Chapter 80: Do You Have Friends?

Ŕеａđ ȯɴ Кɑț​Ṛεα​ⅾıη​ǵĊαғ​ė

“Riley… Why do you keep doing that…”

Sugar’s cheeks stretched out, her pronunciation slurring as she spoke.

Did Riley pull them with his hands like usual? No, not exactly. It was similar, but technically different.

“You… Were you awake earlier?”

“No. And what do you mean ‘were you’? So, you did something while I was asleep, didn’t you?”

Sugar, her eyes tearing up from the pain, asked suspiciously; Riley playing dumb in return.

Feeling guilty, Sugar avoided eye contact.

“A-ah, I didn’t do anything… I just cleaned your ears… I didn’t do anything wrong…”

“…”

“At the very least… Do it with your hands. I don’t feel any affection like this…”

Because of what happened earlier, Riley was reluctant to make direct contact so he was pulling Sugar’s cheeks using magic, waving his staff. But Sugar preferred when it was done by hand; she was the type of woman who liked being touched by Riley.

“Excuse me… Could you two be quiet?”

Right then.

A third voice interrupted, making both of them turn their heads. Leon was looking at them with a displeased expression.

“We were here first.”

“That’s right.”

Riley answered curtly, Sugar nodding in agreement next to him. At that moment, Riley finally let go of the spell, her soft cheeks bouncing back into place.

Leon let out a sigh.

“This is really different from my dreams…”

He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear and started gathering his writing materials. He had apparently settled in a quiet corner of the pavilion to study, only to be met with this bickering spectacle.

“…But leaving for real would make me feel bad, too.”

“Then what do you expect us to do?”

Sugar asked, and Leon frowned as he responded.

“Alright. We’ll try to be quieter. Riley, let’s lower our voices.”

“Can you endure it?”

“…Huh?”

Riley leaned in close, pressing his lips near Sugar’s ear. Then, in a hushed tone, he started whispering things like, “Idiot, perverted Sugar, lewd woman.” Every time, Sugar shuddered.

“Wh-who told you… to whisper in my ear…! Why are you acting so mean all of a sudden…?!”

She trembled as she asked, barely managing to hold back her reactions.

There was no doubt—he had been awake earlier. This was definitely revenge.

Sugar frowned with a flushed face but Riley, feigning ignorance, blew a soft breath into her ear.

“…!”

She seemed even more sensitive than before. Letting out a small gasp, she lost her balance and Riley pulled her into his arms, covering her with his cloak.

“What?”

Then, he turned to Leon, his tone implying, “You enjoying the show?”

“…Well, at least it’s good to see you two get along.”

“We don’t get along that well.”

“…”

Leon once again felt like he was getting hit over the head. He recalled how Sugar had previously insisted, “We’re not lovers.”

‘What even is a couple?’

His concept of it felt tangled. He never had much interest in girls, he didn’t care about other people’s love lives either. His mind had always been focused on his mother and his studies.

Even so, one thing he did know was—if they were touching each other this much, weren’t they practically already married?

…Or was he being too conservative?

‘…Whatever.’

This was the infamous pair who had already racked up 60 demerit points for public indecency. No one even knew why they had come to Steele in the first place.

The image from his dreams still gave him chills sometimes, but when he saw them sticking so close together like this, he oddly felt reassured. Deciding to think positively, he quietly rose from his seat.

Thanks to getting permission from the herbology professor, he had free access to the greenhouse, and this pavilion nearby was the perfect place to study. But today, it couldn’t be helped.

As he was about to leave, Sugar peeked out from Riley’s cloak.

“Oh, wait!”

“I was just leaving. What now?”

“It’s nothing big. Leon, do you have any friends?”

“…What?”

Do you have friends?

What kind of question was that? Asking a student who was studying alone in a deserted pavilion during lunch—was that really appropriate?

Realizing she had been too blunt, Sugar rephrased her words.

“Oh, no, I mean. Not necessarily a friend, but do you have anyone you’re acquainted with? Someone you exchanged names with, at least?”

Leon was so popular that if she didn’t ask at moments like this, she wouldn’t get the chance.

For Sugar, this was a way to check if the story’s flow was on track. Had he met any heroines? Any male companions? She needed to see how much the story had deviated.

‘It’s been five days since enrollment. He should’ve met at least one or two people by now…’

And the answer came more easily than expected.

“No, I don’t. Ah, if you’re asking about someone who shared their name with me, then yes, there is one person.”

“…Who?”

“His Holin… Ian.”

Sugar smacked her forehead.

Nothing matched the original story!

At this point, it was actually kind of funny. Fine, you carve your own path; it’s not like we didn’t do the same.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

Leon politely bowed his head and left.

Sugar promptly jumped out of Riley’s embrace and followed after him, dragging a reluctant Riley by the hand.

“…Why are you following him?”

“Ian said it was okay to call them by name, right? Ian’s friend is our friend. It’s good to get along.”

Sugar already felt a sense of connection with Leon. After all, in some world—some game—they had spent dozens of hours together. “We’re practically family!”—that kind of feeling.

School life with Riley and Ian was nice, but the more friends, the better. Sugar had always used her outgoing and kind nature to twist fate and create new relationships.

‘I’m also curious why he turned out this way.’

On top of that, she had hopes for the Saint’s Staff. However, in his current state, she shouldn’t expect too much but human relationships weren’t always built on expectations and benefits.

Thus, the Saintess of the Evil God dragged the hidden villain along as she followed the protagonist.

