Chapter 18: You don’t like?

“Phew, haa…”  

Early morning.  

I woke up earlier than usual and was running near the dormitory.  

The reason for running was basic stamina training.  

Since I hadn’t done any physical conditioning until recently due to pursuing Marie, I was now hurriedly starting to get my body moving.  

Of course, it wasn’t exactly too late.  

Ding!  

[“Due to the effect of ‘Blossoming Talent,’ training efficiency is maximized!”]  

Thanks to the perks of easy mode, the effects of my stamina training were excellent.  

It had been a week since I finished pursuing Marie and started this morning training routine.  

Just one week, but thanks to this trait, I could already feel my stamina improving.  

In a way, starting later than I did in the fourth cycle of hard mode, I might have grown even more now.  

“98… phew, 99… grunt… 100!”  

After running, I moved on to light bodyweight exercises to build strength.  

Completing my goal of 100 push-ups, I finished the morning training session.  

“Haa… That was tough…”  

It was exhausting, but not bad.  

One perk of exercise is that the effort drowns out stray thoughts.  

Still, once the workout ends, those thoughts creep back in.  

“Marie… I’m glad she seems to be doing better than I worried…”  

Lately, the most frequent stray thought was about Marie.  

A week ago, Marie confessed to me again.  

That day, I cleanly rejected her confession.  

Naturally, I had no intention of becoming her lover.  

But a part of me felt a little uneasy.  

After all, the Marie I met that day was far—very far—gloomier than usual.  

I’d worried that rejecting her might push her to do something extreme.  

“…But she seemed fine, surprisingly.”  

The next day, I ran into Marie in the hallway, and she greeted me hesitantly.  

We chatted casually like before and parted ways cleanly.  

No more crying or clinging, no dark expressions.  

“Has she given up?”  

Or maybe she hasn’t.  

Either way, it didn’t matter.  

As long as Marie didn’t do anything drastic, I could stop worrying about her and focus on my next goal.  

Lost in these thoughts, I’d let time slip by.  

I got up from the grass, preparing to head back.  

“Time to go…”  

“Go where?”  

“Gah!”  

At that moment, a voice from someone who’d approached unnoticed startled me, and I whipped around.  

“S-Sierra…?”  

“Hi! Working hard this morning, huh?”  

“Hehe, but isn’t that a bit of an overreaction? Scaredy-cat~.”  

Her playful teasing made me narrow my eyes and silently glare at her.  

Scaredy-cat, huh?  

I couldn’t help it.  

After facing that Marie a week ago,  

I’d momentarily thought it was her again and panicked.  

It’s not like I’m actually a coward.  

“What’ve you been up to lately? I’ve seen you training every morning.”  

As I stared at her, feeling unjustly accused, Sierra smiled warmly and asked.  

“Like you saw. Training. …How’d you even know I’ve been training at this hour?”  

“Well, I wake up around this time. A cup of morning tea makes the day feel so refreshing.”  

“…So you saw me while sipping your tea?”  

“Yup. I was like, ‘What’s he up to?’ and watched you for a week. Got curious and came out here.”  

Sierra grinned brightly as she explained.  

Her pretty face beamed with an innocent smile, and I couldn’t help but feel my heart skip a beat, quickly averting my eyes.  

“So? Why’ve you been training every morning? Dieting?”  

“Are you serious…?”  

“Haha, kidding, kidding!”  

Dieting, huh?  

Unless losing weight made me stronger, that wasn’t happening.  

I’m at a normal weight anyway.  

Knowing that, Sierra giggled at her own joke.  

“Just preparing for an upcoming practical exam.”  

“Practical exam? …Oh! You mean the finals!”  

Realizing what I meant, Sierra clapped her hands together.  

“Wow… Are you seriously preparing for finals already? …No wonder you’re such a nerd.”  

“Who’re you calling a nerd?”  

“I take exams seriously too, but I don’t start prepping for finals a week after midterms.”  

Hearing Sierra put it that way, I could see how I might look like an exam-obsessed freak.  

In reality, I couldn’t care less about exams—I’m only thinking about pursuing heroines.  

It’s unfair, but there’s nothing I can do, so I quietly shut my mouth.  

But Sierra, who’d been studying me closely, smirked mischievously and said, “Oh, maybe~.”  

“Is it because of that thing from before?”  

