漫画大王

Chapter 88

Mr. Effenhauser had said that since the visitor wasn’t my legal guardian, I could choose whether to meet with him or not. However, I wasn’t the sort of person who had the guts to turn down a visit from the Duke of Saint-Ouen.

I had to admit, I could only be strong when dealing with the weak and could do nothing when faced with those with power.

We entered the main lobby of the Temple’s Royal Class dormitory. Mr. Effenhauser escorted me to the visitation room and then left. I wasn’t expecting much since the room was called a “visitation room,” but it turned out to be a luxurious drawing room.

“Are you Reinhart?”

“Ah, yes I am.”

The duke was a middle-aged gentleman wearing a black suit, a black homburg hat, and carrying a gray walking stick, finished off with a well-styled mustache. He looked less like a mage and more like a plain, neat nobleman.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Grace.”

I didn’t know the proper etiquette for dealing with nobility, so that was all I could say.

“Take a seat.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

I sat opposite the Duke, and suddenly, a teacup appeared in front of me, and it began to fill with black tea, which was being poured out from a teapot that had appeared in the same manner.

No matter how many times I saw it, magic seemed so convenient.

The duke did not introduce himself formally or anything like that. He just sat quietly and looked at me. Was he thinking that the mere fact that I was allowed to sit across from him was already enough of a concession?

“I heard that you gave Harriet some advice. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

He cut to the chase without any preliminaries. While it might have seemed rude, I actually preferred it that way, since I didn’t want to have to deal with such an important figure for too long. He seemed rather aloof, but was not overly aggressive.

I thought he would dislike me, but so far, there was no sign of such sentiment.

“Why did you do that?”

“She did not want to take a leave of absence, so I just told her what I thought would be the best way to accomplish that, within my knowledge.”

“Did Harriet ask you directly for your advice?”

“Yes.”

Of course, it had mostly been just me telling Harriet not to take a leave of absence, but in the end, she had asked me for a way to avoid it, after which I told her what I thought, so I technically wasn’t lying.

“Hmm... Well, it seems that the repercussions from the most recent incident are dying down without any further issues, so I do think that keeping Harriet in the Temple isn’t a bad idea as well.”

The demands that Vertus made were probably difficult for him to ignore as well. It appeared that the Duke of Saint-Ouen had given up on forcing Harriet to take a leave of absence.

But why did he bother to come and take a look at me? Was he curious about the identity of the person who had filled his daughter’s head with nonsense?

“I know Harriet, and she would never do such a thing.”

“... Pardon me?”

The Duke stared at me intently.

“Harriet would never ask someone of low birth like you for advice or opinions,” he said, observing me with no particular expression.

‘Why is this guy suddenly acting like a douchebag?’

“Yes, she would never usually do that. But she had indeed asked me about this.”

“Hmm... Reinhart, I’m not trying to insult your humble background.”

The Duke of Saint-Ouen rested his walking stick on his thighs and interlaced his fingers.

“Harriet has always refused to even speak with those of low birth. Given your background, Harriet shouldn’t have spoken with you at all. Yet... you’re telling me that you actually gave her advice, and what’s more, she accepted it.”

Harriet was someone who didn’t even bother to talk to commoners and considered them dirty. Reveling in her superiority was the way I had written her character to be, which was why she tended to look down on everyone in Class B.

“Could it be that Harriet likes you? Or that you like her...?”

“Uh... I-I don’t know about her, but that is certainly not the case for me!”

‘What sort of wild fantasy is this man indulging in?!’

“You don’t like her? Do you think that even makes sense? Or is there perhaps a problem with your eyesight...?”

The Duke of Saint-Ouen looked at me with a gaze full of astonishment. He was probably wondering how a puny little street rat like me could not fall head-over-heels for his daughter.

‘What’s with this man all of a sudden? Is he just nothing but a crazy father who dotes on his daughter excessively?!’

And then...

Bang!

Harriet burst into the drawing room, her face red as a beet.

“D-Dad! What on earth are you saying?!”

It was clear that Harriet had been eavesdropping as she, now crimson-faced, pointed towards the door.

“Out! Out! You get out of here now! J-Just, get out for a bit!”

“Wait! Just wait! Hang on a moment! Reinhart! I still want to speak with you further!”

“B-Be quiet! Dad, please, just be quiet!!”

I quickly left the drawing room, leaving behind one of the continent’s mightiest mages embroiled in a ridiculous spectacle.

—This is so embarrassing! Why did you come here? And why are you talking about such things?!