“…Why are you following me?”

“Well, you’ve already gotten acquainted with us. Let’s be friends.”

“…”

“Oh, but don’t get too close. Riley and I are going to be the closest, after all.”

“…Did I ask?”

***********************

‘What is she thinking about now?’

Riley walked beside Sugar, gently swinging her hand as they strolled.

Her tendency to act impulsively hasn’t changed since she was a child. She’s always been the type to dart off toward whatever catches her interest.

He glanced down at Sugar, then turned his head to look ahead. A black-haired man was walking in front of them.

Riley narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the back of the man’s head.

It was the man Sugar had been showing interest in for the past few days. He knew it wasn’t some trivial plan like a “jealousy-inducing tactic!” or something like that.

Sugar claimed it was because of the Saint’s staff.

Was she really that devout? If it were heresy, she’d be trembling with anger, so was this a reaction to that?

Riley also held the Saint and his disciples’ achievements in high regard. He was interested in the staff too. His own name was derived from the Saint’s first disciple.

But Sugar didn’t seem like the type. Though she occasionally had mature thoughts, fundamentally, she was a slightly eccentric woman. Her way of thinking was strange, and so were her actions. Lately, she’d even been a bit promiscuous.

When he looked down at Sugar, he saw her vibrant eyes. Her faintly blushing cheeks and cute smiling face made him think, “Well, whatever…” As long as she wasn’t doing anything too bizarre, he wanted to let her do as she pleased.

She was a free spirit and seeing Sugar like that was Riley’s joy.

“…”

Freedom.

That word brought one thought to mind.

‘What if, instead of a grimoire, I had—’

“Riley. Riley.”

A familiar voice instantly shattered his reverie.

Sugar pointed somewhere, and when he looked, he saw a man leaning against a wall, utterly exhausted. His expression seemed to compress all the melancholy in the world.

Their eyes met.

Soon, the man began muttering something.

“White hair… golden hair… holding hands… Ah… Ahhh…!”

Then, out of nowhere, he started running toward them with a fierce momentum. His upper body remained fixed while only his lower body moved, creating a bizarre sight.

The three of them froze in place.

“You’re the couple with 60 demerit points, right? Could you… please help me? I’ll talk to the professor and get you some merit points…”

After a moment of confusion, Sugar quickly assessed the situation and smirked.

“Let’s hear the details first.”

…

“There’s a story… We’re supposed to avoid expelling you two if possible. So, you’re like disposable human resources… No, I mean, we can give you merit points for running errands and such…”

“Ah.”

So that’s what the professors had been talking about. Sugar nodded.

“That’s good for us too. So, what do you need us to do?”

“Clean the underground dungeon…”

“Ah.”

Sugar let out a small gasp.

It felt vaguely familiar.

“Anyway, I’m Professor Hubert’s assistant… You know, the professor who teaches Advanced Mana Manipulation? He wants to renovate the underground dungeon to create a research environment, but it needs to be cleaned first…”

“How many merit points are we talking about?”

“Uh. Depends on how you do…?”

“Hmm. Hmm. 100 points.”

“What? 100 points? That’s ridiculous! For just cleaning… 20 points should be enough.”

“Then 90 points.”

“…30 points.”

“70 points. That’s the lowest I’ll go.”

“35 points. I’m under pressure too, you know.”

“60 points. Take it or leave it. We’re not exactly free either.”

“…40 points.”

“Let’s go, Riley.”

“Ah, ah! Fine! 60 points! 60 points it is!”

The corners of Sugar’s mouth rose to her ears.

“Deal.”

It was a gamble, but she knew how desperate he was.

There had been a similar subquest in the original story; a dungeon located deep beneath the historic school. Cleaning it was necessary, but the assistant was tearfully pleading because of the darkness, the underground setting, ghosts, and so on.

Experiencing it firsthand felt surreal.

Anyway, this was their chance to escape the negative points.

They also had an errand from the Herbology professor. If they completed that too, they’d be at a net +30 merit points.

Now they could slack off to their hearts’ content!

Sugar grinned at Riley, who let out a deep sigh. Her thoughts were written all over her face.

Seizing the opportunity, Leon quietly tried to slip away. Originally this task would have fallen to him, but he had no way of knowing that. He just didn’t want to get involved.

However Sugar wasn’t one to let him go so easily.

“Ah! Leon with the Saint’s staff! Where are you going? Won’t you help us?”

The more hands, the better.

Soon, all the surrounding students were looking at them.

“Ah…! You’re that…! If it’s okay with you, could you help too?”

The assistant immediately urged Leon as well. A student wielding the Saint’s staff? There was no one more suited for this task.

His eyes sparkled as he pleaded with his expression. It was awkward seeing a grown man act like that, but Sugar’s presence somehow neutralized the awkwardness.

Leon was flustered by the two pairs of sparkling eyes.

‘If we push a little harder, he’ll probably give in…’

Sugar quickly poked Riley’s side.

“……Wow. It’d be great if you could help.”

He spoke monotonously, like reading from a textbook, but it was still effective.

With the three of them openly pressuring him, Leon couldn’t refuse. He was fundamentally polite and kind.

Moreover, seeing the arrogant man from his dreams acting like this was a shock to Leon.

“…Alright. I’ll help.”

“Great!”

Sugar jumped with joy.

“Then, let’s meet after school.”

‘I should call Ian too.’

Another day of enjoying the thrilling life at Steele.

Translator Note

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