'I really thought I was going to die.'
No matter how much I utilized the evenings and early mornings, it was overwhelming. Half a day of training raised my score by 0.4 points, and after making the potion, I only had five days left.
I had to skip class three times to barely scrape by, achieving the proposal with just 9 hours to spare.
Fortunately, the gains in strength and stamina were significant, sometimes yielding more than 0.4 points.
Ding—!
Congratulations!
'Proposal 2: Achieve a 'Physique' score of 0 points' successful!
'Route 1 — 〈 Chapter 3 Special Reward 〉' confirmed.
'I wonder what it'll be.'
Chapter 3 Special Reward
Is there a trait you desire? We've prepared it just for you!
'A trait?'
Reading that phrase, a memory flickered through my mind.
'Don't tell me... because I thought about wanting an exchange student trait back then, this is what came out...'
I really need to watch what I think about from now on.
I watched the cluster of pure white light that appeared before me.
The light began to take a definite shape, forming a thick stack of notes.
They looked like pages torn from a book and folded. Tiny black characters were written on the textured, milky-white paper. The light glinting off them made the contents impossible to read.
'Here... do I just unfold any one?'
Frowning, I reached my hand into the stack of notes.
Before I could even properly unfold one, white text appeared before my eyes.
Ding—!
Congratulations!
The 'Charm' trait has been added!
What?
My jaw dropped, and a laugh escaped me without my realizing.
Does charm put food on the table? A mage lives by magic, not by eating charm... Are you kidding me?
'Bad luck.'
Having something is better than nothing, I suppose... but do I need an item like that right now? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't shake my skepticism.
With mixed feelings, I summoned the Charm trait.
Charm Lv.1
— 'I Want to Be Friends!' Favorability with a specific target increases by 2 points.
— 'You Must Be Right.' Persuasion effectiveness increases by 20%.
— 2.0 points required for next level.
I take back what I said about it being a joke.
I was too narrow-minded. I shouldn't have judged it hastily just by the name.
Favorability, and a 20% increase in persuasion.
Favorability is one thing, but the persuasion item is quite appealing. It's a trait worth investing in long-term.
'Not bad.'
Satisfied, I dismissed the window.
* * *
"Lucas! It's Narke's day!"
Fye ran excitedly around my shoulder, shouting.
As for why this guy is here... he said meeting someone he could talk to was amazing no matter how he thought about it, and he kept warping into my room using divine power.
On the eighth time I took him back to the administrative office, the staff contacted Narke and explained the situation. Narke left a message saying it was fine to just let Fye roam free if I was okay with it.
Since I had to be alone from midnight, having one more animal tagging along didn't seem like it would drive me crazy, so I accepted.
And... during our time together, I also extracted a lot of information about Narke. I'd decided to make them an ally, but since we hadn't even properly talked yet, some caution was necessary. The more I knew about them, the better.
I didn't need to ask about Narke first.
Fye voluntarily rattled off information about Narke on his own.
Muttering, I recalled the useless information that Narke came from a seminary but didn't like communion wafers.
"Lucky you."
"Lucas is happy too?"
"Yeah, I'm happy."
Well, we had to get somewhat friendly first. But for now, I played along.
"Narke will be happy to meet us too~!"
"Is that so."
I put him in a cage, told him not to follow, and headed for the classroom. The cage probably wouldn't be effective against a guy who warps using divine power, but I went through the motions.
I pulled on the slightly open classroom door.
Students were crowded in the back row, talking noisily.
"Class 1-A must be nervous."
"We also sent a third-place student before the first-year finals, lowering our average. They don't have the right to say anything now."
"They won't remember that. Whenever there's a midterm, they just blindly blame it on our class's exchange student, saying it's because of them."
"Let them. But we have to win to avoid the criticism..."
"Narke! Are you good at any events? We have a tournament before the vacation."
When someone interjected to change the topic, the student sitting in the middle answered with a laugh.
"Hmm. I'm confident in most things involving a ball."
"Hey, we've won. It's over."
"Why are you putting pressure on them as soon as they arrive?"
This school has exactly two classes per grade.
With only two divisions, a subtle competitive dynamic naturally arose between them. From the number of students selected for special classes and exam scores like class averages to various tournaments, there was no area they didn't compare. Sometimes even the professors encouraged the competition, saying it helped improve achievement.
'It's inevitable.'
Even in high school with more class divisions, we'd jokingly, and sometimes seriously, debated which class was better or worse.
Think of it as the fanatical obsession with winning sports day prizes during school days transforming into various competitions, including grades.
Add to that the fact they'd gathered only the best from across the nation, and the students here definitely tended to be more obsessed with grades than those at other schools.
Unfortunately, in our grade, except for the first exam after enrollment, the neighboring class, 1-A, had consistently held a slight lead in grades so far.
I handed out notebooks to the students slumped around my seat and sat down.
"Good to see you. Let's do our best today too."
"...Ugh..."
The students mumbled with the same dying expressions as usual.
Then, I made eye contact with a student sitting in the corner of the very back row. Narke met my gaze, grinned, and waved.
The classroom fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
They looked back and forth between Narke and me, then moved their mouths as if to say something to Narke.