—N-No... Listen, my dear. What I was trying to do was—

—I don’t care! Just leave! Get out of here! I told you not to come!

—A father has the right to know whether his daughter likes someone—!

—Aah! No! No! No! Don’t say a word! Don’t say anything! Ahhh! Ahhhhh!

Their voices spilled out of the room. Harriet was screeching at the top of her lungs, while the Duke of Saint-Ouen seemed clueless as to how to react.

... I guess I’d been a fool to worry about what the Duke was going to say to me.

Harriet only turned out this way because she’d been coddled by such a protective and needy father.

I sighed a long sigh.

—I hate you, Dad! You’re the worst! You’re so annoying!

—No! Wait! I am doing all this for you—!

—I don’t careeeee!

From the way she spoke to her father, I clearly understood what kind of daughter Harriet was.

If this was the way she usually spoke, it was no wonder her father was sure that someone else had scripted her logical arguments for her.

I didn’t want to have anything more to do with this. It was time to escape.

Fortunately, perhaps due to Harriet’s tantrum, the Duke didn’t seek me out anymore.

***

I wasn’t sure if Harriet had managed to chase away the Duke or not, but after a while, she came knocking on my door, her face still flushed red.

“I-It’s really not true! You know that, right?” She immediately shouted as soon as she saw me.

“What do you mean, it’s not true?”

“Dad misunderstood!”

It seemed like she was referring to the part of the conversation where her father had mentioned her possibly liking me. She was fidgeting uncomfortably, her face all red.

But Harriet being this transparent with me just made me want to tease her even more.

“Oo... So, you’re saying you don’t like me?”

“Wh-what?!”

After hearing my straightforward question, her face turned even redder.

“W-Why, why would I like someone like... someone like you? T-That’s absurd! Why would I like someone with lowly peasant origins like you? That was a joke, right?”

Harriet was stomping her feet as if what I had just said was too abhorrent to even imagine.

“Okay, forget it then. It was just a simple question, no need to get so sensitive about it. You’re reacting as if you actually like me or something.”

I dropped that last comment and chuckled as I firmly shut the door.

—Hey! Hey, Reinhart! Open the door!

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

—I don’t like you! I’m telling the truth! Open the door, you jerk!

‘Not a chance.’

I intentionally didn’t open the door for her so that she could wallow in her emotions and continue to fume.

***

After Harriet finally exhausted herself and left my doorstep, I sat down at my desk.

At that moment, I had 6130 achievement points. If I awakened one more talent, I would have 4000 points remaining. And assuming that the points required to manifest each subsequent talent doubled, I could immediately acquire two more talents right then.

However, from what I had experienced before, it seemed like a good idea to keep some achievement points as insurance, in case of emergencies. The Revise function could help me overcome crises when things grew desperate. Hence, using up all my points seemed like a bad strategy.

After much contemplation, I finally decided on which talent to awaken next. It was, in fact, a decision that would also set the course for my future.

[Mana Attunement - 2000 points]

[Mana Operation - 2000 points]

These two talents were some of the essential prerequisites for becoming a combat master, and they were necessary talents for mages as well.

They were the foundation for all actions involving the use of mana.

These talents were necessary in order for mages to utilize their mana to perform magic. For melee combat specialists, practitioners with these talents could use magic to enhance their physical abilities.

In any case, both were versatile talents, and it would be beneficial to possess both of them. Since I had Ellen to teach me swordsmanship, it didn’t seem like I needed to unlock the area of swordsmanship just yet.

Although both talents were necessary, I chose to acquire Mana Attunement first. Mana Attunement contributed to the growth of mana itself, and at my current level, it was more important to increase the quantity of mana than the ability to manipulate it.

[You have used 2000 achievement points.]

With that, I possessed two talents: Self-Deception and Mana Attunement.

I was left with 4130 achievement points, and as expected, awakening a third talent would require 4000 points.

I decided to refrain from using my points hastily. Since I wouldn’t be learning Mana Operation at this current stage anyway, acquiring the talent beforehand wouldn’t be of much use.

Whether or not to acquire a third talent could wait until after the midterms.

Of course, I didn’t particularly need to do well in the exams.

However, like most exams, there wasn’t really a reason not to do well either.

If I decided to focus on the midterms, I would be doing it not for the grades but for the achievement points.

[Place top 10 in midterm exams - 3000 points]

The midterm exam-related challenge I had previously noted was still there. The challenge was not about placing top 10 within my class; it was about being in the top 10 out of the ten thousand or so freshmen that were enrolled in the Temple’s high school education program. Even taking into account that I was much more mature and experienced than the other students, it was not going to be an easy task.

