《Contrast》 Chapter 1 There was no need to think about this any further. Here I am. In a new fucking world. With a new fucked up fate. . . . Once I opened my eyes I was in an unfamiliar place. A library. It was an old style library with cobwebs all around and books had no covers. Looking around I couldn¡¯t see through the shelves because they were too tightly filled. I could only tell for sure that I was at the edge of the building and that there definitely was a second floor to it. Oh¡­ There was a book in my hands. No cover. As soon as I thought about opening it, something pushed me from behind. It¡¯s a door. Was¡­ it always there? There¡¯s a small room inside, barely illuminated and only furniture in it is a small coffee table and a rusty chair. And there¡¯s a book. It has a cover. It says¡­ ¡°~~Greatest suffering~~. Monotonous revenge.¡± What a curious title. ¡­It looks rushed¡­ I went into the room. . . There is no room. Or to be exact there are no walls. It¡¯s void¡­ Where am I? . . . I need to open the book¡­ But I can¡¯t? Pages are glued together¡­ Ah, this chapter is not. . . ¡­Fallen Paradise? . And here I am. Inside someone else¡¯s body. I was in a dark room, dressed in robes that covered half of my face. Although calling this place a room was hard, it was more akin to some ruins of an abandoned building¡­ And it''s filled with people. ¡°...you do not have a choice. Submit or¡­¡± Someone was talking. The words sound foreign, unfamiliar language¡­ Yet I understood everything. Ah¡­ The book I opened in that weird place, it contained memories of this body¡­ a small part of them. At least I know what''s going¡­ on¡­ . . I am a fucking follower of a demonic cult!? . . I need to assess everything. The people here were divided into two groups. One on a lower floor, clearly scared as some were shaking, the new recruits. They were looking up at what I can only describe as a collapsed second floor. There, their now-superiors were kindly explaining their predicament while looking down on them like bugs. My body feels stiff¡­but¡­ Currently, I was on the second floor¡­ unexpectedly. From what I can tell, I''ve worked here for a year, though my position can hardly be called stable, I will not be treated like those poor souls. ¡°Henceforth, you are divided into groups. Your individual tasks will be handled to you shortly.¡± ¡­He didn''t mention the punishment for failure¡­ It¡¯s death, and the number of survivors among those recruits usually doesn''t go above 50 percent. ¡­Is there anything I can do? . . What a fucked up new world I¡¯m in. . . It''s over¡­ for now. The man in charge turned to us ¡°Each one of you is to choose a group and give them a task from your duties. Instruct them as you see fit. Upon failure, kill them, and clean up. However if your group succeeds, you will gain additional merit. After picking your group, provide a report to me or Iron Hound¡­ Go.¡± Only after his words did my body start to listen to me properly. Soon after, chaos ensued. Everyone rushed to pick a good team¡­ and some were even prepared to fight for one¡­ Damn. I need to move. There must be someone who''s useful, but also- ¡°You two, follow me.¡± Who I can only assume to be Iron Hound pointed at me. He started walking, and so did I¡­ forcefully. . This annoys me much more than I thought¡­ Eldest Brother always hated stuff like this. I should''ve taken his advice a bit more seriously back then. . I came to a room in a nearby building. It looked even worse than the previous one¡­ but the inside was completely different. It was a bustling office building with people actively working¡­ there is no way anyone could tell that this was a hideout of a demonic cult¡­ well if not for the outfits, I guess. We soon entered the office belonging to Iron Hound. He is evidently the manager of this branch. ¡°Sit.¡± I sat down on command. ¡­I will need to do something about it. He picked up an already filled glass and started drinking while looking out of the window. ¡°New semester is starting soon.¡± Right. I was a student at the Academy¡­ ¡­At my age? ¡°The previous year was rather busy for you two, this one will be less action-packed to not gather unnecessary attention.¡± Right, it¡¯s the second year. ¡­Damn, it''s the second year? I missed so much good stuff. ¡°Your tasks will remain the same.¡± Right, my task is to courts the strongest women in my year. ¡­What the actual fuck!? The hell do you mean!? And why the fuck do I remember it so naturally when he says it!? Damn new body! Damn possession! ¡­And why am I so calm? Ah I know the answer to that one. The stress resilience training I went through seems to work even after all those years. ¡­It''s been a while. ¡°Now let''s talk about your academic success.¡± Oh damn¡­ am I doing well? I don''t know¡­ why can I not remember this one? ¡°Two-Face.¡± That''s me. Or at least that is the nickname they gave me in the cult. Iron Hound took a step in my direction. His face was covered with traces of battle¡­ and appears to be recent. This time, my body couldn''t keep as calm. It felt as if I was pricked by a thousand small needles. The anticipation of what his words will be finally reminded me of my current situation. Unfamiliar world, unfamiliar people. And most importantly, forced servitude.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. My situation is dire¡­ and there is nobody to help me. . . ¡°Well done. Continue as you were doing.¡± . ¡­that was easy. But my situation doesn''t change. ¡°Canary Reaper.¡± The other person who went in with me is also a student¡­ who is it? ¡°Y-Yes, sir!¡± A girl¡­ *Thud* She was hit with a knee kick. ¡°Did I allow you to speak?¡± ¡°Gah *Cough* *Cough*¡± She groveled on the ground. ¡­right, this is where I am. ¡°Pathetic. You are pathetic. Get better or you will be discarded.¡± While the words he said were clearly addressed to her¡­ he was looking at me. And what his face read was ¡®Fail me, and this will be you.¡¯ ¡°Dismissed. You will be summoned when necessary.¡± My body was yet again free of control. I wanted to help Canary Reaper stand up, but stopped myself. ¡­It would be a bad idea. All I could do was apologize in a muffled voice as I left. . There is much to think about. I slowly walked out of the hideout, but on my way out, Canary bumped into me. ¡°I don''t need your pity.¡± She did not stop, and hurried away while holding her stomach. . Well, trying to find allies here is a waste of time anyway¡­ moreover¡­ there¡¯s just something about her¡­ . . . Newly acquired memories led me to the dormitory. Sun illuminated the room I was in. It was a pretty spacious room, although it was mostly because it had little to no furniture. . As I sat there, holding my head, I understood two things. First, I understood that my fate is once again hanging on a thread. What I saw in the book was enough to guess the end that awaits me. Death, obviously. As it usually was, my life from here on out will be full of wondering¡­ Wondering if I will die today or not. Hoo~, and the guy I possessed didn¡¯t even know the half of it¡­ Secondly¡­ I stood up. Opened the window. Outside was a grandiose sight, a building the size of a mountain, and thousands of people hurrying to get in there. I was on a high floor, so I could observe everything well. From the main plaza with a fountain to a gloomy forest that screamed ¡°Don¡¯t go in¡±. Despite the truth of my predicament¡­I couldn''t help but smile. ¡°Hello Paradise.¡± I am inside the game I played for countless hours. Fallen Paradise. Oh, but that¡¯s not the thing I¡¯m excited about¡­ partially. In this life, I got a second chance at a proper life. This is not an unwinnable fight. I did it not just once. ¡°Hahaha!¡± A cheery laughter escaped my lips. I took a deep breath¡­ Something I couldn¡¯t do before. Ahh¡­ No pain! I jumped. I stood on my hands. I even did a backflip! I am as healthy as I could be. But most importantly¡­ I took a bunch of stuff from the nearby table, pens and whatever, 6 things fit in both my hands. Closing my eyes, I threw them in the air. One second later I opened my eyes. Pen, left hand, another pen left hand, apple right hand, empty cup left hand, notebook right hand, spoon inside the cup. I caught everything. Some call it a party trick. I however know how to utilize it to the extreme. My smile broadened and I laughed again. This simple test that I failed to do in the later stages of my life proves it. My gift is with me. 0 second reaction time. . . . This will be fucking easy. . . And so, my new life began. . Wait, damn¡­ I gotta go to school again? . Well calling it a school is wrong, this is a prestige academy that is more akin to a mash of military school and a university. However the right way to call it is religious institution. After all, the whole world is religious. For there is the God in this world. And it¡¯s not like, oh there¡¯s this magic ability that is gained by praying, so there is a god. No. He exists. He speaks to people, and there is too much proof to deny his existence. ¡­Is he my God now too? But that doesn¡¯t matter much now anyway. He stops his active work once the game starts. Players thought that was because it would be hard to push the story forward. ¡­I wonder if that¡¯s the case. Hmm¡­ Was this world created after the game, or was the game created after this world? . . I will probably never find out, and besides, I have more pressing issues. How much time do I have before the demons destroy basically everything? Considering this is the second semester¡­ Damn, so I¡¯ve missed some hidden pieces? The game splits the areas not by level of the player, but instead by story progression. Or in other words, each year, students move to the area further from the safety of the capital and closer to the ¡°Edge of the World¡±. And yes, this world is flat, beat it round-earthers. ¡­I¡¯m not even streaming, why do I imitate my streamer personality? Anyways¡­ Ah right, I have nine years. The game starts from the enrollment, and after 5 years at university, you get 5 more years to openly roam the world. ¡­Or not so openly, depending on your choices. It¡¯s just that I always went with those that let me explore the world to the maximum. Anyway, it¡¯s time to make plans. I need to maximize efficiency because I skipped a year. ¡­And I need to create a whole new plan because I¡¯m not the player of this world. Moreover¡­ I¡¯m a damn devil worshiper. . . . Good thing it was Saturday when I transmigrated. I got to finish my plans for the whole year before evening. Now, first things first¡­ Is there a system window? The game had one, and considering even NPCs acknowledge its existence¡­ ¡°Status Window!¡± . . . This is embarrassing. . Oh well- *The look might change in the future* Name: Roland Miangelli Alignment: Neutral Good Power Level: 23 -Stats Strength: C Dexterity: C- Intelligence: B Faith: D+ Will: B- Luck: D -Skills -Traits . . . I was left in shock for a moment there. Thinking about it and actually seeing it is different. . . So I really am inside a game, huh? Eldest Brother would be furious if he saw this, he always despised the thought of having a system. Something about not wanting to be someone else''s plaything. Hm¡­ it is more or less the same as in the game¡­ Damn, this guy is quite a powerhouse for this stage. If we were to compare it¡­ A regular person would be around level 3 and a regular soldier level 10. And it¡¯s not like it is a matter of getting xp. Hell no, the game didn¡¯t have anything like that. The only way to increase your Power Level is becoming stronger. Raising stats is similarly done through training excessively. In terms of game progression I was also quite far. The recommended leveling is 10 levels per year until year 5. And I am level 23, a whopping 13 levels more than recommended. . Hmm¡­ Might as well look at other stuff. Name: Roland Miangelli Alignment: Neutral Good Power Level: 23 -Stats -Skills [Spearmanship]: C+ [Acting]: B+ [Pain Tolerance]: C [Unarmed Combat]: D -Traits [Demon Seed] [Miangelli Bloodline] . . Damn¡­ I kind of saw it in his memories already, but seeing this up-front is quite troubling. A Demon Seed is quite a shitty thing to have in your body. If given a command when the seed is fully grown¡­ One transforms into a demon. And even more annoying are the commands I have to obey¡­ Knowing the game, it is possible to change the personality of a person if the cult so desires. Like the thought of being unconditionally loyal to the cult that everyone receives on their first day. Wait¡­ It doesn''t work on me though? Is it because I am not the original? No¡­ What the hell did this guy do? I guess I''m lucky, but that doesn''t rid me of all of my troubles. Fortunately, I know a few ways to get rid of it. The problem with that is¡­ I am under surveillance. Moreover I even need to attend their stupid meetings. Hoo~ one thing is just having a Demon Seed, a lot of students go on with their lives without even knowing they are bound to one day serve the cult¡­ but being a devil worshiper is just f*cked. Why the heck did this guy join them? He¡¯s not even a bad guy. Well¡­ I kind of know. Although I didn¡¯t see it in his memories, considering you can only see a hidden trait if you become aware of it yourself, this guy most likely wanted to figure out a way to get rid of it through them¡­ He did it to survive¡­ Except¡­ Why the fuck should I now suffer, you fucker!? . . Anyway. I wonder what his bloodline trait is about. There were many in the game, and although it was impossible to acquire one as a player, many NPCs had them, so I knew quite a few. There were some that gave you elemental affinities, and others just helped you increase your stats faster such as Strength or Magic¡­ I mean Faith. I need to be careful with what I say out loud from now on¡­ Magic can only be used by apostates and demons after all¡­ even though they are literally the same thing. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find out about the effects of the Bloodline eventually. Now I nee- *Crack* Hm? Status window opened again? And why are sparks coming out of it?! [ER@#R] *Foosh* A popup!? One can only appear in a tower though?! [!@ROR] *Bang* *Pop* The hell is going on!? I don¡¯t even recognize those noises?! . . I saw the usually blue system window slowly start changing it¡¯s color to green. [C@NGR%^L@_)ONS!] The hell!? Congratulations!? Did I just get a damn achievement!? That can¡¯t possibly happen! I know of all the achievements! They are account bound! If it is an achievement, a name for it should now pop up! [W*$^&# b)#!, @,>¡±{er] *Ping* . . Is it over? [Update Completed] The. F*ck? ¡°Status Window!¡± Name: Roland Miangelli (Michael ??????????) Alignment: Neutral (¡ý) Power Level: 31 (¡ü) -Stats Strength: C Dexterity: C- Intelligence: C+ (¡ý) Faith: D (¡ý) Will: A+ (¡ü) Luck: F (¡ý) -Skills [Spearmanship]: C+ [Acting]: A+ (¡ü) [Pain Tolerance]: C [Unarmed Combat]: C (¡ü) [Marksmanship]: C+ (New) [Knife Mastery]: C (New) -Traits [Demon Seed] [Miangelli Bloodline] [Enhanced Cognitive Processing] [] . . This is something else. . . What do you mean I¡¯m more stupid than that guy!? . . After accepting what happened I decided to not think further of it, and just acknowledge that it just showed me my own Status Window instead of Roland¡¯s. . . I¡¯m tired. I guess I¡¯ll just go to sleep for today. . Tomorrow''s a long day. . . After all¡­ I need to meet her. Chapter 2 Despite knowing the whole map better than my neighborhood in the previous world, seeing it with my own eyes felt completely new. And the air was so clean, no pure. Although, I''m not sure whether it''s the difference between worlds or simply that I do not have lung cancer anymore. As I took a deep breath, I continued my carefree stride to my destination. It was quite a long way from my dorm, moreover, not the most pleasant of neighborhoods. The slums. However, the exact destination was somewhat more peaceful. The only orphanage in the area. This world almost had no laws, the only actual laws were the commandments from God, although that wasn¡¯t always the case¡­ Even despite God''s presence, corruption is more than just present. It''s everywhere. Given that demons had a hand in this outcome, it doesn''t help that ¡°Father¡± tends to speak briefly and in riddles. Honestly, the only reason that the orphanage is untouched is because God is much less lenient about sins towards children. Well¡­ and also that the only volunteer at that place is a veteran. Ah. It''s here. Despite weird gazes due to my clean look and a few pickpockets attempts, I arrived safely. *Knock-knock* A woman in a nun¡¯s outfit opened the door. ¡°How may I help you?¡± Her look and tone of voice was far from welcoming. I bowed my head slightly. ¡°God save you, sister. I¡¯ve come to volunteer.¡± She was visibly surprised by my words. ¡°Ho~?¡± She looked me up and down as if to assess me. ¡°You''re not from the slums, are you, young man?¡± ¡°No, I come from the suburbs.¡± The second dormitory is located there after all. Usually, only rich merchants and servants of clergy or some nobles can live there, while true nobles and clergymen live in the center. ¡°Better find where to volunteer there, it''s not safe here.¡± ¡°You do not need to concern yourself with my safety. I can take care of myself.¡± She fell silent for a moment¡­ Now, she will ask the most important question. ¡°Why us?¡± ¡­ This feels bizarre. While the game I played has been said to have revolutionary AI technology even in the age when debates on artificial life were led¡­ Now I can''t help but think of it as some prophetic scripture. I knew the exact words to say. ¡°This is the only place that takes volunteers.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± While there are more than enough orphanages out there in the suburbs or the central area, all of them are filled with nobles and rich people who ¡°volunteer¡±. They just give money to be on that list and actually do nothing. The church only says publicly that ¡°those people helped immensely while volunteering¡±, even though they did nothing but provide money. This knowledge is being kept secret, but those who directly suffered from it know well. Volunteering is just another form of donation for the church. ¡­While poor servants of the church are forced to overwork due to being short staffed¡­ all in the name of God. ¡°You¡­ are you from the clergy?¡± She suspects me in more ways than one. ¡°No¡­ I merely sinned and want to earn forgiveness.¡± That is a white lie I am forced to say. ¡°Then go to the church and pray.¡± She was about to close the door on me. ¡°While God may forgive me¡­ I am not yet ready to forgive myself.¡± I bowed my head again. . . ¡°What can you do?¡± The answer was perfectly prepared just for this person. ¡°I''m good with any type of labor, but, uhh¡­ I''m bad at playing with children.¡± I gave an awkward smile, although I did that quite a lot in the game, honestly, I was extremely bad with children in real life. ¡°Hah, that''s no issue. Come, I¡¯ll prepare a list.¡± ¡­My weekends are about to get busy. . . Although I came on Sunday noon, I came back in the evening. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t meet Ophelia¡­ She¡¯s the one for whom I¡¯m willing to spend all weekends volunteering. The one and only other volunteer¡­ and a retired knight. Ophelia retired due to an ¡°accident¡± on the battlefield. It rendered her magic- I mean incantations useless. The so-called incantations are a magic equivalent of Fallen Paradise. There¡¯s really no difference, mana is ¡°faith¡± that is actually tangible in this world. And the main reason why the community called it mana is because it is very inconvenient when the classic definition of the word ¡°faith¡± still exists in this world. The stat in my status window refers exactly to that¡­ I am not fit for magic am I? . . I wish to meet Ophelia sooner. . . Today is Monday. And the first day of my new life in the Academy. Being in my second year, it is located slightly further from the center of the city. The reason for that is the divide of students by years. As years go by, students are moved closer and closer to the world¡¯s edge as well as ¡°No Man¡¯s Land¡± where demons and monsters roam alike. Fortunately, I am still far away from that dreaded place. Today is the entrance ceremony. Every year gets their own. ¡°Welcome, dear students, future hope of God.¡± That is Dean Jacob. He shows an image of a kind grandfather to all of his students. ¡°I am pleased with all of your results. Especially your year, but don¡¯t tell that to others. Haha~.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The crowd fell into a quiet snicker together with the dean. I was an exception. ¡°But enough with the prelude. I will begin the explanation of your curriculum.¡± ¡­Corrupt. Like all of them. Fortunately not by demons. ¡°As the second year students in the military department, you will begin your practice this year. Professor Normand will be in charge of you.¡± Normand is the current captain of one of the Orders. Orders are the highest rank in the military, everyone here probably dreams of one day joining one of those. ¡°The theory will be taught by Professor Marisse, as it was in the previous.¡± She¡¯s one of the more decent professors at the Academy. She¡¯s a noble, and not a part of the clergy, which is enough for me to trust her. ¡°Next is Martial Arts¡­¡± . He went on and on to explain all the subjects we will be having this year. Boring stuff. I know it all regardless. I even know most answers for the exams, as I¡¯ve done them at least a few hundred times. ¡°*Clap* That is all for your curriculum. Now. To end this ceremony, I want to invite the top of class A to give a speech!