“What thing?”  

“You know, when you got carried off after sparring with Malcolm.”  

“Oh…”  

“Hehe, must’ve been pretty embarrassing. Trying to make up for it with this practical exam?”  

“It’s not like that…”  

“Don’t be embarrassed. Guys can be weak sometimes. You know what they say—heaven’s fair, right? If you’re good at studying and fighting, that’d be unfair. Haha!”  

What’s this girl on about?  

Sierra giggled knowingly and patted my shoulder.  

A tease disguised as comfort.  

Her touch made me bristle with indignation.  

‘I let him hit me on purpose back then!’

If I told the truth, this frustration would clear up.  

But then it might come out that I used Malcolm to pursue Marie.  

So, despite the embarrassment and unfairness—  

“Yeah, I’m a weakling trying to get stronger. Happy now?”  

I brushed Sierra’s hand off my shoulder and answered curtly.  

“Huh? What?”  

Sierra, who’d been giggling, suddenly stared at me blankly, then broke into a wide smile.  

“What’s this? You’re more upfront than I thought! I expected a ton of excuses.”  

“Disappointed I didn’t react the way you wanted?”  

“Nope, hehe.”  

She laughed off my glare, giving me a strange look with that bright smile.  

With her already stunning looks, facing Sierra’s innocent grin made me catch my breath for a moment.  

“I don’t mind people who own it. And trying to overcome your weaknesses? That’s pretty cool.”  

The Sierra who’d been teasing me moments ago now spoke in a calm, sincere tone.  

What’s with her?  

She comes out of nowhere to mess with me, then suddenly acknowledges my efforts with that odd expression.  

The embarrassment from her teasing was replaced by a different kind—a warmth filling my head.  

“Alright, then I’m in too!”  

“What…?”  

As I stood there silently calming myself,  

Sierra suddenly jumped up and declared.  

“What else? Practical exam training, obviously!”  

She grinned playfully at me again while I sat there.  

“I’ll come out starting tomorrow morning. Take care of me!”  

“…Huh?”  

“Get ready. I didn’t take top spot in midterms, but I’m definitely getting it for finals.”  

“Wait, you can’t just decide—”  

“See you at the academy later!”  

She made her unilateral declaration, gave a casual goodbye, and walked off.  

Her sudden, decisive actions left me too stunned to stop her, and I just watched her retreating figure.  

“…Starting tomorrow morning, she says?”  

For some reason, my connection with Sierra just wouldn’t break off in this cycle.  

***

Time passed, and soon it was after school.  

“She’s coming out starting tomorrow… Why on earth…?”  

With my mind already tangled up with thoughts of Chris and Marie, Sierra had just tossed me another thing to worry about.  

The protagonist of the original story, who I kept getting tangled up with in this cycle for some reason.  

“What’s changed…?”  

In all the cycles so far, I’d never once approached Sierra on my own.  

After all, she already had five predestined partners.  

Beyond that, since I’d decided to focus solely on revenge this cycle, there was even less reason for me to get close to her.  

But strangely, my encounters with Sierra kept increasing.  

“Is being the top student really that big of an advantage?”  

No matter how I thought about it, that seemed to be the only reason Sierra was approaching me.  

I couldn’t come up with any other guesses.  

“…This is a downside I’ll have to weigh against the benefits.”  

Being the top student had made pursuing Marie incredibly easy.  

It even gave weight to my words when I confronted Damian.  

But on the flip side, it kept getting me tangled up with Sierra, the original protagonist.  

“Well, I don’t dislike her or anything…”  

I didn’t dislike her.  

But since I didn’t know what kind of variable she might introduce to my goals, I couldn’t help but be concerned.  

“No, for now, let’s focus on the immediate goal.”  

I shook my head lightly to clear my stray thoughts as I passed by the students heading home.  

No more thinking about Sierra or Marie.  

My current goal—  

Chris’s pursuit—came to mind as I walked down the hallway.  

“It’s about time to get started.”  

It had been a week since I began my morning personal training.  

Thanks to the perks working better than expected, I’d reached my target strength and stamina sooner than planned.  

So today, I headed straight to where Chris was.  

The location was a private training area tucked away in a corner of the sports field.  

After school, no one ever came by, but she was always there, holding her ground.  

And today was no different.  

