chapter_0092

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
92

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
92

Not long after leaving the
church, Grandpa spoke cautiously.

‘What?’

‘Phoebe?’

I tilted my head in confusion
at Grandpa’s words.

As far as I know, Phoebe is
like a giant tree.

A steadfast person who won’t
be swayed by any storm, someone who can provide shelter for everyone
under her great shade.

Even if a few roots rot, she’s
someone who can grow ever taller unaffected.

That’s who Phoebe is.

In her personal story, she
faced many hardships but never showed a moment of distress, always
maintaining her dignity as a Saint.

There’s no way someone like
her would waver without a good reason.

‘Oh come on. That’s
nonsense.’

Grandpa, if you’re going to
sow discord, at least make it believable.

Jealousy and Phoebe are too
far apart.

I’ve played through her
route many times in the game.

I’ve never seen the Saint show
jealousy towards anyone. Why is Grandpa trying to paint a girl who
has nothing to do with him as a bad person?

‘…Are you saying Phoebe is
really jealous of me?!’

Huh?

Why?

Why would she be jealous of
me? Objectively speaking, is there anything about me that Phoebe
would envy?

I can’t understand it at all.

‘Why?’

So it’s about that.

Of course, she’s devoted her
whole life to faith and has never heard a single word from the
divine, while I—who was causing trouble in the church until
recently—got blessed. That must be quite upsetting.

If it were me, I’d curse and
say, “Damn perverted deity, do you think I worship you?” But
Phoebe isn’t like that.

Come to think of it, this is a
situation that never occurred in the game.

In the game, Armadi never
speaks to the player.

So, I don’t know exactly how
Phoebe would react to seeing a player favoured by Armadi.

But I can guess.

Knowing the kind of person she
is.

‘It will be alright.’

Phoebe might wander. She could
waver. Despite carrying the title of Saint and being closer to
sainthood than anyone else, in the end, she is human.

But Phoebe will be alright.
Because Saint Phoebe is the character who always overcomes in the end
and smiles.

I believed in the brightness
she showed, even after the darkest parts of her personal stories
ended she was fine.

‘Don’t worry. Have I ever
been wrong?’

‘Grandpa, let’s talk about
what I need to do to become stronger here.’

Right now, this is a more
pressing issue. I don’t know how many threats will come my way
because of being the Apostle of Armadi from now on.

Didn’t Nacrad run at me,
ignoring his original plans, just because he sensed Armadi’s aura
within me?

Who knows how many more
similar incidents will happen in the future.

The best way to prepare for
this is to become stronger.

Rather than shaking in fear of
unpredictable variables, it’s better to have the mindset of smashing
through whatever comes my way.

‘This isn’t enough.’

If it were just a matter of
physical specs, I could somehow improve and make up for it.

But fighting skills are
different.

This isn’t something that can
be improved just by putting in effort.

Right now, I’m relying on
Grandpa’s judgement at crucial moments. But it shouldn’t be like
this.

When I fought Nacrad, I
realised that waiting for Grandpa’s advice and then acting was too
slow.

I need to reach a level where
I can make the same judgments as Grandpa even before he gives his
advice.

‘I don’t want to die.’

‘Thank you, Grandpa. And
there’s one more favour I’d like to ask.’

‘You remember all the
classes I took at the Academy, right?’

Well, you see, there’s a quest
that requires me to get first place in the midterms.

When I attended the Academy’s
lectures, I spent most of the time making out with my desk.

So, if you asked me what I’ve
learned so far, all I could say is ‘um’ or ‘uh’.

I really need your help,
Grandpa!

‘Yes!’

Grandpa, sighing at my
shameless request, soon began nagging me.

Since it wasn’t the first
time he had said such things, I let his words go in one ear and out
the other.

You’re going to help me
anyway, right, Grandpa?

I figured out long ago that
you act tough but really care deeply!

The next morning.

As usual, I was preparing for
training with Frey when Joy came to see me.

She already thanked me
endlessly at the infirmary yesterday; she couldn’t be here to thank
me again, right?

If she’s really here for
that, I’ll blast her away with my [Mesugaki] Skill.

While I was thinking that, I
waited for Joy to speak. But what she said was completely unexpected.

“Please help me become
stronger.”

Um… excuse me?

What did you say?

You want me to help you become
stronger?

I couldn’t understand why Joy,
a mage, would ask me for such a favour.

Shouldn’t she seek advice from
someone more trustworthy than me?