¡± Applaude followed. Classes are divided by performance, or in other words, grades. It goes all the way from class A to F¡­ though if you are in class F by the end of the year, you get expelled. This body is in class A. ¡­That¡¯s quite good. But I¡¯m not surprised. I saw the stats of this body after all. I should be ranked rather high. ¡­shouldn¡¯t I be first place? Wait¡­ then I have to give a speech!? Damn it! I need to think of something! ¡°Cien Firecross. The proud first place of the Academy!¡± Phew. ¡­Why was I even scared? I know all the rankings. Moreover, before the fourth year they don¡¯t change without the player¡¯s medling. The first place is indeed Cien¡­ Cien¡­ She¡¯s one of the heroines in the game¡­ A weird feeling strikes me each time I look at her or think of her¡­ a slightly annoying one¡­ No way. She¡¯s my fucking target. . . How am I supposed to seduce her? Especially considering she has someone already courting her. ¡­But that shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem. After all, she hates his guts. For the simple reason that he openly courts another. There she is. Going to the podium with her slow stride. She is¡­ beautiful. She was even in the game. ¡°Fellow Students.¡± Her voice flowed like a calm stream. ¡°This year will be full of dangers.¡± Looking at her red hair, even from below I could count every strand of it. ¡°While my status and my family allowed me to have a head start in the first year, this is when it ends.¡± Today, she wore makeup, making her look like an angel that descended from Heaven. ¡°While I got education before entering the academy, practice is not the same.¡± Ah, her dress is different from the previous year. Did she grow out of her previous one? ¡°So do not think of me as some unsurpassable wall. Challenge yourself. And challenge me.¡± I didn¡¯t give her gifts for the whole summer¡­ will she hate me now? She looked at me¡­ I¡¯m so happy¡­ ¡°This will not only help you climb the ranks, but also help us all grow together as soldiers of¡­¡± ¡°Mundus vult decipi, sed ne decipiatur.¡± Stop it. . . . I closed my eyes, slowed my breath. My heartbeat became low, my head got light. I forcibly stopped my thoughts from appearing. Pain surged like a sudden storm. . . But I resist. . This is nothing, I had worse. A form of meditation that I constantly practiced to get me through everyday life. What felt like hours passed before I opened my eyes. There was no more glint in my eyes. I understand why Brother hated drugs. This is annoying. So fucking annoying. The most sacred of emotions that I only felt towards one person¡­ or two. I will not be forced to love. . . Cien was finishing her speech. There was no more love when I looked at her. Only a headache¡­ and a batshit of annoyance. . . This mission will be hard. ¡°Lilian Gilded. The second place.¡± Especially considering who I am. The sudden rush of emotions and memories was, although annoying, very helpful. It helped me understand what situation this is. A fucked up one for sure. Lilian is the second heroine of the game. And my second fucking target. But the most shitty thing is the persona of mine. ¡°Greetings. I am Lilian Gilden, a member of a¡­¡± She spoke with almost no tone changes and her eyes were stuck to a piece of paper that contained her speech. I soon stopped looking and listening to her. It was annoying. Instead I started thinking about my own speech¡­ and my future¡­ . . ¡°...Thank you, Lilian¡­ Now. third place. Roland¡­¡± He stopped and looked at his list again. Dean did not expect to see the third place to be a commoner. ¡­Especially when I¡¯m not. I¡¯m not Roland. But I understand him well. To be more precise, I understand the character he played. Roland the Pathetic Romantic. The one who tried debauchery in a world where it is prohibited by God. The one who was hated by the ones he ¡°loved¡±. And the one who faked it all to fool the eyes of the cult. He was successful. Not only fooling every person in this world¡­ but those in another too. Now I need to take this character for myself. ¡°Hello, my name is Roland.¡± Slightly shaky voice, just enough to seem scared of public speeches. ¡°I was lucky to get b-blessed by God with talent.¡± I found a random piece of paper in my suit. I was frequently looking at it to make an impression of an anxious teen, even though it was empty. ¡°As you can tell¡­ I am a commoner.¡± I was a streamer in my previous life. Moreover, I did roleplay. Playing a character was not something new for me. ¡°The fact that I stand here¡­ is proof that anyone can!¡± After all, I had the best teacher, he would laugh if merely this was my limit. ¡°Thank you for your attention.¡± I bowed awkwardly on the podium. There was a moment of silence, but soon applause followed. I went back to my seat. There is much to think about. . . I need to prepare. . . . *Cien PoV* ¡°*Clap* That is all for your curriculum. Now. To end this ceremony, I want to invite the top of class A to give a speech!¡± Fortunately the dean is short with his speech. No matter how much my family tries to help me with speeches, they are all musclebrained, I can only count on myself. They would probably keep it short and tell everyone to get better or change professions. Moreover they would be happy if I said that. But how can a noble lady say such crude words? Just as I love my family, my family will love me regardless of how I behave. So what matters is public image. Politics are hard, but as the only woman in the family of martial artists, only I am fit. ¡°Fellow Students.¡± I don¡¯t need to try hard this year. ¡°This year will be full of dangers.¡± First impressions are important, that¡¯s why I tried so hard before. ¡°While my status and my family allowed me to have a head start in the first year, this is when it ends.¡± But I still need to keep my image, as there aren¡¯t as many chances to directly interact with other classes this year other than this and some other events. ¡°While I got education before entering the academy, practice is not the same.¡± White lies are not sin, at least that is what my eldest brother says. ¡°So do not think of me as some unsurpassable wall. Challenge yourself. And challenge me.¡± This should satisfy my family and keep the proudful image of the Firecross family intact. Honestly, who among them could even scratch me? There¡¯s Lilian, but she never gives it her all. And¡­ there¡¯s Roland. That guy is pathetic in every aspect except strength. It is such a shame. Look at him¡­ Even just looking at him makes him do this love-struck face. He¡¯s similar to a puppy when like this. I could even call it cute, if not for the fact that he makes the same face with Lilian. At this point¡­ it¡¯s plain annoying. ¡°This will not only help you climb the ranks, but also help us all grow together as soldiers of¡­ God¡­¡± ¡­Did he say something to me? . . . I can¡¯t help but recall that moment He¡­ The moment he mumbled something, his eyes changed. He changed. In that look I saw my own emotions. Annoyance. But¡­ worse. . . The feeling when something you experience over and over again as if on repeat is certainly annoying¡­ but when that same experience suddenly goes out of loop¡­ It¡¯s an entirely different feeling. And I don¡¯t like it. I can¡¯t even describe why I find it so¡­ it¡¯s perplexing. . . Or maybe I¡¯m just imagining things¡­ Yeah. He¡¯ll be back to his stupid, usual self in no time. Chapter 3 There wasn¡¯t a moment in my life when I didn¡¯t feel the cold breath of the grim reaper patiently waiting to take my life. Maybe it¡¯s just that I don¡¯t remember the time before my diagnosis. Even now. A new world should mean a new life, but my predicament is awfully similar. I know I will die if I do nothing, and even what I do to not die is almost the same to my routine for the past 10 years. I act. Roland is not me. He¡¯s a character from a game¡­ or so the story goes. I know who he is, and what he does, moreover, with a part of his memories, I can dissect his personality to the finest details. My official occupation is a streamer. I wasn¡¯t particularly good at entertaining the audience though. I was a role-play streamer. Fallen Paradise allowed me to transform the game into a play of sorts. Talking to NPCs as if they were real people, that was my whole thing as a streamer. And people loved it. Never have I thought that would be my profession, honestly, I didn¡¯t think I would live to be 22 let alone 35¡­ Nevermind that, I actually started steaming just because I needed money and didn¡¯t want to stop gaming. My family gave me advice on that from time to time, but Eldest Brother was the one who taught me how to act, he even said I have talent¡­ I disagree. He was just insane in his teachings¡­ be it acting or not¡­ I never even wanted to learn acting, he forced me to. While smoking out the window, he addressed me when we were alone. ¡°Your condition is getting better.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I thought it was just temporary, so I wasn¡¯t particularly happy. ¡°*Puff* How do you feel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Was the training hard?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Does it still hurt?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Fox bothered you lately?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°*Puff* So he stopped when I asked him to?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°...¡± He finished his cigarette before turning to me. ¡°5 out of 5, kid, that¡¯s a new record.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°You lied 5 times in a row, that¡¯s a new record.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t lie.¡± ¡°You blink twice right after lying, youngest.¡± ¡­Do I still do that? And how could he tell that I was lying even when he wasn¡¯t looking at me? ¡°I¡¯ll teach you how to lie.¡± ¡°Why would I need that?¡± ¡°To fool the others.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°Your brothers and sisters.¡± ¡°Why would I need that?¡± ¡°Because even a fool can tell you¡¯re not improving.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you want to see them sad?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°That¡¯s 6 to 1¡­ If you don¡¯t want others to worry about you, you need to pretend to be good. No need to do that with me though, I can see through you.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you know how I can describe you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°A cracked window. It does its job, and from outside, you can¡¯t even tell¡­ but those inside can tell well enough¡­ and it¡¯s fucking annoying, you know?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll get some nail polish to fix you up¡­ Actually¡­ We¡¯ll need a lot of it.¡± He smiled. One thing I came to know about him from his teachings is that we¡¯re the same. We could not smile naturally. But he showed me how to fake a smile. How to fake it well enough to even fool yourself. . . . Roland is an easy character to play. No family that could notice anything, and he didn¡¯t even have friends for me to fool. But there was one small thing that made it hard. This damn fool¡¯s behavior. ¡°Cien! Please wait!¡± Here I was. Catching up to a woman and her friends. ¡°Oh! Cien, stop, I¡¯m curious how he¡¯ll embarrass himself after 2 months.¡± Catherine, one of the passengers on the Cien bus. Daughter of a Count. It pales in comparison to Cien who is from a Duke¡¯s family, but Catherine¡¯s family is a famous merchant family that managed to buy nobility some generations ago. It¡¯s a rare case, so she, along with her family, is treated quite highly. ¡°Why bother?¡± Surprisingly that wasn¡¯t Cien, but Vera. Vera is from an Archbishop¡¯s family. A nasty fellow that one. Position wise, she is even higher than Cien, but that alone can¡¯t get her good grades. ¡°He won¡¯t stop pestering me if I don¡¯t. Be quick.¡± She finally turned to me. Even looking at her beautiful face¡­ made my head scream in pain. But I won¡¯t let the seed control me. I fell on one knee and presented a bouquet of red roses from behind my back. ¡°Please accept this, Cien. Your favorite flowers.¡± Memory of this body told me that those are her favorites¡­ but I know it¡¯s not. ¡°Ha~, again with this nonsense.¡± She took a step in my direction. *Slap* All the flowers flew into the air and flopped onto the ground. *Gasp* We were just outside the Academy building, her gang wasn¡¯t the only ones here. A commotion soon started. ¡°That¡¯s it. Nothing will change Roland. If you want to make a fool out of yourself, continue, but I won¡¯t let you slow me down. Hmph!¡± She turned around and left, Christine giggling, while Vera maintained a solemn expression. I was inwardly relieved. Although I knew that her actions were justified and as a player I saw this scene many times, and just as many times I cheered for her¡­ but being in this position myself is a bit disgruntling.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I made sure to look very hurt on the outside. This is my life now. I needed to do this sort of stuff every day, and the worst part¡­ this is just the half of it. . . I was in the cafeteria. Even though lessons haven¡¯t started yet, the cafeteria for students was already working in full swing. My second target was here. She ate at the exact same time here everyday. And I had to continue Roland¡¯s routine. I rushed to my target, who was already in line for food. One thing Roland¡¯s good at. He¡¯s known as a lunatic of the Academy. People say that ¡°If you mess with Roland, he¡¯ll beat you up and start courting your girlfriend¡±. While Roland had a very weak personality, he wasn¡¯t weak physically, being ranked 3rd in his year, he could beat most 3rd or even 4th year students. And he¡¯s done it many times. And especially, he brutally beat those who tried to court Cien or Lilian. That was quite an annoying thing for players. After all, the two of them were the only ¡°heroines¡± of the game. ...Speaking of players¡­ There is one in this world. He¡­ or should I say she, is quite perplexing. It¡¯s one thing that she is weak, but a whole other that she isn¡¯t even here. That means she is a complete newbie. Oh well, I already completed my plan for this playthrough with the thought that the player isn¡¯t present, so it doesn¡¯t matter. ¡°Your order?¡± ¡°The same as her.¡± The main reason for ¡°courting¡± Lilian in the cafeteria is this. I took my order and followed Lilian. She didn¡¯t even bat an eye, because she was so used to it. I sat with her, there was nobody else at this table. ¡­Wow, this is so much easier when Roland isn¡¯t bothering you¡­ I mean¡­ I am him but¡­ Ah, who cares. ¡°Lilian, wait.¡± She didn¡¯t really acknowledge me, it was her ¡°strategy¡± on dealing with me¡­ or with anyone else really. That¡¯s why she¡¯s always alone. She cares about nothing but her grades¡­ though even that is questionable. But there is one thing you can do to get her attention. While she was grabbing her utensils¡­ I quickly switched our plates. She momentarily furrowed her brows and stared at me angrily. ¡°Hehe, you looked at me¡± I smiled widely. For some reason, when this girl¡¯s expression changed, my headache intensified. Fortunately, she soon went back to her usual expressionless face. Lilian simply continued eating. One of Lilian''s strong points was her extreme perception. She knew I didn¡¯t meddle with the food whatsoever. I also started eating, matching her pace. ¡°I missed this cafeteria on vacation, the food here is just so good.¡± That¡¯s a lie, it¡¯s mediocre at best. ¡°What should I tell you about? Ah, right, my vacation.¡± This is another routine of Roland¡¯s. ¡°I didn¡¯t do much, mainly train.¡± Telling stories to a wall, this is what he did every day. ¡°I am not yet strong enough to beat you or Cien yet, but I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll surprise you during our sparring lessons!¡± That¡¯s a lie. Cien is manageable, this bastard is actually hiding his strength. Something even a whole community didn¡¯t figure out¡­ ¡°I did some odd jobs to make some money, mainly helping with construction.¡± ¡­though I can¡¯t beat her. ¡°Oh! Have you heard the story about the scorpion and the frog? An old lady told it to me when I was helping her out.¡± I can¡¯t help but tell the stories from my previous world to her, as I don¡¯t really know any from this one. ¡°It goes like this, one time a scorpion needed to¡­¡± ¡­and I can¡¯t think of any other ones when looking at her. . . We finished our meal just in time for me to finish the story. ¡°Did you like the food, Lilian?¡± She quickened her steps and tried to leave as soon as possible. I didn¡¯t try to chase after her. This is how it always goes. It didn¡¯t bother me much, as it was even helpful in a way. Instead, I took a bunch of herbs from my pocket. I hurried to push them down my throat. ¡­Awful taste. What¡¯s even worse is that it¡¯s not enough to act as an antidote for the poison, but it¡¯s fine. Hah¡­ If I transmigrated a year later, it would be too late for our poor Lilian. Her story is quite pitiful, and unlike Cien, she dies if the player does nothing. A slow acting poison¡­ It¡¯s impossible to taste it or even feel its effects¡­ until it¡¯s too late. Fortunately, if I eat some herbs after each such meal, I won¡¯t feel the weakening effect of the poison¡­ I¡¯ll only die after 2 years of taking it regularly¡­ Finding the antidote is hard, but not impossible¡­ so I must do this to save Lilian. . . . After painstakingly experiencing that humiliation for almost the whole day, I needed to relax, so I went to the only place that may bring me solace. The orphanage is a place full of children, and while I am not the biggest fan of interacting with them, the innocence that they possess is almost unheard of for this world. Although, children here are clearly mischievous, even among themselves. Like that girl¡­ Janice, I think¡­ She''s clearly playing around with Michael Junior. ¡­It''s a popular name in this world, isn''t it? Poor MJ doesn''t like it¡­ but little does he know that she does that because she likes h- ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°Eek!¡± *Thump* *Crash* I don''t think I ever let out such a childish scream in my entire live¡­s. Oh God¡­ ¡°Oh Goodness! I¡¯m so sorry! I shouldn''t have scared you like that. Please, let me help you!¡± It''s¡­ Ophelia. She¡­ she is real. Her lush green hair. Her amber eyes with a hue of dark tone in them. Her gorgeous yet imposing body that can overshadow even a man''s¡­ Everything that I saw on the screen¡­ She''s real. ¡°...will you help?¡± ¡°Huh? Ah! Yes, I mean, yes ma''am!¡± Way to make a first impression Michael. ¡­Damnit, I need to make it right. ¡°Excuse me, who are you?¡± The steps, right, I need to follow them, nothing new, just remember the script. ¡°It''s Ophelia, right, can you spare me a moment? Sister won''t scold you, I promise.¡± ¡­But you might. The script will need some changes due to it being the second year though. I¡¯ve never done it this way¡­ ¡­She¡¯s smiling, but¡­ It''s her judgemental smile¡­ indiscernible from her regular one, but I could tell. Did I do something wrong, or is she just probing me? We went out, the sun was already setting. I couldn''t help but observe her. Her steps were firm, but uneven, though she tried hiding it. Her boots were covered in dirt, and not the one from the streets. It must be her garden. Yes, her hands as well, aside from blemishes from swinging a sword, there''s also small cuts, must be from working with flowers. ¡­This is not something I tend to do. My ability allows me to, but I never use it like this¡­ Why do I- ¡°Are you listening?¡± ¡°No, sorry, I was thinking about something.¡± First rule is to be truthful. ¡°Ha~, whatever¡­ Who are you?¡± The script won¡¯t work, but the rules will. ¡°M¡­ Roland. My name is Roland.¡± It''s hard to act as Roland in front of her. Focus Michael. ¡°Right, I knew that, that''s not what I meant.¡± ¡°...What did you mean then?¡± ¡°Why are you here, who sent you and¡­ you better not be eyeing the children.¡± I got a chill down my spine, but my expression didn''t change. Everything was still fine. ¡°...¡± I didn''t answer. As to not break the first rule. I¡¯m here for you. . We could see the children from here, they were behind the glass, playing with the worn out toys. ¡­Should I take upon myself a role again? ¡°You-!¡± I suppose I should¡­ but¡­ ¡°The children here are happy.¡± The expression on her face told me her patience was running thin. ¡°What do you want?¡± She outright took an offensive stance, ready to take me down. ¡°I once wanted all the children in the world to be like them.¡± I don¡¯t want to play pretend with her. ¡°?¡± She is the only thing reminding me of the old days. ¡°That was but a mere dream of a child¡­ give him a bit of power and he starts thinking big.¡± That was a story long forgotten. ¡°The world soon proved that¡­ power is very subjective.¡± But it was the truth. ¡°And instead of bringing happiness to children¡­ I nearly got everyone killed.¡± I do not want to throw away my family. ¡°...¡± And she is the only one I can treat like family. For this world is cursed. ¡°After separating from my family, I lived in delusion for a while. Though, I wasn''t alone.¡± Why am I telling her this much? We just met. She¡¯s not someone I¡¯m supposed to know. ¡°Now, even they left.¡± Yet, I do. Even if she may not be the same as in my memories. As long as she could become that person¡­ ¡°So I returned to my dream. Be it on a smaller scale.¡± I will fuel this small dream of mine. . ¡°How¡­ old are you¡­¡± ¡°...19¡± Not everything can be the truth, forgive me. ¡°...You weren''t sent by anyone?¡± ¡°I told you my entire life, but you still don''t believe me? That makes me sad.¡± I feel a bit heartbroken¡­ but for some reason liberated. ¡°I¡­ erm¡­ Do you not find it weird to tell it to a stranger?¡± You are not a stranger. I smiled at her. ¡°That¡¯s funny coming from a stranger who was ready to kill me if I were to lie, no?