<348 - Organizational Struggle>
A story where you know the beginning and end from the start is boring.
Games are no different.
– That foolish streamer. They said they came back from real life for a different schedule, yet their reactions are lame. It’s obvious they just played games non-stop while taking a break without even checking their playtime.
Even pretending to play a game like they’re experiencing it for the first time gives them away somehow.
Just like a certain streamer who saw the early graduation ending in [Graduating from the Academy by Luck], the everyday boredom that can be predicted cannot fool anyone.
A veteran player is someone who battles that boredom by repeating the same game thousands or tens of thousands of times.
Therefore, unexpected events bring joy in return.
0.1% of improbability.
An unusual chance of rarity.
Jaku’s sudden action showed me that 0.1%.
“Bring the contract. This time, the apprentice magician of the Red Magic Tower, Rosgini, will burn it.”
“Ah, those guys are running away!”
“Sandkooker.”
“I’ve already changed the lock mechanism on the door. Any area connected by the floor or walls is under the territory of an Earth Sorcerer.”
With their escape routes cut off, the Lower Class female students shouted fiercely as their contract was about to be burned.
“What did we do wrong to you?!”
“Jewel is my pet. They agreed to be a well-behaved animal in exchange for me filling in their lacking theory points. We made a fair contract!”
“Woof woof.”
“Just because they bark like a dog doesn’t mean they look happy, right?”
“Shut up! Jewel, it’s an order. Defeat those guys!”
A pretty-looking boy rushed in with a sword, but a heavily armored mob charged in to meet him.
Confident in the armor’s defense, the mob aggressively attacked, but Jewel’s sword continued to deflect it, causing Jewel’s body to shake each time.
The difference in their trained physiques created a difference in the weight applied to the sword, and the skilled swordsmanship prevented perfect strikes from landing, accumulating damage instead.
Shudder.
Unable to withstand the accumulated shock in his hand, the mob failed to parry and twisted Jewel’s wrist, suppressing him.
The female student who lost her loyal companion and the contract struggled, but Jaku mercilessly slapped her down and pulled out the contract.
“Now, burn it.”
“You’ve strangely become proactive, haven’t you? You still had a slightly awkward expression.”
“I realized I can just create the information myself and give it to you.”
“Information?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Aha. Information to inform the professor or the student council after it’s all over, right? If we don’t make excuses, we’ll just be a gang meddling in someone else’s contract and committing assault for no reason. You’ve thought about post-processing even before getting involved, Jaku; you’re quite meticulous.”
The more he gets praised, the more detached he appears, but it’s all fun.
“Congratulations. You’re now a free person.”
As the contract burned, thinking there was no reason left to fight, the mob relaxed and stood Jewel upright. Jewel’s fist slammed on the mob’s helmet.
“What did you just do?!”
“Is the command still functioning since the contract isn’t fully burned?”
“Don’t make me laugh. Even without that contract, I was already voluntarily helping her!”
“What?? Why on earth??”
“A pet is not a human. So, I’m not ashamed to show embarrassing appearances. How happy I was to see Mei show such defenselessness in front of me as she believed that!”
“No… this guy is way too honest about his desires?”
“As long as Mei treats me as a pet and I accept it, there’s no point conversion, but if it’s a sweet contract like this, I’d gladly accept it. Hygiene management for a pet is the owner’s responsibility, and when I get washed, I thought I could live like this for life!”
The mob spoke in disbelief.
“This guy should be reported to the student council for inappropriate relationships, shouldn’t he?”
“Ahem. Well, that could be a possibility.”
“What’s so special about adults showering together?”
Rosgini and Sandkooker’s awkward reactions were also amusing.
These two, in different rounds, were always rivals.
Both apprentice magicians.
Newcomers representing different towers.
Carrying the support and pride of the Magic Tower, they would forcefully drift apart whenever they got closer, causing genuine hurt with words contrary to their true feelings, eventually becoming complete enemies.
Even if they party up and suffer to the point of dying in dungeons, they can become “somewhat decent fellow” after some intimacy.
Given that we, Jonna and I, risked dangerous tasks, a couple who merely went on a boat ride trying to hide it seemed like an unusually special round.
“If you like each other that much, wouldn’t there be no change without the contract? Rather, I see it as a chance to genuinely connect without making excuses.”
Jewel and Mei’s eyes, looking at each other, trembled violently.
“Jewel… You aren’t mad that I made you do those things using the contract, right? I forced you to complete impossible tasks and burdened you…”
“I knew. Still, since I liked this relationship, I deliberately failed in some tasks to avoid repayment.”
“Jewel…!”
“Mei.”
In an unexpected turn, Jaku and the mob ended up candidly making a couple.
With anger-fueled solo acts from the two people, the contractors of Camela’s Organization were defeated in succession!
“Are all of them couples?!”
“I’m here to do good, and it feels nice, right? Thanks to us, many couples became honest with their feelings.”
“Not all ended up together, but still, it’s interesting. This Camela person seems to have intertwined potential couples into contracts, as everyone cared for each other quite a bit.”
