• • Jingle~!

With a clear bell sound, someone entered the store.

It was a person who had covered their head with a robe in this hot summer and concealed their face with a mask.

I couldn’t help but admire the visual that was perfect for being mistaken as a terrorist anywhere.

To think that besides me, there’s someone else trying to have a meal here at this late hour, is this place more popular than I thought?

Ah, come to think of it, the auntie said there was one take-out order left, so this might be the person who came to pick up that packaged food.

Well, either way, it’s not really my concern. I should just ignore it and try the tteokbokki…

“?”

I suddenly felt a gaze and turned my head.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I just felt like that person over there was surprised to see me.”

The masked person, upon seeing me, appears to be fidgeting like someone who has something they shouldn’t be caught doing.

They seem to be trying hard to act calm, but sadly, it looks very unnatural with that mask.

“Am I that ugly?”

“Not particularly. If I had to say, you’re on the handsome side, but I don’t want to say that with my own mouth.”

“I’m grateful for your kind words.”

I put tteokbokki and fried food in my mouth. The crispy and spicy taste is excellent.

But the constant gaze I feel is distracting me from focusing on the taste.

Just how long are they going to keep staring like that?

“Oh my, I have a customer?”

“Um, I… ordered take-out….”

“Ah, it’s that student? Wait a moment. I’ll bring it right away.”

The masked person nodded slightly.

But… that voice, I feel like I’ve heard it many times before?

I frowned and examined the masked person carefully.

A petite figure similar to someone around my age, fair skin visible on their hands, and… slightly visible orange hair.

Wait, orange hair?

“Lady Chloe?”

“…….”

“It’s Lady Chloe, isn’t it?”

“N-no, it’s not…?”

I hear a trembling voice.

Ah, this is 100% her. The corners of my mouth started to reach my ears.

It seems like I’m in for a good show.

“Haha, I didn’t know Lady Chloe liked this kind of food, to the extent of personally coming to get it packaged~”

“N-no… I said it’s not me! W-why are you doing this to me?”

“There’s no need to be shy. Everyone has their preferences. I absolutely don’t think it’s funny that Lady Chloe, who usually pretends to be so refined, actually likes these snacks. Ah, since it’s come to this, how about joining us?”

“I-I’m really not her! Do you have evidence?”

“Hmm, usually when someone is suspected by a stranger, they would just ignore and leave, not ask for evidence.”

Chloe’s hands were fidgeting, and her ears, which were sticking out from the side of the mask, turned red.

Seeing that reaction, there’s a refreshing feeling I can’t describe in words circulating within me.

“Here’s your food. By the way… do you two know each oth-“

“Th-thank you very much for the food!”

As soon as the auntie came with the packaged food, Chloe snatched it like lightning and quickly ran out of the store.

“W-wait! You need to pay first!!”

The auntie belatedly called after Chloe, but Chloe ran off without looking back.

The auntie, who was blankly staring at Chloe’s back, slowly turned to look at me.

“Um… the payment….”

“Kuhup, I’ll take care of it. Please add it to my bill.”

Who would have imagined that a child of the highest nobility in the kingdom would dine and dash at a tteokbokki restaurant?

“…You’re vicious.”

“Haha, even Lady Elise misunderstands my pure goodwill. That’s a bit sad.”

“You’re all talk.”

Ah, that was a good show.

The tteokbokki tastes especially sweet today.

---

Time flew by, and almost a month had passed since I enrolled.

Now, getting up early in the morning is familiar, and the days spent with classes containing somewhat useful knowledge, a menu that always feels fantastic, and people who are fun to tease are more fulfilling than my previous life of just playing games.

“Whew… this is still not familiar.”

I was running at a constant speed on a deserted walking path when I stopped in place, exhaling rough breaths.

Taking deep breaths to supply oxygen, my frantically pounding heart gradually calms down.

Running for a long time without using magic—a training method I adopted to build endurance.

“It does seem better than before, though.”

It’s still hard, but the fact that I’ve improved from before makes me smile.

With a faint smile, I looked back at the place I had been running…

“It’s been a while, little brother. You’re working hard, which is unlike you?”

When I turned around, someone was looking at me with a grin.