¡± ¡°That¡­ *Cough* I can get a bit¡­ overprotective.¡± ¡°That''s a good trait, just so you know.¡± ¡­ Second rule. Try everything in order to make her fall in love with me. ¡°Your nonchalant expression makes me feel embarrassed¡­¡± ¡°I guess that makes us even.¡± I shrugged and she soon chuckled. ¡°You sure are unique, Roland.¡± ¡°I''m glad it''s not suspicious anymore.¡± ¡°Don''t get ahead of yourself, you are still under probation.¡± ¡°...Does volunteering come with an internship these days?¡± ¡°Pfft, you joke well for a kid!¡± The trick is to not be one. ¡°It''s getting late. But I am glad to finally meet you.¡± ¡°Finally?¡± ¡°Haha, the children couldn''t stop talking about you.¡± ¡°Ah, Janice can''t stop blabbering no matter how much I teach her. That''s not how a lady should behave!¡± You? Teaching etiquette? A knight who got kicked out due to misbehavior and insubordination? That¡¯s something new. I smiled yet again. ¡°I hope to see you soon, Ophelia.¡± We have a whole life ahead of us. ¡°Sure you do, and don''t you dare chicken out¡­ it''s hard to find good help around here.¡± ¡°...I will be back.¡± For you. . . . There is a third rule. But that one¡­ that one is just for me. Chapter 4 I woke up invigorated today. Yesterday¡¯s meeting with Ophelia gave me motivation to move forward not by walking, but instead running. I decided to start training from today on. ¡­After classes, of course¡­ . . Life of a student is hard. It¡¯s actually my first time living through it. I¡¯m a bit excited. Today we have 3 periods, all of which are boring theory. I even dozed off a bit¡­ on all three of them. Teachers didn¡¯t like it. They forced me to answer some stupid questions. I didn¡¯t even think, I can tell you answers to all the major exams in order or even in reverse. They were surprised at my knowledge, everyone was, but that didn¡¯t matter in the slightest. Apart from minor surprise, that was it. Roland was known for his lunacy and prowess. Both in theory and practice. So nothing will change. . . I hope practical lessons will be at least a bit more fun. . In between classes, I went to have lunch with Lilian. Nothing new there. . . And now¡­ Let¡¯s proceed with today¡¯s circus performance. ¡°Cien!¡± She was alone today. On the pretense of doing her club activities, she takes some rest here, by herself. ¡°You again?¡± We were in the garden. She was a part of a gardening club¡­ as well as 2 others. ¡°I¡¯ve come to help!¡± ¡°As if. Begone. You¡¯re not a part of the club.¡± She was the head, so she knows it well. Her strategy on maintaining the club is simple. No one from the same year is allowed in. It¡¯s so she can have some time to herself, as different years have different schedules, so it¡¯s virtually impossible to bring everyone together. ¡°The garden is only maintained by the club, it doesn¡¯t belong to it.¡± I pointed it out as if it wasn¡¯t something she knew. ¡°And? I can ask you to leave regardless. Your presence is unwelcomed.¡± Quite an attitude. ¡°Haha, don¡¯t be like that, I can be helpful. I know my way around the garden now! I learned just for you!¡± ¡­Knowing gardening for increasing Ophelia¡¯s affection is almost a requirement¡­ but I knew it even before my gaming days. ¡°Tsk. What a waste of time that was. Your hands can do nothing but hold your puny spear.¡± ¡°...So how can I help?¡± I was smiling. You can¡¯t offend me by insulting Roland. I¡¯m not Roland. ¡°Hah~, you know what?¡± Finally, some advancement. It¡¯s actually quite a good way to increase your affection with Cien. Gardening is something she is passionate about. ¡°It¡¯s true that the garden is public property.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± I watched her take a step my way. ¡°But there is a case where it¡¯s possible to kick someone out.¡± ¡°Hm??¡± What are you doing? *Stomp* *Crush* She¡¯s destroying her flowers? What? Why!? ¡°Oh Goodness! What are you doing!¡± ¡°Cien? Your flowers!¡± Is she really-? ¡°Shut up! Leave before I call the guards!¡± Even though there weren¡¯t any people here¡­ someone definitely heard that. ¡°...¡± I was left speechless. Cien I knew¡­ would never do this. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I will leave.¡± She cares for flowers more than some humans. Yet¡­ ¡°Finally, some peace and quiet.¡± Is this how much she hated Roland? . . I left. Today¡¯s interaction with Cien was brief, but as anticlimactic as usual. The cult won¡¯t suspect anything if I keep interacting with them at least once a day, so this is enough. . I was a bit perplexed after my encounter with Cien, but my body would not train itself. The location I went to for training was pretty far away, however it was an important location for me, and there¡¯s at least two reasons for that. On my way there a wave of memories came rushing¡­ sent shivers down my spine. I won¡¯t need to train as hard, not even to save the world. This body is strong. Stronger than anyone in my previous world. I can cut trees with one swing of my spear, jump trice my height, and run without stopping for at least 3 hours at the speed of a leopard. Yet¡­ Damn¡­ I didn¡¯t really notice, but¡­ How am I this fat? No, calling this fat is wrong, but¡­ My current body is that of a man in his 20''s who enjoyed being outside, but didn¡¯t train, with a bit of belly fat. I know Roland trained a lot, though¡­ It doesn¡¯t even compare to cancer patient¡¯s¡­ Ah, that doesn¡¯t matter, what are looks when compared to a healthy body? Let¡¯s begin. . . At first, I was a bit confused as what to do. But as soon as I picked up the spear my body reacted. I may not have access to all of Roland¡¯s memories, but this I do remember. *Swoosh* A simple swing. *Swoosh* Another diagonally. My feet moved carefully, yet precisely. *Swoosh* The trajectory of my spear was steady. Not something my old self could¡¯ve done with a spear.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I know how hard it is to get to this point. He was indeed proficient. . . What I practiced was spearmanship of Roland¡¯s. I do not know if he made it up himself or saw it somewhere, or whatever. But what I do know is that he has yet to master it. Any kind of weapon art is just a training method to make you familiar with the weapon and embed you with some habits and moves. Actually quite similar to my previous world¡­ But in this one, the training itself is more akin to a dance. I think I could even perform for royalty and clergy if I need some extra money. What are the effects of such training? My whole body tingles, although I wasn¡¯t out of breath. I doubt I will ever need more stamina than this, considering there are spells, and better yet Stamina Potions, also known as Health Potions, or in this world¡¯s terms Holy Water. The degree of distillation decides the price, but you don¡¯t need much for just stamina. Quite affordable, and with no drawbacks. Though you can¡¯t really afford to drink anything in the middle of a battle. ¡­If you¡¯re not abusing mob patterns that is. . According to the amount of moves Roland mastered, it¡¯s 60% mastered. Just 110 moves in the whole dance. My body couldn¡¯t yet handle the precise movement of those after the 66th move. ¡­I¡¯m quite surprised he managed to even remember all 110 of them. After repeating it for a few dozen times, I stopped. It took just an hour to complete this workout. A whole-body workout in merely an hour? I did 6 hour workouts before¡­ twice a day. This is the best! . . . At the end of the day, I understood that I had quite a few hours before I needed to sleep. So I decided to start my plan a bit ahead of schedule. . . How do you get stronger? Training is good. Knowledge is even better. I had both now. There are only two things remaining. Allies and equipment. The former is out of the question. Even in the game you couldn¡¯t get teammates with no consequences easily. And now that I¡¯m a part of the cult? Hell no. Besides, I would need to share. I¡¯m quite a kleptomaniac when it comes to items. Especially in this game. When everything can come in handy. So I made a plan. It¡¯s a plan that got me the most amount of items in the shortest possible time. It got me through 7 playthroughs. Though I did lose quite a few items, as I started in the second year¡­ But that shouldn¡¯t matter much. First thing that I do on my every playthrough. The Novice Tower. It doesn¡¯t actually have a name. Only those having an effect on the game world do, and those are in minority¡­ and not something I can handle right now. After just an hour of running, I found the stone that serves as the entrance. All Towers are ¡°hidden¡±. It was never explained. All the player finds out is that they were created by either the archangels or the higher-ups in the demonic society, those from the Pandemonium. And you can¡¯t really guess who correctly. Not that it matters. They give you a challenge and you get rewards. Game stuff, good stuff, no real need to dwell on it. To enter this one you simply need to place a mark, a tally mark. You can enter up to ten times, each time getting up to ten rewards. 100 floors. Time also flows slower inside. Nothing too ridiculous for this one though, just 2 to 1. 2 hours there, 1 hour here. Usually combat, sometimes puzzles. Now~. I used my spear to place a new tally mark, it¡¯s 31nd one on the rock. Exactly 6 completed tally marks¡­ and two more were on the rock? . . What? . How come there¡¯s two more? That¡¯s never happened before? I don¡¯t like this. Nonono, wait, this is not your regular run Michael, no need for worrying. Besides. I basically never came here after the first year. There¡¯s a good chance someone found this tower during the summer. Right¡­ But why two times? How did he know he could return? Luck? Curiosity? And why _just two times? ¡­Did he die inside? My palms started to sweat. . And my mind started racing. . Will my rewards even be the same? Can I¡­ even complete it on my first try? The reason it is called a Novice Tower is not because of its difficulty. It¡¯s because it scales from your power. More precisely your Power Level. ¡­ ¡°...status window.¡± ___ Name: Roland Miangelli (Michael) Alignment: Neutral Power Level: 31 ¡­ Have I¡­ ever gone in with such a high Power Level? . . Never. . But I won¡¯t let it stop me. This anxiety is something I used to feel often. In the end¡­ it¡¯s just as Brother told me once. . ¡°There is nothing you can¡¯t overcome. Not anymore.¡± . Those dreadful words made my life a living nightmare¡­ and made me feel alive again. So it is time. Time to feel alive again. *Slash* And to struggle. . . . I woke up standing in a dark room. Before me was a message. [Welcome challenger!] Usual. [Defeat the foe to claim the prize!] Combat, good start. Torches appeared in the edges of the room. Stone flooring, stone walls, stone ceiling. Damn. Shadow Reflection. And it appeared. A man made of shadows. It¡¯s a mere copy of whoever perished in this place. ¡­Maybe that poor soul. My knowledge won¡¯t work on this one. It¡¯s rare to meet him, so even I encountered it just a dozen times¡­ among my nearly thousand clears of the tower. But that doesn¡¯t matter. Combat is not something new to me. Not to Roland¡­ and not to me either. Let¡¯s begin. . . *Swoosh* He lunged at me with two daggers. Unfortunate weapon¡­ for him. My feet in position, steady. Each moment felt like eternity, yet fast as ever. My eyes are not yet on par with my mind. Doesn¡¯t matter. My spear ready¡­ *Swing* As if predicting where he¡¯ll be I swung my spear at his shoulder, forcing him to dodge. Quickly retract, now lunge myself. *Swoosh* Use the momentum to stab with the maximum force. Hit! His arm is hurt, retreat. *Tap* *Tap* He lost balance! *Swing* This was shallow, again! *Swing* Nice! Across the torso! Again, while he didn¡¯t recover! *Poof* Huh? . . That¡­ was it? ¡­ Was that supposed to be hard? . . . After my first win, my confidence was boosted. And not for naught. Not even 3 hours in, I was done. The challenges were not that easy, but nothing unmanageable. I did get a bit careless, letting myself get bitten and stabbed from the back¡­ that one will leave a scar. But nothing life threatening. And puzzles are not puzzles if you know the answer beforehand. I will thank the community for it. ¡­Who puts puzzles with a difficulty rating of 8 and above without a solution anywhere into their game? . . And now, the most exciting part. The rewards! There are two types of rewards one can get from the Novice Tower. Sellable loot and useful loot. And I got¡­ just 2 usable things. Not the worst ratio I¡¯ve ever got, but I¡¯m still a bit disappointed. First one is [Memory Paper] ¡­This one¡¯s a dud. It¡¯s a one time use item that can write down your memory. The only use of it is when the tower messes with your memory, as it can draw out even the ones you¡¯ve forgotten. I¡¯ll put it into a drawer and probably forget about it¡­ which is quite ironic. Next one is¡­ [Poison Syringe]! Jackpot! That¡¯s one of the must-have items to beat the game! Haha! I love gacha! It¡¯s also a one time use only item that injects deadly poison into the target. The reason why it¡¯s so OP is because it ignores poison immunity. There¡¯s a caveat to it, but it doesn¡¯t really matter. Phew! Today¡¯s haul was good. Hmm¡­ Now that I got items¡­ ¡°Status Window.¡± Name: Roland Miangelli (Michael) Alignment: Neutral Power Level: 32 (¡ü) -Stats ¡­ Oh! Nice! Not just the items, but I leveled up too! Good day. Anyway. ¡°Items!¡± ¡­ ¡­ Damn. Or wait. ¡°Item Window?¡± [This feature is no longer available.] ¡°What? What do you mean no longer available!¡± [The player can no longer access the Item Menu] ¡°...¡± It can communicate? ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡­ The window didn¡¯t change. ...I''m getting a sense of deja vu... ¡°What are you?¡± [This is a Compendium. A source of spoiler free knowledge for all those wishing to enjoy Fallen Paradise.] Ah¡­ I know this phrase. It¡¯s the most useless Compendium ever made. It covered so many useful topics, yet because it is ¡°spoiler free¡±, there is no real use for it. ¡­Let¡¯s check. ¡°What is a Tower?¡± [A tower is a place outside reality. It can provide the player with valuable loot and help hone your skill.] ¡°How do you enter a Tower?¡± [The means differ from Tower to Tower.] ¡°Where can I find one?¡± [They are located all across the world of Fallen Paradise.] ¡­ Useless as ever. And it¡¯s all the answers I already knew. The only weird thing is that the game didn¡¯t have this Compendium. It was accessible on the developers official website for the game. ¡­I wonder what else got added with this ¡°update¡±. . . Not that wondering will get me anywhere. Let¡¯s go to my room and sleep. Chapter 5 ¡°Hey! Cien!¡± ¡°...How did it go?¡± ¡°Not even saying hi?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, I didn¡¯t even get a scratch, you really need to train them harder.¡± ¡°...I was worried, you know?¡± ¡°Of what? Haha, those four won¡¯t stand a chance even together, anyway, how were your exams?¡± ¡°Not bad, got 2nd place¡­ are you making fun of me again?¡± ¡°Pfft, no way~.¡± *Hit* ¡°You definitely are. Don¡¯t think so highly of yourself, I¡¯m gonna be your boss soon, you know?¡± ¡°The guild, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I still don¡¯t agree that I¡¯m the leader, but putting you in that seat guarantees failure, so I will sacrifice a bit of myself for the greater good.¡± ¡°Oi! I¡¯m not that bad at management!¡± ¡°How often were you in a team through those 5 years?¡± ¡°...That¡¯s not because I¡¯m bad at management.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look!¡± ¡°Pfft! Hahaha! You sure have a funny face when you¡¯re frustrated!¡± ¡°...It doesn¡¯t have face tracking?¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Nah, nothing. How about we go on a date to celebrate the graduation?¡± ¡°...and then on another to celebrate the guild establishment?¡± ¡°Only if you choose where to, you know I take a long time picking one.¡± ¡°...your locations suck anyway.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Pfft! Nothing! Let¡¯s go M|[-@:_!¡± . . . That dream again. A fleeting one. Usually dreams don¡¯t fade that quickly for me. I wish I remembered. But the only thing that remains from that dream is as usual. This foreign feeling that I¡¯m chasing. I think it¡¯s love. ¡­but there¡¯s no one who¡¯s worthy to even try and fall in love. Ah¡­ Life won¡¯t end just because I can¡¯t find a lover. It¡¯s fine. There are more pressing matters. My family expects results even if they don¡¯t show it. ¡­Let¡¯s put on makeup today. . . . *Michael¡¯s PoV* It¡¯s been two weeks since I transmigrated. Life¡¯s been good. I started enjoying training. Attending the academy wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought, especially the practical lessons. My everyday interactions with Cien were quite annoying¡­ but not something I can¡¯t manage. Relationship with Lilian was actually progressing well¡­ compared to Cien. She has still not said a word to me, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯s at least listening to my stories. Switching plates with her became a ritual, so she doesn¡¯t even bat an eye anymore. And poison hasn¡¯t been acting up in any way. I almost fully cleared the Novice Tower. Got just 2 more scars. My luck wasn¡¯t great though¡­ Only one good thing dropped. The Bag of Hol¡­ I mean [Storeroom in a Pocket] or [Pocket] for short. Community names are good for a reason, it basically works as one. The [Pocket] is a common drop from the Novice Tower, but I got a bit lucky and received one with 10 cubic meters of storage. This one is bad for food, but at least it reduces the weight to just 1% of what¡¯s inside. As of lately I¡¯m a bit short on money, so I¡¯ll need to look into ways to sell all of my other loot without catching cult¡¯s attention. But¡­ The best thing that has happened to me in this world yet¡­ I tricked Ophelia into going on a date! Say what you will, but it¡¯s not just my selfish desires, I need to have a good relationship with Ophelia to save her¡­ Today in the evening we will go shopping together for the orphanage. Nothing grand, but it¡¯s a beginning. Phew. But school first. . . Professor Normand stepped onto the field. ¡°Class! Quiet!¡± Kids are usually lively during practice lessons. ¡°Today¡¯s class will be a bit different. As you might know, tomorrow is your mock exam. That is why I have prepared a special lesson today. Your theory professor, professor Marisse, will be helping with today¡¯s lesson.¡± Oh, I remember this event. The second year is all about getting hands-on experience, so this is the first time one can show his talent as a Hunter. Normand waved his hand, and soon, assistants started coming out from behind the academy building, pushing some covered cages. ¡°Today will be your first time fighting against actual monsters.¡± This sentence put fear into the eyes of the students. It became loud with all the students whispering among themselves. ¡°Monsters?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it dangerous?¡± ¡°I heard that the second year is when death is a possibility.¡± ¡°D-Do we really have to fight with d-demons?¡± The last one was overheard by Normand, and it struck his nerve. ¡°Demons!? You imbeciles! Marisse, how are you teaching them!? What is the difference between Demons and Monsters!? Roland!!¡± Why is my name screamed out the loudest? ¡­not just students dislike Roland. ¡°Monsters are a failed attempt of demons to create more subjects for themselves. They possess intelligence akin to regular animals, but with enhanced strength or other mutations and abilities.¡± ¡°...And?¡± ¡°...Demons threw them away, because of their aggressive behavior, so they are highly dangerous.¡± ¡°Territorial too, good. That¡¯s why it is important to know everything about each species of Monsters. Nay, every known Fiend. So that you can survive when met with one!¡± Fiends are just a broad term for all the enemies of mankind. ¡­He was a drill instructor for the church¡­ ¡°You will be fighting some Red Wolves. An easy target even for rookies like you!¡± Red Wolves are regular wolves except stronger and more aggressive¡­ and red. ¡°We will start from the 1st in the ranking and proceed until everyone fights and kills his enemy! No failures allowed!¡± It seems Cien is first. Normand looked at her, and she walked toward the field that would serve as an arena. Standing there she was so graceful¡­ annoying. I get a small headache whenever I look at her. Her weapon of choice is a rapier. Although, she can fight fine without her, her magi-, I mean spells... no damn it, I mean incantations are her true strength. ...I''ve never done that mistake when speaking to people, and I never will... hopefully. . The assistant unveiled the cage. [Red Wolf] It¡¯s an enemy that can kill a lot of newbies. And this one¡­ Saliva was dripping from his mouth. It¡¯s starved. Less dangerous, as the attack pattern changes. The fact that it¡¯s alone makes it far easier, as they tend to work in a pack. Their teamwork is A rank on my tier list. It¡¯s still one of the easiest enemies though. All you need to do is overpower them after all. You can¡¯t do that with most enemies in the game. ¡°Open the cage.¡± And the fight began. The wolf was fast, Cien¡¯s rapier was faster. She clearly knows it¡¯s behavior. The wolf jumped. Two quick stabs with a dodge to the right. Its leg was hurt, now it¡¯s slower. A bit of fear on its face. Cien went on the offensive. Lunge, stab. She missed its vital spots. But now it¡¯s bleeding. Despite the pain, the dog lunges. Cien reacts well, her legs swift, she dodges again. It seemed more like a performance with a bull. Cien continued this loop, while striking the wolf when opportunity arose. Just like that, the fight was over. ¡°57 seconds. Great score. Next.