9. Negotiation.
9. Negotiation.
Midnight.
Alisa looked up at the sky dyed in the colors of the universe and let out a long, huuuu breath, a whirlwind of emotions churning inside her. She fell into deep contemplation once again, wondering if her actions were truly right. ...But whether right or wrong, the water was already spilled. Now she was in a position where she had to completely entrust the future to his choice.
She checked the time one more time. The digits on the screen clearly read 0:00. Exactly the time she had notified him.
Of course, given the situation, she didn't expect him to show up precisely on time. He had to dodge the eyes of the duty NCO and the sentry to get here, so she couldn't rule out the possibility of unavoidable circumstances.
Still, after spending this much time in the training camp, the loopholes one could exploit started to become visible. If he put his mind to it, she believed he could probably get out safely without being caught.
There were already quite a few among the cadets who snuck out at night and preached about their thrilling sexual experiences. Of course, many suspected there was some tacit approval from the instructors. There was no way the instructors or assistants wouldn't know about the loopholes the cadets themselves were aware of. If you suppressed desires too much, they might eventually explode in a negative direction, so perhaps they were leaving a tiny vent to prevent major incidents.
Still, Alisa kept her guard up, mindful of the possibility of being caught. She didn't want to get unlucky and tarnish her reputation as the top model student.
Just then, she heard the sound of small footsteps, jabak jabak, coming from somewhere. They were approaching precisely in her direction. She first hid herself to confirm who it was.
Fortunately, the figure that emerged from the dark shadows was Kal—that very bastard. He came to the right place at the right time, just as she had notified.
Ah—.
For a moment, she hesitated. Should she go out or not? A feeling kept prickling at her like a pebble in her mouth—had calling him out been too impulsive?
But before she could make a choice, he already noticed her direction and opened his mouth toward her.
"You called me out, so what are you doing hiding? ...Scared?"
At the word "scared," Alisa flared up. It was her creed that a knight should not fear death. Fear of anything in any situation was not the image of a knight she aspired to be. The knights she had seen countless times were all composed, bold, and confident. She wanted to be that kind of knight too.
"Scared? What nonsense are you talking?"
She tried to make her voice as strong as possible. Her posture was the same.
Kal showed a peculiar smile. For some reason, Alisa found that smile extremely irritating. It felt like he was mocking her.
"I thought you might've chickened out and run off."
"I never had any intention of doing that. Don't get the wrong idea."
"Then I'm glad."
He walked boldly toward her, step by step. His momentum was considerable, sending a chill down her spine for a moment. But she too gathered her courage and walked toward him, refusing to back down.
Even if this bastard might be exceptional inside the simulation, in reality, he was just an ordinary human like her. There's no way he could have inserted those expensive body enhancement implants—!
"The reason you called me out? ...What, did you want to suck my dick as a reward?"
"You crazy bastard. Don't insult me by comparing me to some cheap whore."
"Really? That's disappointing. I came all the way here expecting that, really looking forward to it. ...Then I guess I came for nothing."
Kal chuckled darkly. Alisa cursed the universe for giving such a low-life bastard such incredible talent.
Actually, the reason she called him out was to ask him to teach her. Since those within the top three could get a chance to enter the knight course if they wished, giving him the first-place spot wouldn't dash her dream of becoming a knight.
Of course, it would hurt her pride, but she simply couldn't imagine surpassing that innate talent. That defeat in the battle had been that devastating.
Since that was the case, wouldn't it be better to cleanly hand him the first-place spot and learn some combat techniques from him instead? Even if she somehow managed to enter the knight course, she was well aware that the course boasted an extreme difficulty level. With a dropout rate of over 99%, she needed to learn and master as much as possible to survive that infamous course.
In that respect, he could become an excellent teacher for her. He was exactly the same year as her, and possessed astonishing innate talent. Plus, he seemed to have considerable experience in combat techniques, so he would definitely be a great help.
...But strangely, she couldn't easily bring herself to ask him to teach her. It was because of his insolent attitude.
His demeanor, speech, and posture were so ill-mannered that she wanted to give him a minus score rather than zero as a knight. If it weren't for his overwhelming talent, she wouldn't even want to exchange a single word with him.
...This fucking bastard...!
Alisa barely held back the urge to storm off the moment he started talking about dicks and such. It was all because of her intense desire to become a knight. ...To be perfectly honest, even if she entered the knight course as she was, the chances of her surviving were extremely low. That meant she was very likely to be among that 99% dropout rate.
On the other hand, if he wanted to become a knight, it seemed highly probable. Of course, there was no guarantee that learning from him would improve her skills, but right now she was in a state of grasping at straws. That was why she had crawled into this infamous Hell-Lugal training camp in the first place.
Alisa deliberated heavily. Should she say it or not?
But since she had come this far, it was better to cast the fishing line first. She didn't need to make a hasty judgment without even knowing if he'd bite.
"Just... I wanted to ask you a favor."
"A favor? Our model student asking a lowlife punk like me for a favor? Yaaah—, that's fucking hot."
"Stop messing around. I swear I'll...!"
Alisa clenched her fist and glared fiercely at Kal. He grinned slyly and showed both palms, saying he got it.
