42
Act 2 of the main story.
There’s a lot to say about the contents.
After the midterms, the first-year students recognized as part of a decent academy face a new phase called ‘Sports Festival.’
Of course, Ernan, one of the students of this term, is no exception.
Pure and full of justice, Cha-seok, a first-year student from the village of Mersch with his own story, is a super popular student and the protagonist of this game.
Yes.
Not just popular, but super popular.
On the other hand, Evnis, the top student, focuses solely on her goals, not bothering with anything else.
Many students admire her skills, but due to her habit of analyzing everyone’s intentions and cutting off those who seem different inside out, she has no friends.
It’s undoubtedly a lie to say she has friends.
Ernan, on the other hand, is different.
As a super popular student, he mingles with everyone with a smiling face.
He hides his own circumstances behind that smile and enjoys his academy life to the fullest.
Becoming friends with both genders, sharing stories.
The ‘Make 1,000 Friends Challenge’ of Cha-seok, a 2nd-year student in the Knight Department, is something he can easily achieve just by breathing.
Moreover, he always steps forward to help those in need.
Perhaps due to a past where he lost family to monsters, he never passed by when someone was in danger.
That’s why students would gather around and say to Ernan, “First-year student Cha-seok Ernan,” like this.
If there was a dangerous person, a student like the ‘savior’ of Salenium who would rush to save them without hesitation.
And all those countless actions of such ‘Eran’ naturally caught the eye of the ‘darkness’.
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So, the ‘darkness’ thought.
What if that lad, who seems like everyone’s ‘hope’, were to be affiliated with the ‘darkness’?
Wouldn’t it be an interesting political drama and scenario if the boy, who was more upright than anyone else, suddenly took the lead and tried to overturn the academy?
The boy would be the stepping stone for our ‘darkness’ to advance.
Of course, deeming it impossible to capture Eran through various means, including wealth, the ‘darkness’ decides to come up with a new plan.
Even with an unyielding will, he, being human, would eventually break.
Destroy him mentally and make him dance to our tune.
Thus, they devised a plan to ‘kidnap’ the most favorable heroine right after the opening of the sports festival and hold her hostage to lure Eran directly into the ‘darkness’.
Naturally, Eran, who couldn’t just stand by, gathered his comrades, entered the darkness to fight, and rescued the captured heroine.
Dealt a magnificent blow to the darklings’ sinister plan and reached the ending.
This is the content of act two.
It can’t be anything but truly insane content.
And at the center of act two is that woman, the puppeteer Pavella.
She was quite a tough boss.
In front of that woman, the concept of patterns itself became meaningless.
So, to deal with her, one must be fully prepared.
And to do that, upgrading the party’s specs is the top priority.
“Wow… Are these all wands?”
“Yes, they are.”
We found ourselves in a wand shop.
Wands neatly displayed in glass cases.
Raina sighed as she looked around at them.
“They’re all real. I can guarantee there’s not a single fake among them.”
The shop owner said.
“If you look at this, miss. It’s a wand crafted by cutting branches from trees grown in the elf territory, known for being imbued with magic. And it’s only 200,000 Ellins.”
“Oh, really?”
“That’s right.”
The owner chuckled, and I glanced at the guy.
“Owner.”
Yes.
It’s a gamble, but should I give it a try?
I lowered my hood slightly, revealing only half of my face.
“No lying.”
“Uh, uh!”
Adrian had mentioned being a VIP at the auction, so I thought he might recognize me, but as soon as he did, he quickly bowed his head.
“I apologize. I, I didn’t recognize someone of your stature and committed a breach.”
“Cease with the indecent flattery and attend to your duties. We will manage on our own.”
“Understood.”
The shop owner stepped back, and Reyna approached.
“So, is it a lie?”
“Of course. The Elven realm disappeared a long time ago. And the trees grown there can’t be crafted into a wand without special craftsmanship.”
“Wow, you know a lot.”
“Well, I should know since you’re buying a wand from me.”
“Oh, right.”
As I said that, Reyna placed her hand on her chest and held her breath for a moment.
Why is she doing that?
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No.”
“If you’re in pain, you must say. So, do you have a wand you like?”
“Could it be this one for now?”
Reyna took my hand and led me to a wand inside a glass case.
An ivory-colored wand.
There were no particular decorations carved on it.
“It’s a strangely compelling feeling… like the wand is calling out to me.”
“Interesting.”
I responded using ‘Emotion’.
Pettunia’s Will / (★★)
Increases the wearer’s mana recovery rate slightly when worn.
Speeds up the wearer’s mana regeneration process when worn.
*) Unique skill, Black Flower Rain
When the ‘final attack’ hits the enemy, black flower petals scatter in all directions. They deal an additional 3% damage to enemies hit by these petals on top of the final damage.
*) This item remembers mana waves.
It cannot be transferred to another wearer.
Choose carefully!
“This seems like a pretty good wand.”
Indeed, it’s decent enough.
It’s equipment that can be seen up to the middle of the third act.
Furthermore, it’s bound to the wearer and has a unique skill.
A wand that suits a dealer-type mage like Reyna perfectly.
It’s probably unrealistic to find better equipment than this in the current black market, and even if there were, they would likely be outrageously expensive.