¡± Cien performed well, but was clearly underperforming. At least in my eyes. But, I''ll give her some credit, she didn''t use any incantations after all. . Lilian is next. Just like Cien, her enemy was a starved Red Wolf. ¡°Begin.¡± The same pattern. Lilian¡¯s weapon is dual daggers. Quite fitting. She was wearing her usual unamused expression. When the dog jumped, her hand twitched. ¡­ But she dodged and didn¡¯t even strike, making it seem like a close call. . I noticed that. She almost instinctively cut it in half. ¡­her Power Level is in three digit numbers. Quite a powerhouse she is. Though her story makes you feel not awe¡­ but pity. This act continued for¡­ ¡°1 minute even. Good, good. Next.¡± My turn. This one should be easy. I need to hold on for 1 minute at least though. I went to the arena, and the veil was lifted. The wolf was¡­ different? ¡°Hey! Why is this one fed?!¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°...Maybe he ate some rats?¡± ¡°You all will get an earful from me! Expect a talk with the principal as well!¡± ¡°Eek! S-Sorry sir! I will get another one right away!¡± ¡°...Wait.¡± Normand looked at me¡­ I don¡¯t like his look. ¡°No need. Proceed.¡± And they soon opened the cage. ¡­I will remember this. The wolf didn¡¯t rush straight at me. It carefully stepped out of its cage. Usually it¡¯s hard to tell¡­ but this one is clearly the alpha of its pack. The wolf was taking slow steps, observing me. I was in a stance with my spear pointing forward. It took its time. Slowly making its way to me. . When¡­ . It lunges. I could kill it, just like Lilian could. But it¡¯s not time yet. I step back, swing my spear with its blunt side, hitting the dog hard. It ignores the damage, finds the balance and lunges again. Repeat. This time it twisted its body to avoid my blow. I barely dodge. Even though the creature is not human. I can tell it¡¯s grinning. As if saying ¡°Next one won¡¯t miss.¡± I haven¡¯t fought a creature this intelligent in this world yet. But I guess this is enough. I exit my stance, placing my spear on the ground, its head pointing up. It goes for my leg, letting out a happy growl. Right before it bites, I cut its head off. The field is silent. ¡°...lunatic.¡± Need to keep that image. ¡°1 minute 15 seconds. Could¡¯ve been better.¡± My ass. I just stood there for a minute. . There wasn¡¯t anything interesting after that. ¡­but I decided to stay a bit. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After our class was done, it was the turn of other classes. There was someone I was curious about. I didn¡¯t have an opportunity to observe her so freely before. But this is a good chance. ¡­The player. She¡¯s in class C. I heard she actually went up a grade. Luciel. Someone I have no information on. ¡­She looks like my ex. Has the same vibes at least¡­ of a crazy woman. I already don¡¯t like her. It¡¯s weird to see the player be a woman. ¡­It was a male-oriented game with two heroines. There were too many difficulties when you chose your gender to be a girl. Oh, her turn. . . That was boring. She did hide her strength, but she¡¯s clearly inexperienced. Not a threat to me¡­ but still a variable. Well, not that I¡¯m gonna do anything about her. ¡­As long as she isn¡¯t ruining my plans. . . ¡°Oi Roland!¡± On my way to the cafeteria, I was stopped by one of the assistants. His face was¡­ familiar. ¡°Did you like our present?¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feign ignorance now¡­ Or did you already forget about us?¡± ¡°Who¡­¡± This is Derek Firecross¡­ older brother of Cien. Why is he here? ¡°Yeah, yeah, long time no see. Come behind the 3rd year building as usual¡­ Less running this year, you glad? Hahaha!¡± And he left¡­ What was that about? . . As per usual, I ate with Lilian while telling her a story. This time I started retelling her the Little Prince¡­ didn¡¯t finish it, but nevertheless. After that, I had a class, and usually around this time I would go mess with Cien¡­ but I decided to skip today. I went to the location Derek told me about. And there they were. Four brothers of Cien. Dante, Derek, Deren and Drew. ¡­ Weird people. Pretty strong, useful¡­ and overprotective of their sister. You had to fight them to get their recognition when pursuing Cien in-game. ¡­except that happens in the 5th year. ¡°Hoho~, he¡¯s here Derek.¡± ¡°Just on time, as I told you Deren.¡± They soon started¡­ warming up? ¡°Who goes first?¡± Derek looked at Dante, the oldest among them. He¡¯s in the 5th year. ¡°You go. But you know the rules.¡± ¡°Right, Right. Hit him just a few times, so that others can have their fun.¡± Dante immediately hit Derek with enough force to bring him to the ground and make a dent. ¡­You can¡¯t tell the strength of someone from their looks¡­ Dante even wears glasses. ¡°No, you fucking sadist, it¡¯s to teach him some manners.¡± ¡°Rhitght, *Spit*. Sorry.¡± ¡°...When is my turn?¡± I have no fucking clue what¡¯s going on. ¡°You¡¯re the last today, you start next week.¡± Next week?? And he simply nods?? . . From what I understand, this has happened before. Considering how openly Roland courted Cien, it¡¯s impossible for her brothers not to know about it. ¡­and they decided to ask Roland to stop. In their own way. The family of Firecross is a bunch of nutjobs. The strongest martial arts family. Yet, Cien is not fit for unarmed combat. All of her brothers are not just knuckleheads, but sadists at that. ¡­and Roland was asked to stop pestering Cien by those maniacs. He must¡¯ve declined. And then began the era of teaching junior some manners¡­ Or just a beatdown, if you¡¯d like. ¡­I now understand why he has [Pain Tolerance]: C. Maybe even Roland¡¯s trait [Unarmed Combat]: D came from this? ¡­ I start to pity him a bit. ¡°Oi, no spacing out during sparring.¡± Derek rushed at me with speed I have yet to experience. He threw a punch at my liver. ¡­I blocked it. ¡°Huh?¡± It¡¯s not my first time experiencing close quarter combat. After all, my [Unarmed Combat] was C rank. ¡°You ranked up? I¡¯m surprised Roland.¡± That was rather sarcastic. Ranking was not something only players used. The System itself exists in this world, though it¡¯s called differently¡­ God¡¯s Voice, I think? It is highly private information though, and it¡¯s practically impossible to get your stats without your permission. Nor do people often ask for it, not even in the academy. But some public figures don¡¯t hide their Status Window. Like their father. The head of the Firecross family, as well as one of the strongest people alive. And his [Unarmed Combat] is A+ rank. His son¡¯s all have ranks from C- to C+, with only Dante having B-. Derek here should be on my level. ¡­I¡¯m not going to just take the beating. . . . ¡°As usual huh?¡± I was lying on the ground. ¡°And here I thought he would finally do something.¡± Why did I lose? ¡°He improved, that is certain.¡± They didn¡¯t gank up on me. ¡°So, Roland?¡± Was it my lack of practice? My lack of strength? ¡°Oi! Are you dead?¡± *Kick* *Cough* Blood¡­ ¡°That was unnecessary Drew.¡± My whole body hurts. I didn¡¯t get as beaten even in the tower¡­ ¡°...I was just checking¡­¡± So¡­ why? ¡°Roland. Will your answer change?¡± ¡­ It must be about Cien¡­ ¡°No¡­¡± I will die if I try to stop¡­ The cult will kill me. ¡°That determination is commendable. Meet us here after a week. Same time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even think about running away, Hoho~.¡± . . And they left. While I was lying on the ground¡­ defeated. A mere hour. A mere hour to get me to this state. I stood up. Me and Ophelia should meet in 3 hours. I went to my room and changed. Then I left to train. I need to train. I¡¯m weak. . . I trained mindlessly. This place helped me get my thoughts together. And I also came to hate those brothers a bit less. [Pain Tolerance]: C+ (¡ü) ¡­But just a bit. Aren''t I leveling up a bit too fast? . . I wasn¡¯t at just any old forest outside the city. This spot was her favorite¡­ Will be, I guess. It has a beautiful view of some mountains, as well as a part of the city. That¡¯s not the only reason I train here though. This is one of the locations for a random event in the game. A very useful random event for me, who uses a spear. It¡¯s an encounter with a Hero. A forgotten, old Hero. One of the only humans who has an S rank trait. [Spearmanship] But it¡¯s not like he¡¯ll just help me. I would need to meet him at least a few times. Players usually didn¡¯t bother with him. He was cursed. His curse¡­ It¡¯s a curse that makes anyone forget him. Xabi Myosoti. In game it worked by simply removing the free input option once you started a conversation with him. That was something players disliked a lot, but it happened very rarely throughout the whole game, so most just came to terms with it. ... Not me. I was too invested in the story of Xabi. My stream was the first to ever show the ¡°hidden¡± 7th encounter in which you could actually fight him¡­ I didn¡¯t enjoy it. But the reward was worth it. In it was a diary that documented his whole life. A last ditch effort to not be left forgotten¡­ But it would never work, as even the main character upon inspecting the book says that it is merely a ¡°fictional¡± story. Only the player, as an observer, can understand. . . Only I can. . . I have no clue if his curse will work on me or not¡­ It always was a mystery even in the game. But I hope if I do meet him¡­ that he will help. He¡¯s probably the only person in this world I consider to be a Hero. ¡­though there¡¯s about 20 with that title wandering around. . . I need to go. . . . ¡°Why are you so late? Dear Heavens! What happened to your face!?¡± I wasn¡¯t as proficient at makeup as some in my ¡°otherworldly¡± family. I couldn¡¯t hide it. ¡°We will soon have mock exams, they made us spar with a bit more force.¡± I smiled, trying to reassure her. ¡°But who goes this far!?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say that¡­ I¡¯m not the most loved person at the Academy.¡° ¡°...are you bullied?¡± More like I¡¯m the bully who got what he deserved. ¡°I would rather not talk about it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So? What do we need to buy?¡± . . We went shopping, but it was too anticlimactic for the first date. Ophelia also clearly didn¡¯t like it¡­ She hurried just to get it over with¡­ ¡­I will definitely beat at least Drew next week. . I helped Ophelia bring everything back to the orphanage. Children were happy to see us with toys. Though it was hard to give everyone one, so that others weren¡¯t jealous, especially Janice¡­ She wanted everything to herself. Michael Junior actually gave her his toy. How cute. ¡°Yeah they¡¯re cute.¡± ¡°D-Don¡¯t scare me like that.¡° She does that too often. ¡°Hehe. You are too easy to scare!¡± ¡­no i¡¯m not. ¡°Seeing you smile like that, it was worth it to lose out on some deals to get here faster. Are you feeling better?¡± Ah¡­ I misunderstood¡­ ¡°Ophelia is an angel¡­¡± Hm? ¡°W-What?¡± I-I didn¡¯t mean to say that out loud! ¡°Y-Yes, I¡¯m fine now. *Cough*¡± I now understand what Brother meant when he said that his biggest enemy was his own mouth. ¡°...I¡¯m glad.¡± ¡­ I want to have an actual date with her. ¡°Are you busy?¡± ¡°Sorry? Like, right now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I guess we did what I wanted to do, and I already played with the kids today, so¡­ I guess no, why?¡± Let¡¯s take out an ace. ¡°Do you mind going somewhere with me?¡± ¡°N-No? Is it far?¡± ¡°A bit, yes. It¡¯ll take us about an hour.¡± Her leg is hurt, so she can¡¯t run. ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, it¡¯s been a while since I was on a walk. Sure.¡± I smiled. I won¡¯t mess this up as well. . . The walk to the spot was decent. The nature was beautiful and we had some small talk. ¡°Wow¡­¡± ¡°I knew you¡¯d like it.¡± Literally. ¡°This is¡­How did you even find it?¡± The way here isn¡¯t hard, just a bit hidden. ¡°I just¡­ Someone showed me.¡± The first rule. I should break it only when absolutely necessary. ¡°Really? You have friends other than me?¡± She showed me a playful smile. ¡°No. He¡¯s just someone I look up to. I doubt he even knows my name.¡± But¡­ Friends huh¡­ That has a pleasant ring to it. ¡°...¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be like that, it¡¯s not like I never had friends.¡± ¡°And now?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Some things had happened and I had to move away from them. It happened a while ago.¡± ¡°...I can listen.¡± Huh? ¡°Heh. Only if you tell me about yourself first.¡± She should know well that our relationship is not there yet. It¡¯s simply too soon. ¡°...¡± As expected. Instead of answering she went to a nearby rock. It was a big rock that has an even better view if you sit on the top. And that was just what she did. She then looked at me, inviting me to sit with her. I didn¡¯t decline. ¡°The view is indeed beautiful.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± This atmosphere made me momentarily forget about all my problems. There was no need for words¡­ But Ophelia thought differently. ¡°I was a knight before.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Hard to believe? I retired due to my leg, I¡¯m sure you noticed.¡± Is she¡­ actually telling me about herself? Why? She usually takes a while before telling anything. Especially considering how much she tries to hide from her family¡­ ¡°But that wasn¡¯t the actual reason¡­¡± ? You¡­ ¡°Women in the army are in the minority, and I was a person of the church at that. A daughter of the acting head inquisitor, hard to fit in.¡± What!? What!? I stood up from the shock. ¡°Sit down, it¡¯s not even half of it.¡± I did. But! Why!? This is something you hear at least after a year of active dating! I don¡¯t understand! ¡°I¡¯m sure even you heard about the nickname Heretic Knight.¡± I know everything about you! Of course I know! But why are you telling me this!? Why trust me this much!? What did I do to deserve this!? ¡°My mom tried hard to get me back, to try and make me an inquisitor, but I can be quite stubborn~.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t agree with her views, so I became a knight for some random Duke, at that time I thought he wasn¡¯t in cahoots with the church.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And he wasn¡¯t, at least for a while. I did suffer a bit from the whole Heretic Knight spiel my mom put on me to dishonor me.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But that didn¡¯t stop me from doing what I thought was right. And climbing ranks while at it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I ignored the ridicule, the mindless rumors, and especially the annoying seniors. Haa~, I don¡¯t even want to remember them.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°One day I found out something I wasn¡¯t supposed to though¡­ The Duke wasn¡¯t as good as I thought, sacrificing innocent people when he would lose profit¡­ I lashed out¡­ publicly. Of course it got swept under the rug immediately.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s what you¡¯d expect. I got sold out immediately, they even put some stupid crime on me. They used the nickname Heretic Knight to paint me as an actual heretic¡­ and soon enough¡­ My mother herself sent inquisitors to capture me.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I was furious. There was no way I would go without a fight. So I fought. My leg is the result of that fight. But I couldn¡¯t win, instead, I pathetically escaped.¡± ¡°...¡± . . The Third Rule, huh¡­ . ¡°That was five years ago. I was living here, tending to flowers, helping children¡­ Oh, my name is indeed Ophelia.¡± ¡°Ophelia Rosenkreuz.¡± ¡°Ophelia Rosen¡­ Oh¡­ you knew?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°...were you¡­ sent¡­¡± There was a note of despair in her voice. ¡°Do I look like an inquisitor?¡± ¡°You¡­ you are a bit too weak.¡± ¡°That hurts.¡± ¡°Pfft¡­ Fine, fine, but how? My surname is not public knowledge.¡± ¡°By chance¡­ or maybe fate?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not an answer though?¡± First rule. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you, but there is something I can.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I like you.¡± ¡°Huh? HUH!?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t know, but I met you before. I know a lot more about you than you think.¡± ¡°Y-You¡­ you¡­ but it¡¯s only been two weeks?¡± ¡°Pfft! Ahahaha! Are you the one to tell me that? Do you know how much you just shared?¡± ¡°...Everything?¡± ¡°Hah, yeah, see? Who does that to someone they knew for just two weeks?¡± ¡°...but you started it though?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You already told me¡­ your entire life story, right?¡± ¡°That¡­ that did happen.¡± ¡°...that wasn¡¯t a lie, was it?¡± Why are you so passive-aggressive all out of sudden? ¡°I won¡¯t lie to you anymore.¡± About nothing. Absolutely nothing. That way I can reach the Third Rule. ¡°So you lied to me before?¡± ¡°A few times, but not a lot.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Fine, fine! I lied about my age.¡± ¡°Hm? Then you¡¯re not 19?¡± ¡°Technically no.¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°...I''d rather not tell¡­¡± ¡°How. Old. Are. You?¡± ¡°Jesus! I¡¯m 35!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Jesus? WHAT!? 35!? How in hell are you older than me!?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t scream! This is why I said I¡¯d rather not tell!¡± She leaned closer to me. ¡°W-What are you doing?¡± She pinched my cheek. ¡°Is this a mask?¡± ¡°N-No! L-Let go, it¡¯s complicated!¡± ¡°Are you a saint then? I know they don¡¯t age.¡± ¡°How am I a saint!?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°...I can¡¯t tell you how I became like this, okay?¡± ¡°...Don¡¯t you attend the Academy?¡± ¡°...Don¡¯t¡­ Just don¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m not proud of that¡­¡± ¡°...¡± For a minute, there was an awkward silence. ¡­ Should I have stayed quiet? ¡°Pfft! Ahahaha, a 35 year old is getting bullied at school! Ahahaha!¡± ¡°Huh?! Are you seriously making fun of me!?¡± ¡°Ahahahaha!!¡± ¡­She¡¯s about to fall from the rock. *Thump* ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡°Pffft.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t laugh!¡± ¡°Ahahaha!¡± ¡°Pffft! Ahahaha¡± . . ¡°Roland.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Do you really like me?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°No takesies-backsies?¡± ¡°No, why are you acting like a child?¡± ¡°You are a child though?¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°...Pfft.¡± ¡°No more laughing, my sides hurt.¡± ¡°...¡± I¡¯m glad I did this. The sun is setting. ¡°Roland¡­ I was brought up in a harsh environment¡­ and around you¡­ I just felt free, I felt as if you¡¯d understand¡­ This is a first for me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, I had it harder, and it¡¯s not a first for me.¡± ¡°...You¡¯re not gonna tell?¡± I see any sort of formality is over between us. I like it. ¡°Nope. Not yet at least.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because this cursed world won¡¯t allow me.¡± And I¡¯m scared. The term ¡°other world¡± can only mean one thing for you, as well as all others. Hell. Only demons come from another world. It was the same in game. It wasn¡¯t just Ophelia who I romanced in the game. The moment you try to tell someone about any knowledge about the previous world of mine¡­ it¡¯s game over. Not just for the relationship. You will be hunted and killed. That¡¯s not something you can say. At all. ¡°So I¡¯m scared.¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°That you¡¯ll see me as someone else, someone evil.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, like, you didn¡¯t kill anyone, did you?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Not just one.¡± ¡°...many?¡± ¡°No. A few.¡± ¡°Did¡­ Did they deserve it?¡± ¡°Yes. One of those bastards experimented on children, another hunted people like animals, but¡­ there was one I didn¡¯t even see the face of, it was self defense.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I did however help some bad people, especially my Brother. He¡¯s like¡­ a ruler. Never killing himself, but his orders killed millions.¡± ¡°...Is he from the church?¡± ¡°...no.¡± ¡°...Cult?¡± ¡°No. You won¡¯t know, neither can I tell you¡­ but¡­ He saved far more than he killed. Billions, no he saved the world multiple times over.¡± ¡°Then¡­ a Hero?¡± ¡°Pffft! If he were to hear it, Haha! He would torment you for weeks!¡± ¡°...You were¡­ with them?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t wanna brag, but I even saved the world once by myself.¡± ¡°...For real?¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± ¡°...If you can tell me so much¡­ why not everything.¡± ¡°I can tell you a lot, sure. But I can¡¯t tell you a lot as well, like who they were, where I¡¯m from, even who I truly am¡­ it¡¯s annoying.¡± ¡°...Did they¡­ die?¡± ¡°I¡­ Most likely, at the very least, I can¡¯t meet them anymore.¡± . . ¡°...They sound like good people.¡± ¡°They were. To take a kid like me in, and waste all that time on me¡­ Yeah.¡± ¡°...¡± . . ¡°Ophelia.¡± ¡°Mhm~?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go on a date.¡± ¡°H-Huh? S-Sure?¡± ¡°How about your garden tomorrow evening?¡± ¡°...In _my garden? How is that a date?¡± She looks grumpy. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to redecorate it? I know my way around the garden, don¡¯t worry?¡± *Hit* ¡°...stalker¡­¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± I smiled. . There was one thing I heard from one of my sisters. ¡°Little Michael, telling whether a woman has affection for you is easy! If they touch you in a playful way¡­ That¡¯s your answer! Oh, but don¡¯t confuse that with love. Love is a bit too complicated for you, here, have a candy.