There is a reason why I specifically gave 'Chris' the setting of a True Teacher.
If I just pushed forward as a trash, incompetent professor, I wouldn't be able to score points with the protagonist. I have to at least pretend to give advice to avoid hostile situations.
Then, even if I get caught not being able to use magic, wouldn't the protagonist make at least one excuse for me....
'Besides, as a possessor, it's natural to want to look good in the protagonist's eyes. He was a character I liked, in my own way.'
I glanced at the protagonist's dazed face as if brushing past it and opened my mouth.
"If you teach magic clumsily, people die. In that sense, Bedalua Academy is a 'Killer Training Center'."
"...!"
No matter how talented the main characters are, they are still kids. They have no choice but to be tense at the words of 'Chris', who has been through hell and back.
I deliberately chose strong words to make it seem that way, but.... I wonder if I crossed the line a bit.
"If you put a knife in the hands of greenhorns who can't even handle their own mana, they won't commit suicide, they'll commit a massacre."
I tried to speak with a slightly more empty feeling than the insincere sentences I spat out before.
Fortunately, even 'Pigtails', who has a rather noisy personality, and the model student are shutting their mouths and focusing on my words. Though the one staring at me most intensely is the protagonist.
It's burdensome, dude.
"Accident? Mistake? This isn't playing house that can be packaged with mere words like that."
I threw the book I was holding onto the podium with a thud and stared intently at the guys.
'Healer' slightly avoids my gaze.
Oh right, she had trauma too. Damn novel. It ruined all the kids' pasts.
Since the protagonist is also biting his lower lip hard, I should end it around here.
Now, the final line!
"Are you bastards... prepared?"
"...."
Prepared to handle immense power. Prepared to take responsibility for someone's life. Prepared to endure the weight of death....
I left room for each of them to interpret it on their own.
Then, snorting once as if saying 'As if you are', and even walking out of the classroom with heavy steps.
After executing everything perfectly, I quickly walked out of the building.
"...Phew, I feel like my lifespan shortened by about ten years!"
Only after running away to the back of the faculty dormitory, where people were scarce, could I let out a big sigh.
Wow.... This drains my energy like crazy.
It feels completely different from roleplaying in a game. Above all, my life is on the line right now.
'They say roleplaying beyond a certain point becomes indistinguishable from reality. I need to adapt quickly or something.'
After clicking my tongue, I took out the quest reward 'Monkey Keyring' that was in my pocket before I knew it.
I get the map, but I was curious about what on earth this was.
"Gasp, it's cute."
Literally cute. The 'Monkey Keyring' was a small keychain with a monkey character that had round eyes and a cute mouth.
It looks like something sold at a character shop. Honestly, it's my taste. But it's the exact opposite of 'Chris's' taste.
It would be hard to attach it openly anywhere. Because it's excessively cute and completely contradicts the concept.
To aim for a twist point like 'Chris, who looks like she'd enjoy taxidermied monkey hands, is actually a fan of cute dolls?!' is....
'Too much.'
And it's a bit hard for me to endure too.
'By the way, does this not have any separate function?'
I fiddled with the Monkey Keyring, turning it this way and that.
Even if a cute item fulfills its use by being cute, it's a quest reward. If the system has a conscience, it should give some buff....
[Would you like to equip the item 'Monkey Keyring'?] [Yes/No]
[※Once equipped, the item can be unequipped after a minimum of 5 minutes, so please be careful when equipping.]
The system window appeared in front of my eyes with good timing.
Is it saying it will tell me the effect only if I equip it?
What a bunch of thugs. If this were a real game, it would have failed long ago.
'Though it's already certified as a trash game from the point where I die if I fail a quest....'
Anyway, let's equip it quickly. I don't know when the next quest will pop up, so I need to check its performance before then.
[You have equipped the item 'Monkey Keyring'! Agility increases by one grade for the duration of equipping. F / Snail's friend -> E / Snail's big brother]
Crazy. Agility increases by one grade? It's an OP item!