"Alright, alright. Go ahead. I'll hear you out first."
She felt the words "teach me combat techniques" circling on her tongue. Eventually, disgust rose up at herself for having to bow her head to this fucking bastard.
But,
A knight—the knight she so desperately longed for—!
She thought about it, over and over.
Hardship is temporary, but glory is eternal—.
That was the last words of a brave knight who had gone to war. When she first read that passage, hadn't she even shed tears? What a noble conviction—!
Alisa decided to consider this a momentary hardship. After all, she only had to live with this bastard for about three more months at most. If she could endure just this much to have her future life sorted out, how could she abandon such a great cause over something this trivial—!
"Teach me..., a little."
"What?"
"Combat techniques. ...How to fight so well."
Upon hearing that, Kal's smile deepened. It was an unexpected remark. ...Well, it wasn't that the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but it was still quite surprising. He didn't expect this prideful model student to actually want to learn from a crazy lowlife punk like him.
...She might lack talent, but her mindset isn't bad.
Of course, this universe was so harsh that if you lacked talent, no matter how good your mindset, you wouldn't get proper treatment. In Kal's view, it would be better for her to give up on becoming a knight. Don't even look at a tree you can't climb.
"Want me to be honest? You have absolutely no fucking talent. A knight? Just give it up. Girls like you are a dime a dozen in this universe."
—!!
At that blatant confirmation kill, Alisa flared up again. But she kept her mouth tightly shut and said nothing.
She never expected to hear anything good from this punk anyway. She also planned to suck him dry and take everything she could, so it was an even trade.
Kal thought to himself, What an interesting chick—, and smiled even more. She had no fucking talent, but she was the most willpower-filled woman he'd seen in a while. That actually piqued his interest.
He stepped close to her.
"Alright, fine. You want it that badly, I'll help you out. ...So what are you going to do for me in return?"
"Do I have to do something for you? Since we're learning from each other anyway, you can just put in a little effort. That's why I asked. ...Is that so hard?"
At her attitude—as if she had turned things upside down even while asking to learn—Kal let out a yaaah of admiration. It was as if all her talent stats had been poured into willpower and shamelessness.
"In all my life, this is the first time I've met a bitch like you. You don't know about equivalent exchange? Giving and receiving. Give and take."
"...I don't have anything. Nothing to give."
"What do you mean you don't have anything? You've got something good."
Kal grabbed Alisa's large tits roughly. Ah—! She was horrified and smacked his hand away hard.
"What the hell are you doing—!"
"My time isn't precious, but your tits are? ...You're a funny bitch, you know that."
"If you don't want to, then don't. Hah, what is this bullshit? Show some respect for people."
Alisa absolutely did not want to be harassed by this bastard. She'd rather not do it at all.
Then, ironically, it was Kal who became anxious.
"Ah, fine, I said fine. I'll teach you. Happy now? Ah, I don't need your tits."
As she turned around to leave, he grabbed her arm and was completely caught off guard by this audacious negotiator's scheme. He didn't know if it was intentional, but for now, it was a perfect victory for her.
She was such a fascinating bitch that Kal's curiosity was piqued. In all his years traveling through the universe, he'd really—really rarely met such a shameless bitch. Especially one who wanted to become a knight—! Even space pirate bastards knew what they were doing was wrong.
"...Really?"
"Ah, fuck, I'm not some kind of fucking liar...."
"Then you don't have to do it. I'm not forcing you. I'm just asking."
This motherfucker—.
The situation had turned strange. Honestly, who would have known she'd be this stubborn?
"Hey, but seriously, couldn't you at least give me a blowjob? ...Ah, wait, wait, I wasn't done talking, you bi— bitch. Fine, if you want. Yeah, if you want—!"
"Hah, if I want? That will never happen."
She scoffed, thinking her body was born solely for the path of a knight. Not to be harassed by the pathetic touch of men—!
"Well, we'll see about that. ...So? Are you going to do it or not? Ah, if you don't want to, forget it. I'm not doing it either. Shit, you think I want to waste my time for nothing?"
Kal's counterattack after gathering his senses—but it didn't do much damage to her. It was just a pathetic struggle to show he wasn't going to take it lying down.
"...Fine. Hey, don't go back on your word. If you do, we'll pretend this never happened. I'm leaving first. And don't get caught."
"Getting caught? Shit."
Hmph.
Alisa snorted and left the spot. Kal let out a hollow laugh. But it wasn't entirely unpleasant.
...You bitch, you got everything you wanted, didn't you? How dare you try to climb all the way to the top.
Training camp life had been boring enough to kill him anyway. Now he had an interesting toy to play with, so this wasn't a bad deal for him either.
He was curious to see how far this willpower-fueled model student could go. Would she hit a wall at the entrance and collapse, or would she push through better than expected? It was the curiosity of a senior who had already become a knight.
...Then, when the opportunity comes, I'll have a taste of her.
After all, women who would spread their legs with just a gesture were everywhere. Fucking a bitch whose entire life was focused on a single goal was special. Especially those bitches who thought they were the best in the world—!
Father, this is how you've corrupted me. Fuck, honestly, two times in training camp is going overboard, don't you think?