To the first-round NPCs, it might look like a divine harmony or a work of an incredible romance master, but knowing the truth makes the future, where the answers are already known, less surprising.
In fact, it’s impressive that Jaku cut ties before those couples adapted further into the domination and subjugation of contracts.
“How does Jaku feel?”
“I feel good. I broke plenty of couples. How about you, Oknodie?”
“I feel good too!”
“Surprising. I thought you, loved by many, would be the type to like and support couples.”
“Me? Oh, don’t make me laugh.”
Even back in the [All In for the One-hand Character] days, during mid-game, I tore apart every couple sign I saw among NPCs.
The reason is simple.
Weaklings grew weak when playing couple games, reducing training times, and since they were busy focusing on each other, they were hindered in forming parties, hence efficiency dropped.
Yet, whenever couples matched outfits for parties, sudden fights would break out for some reason.
If someone gets a [Breakup] debuff, the party atmosphere turns downright mournful.
Sometimes, a former boyfriend intentionally doesn’t cast necessary buffs, casually letting mobs slip to the former girlfriend while tanking.
How uncouth!
“Couples shouldn’t exist. They’re just a hindrance. Especially the weak ones!”
“Hah. True. Weaklings shouldn’t be wasting time on love games.”
There are rare instances of couples growing stronger through the power of love, but that’s truly the minority.
Thus, even Singing is working hard not to get backstabbed!
Even I, a veteran, put effort into this; how could I bear to watch newbies frolicking without knowing anything?!
‘If I can’t do it, neither can they!’
—
After splitting five couples apart, the remaining couples of Camela’s Organization counter-attacked.
“The warehouse of the Dark Trading Company has caught fire. Luckily, it was discovered early, and we successfully extinguished the fire, with the assailant suspected to be a member of Camela’s Organization.”
“Hmph. As long as Arcadia exists, this kind of fire is nothing. If we apply the knowledge of keeping warehouses or stockpiles safe from fire using naval warfare tactics, we can extinguish it quickly.”
“They ambushed our members returning home after class! There were no damages!”
“Who was there?”
“Thanks to Titosso’s light blinding attack, their formation collapsed, and we beat them back!”
Many attempts, yet the level difference among the organization members leads to little success for Camela’s Organization!
Even if they only have small fries, they won’t be able to reach the level of a Chapter Boss just because they’ve had fruitful training opportunities up until the first semester of their second year.
“Oh no! Our assignment has been stolen!”
“No way… The dormitory door is open, isn’t it?”
“Ahhhh! My underwear is missing!”
“Would you like to borrow Bikini Armor?”
“No, thank you!!”
While everyone was focused on power struggles, Camela’s Organization committed house burglary.
Even Hestia, after finishing her training and returning to the dorm, knocked on the door with a stern expression.
“My mini golem was stolen. How about your plant friend, Oknodie? Are they okay?”
Goo.
The howling Mandragora sucked its little roots, tilting its head.
It seems there were intruders with a faint scent of blood, but they seemed to have been chased away by the goo.
However… the place where the assignment should be is completely empty.
What happened here?
“Goo, where did the assignment that was here go?”
Goo?
The confused Mandragora claimed it didn’t see anything.
This creature really only fought within the range of its roots!
“As you can see, Goo is fine. However, all the assignments have been completely taken…”
“Bothering weaklings wasn’t to my liking, so I only trained, but I can’t sit idle after things blew up. Yours and mine assignments too—let’s go help.”
“It crossed the line to steal a thoroughly trained pet. Touching an assignment is even more crossing the line. Let’s not sleep today and raid their hideout together!”
As Hestia ascended to the dorm of the lower class students, a Dorm Supervisor appeared in the hallway.
“Ugh. I see they’ve requested security services. This has become bothersome.”
“Is that something that exists?”
“If you pay points, the Dorm Supervisor or instructors can guard the dorms. It’s not an unbearable price if a group pays for it together. There’re also special discounts for first-years.”
“So what do we do? The Dorm Supervisor didn’t take this role for nothing.”
“A head-on confrontation is a burden, for sure. But there’s a way.”
So, if I spend points, I can receive protection?
Spending more points allows for the opposite as well.
“I’ll give you more points. Step aside!”
“If it’s not immediate transfer, I won’t accept it.”
The Dorm Supervisor brought a Mana Board while placing a Magic Watch on it, and I paid the points.
For a moment, the Dorm Supervisor, surprised by the balance, stepped aside.
Opening the dorm room door head-on, the remaining members of Camela’s Organization, who were waiting wide awake by the window for a surprise, flinched.
“Oknodie? Did you really take down the Dorm Supervisor…?”
“It crossed the line to mess with pets and assignments! Return them right now, or I’ll beat you up!”
“What are you talking about? That crazy plant haunted by a devil couldn’t steal anything from your room!”
Such audacious newbies!
I was thinking about letting them off easily if they came clean, but they’re really getting the slap down!
