Lucas Rene Ascanien
Title: The Empire's Greatest Fool
Stamina: -4.8 (+0.2)
Mental Fortitude: -9 (+1.0)
Magic Power: ?
Skill: +0.015
Appearance: -10
Luck: -8.985 (+1.0)
Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power
My mental fortitude went up by a full point?
It was definitely -10 before.
My luck, which had been -9.985, followed suit. Considering it had been crawling up by thousandths, this was a massive leap.
Stamina rose by 0.2 too. No reason for that to increase on its own, so it must be linked to mental fortitude.
Did making one friend really change all this?
Leo was essentially my first friend since early childhood. The logic tracked.
...
Pathetic. I couldn't even look.
Hold on.
Something else to check here.
I shifted my focus, and a window appeared.
[Dawn777]
— Time until final outcome 'Chapter X. Death': 767 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes, 01 seconds
— Possibility of change: 5.3% (+5%p)
5.3%.
A five-percentage-point jump just for gaining one ally. Satisfying.
Meant Leo would be that much help to my survival.
Hmm. Curious. Let's check his stats.
Come to think of it, I'd always been in too much of a hurry to check his好感度 before his gaze dropped, never had time to pull up a full status window.
I looked Leo in the eye and called it up.
Leonard Wittelsbach
好感度: 0
Title: ?
Stamina: +7.5
Mental Fortitude: +9
Magic Power: +7
Skill: +8.5
Appearance: +10
Luck: +9.5
Traits: ?
...These are insane numbers. First time I've seen stats like this.
The好感度 rocketing from -9 to 0—a nine-point jump—was shocking enough... but that wasn't the main thing. His overall stats were better than the few professors I'd peeked at out of curiosity.
If anyone belonged in a novel, it was this guy.
"What are you doing?"
Leo waved a hand in front of my dazed eyes.
"Nothing. It's nothing."
I shook off a mild sense of absurdity and shook my head.
After that, I fielded Leo's endless stream of trivial questions until the first class period ended. We left the infirmary together. The halls were empty.
"Don't act friendly with me from here on out."
"What?"
Leo looked at me like I'd grown a second head.
"If you suddenly start being nice to me, people will talk. If you have something to say, only come find me when no other students are around."
Leo stroked his chin, then gave a firm nod.
"Fair point. Alright then, see you. I'll have my family source the ingredients you mentioned, so don't worry."
"Right. Thanks."
It ended more cleanly than I expected.
Given his obsession with magic, I thought he'd be clingy. This was better.
Keep it normal.
Now, to build my strength.
Time to fill in that ten-year gap.
The problem was, magic is hard to self-study, and I don't have a private training hall at the academy—have to use the public ones... Already solved. I'm sparring with Leo.
The academy provides private training halls to high-achieving students like him.
No need to sign in, no worry about others walking in.
Of course, I didn't ask to spar just for the venue.
I asked Leo because his movements are textbook-perfect. Worth learning from.
A Skill score of 8.5 put him on par with the professors here.
For reference, the average person fluctuates between -1 and 3 in most stats. Students here usually sit between 3 and 5.
Curious to see how much I can raise mine.
* * *
A week passed since Leo and I started training.
The results were good. My control refined so quickly, you'd never believe I hadn't properly used magic for a decade.
"Good! At this level, you won't accidentally threaten civilian lives anymore."
On the seventh day, Leo wiped his sweat and smiled, satisfied.
Right. My problem had always been that my magic was too powerful to control.
Him saying that with a smile was unsettling, but it wasn't an exaggeration. It was fact.
I knew how to output magic weakly, like in class, but maintaining a moderate output for an extended time was still difficult.
The thought of hurting someone with my magic was unacceptable. That's why I'd answered Leo's fanatical summons all week.
I was a bit flustered at first... but if I'm going to face my brother, I need at least this much power.
A satisfying talent, to have this as a baseline.
"Ah, the ingredients you mentioned will be delayed. Should arrive in about four days. I'll bring them then."
"Alright. Thanks."
"See you tomorrow."
Leo waved and disappeared.
Smooth sailing.
The brief spike of attention at the start of the semester faded as I completely stopped using magic. No word from my brother, either.
I called up my status.
Lucas Rene Ascanien
Title: The Empire's Greatest Fool
Stamina: -3.8 (+1.0)
Mental Fortitude: -8.7 (+0.3)
Magic Power: ?
Skill: +0.515 (+0.5)
Appearance: -10
Luck: -7.485 (+1.5)
Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power
Not bad for a week's training gains.
I stayed behind for a final practice session, then pulled a pendant from under my shirt.
A teleportation artifact, bought with every bit of liquid cash I had. Moving in and out of the training hall in plain sight was risky, so I linked it directly from my dorm room here.
