I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 32

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Chapter 32: It's a Dud

──────

From the moment Adeline wrote Follower Selection on the blackboard and began explaining it, Cecilia had already made up her mind.

She would choose Halibal as her Follower.

The reason was simple. She wanted to grow stronger.

Halibal was her goal. If he became her Follower, she would naturally be able to stay by his side, which meant she would have plenty of chances to grow.

Still, there was another reason she could not deny.

‘Because I wanted to know Halibal.’

They had interacted a few times since their first meeting, but most of it had been brief hospital visits or small talk.

She barely knew anything about him. Halibal probably had not taken much interest in her, either.

That made this practical training a good opportunity. If they spent time together, she hoped she would naturally learn more about him.

Whether it was fate or coincidence, despite her low score, she ended up in the same class as Halibal and successfully became his Follower.

‘From now on, I can get to know him little by little.’

That was what she had thought, but...

“There's a White Shard over there.”

“O-Oh? Got it.”

“Make sure you collect the white ones. We can synthesize them later.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Right now, she was acting as a pack mule.

When she looked up, all she could see was Halibal’s back.

In fact, she had been staring at his back ever since they entered the dungeon.

Halibal defeated the monsters, and Cecilia picked up the loot they dropped.

‘Isn’t this just being a pack mule...?’

The cherished daughter of the Ren House, trailing after a man and picking up loot.

Even then, Halibal kept walking ahead without looking back.

Cecilia let out a quiet sigh.

‘This isn’t what I was expecting...’

What she had pictured when entering the dungeon was them swinging their swords together, matching each other’s rhythm, talking as they fought, and gradually getting to know one another amid the dungeon’s dangers.

But what was this?

Cecilia had definitely grown since sparring with Halibal.

Not only had her passion for the sword deepened, but she had also developed the ability to view herself and others objectively.

Because of that, she could vaguely sense the subtle feelings Senia had when dealing with her, and she understood Halibal better than before.

She knew he was not someone who readily revealed himself. Yet she also knew he was a warm person.

Just now, while focused on clearing the dungeon, clear sorrow had filled his eyes as he looked down at the fallen Imperial soldiers.

He might seem indifferent, but his nature was fundamentally good. He would not be ignoring her on purpose.

But...

‘Even so, I didn’t think he’d be this indifferent.’

Halibal had not asked Cecilia a single thing.

What kind of person she was, what sort of past she had, or what goals she held.

He had not even asked what she liked or disliked, or why she had chosen him as her Follower.

As though he already knew it all.

That left Cecilia with no opportunity, either.

They had said the point of having a Follower was to get to know each other over a month, but wasn’t this too unfair?

“According to the map, the boss room should be just ahead.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. We got here faster than I expected.”

Their sixth conversation since entering the dungeon.

Naturally, it was another brief explanation and nothing more.

Cecilia gritted her teeth.

“The boss is the Goblin Lord. It says it strikes from a distance with lightning.”

She had put up with it until now, but she could not take it anymore.

“I think you’ll need to help, too. Is your Health okay?”

So she raised the white flag. No, she simply stopped trying to suppress her usual temperament.

“Halibal Velder.”

“What? Is there something you’re curious about?”

“I like drinking flower tea and reading books at leisure, you idiot!”

Halibal turned his head at the unexpected declaration.

For the first time since entering the dungeon, he looked completely bewildered.

Cecilia did not see that expression. She only lowered her head and kept speaking without stopping.

“I like vanilla cake, and I like washing up after training. I like sitting by the window on rainy days and staring outside, filling a new bookshelf to the brim, and going on picnics with my sister.”

She was embarrassed.

Yet once she started talking, her voice would not stop, like a dam that had burst.

“Of course, there are things I dislike, too. Everyone hates followers of the Evil God, monsters, and black flames, but... waking up early in the morning, bland porridge, being interrupted while reading. And people who flatter me when I’m speaking seriously. I hate that most of all.”

It was the first time she had ever revealed herself to someone like this.

She had never even confessed such things to Senia. Once she finished, she could not stop her face from burning.

While she twisted the hem of her skirt three times, Halibal continued to stare at her without saying a word.

That was fine. She had not said it because she expected an answer.

Still, there was something she had to ask.

“What about you?”

“...Huh?”

“...I just told you all that. What do you like?”

Of course, she had not really told him everything.

There was one peculiar preference she had developed after sparring with Halibal that she would not tell anyone, even if it killed her.

Still, it was true that she had revealed most of it.

At Cecilia’s question, Halibal rubbed his chin.

All he had to do was answer, so why was he thinking about it so seriously? She had only mentioned something small like vanilla cake.

Halibal closed his eyes and fell into thought for a long while.

Cecilia felt her heart pounding for no reason as she waited for him to speak.

Then, at last, he muttered.

