Ch.129129 – Motivation

# 129 – Motivation

She’s a young friend, but her skills surpass his own.

The top student of her year, loved and envied by many.

Opinions about her might be divided, but one thing was certain.

Oknodie is popular.

The kind of popular where people watch her every move.

And here he is, wandering around looking for food with her.

‘Wait… isn’t this basically a date?’

There was a time when Morb thought that way.

“Save me…”

“Where do you think you’re going? You haven’t finished your plates yet, Morb!”

“I feel like my stomach’s going to burst…”

On Morb’s table were small remains of what used to be <Potato Salad>, <Tornado Potatoes>, <Potato Pancakes>, <Braised Potatoes>, and <Stir-fried Potatoes>.

“You haven’t even tried all the menu items that start with ‘potato’ yet. Don’t be such a baby!”

“Who has dates like this?!”

“Date?”

“Ah, no. Not a date—education! Mentoring education!”

“Hmm.”

Oknodie, who had been chasing him with plates in hand, put her hand on her chin with an expression like a guard examining a criminal.

After enduring so much food torture, he’d made a slip of the tongue.

Morb berated himself.

To think he was getting date vibes with a child who was just trying to help him!

Thoughts are private, but once they escape your mouth, you have to take responsibility for your words.

“Heeh. So Morb was following me around thinking this was a date.”

“I-I’m sorry, Oknodie.”

He had no excuse, even if he had ten mouths.

Oknodie was just a child, barely ten years old.

Even though they were both teenagers, mentioning a date with someone so young could easily get him branded as a pedophile or pervert.

Morb’s eyes trembled pitifully.

What if she started crying?

Would he be dragged to the student council as a sex offender?

Could he even be expelled?!

As he trembled, Oknodie casually tossed out:

“It’s okay.”

“…What is?”

“I said it’s okay if you think of it as a date!”

—His brain short-circuited for a moment.

What was she thinking, saying something like that?

A girl to a boy?

And the age gap wasn’t small either.

There’s a big difference between early teens and late teens.

Did she even understand what she was saying?

Morb’s heart raced for an entirely different reason now.

A finger poked his side.

“Aaack!”

The terrifying strength snapped him back to reality.

“But first, you need to work off that belly with exercise!”

The moment of excitement was brief.

Morb ended up running like crazy.

After exhausting himself completely, all thoughts of dates vanished—he just wanted it to end.

If he heard the word “date” one more time, he’d collapse.

He vowed never to mention it again.

* * *

[You have trained lower-class Morb.]

[Running experience +2]

[Good Child experience +1]

Eating, running, eating, running.

Eating together helped him collect recipes he hadn’t gathered before, making his collection progress smoother.

[You have acquired the title <Potato Dish Enthusiast>.]

*Potato Dish Enthusiast*: Having devoured 25 different potato dishes, you’ve earned the right to call yourself a potato dish enthusiast.

-Title equip effect: Slight increase in potato detection ability

-Title possession effect: Very slight increase in potato detection ability

It’s a title that allows you to subconsciously detect potatoes nearby.

Don’t underestimate titles just because they don’t give stat bonuses.

The ability to find wild potatoes during voluntary starvation experiences when you’ve spent all your points on impulse purchases is practically like having an extra life.

Moreover, fantasy-world potatoes are common plants found almost everywhere.

During outdoor activities where food supply is necessary, they’re like that unwanted relative—you complain when they’re around, but desperately search for them when they’re not.

Regardless of how poorly they’re regarded, it’s not a bad title to have, as it helps find daily sustenance during food shortages.

Similar enthusiast titles can be combined if you collect enough of them, which is what she’s aiming for long-term.

‘When detection ability titles combine, they lead to overall detection ability increase!’

This is a high-performance function that newbies wouldn’t even think of getting through food collection!

In this world, there’s a reason why the powerful and upper class enjoy fine dining and seek out various cuisines.

“How was it, Morb? Was today’s training helpful?”

“I never want to do this again…”

“Don’t worry!”

I won’t do this twice.

“We’ll do it three times a week!”

“You can’t be serious…”

I absolutely can’t resist bullying newbies three times a week.

Hehe.

Taste the veteran treatment!

* * *

After thoroughly tormenting Morb, a week had quickly passed.

‘Ah, it’s the fourth week.’

Though she moved around the Academy as comfortably as her own home, she needed to be careful during the fourth week.

That’s because during the last week of every month, negative incidents occurred almost without fail.

This isn’t referring to weekly events.

These aren’t Academy-planned events but “incidents” that affect both main and supporting characters.

The fourth week of the first month is just a taste for the newbies.

Generally, it’s a sudden incident caused by a lower-class student.

‘Normally I wouldn’t have connections in the lower class to get information easily, but this playthrough is different.’

With Morb as a friend in the lower class, even if the distance between upper and lower classes is great and reputation building gets complicated, she can still get information through him.

“Is that her?”

“Poor thing.”

“Don’t make eye contact. They say assassins can kill you just by looking at you for three seconds.”

While waiting to meet Morb, students passing through the corridor whispered.

It wasn’t as openly hostile as when she clashed with the central noble ladies, but it was more insidious—rumors and ostracism spreading in a more sinister way.

Hmph. How pathetic.

Newbies with no fear.

Not worth spending time thinking about them.

She ignored them and twirled the chopsticks in her hand.

Morb was late today.

Did his previous lecture end late?

While waiting for him, she leaned against a pillar in the shadows.

As she watched butterflies fluttering outside the window, she heard giggling from somewhere.

‘Should I throw it?’