I clenched my fist without realizing it. Although a Monkey Keyring that doesn't match me is dangling from my waist, I can just roughly cover it with my clothes.
It's an item where I can tolerate that level of inconvenience. Agility will soon connect to evasion, and since I can neither attack nor block, dodging is the most rational choice for me.
Just when I was thanking the system's benevolence-
[Instead, you add 'Ki' (Monkey sound) at the end of every sentence while equipped. ex) The system is truly merciful-ki!]
The system displayed the rest of the window as if mocking me.
Wait, what is this crazy thing saying right now....
Ki? Kii? Am I a real monkey? No, more than that, do you think 'Chris' would go around saying Ki-Ki!
It was a moment where I was just opening and closing my mouth in disbelief.
Thud.
"C-Chris, Teacher? Why are you here...."
"...!"
Uh...
I'm f*cked.
'That's what I want to say. Why are you here! Clearly, there was no one until just now. Where did you pop out from!'
Besides, what she just dropped from her hand is what I think it is, right? To have this restriction placed on me in a situation where, of all things, I can't just keep my mouth shut.
1 minute before concept collapse.
I'm f*cked.
Of all people to be caught by, it's this woman.
Angelina felt cold sweat flowing down her cheek.
'Damn it.'
I should have just pretended not to know.
If it were the usual Angelina, she would have calmly used stealth magic and left the spot.
But why. As soon as she met those ghost-like eyes, she was so startled that her mouth opened on its own.
...My reasoning must be clouded because I smoked too much tobacco. It is definitely not because I was suppressed by Chris's charisma.
'Ordinary excuses won't work on a human like that. Probably not even the name of the Seriph Dukedom....'
Angelina knew people like Chris well.
The type who act as they please, trusting only in the power they possess. Those who don't know how to be considerate of others—no, those who have lived lives where they didn't even need to be considerate.
Arrogant geniuses.
Although she only faced her for a few minutes, Angelina solidified her thoughts on the person named Chris. Because those eyes looking at others with contempt were all too familiar.
Waiting for the criticism that would burst from the opponent's mouth, Angelina swallowed hard.
"...."
"...."
But only heavy silence flowed for tens of seconds.
'What is it?'
Angelina felt something was strange.
She doesn't search her pockets, nor does she stop Angelina from running away. Even though it would be possible for Chris with simple magic.
She just stares at Angelina's finely trembling hands with a frown.
She was confused. She wasn't used to this kind of silent pressure, so she felt even more anxious.
"...You saw it, right? Me, smoking tobacco."
Eventually, Angelina broke the silence first.
Chris turned her eyes toward her lowered head.
Feeling tension in her jaw, Angelina continued.
"I won't deny it. I know it's something I shouldn't do. I'm sorry. I will sweetly accept the punishment."
Touching it to manage extreme stress and pain had somehow become her only comfort.
Of course, counting the times, this is only the third time, but what would change by saying that now.
'Maybe it's fortunate that I got caught by this woman. Since she definitely won't go easy on me.'
Of course, she might avoid expulsion due to the Dukedom's reputation. But it is certain that she will tarnish the name 'Angelina Seriph'.
This was one of the things Angelina feared most. No, perhaps on the other hand, it might be what she wished for the most.
'If I could be denounced as unworthy of being a successor and give up everything, I would be at peace.'
Amidst contradictory emotions, when Chris's mouth finally opened, Angelina shut her eyes tight.
However, what she actually heard was-
"Pathetic bastard."
It was truly a quiet sympathy.
It doesn't mean there was no contempt. But underneath it, Angelina could notice the trace of a faint emotion.
'She's sad? ...Why?'
Chris. A woman who looks like her tears would have dried up long ago is sad. She pities Angelina without knowing a single thing about her.
I don't... understand the reason.
"...!"
At that moment, tap, the tip of Chris's index finger touched the forehead of Angelina, who was standing blankly.
For some reason, a familiar-looking gesture of scolding a young child.
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