Chapter 9

I had a nightmare.

A dream where I was caught by humans eating meat.

Chills ran all over my body.

But fortunately,

It was just a dream.

If I open my eyes now, I will return to a peaceful life, receiving attention as usual.

“Ugh…….”

With a small groan, Hiresia’s eyelids opened.

Her focus slowly adjusted.

And then,

“Did you sleep well, senior?”

The guy who talks with a sneering laugh.

Hiresia’s face froze on the spot.

Because she realized the harsh reality.

“Uh, uh…”

Her eyes began to shake violently again.

‘Princess of the Forgotten Forest’ Hiresia. I know her well. One of the most important characters in the third year and a named heroine. But she was infamous for being a heroine whose heart could never be won. Basically, because she is a different race. Therefore, she could never fully understand humans. Conversely, the protagonist could never fully understand her.

That invisible barrier became an obstacle to closing the distance. Many users failed, and I failed too. But then I changed my approach. If I can’t win her over as a heroine, why not exploit her weakness instead? That’s the method I came up with.

My own strategy that I haven’t shared with anyone. But it was effective. At least when it comes to raising archery grades, She was second to none, the best archer.

“Senior, hold onto your sanity. Your mind keeps trying to run away.”

I said to Hiresia, who was frozen with a half dazed face. Because she was on the verge of escaping into denial. Even if I spoke to her, she remained immovable. It seemed necessary to somehow bring her back to her senses, so I moved.

I went over there, picked up the bird meat that had fallen on the ground, and dusted off the dirt.

“Here’s the meat.”

“Me, meat?”

Her focus returned like a ghost.

As expected, she couldn’t resist meat. She instinctively opened her mouth wide and leaned towards the bird meat. But then she realized the reality and glared at me with resentful eyes.

“You, you bad human! To mock me like this!”

“Mocking? It’s a forced prescription because you were about to lose your grip on reality and escape.”

“Ugh.”

“That’s right, that’s it. Even if it’s humiliating, you have to face reality.”

I nodded as if I had done well. My words fanned the flames, but at least now she wouldn’t lose her grip on reality and fall into denial.

“How did you find this place?”

Hiresia demanded.

“By chance.”

“Chance? Nonsense. This is a meticulous plan.”

It was fortunate.

Now that she seemed to have recovered from the shock and her mind was working normally.

“Damn it, for me, a great high elf, to be tricked by such a ruse. I was careless. Oh, why was I careless!”

Thump thump.

She pounded her head with her fist as if blaming herself.

“Stop, stop.”

I stopped her.

“Why are you hitting yourself so foolishly when you’ve just returned to normal?”

“What? Are you saying I’m foolish?”

It was a mistake. She wasn’t particularly normal, it seems.

“Tsk, such an arrogant human, what do you think of me?”

“A high elf.”

“Hmph, you know well.”

Now I fully remembered. Originally, this person, no, this elf,

“Alright, let’s cut the nonsense and get to the point………….”

Whoosh.

Her hand swiftly reached out and snatched the bird meat from my hand. I was at a loss for words at that lightning fast speed. She then opened her mouth wide and devoured the bird meat. It seemed she decided to eat first since it was recorded by the magic crystal anyway.

Chomp chomp.

It was a scene I had seen in the game, but watching it in person was a different thrill. How could she inhale it like a storm with that small mouth? A whole bird disappeared in an instant, leaving only bones, and the remaining one was shoved into her mouth.

It was admirable.

How she managed to hide such a true nature so perfectly. It must have been a level of image management that she staked everything on.

“Phew, now I feel like I can live.”

Only after she devoured two birds did she finally take a breath.

“So, what do you want, blackmailer?”

Having regained her strength from eating the meat, she seemed more at ease. But the control was still in my hands, unchanged.

“If you agree to one condition, I’ll bury this video deep underground forever.”

“So, what is it?”

“Teach me archery, senior.”

“What?”

Hiresia’s expression clearly showed her dislike. Yes, that would be the case. For some reason, unless it was this way, you would never agree to teach archery.

It seemed that archery had some special meaning to her. Otherwise, the only options would be academy classes or mediocre private lessons.