She adjusted her grip on the chopsticks, checking if any instructors who might deduct points were nearby, and made direct eye contact with one.

“…”

“…”

The instructor silently looked at the chopsticks in her hand.

More specifically, at the throwing stance of her hand holding the chopsticks.

She put on an innocent expression that said, “I wasn’t going to throw anything!”

“Chop-chop-chopsticks~”

She pretended to catch the butterfly outside with her chopsticks, and the instructor snorted, giving her a stern look.

It was clear he wasn’t fooled like the passing students, so she pouted.

Tap tap tap.

When is Morb coming? The next lecture is about to start.

Just as she was grumbling internally, Morb finally appeared.

He rushed down the corridor and grabbed her hand.

“You idiot! What are you doing alone in a place like this?”

“Why am I an idiot? The idiot is Morb who’s about to fail!”

“…Being needlessly kind won’t…”

“I’m kind?”

“Never mind, just follow me.”

As Morb pretended to pull her by the arm, she relaxed her body and let herself be led.

If he couldn’t physically pull a small child, it might damage not just his mentoring but his learning motivation too.

Hmph.

I’m so considerate even about these little details!

I’m a total pro tutor!

* * *

Monday’s third period lecture on <Learning Linked Skills> ran longer than expected.

“Skills involve activating abilities of a fixed specification, similar to magic. However, physical skills only gained attention after magical skills emerged. Physical skills are defined as applying the laws of formalization needed for magical skill activation to the body, but in exchange for ease of activation, they have drawbacks like fixed casting motions or fixed power.”

“There are ways to overcome the drawbacks of physical skills. Who can tell us? You there, Mr. Morb?”

Oknodie had said she’d be waiting before the Ranged Weapon Mastery lecture during break time.

But the professor’s questions wouldn’t end, perhaps because he was sitting in the front row.

“Skills can be simplified in casting motions or incantations as proficiency increases, and connecting them to specific movements for instant activation is called <Instant Link>.”

“Correct. Mastering Instant Link allows for <Silent Casting> and <Zero Motion>, enabling instant activation without preliminary actions. Nevertheless, it’s difficult for one person to handle more than 10 instant-cast skills, as human cognition and memorization…”

He already knew all the theoretical parts.

That skill proficiency can somehow be reduced through effort.

That talented individuals mock even that effort, filling their proficiency at an incredible speed, so that even when taking the same lecture, they zoom far ahead.

That he himself doesn’t have such talent.

That’s why he’s working hard on assignments and filling skill proficiency in the secret training ground all night, and that if he slacks off even for a day, he’ll fall behind.

He knows it all.

That’s why he attends the lectures.

To hear “tips” that might help reduce the talent gap even a little.

To walk the “right path” of proper practice that fills proficiency with less effort.

But this lecture is too slow.

The pace of the lecture.

The professor’s voice.

Even the time it takes for the lecture to end.

“That concludes today’s lecture.”

As soon as the lecture ended, he rushed out.

He should apologize for being late first.

What if she’s angry and already went to the lecture hall?

She’s using her time to teach a lower-class student like him.

Feeling guilty for wasting the time of the top student, he ran even harder, and fortunately spotted Oknodie leaning against a pillar on the way to the lecture hall.

She looks so pretty today too.

Her side profile, silently gazing out the window, is even prettier.

How many men will this child make cry when she grows up?

Feeling more embarrassed than happy, he resolved to act even more firmly and dignified despite his slightly self-conscious feelings.

But as he approached her, his steps gradually slowed, and his rapid breathing quickly subsided.

“Doesn’t Oknodie seem a bit off? What’s with that ‘chop-chop-chopsticks’ thing anyway?”

“I don’t know. Just singing with some weird sticks. She seems a bit slow. Like those kids they say are in the magic tower?”

“Ah, that? I know. Unfocused, slurred speech, looking strange even as they age. She’s ten, old enough to know better, but she acts just like them.”

“She might be flirting with the boys. Such a young thing already acting like a vixen. No wonder those rumors are going around.”

“Maybe that’s how she was raised?”

“Enough, stop talking. If she catches us, we’ll just be humiliated like Lotta. She’s the type to hit people she doesn’t like.”

Students passing by, badmouthing Oknodie.

They were speaking so loudly.

There’s no way she couldn’t hear.

Sure enough, looking closely, Oknodie’s hands revealed her anxious state.

Her hands trembled, unsure how to hold the chopsticks, fidgeting nervously.

She must have heard everything.

An adult should have intervened.

But no one helped Oknodie.

Not even the instructor.

Despite Oknodie giving up her weekends to help a failing student, no one was helping her when she needed it.

Alone.

Lonely.

Just staring at butterflies outside the window.

“You idiot! What are you doing alone in a place like this?”

“Why am I an idiot? The idiot is Morb who’s about to fail!”

“…Being needlessly kind won’t…”

“I’m kind?”

Oknodie tilted her head.

Pretending nothing was wrong, with a bright smile, he grabbed her hand firmly and pulled.

“Never mind, just follow me.”

He was angry.

Upset.

Even indignant.

‘It must be because of me.’

This poor child who endured such humiliation to keep her promise, silently waiting at the meeting place without leaving.

‘I want to repay her.’

A desire to help this child, even just a little, blazed like a flame inside him.

His attitude, which had dismissed her “eat and run” approach, fundamentally changed.

Don’t complain.

Trust Oknodie.

Having made his resolution, Oknodie said to him:

“Don’t eat dinner later!”

“What are we eating today?”

“We’re going to eat rocks!”

“…Understood.”

Oknodie was more surprised by his quick agreement.