Chapter Index

    Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
    150

    Mesugaki Tank Enters the Academy –
    150

    As I was leaving the Church
    without a clear direction, Grandpa struck up a conversation.

    The bishop had just offered me
    a reward, saying he wanted to show gratitude.

    ‘Why should I accept
    anything from trash like them? It’s obvious whatever they give me
    would be pathetic. Besides, things from a trashy bishop would
    probably smell old and musty.’

    My reply must have been on his
    mind.

    ‘That may be true.’

    Considering my status and what
    I’ve done, if I had tried to take advantage, I could have ended up
    with quite a number of items.

    But right now, I have no
    particular attachment to general rewards.

    If there were any specific
    items I wanted, I could ask Alsatine or the Newman Family to obtain
    them. Why bother?

    It’s better to refuse
    everything and let them feel morally obligated.

    The bishop from the Academy is
    one of the few conscientious people in the Church of Armadi. If he
    owes me a favour, it might be helpful in the future when it comes to
    Phoebe’s story.

    ‘…Don’t hit me with the
    truth.’

    But he’s a man of good
    character. Even if I was a bit unruly, wouldn’t he just think I’m
    a decent but naive brat?

    ‘Please, Grandpa, don’t hit
    me with the truth.’

    It’s not like I don’t know
    that; I’m not denying reality here. Why don’t you understand my
    desperate efforts to salvage my already damaged image like this!

    Sigh.
    Because of the [Mesugaki] Skill, human relations are so difficult.

    I’m someone who knows proper
    manners, but because of one skill, I have to be a rude, arrogant kid
    who needs education? It’s so unfair!

    Ding.

    While I was silently fuming,
    another message popped up.

    What is it this time, Sloppy
    Armadi? Are you trying to take revenge for the insults I just hurled
    at you?

    Well, you might as well… not
    do that.

    When people imagine a hopeful
    future and it crumbles, they get emotionally worked up, don’t they?
    I was in that state.

    Because I’ve had such a hard
    time due to the [Mesugaki] Skill, a lot of emotions had piled up. It
    was an inevitable action from a flawed human being, you see.

    Phoebe said that Lord Armadi
    once mentioned that the actions taken after a mistake are more
    important than the mistake itself, right?

    I promise to do better from
    now on, so could you please forgive me? Please!

    Desperately trying to excuse
    myself before the Sloppy Armadi, fearing what might come to torment
    me next, but instead, a message appeared right in front of me.

    [Phoebe’s Affection Level has
    surpassed 70!]

    Huh? What?

    I stared blankly at the
    unexpected message in front of me, then wiped my eyes and read it
    again.

    Phoebe’s Affection Level
    surpassed 70?

    Well, it wasn’t entirely a
    surprise.

    I had just rescued her from
    her mental world a moment ago.

    It wouldn’t be strange for her
    Affection Level to increase.

    There was also one indicator.

    The last time Joy’s Affection
    Level surpassed 70, I started speaking informally to her just before
    it happened. And this time, I began speaking informally* to Phoebe
    after entering her mental world. (*Was when Lucy called her Stupid
    Saint.)

    It’s still just a guess, but
    it seems switching to informal speech with someone I usually speak to
    formally is related to Affection Levels.

    …Affection Level 70, huh.

    Realising that Phoebe now sees
    me as someone precious made me smile naturally.

    Despite all the ups and downs,
    I finally achieved what I wanted.

    As expected, I’m special! The
    seasoned players in Soul Academy are truly something else!

    Now that I think about it,
    Nacrad played a significant role both times.

    The first time I surpassed
    Joy’s Affection Level 70 was thanks to saving her from Nacrad,

    And this time, I exceeded 70
    by rescuing Phoebe from Nacrad as well.

    Really. Nacrad, you tsundere!

    You say you hate Armadi’s
    Apostle, but your actions are always so genuine!

    By creating crises, you
    greatly helped clear the quest given by Sloppy Armadi!

    Thanks to you, my party
    composition is now perfect!

    Joy handles firepower from the
    rear!

    Phoebe takes care of healing
    and buffs!

    And on top of that, I’m
    tanking at the front!

    Heh. No matter who joins this
    party, the foundation is so solid that it won’t be a problem at all!

    Whoever comes in, my party is
    already top-tier!

    Wow, I really should thank
    Nacrad, but here’s the problem. Because of my [Mesugaki] Skill, I can
    never say thank you to others.

    So, I guess I can’t tell you
    thanks.

    Or can I? If the intention is
    to piss someone off, maybe I could say thanks?

    Hmm. Feels like it might work?
    Next time I see Nacrad, I’ll have to say I’m so grateful because
    everything turned out well thanks to him. He’ll definitely be
    furious.

    Imagining the twitching face
    of gangly Nacrad, I chuckled to myself when a few more screens
    appeared in front of me.

    [Quest Clear!]

    [You have succeeded in raising
    the Affection Level of two Academy students to 70!]

    [Rewards will be given!]

    [Reward: Ruel’s [Divine
    Martial Arts]]

    [A new quest has appeared.]

    [Savior of Menestail]

    For now, I’ll put aside the
    newly given quest and focus on Ruel’s [Divine Martial Arts].

