Chapter: 149
[Is it okay not to receive anything?]
While I was escaping from the church, Grandpa approached me.
Just a moment ago, the bishop said he wanted to repay me, and I replied,
“Why should I accept something from a loser like you? It’s obvious it’ll be as shoddy as you are. Besides, it’ll probably smell like an old man’s stuff,”
and it seemed like that bothered him.
[Since you saved someone called the Saintess, there must be a wonderful reward.]
“Sure, right?”
Considering the other’s position and what I did, I could have snagged quite a bit if I had tried to milk it.
But right now, I don’t have a particular reason to cling to typical rewards.
If there’s something I want, I could just talk to Alsatine or the Newman family and get it. Why bother?
In that case, it’d be better to avoid the moral burden by refusing to accept anything.
The bishop of the Academy is one of the few consciences of Jushin Church. If I let him hold a debt over me, it’ll probably help when the story involving Phoebe progresses later.
[No matter how I think about it, I doubt the loser bishop thinks highly of you.]
“…Please don’t hit me.”
He’s a person of integrity, so it should be fine. Even if he’s a bit childish, won’t he think I’m a nice girl?
[You should be careful with your nonsense. Young lady.]
“So please, don’t hit me. Grandpa.”
It’s not like I’m denying reality because I don’t know that!
Why can’t you understand my desperate attempts to salvage the image that’s going to take a hit?!
Sigh. My relationships are too tough because of the Mesugaki Skill.
I’m someone who knows manners, but because of one skill, I have to act rude and like a brat wanting a proper education! It’s so unfair!
– Ding!
As I simmered internally, another message popped up.
What now, Shoddy God? Are you trying to plan revenge for the insults I just threw?
Let’s see you try… but don’t lose, okay?
You know how people get emotionally hyped when their hopeful future crumbles, right? I was one of them.
Thanks to the struggles caused by the Mesugaki Skill, I had a lot of pent-up emotions. It was just an unavoidable reaction for someone as flawed as me.
So… what was that? Phoebe said that Lord Armadi had mentioned that past mistakes aren’t as significant as subsequent actions?
If I do well from now on, can you please forgive me? Please!
I desperately tried to explain myself to the Shoddy God, fearing some retaliation was coming. But in front of me, another notification popped up.
[Phoebe’s favorability has surpassed 70!]
Huh? What?
As I stared blankly at the unexpected message, I wiped my eyes and checked the contents again.
Phoebe’s favorability has surpassed 70, huh?
I wasn’t entirely clueless about it.
I had just entered Phoebe’s mental world and saved her, after all.
It wouldn’t be weird if her favorability went up.
And there was another sign as well.
Previously, right before Joy’s favorability crossed 70, I had spoken informally to her, and now I had started speaking casually to Phoebe since entering her mental world.
It’s still just a guess, but it seems like speaking informally to someone who normally uses polite speech is related to favorability, huh?
…Favorability of 70, huh?
Realizing that Phoebe sees me as someone special, a smile crept onto my face.
I’ve gone through a lot, but in the end, I’ve succeeded in achieving what I wanted.
This is the country after all! The stagnant waters of Soul Academy are something special!
Looking back, it was Nakrad who played a huge role on both occasions.
The first time was when I exceeded Joy’s favorability after saving her from Nakrad, and now, by saving Phoebe from him as well.
Seriously. Nakrad this guy!
I know he hates being an Apostle of Armadi, but isn’t he acting pretty straightforward?
By staging a crisis, he helped me clear the quest given by the Shoddy God!
Thanks to him, my party formation is perfect!
Joy will be in the back providing firepower!
Phoebe will be healing and buffing!
And I’ll be right up front tanking!
Hehe. No matter which party member joins, there’s no issue because the base is already so strong!
Whoever joins, my party is already tier 1!
Wow. I’m truly grateful to Nakrad, but what can I do? Because of the Mesugaki Skill, I can never express gratitude towards others.
So I guess I can’t thank you, huh?
Or maybe if it’s with the intent to infuriate the opponent, I might be able to say thanks?
Hmm. Somehow it feels possible? When I meet Nakrad next, I’ll have to tell him how thankful I am for everything he’s done. He’ll probably be disgusted.
Imagining his trembling figure, I chuckled to myself as several notifications popped up in front of me.
[Quest Clear!]
[Successfully raised the favorability of two students in the Academy beyond 70!]
[Rewards will be given!]
[Reward: Divine Sword Technique of Ruel]
[A new quest has emerged.]
[The Savior of Menestel]
For now, let’s put the new quest on hold and focus on the Divine Sword Technique of Ruel.
It’s the technique that uses the divinity of the hero known for saving the past world, Grandpa.
In the game, I remember it being a passive skill that increased damage proportionate to one’s divine stat.
The performance was decent, but considering the effort needed to learn it, it didn’t yield efficiency, so it wasn’t commonly mastered.
