It's a sight to behold.
You wouldn't be able to see such an amusing expression even if you paid for it.
I thoroughly savored the bastard's face, then glanced at my watch.
When I was summoned here, it was three-thirty in the morning, but it was already nearing five.
'About time to wrap this up.'
After confirming there was no one around, I pulled out my wand without hesitation and aimed it at his forehead.
Then, filling in the formula I had memorized so obsessively that it made me want to throw up by now, I spoke the spell out loud.
—Enter through the narrow gate.
It was my first time actually casting the spell, but perhaps thanks to the perfectly established Holy Power Attribute, the effect was unmistakable.
The student who had been standing in front of me with a stunned expression suddenly scanned his surroundings with a look of utter confusion, then lost consciousness and pitched forward.
Thud—!
"…!"
"W-what are you… doing…?!"
The students who had been lying sprawled farther away shouted. Instead of answering, I fired the same magic and put them to sleep as well.
It was magic that acted on the magical power composing the brain, damaging perception and memory of a certain period prior to the moment of activation.
The target of deletion was magic.
Light, the color red, the motion of extending an arm, a wand—any memory that could be recognized as magic was completely erased.
Of course, other memories might have been erased as well. If my magic had been classified as a shocking incident, then all of the 'shocking' memories from earlier would have been deleted.
'Hope I didn't make already stupid bastards even dumber.'
I clicked my tongue as I looked down at them.
And I didn't erase their emotions.
Since we'd be living in the same space from now on, their emotions needed to remain vivid.
'Expelling them wouldn't be bad either, but….'
If news of a violence incident involving Lukas 'Askanian' reached home, the family would inevitably step in. It would become a public issue.
So anything I could handle on my own, I had to finish on my own.
"Ugh…."
Manipulating three minds at once made my head start to ache.
'I need to raise my mental strength, and my health too….'
In any case, raising all my stats as quickly as possible was the best course of action.
'Might as well check the numbers while I'm at it.'
I needed to calculate how I'd make use of these guys.
I summoned the status window.
Lukas René Askanian
Title: ???'s hunter
Health: -3.4 (+0.1) [-0.4]
Mental strength: -7.7 (+0.5)
Magical power: ?
Skill: +1.015 [+4.015]
Impression: -10
Luck: -6.485 (+0.5)
Trait: Dawn777, Holy Power
I raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Just from what happened early this morning, my mental strength had increased by 0.5 points.
'Not bad.'
Wouldn't someone else pick a fight with me?
I smacked my lips and checked my skill score.
Midterms were coming up in a month.
But right now, when I needed to rapidly improve my magic skills, midterms were practically an obstacle. They included not only magic but countless general education subjects.
'Still, I can't give up the advantages that grades provide.'
There was no easier or more convenient way for a student to improve their image. Just raising my grades alone would change the credibility of my words.
And hadn't my older brother said it'd be good if I at least raised my grades to the average?
So….
'These guys might be useful.'
Smiling, I looked down at them.
"That's some impressive magic."
At that moment, a voice came from somewhere.
I reflexively looked up.
Someone was looking down at me from atop the building.
This wasn't exactly a request for someone to pick a fight with me right away.
There was definitely no one here just a moment ago, yet some rat-like bastard had shown up out of nowhere. I planned to live pretending I couldn't use magic for the next two or three months anyway, so even if one or two people noticed, it wouldn't be a huge problem… but should I deal with him?
As I was about to pull out my wand, someone waved his hand and shouted urgently.
"Wait! I'll come down!"
He grabbed the rooftop railing, channeled magical power into his legs, and jumped down to the ground.
"Sorry. I should've introduced myself first. I'm Narke Farnese. I'm from the Papal State, and starting next week, I'll be attending this school as an exchange student."
An exchange student.
That wasn't mentioned in the novel.
Either it had happened back then too but was omitted because it wasn't important to the plot, or the story was already changing.
For now, the former seemed more likely.
But I couldn't completely dismiss the latter.
So rather than erasing his memories right away, it was better to get some information through conversation first.
I stared at the exchange student, who showed no sign of leaving, and waited for him to speak.
"You're Lukas, right? Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you since back in the Papal State."
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
As I scrutinized his face, I summoned the favorability window.
Narke Farnese
Favorability: +7
'Positive favorability?'
I doubted my eyes and summoned the favorability window again. The number was the same.
It was the first time I'd ever seen such a value.
He'd heard a lot about me since the Papal State, yet that was the number he had?
'Just what did you hear…?'
When I kept staring at his face without saying anything, he rolled his eyes awkwardly and spoke up.
"I was already really pissed off, but seeing you handle everything so cleanly made me feel great. Thanks. The animal these guys brought with them—it's one of my pets."