¡± ¡­I was 22 at that time. . . It was a good evening. It seems that the Second Rule is going smoothly. Even though everything happened so abruptly, I¡¯m glad. I had friends aside from family in my previous life. But I could never have shared my life within the Family with them. This was a first. Now¡­ I will need to try hard with the Third Rule. ¡­ To like, is not to love. And the Third Rule is¡­ To finally fall in love myself. . . . *Knock* *Knock-Knock* Who is it so late at night? ¡°Ye-¡± Fuck. It¡¯s the code of the cult. I need to get my stuff. Chapter 6 Of course something like this happens right after my date with Ophelia. I need to hurry, can¡¯t take my time with the cult. The clothes are well hidden inside the forest, students rarely go there because of monster attacks. Here, now to check whether anyone is looking or has placed some ¡°cameras¡±. . . No, doesn''t seem like it. I¡¯ll change and go to the cult¡¯s hideout. . . . The hideout is busy only during night time. People must have a life outside the cult. That¡¯s one of the rules. When you get found out¡­ You get sent to the Death Squad. Or in other words¡­ ¡°No, NO! I wasn¡¯t! I swear! They just suspect me, you know? I can, I can move! Move cities! YES! They, they won¡¯t think much! Haha! They¡¯ll forget!¡± You become cannon fodder. ¡­That poor guy is being dragged to the Forge. The Forge is a place of the cult even known to the public. "Weapons" are made there, but actual forges are absent. I¡¯m not familiar with the process in detail. People go in, get branded and leave as mindless zombies. I assume it¡¯s an advanced version of whatever it is in me. ¡­Not everyone who goes in comes back alive. And they can¡¯t even think for themselves either, so the Cult won¡¯t send just anyone in there. That¡¯s¡­ where I¡¯ll be sent if I get marked as useless. . It got publicized to further ruin the Cult¡¯s image¡­ not that it was any good before. Regardless. Deep breaths. *Knock* *Knock* ¡°Get in here.¡± Iron Hound. My so-called boss. ¡°...¡± ¡°You¡¯re rather quick. Good.¡± He stood up, facing me. He¡¯s much higher than me. ¡°Come here.¡± He looks as if he¡¯ll kill me if I go¡­ . I don¡¯t like this. ¡°?¡± He made a slightly confused face and waved at me. His face softened? Does he¡­ just have a bad resting face? . ¡­Not like I actually have a choice. . . He placed his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Good job in the academy, Two-Face. I heard you impressed every teacher in your year.¡± ¡­? I did? ¡­damn, I overdid it. ¡°Unlike someone who is late, you seem to have improved over summer, keep it up.¡± Why is this so¡­ nice? His face now looks more like a kind uncle praising his nephew? ¡­but why¡­ Why does my body tense up? ¡°Now then, It¡¯s time for your mission, but before that.¡± His face went back to how it was. *Hit!* *Crack* *Slam* ¡°*Gasp* Agh *Cough* *Cough*¡± Shit, it hurts, fuck, my side¡­ You fucker, a liver shot¡­ Can¡¯t stand up¡­ it hurts too much. My rib just broke. Damn it, it hurts like hell. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you found out about your actual mission at the Academy. Good soldiers don¡¯t snoop around, Two-Face.¡± My mission¡­ to fucking seduce the heroines is what he means? Damn, it¡­ how did I get caught? *Cough* Fuck! Blood! *Kick* ¡°Aaah! *Gasp* S-stop.¡± It didn¡¯t even hurt this much yesterday! Fucker! I¡¯ll kill you! ¡°Stop pretending Two-Face. Your name fits you fucking well. You managed to fool the cult good. You fooled even me!¡± *Kick!* *Slam!* ¡°*Cough* *Cough*¡± I¡¯m bleeding out¡­ Fuck¡­ fuck his chairs¡­ why are they so sturdy? Don¡¯t come closer, you fucker, with your ugly ass face. ¡°Acting pathetically is your talent I see. Are you acting even now?¡± ¡­I want to spit on his face. ¡°*Cough* *Cough*¡± ¡°God oh God. How come they even gave you that mission? You look ugly.¡± Fuck you. ¡­Damn it. My mask fell off¡­ ¡°Now, you better spit it out. How did you find out?¡± My head feels¡­ lighter. ¡°I¡­ *Cough*¡± No. No! Fuck you! You¡¯re not forcing me! ¡°Hmm?¡± You can¡¯t¡­ make me¡­ bend¡­ ¡°I¡­ accidentally¡­¡± Shit! My head! It hurts like hell! Even one word¡­ hurts so fucking much¡­ ¡°Pathetic¡­ Did you overhear your supervisor?¡± My eyes got moist from all the pain¡­ I need to¡­ lie. But I¡­ it hurts too much to talk¡­ I will¡­ nod¡­ Fuck! Why does even this hurt! I hate it! ¡°I see. I¡¯ll have a talk with him. And you. Drop your act, do it properly. No matter how funny it was to¡­ Ha¡­ Hahaha¡­ HAHAHAHA!¡± ¡­ What? ¡­why is he¡­ ¡°Hahaha! You pathetic piece of shit! Ahahaha! You were always like this! How could you act if you¡¯ve found out just recently! AHAHAHA!¡± . . ¡­Recently? I see. So, I was the trigger for them to find out¡­ . I¡¯m feeling pathetic. It¡¯s not my fault, but¡­ even those who forced me into this stupid mission laugh at me. ¡°Ha~ Damn, I haven¡¯t laughed so much in a while. Catch, for making me laugh.¡± It was a potion, also known as Holy Water. I gulped it down through sheer will. My consciousness barely held on for so long. His punches felt more akin to sledgehammer hits. ¡­It must¡¯ve been an expensive potion¡­ My wounds started healing immediately. ¡­There will be aftereffects though. This much damage won¡¯t perfectly heal from just one potion. ¡°Anyway, you can¡¯t go against the cult, so you will try your best. You are the cult¡¯s property, so be glad you get to experience such luxury as love at all.¡± ¡­Fuck you. There is only one person in this world I should love. And it¡¯s not whoever you tell me. ¡°And yes. You act pathetically. I''m sure you¡¯ve heard it before though¡­ Just continue being useful.¡± ¡­ Even though I¡¯m just acting as Roland would. I feel awful. Roland didn¡¯t act with how he tried to seduce the heroines. ...at least I think he didn''t What would he even try to achieve if he did act? ¡­ Poor Roland¡­ All he did was follow his heart, but that heart¡­ was the Cult. He knew and yet still followed it. ¡­If I didn¡¯t know how hard it is to tell yourself to not love somebody, when you actually do¡­ I would call Roland pathetic too. ¡°Now let¡¯s begin the briefing¡­¡± ¡­ ¡°...¡± ¡­what is he waiting for? ¡°I said. We will begin the briefing.¡± . . I soon heard a muffled ¡°Eek!¡± behind the door. The door opened and a woman walked in. I quickly put my mask on. ¡­I need to stand up. Fuck¡­ everything still hurts¡­ ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry for being late! S-Sir!¡± ¡°...If you look at Two-Face you¡¯ll understand what happens with eaves-droppers around here.¡± She¡­ heard all that? ¡°I-I¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Does she¡­ Know? ¡°...Consider yourself lucky, I don¡¯t feel like beating someone else.¡± ¡­ ¡°Thank-Thank you, Sir!¡± ¡°Ha~. Your mission is tomorrow, or I guess today¡­¡± . . The mission was simple yet¡­ vile. We are to sabotage the upcoming exam, the one in two weeks to be exact. While the mission was easy to accomplish, the results were up to chance and even Iron-Hound understood that much. . . Right now, me and Canary are on our way to the location. ¡°Don¡¯t lose the seeds Roland.¡± As soon as we left the office, her arrogant nature showed itself. ¡­Who is the two-faced one here? ¡°You¡¯d better not overstep.¡± ¡°Hah, you don¡¯t have to worry, Iron-Hound himself gave me the command to not spill your identity to anyone¡­ except you, pfft.¡± ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± She keeps getting on my nerves. ¡­I¡¯m already pissed off as is. ¡°Funny? It¡¯s not just funny, it¡¯s hilarious! Now I understand why they gave you that code name. Quite fitting. Just how do you manage?¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± ¡°Oh, come on. Can¡¯t I be curious? I¡¯m an academy student too, remember? A girl at that. Don¡¯t you know how much we like gossip? Oh, wait, that¡¯s right, you know shit about girls! Loser!¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. . . Deep breaths Michael, she¡¯s just a child. Controlled by the cult, and probably with a heart-breaking past. Yes, she is not obnoxious, just pitiful. ¡°...Boring. We arrived, give me the seeds.¡± ¡°I can do it myself.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, just hurry up before guards get to this area.¡± Her flare seems to be all gone. Good. As practice shows, stupid brats lose interest if you ignore them enough. . . Now. The most important part. To complete the mission I would need to plant these seeds all around the forest area of the test. This is a fast-growing plant that will lure monsters from a wide area. Students will definitely not be able to escape unscratched if I were to plant all of them. ¡­Although, in the game, there weren¡¯t any serious casualties, But that doesn¡¯t quite make sense, given that I know precisely how these plants work. It¡¯s not yet known as the Barbed Lily, but instead only by its name from the cult¡¯s researchers, ¡°Trapper¡±. In short, it emits a smell that brainless monsters cannot resist, moreso, it¡¯s addictive, making them go wild once all of it is consumed or destroyed. That causes monsters to go on a rampage while searching for more of the plant. Devastating to both people and nature alike, especially if planted in large quantities but small area¡­ Which is exactly what the cult wants us to do. . Roland¡­ He definitely didn¡¯t follow the command. From other incidents and my knowledge alone, it¡¯s an easy guess. Moreover¡­ From limited memories I got, I can clearly feel the hate that Roland had for the cult. And that is simply not possible under normal circumstances. The cult does not allow us to hate it. That is the main command everyone receives when drafted. But he somehow does. By some means, he avoided receiving that command¡­ or just overcame it. Maybe even I have to thank him for it. Who knows whether or not it would work on me if not for Roland? . . Either way¡­ how to deal with the situation on hand? How to plant the seeds without hurting anyone? Roland somehow managed to¡­ but now that I¡¯m here¡­ I need to figure it out too. ¡°Are you having problems or something?¡± ¡°No. Just thinking.¡± I planted just a few seeds from the pouch, it was still full. ¡°What? Don¡¯t waste time, just dump them on the ground. Give it to me, I¡¯ll do it.¡± She reached for the bag, but I stepped back. ¡°Canary¡­ What was our mission again?¡± I think I have an idea. ¡°Are you dumb? Oh, right¡­ It¡¯s to plant these seeds here, you moron.¡± ¡­ ¡°That wasn¡¯t how he said it.¡± ¡°*Tsk*, ¡°Go and plant them at the exam¡¯s location¡±.¡± Canary said that in a deep voice, both annoying me and mocking Iron-Hound. ¡°Yes, and this is just a small part of it.¡± Planting them all here¡­ Would bring the best results. ¡°And? He didn¡¯t specify.¡± ¡­but she doesn¡¯t know that. ¡°We need to cover a wider area, no, to cover the whole site, we have the approximate range, so we should manage before the guards come.¡± By not planting them all in the same place, the concentration of the drug won¡¯t be the same, so the range will suffer as well. ¡°Wait, wait, we? You fucking suck-up, you fucked up and now want to redeem yourself? Why do I have to suffer as well? I would much rather just go back to sleep!¡± If we do it my way, there won¡¯t be any casualties, as only monsters that were already living here would be present. And even if they go rampart, the students should manage. ¡­But I can¡¯t do it alone, I don¡¯t have enough time. ¡°I¡¯ll owe you.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll owe you, be it money or favors.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± She seemed to be surprised, even while wearing a mask, I could tell she was perplexed. ¡°That¡¯s not quite like you¡­ but I guess I don¡¯t really know what ¡°like you¡± even is¡­ Okay, I can make it work.¡± Good. ¡°Thank you.¡± I hope this decision won¡¯t come back to bite me later. ¡°Now, now.¡± I could tell she was smiling. ¡°No need to thank me¡­ This is a deal.¡± ¡­smiling widely. ¡°What sort of deal?¡± ¡°Nuh-uh, that would be no fun, give me a part of the seeds, let¡¯s split to finish faster.¡± ¡­ No regrets now, Michael, it¡¯s all for the sake of the kids. . . . The second part of our mission was to oversee the seeds during the mock-exam that was happening today. This is probably why Canary Reaper assumed that we needed to plant them all at once, as it¡¯s easier to, when they¡¯re all in one place. ¡­But isn¡¯t it far more conspicuous when a large amount of seeds just randomly appears in one place? I think this is much better to not be noticed¡­ should use that as an excuse. Who would even suspect anything if they found a weird looking seed on the ground? ¡­Cien might, actually. Yeah, her knowledge on plants is enough to discern that this sort of seed should not be present in this area of the forest¡­ Sure, she¡¯ll be busy with the exam, but¡­ just in case, I need to do something. . . . Hah~ this is so boring. When the actual time for the mock exam came, we were told to separate into groups. This time, we could pick our own teammates, but during the actual exam, the assignment will be up to chance. ¡­I was alone. That¡¯s better actually. I had more freedom of movement. ¡°Is that creep following us?¡± Catherine, one of Cien¡¯s underlings. ¡°Leave him, it¡¯s gonna get worse if you pay attention to him, just don¡¯t leave him any monsters, so that he leaves to get points.¡± Quite a strategy Cien. One that would work if not for me killing a whole stack while planting seeds. I have enough points to score me 2nd to 4th place. ¡°We can use him as bait if things go south, hoho~¡± Vera¡­ a nasty bitch. ¡°That¡¯s unlike a lady, Vera, moreover, what could even happen?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, nothing can stand in our way.¡± Even her smile is eerie. ¡­Should I have planted a bit more seeds just for Vera? ¡°Girls, what are your plans for the actual exams?¡± ¡°Hm? Are you fine discussing it with him around, Cien?¡± ¡°Tsk, I told you to ignore him, have I not, Catherine?¡± I don¡¯t even know if I should be offended. ¡°Well¡­ I guess the same as now? Just with other people?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bad idea.¡± That is indeed. ¡°What do you think the point of the current mock exam is?¡± ¡°To get hands-on experience before grading us?¡± ¡°Not quite. It¡¯s to get familiar with the territory.¡± Cien knows her stuff. ¡°Huh? Why?¡± ¡°To not be at a disadvantage.¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°...me too.¡± ¡°Imagine you fought a Black Rabbit.¡± ¡°Easy, even in a pack.¡± ¡°They tend to ambush their prey.¡± ¡°...we know that.¡± ¡°Then tell me from where will they ambush you?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...like there?¡± Vera pointed at some bushes near a tree. ¡°Good try, but no.¡± Cien pointed up. ¡°They usually hide in the trees.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Rabbits? In the trees?¡± ¡°Yes. Remember, they are nothing like regular rabbits. They are monsters.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± ¡°By having experience of fighting in a forest, you will not only be less unaware of your surroundings, but even your footing will be more stable.¡± ¡°That can come in handy indeed.¡± ¡°Then I should take this mock exam a bit more seriously.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ however, it¡¯s a shame that only Red Wolves and Black Rabbits are present during the mock exam¡­¡± ¡°Oh? Do you perhaps know who we¡¯ll face in the actual exams?¡± We were notified prior about this, however the actual exams are supposed to be a surprise. ¡­But its not hard to guess. ¡°Shhh, don¡¯t say it, or he¡¯ll hear it too!¡± What¡¯s the point in whispering if you¡¯re half screaming? ¡°I¡¯m sure he already knows. The information on this region is not a secret and is easily found in the books from the library. Monsters in this region are not just Red Wolves and Black Rabbits. What most likely happened is that the staff just scared them away temporarily. They will be back before the exam itself.¡± ¡­and more eager than ever after finding the plants. ¡°Oh-ho~, are there any monsters we should be aware of?¡± ¡°Everything from Professor Marisse¡¯s lectures.¡± ¡°E-Everything?¡± ¡°Yes. Why did you think we learned about them?¡± ¡°Eek! I have a lot of cramming to do!¡± ¡°Gosh, Catherine, you should spend more time studying.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it! I need to go on so many dates!¡± ¡­It¡¯s not uncommon for this world to be unfair. ¡°...¡± ¡°...I think there are some monsters up ahead.¡± . . . The mock exam went on without a hunch, no one suspected anything, nor was anyone in grave danger because of me. I was relieved. I really was. Having someone¡¯s blood on my hands is never pleasant¡­ especially that of a kid. ¡°And so the Little Prince understood what lies behind her games and laughter¡­ was a pure and sensible soul.¡± As I finished today¡¯s chapter, Lilian stood up and left. Her back was unchanging and her stride as always fast. I had a bitter smile on my face, but soon I would be wearing a real one. . . . Training can wait, I have to prepare for my date with Ophelia. . First, to buy the usual decorations. She¡¯ll like the green decorations, but I should also get some yellow ones for her new sunflowers that she planted. A small cut-out of a sun is perfect. ¡°Together that will be 24 coins.¡± ¡°Here.¡± The concept of money obviously exists in this world. However, it¡¯s not that sought after as in my previous one. ¡­what I mean by that is coins are pretty useless, everyone wants some artifacts or technology or even real estate instead of money. Promissory notes and cheques are common things for nobility and the church. However, the whole economy comes down to one thing. The Mana Stones¡­ I mean Holy Crystals exchange rates. Those things are what powers the entire world. Electricity doesn¡¯t exist out here, yet, there¡¯s lightbulbs, flushable toilets, ovens and even television, although that one is rather expensive. It lacks in comparison to the modern world, but it has a stark contrast to the usual religious fantasy world. ¡­Honestly, I¡¯m just glad I get to enjoy proper food¡­ especially when it¡¯s with Ophelia. . . Here I am. . My palms are sweaty. Am I nervous? I saw the inside of her house thousands of times, know it like the back of my hand. I don¡¯t need to be nervous. . . I really should knock. . . *Knock*...*Knock-Knock* ¡°Coming~¡± . Am I missing something? Breath? Fine. Tie? Fine. Hair? Fine. I should be ready. *Creak* Here she is. ¡­Huh? ¡°Hello¡­ Why are you dressed like that?¡± ¡°I¡­um¡­ dressed for a date?¡± ¡°...you said we would be at my place?¡± ¡°...but a date, yes?¡± ¡°In my garden?¡± ¡°...yes?¡± ¡°Dressed like that?¡± ¡°...ah.¡± Here¡¯s what I get for going off script. ¡°Pffft. Did you forget or something?¡± ¡°...I had a rough day, okay?¡± ¡°Fine, fine, come in, I think I have some ¡°unisex¡± clothes for you. Hehe.¡± ¡°...¡± I really hope it¡¯s not women''s clothes¡­ I went through enough cross-dressing for not 2 but 3 lifetimes. ¡­Damn you Fox. . . ¡°Here try it on.¡± ¡°...No peeking.¡± ¡°...doesn¡¯t it usually go in reverse?¡± ¡°Not for me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡­didn¡¯t mean to say that. ¡°...get out.¡± ¡°Geez, okay, okay, I¡¯m going to be in the garden.¡± Shoo. . Okay, this looks fine, not too feminine¡­ or is it because of my face? Shit, am I glad to be uglier? ¡­anyway. . . Here she is, in her casual clothes. She always wears those shorts to her garden. Might change her top depending on the season, but shorts always remain, even in winter¡­ Something I got no answer to till the very end. This time will be different. . . ¡°Here you are¡­ Oh, it fits you well~¡± ¡°...¡± Do all women react like that to cross-dressing? Wait, no, I¡¯m not cross-dressing, it''s unisex. ¡­I hate it. ¡°Don¡¯t make that face, come help me with the sun you brought, you¡¯re taller than me.¡± Barely. ¡°In the corner closer to the sunflowers, right?¡± ¡°I like your idea Roland. Go on, but check if it won¡¯t scratch the glass first.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t.¡± This one is always there. Her greenhouse is yet to look as I remember it. It¡¯s spacious right now, with a lot of room for new flowers, and especially new decorations. We will decorate it as time goes by¡­ as it should be. . It¡¯s still surprising how she managed to afford a house with a greenhouse, even if it¡¯s closer to the edge of the capital. Well¡­ I know how she did it, but it¡¯s still surprising. ¡°Roland, do you know how to tend to sunflowers?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, do you have stakes, or should I make some?¡± ¡°I do, they are in the storage, the watering cans are there as well.¡± Storage should be here, to the left. . Yeah, and the stakes are on the upper shelf as usual. ¡°Got everything! Com- Did you forget anything?¡± ¡°...I never told you where the storage was, right?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°...I¡¯m not even gonna ask.¡± ¡°Great idea, do I also take the seeds from the back?¡± ¡°...stalker.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± . . ¡°*Phew*, you do know your way around a garden, don¡¯t you Roland?¡± ¡°I sure do, my skills are a bit rusty though.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it¡­ Why did you even learn gardening?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m sure you can guess~¡± ¡°...was it because of me?¡± Heh, I can¡¯t help but smile. ¡°No, you silly, do you think I do everything for you?¡± . Why do you look disappointed? ¡°Then why? Just a hobby?¡± ¡°...No. I learned it to¡­ court a woman¡­¡± Not my proudest of moments. ¡°*Gasp* And not for me?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even sound angry, try better. But no, not for you.¡± ¡°...Who was she?¡± ¡°Jealous?¡± ¡°...maybe?