2 – Occupation (1).
It is said that time flies when you are happy.
I swung my sword vigorously while agreeing with the saying a hundred times.
It’s been 7 years since I brought Lily home.
I felt an indistinct unease about her appearance, which was starting to resemble what I knew.
Three years later.
She enters the academy as a daughter of the Bright family and a warrior.
Everything starts from there.
The things that I experienced several times to save Lily.
They are realized and come to her in reality.
“If the protagonist grows well, I don’t need to intervene.”
Will things in the world go well as I think?
If the protagonist cannot overcome the first hurdle,
Lily and I will die and the world will go on the path of ruin.
“…I do not know about the world being destroyed.”
I muttered as I put down the sword I was swinging on the ground.
Can I have affection for a world without Lily?
I would rather be destroyed if it’s that kind of world.
I’ll do anything to save Lily, even if it means my death.
“Hmm? What is this sound?”
At the sound of familiar footsteps in the distance,
I quickly put on the undershirt I had taken off and lay flat on a rock like usual.
“1, 2, 3.”
“It’s visible. An empty space!”
“You must be the one creating it!”
Bang!
A powerful strike to the forehead.
As I turned around in pain, Lily glared at me with a frown.
“Lily? How did you know about this place?”
“Because this is where you always come to steal girls’ underwear.”
Lily grumbled as if she were fed up.
The rock on which I lay was close to a windy spot,
And if I waited here, I could catch a glimpse of girls’ underwear as their skirts flipped up while passing by.
Of course, as you may know, I had only trained until she arrived,
And I rarely witnessed the spectacle of skirts flipping up.
“It used to be cool…”
“What did you say?”
“…It’s nothing!”
When I asked, Lily awkwardly turned back and retraced her steps.
“I’m alive!”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I followed behind her.
To be honest, I could hear her mumbling in my ear.
Nevertheless, pretending not to have heard, I acted like I didn’t know.
While bringing Lily home, I made a few preparations.
One of them was continuous perverted acts.
No matter what happens, Lily must not fall for me!
In that case, let’s become the worst kind of man who can never be liked!
With that thought in mind, I frequented places like this and left a bad impression every day.
The problem was that it didn’t have much effect, and instead of disdain, she still showed favor towards me.
“What’s so good about stealing underwear? It’s just a piece of cloth.”
This is an opportunity!
A perfect chance to significantly lower her liking towards me!
I cleared my throat in response to her grumbling and recited a philosophy on men’s underwear.
“I don’t know anything. Even if it’s just a simple piece of cloth, the value increases just because a woman wore it. Do you understand how desperately men fight just to catch a glimpse of underwear?”
“Do you really not want to know?”
Fine. Contempt seeped into her voice. Her gaze turned cold, as if she were looking at a cockroach.
At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before I fall for the protagonist who will eventually appear! Uhahahaha!
“Well, I can show you too…”
“What did you just say?”
“… “
Sweat trickled down as I watched her quicken her steps, pretending not to hear my question.
Wait, was that a drift?
I wasn’t joking; I genuinely panicked.
It sounded like the favorability rating was plummeting, so why is it suddenly rising!
Despite all my desperate efforts, I can’t seem to bring down her favorability.
Should I steal the townsfolk girls’ underwear and use it on my face?
No, I might get permanently banished from the village if I do that.
The point is to not let Lily fall for me, not to get kicked out of the village.
“But why did you come? If you just turn back, how would I know?”
“That doesn’t matter. My purpose was simply to bring you here.”
“Huh?”
I thought my heart sank when Lily smiled again, facing away from me.
“Tomorrow, we’re going to the shrine. Auntie told me to bring you ahead of time and get ready.”
***
Shintaku (神託).
A sacred event where, once you turn 17, the gods bestow a profession upon anyone, regardless of nobility or commoner status.
In the game, it was randomly assigned during character creation, so the tension felt much heavier than in the game.
In the game, I would simply delete and create characters repeatedly until I obtained a good profession.
But such tricks wouldn’t work here.
Naturally, once you receive a profession, you cannot change it, and it directly affects your future.
It’s obvious, but there is no need to adhere strictly to the profession received through the shintaku.
A person who was entrusted with the position of a cook becomes a farmer, or someone entrusted with priesthood becomes a merchant as well. However, if one performs the occupation they were entrusted with, the chance of success greatly increases. That’s why it is common for anyone to become the occupation entrusted to them without having to do anything.