"I see."
I handed over the animal I'd been holding.
"Yeah. He was the only one I could rely on, so when he disappeared, I was really shocked."
He pressed a hand against the animal's chest and let out a sigh of relief. Then he pulled out his wand.
"Honestly, I'm still pretty annoyed… but I can't exactly report this to the school."
"Why not?"
"If it gets out that you used magic to defend yourself, that wouldn't be good. So I thought I'd take care of it another way."
He smiled and lightly flicked his wand. Then he cast another spell on the fallen students.
'Hmm….'
Well, would you look at that.
'Can't let it be known that you used magic to defend yourself'?
I stared at him with a faint smile on my lips.
Yeah, I could tell from the moment he alone had positive favorability.
There was more than enough reason to be wary.
Let's figure out what kind of guy this bastard really is.
'Status window.'
Ding—!
But what appeared at that moment wasn't the status window.
Frowning, I read the text.
〈 Chapter 3. Constant droplets pierce stone (1) 〉
Suggestion 1: Make the optimal choice. (0/1)
* Route 1 ― 〈 Suggestion 2 〉
* Route 2 ― 〈 Chapter 4. Even slow, it moves forward somehow 〉
'The optimal choice.'
It appeared again.
If we're talking about the optimal choice right now….
It must mean deciding my attitude toward him.
Whether to make him an ally, or to minimize contact with him and remain on guard.
Still, unlike before, neither option showed a route ending in death. No matter which I chose, it wouldn't be a major problem.
I looked him in the eyes and summoned the status window again.
'Status window.'
Narke Farnese
Favorability: +7
Title: ?
Health: +8
Mental strength: +9
Magical power: +10
Skill: +7
Impression: ?
Luck: +4
Trait: Holy Power, Foresight (Lv.1)*, Insight (Lv.2)*
'…Hah.'
It felt similar to when I saw Leo's status window.
Were stats like this even possible at this age?
I quickly scanned his stats and focused on his traits.
'Insight as a trait.'
Insight Lv.2
— 3.0 points until next level
*Divine blessing applied
Was this how he figured out that I shouldn't use magic?
It was a useful ability.
No—calling it merely useful would be an understatement.
If circumstances allowed, it was an ability I'd want for myself.
And on top of that, foresight….
Foresight Lv.1
— 2.0 points until next level
*Divine blessing applied
I twisted the corner of my mouth.
Make the optimal choice….
Obviously, I should make him an ally.
Just because someone's an ally doesn't mean you shouldn't be wary of them.
The ones you should be most wary of are the ones you keep in the most visible place.
Ding—!
Congratulations!
'Suggestion 1: Make the optimal choice.' completed!
'Route 1 — 〈 Suggestion 2 〉' confirmed.
I immediately summoned the Dawn window.
Dawn777
— 757 days 5 hours 1 minute 35 seconds until the final ending 'Chapter X. Death'
— Change probability: 6.4% (+1.0%p)
This decision increased my survival probability by 1%p.
It was 5.3 the last time I checked… guess it had already increased by 0.1 percentage points earlier.
Either way, this decision wasn't unfavorable to me.
I'll keep him in the most visible place and watch how he moves from now on.
"That should do it."
Just then, he stood up and slid his wand back into his belt.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing special. Just something similar to the Holy Power you used. It shouldn't be noticeable."
He flashed a refreshing smile.
So this bastard used mind-control magic too.
Yeah, it won't show. I smiled along as I looked at the bastard smiling as if nothing had happened. Then he looked at the students and asked,
"Well, I'm fine ending it at this, but… looking at you, it seems like you got hit a bit. Are you really planning to let this pass as if nothing happened?"
"No."
I muttered while looking at the bastards sleeping peacefully.
"No way."
This was an opportunity that had rolled right into my lap. I'd be stupid not to make good use of it.
***
"Ah…."
Pleasant birdsong blended harmoniously with the distant chatter of students. Warm light poured generously onto the skin, and a cool breeze gently brushed past the entire body.
The student, who had briefly opened his eyes, closed them again. It was the perfect situation to sink deeply into sleep—so good it was almost a shame to wake up.
'Mm… huh?'
Wind? Brushing past my whole body?
The student snapped his eyes open.
"…!"
The place he was lying in was the clearing where Luka had been summoned.
The student jumped up and kicked his friends.
"Hey! Wake up!"
"Ack!"
"Ugh…."
"What the hell happened earlier?!"
They had called Luka out to mess with him, yet here they were sleeping peacefully. No matter how much he tried to retrace his memories, his head felt foggy.
Thankfully, even so, a few fragmentary scenes surfaced.