¡± That¡¯s¡­ weirdly pleasant to hear? ¡°She was¡­ an older woman. A woman I didn¡¯t want to let go.¡± ¡°...How much older?¡± ¡°...In my defence she didn¡¯t look her age.¡± ¡°...Don¡¯t answer¡­ but continue.¡± ¡°I was at a hospital at the time. She was volunteering there, and I was among many she pitied¡­ but she was different from everyone else. As someone who was met with pity for my entire life, I could tell how genuine she was. Everything about her was¡­ angelic.¡± ¡°...could it be?¡± ¡°No, no, she wasn¡¯t an actual angel. Those almost never descend from heaven.¡± ¡°You talk as if you know.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Screw you.¡± ¡°Well, I know a lot, okay?¡± ¡°...you aren¡¯t joking?¡± ¡°May I finish?¡± ¡°...Sorry, yeah.¡± ¡°She¡­ She gave me something I didn¡¯t know I wished for¡­ That warmth is still something I remember fondly¡­ Yet¡­ If I didn¡¯t do anything I knew I¡¯d lose her¡­ That¡¯s where the stupid idea of courting her came into my mind.¡± ¡°And so you learned gardening?¡± ¡°Ah¡­no, actually that came much later in the story.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°This is a bit embarrassing, but I was 15 at the time, so the best I could think of was just to follow her around¡­ I was a bit clingy, and I¡¯d rather not say to what extent.¡± ¡°...like a puppy?¡± ¡°...exactly like a puppy.¡± Don¡¯t give me that smile, I¡¯m still embarrassed about it. ¡°How did she react?¡± ¡°She¡­ um¡­ called her son.¡± ¡°...Of course she has a son.¡± ¡°...¡± That¡¯s not even the worst part¡­ ¡°...How old was he?¡± ¡°...don¡¯t read my thoughts.¡± ¡°...By?¡± ¡°...8 years.¡± ¡°...have you been to the confessional yet?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ just don¡¯t mention it¡­ he still haunts my nightmares about it.¡± ¡°...how long were you at it?¡± ¡°Much¡­much longer than I should¡¯ve.¡± ¡°...do you regret it?¡± That¡­ . ¡°Not a bit.¡± ¡°Hm? Now you¡¯re shameless out of a sudden?¡± ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed about it, but I will never regret it.¡± ¡°Why so?¡± ¡°After she told about me to her son, he came with her to the hospital. I thought he was a thug, trying to get me off of his mother¡­ and he was, but his means were¡­ a bit weird.¡± ¡°Elaborate?¡± ¡°He told me that his mother cared too much about me, and that was a bad thing, so I should stop.¡± ¡°How is that weird?¡± ¡°Because he thought I pestered his mother out of boredom and lack of friends.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°So he said he¡¯d play with me.¡± ¡°Did you¡­ agree?¡± ¡°Of course not, especially considering how he looked, and that he sucks at playing games.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...Those were good times. times where I somehow forgot about my predicament, forgot about my health, and about my environment¡­ I was happy for the first time in a while.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And one day, that happiness was bound to end. She was going to leave. It¡¯s not like her stay was permanent in the first place. She overstayed by a ton because of me.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t let go. My stubbornness didn¡¯t have limits back then. I would follow her despite anyone¡¯s opinion¡­ That is what led her son to make a deal with me¡­ A deal I simply could not refuse.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± . . ¡°Don¡¯t leave me hanging!¡± ¡°Oi, oi, no violence! I just can¡¯t say!¡± ¡°Again!? Why even tell me in the first place!?¡± ¡°Cmon! I don¡¯t really think about what I can or cannot say to you all the time!¡± ¡°Grrr.¡± ¡°Fine, fine, I can at least tell you the outcome.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°That¡¯s how I met my Family.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°He is a person I¡¯ve come to respect the most in this world, the one who taught me almost everything I know¡­ and even saved my life¡­ Partially, he¡¯s the reason I even met you.¡± He was the one who advised me on streaming. ¡°...the Eldest Brother.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°...the Hero, that one?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I guess.¡± ¡°...and you¡­ courted his mother?¡± ¡°Well¡­ Yeah?¡± . . ¡°Pffft! Ahahaha! Are you insane? Haha! And how long did that last, you say?¡± ¡°...until even after I found out what he¡¯s capable of.¡± ¡°Hahaha! Stop! No more!¡± ¡°I went through hell because of it, don¡¯t laugh.¡± ¡°Ahahaha. Sorry. Sorry, I can¡¯t help it. Hah, *phew*. To tears, Roland, to tears.¡± ¡­ Although, I really don¡¯t feel like laughing¡­ seeing her smile like this¡­ It really makes me happy. Chapter 7 My day started on a high note. Despite everything that happened yesterday, I had a good feeling about today. Not that something good was going to happen, but just a good feeling. . In class we had your usual after exam review, grades, mistakes, advice on the actual exam. I wasn¡¯t interested in all of that. . Should I go to Ophelia after training? Are we close enough so I can just come uninvited? Honestly, I¡¯m not sure, we are far from my usual playthrough, so now my knowledge on relationships is like any other man¡¯s. Hmm¡­ Should I get her some flowers? ¡­ I guess she¡¯ll appreciate the sentiment, but the idea of buying flowers for a flower seller isn''t the most brilliant one. Decorations are a decent idea, but I got one for her just yesterday. ¡°Oi.¡± Maybe a dress? . Damn I don¡¯t really have money for a dress¡­ ¡°Oi!¡± But a dress is a fine idea. I believe she doesn¡¯t have any, only practical ones¡­ I wonder how pretty she¡¯ll be. ¡°You moron! Are you dozing off!?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Finally, a response.¡± Cien? . Why is the classroom empty? ¡°Because of your stupidity, I even had to return to the classroom for you! Do you know how humiliating that is?¡± Why is she¡­ talking to me first? ¡°Here I thought you would be wagging your tail behind me as per usual, but no, one time when you should do that, you decide to take a nap in class. Top 3 my foot, you are pathetic.¡± She shouldn¡¯t do this, shouldn¡¯t talk to Roland at all first. Especially not without the player. What is happening? ¡°...Did you¡­ You have no clue, do you? That ugly mug of yours says everything I need to know. Ha~, damn it. Having me say it myself. We were put on the same team for the exam, so get moving, we need to discuss some things.¡± ¡°...the hell?¡± They fucking what? That¡¯s ridiculous! ¡°Huh?¡± Ah, my expression, damn it. ¡°Isn¡¯t that wonderful? Haha, sorry, I had trouble sleeping today.¡± Need to get into character. Phew, think positive thoughts, you are Roland. I am Roland. ¡°...Right. Now follow me¡­ quietly.¡± ¡°...not even a little chit-chat?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°U-understood.¡± . The story is changing. Not even in the weirdest scenarios were Roland and Cien on the same team. . I don¡¯t like this. . . The room we came to was the gardening club room. It isn¡¯t used much by other years, mainly for storage. Cien uses it to relax at times¡­ as well as meet with people and drink tea. ¡­Will she offer me tea? ¡°Sit.¡± A simple coffee table for 4 people was all this room had to offer¡­ apart from a ton of gardening tools. ¡°May I¡­¡± ¡°Shut up and listen.¡± ¡­so no tea. ¡°I have no idea what was going through the heads of the people in charge here, but I have no time to make an actual complaint through my family.¡± ¡°Then-¡± ¡°No, the extent of our cooperation ends here. On paper we will be on a team, but I am not going to be there with you. Do you understand? I don¡¯t want to be seen with you, don¡¯t want to be in the same space with you. I don¡¯t even want to feel your presence!¡± Ouch¡­ that hurts. . Cien that I know of¡­ is not like this. She¡¯s a feisty girl, sure, but not hateful. ¡­Did Roland do something I¡¯m unaware of? It¡¯s not like I can just ask. ¡°...I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Sorry for what? For how pathetic you are?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So? Is it understood?¡± ¡­ I can¡¯t agree. Can¡¯t do what she wants. There will come a time when I will require her help. A time when I will need her as an ally. For that, I need our relationship to improve. ¡­the only issue is that I need to do that as Roland. . ¡­if not for the cult, I would¡­ ¡°No.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± ¡°...It¡¯s better for us to act as a team.¡± ¡°You are definitely kidding me.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°*Inhale* *Exhale* So, what, you want us, to cooperate as a team? To fight back to back and get a good mark together?¡± ¡°...yes?¡± ¡°Even imagining that makes me wanna puke.¡± That fucker definitely did something. Something disgusting. Cien never had a character like this. No, she still doesn¡¯t. ¡°...¡± ¡°And spending those 2 weeks training with you!? That¡¯s worse than hell! I¡¯d better allow Lilian to take first place!¡± ¡°That¡­ we don¡¯t have to do that.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, and how would we manage to score well then? Huh? Do you think you can just waltz your way to the exam, kill some monsters and get a good grade like you did during the mock exam? No, you moron! They placed us in a team for a reason! We will get hurt or even die if our teamwork is bad! Does your loner brain even understand that word? Huh?¡± ¡°Y-Yes¡­ I understand¡­ what I said.¡± ¡°Oh-ho, and how exactly is that gonna work then?¡± ¡°I can¡­ fit in¡­ well¡­ with you¡­¡± ¡°...Do you even hear yourself?¡± ¡°...¡± That¡¯s the truth. I know all of her moves and how to support her. ¡­I also know how to improve said moves. ¡°Ha! I give up! There¡¯s nothing I can do to you anyway. You have no idea how lucky you are that I need to keep my image as a noble.¡± ¡°T-Then!?¡± ¡°I have conditions.¡± ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°First. We will not train together, I know asking you to not meet is not going to work. Second, during the exam, you may do whatever you want, however. you are not allow to interfere with whatever I''m doing. That means, if I can do it by myself, you will be a porter. And third, if we fail, or get a bad mark, I will make an official complaint to the teachers, saying that you refused to train together and instead harassed me, is that understood?¡± That¡¯s¡­ cruel... and ineffective. But¡­ I don¡¯t think I have a choice. ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°First good thing I ever heard from you. Now off you go.¡± ¡°I-¡± ¡°Leave.¡± ¡°¡­¡± I have to hope she''ll allow me cooperate... I have to hope... . . It¡¯s hard. Hard to see a familiar person acting so¡­ unfamiliar. Cien is probably the only person I know better than Ophelia in the whole Fallen Paradise. I know more about Ophelia as a person, sure, but I spent far, far more hours on the battlefield with Cien than I saw Ophelia fight, let alone fight back to back. Cien was a part of my regular playthrough route after all. Players had only 2 choices in permanent party members, either Cien or Lilian. I have nothing against Lilian, but Cien simply fit my playstyle better. Not to say that I¡¯ve never tried playing the Lilian route, but I never finished the game with Lilian. As it¡¯s impossible to have both of them at the same time, I always choose Cien when it mattered. And now¡­ how do I fix this? I will definitely need her for the event at the end of the second year. ¡­Gifts. Roland used to send her gifts, however, she always throws them away. But I have an inch on Roland. I know what Cien likes. It¡¯s something that she will never buy by herself. Candies and comics, I mean graphic novels. They always say that a lady should watch her weight, so she should only eat healthy food and in moderation¡­ but Cien has a sweet tooth. The only thing she allows herself is putting more sugar in her tea than she ought to¡­ and even that she hides from others. And graphic novels come from her love of fairy tales that she secretly read in her childhood. Those things¡­ it¡¯s what she likes. ¡­so I really hope it¡¯ll help. . . Today¡¯s meal with Lilian was somehow even more lackluster than usual, although I tried to hide that, she must¡¯ve noticed. At least I was sad as Roland and not as Michael. . . I couldn¡¯t train properly today, so I decided to go straight to the orphanage. I shouldn¡¯t really be here so much on workdays, but I don¡¯t really have many places to go to¡­ except for Towers, but those are dangerous and require preparations. . Ophelia doesn¡¯t seem to be here today. ¡°Brother Roland¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Tsk, he is bad at playing, why didn¡¯t Sis Ophelia come?¡± Janice is grumpy as per usual. She and Michael Junior are the only kids that even try to play with me. ¡­I know I¡¯m bad at it, but it isn¡¯t something you can just get good at randomly¡­ ¡°Roland, what brings you here at this hour?¡± Sister Rosetta noticed me from across the room. ¡°I had nothing better to do, so I decided to come¡­ Do you need any help Sister?¡± ¡°As a matter of fact I do, I¡¯ve been thinking of repurposing the attic, you could start with the boxes of stuff I already packed up.¡± ¡°Ah, no problem.¡± This was something that happened in the game. Seemingly irrelevant event that could happen just anywhere. But once you find out that she plans on buying beds and placing them there, you connect the dots. The orphanage is full. That in itself is not a problem, but every time a child comes, you have no choice but to refuse and direct him or her to another orphanage. That usually doesn¡¯t happen often, so other orphanages just take them in. ¡­But not this time. There¡¯s simply too many children. And once you start digging deeper, you fall into a rabbit hole you shouldn¡¯t have found at this stage in the game. It takes quite a while to get to an answer, a whole series of quests. But as a player, I already know the answer. Demons. One powerful bastard to be precise. Sacrifices are not something uncommon in this world. But this one is more vile than the others, targeting only married couples¡­ who usually have children. And although it is awful¡­ I can do nothing about it. Regardless of the player''s interference, the situation will be resolved soon enough. Though the consequences are already present. So, to help as many children in need, Sister Rosetta decided to take them in regardless of the budget and space¡­ even if out of her own pocket. ¡­Can¡¯t I at least help her? I could get a lot of money only if I sold all of my junk from the Tower. The question is where. I lost my opportunity to stabilize my position in the Black Market because it¡¯s the second year, and to not get suspicion from both the academy and the cult, my option must be as discreet as possible. ¡­Damn it, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll need to look into my options later on. ¡°Already done?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s not that hard.¡± Got some muscle training in as well, great. ¡°Care for a cup of tea?¡± ¡°I assume you don¡¯t have any coffee, so yes, if you¡¯d be so kind.¡± A warm cup of tea sounds nice. . . ¡°So, how is your relationship with Ophelia going?¡± ¡°*Cough* That was out of nowhere¡­¡± ¡°Considering how both of you look at each other, I wouldn¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°...¡± She¡¯s not even that old, how can you be so perceiving, sister? ¡°I¡¯m older than I look.¡± ¡°...did I say that out loud?¡± ¡°No, but you¡¯re easy to read.¡± ¡°...We are not in a relationship¡­ yet.¡± ¡°Then hurry up, she¡¯s way past the age for marriage. I keep telling her to find someone, but she keeps giving lame excuses.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not something you can rush.¡± ¡°I know what I¡¯m talking about boy, just have confidence.¡± ¡°...You¡¯re not her mother to really be a matchmaker for her¡­¡± ¡°Well, she wasn¡¯t blessed with a good mother, was she?¡± ¡°*Cough**Cough**Cough*¡± The hell? Was that a guess or does she actually know? ¡°You didn¡¯t lie back then did you?¡± ¡°...how do you know about her?¡± Not many know about Ophelia¡¯s true identity, and I don¡¯t remember sister Rosetta being important enough for Ophelia to tell her¡­ ¡°You first.¡± She isn¡¯t your ordinary nun. In every single run Ophelia would perish. The reason for that is the same every time. Inquisition. A power strong enough to not be swayed by demon¡¯s influence¡­ yet matching them in vileness. How did they track her? That question remained unanswered in every iteration. ¡­I might¡¯ve discovered the source. ¡°Boy, you have a great relationship with our Ophelia¡­¡± Our¡­ That¡¯s enough. I¡¯m not losing this chance. I don¡¯t have a weapon. Room is cleaned from all sharp objects, figures, it¡¯s a trap. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Concealing weapons for a nun¡­ it¡¯s easy. There¡¯s even a division in inquisition that specializes in infiltration. Or her being a part of battle nuns is also a possibility. A cup in my hands is useless, throwing it into her direction could serve as a distraction, then breaking the plate to get a small sharp shard¡­ no. Am I faster than her? Considering her build alone that would be a losing fight, but strength, I could bet on that. Flipping the table is the correct option. Restricting her movement, her vision, enough to get an upper hand, from then, I could finish her easily, depending on her actions. Break the table on top of her, strike her when she can¡¯t even block¡­ should be enough. But I need her alive. Need every piece of information I can get. ¡­Everything for Ophelia. ¡°That¡¯s a fierce gaze, Roland¡­ Did I catch onto something I wasn¡¯t supposed to? *Sip*¡± Each of her moves is in my grasp. Every muscle, every piece of fabric on her dress. ¡°...Of course I didn¡¯t lie.¡± Information comes first. I¡¯m at an advantage when it comes to the first move, due to my reaction time. ¡°How come? Your reaction speaks for itself.¡± ¡°Ophelia is not worth the risk for other factions to recruit her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what a young man like you might think, but why would they send you then?¡± ¡°...Nobody sent me. And how long are you planning to fool Ophelia? Was your every interaction a lie? Every smile? How about the children?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bring the children into this.¡± ¡°...A shred of kindness still remains in you I see, at least Father might forgive you.¡± ¡°Hah! Hearing that from a child-torturing inquisition member! How can you even be a part of the clergy!?¡± Erratic movement, hand too far away to reach for the weapon, it¡¯s time¡­ ¡°Sorry?¡± Inquisition? Isn¡¯t she? ¡°Don¡¯t even try to feign ignorance, it¡¯s not just the members who know about it. I witnessed it first hand! You can¡¯t silence everyone!¡± ¡°I know that too, that¡¯s not my point! I¡¯m not from the inquisition!¡± The hell is this!? An opera!? ¡°Stop lying! You were ready to kill me just a moment ago!¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s a misunderstanding!?¡± ¡°...Do you take me for an idiot?¡± Damn it. How do I calm her down? ¡°P-Please, calm down sister!¡± ¡°Only if you acknowledge it with your own mouth! Or I¡¯ll scream so hard you¡¯ll have to kill everyone around the church as well!¡± Acknowledge what, woman!? ¡°I-I really don¡¯t know?? Please don¡¯t scream?¡± ¡°You-!... You¡­ why are you suddenly acting like this?¡± ¡°...I¡¯m sorry for overreacting. I thought you were from the inquisition.¡± I was wrong¡­ A very unfortunate mistake. Fortunately I didn¡¯t act¡­ damn it. How can I be so wrong even while knowing the future? ¡°Me!? How the hell could I be a member of that damned group!? Haven¡¯t you done a background check on me!?¡± ¡°...How is a regular academy student supposed to do a background check?¡± That¡¯s hard to do in the beginning of the game¡­ I¡¯m not really in the beginning, but¡­ fuck, that doesn¡¯t even matter¡­ ¡°Huh¡­ So you¡¯re not¡­?¡± ¡°Like I was saying.¡± ¡°But¡­ how the hell do you know then? You¡¯re too young? And you were always so suspicious too. What kind of student goes around actually volunteering?¡± ¡°I could ask you the same? Her identity isn¡¯t common knowledge.¡± ¡°...It was.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°It was common knowledge about 7 years ago.¡± ¡°That¡­ how is that even related?¡± ¡°...Boy. I worked at the church she ¡°volunteered¡± at¡­ No, she did, unlike all other. And it¡¯s impossible not to know the daughter of the ¡°Matriarch¡± herself.¡± Well¡­ that¡¯s certainly possible¡­ ¡°But they scrapped all mentions of her? Silenced everyone?¡± ¡°Can they erase memories?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Some demons can, but not the inquisition. ¡°They threatened me, sure. But killing everyone who knew wasn¡¯t a viable option was it?¡± ¡°...How could I not think of it before?¡± ¡°Considering how well they are at controlling information, you weren¡¯t wrong to assume, Roland.¡± Then¡­ The reason Ophelia was found¡­ It¡¯s not because of the sister¡­ not because of anyone. Rumors. It¡¯s just rumors. Someone bought flowers from her, saw her, spoke to her, doesn¡¯t matter. They recognized her, told another, started a rumor¡­ and it eventually reached the inquisition¡¯s ears. ¡­And considering the timing¡­ the rumor is probably already out there. ¡°So how do you know?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say I believe you aren¡¯t from the clergy, how do you know about her?¡± ¡°...she told me?¡± ¡°...Sorry?¡± ¡°She just¡­ told me?¡± ¡°She¡­that foolish, naive girl¡­ But you know each other for less than 2 months?¡± ¡°I thought the same.¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°Were you the one who helped Ophelia hide?¡± ¡°No, no I wasn¡¯t. She just appeared at my doorstep one day. She didn¡¯t come to me for that¡­ Ophelia, she just wanted to help children, reckoned I didn¡¯t recognize her.