chapter_0125

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
125

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
125

As I stared at Frey with
confidence in my victory, Grandpa suddenly spoke up.

A warrior’s choice?

What does that mean?

‘What does
rock-paper-scissors have to do with being a warrior?’

‘Rock-paper-scissors is a game
of chance.’

If I had to consider any skill
elements, it would fall under psychological warfare, but in a single
round, luck has the biggest influence, doesn’t it?

That’s why I insisted on just
one round with Frey.

‘…What? That doesn’t make
any sense.’

As I wondered if Grandpa was
teasing me, it suddenly occurred to me that this was a fantasy world.

In a world where a skilled
warrior reacting to a flying arrow is taken for granted, responding
to rock-paper-scissors moves seems entirely feasible, doesn’t it?

If I think about it carefully,
I am already at a level where I can respond to most people’s
movements just by watching them.

There’s no reason I can’t
handle rock-paper-scissors…

No reason, right?

Huh?

Wait a minute.

At this rate…

Rock-paper-scissors has become
a skill game?!

This is insane.

I’m in big trouble.

I’ve never once tried to win
rock-paper-scissors with skill.

Simply put, I’m a newbie in
this field.

Naturally, I don’t know any
of the various techniques that exist in rock-paper-scissors.

If this were a luck-based
game, it’d be one thing, but in a skill game, the difference
between knowing and not knowing these techniques is monumental.

Would humans have been able to
handle monsters by accident in this world?

It’s because they don’t
know martial arts while we do that makes it possible.

It’s the same now.

I don’t know
rock-paper-scissors, and Frey does.

Seeing how she nodded without
any hesitation, she’s definitely accustomed to it.

Why does it have to be Frey as
my opponent?!

If it were someone like Joy or
Phoebe, I could have overpowered them with our rank difference, but
that’s not possible against Frey!

In terms of reflexes alone,
she’s still better than me! Damn it!

I’ve been had!

I’m the one who got tricked!

What should I do?!

It’s too late to turn back
now.

I can’t just say I don’t
want to do it after I was the one who suggested it! That would be so
pathetic!

“Shall we?”

I bit my lip, seeing Frey’s
eyes looking down at me from slightly above.

No.

It’s not confirmed that I’ve
lost yet.

Although Frey has a slight
edge in reflexes, when you really think about it, we’re quite
similar.

We’re evenly matched in
terms of physique.

Same goes for skill.

Would this Sword-crazy person
even know any rock-paper-scissors tricks?

In the end, if all conditions
are equal, what matters is luck!

It’s all about luck!

‘Okay!’

“Alright, Sloppy Swordsman.
Get ready to lose.”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll give the
signal.”

Had Karl been listening all
this time?

He naturally stepped into the
centre.

“Let’s begin. Rock.”

Alright. Frey.

What are you going to throw?

I can’t tell yet since your
fist is clenched.

“Paper.”

I see her hand coming down.

It’s opening.

It must be scissors.

Alright. Then I’ll throw
scissors too.

At least it’s a draw.

If luck is on my side, I might
even win.

“Paper.”

The moment I decided and
extended my hand, Frey’s hand closed back into a fist.

What?!

Was that a psychological
trick?!

Did she pretend to open her
hand just to make me react and then close it again?

Frey. Sword-crazy Frey, you
know tricks like that?!

I realised too late that I had
been deceived, but it was already too late to retract my hand.

Her clenched fist meets my two
spread fingers indicating scissors.

“I won.”

I lost.

Do you know how much
proficiency I could have gained with that one orb?!

With that one orb, I could
reduce a month’s worth of effort, but now I’ve lost it!

What frustrates me even more
is that this defeat is 100% my fault.

I can’t even blame anyone
else! I want to direct this anger somewhere else, but there’s no one
to blame but myself!

Hmph.

Calm down.

It’s fine.

Even without that, there’s
nothing stopping me from getting stronger.

I might lose some proficiency.
No, actually, quite a lot. But that’s something I can overcome with
effort.

Yeah. Let’s just consider it a
gift for Frey.

She’s someone we’ll keep in
our party, right?

Frey becoming stronger also
benefits me.

Yep. That’s it.

Let’s go with that.

“Lucy, do you want this?”

What? Is Frey taunting me now?

If that’s her intention, she
picked the wrong person.

I’m extremely petty, you know.
I’ll write all these grievances in the Book of Vengeance and get
back at her later.

“I could give it to you.”

Really?

…No.

Calm down.

There’s no way she’d actually
give it to me.

She’s probably just trying to
tease me.

She’s always on edge about
being called the Sloppy Swordsman, so she provokes me whenever she
gets the chance.

This is probably another one
of those times.

No point in getting my hopes
up just to be disappointed.

But still.

What if there’s a chance?

‘What do I need to do?’

“Sloppy Swordsman, what do
you want?”

“Two things. First, you have
to bow your head to me.”

Aha. So, she wants to see me,
who always stands tall, bow down, huh?

If all it costs to get the
proficiency orb is a little pride, it’s a cheap price to pay.

Not like I have any pride to
begin with anyway.

If she gives me that orb, I’d
even kneel and lick her shoes!

Okay, maybe that’s a bit too
much. Anyway, I have no problem with bowing my head.

The problem is the [Mesugaki]
Skill.