The academy’s classes have decent quality professors but are short on time, and private lessons are of poor quality. So, raising the archery grade was a challenge.

Until I found this method.

“I don’t want to.”

As expected, she instinctively refused without considering anything else. At times like this, the answer was to remind her of the situation again.

“You know very well what will happen if this video spreads, right?”

“Ugh.”

She suddenly looked as if she had indigestion. The blackmail was very effective.

I knew. That such blackmail would work on her at this time. She still lacked the sharp coldness.

Yes. She was definitely soft now. You could tell just by the way she responded. The current difference in skill between her and me was like heaven and earth.

If she wanted to, she could easily break the recording magic crystal like twisting a baby’s hand. If she broke the magic crystal, all that would be left was my testimony.

No one would believe the words of a notorious troublemaker like me. They would believe the words of her, a person of noble status and a model student.

Yet, she did not, or rather, could not use physical force against me. As I said, because she was still soft. As the game progresses to the middle stages, she becomes almost a completely different person, but it didn’t matter since I never managed to recruit her as an ally in countless plays. The best strategy was to take advantage of her archery skills and keep a proper distance.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll spread this video to the academy right now.”

“Ugh… okay.”

She answered reluctantly, as if she hated it but had no choice.

“What did you say? I can’t hear you.”

“I said okay, you despicable human!”

i was downgraded from an arrogant human to a despicable one, but I just smiled.

Goal achieved.

“Thank you, senior.

That was the end of the business, but I spoke up again.

“But tell me.”

“What now?”

“Why do you hate teaching archery so much?”

I asked, even though I knew she would ignore me and not answer, just like in the game. Purely because I was curious about the reason. And then.

“Because it’s bothersome.”

“What?”

I was taken aback by the response. But the content was………….

“It’s bothersome, you human!”

Was that really the reason? It’s trivial, but why do I feel so empathetic? It seems that not wanting to do bothersome things is common regardless of race. I’m sorry for making you do something bothersome. I felt somewhat solemn.

Hiresia said to me,

“This time, let me ask you something.”

“Of course.”

“You’ve been pretending to know me, calling me ‘senior’ all this time, but who are you exactly?”

This time, I was the one who was stunned.

I belatedly realized. That I had always played as the protagonist and was mistaken. Just because I knew the protagonist didn’t mean I was known too. Hiresia didn’t know me at all. I was such an insignificant existence that she didn’t even bother with me.

After all, why would someone as famous as her care about a troublemaker a year below her? For her, it was as if a person with no connection whatsoever was pretending to know her and blackmailing her.

“That is…….”

Feeling awkward, I introduced myself earnestly.

“…………… That’s as far as I go.”

“Celtrine family?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“Perhaps because you haven’t been in the human world for long…”

“Second year?”

“Yes.”

“I had no idea.”

“I suppose I was a person with some presence.”

“Common class?”

“Yes.”

“Idiot?”

This girl really

“Tch, it’s humiliating to be tricked by the ruse of an idiot.”

Don’t say that when you know that’s how it’s going to end!

“What, fine. A promise is a promise.”

She got up, dusting the dirt off her behind.

“You there, despicable human.”

If I’ve gone to the trouble of teaching you my name, at least call me by it. Of course, I’m not in a position to say much since I blackmailed her by exploiting her weakness.

“Yes, yes.”

“Come here at this time tomorrow, and I’ll teach you archery.”

“Hoo.”

Having arrived at my dorm room, I let out a sigh.

Just one day.

But it was an incredibly busy day.

My body with its poor stamina screamed in protest,

But what can I do?

In this world where even the protagonist can’t clear, if I want to achieve something with this Max of a body, I have no choice but to run myself ragged.

Still, there was a harvest today, so at least my mind was at ease.

Swordsmanship and archery.

Now that I’ve found a master, all that’s left is to train like mad and raise my rank as quickly as possible.

“Tomorrow is……”

Thinking about what I had to do tomorrow, I fell asleep exhausted.

“What? 100,000 gold?”

Lis, who heard the news about her brother only after it got dark because she had been out during the day, was so shocked that she became dazed.

It was hard to believe it was true.

100,000 gold?

That’s a huge amount of money.

Did her brother, a mere student, ask for that much money?