At the same time, my expression almost crumpled, but my ‘Deceiver’ trait prevented it.

It has been a while, indeed.

That handsome appearance, black hair, and the tear mole prominently visible on the right cheek.

“Lord Pascal? It’s been so long! Are you now able to properly converse with others?”

As I sneered with a grin, Pascal’s lip corner twitched very slightly.

He might pretend not to be angry, but I can see it all.

“You’re still the same. From your ill-mannered appearance to your frivolous tone. If you weren’t a member of our family, you would have disappeared without anyone knowing.”

“Haha, Lord Pascal still growls without acting his age. We’re quite alike in that regard.”

Pascal’s fist seemed to clench for a brief moment, but soon returned to its original state.

“Well, let’s end this pointless chatter between brothers here. I came today because I have something to give you. Take it.”

Pascal handed me the paper envelope he was holding.

Thinking it might be something dangerous, I activated Natural Mirror to check, but it didn’t seem particularly dangerous, so I accepted it obediently.

“Check it now.”

Opening the envelope and checking the contents… I saw a large piece of paper with the structural diagram of a building and its location.

“What is this?”

“You know about the mock occupation war that’s happening in a few days, right? The building on that paper is the territory you need to defend.”

“Why is Lord Pascal giving this to me?”

“Because you’re on the same team as me. Red Team. Actually, I should have given this to you about two weeks ago. Sorry, you know I’m a busy person, right? I forgot about you briefly by mistake, so I’m delivering it now, albeit late.”

If Pascal is on the same team as me… this is good news. At least I won’t have to face Pascal, a powerhouse who has reached 5 stars, as an enemy on the battlefield.

“Wow. Lord Pascal must be quite regretful, having missed a good chance to deal with me reasonably.”

“Haha, your jokes are too harsh. How could I harm our precious little brother?”

Pascal’s response, with a hearty laugh, showed absolutely no regret.

What’s this? Surely he should be frustrated at missing the chance to legally beat me up.

“I pulled some strings. Maybe because I attracted some attention when receiving the blessing from Merquin last time, I can have quite a voice in the Red Team. Well, of course, our family’s inherent prestige also helps. Anyway.”

Pascal turned around, waving his hand with a good-natured smile.

“You know how much I love our family, right? I’ve specially assigned the best team members to you. Check it out later. Try to coordinate well with your team members. Good luck, little brother. I’ll be cheering for you.”

With words full of nothing but goodwill, Pascal moved his steps.

Until his figure completely disappeared, I pondered deeply about what his scheme might be, but I couldn’t grasp what plan he had concocted at all.

“Still an unpleasant brother. I wonder when he’ll grow up.”

While muttering that, I examined the information contained in the paper Pascal gave me more closely.

Well, first, the territory I need to defend is… 1st Year Training Ground No. 3. It’s the training ground I frequently used. As for team members… first, me, Sion. And then….. Hmm?

“Why… is there only my name… Ah.”

Now I understood. Why Pascal didn’t cause any trouble and walked away with that unpleasant smile.

“You want me to do a one-man show?”

Our team consists of only me. In other words, I have to defend this training ground from other teams all by myself.

“Hmm, truly a creative bastard.”

Since he can’t beat me directly, he’s trying his best to mess with me, which is quite impressive.

How is this even possible? I wondered, but considering that Pascal is a star among students, it might not be entirely impossible.

He’s super popular. Everyone probably just went along with it quietly.

“Hmm… I see.”

This is troublesome.

Successfully defending a territory yields a considerable amount of achievement points, but considering that the number of team members defending a territory typically ranges from 8 to 12, this situation can only be described as desperate.

I don’t think anything will change even if I complain at this point.

In the first place, Pascal intentionally delivered this envelope to me late.

If I complain now, I’ll only get the response that it’s too late.

“Well, what can I do? I’ll just have to do my best.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I was about to put the documents back in the paper envelope, but instead, I just put them directly into my inventory.

Then I took out a 12-faced cube from my inventory and lifted it with Dolyeok.

As I solved the cube, I started moving my feet, which had been stopped.

Soon, only the sound of my rough breathing and running footsteps filled the walking path.

The number of cubes rotating fiercely was six.