Chapter 150: K-ko
[May 1st, around 5 p.m.]
[After saying a simple goodbye to Jeanne Alter, you quickly returned to the boys' dormitory.]
[There was still about half an hour left before Tristan's special training, probably enough for you to rest a bit.]
[However, when you closed your eyes, your mind was filled only with Sesshouin Kiara's schemes, and the dangerous situation of Yu Ji being imprisoned in the Singularity. When thinking quietly alone, your sense of danger grew even stronger.]
[You should still make good use of the current time, and take the chance to improve yourself.]
Eikou glanced at the time on his phone, there was still some time left before Tristan's so-called "special training on seducing married women."
"If I rest now, somehow I just feel guilty, might as well find a way to improve myself…"
After some research, he discovered that becoming stronger really only revolved around a few methods.
The first method was dating Baobhan Sith, that was the fastest path to becoming stronger. But because his personality didn't really match with this Fairy Knight, more than a month had passed without any substantial progress.
The second method was of course to actively communicate. Building bonds with Servants could bring many benefits, from stats to skills, this was also a way to become stronger.
And this was also the most likely way to conquer Yu Ji.
"There's still less than half an hour, but if I join a party there definitely won't be enough time…"
Eikou muttered.
How about trying another experiment, by checking out the group chat in Chaldea's anonymous forum.
Chatting online with unfamiliar Servants, wasn't that also a type of socializing? Only it wasn't clear whether this method could help increase his personal stats or not.
Previously, during the outdoor class, he had already tried it once. But the result was that the anonymous forum was full of acquaintances, with no real reference value at all.
This time was a rare opportunity, he wanted to try again.
Eikou casually opened a nearby anonymous forum, then used his old account to join the group chat.
Eikou: "Hello everyone."
As soon as he appeared, in that thread a user named "K-ko" immediately sent a welcome message to him.
K-ko: "Welcome, I'm the administrator of this chat section, very glad to meet you."
K-ko: "Since there aren't many people in this section, it's fine even if you freely say everything here. If you have something in real life, want to share, want to confide, you can tell me here."
This anonymous user named K-ko, right from the beginning, was a warm greeting, and words full of tolerance?
Just from this statement one could tell the other party was a gentleman/lady well educated, ready to listen to others' confessions, and wanting to make an effort to turn this anonymous section into a place of socializing where anyone could freely express themselves.
However, it seemed there was a subtle difference.
Instinct C was telling Eikou, the other party, rather than wanting to listen to others, seemed more curious about other people's matters.
"K-ko..."
Could it be someone he knew?
He still clearly remembered last time he had met an online friend named G-ko, who actually turned out to be Barghest sitting right next to him. (Chapter 39)
He had to first rule out the possibility that K-ko was someone he knew in real life, otherwise the experiment would fail like last time.
Eikou: "Thank you, K-ko, I really do have a lot of feelings I want to share with others..."
Eikou: "But since you suddenly want me to say it like this, I don't even know where to start. How about we play a game, I share one thing, you also share one thing, how about that?"
K-ko: "Eh... awawaa, sorry, it was me being too pushy, asking you to share something with a stranger right after we just met is a bit too sudden, playing a game like that would feel more natural."
K-ko: "As an apology, let me share something first..."
K-ko: "Actually, I'm not very good at communicating with others, it's only when I'm collecting stories that I feel interested. Once I step away from the goal of collecting stories, I become all flustered."
Eikou slightly nodded in thought.
Very good, he could rule out the possibility that K-ko was someone he knew! The other party was undoubtedly a stranger!
Because almost all of his friends around him were outstanding extroverts, the concept of social anxiety simply didn't exist.
Judging from those words, K-ko must be a literary, introverted, timid girl, but in fact really liked interacting with others, and belonged to the rather reserved type.
But it couldn't be ruled out that the other party was actually a man pretending to be a woman to chat, like Merlin.
"All right, then it's my turn to speak,"
Eikou thought for a moment.
Since the other person was very honest, he also shared something that had happened recently.
"Actually… lately I've been pursuing a married woman, but I really don't know what to do with her."
K-ko: "Waa, you like married women?"
Eikou: "Ehm, don't misunderstand, I don't have any special feelings toward married women, it's just that I can't bring myself to leave her alone."
K-ko: "It's okay… you don't need to try to explain, I understand your feelings."
Eikou: "You also like married woman?"
K-ko: "I am the married woman."
"???"
Damn, this is way too much of a coincidence!
Why do I keep getting entangled with married women lately, just who in the world is this user named K-ko?
K-ko: "Well… perhaps I should explain a bit, what I meant wasn't that I'm liked the married one, but that I also carry within me a forbidden feeling like that."
K-ko: "Actually I'm a literature teacher, and lately there's a student in my class who's really caught my attention. Because I lost my husband when I was very young, I thought that for the rest of my life I'd never have anything to do with love again, but recently every time I pass by that boy, my heart races like that of a little girl…"
Please stop, K-ko, you really don't see me as an outsider at all now! I don't want to hear about your teacher-student romance!
This time Eikou truly believed that she lacked social experience, lacked caution toward strangers, otherwise she wouldn't be telling such private matters outside.
But then he thought, perhaps this was also a good opportunity to broaden his knowledge. A story shared from the perspective of K-ko – a married woman – might be useful when it came to dealing with Yu Ji.
"That student… what kind of person is he?"
Eikou probed, wanting to hear what kind of tendencies K-ko had.
"Mm… very handsome face, with a gloomy aura, like the type of boy who would quietly sit in the corner of the classroom reading books. But unlike me – a somewhat gloomy, quiet person – he seems to be very popular with girls, and even has many friends."
"'Obviously looks like a cold and melancholy prince, but in reality is unexpectedly very open and gentle, even startling others with the contrast in his personality,' that's what everyone says."
"I see…"
Eikou quietly typed those words.
Ehmm… why does this sound strangely familiar somehow?
Moreover, from the information so far, it wasn't hard for him to guess K-ko's true identity.
Married, liked collecting stories, not good at communicating, taught literature…
Clearly this was his own class's literature teacher, and also the librarian – Murasaki Shikibu-sensei!