Furthermore, now that the challenges had been updated, two more had been added that were related to the midterms.

[Get caught cheating on the midterm exams - 500 points]

[Achieve the lowest grade in the midterm exams - 1000 points]

“...”

1000 points for being the absolute last among ten thousand students, and an easy 1500 points if I got caught cheating while doing so.

Both were ridiculously easy challenges. Intentionally scoring zero on everything wasn’t impossible. It was overwhelmingly easier than making it into the top 10.

‘Is this “candy vendor” purposely doing this to mock me?

Alright. I’ll show you how I’ll make it to the top 10. Just watch.’

***

That evening, in the dining hall...

I had cut training short, but I was still having a late-night meal with Ellen. The dish for the night was fried rice. Ellen had made it.

Weren’t characters like her supposed to have some kind of flaw? Now, she could even cook quite well on her own without my advice.

‘At this rate, her cooking might even surpass my own soon.’

“... I thought you weren’t going to study,” said Ellen, reacting to my declaration that I’d take a break from training until the midterms were over to focus on studying.

“You know, people change their minds.”

Ellen nodded as she chewed on a mouthful of fried rice. My goal was to rank within the top 10 in the general midterm examinations, not in the subjects that involved private instruction.

Therefore, I only needed to focus on studying the subjects that were covered during the general education classes.

“It seems like you’d be good at studying.”

“... Well that was pretty random.”

A compliment had flown in unexpectedly. I looked puzzled by the sudden praise.

“Yeah, you’re smart,” Ellen responded matter-of-factly as if it wasn’t a big deal.

I had no idea she thought that about me. Was it because of the way I usually spoke?

“Uh... thanks, I appreciate it.”

Well, hearing that actually felt pretty good.

Then again, it seemed somewhat sad that my mood was being boosted from being told by a high-schooler that I was smart, but oh well.

Besides, she was probably way smarter than me.

“Then do you want to study with me?”

“No.”

Ellen flatly rejected my request for her to share her intelligence with me.

Anyway, I now had a short-term goal: Cramming.

Even though the level of education we were talking about was only at the high-school freshman level, I didn’t know if I could outperform ten thousand other students to place in the top 10.

I’d have to take the exams during general education class, which were on the upcoming Monday and Thursday. The classes that had private instruction would also be having their midterms that week, but I wasn’t going to worry about those.

I could study by myself, and given that it was just a basic high-school curriculum, I was quite confident that I could do well. However, I needed to aim for much more than just doing well—I had to secure top-ranked grades.

How were the midterms portrayed in the original storyline?

It had only been included to demonstrate that Ludwig was not book-smart.

He was the type of character who was brimming with fighting spirit and a strong sense of justice, but a little thick-headed when it came to academics.

Ludwig was the guy who studied hard, but whose grades always hovered around the lower ranks. Of course, as the story progressed, he began to study with a guy named Louis Ankton from Class B, and his grades gradually improved.

Louis Ankton was reputed to be the smartest among the Royal Class freshmen.

Of course, Louis was a self-centered nerd by nature. And although he wasn’t a bad guy, he was the kind that was so annoying that he would irk you into a rage. In fact, if I recalled things correctly, he had been the one who snitched to the teacher about my fistfight with Kaier in the locker room on my first day at the Temple.

From what I remembered of the story, it was only from the second year of the Royal Class onwards, after Ludwig had helped and looked out for Louis in various ways, that he started to open up and help Ludwig.

Ellen had no interest in studying, and I needed to achieve a top-10 finish in the midterms.

This meant that there was only one solution...

***

It was Thursday evening...

I called out to Louis Ankton as we left the general education class and were heading home.

“Hey.”

“Uh... yeah? Me?”

“Do you see anyone else around? Of course, it’s you.”

I approached Louis Ankton, who seemed slightly frightened and intimated, and slung my arm over his shoulder.

“I’ve got something I want to ask you.”

“Uh... O-Okay? Wh-What do you want to ask?”

Studying with this guy would greatly increase my chances of getting into the top 10.

However, just the fact that the notorious troublemaker in the first year had spoken to him was enough to make Louis Ankton’s face go white as a sheet.

“What? Do you think I’m gonna hit you? Why are you so scared? Relax.”

My sly smile only made him go even paler.

I was going for the “class bully” approach, which unexpectedly seemed to work pretty well.