WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 28: That's Right, Though
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Things had gotten pretty awkward.
Of course, when I thought about it, that was only natural.
Just because I needed Luna didn't mean Luna had any reason to need me.
Talk about being full of myself.
“Whoa, Funeral Sword got rejected?”
“Even Funeral Sword isn't good enough for the Grace Family's only daughter?”
“Does that mean we might have a chance too?”
I didn't get rejected.
I didn't.
As the students whispered among themselves, I returned to my seat and quietly shriveled up.
Luna kept lowering her head apologetically in my direction.
If she felt that sorry, she shouldn't have turned me down.
In the end, my selection priority had plummeted from first place to last.
The other students would be pushed back if they failed to find a match too, but there was no way this was a good thing.
“Next, Luna Grace, total score: 84.”
It seemed Luna had ranked second in the Reconnaissance Corps.
Come to think of it, she had given up fighting me, but she had still made it all the way to the boss room.
Either way, if she had given up on matching with me, that meant she intended to choose someone else.
I wanted to see who she'd pick after tossing me aside, but...
“Instructor, can I choose not to select a Follower?”
I hadn't expected that.
She was giving up on having a Follower altogether?
Why?
“Unfortunately, Ruidel isn't a place where you can get everything you want. I already told you, didn't I? This is an institution created to conquer dungeons. Even if you don't think you need a Follower, I can't make an exception for you alone.”
Follower matching was Ruidel Academy's main event.
That was why they deliberately admitted an even number of students. Not being paired up wasn't an option.
I remembered something similar happening in the original story. A noble student had thrown a fit about not wanting to pair up with a commoner.
That student had eventually been forced to choose a Follower for practical classes, swallowing their pride. Incidentally, the two of them became a couple later.
Anyway.
After falling silent for a moment, Luna nodded.
“Then please push me down the order too.”
“You could end up paired with someone you don't want.”
“I don't mind.”
Every student's face twisted with displeasure.
She didn't want to be chosen, and she didn't want to choose either? No one knew what she was thinking, but to everyone else, she just looked like a troll.
Even if she was the Grace Family's only daughter, it was an attitude that was impossible to understand. It only made me more curious about what she was really thinking. What on earth was making her act like that?
“Fine. Even if you ask me to change it later, I won't. Next name.”
After that, the students were called up one by one according to their scores.
“Senia Ren. Would you join me?”
“I'm sorry. I'm sure there's someone better.”
“Lady Cecilia, would you perhaps join me...?”
“No.”
Just as expected, Senia and Cecilia, the two in-demand picks, received several offers.
Both of them rejected every one without hesitation.
Naturally, I received offers too.
“Sir Halibal, would you perhaps form a team with me...?”
“Halibal is fine.”
“Then...”
“Sorry, but I'll pass this time.”
Honestly, after Luna turned me down, I had planned to pair up with any mage who came along.
But everyone approaching me was a swordsman.
No, having two swordsmen in one party was a bit much.
As the popular students kept rejecting offers, the students called after them gradually began lowering their expectations.
They would only be together for a month anyway. Rather than keep looking only at well-known students and get pushed down the order, they decided it was better to find a stable partner.
As the balance slowly worked itself out, even students who had seemed unlikely to find a partner began pairing up.
What surprised me was that Senia and Cecilia's scores had fallen much farther than expected.
Senia seemed to have lost a huge number of points for wiping out every member of her team, while Cecilia had likely been scored lower than the students who reached the boss room because she had been eliminated after fighting Senia.
Then, at last, one of their names was called.
“Next. Cecilia Ren, total score: 58.”
So even 58 points was enough to pass. How surprising.
More importantly, Cecilia had scored higher than Senia.
Just how many points had Senia's rampage cost her?
Cecilia glanced in my direction.
This was exactly what I had been worried about.
In the original story, Cecilia and Luna had the worst possible relationship.
They weren't just like cats and dogs. Their relationship was closer to hatred, so bad that even sworn enemies would have blushed. Whenever Cecilia called Luna's name, she always added “that bitch” to it.