'…I feel like I ate dirt.'
No way, right?
The student gagged with a dying expression.
He thought it was just a crazy thought he had on his own, but there was actually a salty taste inside his lips, making his stomach churn even more.
'…No way. Seriously.'
And… he remembered Luka grabbing him by the collar.
And his friends collapsing onto the ground.
When he tried to recall anything beyond that, it felt like the circuits in his head were snapping one by one.
But no matter how he looked at it, the conclusion was clear.
Putting together what he vaguely remembered, this was….
'Did we get screwed over instead…?'
A vague sense of rejection and fear welled up whenever he thought of Luka.
For some reason, it felt like he should never get involved with that guy again. No—he didn't want to get involved. He didn't know why, but he desperately wanted to turn back time to before they had called Luka out.
He even felt a frantic determination that he had to shut Luka's mouth somehow.
At this point… it was obvious.
They had been subdued instantly by Luka without even being able to put up a fight.
As if reaching the same conclusion, one friend who had been staring blankly into space muttered in a hollow voice,
"…Did we lose to a guy who can't even use magic?"
"...."
A heavy silence settled over them.
"That—there's no way. How does one ordinary person beat three mages? What even happened? Hey, you're smart. Try to remember what went down."
"What do you mean smart?! Don't you know I ranked 36th in class last year?"
"At least that's better than us. I can't remember anything!"
As they bickered, another student waved his hand.
"Shut up and listen. This isn't about grades. First, we called Luka out. Then you shoved him against the wall, and, uh, you tried to make him eat that rat bastard. After that…."
"...."
"When I opened my eyes, everyone was collapsed on the ground. Judging by the footprints on the back of his uniform, it feels like Luka stepped on him…."
The students' faces darkened even further.
"We definitely don't remember him using magic. Right?"
"If he had, we'd obviously remember. And if it was Luka of all people, even more so."
"Right? And after that… we probably passed out. There's no memory."
Silence continued.
One student, who had been sitting weakly on the ground, spoke up.
"Were our spells really that pathetic? Enough for an ordinary person to break through with just his fists?"
No one could bring themselves to say no. Everyone present had barely made it into the academy, so if their skill was questioned, there wasn't much they could say.
Then one student shook his head with a firm expression.
"Get a grip. We didn't actually beat him up, did we? Did you forget? We were just trying to scare him. We didn't call him out to hit him."
At those words, the students exchanged looks. Another student pressed him.
"Explain it clearly."
"What did we actually do? We wrote the note vaguely, we didn't really feed him anything, and besides, the only one who knows we called him out is that first-year. We even turned around and left before doing anything."
He continued while looking around at his friends, who were listening intently.
"In short, even if Luka reports it, there's no evidence that we'd be punished. There's no need to be shaking already."
"…Okay. You're right. Then what about us reporting Luka first? If we do it right, we might be able to turn it around."
"No, that's too risky. There's no evidence other than the footprints on his back. And we stepped on his jacket too, so we can't claim we're completely clean. Keeping our mouths shut is the best option."
And even if they reported it, they wouldn't be entirely safe.
Considering that he knocked all of them out and left on his own, Luka couldn't exactly be completely confident either.
It was a risky card to play first, but if the other side made a move, it was a usable card.
Getting beaten by someone who couldn't even properly use magic would shatter their reputation. But did reputation matter right now?
All that mattered was avoiding expulsion.
Just expulsion.
The student forced a smile.
***
'F—… I'm screwed.'
It looked like he wouldn't even be able to avoid expulsion.
The student rolled his eyes in internal shock at the sight before him.
"What the hell?"
Leo, sitting across the classroom, muttered in disbelief. He hadn't said it out loud, but the other students' reactions were similar.
"Hey, you said you didn't hit him…!"
The friend sitting next to him whispered urgently.
"We left him there, but he got up on his own and came just fine."
Luka sneered as he passed by with his hands shoved into his pockets.
The student felt his vision turn white and desperately avoided Luka's gaze.
There was a bruise on Luka's face. It was covered with medical tape, but that alone made it obvious that fists had been exchanged.
Just yesterday, as far as he could remember, the guy had been perfectly fine. So why did he look like he'd gotten the crap beaten out of him somewhere?
Who had done that was, honestly, obvious.
Cold sweat broke out. Anyone could see it was clear evidence of school violence, and his mind went blank.
'T-that obviously? We hit him like that? Are we insane…?'
"Hey."
Luka came back after tossing his bag onto his seat and grabbed his shoulder.
His vision shook violently. The student slowly turned his head.
Luka, who had been looking down at him, met his eyes and gave a smile whose meaning was impossible to read.