chapter_0124

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
124

Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
124

Seeing Phoebe shout, I stepped
back.

It seems like she’s casting
even faster than she did in the game.

She must be seriously angry
with my provocation.

Just look at those eyes
blazing with fury.

Seeing Phoebe’s flushed face,
I couldn’t help but laugh.

I used to do all sorts of
things to make Phoebe angry, just to see her reaction through the
monitor.

You know, there’s that one
character who’s so kind that no matter how mischievous you act, they
just give you a bitter smile. It makes you think there must be some
special interaction you haven’t seen yet, right?

So, the veterans of Soul
Academy tried every tactic to make Phoebe angry.

The conclusion? There was no
interaction where Phoebe actually got angry.

I remember everyone lamenting
how clueless the developers were when we found that out.

If I could record Phoebe
getting angry now and upload it to the community, it would be so
satisfying.

I’m sure the reactions would
be hilarious.

Well, I can only imagine it
now.

“I will begin the Prayer of
Purification!”

The moment Phoebe shouted
that, divine magic seemed to explode all around her.

Grandpa hadn’t said anything
yet, but I knew.

This time, Phoebe hadn’t
failed.

Ha. Seriously. If she could do
this well, why did she mess up at the beginning?

Now I just look like the bad
guy for no reason. I wanted to get closer to Phoebe, but having to
lower her affection level like this really makes me want to cry.

I wonder if I can make up for
this during the field trip.

Phoebe continued reciting the
prayer, and the wings of the dragon in the sky gradually slowed.

Even a dragon could not remain
powerful in the presence of the high-level divine magic wielded by
the Saint.

Submitting to the sacred aura
surrounding it, the dragon fell to the ground.

The cavern shook, and dust
rose up where the dragon landed.

We are nearing the conclusion,
but it’s still too soon to relax.

I raised my shield and stood
in front of Phoebe and Frey, blocking the way.

Soon after, the trembling
resumed, and the dust cleared.

Although the dragon had bowed
its head in the face of divine magic, its essence remained unchanged.

Its relentless life force
continued to animate the body of a golem.

From now on, my role is
simple.

Stand firm until Phoebe
completes the Prayer of Purification.

Make sure the lizard in front
of me doesn’t cross this line.

It’s what a tank must do.

It’s the task I am more
confident at than anyone else.

Even if it has the body of a
golem, a dragon is still a dragon.

It quickly recognizes who is
causing it significant harm.

Seeing its red eyes fixated on
the Saint behind us, I took a deep breath and smiled. Oh, trying to
look behind?

There’s a small, cute, and
annoying girl right in front of you.

For a dragon that has lived
for so long, don’t you know any manners?

If a Lady invites you to
dance, it’s only polite to take her hand for a song.

I suppose it’s inevitable
since your brain seems to have turned into a golem along with your
body.

If you can’t use your head,
I’ll have to drill it into your body.

You’re going to the afterlife
today, but who knows?

You might need to know some
manners there too.

If that happens, you should be
thankful to me, got it?

“Stupid lizard♡ Look at
me♡”

Let’s play together.

As Phoebe finished the Prayer
of Purification, the golem’s body, having lost its power source,
collapsed forward.

Phoebe, who had been watching
with tension, worried that it might not be enough, finally exhaled
deeply as the exit to the dungeon appeared simultaneously.

‘Thank goodness.

I did it!

I showed Lady Allen the
miracle of Armadi!’

Phoebe, who had never
experienced emotions that dyed her heart red, was now filled with an
overwhelming joy greater than any she had ever felt, having achieved
success by overcoming the colour red.

‘I wonder what Lady Allen
will say. That feat was made possible by Armadi, whom you
underestimated so much!’

Phoebe shrugged her shoulders,
waiting for Lucy to return.

“Lady Allen! Do you have
nothing to say?!”

As Lucy walked toward her,
brushing the dirt out of her hair, Phoebe shouted.

Upon hearing Phoebe’s words,
Lucy glanced at her and then burst into laughter.

‘W-What is it!

Why are you laughing?!

Right now, you should be
apologising, not laughing! Apologise!’

“Aha. How petty. Are you
holding on to what happened earlier?”

“But Lady Allen, you were
the one who insulted Armadi first!”

‘How can you be so shameless
after uttering all those blasphemous words?!

I can still clearly remember
you calling Armadi… well, you know what you said!’

“But it’s true that you
failed the first time, right? If you didn’t want to be mocked, you
should’ve done it right in the first place, Sloppy Saint.”

“Ugh…”

Phoebe, who had never
experienced such a squabble before, couldn’t bear the gaze of Lucy,
who was looking at her with a mocking smile.

Lucy, observing Phoebe
fiercely gripping her Academy uniform skirt with both hands, walked
right up to her, extended her arms, and pressed her finger firmly
against Phoebe’s nose.

Surprised, Phoebe retreated,
covering her nose with both hands. Lucy’s smile grew even broader.

“In the end, you did well.
Why didn’t you do that from the beginning? Really, you’re just so
sloppy.”

After saying that, Lucy turned
around and headed towards where the dungeon rewards appeared.

Was that… recognition?

No! Hey! [Mesugaki] Skill!

Why did you poke her nose?!

Do you know how flustered I
was because of that?!

It’s one thing not to
apologise when someone is angry, but provoking them is just over the
top!