Does that even make sense?

The butler confirmed it once more to the confused her.

“I’m sorry to say, but it’s definitely true. The young master requested 100,000 gold via magical communication this afternoon, and the count has approved it.

“This, this crazy bastard!”

Lis cursed involuntarily.

The butler fully understood her feelings.

If he could, he would have cursed his heart out too.

That’s how outrageous the actions of the young master Max were.

“Has this insane person really decided to ruin the family’s foundation?”

Lis ground her teeth with a face that looked like her insides were bursting.

In the end, the different attitude he showed back then meant nothing.

He was still the same person.

The fact that she had even a little hope after hearing his answer at that time made her so angry.

In the end, he kept doing such foolish things…

Lis clenched her fist so hard it seemed to be crushed as her anger rose.

Except for her final resolve, she was already overflowing with determination to root out the poison named Max.

Her father was still healthy and supporting the center of the family, but how long could her elderly father lead the family?

In the end, the position of the family head will pass to that hopeless person.

And when that happens, the family’s downfall is as clear as day.

Rather than letting the family be ruined by his hands, it was better to cut off the ties of blood herself. She couldn’t let a prestigious family that had lasted for hundreds of years fall into ruin.

‘……You must be very upset.’

Watching Lis, the butler secretly clicked his tongue. The many employees of the Celtrine family had seen and experienced it clearly. Just how far Max’s wickedness went.

A person who would immediately curse and hit if even slightly displeased. At least the men were better off. There wasn’t a single young maid in the Celtrine family who hadn’t been blatantly sexually harassed by Max at least once.

If they had proper eyes, they could clearly see what would happen if such a person took over the family.

It would be a true disaster.

That’s why there were not a few employees who were even thinking of leaving the Celtrine family if Max took over. The butler had been faithfully working for the Celtrine family for over decades, but he had no intention of saying anything to those people.

What could he do when the safety of their own bodies was more important than loyalty or money?

‘If only someone like the young lady was the successor.’

The butler thought regretfully.

With a sunken face and her forehead in her hands, Lis spoke.

“Please leave.”

“Understood. I hope you have a peaceful night.”

The butler greeted her and left the night.

Left alone, Lis silently pondered for a while.

How much time had passed?

The bell announcing midnight rang.

Only then did Lis reach out and take out a crystal from the drawer.

A magic crystal.

An expensive item for telegrams. Soon, letters began to appear on the crystal.

Report on the movements of the requested target.

Requested 100,000 gold from Count Celtrine.

A fact she already knew.

Lis waited for the next report.

Moved out of the hotel he had been staying in and entered the dormitory.

“Hmm?”

Lis doubted her eyes.

Because impossible news had appeared on the crystal. But that was just the beginning.

Visited the lower district. Destination: Turk’s Fencing Hall.

Visited the central square, destination: Wisdom Bookstore.

Left through the north gate and headed towards Harkin Mountain. Outside the guild’s territory, so tracking was abandoned.

Returned to the dormitory.

“What, what is this?”

Lis shouted, unable to believe it.

If it hadn’t been for a direct request to an expensive information guild, she might have thrown the crystal away, saying it was nonsense. Such was the continuous absurdity of his actions.

Dormitory

That playboy leaves a comfortable hotel for a dormitory? And a dormitory with a strict curfew at that?

First of all, that doesn’t make sense.

And the lower district?

That pretentious person walks into the dirty, smelly lower district?

That doesn’t make sense.

What about the fencing hall?

The person who hates sweating suddenly wants to learn fencing, and to a fencing hall in the lower district at that?

Bookstore?

That person who has nothing to do with reading goes to a bookstore?

This doesn’t make sense either.

Harkin Mountain?

This is somewhat understandable.

Maybe he went for a walk・・・・・・・

No!

The person who hates sweating wouldn’t go to the northern mountains for a walk!

“No, no, no, what the hell is this…….”

Her mind, which had been filled with anger over the insane act of 100,000 gold, was now deflated by absurdity.

Her mind was terribly confused.

Because it didn’t make sense.

Yes.

It doesn’t make sense.

It doesn’t.

“Ugh, I don’t get it! What is this person thinking?!”

Eventually, Lis’s mind exploded.