I probably only learned it when I wanted to see the peak of a Holy Knight character.
So, it’s a technique worth welcoming and celebrating if I can learn it for free.
But I have one question. The Sword Technique ultimately involves moving the body to fight, right?
In the game, it was implemented as a passive skill since everything couldn’t be depicted. But wouldn’t reality be different?
“Grandpa.”
[What is it?]
Just then, someone was nearby to answer my curiosity. It’s Grandpa, the creator of that Divine Sword Technique.
“What exactly is the Divine Sword Technique?”
[Hmm? Why do you suddenly ask that?]
“Lord Armadi gave me that technique.”
<…Is that really true?!>
When I mentioned what I had received from the Shoddy God, Grandpa’s voice suddenly got urgent.
I was momentarily taken aback by his unusually high-pitched tone, but I nodded.
“Yes. How else would I know your Sword Technique, Grandpa?”
[Wait. Ah. Yes! Focus your divinity in your hand! Then you’ll understand!]
Put divinity in my hand? Though it was a puzzling request, I decided to follow Grandpa’s words.
Believing he had something in mind, as I intended to transfer some of the divinity I held inside me to my hand, information flooded into my mind.
It was just like when I used the Iron Wall Skill.
Just as the Iron Wall Skill instructed where to move the shield, something was telling me how to manipulate the divinity now.
Following it, as I moved the divinity and focused it in my hand, light started to emanate from it.
It was a warm light reminiscent of the sun, similar to what Grandpa showed when he dealt with Nakrad.
<…Lord Armadi. So that's why you sent me to this young lady!>
“Grandpa?”
Why is Grandpa acting like a zealot all of a sudden? That’s kinda scary.
[Great! Young lady! This is wonderful! I can impart everything to you now!]
In the voice conveyed through the mace, there was a heat that felt familiar.
I’ve heard this before. It was the same feeling I got when Possell was training me.
When Benedic had requested to properly turn me into a knight, his voice sounded exactly like this.
So, if I assume Grandpa’s feelings right now are similar to Possell’s back then…
“Grandpa. Could you calm down a bit?”
I’ve been getting used to training lately, but I don’t want it to become tougher than it already is, you know?
I’ve got a few friends I can finally call that now, and I want to enjoy my Academy life a little too.
Since Nakrad used most of his energy against Grandpa, I thought it would be peaceful for a while, but…
[Alright! Let’s rush back to the training grounds! We just came out of training, right?!]
Ah, you can’t hear my words, huh?
Then I guess I have no choice. From now on, I’ll pretend I can’t hear Grandpa.
Ignoring Grandpa’s fervent words as if my brain were shaking, I checked the other things.
There was definitely the new quest that had been assigned, right?
[Savior of Menestel]
[The seal within Menestel’s dungeon is about to unleash! You must stop it!]
[Reward: ???]
[Failure: GAME OVER]
This was a quest that existed in the game too.
One of the side quests; if you couldn’t clear it within a certain time, the difficulty of the main story would increase.
If the time limit for this quest is the same as I remember, I should still have some leeway.
When summer vacation starts, I’ll have to go clear it out. I might as well help find Alsatine’s master while I’m at it.
Phew. What a relief.
This time, the Shoddy God actually gave me a proper quest.
I thought I might have to pay for all the insults I hurled at the Shoddy God so far.
Shoddy God. You’re not as merciful as I thought, huh?
If that’s the case, why not give me something besides Practice Mode, you shoddy jerk?
You rushed to give me a quest, and I resolved it, and that’s the reward? Huh?
If you keep this up, I might just ignore whatever you say next time.
What?! Well, I guess I should check how the Practice Mode works. It might differ in reality compared to the game.
I can always disregard it if it seems useless after checking it out. With that thought, I tried to enter Practice Mode.
[Practice Mode can only be used in lodging!]
A warning message appeared. A message that didn’t exist in the game.
Hmm. So there’s something different from the game, huh?
[Young lady? Are you listening? Hurry up!]
“Grandpa. Sorry, but I need to stop by the dorm first.”
I have something to check on.
*
Returning to the Academy’s dormitory, I immediately tried out the Practice Mode.
And just like when I was enveloped in the Sloppy Fox’s mist, my consciousness became hazy.
When I came to, I found myself in a different space.
An empty training ground with no signs of life, just like it had just been completed. A scarecrow standing in the center. It was the scenery of Practice Mode I found so boring in-game.
What’s this? There’s nothing else here.
I was expecting something, but this is disappointing.
If this is all there is to Practice Mode, then there’s really no reason to come here.
“Oh! What’s this? Young lady, is this your mental world?”
As usual, a voice that normally echoed in my head flowed into my ears, prompting me to turn my head.
Standing beside me was a robust old man clad in armor.
Fist clenched and then opened, he smiled, surveyed the surroundings, and then approached me.
“This looks like a very suitable place for training.”
…Huh?
Why is Grandpa here?
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