Items that would sell for tens of thousands in the fourth act are now being traded for millions.
I can relax.
“Owner, I’ll take this one.”
“I’ll wrap it up.”
The shop owner opened the glass case, took out the wand, handed it to Reyna, and she held the wand, infused it with mana.
…Boom!
A small burst of mana exploded from the tip of the wand. Her expression brightened instantly.
“Oh, it seems the mana waves have completely synchronized. This is now… my new wand! Thank you, Adrian!”
“It’s not over yet, Reyna.”
“What?”
“If you bought weapons, shouldn’t you also buy armor?”
“……Right?”
That’s the rule, Reyna.
It’s unsatisfactory to focus only on weapons when setting up your gear.
That’s right.
“Give me this set, please.”
“Alright.”
As I looked around with Reyna at the black gauntlets with magical support options attached, and…
“Adrian, are you really going to buy this too?”
“Why not. Innkeeper, put it on my tab.”
I managed to get a pair of black boots with increased movement speed, magic resistance, and spell casting speed options.
I equipped them with gear that would hold up decently through the third stage for the staff and early fourth stage for the armor.
Even if there’s a need to change later, at least until the beginning of the second semester, I should be able to use them without any issues.
The gauntlets weren’t too expensive, but for some reason, they just handed over the boots to me, saying, “It’s not a top-selling item, and since Adrian has done so much for us, it’s only right that we give them to you.”
And that’s not all.
“It’s been a while since you’ve visited, Adrian! It’s been a long time since the last time you came for the officers’ meeting!”
“Well, one skewer…”
“No, this is made with low-quality meat, so I’ll grill you the best one right now.”
When I tried to buy skewers from the stall, they put away what they were selling, took out fresh meat from a box, seasoned it generously, and grilled it on the spot.
An officer?
No, the Adrian before I possessed him was a hopeless scoundrel who believed in bloodlines and ran wild, so even with darkness and the innkeeper involved, it wasn’t strange at all.
‘I need to remember this.’
Since I don’t know what might happen later, gathering information about the pre-possessed Adrian in advance is crucial.
And so, after all the tasks were done.
On the way back from the innkeeper.
“……hahahaha, today I’ve only received, Adrian.”
“You’ve only received?”
I asked back, and Reyna, who was walking ahead, stopped her steps.
She turned her head slightly to look at me.
“The staff, the boots, and even these gloves… The staff aside, the boots and gloves were given by Adrian, weren’t they?”
This kid.
Why is she saying that?
“Reyna von Wolfang.”
“Yes.”
“Even if it’s just in name, aren’t you supposed to be my fiancée?”
“……Yes.”
“In that case, what’s wrong with me investing in my fiancée?”
Rayna’s face flushed red.
No, honestly, I’m a bit embarrassed to say this.
“And, I really don’t want to see you lying in the infirmary. No, I don’t want to see you in the infirmary in the first place.”
Really.
It’s not a sight I particularly want to see.
“It’s all my selfish desire.”
And if I’ve invested this much, there must be something coming back to me.
The Rayna von Wolfgang I know is like that.
Glancing over, he was puffing his cheeks.
“Adrian seems really reckless.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Exactly this point.”
“It’s hard to understand.”
“hahahaha, of course it’s difficult.”
After saying that, Rayna hummed a tune, took a few steps ahead, turned around with a twirl, tucking her hands behind her back.
Her long black hair fluttered.
In the street where the red sunset was fading, the darkening sky, facing the yellow sun.
Slightly tilting her body and head.
She.
“Thank you so much, Adrian.”
Smiled.
* * *
And.
Time passed, flowing to the night before the athletic festival.
The method of determining the ‘teams’ for the athletic festival is confirmed by opening the notes received randomly in the evening.
With nervous hearts, everyone opened the notes they received in the morning.
I was no exception, so I opened the note I had.
“Mr. Adrian.”
“Kalen.”
“…Where are you?”
“I am…”
At that moment.
“Adrian!”
“Senior!”
“Where is Adrian? Which team did he get?”
“Everyone, calm down.”
Rayna, Kalen, Milije, Relvrian, and Evnis, all gathered eagerly at the dorm entrance.
I calmly announced the team I was assigned to.
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“I am on the Blue Team.”
“Yes?”
“Huh?”
“What’s up?”
“Adrian?”
What’s going on?
Why are they acting like this?
Everyone raised their notes while saying that.
I saw it.
“Can this be… Adrian is the only one on the blue team here?”
Hmm, why would that be.
hahahaha, I have no idea.
It’s absolutely not because I told the student council president, or made a deal, that this happened, okay?
Don’t misunderstand that I changed teams alone and went somewhere to do something.
“Hm, hm… Adrian is on a different team with me…”
Evniss had a strangely happy expression, while the others had faces as if the world was collapsing.
“Why is everyone like this? Aren’t they making faces like the sky is falling?”
“S-Senior is on a different team…”
“Adrian.”
Reyna looked at me with a firm gaze.
“This is absolutely, absolutely unacceptable. I’ll go to the student council right away and file a protest with the operations committee. Milijay, let’s go!”
“Yes, Senior!”
“Ha, ahahahaha…”
Stop it.
Stop it.
Hey.