Screech—
"Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, Professor."
At the professor's greeting as they entered for morning assembly, the students quickly returned to their seats and responded. After announcing the day's schedule, the professor brought up Narke.
"Today is the first school day for our exchange student. Since you'll be studying together for a year, let's have a brief self-introduction."
The students' gazes focused on Narke again. Narke stood up with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Narke Farnese, who will be with you starting this semester. Please take care of me."
"You consistently received good grades at your previous school. I hope you achieve good results here as well."
"Yes, thank you."
After morning assembly and the first class ended, Narke approached me.
"Lucas."
Narke whispered.
"I got the message. Sorry for leaving it to you. Did Fye bother you a lot?"
"No, it was fine."
"Thanks for looking after him. If it's okay..."
"Narke."
A student cautiously called for Narke from outside the classroom door.
Narke went outside and returned shortly after with a smile, shrugging their eyebrows. I asked the meaning of that subtle gesture.
"What is it?"
"They said a rumor is going around that you're a Pleroma, so I should be careful."
How kind.
I let out a slight laugh.
"What did you say?"
"I said I don't think so."
"..."
Only incredibly interesting answers keep coming from you.
After a moment's thought, I asked.
"Can we talk a bit after dinner later?"
* * *
"Lucas."
Narke opened the dormitory lounge door and entered.
I placed the cage containing Fye on the table.
"I brought Fye."
"Narke!"
"Thanks. Did you behave?"
"It was fun!"
Narke just grinned without further reply.
I placed a cup of tea in front of Narke and sat down.
"Here."
"I'll enjoy it. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Did you get a school introduction?"
"Yeah, the class president helped. They said I can use the personal training grounds starting today. I'm going later, want to come?"
I needed to talk to Leo about Narke, so no.
I shook my head lightly and changed the subject.
"No. By the way... I'm curious about something."
"What is it?"
"What kind of animal is this?"
"Ah, Fye? He's a Xian rabbit."
A rabbit?
I looked at Fye, unable to hide my shock.
"...You're a rabbit?"
"Strictly speaking, he's different from a regular rabbit. He looks like a mouse, right?"
"Yeah."
He looked more like a hamster than a mouse.
"That figures. The color and size are just right. Anyway... you have something else to talk about, don't you?"
"Yeah."
I took a sip of tea and spoke.
"First... I think I should say this, so I'll say it first. I can understand what he says."
"Huh? Ahem...!"
Narke turned their head and coughed. With an expression I couldn't tell was amused or flustered, they coughed heavily, then looked at me and asked again.
"What?"
It seems Insight couldn't reveal this much.
Well, if a level 2 ability could know everything, the whole world would be under their thumb.
"Really... no, you really can understand him. I knew you used divine power, but I didn't know it worked to that extent with Fye."
They probably used Insight just now to confirm.
Also... it seems long-distance communication with Fye isn't possible. If it were, Fye would have blabbed to Narke long ago that I could talk to him.
I extracted various pieces of information from Narke's words and imprinted them in my mind.
Fye, who was on Narke's shoulder, jumped down onto the table.
"Now there are two people I can talk to~! I wish there were more!"
"No. Then the Church Education Bureau wouldn't leave you alone."
Narke stroked Fye's head and laughed. Then, looking straight at me again, they asked.
"You have other questions too, right?"
It's good when the conversation moves quickly.
"Yeah, I'm curious about a lot regarding you. It might be sudden, but it's an important issue for me. Can you answer my questions truthfully?"
"Sure, you saved Fye, so that much is fine."
I nodded and continued.
"What was your basis for thinking my using magic shouldn't be known by others?"
"That day's talk, huh. Well, if I say I felt it intuitively... can you accept that? It's hard to explain."
Intuition, huh.
Insight could also be judged that way, in a sense. It's not different from the information in the status window.
I nodded.
"The reason you think I'm not a Pleroma?"
"Ah, that's definitely not it. First of all, you've never died."
That point... is a common argument, nothing special, since most people think that way.
People believe I'm someone with Pleroma traits rather than a corpse that came back to life as a Pleroma. Since there are those who follow the Pleroma's will without having died, they can think that way.
Narke gazed into the distance, lost in thought.
"The rumors about you, if I remember correctly... were that you drank animal blood at age four, and killed a servant at age five. There's also a rumor that you steal the mana of those around you."
"You know them well."
"Your story is a topic even in the Papal States."
Narke drank their tea, chose their words for a while, then looked straight at me.
"You've never willingly drunk blood. You've never killed anyone either. If you ask for the basis of this too, it's all my intuition. But this is the truth. You know that now too, right?"
"Now?"
"Until recently, you probably believed those false rumors to be true yourself."
"..."
The corner of my mouth lifted on its own.
Well, that makes sense. It was before the possession.
A light shimmered in Narke's golden eyes.
Narke clasped their hands together and asked me.
"Adrian Ascanien is no ordinary person. Right?"
"..."
"Framing your own murder on your younger brother... that's impossible to do in one's right mind."
Adrian Ascanien is... my older brother's name.
Maintaining my smile, I answered.
"Yeah."
The more we talk, the more certain I feel.
This person absolutely must be made an ally.
—-----------
T/N:
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