¡± ¡°Oh? And? Did you¡­ just tell her you know her and she stayed?¡± ¡°...No. I didn¡¯t tell her I knew.¡± ¡°Ah. Well, that makes sense¡­ Wait, what was your plan?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Now. You assumed I was from the inquisition, being just a nun, why would you do something so dangerous? How would you defend yourself?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ about that¡­¡± ¡°You are a regular nun, right?¡± ¡°Of course I am, but you see¡­¡± . . She reached out for something under her skirt. There was a stone in her hand¡­ Is that¡­ ¡°It¡¯s a¡­ transmission stone.¡± ¡°...and not just any.¡± It¡¯s something very familiar to me. ¡°...Are you there¡­ Ophelia.¡± *Creak* ¡°...I¡¯m here.¡± ¡­I see. Her plan was to expose me. . . I was... too suspicious. ¡°It wasn¡¯t Ophelia¡¯s idea, Roland.¡± ¡°...¡± That stone¡­ it¡¯s not just any stone, not just any transmission stone. An artifact from a tower. ¡­and the last gift Ophelia gives you before becoming lovers. It¡¯s something I carried with me in every single playthrough. ¡°I¡­ it seems I did something rash, I¡¯m sorry Ophelia, your gift was meant for children¡¯s protection¡­ but I used it selfishly.¡± It¡¯s hard to choose my emotions. ¡­Especially while looking at Ophelia¡¯s face. Should I be angry at sister Rosetta? Happy that she worried for Ophelia? Sad that she gave that stone to someone other than me? ¡­Such complicated situations weren¡¯t present in your training, Brother. My old, mute self is returning at moments like these. ¡°Sister¡­ could you¡­ leave us for a moment?¡± ¡°...Of course, here¡­ And just so you know, this room is soundproof.¡± Why would it be? But Sister left before I could ask that. ¡°...¡± Ophelia looked at me for a moment, her expression unchanging, as she turned to the stove with the teapot. ¡°...It¡¯s still warm.¡± She picked it up, poured herself a cup. ¡°Do you want a refill? Or is yours still warm?¡± I¡­ I don¡¯t know. . . It¡­ should be warm. . Do I say it? ¡°Please, take a sit.¡± She¡¯s being formal¡­ . Why¡­ She¡¯s angry? She is, right? ¡°Now, will you say something, Roland?¡± ¡°...¡± I¡­What do I say? . . I don¡¯t know. ¡°Ha~, I¡¯m not angry, don¡¯t act like a child about to get scolded.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡­not angry? Then what? Disappointed? Or is she lying? No, she wouldn¡¯t¡­ right? ¡°...¡± ¡°Besides, how do you know about the stones?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Roland?¡± ¡°...¡± . . . ¡°Brother! Ahaha! We fooled all of them! Can you believe it? Even your mother! She was so happy! So happy! That made me happy as well! It works just as you said!¡± *Bump* ¡°Stop trying to make a move on my mother, you little shit.¡± ¡°Kuh! Stop hitting my head! I¡¯m still a patient! A cancer patient goddammit!¡± ¡°Will you stop then?¡± ¡°No? Why would I?¡± *Bump* ¡°Ouch! Stop!¡± ¡°Hah, you¡¯re 18 and still an idiot, do you plan on dying as a child?¡± ¡°Tch, as if. It¡¯s only you who treats me like a child! Well¡­ and your mother¡­ and Fox¡­ and Beetle¡­ and everyone else¡­ Shit.¡± *Bump* ¡°What was that for!?¡± ¡°Children aren¡¯t allowed to swear.¡± ¡°You-!¡± He ignored my screams and sat on the couch, lighting a cigarette. ¡°You¡¯re doing great, I don¡¯t think there''s a need for me to train you anymore.¡± ¡°Oh, so no more leg days?¡± ¡°You know damn well what I¡¯m talking about.¡± I smirked. Of course I knew. All of my free time was wasted on his stupid whims that he called training. But¡­ It worked. I don¡¯t know how merely imitating what others do in different situations can bring such an effect¡­ but it works. ¡°Am I an actor now?¡± ¡°Call it however you like, but remember that those emotions aren¡¯t entirely yours.¡± ¡°Yeah, I often feel that. Like¡­ I¡¯m actually considering leaving your mother alone, you know?¡± ¡°Idiot, I know when you¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°Crap, but I do feel a bit embarrassed each time I approach her.¡± ¡°Good.¡± It¡¯s bizarre to experience it. One day you¡¯re an emotionless husk, floating in time, reaching at strings others call emotions, not being able to even touch them. And now¡­ I¡¯m standing with everyone on even ground. And all I did was weave my own strings. They just look the same, yet, indiscernible from others. ¡°...Eldest Brother.¡± He exhaled some smoke in the air before glancing at me. ¡°What if¡­ What if it disappears?¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°What if?¡± ¡°Just remember our training again, and start acting again.¡± ¡°How do I notice?¡± ¡°How do you notice? The hell does that mean?¡± ¡°For me, nothing changed. I still think the same, I¡¯m still me¡­ just that emotions surround me.¡± ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± ¡°What if they disappear again?¡± ¡°You would notice that they disappeared, no?¡± ¡°How do you notice a lack of something intangible?¡± ¡°Huh¡­ You sure ask weird questions.¡± ¡­It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t want others to notice my act. For me, there¡¯s no difference. It¡¯s not like I experience emotions all the time. Even when I¡¯m in the middle of imitating them. I can act like a fool in love, when in reality I feel nothing. ¡­still think Brother made me do that just to make fun of me. ¡°So¡­ what happens when I don¡¯t notice the lack of them? What if¡­ What if they don¡¯t return? What if I forget about them¡­ again¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like you intentionally did that, right?¡± ¡°But the fact that I lost them remains.¡± ¡°...¡± I lived without experiencing much emotion my entire life. Even if they¡¯re fake¡­ I feel them. And I express them. ¡­maybe I wouldn¡¯t leave Lucy if I could back then. And I don¡¯t want to make such a mistake twice. ¡°Please, tell me how to notice I¡¯m not acting right. I don¡¯t want others to worry.¡± That is the main reason I want them to remain. Without my family, there was no need for emotions anyway. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He stroked his chin, which was forcefully shaved by his mother. Soon, he nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a much better way to phrase it, could¡¯ve done that from the start, complete idiot.¡± ¡°Haha, funny. (Sarcasm)¡± ¡°Did you just put- Forget it, I think I know how to fix your problem.¡± ¡°...You do?¡± ¡°Yeah, remember the mental trigger we put on everyone?¡± ¡°Of course, that reverse sleeper agent bullshit?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know why Mai calls it like that.¡± It¡¯s a trigger to wake us up in case of brainwashing. ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to create a new one for you.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that one was my limit?¡± ¡°That was back then, you¡¯re ready for a new one.¡± ¡°...How would that even work?¡± ¡°The same as with brainwashing?¡± ¡°How can we apply it in this situation?¡± ¡°...Do you think I know the science behind it or something?¡± ¡°...Then how do you know it¡¯ll work?¡± ¡°Idiot, I applied it on myself, Cat and even Fox, obviously it¡¯ll work.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°So let¡¯s go to Mai, but we¡¯ll need to create a new keyphrase.¡± ¡°...Latin again?¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t have to be¡­ As a matter of fact¡­ I think I know what it¡¯ll be¡­¡± He smirked¡­ and I didn¡¯t like that one bit. ¡°Oi, Michael! I heard that you learned how to speak! C¡¯mere!¡± . . Those were good times¡­ . My family shared some secrets with each other, but matters concerning mental triggers always were kept to oneself. . . ¡°I¡¯m an idiot.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Shit no i¡¯m not an idiot. Screw you Brother!¡± ¡°???¡± Huh? Oh, Ophelia seems to be confused. ¡°Sorry about that, I know a lot, remember? I just know about those stones, no big deal.¡± ¡°You¡­what was that?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°...You said you were an idiot?¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I didn¡¯t notice. ¡­Did I say the keyphrase? Did I¡­ lost my act for a moment? *Shudder* ¡°That was¡­ a close one.¡± I can never get used to it. The whole thing works too damn well, I didn¡¯t even notice. ¡°...Ophelia.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You make me experience emotions I never felt before.¡± Or was taught how to experience at that. ¡­and love was supposedly on that list as well. But now I¡¯m not sure if it truly was love back then. ¡°S-Sorry? W-What does that supposed to mean?¡± ¡­it isn¡¯t it yet. I smiled. ¡°Nothing. What did you want to talk about? I¡¯m sure you figured what happened here without me having to tell you.¡± She¡¯s a smart girl. ¡°Right, right¡­I need to scold you¡­ I need to scold you¡­ Put on an angry face and scold you¡­ Phew~, Do you know what you did wrong?¡± Why is she acting cute instead of angry now? ¡°Not quite?¡± ¡°These stones, they can not only transmit sounds, but also glow red if the other side is in danger¡­ you knew that didn¡¯t you?¡± *nod**nod* That¡¯s why I though she¡¯d be much angrier than she is now. ¡°Ha~ Right, even if it was for my sake, how can you even consider killing a sister working for a church? Who¡¯d take care of them? And do you know how sad they¡¯d be?¡± ¡°...They would also be sad if you died.¡± ¡°Hm? They¡­ I guess?¡± ¡°And I would be too.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I would be sad, Ophelia.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die.¡± ¡°Why would I die?¡± ¡°We both know why. Because of the same reason sister Rosetta risked her life just now.¡± ¡°...I¡­ I think they forgot about me already.¡± I lost my smile, this is too serious, she needs to understand. ¡°No. No they didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°No buts. I will do everything in my power to stop them.¡± ¡°...You¡¯re weak.¡± ¡°...We could escape.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Anywhere you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°...With these legs?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll carry you, or use a teleportation scroll.¡± ¡°Hah, funny-... you aren¡¯t joking.¡± ¡°Anything.¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°...¡± I knew she¡¯d say no. It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t tried that in the game. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Roland, I can¡¯t leave these children¡­ They are like my own.¡± ¡­I¡¯m a bit disappointed. Though I knew what the answer would be. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to get stronger.¡± That was the original plan anyway. We still got time. I¡¯m quite close to the required strength actually, but I want to get a bit stronger. ¡­thanks Roland, I¡¯ll put your skills to good use. ¡°Stronger? You¡­ You¡¯re weak.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about being strong.¡± ¡°...You just said.¡± ¡°Right. You wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯ll be using an artifact to boost my strength tenfold when fight begins, so I just need-¡± ¡°No! Don¡¯t even think about throwing your life away!¡± ¡°What? Why would you¡­ That¡¯s fair, most of them are indeed like that, but not that one.¡± ¡°...Sorry? Everyone knows power doesn¡¯t come without a price. And if it¡¯s a ¡°booster¡±, the only thing to trade is your life, no?¡± ¡°Not quite, that¡¯s what most of them do. But occasionally, one without such dire consequences comes around¡­ It¡¯s just that they¡¯re rare, extremely so.¡± ¡°...And you just *happen* to know where to find one?¡± ¡°...Yeah.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...Let¡¯s say I believe you, after all, I did so before¡­ but do you think that¡¯ll be enough? Strength isn¡¯t all about raw power after all.¡± ¡°I know that, but I¡¯m not weak.¡± ¡°You are th-¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s spar.¡± ¡°Right now?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°...You¡¯ll lose?¡± ¡°To a cripple?¡± ¡°...That hurt.¡± ¡°...I didn¡¯t really mean it.¡± ¡°I know, but now I feel like hitting you on the head.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go.¡± . . . I¡¯ve been thinking. About a lot of stuff, honestly. But one of those things is my recent loss. One against a bunch of kids. I got beaten in a bare-handed fight. Me. Someone who killed a bear with nothing but his nails and teeth. And I couldn¡¯t understand why. But I have a hunch. During my time at the Family, I never sparred. We¡¯ve never done anything like that. Sure, we had fun exchanging moves, and they taught me a lot during those brawls. But there was never a winner. There was never a competition involved. It was never a fight. All the practice I got was hands-on experience. Moreover¡­ It was life or death. I might¡¯ve not killed my opponents, however, I was always prepared to. My life or theirs, the choice was obvious. ¡­ Some might say that there is little difference. A fight is a fight, and a spar is a fight too, just not that serious¡­ those people have clearly never been in a real fight. From your posture, breathing, adrenaline in your blood¡­ everything is different. So I¡¯ve come to a conclusion. I¡¯m not weak. I¡¯m just bad at sparring. ¡­ But this time. I can¡¯t lose. I must show her. ¡­that I can save her. I must prove it. ¡­to¡­myself. . . . *Ophelia¡¯s PoV* Roland decided to spar out of the blue. It¡¯s a stupid idea. I know I¡¯ll win. I might look fragile, but I¡¯m not. My skills are not rusty enough to lose to him. I can vaguely tell his level. He¡¯s great for his age¡­ or not? Regardless, the outcome can only be one, and if he knows who I was before. He should know it as well. I need to beat that ridiculous plan of saving me out of his head. ¡­But I do feel a bit happy that he¡¯d go so far for me. ¡°Here¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Hmm, a flower field? You sure? I quite like the flowers here.¡± Maybe he¡¯ll just give it up? ¡°We can look for another place.¡± His mood is quite sour. He talks much less than usual. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s just get it over with.¡± I guess there¡¯s no other way, though I really don¡¯t want to hurt him. ¡°You sure you¡¯re going to fight bare-handed?¡± ¡°I told you when we were fetching your spear, no?¡± ¡°...Are you fine with that?¡± ¡°Am I fine with that? You still have no chances, you know?¡± He really doesn¡¯t know who he¡¯s messing with. ¡°...I see.¡± ¡°Ha~. Ready when you are.¡± . Taking a common stance with a spear? I see he doesn¡¯t know any fancy martial arts. Well, it seems he¡¯s giving me the first move. Might as well finish this in one hit. ¡°Brace yourself.¡± I might not be able to control divinity anymore¡­ but it¡¯s still running through me. He won¡¯t even react. *Thunk* He blocked it? His hand are trembling though, must¡¯ve been a fluke. Again. *Thunk* Again. *Thunk* Again *Thunk* ¡°Can you do anything besides blocking?¡± Let¡¯s grapple. *Swoosh* Nimble, but how can he see my movement? I¡¯m faster than him. Hmm, let¡¯s just snap his spear, one good hit in the middle sho- I¡¯m falling? He aimed at my blind spot and broke my balance. Good riddance. Won¡¯t work on me though, I can just get back- up? *Thunk* He¡¯s too slow. If I wasn¡¯t so fast, he¡¯d hit my head. ¡­He¡¯s serious about it. ¡°Can you stop aiming at my blind spots!?¡± ¡°...¡± Not in the mood to talk, I see. Well, me neither then. I will just hit you until you¡¯re out of breath. *Thunk* *Thunk* Finally an attack? *Swoosh* A faint? I can see right through you. *Hit* Couldn¡¯t block that one huh? Let¡¯s see how long you¡¯ll last. . . Roland is quite a good fighter. Blocking most of my attacks, only getting hit where he can take it. But for a spearman, distance is key. And he couldn¡¯t distance himself from me, simply because I didn¡¯t allow it. So my victory was set in stone from the beginning. I simply outclassed him. ¡­and I feel bad for him. But I¡¯m¡­ a bit scared. That look in his eyes is not the same I remember. Usually there¡¯s kindness, happiness¡­ or pity in them. Something. Although now¡­ there¡¯s nothing¡­ as if he¡¯s empty. But his actions do relay one thing. Determination. A useless one. It¡¯s pointless to be so serious about this when you can do nothing about it. ¡­He¡¯ll die if he overestimates himself. There is no need to save me. If they could find me, they already would, I stopped actively hiding a while ago. ¡­And even if they do find me. I don¡¯t want Roland to throw his life away while saving mine¡­ Not even if he had the strength to do it. ¡­It¡¯s time to finish this. His moves got sloppy with time. Now, I can just¡­ *Clank* Hit away his spear. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I told you, you¡¯re weak. I¡¯m sorry but that¡¯s the truth.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And remember, I wasn¡¯t even using a sword that I usually use.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°So, will you give it up?¡± Please¡­ ¡°...You haven¡¯t won.¡± ¡°Are you really going to be stubborn about this? Then what now? You¡¯re going to fight bare-handed too?¡± ¡°...I would if I had to.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± He pointed at his neck. ¡­I checked mine. Blood? He landed a scratch on me? Not just one¡­ a dozen. How? When? He never hit me. ¡°...How?¡± ¡°You were so close to me that you weren¡¯t looking at my hands. I can hold a spear with one hand just fine.¡± But¡­ did he hide a dagger or something? Even so, that¡¯s commendable. Skin of someone trained in divinity isn¡¯t ordinary. So just grazing it won¡¯t even leave a mark, much less make it bleed. ¡­And mine is tougher than some monster¡¯s. He soon came to me with bandaids, so I asked. ¡°Okay, you might¡¯ve won this one, this proves little. But, where did you hide a dagger?¡± I couldn¡¯t see it on him. ¡°...Here.¡± His expression was bitter as he gave me the bandaids. ¡°So?¡± ¡°I used only my spear, left everything else in my Pocket.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Then how did he leave all those- ¡­God¡­ ¡°Roland! Why!?¡± H-His hands! Blood¡­So much blood¡­ His nails are gone, his palms are bleeding. Oh Father forgive me. ¡°Why in God¡¯s name would you go this far!?¡± He¡¯s in pain, so much pain, must be. Oh God what have I done? ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°No! No it¡¯s not!¡± ¡­He smiled. It was a smile full of bitterness. ¡°I¡¯m glad you worry for me.¡± ¡°Roland! Is this a joke to you!? Why would you do this!?¡± ¡°...I wanted to prove it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to prove anything to me! I don¡¯t need saving!¡± ¡°Heh¡­ But I won, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You-!¡± *Twack* . . Only after hitting him on the head a few times and giving him a piece of my mind, did the Roland I knew return. On our way back I treated his wounds, and lectured him thoroughly. ¡­But¡­ There was still this bitterness in his stare¡­ It still irks me¡­ . . *Michael¡¯s PoV* . . . This¡­ . . ¡­proves little¡­ Chapter 8 ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°Sit still.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing this on purpose¡­ Okay I am.¡± Not lying is harder than it seems. ¡°Haa. Just the bandages now.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do this.¡± ¡°...I¡¯m tired of asking why, so at least tell me how you did this.¡± Even after honestly answering I did it to prove myself, she doesn¡¯t believe me¡­ or is in disbelief. ¡°How, hm? Do you know I was taught how to fight?¡± ¡°Most of us are nowadays.¡± ¡°...I guess it¡¯s true in these regions. Anyway, the first thing I learned about a fight is one simple thing¡­ You should treat it as a dance.¡± ¡­It was the second actually, but that¡¯s not the point. ¡°...So it was our first dance then? How romantic~... No, wait, how many people did you dance with before¡­ don¡¯t answer that, I regret thinking about it.¡± ¡­ ¡°Right. I¡¯ll continue¡­ During a dance, rhythm is almost more important than difference in strength. And the one who sets that rhythm is the one to win a fight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get how it¡¯s connected to-¡± ¡°I followed your eyes.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°You were always looking at my weapon or generally at my torso to keep me in your sights, right?¡± ¡°True. It¡¯s easier to react to any attacks or counter-attacks that way.¡± ¡°It might be so, but you tend to look at my lower body when landing a straight hit.¡± ¡°...Don¡¯t misunderstand please, it was to keep your legs in my sight.¡± ¡°Although it¡¯s an obvious decision, it made your vision narrow, easier to fool, so I did just that.¡± ¡°...just like that? Took a risk and it paid off?¡± ¡°No. But if there was no other choice, I would.¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°I checked your blind spots, obviously, faints exist for a reason.¡± ¡°I saw through it, it was merely¡­ one¡­¡± ¡°One that you saw. I threw four before going for it.¡± ¡°...That must¡¯ve been your plan, going defensive to catch me off guard, not bad.¡± ¡°Not quite, I simply knew I had no chances in a head-on fight¡­ Know your enemy and know yourself.¡± ¡°Another thing you learned from your family?¡± ¡°Yes, and no. Had to read quite a few books before beginning my practice¡­ but in the end I didn¡¯t even think about what I read, so they pushed me around until I did.¡± ¡°Reminds me of how I used to learn. Either you perform well or you get hit.¡± ¡°...¡± Although we went through a similar experience¡­ our outlook on those memories is entirely different. While I always unconsciously smile when I think back about my time in the family, she¡­ she has this tired look. I don¡¯t want her to be tired. Would a hug help? ¡°Ca-¡± No, what am I even thinking? ¡°*Cough* It¡¯s getting late, I better go back.¡± ¡°...Okay¡­Ahm, Roland?