chapter_0243

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
243

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
243

My mind went blank for a
moment, making it impossible to understand what Joy was saying.

No, wait a second.

Huh?

‘See what?’

…So, it’s something like
this?

Lucy suddenly asked the Duke
for a favour to visit the Burrow Family’s estate.

There must be a reason behind
such a request, as she wouldn’t ask for no reason.

The only link between Lucy and
the Burrow Family is the Inferior Duke.

Therefore, Lucy must be
interested in the Inferior Duke.

Even though I finally
understood the context after a long consideration, I still couldn’t
shake off the feeling of absurdity.

I had so much to say, but…

First, Joy would have to pay
for surprising me.

“Your brain is really pink,
isn’t it?♡ Oh, are you jealous? ♡ So, the airhead has an interest
in the Inferior Duke? ♡”

“…What? No! I
don’t!…”

“Don’t worry! ♡ I’m not
interested in such trash ♡ Oh. Is it bad to call someone trash when
my friend likes him? ♡”

“It’s not like that!”

Joy’s face turned as pink as
her brain, and she shouted as loud as she could.

Seeing her react so
dramatically, it seemed genuine that she wasn’t interested.

Why do you try to link me to
someone you don’t even care about? Airhead.

Considering Joy’s age and high
school-like personality, it’s not strange for her to love talking
about romance, but could you not involve me?

It really annoys me.
Seriously.

When I sighed, unable to bear
the irritation, Joy glanced at me cautiously.

“…Do you really have no
interest?”

‘No, on the contrary…’

“Let me ask you the other
way around, airhead. Why would you think I’d be interested in someone
like that?”

“Well, that’s because…
So, um…”

Huh? Why is she stuttering?

No matter how you look at it,
there’s definitely something going on here.

Joy, unable to withstand my
piercing gaze and remaining silent, finally spoke up.

“…There was a rumour.”

Joy was referring to the time
when I tried to increase Jack Burrow’s affection level.

I had tried to give him a
necklace, but he had coldly rejected it.

After that, I gave up on
trying to raise his affection level. From my perspective, it was just
a desperate attempt to survive, but the students at Soul Academy saw
it differently.

They thought; Lucy Allen
showed interest in Jack Burrow, but got rejected.

“It was a widely spread
rumour among the ladies back then. Though it disappeared quickly
since there were no further interactions after that.”

Listening to Joy’s
explanation made my head spin.

If that kind of rumour
existed, then that changes everything. From Joy’s perspective, what
she thought was just a rumour might have seemed real to her.

There’s also a clear reason I
never heard that rumour. If it was true, bringing it up in front of
me would have been like stepping on a landmine.

…No way, does Jack also
misunderstand this situation? Could it be that the harsh rejection
back then was because of this?

Did I end up confessing and
getting rejected without even knowing it?!

I had no such intention…
Well, I did try to increase his affection level, so basically, yes…

Aaaah!

I shouldn’t have asked!
Hearing the story has made me feel like crap!

Should I go to Luca and ask
him to erase my memory?

“It seems like it was
just a baseless rumour, seeing as your reaction isn’t very positive.”

‘Of course!’

“Do you think someone
like him would match with someone as cute and beautiful, on top of
being capable, like me? Airhead. Should I get you some glasses?”

“…Lucy, you’ve
stopped calling me ‘Lady’ from a certain point.”

I half-listened to Joy’s
words while thinking.

In the end, the rumour
probably spread because I only gave a gift to Jack.

If that’s the case, I should
start gradually handing out the prepared gifts to those around me.

Anyway, I’ve already bought
all the gifts for everyone’s birthdays from the auction house.

“Lucy, are you really not
interested? Is nothing going on?”

Despite me explaining multiple
times, Joy kept asking to make sure.

Why on earth doesn’t she
believe my words!

Is it such a big deal that I
wanted to give someone a necklace?!

Fine! Fine, I’ll give you a
present too, Joy!

Annoyed, I took out an item
from my inventory and handed it to Joy.

“…What’s this?”

It was a necklace with a red
gemstone embedded in it.

It had the ability to store a
bit of magic power in it to be used in an emergency.

Though it had value as a
jewel, its practical use was more significant.

‘Your birthday is coming up
soon, right? So…’

“Your birthday is coming up
soon, Airhead. I prepared this in advance, but you kept pestering me,
so I’ll just give it to you now. Happy now, you greedy airhead?”

“…What?! No, that’s not
why I was asking!”

‘Really?…’

“Really? Then I guess I can
take it back.”

Annoyed by how flustered I was
just a moment ago because of Joy, I spoke teasingly, and she snatched
the necklace from my hand.

“It’s… it’s a birthday
present, right? You can’t take it back!”

Seeing her hold the necklace
tightly with both hands as if it were precious made me smile.

Anyway, it’s a relief if she
liked the gift.

After asking Duke Partan for
help, I spent nearly two weeks preparing for the visit to the Burrow
Family.

Most of my preparations were
measures to detect any abnormalities, and some were measures to
survive assuming the worst-case scenarios such as.

Precautions against the Dark
Mage residing in one of the Burrow Family’s territories.

Preparations for potential
dangers that could arise from a nearby Dungeon.

Readying for dangerous
individuals who might harbour ill intentions towards the Burrow
Family.

As a result, I ended up
spending nearly all the money I received from the Academy’s first
conquest reward.

Although I can earn money
later, watching a few hundred gold coins vanish so quickly still
stung a bit.