    If it’s what I think it is,
    then that’s the technique that Grandpa, the hero who once saved the
    world, used. I remember it was a passive skill in the game that
    increased damage proportionally to the divinity stat.

    The performance was decent,
    but because of the effort required to master it, many didn’t bother
    learning it. I guess it was mainly learned by those aiming for the
    peak of the Paladin class.

    So, if I can learn it for free
    now, it’s definitely welcome.

    But here’s something I’m
    curious about. Martial arts is all about moving your body to fight,
    right? In the game, it was implemented as a passive skill because it
    couldn’t be represented otherwise, but wouldn’t it be different in
    reality?

    ‘Grandpa.’

    Luckily, there was someone
    next to me who could resolve my curiosity: Grandpa, the creator of
    this Divine Martial Art.

    ‘What exactly is [Divine
    Martial Arts]?’

    ‘Because Armadi has given me
    that technique.’

    When I told Grandpa that I had
    received it from Armadi, his urgent voice rose.

    I was momentarily taken aback
    by his unusually high-pitched tone, but I nodded.

    ‘Yes. Otherwise, how would I
    know about your [Divine Martial Arts]?’

    Imbuing my hand with divine
    energy? I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I decided to follow
    Grandpa’s words.

    I believed he must have a
    reason.

    As soon as I resolved to
    transfer some of the divine energy within me to my hand, information
    seeped into my mind.

    It was just like when using
    the [Iron Wall] Skill.

    Just as the [Iron Wall] Skill
    informed me where to move my shield, something was now guiding me on
    how to move the divine energy.

    Following this guidance, the
    moment I imbued my hand with divine energy, light began to emanate
    from it.

    It was the same warm light
    that Grandpa had shown when he repelled Nacrad, reminiscent of the
    sun.

    ‘Grandpa?’

    Why is Grandpa suddenly acting
    like some kind of fanatic? Don’t act so scary.

    The fervour in Grandpa’s voice
    transmitted through the mace.

    I’ve heard this kind of voice
    before. It felt similar to when Possell was training me.

    When he said he would turn me
    into a proper knight because Benedict had asked him, his voice
    sounded just like this.

    So, if Grandpa’s feelings are
    similar to Possell’s back then…

    ‘Grandpa, could you calm
    down a bit?’

    I’ve recently made training a
    habit, but I don’t want it to get any more intense than it already
    is.

    I’ve finally made a few
    friends, so shouldn’t I also enjoy some of my time here at the
    academy?

    Nacrad used most of his
    strength dealing with Grandpa, so things should be peaceful for a
    while now, right?

    Ah. He can’t hear me, can he?
    All right, I guess there’s no helping it. I’ll just pretend I can’t
    hear Grandpa for now.

    Ignoring Grandpa’s passionate
    voice loudly shaking my brain, I checked something else.

    There was a new quest, right?

    [Savior of Menestail]

    [The seal in the Menestail
    Dungeon is about to be broken! You must stop it!]

    [Reward: ???]

    [Failure: GAME OVER]

    This is a quest that was also
    in the game.

    It was one of the side quests,
    and if you didn’t clear it within a certain time, the difficulty of
    the main story would increase.

    If the time limit for this
    quest is the same as what I remember, then there’s still plenty of
    time.

    I’ll clear it once summer
    vacation starts. It would be fitting to also search for Alsatine’s
    master then.

    Phew,
    thank goodness.

    This time, Armadi gave me a
    proper quest.

    Considering how much I’ve
    bad-mouthed Armadi until now, I thought I might be paying off some
    karma.

    Armadi, you were more merciful
    than I thought?

    In that case, you should’ve
    given me something other than Practice Mode, you sloppy god.

    You urgently gave me a quest,
    and I solved it, but what’s with the reward? Huh?

    If you keep this up, I might
    ignore whatever you say next time, you know?

    Well, I’d have to check what
    Practice Mode is like anyway. It might be different in reality
    compared to the game.

    I’ll check it out, and if it
    turns out to be completely useless, I can just throw it away then.
    Thinking that, I tried to enter Practice Mode.

    [Practice Mode can only be
    used in the dormitory!]

    A warning message appeared.
    This message didn’t exist in the game.

    Hmm. So, is there something
    different from the game?

    ‘Grandpa. Sorry, but I need
    to stop by the dormitory first.’

    I have something to check.

    Once I returned to the
    dormitory of the academy, I immediately used Practice Mode.

    Then, just like when I was
    surrounded by the perverted Fox’s mist, my consciousness became
    hazy .As I came to my senses, I found myself in a different space.

    It was a small training
    ground, looking brand new as if it had just been completed, with no
    signs of use. In the middle stood a scarecrow.

    It was the exact scenery of
    Practice Mode that I’d grown tired of seeing in the game.

    What’s this? There’s
    nothing different at all.

    I was expecting something
    since it acted like there was more, but this is disappointing.

    If this is all there is to
    Practise Mode, there’s no reason to bother coming here.

    “Oh. What is this? Little
    girl, is this your mental world?”

    Usually, the voice would ring
    right in my head, but this time it came through my ears, making me
    turn my head.

    Next to me stood a robust old
    man dressed in armour.

    Clenching and unclenching his
    fist with a smile, he looked around before approaching me.

    “This seems like quite a
    suitable place for training.”

    …Huh?

    Why is Grandpa here?

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