Their relationship wasn't driven by personal feelings alone, either. Political conflict between the Ren House and the Grace Family, along with the clash of pride between swordsmen and mages, was tangled up in it too.
It was common knowledge among the Academy's students.
Of course, after a friendship event later on, the two would gradually open up to each other. But that was later, not now.
The reason Cecilia had rejected every other student's offer was probably because she wanted to pair up with me.
This wasn't me being full of myself. It was true.
But I had already held out my hand to Luna and been thoroughly rejected.
If Cecilia chose me in this situation, wouldn't it look like she was picking up what Luna had thrown away?
There was no way Cecilia couldn't predict how that choice would spread through the rumor mill.
Even so, would she really choose me?
Of course, it was fine if she didn't. The problem was that there were fewer and fewer mages left.
The reason there were so few magic DPS among the playable characters in the first place was because the Academy of the End setting itself had very few mages.
‘Don't tell me we'll have to clear the Doll Dungeon with two physical DPS?’
Just as my vision was beginning to go dark...
“I'll choose Halibal Velder.”
Without hesitation, Cecilia held out her hand to me.
The surrounding students stirred.
Most of them were probably thinking something like this.
‘Ren is picking up the Funeral Sword Grace rejected?’
I was so surprised that I asked her again.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
Cecilia shrugged, then noticed that my eyes were on Luna and made a brief sound of understanding.
“Don't you pair up with the person you need? What does Luna Grace have to do with it?”
“...That's true.”
She was right.
I just hadn't expected her to say Luna Grace's full name instead of “that goddamn bitch, Luna.”
It was a reaction I couldn't have imagined in the original story. For some reason, the current Cecilia didn't seem to care about Luna at all.
“So, are you doing this with me or not? Don't tell me you were waiting for my sister.”
I shook my head.
Magic DPS, good. Physical DPS, bad.
Either way, I was grateful enough that she had chosen me. I immediately took her hand.
“I will.”
Cecilia hurriedly pulled her hand away, her face turning red. She was the one who held it out, so why was she embarrassed?
After confirming that Cecilia and I had paired up, Adeline grinned.
“Good. Halibal Velder and Cecilia Ren, you two will be in the same team for the next month.”
Things had ended up going according to my original plan.
I was more satisfied than I expected. I could make up for the lack of magic DPS myself.
But what was this?
This icy feeling.
When I turned my head, coldness practically dripped from Senia's crescent-shaped eyes.
No, then she should've come as magic DPS instead of physical DPS.
That was what I thought, but surprisingly, her chill wasn't directed at me.
“Then you're the last one. Senia Ren, total score: 52. Unfortunately, your partner has already been decided.”
The person Adeline pointed to was none other than Luna.
So far, Luna had received offers from thirteen people besides me.
She was a valuable mage, and since she had rejected my offer, they must have thought they had a chance.
Yet for some reason, she had rejected every offer.
Before anyone realized it, everyone except Luna had found a partner, and the only person left was...
“Senia Ren and Luna Grace. You two will be in the same team for the next month.”
Naturally, it could only be Senia.
Still, Senia was better than the original Cecilia.
She might have been crazy, but she was fairly dependable with other people. In fact, wouldn't she make a good match for the indecisive Luna?
Yet Cecilia suddenly pressed a hand to her forehead and clicked her tongue.
“Ah... So it ended up like that.”
What? Was there really a problem?
As I tilted my head, something unbelievable came out of Senia's mouth.
“...Damn bitch.”
Excuse me, Senia?
That's completely out of character.
⁎⁎⁎
Once all the pairs had been decided, we sat down with our partners.
For some reason, the atmosphere in the lecture hall had become freezing cold.
The culprits were Senia and Luna, seated two desks apart in the front row.
The chill radiating between them had turned the entire classroom into the middle of winter.
What's with this battle of nerves?
At Cecilia's suggestion, we sat two desks away from them.
Standard-issue Abyss Cores, prepared according to the number of students, had been placed in front of the platform.
In the original story, Adeline handed those out to the students before announcing their practical assignment.
It seemed the Reconnaissance Corps wasn't much different from the Raid Corps.