On the bright side, I managed
to fill my Inventory with useful items, so it’s not all for naught.

Apart from preparing, I
dedicated my time to personal training.

In other words, I went about
my daily routine.

I continued my personal
training.

I practised handling divine
energy with Grandpa in Practice Mode while also perfecting the
techniques I used against the Second Prince.

Whenever I had time, I would
visit Luca to overcome various trials and increase my stats.

I shared with Joy, Arthur, and
Frey the various grinding methods I knew to help them grow stronger
and put them to work.

Phoebe, who wanted to join the
training, was put through physical training.

Oh, and I also managed to
maintain first place in the midterm exams of the second semester.

Of course, it wasn’t
entirely my own skill that got me the first place. While my practical
skills are fine, my theory still has a lot of rough edges.

It wasn’t thanks to
Grandpa’s help either. He said that unless it’s urgent, I need to
solve things on my own, so I couldn’t even dream of asking for
advice.

So how did I manage to
maintain first place? I finally succeeded in properly utilising the
Log function!

Hehe. Right before the exam, I
recorded the exam scope into the Log to prevent it from disappearing,
which allowed me to achieve overwhelming grades.

For your information, Arthur
came in second, and Joy was third. It’s interesting because I’ve
been working Arthur so hard that he barely had time to study for
theory.

I guess he really is a genius.

Recently, I assigned Joy,
Arthur, Frey, and Phoebe the task of conquering the Academy Dungeon
together.

The reason was to make sure
they no longer rely solely on me as a cheat key.

The conditions were simple:
completely conquer the Academy Dungeon before the end of the second
semester at the Academy.

Even a novice at Soul Academy
could conquer it on their first try if they just followed a guide.

Given that the team
composition is impressively good for the second semester of the first
year at Soul Academy, and with Arthur, who is very capable, leading
them, I thought the conquest would proceed quite smoothly. But an
unexpected variable arose.

Frey started refusing to
cooperate. As soon as she was out of my direct influence, her
eccentricities resurfaced.

“But going into the
dungeon with the prince is boring.”

“…That boring approach
is what we usually call the basics, Lady Kent.”

“Either way, it’s still
boring, isn’t it?”

Though Arthur was visibly
suppressing his frustration during his serious conversation with
Frey, I didn’t step in to help him.

A team leader needs to learn
to deal with a troll occasionally.

Arthur, think of it all as
experience that’s helping you grow.

‘I can’t be the only one
suffering.’

Arthur, feel the hardship I
went through with Frey! Just like the users of Soul Academy, you’ll
find yourself screaming in frustration at her trolling!

One day while we were spending
time like this, I received a message from Duke Partan.

Finally, he said he was ready
to visit the Burrow estate to offer his condolences.

The morning of the day Duke
Partan had mentioned. After finishing my preparations and stepping
outside, I checked the members I had gathered to understand the
situation at the Burrow estate.

“It’s been a while since
I’ve gone out.”

First up was the perverted
Fox.

As much as I disliked bringing
along someone with such severe perversions, there was no choice this
time.

There wasn’t anyone else among
those I could mobilise who was more specialised in various
enchantments or matters of the mind.

“I hope I can be of help
to Duke Burrow.”

Next was Phoebe.

Given her unmatched ability in
divine magic compared to mine, Phoebe would be a tremendous help if
the Burrow Family’s troubles were related to the Evil God.

Frankly, I didn’t think I
could bring Phoebe along. It was uncertain whether the Church would
allow it or not.

I don’t know if they decided
to permit it because they saw an advantage in endearing themselves to
Duke Burrow or if Johan’s request had any effect, but somehow, we
managed to get their approval.

Thanks to that, we have strong
support now.

“Lady Allen? Can I go
back?”

“Yeah, Lady Allen. Are you
sure it’s okay for me to stand next to the Saint? I feel anxious
about being purified!”

‘Whatever the request…’

“It was you who said
you’d do any task, NPC #1. Are you going to cancel now?”

Third was Adri.

She is one of the top-ranking
Necromancers on the continent.

If something related to black
magic were happening at the Burrow Duke’s Mansion, I determined
that she could immediately identify it, which is why she was included
in the party.

So, I can’t send her back. It
would be troubling if the black magic detector ran away on the day of
the operation.

Bisi?

Bisi was just tagging along
for Adri. Adri can’t move without Bisi.

“If you insist, I won’t
stop you. But…”

As I trailed off my warning,
Bisi and Adri both sharply nodded in agreement.

Ha. Seriously. How many times
do I have to say that Phoebe is already aware and there’s nothing to
worry about?

Look, she’s giving us that
charming smile to show her support. She’s a good person, so don’t be
startled and be polite. Got it?

“So your name’s Bisi? Now
that you’re here, there’s no choice. Just go ahead. If you get on her
bad side, who knows what could happen.”

“Arthur?”

“Pitiful Prince, what did
I do to you? Ah, you mean what you want me to do from now on. Since
the student is dull, I’ve become dull too. It can’t be helped.
Starting next week, the training menu will…”

“It was a joke! A joke!
Don’t act like you’re going to kill someone over a single word!”

And finally, Arthur.

He, who is personally
acquainted with Jack, would certainly be a valid reason to meet Jack.

With this, all preparations
are complete.

Now, we just need to head to
the Burrow Family and verify the situation.

‘Let’s go.’

“Shall we go, you sloppy
folks?”

I truly hope that I’m just
overreacting, and that Armadi is simply playing a mischievous prank.

…But that’s unlikely.

Just like it has always been.

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