Can I really do it? Will it
let me?

Let’s give it a try. Maybe
if I act as subservient as possible, it might work.

‘Oh, great and historical
Sword Saint Frey Kent, who will one day claim the title of
Swordmaster. Please grant me the right to receive the orb you
bestow.’

“Sloppy Swordsman. Hand
it over. I’ll put it to much better use than a fool like you.”

Wow. I added all those grand
metaphors in my head, and yet none of it came out.

And why am I keeping my head
high when I’m supposed to be bowing?

Are you the boss here?

Are you, you crazy girl?

I knew this would happen, but
facing it in reality is still annoying.

The only consolation is that
Frey doesn’t seem too displeased.

“Alright. Next condition.”

…Are you satisfied with
this?!

Frey, how low do you think of
me to consider this as bowing?

Just how much of a piece of
trash do you think I am?

I appreciate you letting me
off the hook, but I still feel weird about it.

“Continue sparring with
me even after we’re done with this dungeon.”

I stared blankly at Frey,
completely taken aback by her unexpected condition.

Huh?

‘Weren’t we going to
continue anyway?’

“Sloppy Swordsman, what
nonsense are you babbling about? Of course, we’re going to continue.
You idiot.”

“Really? So we’re
continuing?”

‘Yes.’

“Alright. Ha. You really
are a sloppy idiot.”

“I see.”

Frey nodded to herself and
handed me the orb in her hand.

Wait. Were you seriously going
to demand that from me?

Seeing Frey tilting her head
in confusion while holding out the orb made me smile.

Ah. Damn. I never thought I’d
live to find this sword-obsessed maniac cute.

‘I’ll use it gratefully.’

“I’ll go ahead and use
it well, Sloppy Swordsman.”

“Yeah. We’ll keep
sparring, right?”

Even if you didn’t ask, I’d
still continue sparring.

Do you think there are many
people in this academy who can fight me on equal footing in close
combat?

So rest assured.

I’ll keep sparring with you.

Several days have passed since
we completed the dungeon raid.

Apparently, it was
unprecedented in the academy’s history for first-year students to
clear a dungeon in their first semester, so the release of the list
of the first conquerors the next day caused quite a stir.

Joy came by to complain why I
didn’t take her along.

Arthur said that while I won
this time, he’d win the next.

Bisi and Jacob visited to
commend me for being first to conquer the dungeon.

Avery cautiously approached to
offer her congratulations.

While I was eating, Luca
suddenly appeared and interrupted, calling me the talent he had been
watching.

Even Benedict sent a message.

[I’m so happy to have such
an outstanding daughter. I’ve always believed in you! When you were
little…]

I don’t know where he heard
the news, but he contacted me through the crystal sphere just before
I was about to lie down and prattled on about old stories for almost
an hour.

If I hadn’t cut him off
midway, I would have had to listen to his rambling all night.

Thanks to this impressive
accomplishment, my reputation has improved significantly.

According to Avery, who’s
well-connected with the ladies of high society, although they might
not know everything, everyone at least acknowledges my skills.

So, from being a useless brat
with no manners I’ve become a skilled brat with no manners.

Isn’t it the same since
they’re both still calling me a brat?

Of course, the latter is
better.

You can tolerate a talented
brat throwing tantrums, but an incompetent brat doing the same is
unbearable.

While I was thinking about
this, the classroom door opened, and the professor appeared.

He stood at the podium,
quietly gazing at the students before he started to speak in a low
voice.

“As you all know, the field
trip will begin in a week.”

Finally, the moment has come.

Though I listened to the
professor, I had no worries at all.

I had already finished all the
preparations for the field trip.

Our party consists of me,
Frey, Joy, and Phoebe.

Our inventory is packed with
everything we need for the field trip.

I even prepared bribes to win
the favour of the Master of the Forest we are supposed to meet during
the trip.

In short, all we need to do
now is just show up.

Alright. During this field
trip, my goal is to raise Phoebe’s affection level to 70!

Sure, I might have lost some
points while clearing the Academy’s dungeon, but that’s okay.

I can make it up.

Since we’ll be spending all
our time together during the field trip, I’ll show off my
capabilities.

I can do this.

Haven’t I done the Saint’s
route so many times before?

“The location is Scytil
Forest, which is south of the Soul Academy. Some professors have
already gone ahead…”

…What? Scytil Forest?

What do you mean, professor?

Isn’t the forest we visit in
the first semester of the first year supposed to be Siluf Forest?

The place where an old wolf,
the Master of the Forest, has lived for hundreds of years.

Scytil Forest is meant for the
second semester of the first year, isn’t it?

Could there be a mistake?

I asked the question, troubled
by the change from the game, but the professor shook his head.

“No, Lady Allen. It is
indeed Scytil Forest.”

Huh?

No.

Wait a minute.

Damn it.

This is really bad.

The difficulty of the field
trip itself doesn’t matter.

The professors will adjust
that.

Do I need different items?

That’s also not an issue.

I can just utilise Alsatine.

There is only one problem.

Because of the damn sloppy
Armadi’s quest, I need to meet the Master of the Forest, but if the
field trip is in Scytil Forest, I might not be able to meet the
Master of the Forest.

Damn it. What should I do?

I don’t want to get the
failure penalty!

I really don’t want to know
what the truly humiliating consequence is!

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