As I approached the training area, the sounds of Chris’s practice reached my ears.  

“Hah!”  

Thwack—!!  

The dull sound of a wooden sword striking something blunt.  

She was probably practicing her swordsmanship alone against the scarecrow in the training area.  

“It’s been a while…”  

Aside from the fourth cycle, I’d hardly ever come here.  

As I neared the training area, the painful memories from that cycle crept back into my mind.  

“Use your feet, not your hands!!”  

“Argh—!!”  

“You idiot! Your feet stopped moving!!”  

“W-Wait, wait… Just a sec—!!”  

“You think the enemy will wait for you in a real fight?!”  

“Gaaah!!”  

Now that I think about it, those aren’t fond memories.  

At the very least, my memories with Marie were mostly tender and cozy.  

But with Chris, they were overwhelmingly filled with pain and fear.  

“Man… For a hard-mode extra, she sure was motivated…”  

Looking back, I have no idea how I endured that hellish training without any perks.  

Well, thanks to it, I managed to pursue Chris, though.  

Tracing those memories, I cautiously peeked inside the training area.  

What immediately caught my eye was her swaying blonde hair and the glistening beads of sweat that sparkled enticingly.  

“Haa!!”  

Thud! Thwack—!!  

Alone in the training area, Chris swung her wooden sword with a serious expression.  

“She’s way more diligent than her looks suggest…”  

Despite her delinquent-like appearance and personality, her earnest and upright nature was Chris’s unexpected charm.  

The delinquent character wasn’t my type, but that diligence was the part I could genuinely fall for.  

Of course…  

“Let’s break up…”  

“Tch… Shut up. I’m just not serious about you anymore.”  

“Just… forget everything that happened between us…”  

Even so, she ended up going to someone else.  

Being diligent didn’t mean she wouldn’t cheat.  

I learned that the hard way in the fourth cycle.  

“No, let’s not dwell on bad memories before starting the pursuit.”  

I pushed those despairing thoughts down as much as I could.  

Right now, I was still just someone Chris barely knew.  

I needed to approach her with as much goodwill as possible.  

After all, she was as sharp at reading emotions as her appearance suggested.  

“Alright, she’s almost done…”  

Just then, Chris, who’d been striking the scarecrow with her wooden sword, set it down and sat nearby to drink some water.  

Gulp, gulp.  

As she tilted her head back to drink, her sweat-glistened neck and collarbone were revealed in an alluring way.  

For a moment, I watched her, waiting for the right opportunity, captivated by the sight I couldn’t tear my eyes from.  

“Phew… So, how long are you planning to stay there?”  

“Ah.”  

I’d been caught.  

“Sorry, I was going to say something, but you were so focused… When did you notice?”  

“I heard your footsteps when you got close.”  

She’d noticed me much earlier than I’d thought.  

I’d assumed I was well-hidden, so a slight wave of embarrassment washed over me.  

But Chris didn’t seem to care about that at all.  

With her usual sharp, indifferent expression, she spoke.  

“Emil… right?”  

“Uh, yeah.”  

She said my name, showing she remembered me.  

“So? What’s up? You got business with me?”  

Skipping the small talk, Chris cut straight to the point, asking about my purpose.  

That was very much like her.  

“I hope she accepts my request just as straightforwardly.”  

To pursue a heroine, building rapport with her is, of course, the most important step.  

Sure, there’s an event later that can massively boost affection, but that event only works if you’ve already established some familiarity.  

For Marie, that was the midterm study group.  

However, with Chris, the approach had to be a little different from Marie’s.  

With Marie, I approached her in a way where I was helping her.  

“I have a favor to ask… Chris.”  

“Me?”  

This time, it was the opposite.  

“Teach me swordsmanship!”  

I bowed my head confidently, facing Chris with a serious expression.  

That’s what made this pursuit different from Marie’s.  

In this pursuit, I’d be the one relying on Chris.  

“Swordsmanship?”  

“Yeah, please. I really want to learn it from you.”  

And that’s exactly why it posed the opposite problem from Marie’s case.  

With Marie, as long as I was competent enough to help her, building a connection was a breeze.  

But with Chris—  

“Nah, why should I?”  

“Figured as much, huh?”  

The issue was that creating a connection could fail depending on her mood.  

If I couldn’t resolve that, the pursuit wouldn’t even get off the ground.