Like other professors at the
Academy or the tutors the Partan family has connections with? Of
course, I can help Joy.

After all, I haven’t only
trained melee characters in Soul Academy. I’ve memorised how to
nurture every single profession in Soul Academy. I am a Veteran,
after all.

I was just curious about why
she would ask me this favour.

‘Why are you asking this of
me?’

“Airhead Lady, can’t you
think of anything other than airheaded ideas? Why would a mage seek
help from a knight?”

“I’m not asking for help
with magic. I just want you to make me someone who can stand by your
side. To repay the favour.”

I roughly understood what Joy
meant.

To repay the life debt she
owed me, she wanted to stand by my side.

So, she’s asking me to help
her become someone I’d want by my side?

To rephrase it a bit:

‘You want to be in a party
with me, right?’

“Hehe~ Airhead Lady, you
want to party with me? Did you actually like getting teased by me?
Pervert Lady~ How gross~”

“…Disregarding those last
words, it’s true that I want to be in the same party as Lady
Allen.”

Having Joy as a party member
would be a good thing.

She was a formidable mage in
the game as well.

Depending on how you structure
the party, Joy was always a high priority character when you wanted a
powerful rearguard.

From my perspective, feeling
like there is always a lack of damage during battles, there’s no
reason to refuse Joy joining the party.

But.

‘If you wish to become a
party member, I won’t refuse. However…’

“If you beg to join the
party, it’s not that I can’t let you in, Sloppy Coward Lady. But
can you enter a dungeon?”

This is the problem.

Joy has a trauma with dungeons
due to the past accident in the Alchemist’s Dungeon.

No matter how excellent a
character Joy is, she’s useless if she can’t enter a dungeon.

If this issue doesn’t get
resolved, I can’t accept Joy as a party member.

As I silently encouraged her
to answer by staring, Joy hesitantly nodded her head.

“I… I think I can manage.”

‘Really?’

“Airhead Lady, I know you
adore me~ but don’t bluff. This time you might actually wet
yourself.”

“I may not be sure at other
times, but with Lady Allen by my side, I’m certain… it’s
possible.”

She’ll be okay if I’m
there.

Hearing Joy’s cautious words
rendered me incapable of holding back my laughter.

Seeing the notification of her
Affection Level surpassing 70 made me incredibly happy, but
witnessing my favourite character relying on me right before my eyes
made it impossible to contain my joy.

‘You’ll be fine with me
there!’

“Haha ♡ You can’t do
without me, right? Sloppy~ Coward~ Are you saying you can’t go to
the bathroom at night because I’m not around?”

Joy’s clasped hands were
trembling, but there was nothing I could do.

It was a scene I had long
desired but never thought would happen, now unfolding right before my
eyes. How could I hold back my laughter here?

After laughing so hard that I
was out of breath, I finally managed to calm down and saw Joy with
her head lowered, her face red.

Hmm. Maybe I went a bit too
far.

‘All right, Joy. Let’s enter
the dungeon together.’

“Got it. You, Airhead
Lady, can’t do anything without me, right? I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you.”

Joy’s voice trembled as she
responded.

Joy, you might be regretting
this now, but it’s already too late.

You can come in as you wish,
but leaving is not so easy.

Since you said you want to
join my party, Joy, you need to reach the level I expect.

‘But there’s a condition.’

“But, Airhead Lady, I
can’t take care of you for free, can I? There’s a condition.”

“What is it?”

‘You must follow my orders to
the end.’

“Do as I say. Until the
end. Don’t give up halfway like a sloppy coward.”

Back when this world was just
a game, I couldn’t fully control the training schedules of my
companion NPCs.

The best I could do was set
the general direction.

But this is reality. I can now
do things easily that were once blocked by the game’s system.

Before, the best I could do
was ensure they learned good skills and equipped good items, but now
I can shape Joy, this gem, from start to finish.

Is there a veteran who
wouldn’t be excited in this situation? Definitely not.

Unaware of the plan forming in
my mind, Joy crossed her arms and spoke confidently with a smile.

“Hey, what do you think of
Joy Partan? Do I seem like someone who would give up so easily?”

‘Really?’

“Really? Are you sure? That
sloppy Airhead Lady could never endure it, you know?”

“I won’t disappoint you.”

Seeing the determination in
Joy’s eyes, I nodded.

If she’s saying this much, I
can’t stop her now.

Ah, I have no choice.

I didn’t want to torment my
favourite character Joy, but if she’s this eager, what can I do?

I’ll have to push her to her
absolute limit.

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