Corps Commander Lycan all by himself, seem incredibly amazing all over again.
But the problem was that in three years, we would have to wage war against the entire Demon race, including the Demon King.
"……."
Feeling suffocated, I rubbed my face dryly until it turned hot, then slapped my cheeks twice.
I had to keep my wits about me to survive in this harsh world. Forcing myself to calm down, I decided to focus only on the midterm exam.
First, I had to put in some legwork to find a decent team. Normally, the children of nobles would never let a special admission student like me join their team.
But wasn't I quite the celebrity within the Academy right now? Since a quiet three years was out of the question anyway, I adjusted my goal to use this as a selling point to make my life a bit more comfortable.
Having finished my thoughts, I stared blankly at the ceiling. Then, I buried myself back in bed. During a growth spurt, no amount of sleep was ever enough.
* * *
A week passed since then.
Like a bad joke, not a single cadet invited me to join their team.
Far from my plan to easily get carried through the first exam, I was now in a situation where I might actually fail.
Why? I seriously asked myself. Was it self-inflicted? Thinking back carefully, I wondered if my harsh treatment of Nox had been the root of the problem.
Since I had a personality that couldn't do anything in moderation, I tended to overreact, which had apparently turned me into some kind of object of fear among my classmates.
It wasn't just me; no one had invited Chloe to a team either. Perhaps the conflict with Rachel was the cause. Since that incident, the cadets in our class had been strangely avoiding her.
Then again, even I wouldn't want to be around a friend who pulls out a box cutter instead of talking. But since I was involved in that incident, I couldn't help but feel responsible.
I was used to this kind of situation since I had always been a loner, but Chloe had adapted quite well after entering the Academy and had maintained decent relationships. Now, she was treated as an outcast overnight.
After pondering for a moment, I asked Chloe.
"Chloe, still no cadets asking you to join their team?"
"Ah, yes. Not yet, hehe."
Chloe replied, scratching her head with a goofy smile.
"Aren't you uncomfortable? I mean, kids have always avoided me, but you actually made some friends."
"Ah! I'm fine! As long as Geomma-kun is here..."
Her voice trailed off into a whisper. Her saying she was fine wasn't entirely a lie, as there was no sign of worry on Chloe's face. In fact, her expression was brighter than before.
Right, Chloe was this kind of girl. I chuckled without realizing it.
"Then let's be on the same team for this exam. We'll have to find three more people, but since neither of us has a team yet, it works out. Sound good?"
"Ah, yes! Of course!"
She nodded vigorously in agreement, a bright smile spreading across her face. My proposal to team up wasn't just out of sympathy.
Chloe was a combat force I fully acknowledged. If she was with me, I wouldn't even need to draw my sword first. Honestly, while I could end a duel in thirty seconds, the exam required us to kill as many mermans as possible within an hour. No matter how fast I was, I couldn't meet the target in thirty seconds.
Just as Chloe and I were discussing the exam, a familiar, uninvited guest suddenly barged in.
"Geomma-kun! I came to hang out!"
Rachel. I thought she had been quiet for a few days after that incident. My face grew weary at the arrival of this unwelcome guest.
"Why are you here again?"
"Huh? Just to hang out."
Beside me, Chloe was glaring sharply, looking ready to start a fight at any moment. Her hand was already drifting toward her pocket, and I could practically smell the scent of metal.
"Just go home today. I'm busy right now and don't have time to deal with you."
"Geomma-kun, you're so cold!"
"...Could you, uh, stop calling me Geomma-kun?"
Rachel responded by sticking her tongue out. I massaged my temples and waved my hand, signaling her to leave. As if she were deaf, she did the exact opposite and clung tightly to my side.
"Geomma, did you find a team for the exam?"
Rachel poked right where it hurt, whether intentionally or just as a joke.
"No."
"Oh, really? Then do you want to join our team?!"
I tilted my head at the sudden proposal.
"Why me? Even without me, there must be a line of kids wanting to team up with you."
"They're boring. I feel like something fun will happen if I'm with you."
"I already agreed to team up with Chloe."
"That's fine! We happen to have two spots open."
It was tempting. Although the fact that it was Rachel was a bit bothersome, as the ancient sages said, hate the sin, not the sinner.
I stroked my chin. This was a proposal directly from the Academy's 4th seat. At this rate, my grades for the first exam would be on thin ice. I didn't have many options.
I asked Chloe for her opinion. Although she furrowed her brow, clearly displeased because of Rachel, she reluctantly gave a small nod at my request.
"Then we'll count on you."
"Okay! No take-backs, though!"
Rachel seemed pleased with my answer, a satisfied smile spreading across her lips. She immediately began texting on her phone, saying she would contact the team leader. Seeing that, a sudden question crossed my mind.
"By the way, who's the team leader?"
"Leon von Reinhardt. You know who that is, right?"
Oh, shit.