12/17 Bonus chapter thanks to @Nathan To and others on Ko-fi!
I checked the time in front of the Constel building.
It was noon, about time to start.
I had made plans to meet Aten.
The excuse was that, since we had agreed to act together in the future, we needed to discuss roles in battle and such.
Aten had asked me,
“What should I wear?”
I told her the choice was hers.
The re-examination itself had nothing to do with me; I needed to keep an eye on the events happening during this period.
It was only today that I could feel the reward for writing summaries in the library to prevent Aten’s failure.
And after waiting for a while, I saw Aten coming from a distance.
“Aten, over here, in, the…”
I stopped speaking and looked at Aten as she approached.
Aten was wearing a white blouse and jeans.
Having always seen her in a uniform, her appearance felt quite different.
She always seemed like the epitome of everything white and cold, but today she looked more lively and brighter than usual.
“Hello.”
“…Uh, hello.”
Aten greeted as usual.
Her expression was no different from any other time.
“…How is it? This style of clothing is new to me.”
“So it was your first time. I’m surprised.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You looked so natural, I didn’t think about it.”
I had thought her different appearance was due to my preconceptions, but it seems Aten herself thought the same.
“…Hmm, I see. So, why did you call me today?”
Aten asked with a noticeably brighter expression.
“As I said before, if we were to act together, it will be a ‘party,’ so we have to decide on our roles in the battle. We have to hold discussions regarding other matters as well.”
It wasn’t a lie.
It was simply that I left out an important detail.
There were several reasons I came here today.
One of them was to improve the relationship between Aten and Aster.
If I’m right, there’s a high chance that I’ll run into Aster today.
I hope Aten and Aster can get along with each other.
If what Philly said was true, and their future together was doomed, then I can’t force them to be together.
But it wouldn’t be good if they maintained their icy relationship either.
It doesn’t matter that Aten is a member of my party and not Aster’s.
But I know that if I said that, it would never happen.
“So that’s why you’re headed to the training room?”
Aten nodded as if she’d reached a conclusion.
…Now that I think about it, she is headed in the direction of the training room.
I found myself nodding as well at the creation of such a plausible reason.
As we passed the corner of the building.
“Oh? Frondier.”
“Hello, Aster.”
Aster appeared in front of us.
Aten, who was beside me, became instantly wary as soon as he saw Aster.
“…Mr. Frondier.”
“Yes?”
“Surely you didn’t set this up so that I would run into Aster, did you?”
“I might have.”
As expected, Aten is astute.
But there was no way to prove it, and from Aten’s perspective, it was an absurd notion.
How could I have known that Aster would be here?
But while that was Aten’s perspective, the truth was that I did know.
That I would meet Aster here.
I wasn’t certain, but.
Though there was no confirmation.
Today, here, a sudden quest literally pops out of nowhere.
A sudden quest that can only be triggered by Aster.
From the player’s perspective, since the protagonist is Aster, it’s natural to come here to solve this sudden quest.
However, as mentioned before, Aster, who is not the player, is unpredictable.
Aster frequents the training room every day, so I just read that the chances of encountering this sudden quest are very high.
There was a definite possibility that we might not meet.
It’s good that we met.
I looked at my smartwatch.
It was about time.
“Nice to see you again, Ms. Aten.”
“……You can drop the formalities.”
I silently observed their conversation.
Then, my smartwatch beeped with a notification, and I checked the screen.
[A sudden quest has been generated.]
[Sudden Quest: Robald’s Deviation]
– Robald attempts to escape because he is tired of the of re-examinations.
– Objective: Stop Robald.
– Success: Reputation within Constel increases.
– Failure: Slightly increases the possibility of Robald being expelled from Constel.
As expected.
It’s the same as when I was a player.
Meaning, the quest I received when I was ‘Aster Evans.’
“Frondier, you also have business in the training room-“
As Aster was saying that,
Crash!!!
The sound of glass breaking echoed above our heads.
Weaving
Workshop Item No. 3
Rank – Common
Iron Shield
I wove the shield and swung it towards the falling glass shards.
Hmm, blocking glass shards with a shield, it feels somewhat nostalgic.
Tatatatang!
After clearing the glass with the shield, a high-spirited voice resounded from above our heads.
“Hahahaha!! Teacher! I have to get out of here!”
“Robald! You can’t come down right now!”
“No! I’m fed up!”
The three of us looked up.
On the 3rd floor of the Constel building, probably in the midst of retaking an exam,
A man was exposing himself out of the window.
Of course, the window was shattered.
“──Ah, that idiot.”
Aster placed a hand on his head.
Well, Aster would know who Robald is. They’re in the same class.
Robald Lieff.
If Frondier is said to be the most incompetent within Constel,
Robald is the biggest troublemaker within Constel.
In a way, he’s the most transparent yet the most one-dimensional character in Constel.
Hot-tempered, a charmer, reckless, with half a spoon of courage and rashness each in his actions and drive.
Anyway, a character that seems to have been made by gathering all those similar things, that’s Robald Lieff.
However, if one were to find any ‘three-dimensionality’ in such a Robald.
It would be that he’s a genius in fighting, surpassing even Aster.
“Gasp!”
Without any hesitation, Robald threw himself out of the 4th-floor window.
It’s not visible from here, but sounds like screams seemed to have come from inside the classroom.
They must have thought they were watching someone die.
Crash!
And then, Robald landed right in front of the three of us.
Without using any aura or magic, of course.
Just dropped from the 4th floor and landed on his feet.
That’s all.
That simple and dangerously reckless way of acting, Robald’s body made it possible.
“……Ugh, it hurts more than I thought.”
Well, it’s not like there’s no pain at all.