Ugh, this is driving me crazy.

What does Phoebe even think of
me?

I’m used to people looking at
me with disdain, but to think even the Saint dislikes me.

Is there no way to get rid of
the Penalty from the [Mesugaki] Skill?

Considering Armadi reduced the
Penalty last time, perhaps he’ll remove it eventually?

Although I had a glimmer of
hope, it seemed impossible the more I thought about it.

Armadi is a twisted guy who
enjoys being insulted by young girls, a masochistic, sadistic and
perverted piece of trash.

Unless I achieve something
monumental like sealing the Evil God again, he won’t do anything
nice for me.

With that quick resignation, I
approached the table at the dungeon exit to claim my reward.

“What is this?”

Frey tilted her head upon
seeing four orbs with a hazy, smoke-like colour inside them.

‘This is…’

“Sloppy Swordsman, don’t you
even know this? This is an orb of proficiency enhancement.”

“What’s that?”

Of course, I knew you wouldn’t
recognize it.

The initial reward for
clearing the Academy Dungeon in the first semester is an orb of
proficiency enhancement.

When you hold it and
concentrate on the skill you want to improve, it increases your
proficiency in that skill.

The proficiency I’d need to
train for a month to raise can be increased with one of these orbs!

This item is incredibly
efficient and useful, but it’s so rare that no matter how much
money you have, you can’t just buy one.

It’s not for nothing that
this item was chosen as a reward for the first clear of the Academy
Dungeon.

If you put this up for sale,
the price would be sky-high.

In the game, players avoided
clearing the Academy Dungeon in the first semester solely because it
wasn’t efficient, but if you could get this item, it was worth it.

When I explained this to Frey,
she didn’t hesitate and took one of the four orbs, closing her
eyes.

Then, the hazy substance
inside the orb flowed into Frey’s body, and the orb transformed
into a clear crystal sphere.

After putting the orb on the
ground and examining her body, Frey furrowed her brows, picked up her
sword, and approached the empty golem shell, swinging her sword at
it.

“Oh.”

Did she sense a change?

Without a word, Frey began to
swing her sword at the golem with a focused expression.

Her eyes were staring
intently.

She won’t hear anything for
a while like this.

Just like Frey, I took an orb
and silently chanted the skill I wanted to enhance in my mind.

For me, it had to be one of
two skills.

Mace or shield.

Among them, I could somewhat
increase my proficiency with the mace by simply swinging it around,
but the shield wasn’t as straightforward.

First, let’s increase my
shield proficiency.

As soon as I made that
decision, the hazy smoke from the orb flowed into my body.

This feels a bit strange.

It makes my body tingle.

Let’s see.

Now, one of the remaining two
is Phoebe’s.

The problem is the last one
left.

Ideally, each of the four
party members would take one, and it would be neat and tidy, right?

The issue is, this isn’t
just a simple four-member party.

To be precise, it’s three
party members and one safety officer.

So, if we play this right, I
might be able to take two proficiency orbs.

There are no limits like the
Elixir.

When I casually glanced at
Karl, he waved his hands and politely declined.

“I cannot accept a reward. I
did nothing. You should decide with the others how to use it.”

I knew he’d say something
like that.

Fine, then I’ll reward you
separately later for your efforts.

I was already planning to give
you something to display instead of a sword.

“One is enough for me.
Except for that last moment, I really didn’t contribute much.
Honestly, I feel guilty even taking one.”

Before I could even bring it
up, Phoebe had already declined.

Right, she did perform well on
the 100th floor, but she basically just hung on my shoulder without
doing anything for the other 99 floors.

One should be enough for her.
Absolutely.

So, now I need to check Frey’s
opinion last.

“Sloppy Swordsman♡!”

No matter how focused she was,
Frey was completely defenceless against the provocation of the
[Mesugaki] skill.

As soon as she heard my voice,
Frey turned her head, stopped swinging her sword, and walked over to
me.

I explained the situation to
Frey, who looked visibly displeased. We had one orb left and needed
to decide how to use it.

The look in Frey’s eyes as
she stared at the orb was one of greed.

What’s this? She actually
wants it?

I gave her a look, wondering
why she was being so shameless when all she did was follow my orders.

But Frey’s expression didn’t
waver in the slightest.

“If it wasn’t for me, you
wouldn’t have cleared it in a day.”

Well…she’s not wrong.

There’s practically no
first-year who could keep up with my pace.

Even Joy would still need a
lot of time to build up her stamina.

“So, I deserve it too.”

Is she saying she won’t give
up?

Does she find the experience
points we can gain that tempting?

I guess I can’t really talk
since I’m doing this dirty deed for those points too.

Okay.

Got it.

Sure, without you, Frey, we
would have struggled more.

I’ll acknowledge your
contribution.

‘Then…’

“Sloppy Swordsman, let’s
settle this fairly with rock-paper-scissors.”

“Just one round?”

“Yes.”

“Yep, just one round.”

A pure game of chance without
any interference.

A 50:50 fight.

This makes it fair, right?

“Alright.”

Haha! You fell for it! Foolish
Frey!

You don’t know, but I’m
extremely lucky!

I once entrusted everything to
the Dice God during the Academy Exam and still scored above average!

The chances of me losing a
game of chance are almost zero!

Alright then!

Hand over the skill orb, Frey!

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