“Please, let it be an inspector or something good for fighting!”
Duckeng closed his eyes tightly inside the carriage and earnestly prayed.
The Academy series offers more than enough professions, exceeding 500 in number, but combat-based professions barely make up 10% of them. Furthermore, the difference in abilities between combat and non-combat professions is severe. In short, in order to fight alongside Lily after enrolling in the Academy, no matter what happens, one must receive a combat-based profession.
Trying to calm his anxious heart, he looked out the window.
Clunk.
When he turned his head towards the warmth he felt from his left hand, his eyes met with Lily, smiling and melting his heart.
“It’s okay. No matter what profession you receive, there won’t be anything to dislike about you.”
While her words were meant to reassure me, it only fueled my anxiety even more. Especially since those whose status as a warrior has been confirmed were the ones saying that. How long has it been since I listened to her reassurances that were not just deception?
As the clunking carriage came to a stop, the priests greeted us warmly with gentle smiles as soon as we got off the carriage.
“Welcome. You are the future seedlings.”
After exchanging brief greetings with a devout-looking priest, we completed a simple identity verification.
Identity verification was nothing but stating what village we came from, revealing our names, and it didn’t take that long.
Once the verification was complete, we followed the guidance of the priest and entered the interior of the temple, where the scent of incense was the first thing we noticed.
“You can wait here.”
We arrived at the auditorium following the guidance of the priest.
There, various individuals who seemed to have come from different villages were gathered, engaged in lively conversations.
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“Hmm? Isn’t that person…”
While touring the hall, I accidentally discovered a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothing that was unusual for a clergyman.
If he were just a simple aristocrat, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to him, but because I knew who he was, I couldn’t easily take my eyes off him.
Helic Bright, Earl.
He was an uneducated person who sat as an earl in place of a commoner with only his swordsmanship and was one of the pillars of the kingdom, as well as a future father-in-law of Lily.
What would Lily think when she sees Helic, the very person who will become her father-in-law? At least, she would be interested in him to some extent.
“What a nice chair. I’d like to have one like this at home.”
She isn’t interested in Helic Bright, but her mind is focused on the nice chair, laughing brightly.
Well, how could you not be interested in someone you don’t even know about?
We’ll get to know more about him as we go along if he later becomes our adopted family member.
For now, my job is a much more critical concern than being Lily’s father-in-law.
As I wandered inside, a minister with a bristly beard came forward.
The minister looked around for a moment and then coughed, opening his mouth.
“Calm down.”
Just one word.
It was enough to silence the entire hall as if cutting through it with scissors.
Even those who had just entered high school know what’s going to happen next.
Something important is about to happen that will determine our entire lives.
I too turned my head to look at the minister, rubbing my neck and opening my mouth.
Honestly, I don’t remember what I said exactly.
How many people remember the boring times of high school, such as the principal’s speeches?
After the long speech, one by one, we were called out, and the appointment began.
“Your diligence has reached the ears of God. The profession that God has given you is ‘farmer’.”
“Yes! I have received the will of God!”
It’s an extravagant response, other than simply saying to be a farmer.
Of course, regardless of the profession bestowed upon me by God, I must respond in that manner.
To give me a job like that and expect me to answer like that.
It’s hard not to feel unjust.
“Then, Ron of Hodi Village. From now on.”
“Yes!”
Finally, trembling with anticipation, I stepped forward.
I stood before the deity, lowering my head with one knee bent.
The surroundings became solemn, as if a knight were swearing allegiance to the king.
“Hmm.”
How long had it been since I felt the touch of the deity’s hand on my forehead?
An incomprehensible murmur flowed from the deity’s mouth.
What kind of profession would elicit such a reaction?
Could it possibly be to become an executioner?
In extreme tension, I rolled my eyes and waited,
Finally, breaking the silence, the deity opened its mouth and uttered the profession.
“The Lord has seen your destiny…”
The voice of the deity, reciting like a machine, contained human emotions.
But, it certainly wasn’t a favorable emotion.
The deity hesitated for a moment, then continued as if truly calm.
“The profession assigned to you by the Lord is ‘Jailer’.”
“What?”
Overwhelmed with astonishment, instead of the expected reaction, I let out a cry of admiration.
The reason for my surprise is not because being a jailer is a terrible profession or because of my poor perception.
Out of over 500 professions in the ‘Academy Series’,
There was no such profession as a jailer.