Just in case, I had it purchased and delivered under Leo's name.
Thorough preparation is best.
I channeled a burst of magic into the pendant.
I blinked, and the familiar sight of my dorm room unfolded.
*Thud*
"...!"
My core felt... off.
The core is a structure surrounding the heart, usually tightly interwoven with it.
But right now, for some reason, my core felt loose. Unstable.
Could the suppressants have done this?
In the novel, Lucas grew progressively weaker. It fit.
I knew my core wouldn't be in great shape, but I didn't expect a reaction this soon, after just a week...
Time to start thinking about this, too.
I unfolded a calendar.
First, even with the ingredients sourced, the present-day Leo isn't the future Leo. He can't turn them into a core-enhancing elixir yet.
So, I need to adjust the mixture ratios and other conditions based on my novel knowledge.
And even with a steady supply of enhancers, a body that's had its core suppressed for ten years won't recover dramatically overnight.
I can't sit around waiting for my brother to catch on. I need to create a more stable state, even if it means using auxiliary tools.
I stared at the faintly glowing pendant, lost in thought.
Should get one more tool like this.
After the core enhancement, I'll look at other items.
There are tools that let you wield specific magics freely, even without the knowledge. They cost a fortune.
Such magical tools are supposed to be registered with the Imperial family, and there's a personal possession limit. Luckily, that doesn't apply to underage students.
Could be useful if my brother moves faster than expected. Worth looking into, just in case.
I pulled a bank statement from the drawer.
"Hmm."
The available balance held a number too long to read at a glance.
My father was the type to provide what he could without effort, even for a discarded son.
But...
Obviously, I can't use it.
The cash in my room safe, maybe. But money in a bank vault? Absolutely not.
In his first year, Lucas spent less than a million won in today's money, aside from tuition and meals.
'Well, he never left his room.'
Useful tools start at around five hundred. To get something decent, you need at least a thousand.
The moment I withdrew that much, my brother would be on my doorstep. No question.
I considered withdrawing it bit by bit, but a guy who hasn't spent a hundred in a year suddenly pulling out a thousand, in installments or lump sum, would raise flags instantly.
Only one option left.
Earn it myself.
I spread a newspaper on the desk.
'The protagonist isn't active yet, but rumors should be starting to circulate around now.'
I flipped through a stack from last month's dailies up to today's edition, then stopped.
Here it is.
[Monthly Average 6 Cases → 15 Cases... 'Magical Beast Damage' Incidents Increase 150% in Capital Outskirts Districts]
An article about the recent rise in magical beast incidents.
In the original, the protagonist, hiding his royal identity, went around killing beasts himself.
With the surge in incidents this year, the Imperial Magic Security Bureau started placing bounties on beasts and granting individual mages extermination rights.
Seems like a reasonable response at first glance...
But the situation isn't dire enough yet to outsource to civilians.
The Bureau delegated the 'clean-up' job to individuals because they judged their high-level personnel shouldn't be wasted on such miscellaneous tasks.
'That's why the protagonist stepped in.'
Anyway, two key points here.
'Bounties on beasts, extermination rights granted to individual mages.' 'The protagonist who forged his identity.'
Optimal conditions.
But openly operating when most of the Empire knows my name would be insane. Another form of suicide.
Which brings us to the next point: the Bureau is thoroughly corrupt.
They set decent bounties per beast but allocated pathetically low budgets to local management offices.
After facility maintenance, the payout was barely enough for activity support funds.
'The Bureau never intended to hire proper staff in the first place.'
They had the absurd notion that villagers would volunteer to run things, so why spend money?
Predictably, things went as you'd expect.
In the story, the protagonist flashes a forged ID and gets approved in ten seconds flat. No verification against a registry, no record-keeping.
It stuck in my memory because even the protagonist was baffled.
As a reader, my sanity flew out the window alongside his. But now...
'Perfect situation.'
* * *
"Right, borrowing a tool's power is smart. What's your budget?"
I'd arrived at the training hall and laid out my plan. Leo nodded, stroking his chin.
He pulled paper and pen from his bag and sat on the floor, apparently intending to make a list himself.
"Haven't fixed a number yet. Thinking fluid, based on earnings."
"Fluid... huh?"
"All my money's tied up in the bank. Hard to access. So I had an idea."
"You have nothing?"
"Didn't say that. Anyway, in short, I have no liqu—... How long do I have to say this myself?"
I smiled, watching him.
Leo wore a blank, confused smile of his own.
I get it, but I haven't even properly broached the subject yet.
I pulled a thick wad of paper from my bag and spoke seriously.
"Listen to the end. Obviously, I have a plan."
—-----------
T/N:
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