Abyss Cores could strengthen the body by inserting Shards, but they were fundamentally equipment that blocked some of the demonic energy flowing out of dungeons.
In other words, they were essential for students aiming to conquer dungeons. Distributing them could be called an annual event.
Noble students and some commoners already had Abyss Cores, but many did not.
Which also meant that the practical assignment about to be announced was directly connected to a dungeon.
“Good. Now that every team has been formed, I'll announce the practical assignment you'll be carrying out for the next month.”
Adeline began writing on the blackboard.
Simply put, the first practical assignment was a main quest that had to be cleared within a month.
The player was given a month of free time. During that period, they could freely wander around Nevil after school, raise their Disposition, complete side quests, or grind dungeons.
Usually, as in any other RPG, it was customary to run around all of Nevil on an NPC marathon. You couldn't just ignore the fact that NPCs had different lines depending on the time of day.
In the end, if you conquered one dungeon within a month and submitted the designated Shard with a report, the assignment was cleared.
At this point in the original story, Aren greatly improved their standing at the Academy by conquering the Beast Dungeon, which others avoided, with the party members.
Once the explanation was over, one student raised a hand.
“Instructor, will the Shard we submit be returned to us?”
Quite a few students nodded.
It was only natural to ask.
At this point, even Tier 1 Shards had yet to enter widespread circulation. Even a Tier 1 Shard cost an enormous amount.
It was a price commoners couldn't even dream of paying, and it was burdensome even for nobles.
More than anything, Shards were directly tied to strength.
Of course they would feel uneasy about being told to hand them over to the Academy.
But Adeline's answer was firm.
“No. The Shards will go into the Academy treasury and won't be returned to you.”
‘As expected.’
Surprisingly, the Shards they submitted couldn't be returned.
Instead, they would go to upperclassmen currently active on the front lines.
They could dress it up as efficient distribution based on achievements all they wanted, but from the students' perspective, it was no different from being extorted.
“What?! How does that make any sense?”
“Do you even know how much a Shard costs?!”
When we became second-years, they would extort Shards from the first-years and give them to us.
You think a school like that couldn't possibly exist?
Well, here it was.
Then Cecilia asked me something.
“So what are we doing?”
She wasn't talking about the Shards.
I still had plenty of Shards left even after giving some to Elia, and Cecilia could get as many as she wanted if she tried.
Her question meant this.
‘Which dungeon are we going to conquer?’
“If our only goal is to submit the assignment, couldn't we just go to any dungeon near Belheim? The Spider Dungeon, Golem Dungeon, Lizardman Dungeon, Slime Dungeon... You've already conquered all of them.”
That was true.
The Lizardman Dungeon was the most difficult of the four.
Incidentally, Instant Kill could trigger on its boss.
As I rubbed my chin, Cecilia added with a grin.
“Honestly, that kind of thing isn't enough for you either, is it? I'm interested in the newly opened dungeons this time. What do you think?”
The newly opened dungeons she meant were the areas unlocked after I conquered the Beast Dungeon, the four dungeons where Tier 2 Shards began dropping in earnest.
I had certainly been planning to grind too.
It seemed Cecilia wanted to conquer one of them.
It wasn't a bad idea.
Now that I was in the Academy, I had to pay attention to my grades too.
Most students would probably conquer one of the lower four dungeons.
If we wanted a high score, going for a higher-tier dungeon was obviously the right choice.
“I agree that we should aim for a higher-tier dungeon.”
“That's what I thought. So where should we go?”
I agreed with that, but...
“Three of them have already had their monster types identified. We could play it safe, but since we're in the Reconnaissance Corps, wouldn't it be nice to investigate an unknown dungeon first?”
“...”
“What do you think we'll find there? I don't have nearly as much dungeon experience as you, so we'll need to prepare thoroughly.”
“...”
“Hey.”
Cecilia narrowed her eyes and stared at me.
“...It's one of the four, right?”
It was definitely a higher-tier dungeon.
“...Right?”
Except it was one of the Evil God's Abysses.
“...It isn't, is it?”
“It is, though.”
Time remaining to clear the Doll Dungeon: 29 days.
Footnotes:
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