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Are you¡­ good at dancing? The regular one.¡± ¡°I¡­ I am? But I don¡¯t know any dance from this- from here.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± She¡­ I can tell she¡¯s embarrassed to ask. ¡°...Do you want to dance? Ophelia.¡± ¡°Well~, if you¡¯re asking me to, then I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Here? Now?¡± ¡°What? No! There¡¯s time and place for that!¡± ¡°Then?¡± ¡°...I¡¯ll think of something¡­ Oh wait! Actually! There¡¯s this festival coming! Do you want to go together?¡± The festival¡­ The festival of Ice and Fire. ¡­I always went there with her. ¡°...Yeah, I¡¯d love to.¡± ¡°Yes! We¡¯ll need to do some preparations before that! It¡¯s in 3 weeks so we have more than enough time¡­ I¡¯m actually so excited!¡± ¡°No problem¡­ but I need to go.¡± ¡°Yeah, bye Roland.¡± ¡°Bye¡­Ophelia.¡± . . That festival. It¡¯s the beginning of the end. The last festival me and Ophelia attend in most playthroughs. . But it won¡¯t be this time. I need to get stronger. I need more tools. I need¡­ . . . I¡¯ve come here. It¡¯s been a while since I went to the Tower. The Novice Tower. All that¡¯s left is the last ten floors. The hardest, yet most important step. And this time I prepared properly. My Pocket is filled with useful things¡­ it¡¯s a shame I can¡¯t use it in combat. I even put on some armor. It was light armor that I actually stole from the cult. ¡­They didn¡¯t seem to care much. I usually neglect armor, as avoiding attacks requires mobility, which armor takes away from you. But it proved to be a mistake¡­ from a dozen wounds I got so far. I¡¯ve been underestimating my enemies, and overestimating my body. It¡¯s simply a matter of training to get me up to par with the monsters in the tower¡­ but that¡¯s not enough. I need to be stronger. Much stronger. And the best way to achieve that is by pushing myself. Training is good and all, but nothing beats a real fight. And the rewards are also as useful as the experience I¡¯ll get. . Okay. No more putting it off. No more excuses. I¡¯m going in. . . . Left shoulder, avoid to the right. Thrust, strafe to the right. Broad swing, step back, prepare for a sword from above. Finally, an opening. My turn. Hit the leg to break the balance. Follow with a straight kick into a round kick. *Clank* *Crack* Shit. This hurts. *Thud* He¡¯s down. ¡­ It¡¯s over. ¡­ How fucking stupid am I? Getting stronger, getting better¡­ I¡¯m going to fucking die at this rate. A skeleton knight. It¡¯s an enemy with an easy pattern¡­ except, I can¡¯t fucking use my spear. My hands are too messed up to even hold it. I¡¯ve had to fight with only my legs right after the first battle. Fucking ridiculous. I¡¯m so glad I didn¡¯t skip leg day. My close quarter is still not up to standard though. This was the 99th floor. Fortunately there were some puzzles in between, so I somehow scraped through. ¡­But it¡¯s not over yet. . . I need to stand up. The last floor is still there. I rested enough. *Crack* ¡°Shit!¡± *Thud* My fucking leg! ¡­It seems to be broken. I need to put a splint on it. . Where the fuck is it! It¡¯s ridiculous how hard it is to find stuff in a Pocket! The game never specified any of this! . . *Sigh* ¡­Not my first rodeo, it¡¯s fine. I¡­ I will move on. Here¡¯s the door. . A new place. Unfamiliar. It¡¯s a throne room of sorts. Doesn¡¯t seem to be any specific one. Just a vague interpretation created by the Tower. Is this a puzzle? I hope it is. Even if I don¡¯t know the solution to it, a fight is¡­ it¡¯s impossible in this state. ¡­It¡¯s pretty big. Light seems to be too artificial. It¡¯s coming from all the windows at once. Although it¡¯s not uncommon for aesthetic purposes in this world. People called it level design, but the authors just said that the windows actually had such a function. . Hm? ¡­Oh no. Who¡­ who is that? An¡­ an enemy? Sitting on the throne. It''s a man, wearing an adorned armor. His face is covered by a helmet¡­ This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. And he¡¯s strong. Really¡­ strong. I can¡¯t win this. He stood up. A greatsword in his hand. Not just any greatsword¡­ No¡­ I recognize it. A Hero. A Hero of legends. Why? Why is he my enemy? I can¡¯t beat him. How could I ever? He was among those that history couldn¡¯t forget because of countless images of him. Valiant. His name itself embodies honor. His feats had no need to be recorded for their impact still echoes to this day. Even the most noble among Heroes looked up to him¡­ even Xabi talked about him. ¡­and now¡­ He¡¯s pointing his sword at me. . I¡¯m fucked. . . . No. No, no, no! It¡¯s not time to give up. Think Michael. Think! Deep breath. Current situation doesn¡¯t allow for straightforward combat, I would usually assume defensive stance, baiting and fainting to land some blows and learn his patterns as I have no prior knowledge of his abilities. I might scrape some possible powers he possesses from my mind if I start piling all the information I have on him, but that ultimately is useless. The main thing I need to know, I already know, it¡¯s that his power is overwhelmingly higher than mine, one wrong move and I¡¯m dead, there¡¯s no way to block, and I doubt I can avoid even one of his attacks. Not with my current leg, and not even if it wasn¡¯t broken, so I need to avoid combat whatsoever, but how do I win without fighting, there is no time for traps, assassination is out of the question, and my current tools are limited, nothing that could help me land a hit, and any attack artifacts would need me to be able to at least graze him, which is impossible. What can I use in this room? Maybe this is a puzzle after all? What is there, what can I use? Curtains, windows, pillars, chairs too far, carpet, chandelier too high, candles on top of it, useless, nothing else. An empty space in the middle, clearly designed for a fight, I¡¯m not having it. Were there any similar fights in other Towers? If the theme of the Tower fits, the solution might be the same or at least similar. Return, Mirror, Illusion, Fear, Copy, different Trials, History Towers, yes, yes! That¡¯s it, this is almost exactly like a History Tower that reenacts a specific event of the past. In those you play a role of a real person, you either need to follow the history to a T or achieve a better outcome. But I didn¡¯t get any status windows that would explain my character, nor do I think this sort of situation could have ever happened, so this is not it. However, Valiant might be similar to NPCs inside that Tower. That would mean he isn¡¯t just a mindless mob. But he could be, just as all other enemies in this Tower. This is a risk. a big risk. Although, what other choice do I have? . . ¡°Hoo~. Sir Valiant?¡± A step. No reaction. ¡°Sire, it¡¯s me, do you recognize me?¡± Forward¡­ . . Please. . ¡°...¡± No¡­ Don¡¯t do this. ¡°Si¨C¡± ¡°Who¡­ are you?¡± He¡­ he spoke. He spoke! ¡°Sire! I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re of sound mind!¡± ¡°Stand right there.¡± His sword is still pointed at me. But this is good. Extremely good. I can work with this. . . . Valiant held his greatsword firmly, still showing that he didn¡¯t trust me. I didn¡¯t move so as to not try my luck any further. ¡°Answer.¡± This is the most important part. ¡°I¡¯m a knight.¡± ¡°Which order.¡± ¡°...I do not belong to an order, just a private knight, sir.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± It¡¯s working. My knowledge of the history of this world is much better than in my previous world. I know exactly how the knight system works now, and how it worked before. Only powerful knights could become a part of an order, I¡¯m not even close, so he would see right through it. ¡°Where are we?¡± Oh, this here is important. ¡°...Sire?¡± I need to imply that he should know this. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°...We are inside of a Tower, Sire Valiant.¡± ¡°...¡± He finally put his sword down. I need to pressure him further. ¡°Sire. If I may be so rude to ask¡­ Did you perhaps lose your memory?¡± ¡°It appears so.¡± ¡°That is unfortunate¡­ Should I tell you about recent events?¡± And this¡­ this is a gamble. ¡°...Yes. Report.¡± I do not know which version of Valiant this is. The one during his march toward his death, waging war on the church, during his time in the Great Demon War, or some other? The safe bet is to explain this as a part of one of countless battles for a Tower. They happened all the time back in the day. Towers were more common, as they disappeared after some amount of use. But on the off chance that this version is the one that is older, or, I guess, younger? And was in the middle of the Great Demon War, he would have less reasons to enter a Tower, that would make me seem suspicious, I need to figure out which part of history he is from. ¡­This is a gamble. ¡°The Church was fighting a losing battle, so we got a chance to enter, some of them ran in, but there were more of us, so you decided to split forces, leaving Dawn Order to defend, while Noon was in charge of clearing the Tower.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± It seems I got a jackpot. He holstered his sword. ¡°But.¡± He put his hand on the sword handle again. ¡°Why are you here then?¡± His tone was demanding, more aggressive than before. I was prepared for this. ¡°...Sire Valiant. I have a family to feed.¡± ¡°...¡± Even without seeing his face, I could tell he understood¡­ and was disappointed. Greed is not uncommon among knights. Especially those not belonging to an order and not serving a lord. During the time when the Kingdom was not just a pawn of the Church, but a political force to be reckoned with, being a knight was a noble and profitable profession. But now¡­ as well as during the war with the Church, they became no more than used weapons soon to be discarded. It was impossible to go against the Church in a world like this to begin with. So knight became a synonym for vagrant. And in modern times, knights are merely a tradition that the current Kingdom sustains to keep some of its dignity. ¡­just a bunch of bodyguards and policemen, not even close to the glory of their predecessors. ¡°You fought?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Monsters, you were the first I¡¯ve met, Sire.¡± ¡°How long were you in here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s hard to tell. But I have managed to amass some treasures, among those was food and water, do you wish for anything, Sire?¡± My Pocket isn¡¯t the best at storing food and water, but I have some, might as well try to get some points this way. ¡°No need, instead tell me where we are.¡± ¡­more for me. ¡°Not much I can tell you Sire, only that there were 9 doors prior to this one.¡± ¡°9¡­ Then this could be the last one, they usually set an even amount.¡± ¡°...¡± He looked around, immediately finding a door behind the throne room. ¡°It¡¯s here, let¡¯s go.¡± This is my chance. He¡¯s going straight at it without looking at me. Be it confidence or trust, it doesn¡¯t matter, he turned his back on me. Although I had a plan for it, I¡¯ll have to use my trump card here. Poison that can kill even him. It¡¯s not instant, so I¡¯ll have to also use a smoke. It won¡¯t help for long, but hopefully that will be enough. Now, I need to find the Poison Syringe in the damn Pocket. . . ¡°Those Towers always give me trouble, the door seems to be closed.¡± ¡­of course it is, I can only leave after killing you. Here! Found it! Time to- ¡°Heave-ho.¡± *BOOM* *CRASH* -kill? . . Did he just fucking break through? Through the damn Tower? ¡°Come, too early to marvel at my strength.¡± ¡°Y-Yes Sire!¡± ¡­I think the poison won¡¯t work on him. . . So, what now? I really don¡¯t know. I reckon the Tower itself also is struggling with this situation. We are currently going in a corridor with no end. Just a long corridor, no enemies, no puzzles and no rewards either. We¡¯ve been at it for about 20 minutes now. ¡­ What do I do? ¡°Sire?¡± ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°Have you¡­ been in this sort of Tower before?¡± Maybe he knows? ¡°No. I have not.¡± ¡­ I have no clue. ¡°...did it break?¡± ¡°Perchance.¡± ¡­ Why the hell is he so calm? ¡°Si-¡± ¡°I have a question for you, young knight.¡± ¡°Y-Yes?¡± ¡°What is thine purpose?¡± Why so formal? ¡°As in?¡± ¡°...You do not know the password.¡± Shit! . . ¡°Need to rest?¡± ¡­or not? ¡°What password?¡± Is he intentionally keeping me on the edge? ¡°Secret service of the Royal Family¡¯s passcode. They are obliged to answer with ¡°Kingdom¡¯s prosperity¡±.¡± And he¡­ just told it to me? ¡°Are you planning on killing me Sire?¡± ¡°Have no fear, they disbanded not long ago, it is not much of a secret anymore.¡± I¡¯m actually going to have a heart attack with this sort of roller coaster. ¡°...Then why ask it of me?¡± ¡°You resemble the members.¡± ¡°Me? How so?¡± ¡°...I can not describe it. It is merely an observation from interacting with them.¡± ¡­I think he has trouble remembering that¡­ better not pry. I don¡¯t really know much about the Secret Service. Not of the Kingdom at least¡­ Do they still have it? Wait¡­ Isn¡¯t it a great opportunity to get some info? While I know a lot, I cannot possibly know more than him, can I? ¡°Sire¡­Do you mind telling me about your deeds?¡± ¡°Hoh, are you a fan?¡± ¡°Who isn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Hoho, I can¡¯t say no after that.¡± He seems to be less strict than I thought? Or maybe that¡¯s just how he speaks with soldiers. ¡°I have a great story to tell you. It¡¯s one from my teenage years.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± There weren¡¯t any mentions of Valiant as a teenager in the game. ¡°Those were times of peace, times when children could dream of stupid things and not food or shelter. I was one of those kids, dreaming of something unachievable. And my wish was to meet an Angel.¡± ¡­arrogant bunch. ¡°...arrogant beings.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Did he say that or did I? ¡°Do not think of me as a heretic for this. That is simply my observation.¡± ¡°I-, could you tell me why you think so?¡± I agree, but can¡¯t just tell him that, might raise suspicion. ¡°Certainly, that brings us back to the story. In my search for them, I looked all over the continent, read books, spoke to priests, even some bishops, but no matter what I did, there was no way to meet them. It is said that Angels come down to Eden from Heaven only on a call from an Archangel¡­ but as you know, those disappeared long ago.¡± It¡¯s common knowledge. Raphael, Michael, Gabriel¡­ and the one we don¡¯t talk about. They are Archangels who were once living on Eart- Eden. There isn¡¯t too much knowledge left about them, since the written history only goes back as far as 500 years, but we know enough. ¡°I could only hope to find one of them¡­ And so I searched.¡± Insane. Even in the game it was a fruitless endeavor, so nobody even tried much. ¡°I started with the last known information about each. Michael was always elusive. Only coming out during times of war, or to fall a mighty beast¡­ However his sword did not heed the call of its master for many decades.¡± I actually tried quite hard to find traces of him, and especially to get that sword. ¡­and it was definitely not because of name similarity. ¡°Raphael had a following that documented his every move. He has more resembled a king than an angel, even hiding his wings when conversing with people. But that one took after Father way too much, he spoke in such riddles that they were somehow even harder than God¡¯s.¡± They actually never showed the riddles of Raphael in the Fallen Paradise. All they said about them is how hard and incomprehensible they were. ¡°His last words were a riddle that I couldn¡¯t dare try and decipher.¡± Understandable, honestly. ¡°So I turned to Gabriel.¡± The only sane one. He was the one who helped with major technological progress in this world, as well as established the Academy. ¡°His whereabouts were hidden by the church during times when he was active, but I managed to borrow some records, so I could pinpoint a few locations where he appeared more so than others.¡± ¡­borrow? ¡°*Cough* And so I went to each one¡± ¡­Unvaliant behavior aside, this is some important information that I could use. ¡°Some were public places, some were empty, but at one location, I found a man.¡± ¡°Where was it?¡± ¡°Curious, huh? It was in a village with no name on the border between the Kingdom and the Holy Empire¡¯s land, so I doubt you¡¯ll find it now.¡± War destroyed it, is what he meant¡­ But I think I have an idea of which village he¡¯s talking about. ¡°A hut that was too worn out to even be used as a shelter. There he was¡­¡± ¡°Gabriel!?¡± ¡°Haha, no, no, I¡¯m just pulling your leg, as I said before, it was just a man. An information broker.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± So it¡¯s the same. The game had that place, except it was a bit different for a player¡­ The broker was there, but he didn¡¯t only sell your usual stuff, but also had a whole section on stuff like hints, knowledge about the system, as well as recollection of past events, a journal if you wish. You can also find him near the 3rd campus of the Academy actually. Might pay him a visit to make sure it was only a game feature. ¡°Do not be disheartened, as it is not the end of this tale.¡± ¡°...¡± Right. ¡­damn, I enjoy this more than I should. ¡°That man wasn¡¯t ordinary. Although I have never met him after that encounter, information he wields is more dangerous than he thinks¡­ I just hope he is on our side, but regardless. As a jest, I asked him for information on where to find angels. And to my surprise, he said he knew. Not a joke or a lie. He said they were here, in Eden.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± True. Albeit, they were in hiding. ¡°Impossible, I know. He then named a price for that precious information. A price too much for a teenager to bear¡­ But after kindly asking him to lower it, his kind nature took over and he gave it to me for free.¡± ¡°...¡± It seems not everything about Valiant was recorded in history books. ¡°A ridiculous tale is what I got. First I cursed at him, for fooling me, but he assured me that it would work. I spent some time with him to make sure he wasn¡¯t lying, before setting off.¡± ¡­poor guy. ¡°Although it¡¯s not something you can replicate, but listen to the process to summoning an angel.¡± ¡°Wait, summoning?¡± ¡°Yes, ridiculous, I know.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t you say that they were already in Eden?¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s what he told me, but I doubt that one was true, he said that to pique my interest¡­ I assume.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± He didn¡¯t. That¡¯s what I know¡­ but summon? It never appeared in the game. ¡­I need to hear it. ¡°So. All you need is to burn an angel¡¯s feather in a purple fire.¡± What? ¡°Demonic flame?¡± ¡°Yes, another name for it.¡± ¡°You¡­ burn it?¡± It¡¯s a legendary tier of miscellaneous loot. You can enhance weapons and armor with it, use it for potions, sell it for a fortune or even just consume it for a permanent buff to divinity. ¡­and you burn it? ¡°And for a reason you¡¯d expect. It angers them deeply.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± ¡°So I did that in a remote area, far away from society. Three of them came down from the sky.¡± ¡°Three!?¡± Just one is enough to rival an army of demons! ¡°Yes. They were quite enraged by my action.¡± ¡°...How did you survive?¡± I don¡¯t think they were of low rank either¡­ and he was a teenager back then? ¡°I beat them before apologizing.¡± ¡°...¡± I shouldn¡¯t be surprised anymore. ¡°They didn¡¯t want to talk to me at all, looking at me as if I was some sort of heathen. I didn¡¯t defile God¡¯s name, nor did I kill a Saint, but they treated me like an Archdemon. All I did was burn a feather! That¡¯s not even a sin!¡± ¡°...¡± I should be careful around him. ¡°...Anyway. That¡¯s pretty much it. They esc- returned soon after. And that is why I consider them arrogant.¡± Quite a character he is. ¡°How did you get the feather in the first place?¡± ¡°...I borrowed it.¡± ¡°...I see.¡± Better to leave it at that. . . . I don¡¯t think this has an end¡­ Damn it, should I really try and kill him? ¡°Say, young knight.¡± ¡°Yes, Sire?¡± ¡°I have yet to hear your name.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s Michael.¡± Now saying my real name feels like a lie¡­ ¡°A splendid name. Pray tell, Michael, do you have any stories to tell?¡± ¡°Me? You jest, Sire, how can mine compare to yours?¡± ¡°Why compare? This walk has been boring even to me, so I ask of you to entertain this old man¡¯s whim.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare refuse¡­ but what should I tell you, I¡¯ve got no such glorious stories to my name as you Sire.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be¡­ You mentioned your family, tell me about them.¡± ¡­ ¡°That¡­ Well, There¡¯s also not much to tell¡­ Only one is left, and even she isn¡¯t blood-related.¡± ¡°*Cough*... Excuse my¡­ lack of knowledge.¡± ¡°No-no, I would never blame you.¡± ¡°...So you¡¯re here¡­ for her?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°There are better ways to earn a living, boy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s not the only reason I¡¯ve come here.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°...I wish to protect her¡­ but I lack strength.¡± ¡°Oh-ho, so you wish to become her knight in shining armor then?¡± ¡­Although his tone is playful¡­ ¡°The world is in turmoil, Sire. My wish is pure, she is in danger. And not just she. So I need the strength to protect them.¡± ¡°...Your words are worthy of a knight, Michael.¡± . It¡¯s¡­ pleasant to hear that from Valiant himself. ¡°...Thank you, Sire.¡±