“Good question.”

“What?”

“I don’t really know what I like.”

Cecilia’s eyes widened at the absurd answer.

But Halibal was serious.

“Before I knew it, I was close to dying. Then I drifted around without a destination until I joined the army. I spent every day repeating training and dungeon raids, and when I came to my senses again, I was enrolled at the academy... Now I’m running a dungeon with you.”

He added with a bitter smile.

“I guess I’ve never really thought about what I like.”

Cecilia was at a loss for words.

Thinking back, every time she had seen Halibal, he had either been lying in a hospital bed or swinging his sword at the training grounds.

She had never seen him enjoying something or spending time on the little things in life.

“Ah, I do like the honey bread they serve as a special meal once a month.”

“...Phew.”

That was why he gave answers like that.

Maybe Halibal had only shown her his back because she had only tried to see his back.

Cecilia suddenly pushed Halibal’s arm aside and snatched the torch from his hand.

Then she boldly stood beside him.

“You’re going to take the lead?”

“Yeah. You’ve been carrying it the whole time.”

“...”

“So you pick up the Shards, too. From now on, my place is here.”

Halibal shrugged, then picked up a Red Shard from the floor and tucked it away.

“You’re planning to enter dungeons every day after class, right?”

“Yeah. But I won’t keep running the same dungeon. Once we get results, we should move up a tier.”

“The Follower period only lasts a month. Don’t you think it’s unfair to drag me through dungeons with you every day?”

Halibal thought for a moment, then nodded. Cecilia did not miss her chance.

“Then fifteen days.”

“...What?”

“We’ll split the month in half. For fifteen days, we’ll do whatever you want. The other fifteen days, we’ll do whatever I want. Got it?”

Halibal’s expression visibly stiffened.

As expected, he must have planned to spend the entire month running dungeons.

Cecilia had no intention of backing down.

Logically and reasonably, she was right.

Even considering the academy’s values, there was no way the assignment was meant to have them run dungeons for all thirty days.

So Cecilia made up her mind.

While they were together as Followers, she would definitely find out what this blockheaded man liked.

And if he had nothing, she would make something for him to like.

Even if he said he did not want to, that could not be helped. Doing whatever she wanted was what Cecilia did best.

Halibal answered as though he had no choice.

“...Fine.”

At that moment, a clear blue light burst from his chest.

Cecilia’s eyes widened.

The light was definitely leaking out from Renee, the Abyss Core she had given him.

“W-What is that?”

The light soon vanished like an illusion.

Right after that, Halibal aimed Renee at Cecilia and let out a hollow laugh.

“Huh.”

“What is it? What just happened...? Is something wrong?”

“It’s not that, but...”

His expression looked deeply conflicted, but Cecilia could tell instinctively.

The light she had just seen was anything but ordinary.

After it disappeared, her heart somehow felt like it was beating harder than before.

Cecilia made a vow.

She would definitely learn the truth behind that light, along with everything else about Halibal.

⁎⁎⁎

“Kyaaaah!!”

“Phew...”

“Haa...”

With a scream, the Goblin Lord, boss of the Goblin Dungeon, turned to dust and disappeared.

It had been a far more troublesome opponent than expected.

Even though I had deliberately focused my Shards on Defense, I could not ignore the power of the lightning it kept firing.

Still, the damage had remained well within expectations, and we managed to take it down without any major problems.

A red, lightning-scorched burn mark was visible on my arm.

‘This won’t turn me into Red Halibal, right?’

Then particles of light from the floor seeped into my wound, and it healed in an instant.

It was the effect of Cecilia’s Core, Lumen.

Just like in the original, Lumen’s effect applied to party members as well.

At this rate, it could replace a healer even without Mine. That meant I had to bring Cecilia along for dungeon runs for the time being.

I had realized something else, too.

Physical attacks were one thing, but magical attacks like lightning made it much harder to find the timing for a Just Guard.

‘I can’t rely only on Just Guard.’

The biggest gain from this battle, though, was something else.

‘Was that an Affection Level event just now?’

Right before entering the boss room, Cecilia had suddenly started listing the things she liked, and I had been completely confused.

I wondered what had gotten into her.

The sight of her face turning as red as a strawberry while she rattled off her likes like a machine gun was something the Cecilia from the original would never have shown.

When she asked what I liked, my mind went blank.

‘What do I like...?’

Farming? Rare Shards? Was I supposed to say I liked those?

No. I only did them because I had to.

After I vaguely dodged the question, she made an unexpected demand.

She wanted half of the thirty days, fifteen days, for herself.

It was a ridiculous demand.

But faced with that determined expression, I had no choice but to nod.

At that moment, Self-Love flashed, and a new message appeared on Renee.

[Cecilia Ren’s Affection Level has increased.]

[Affection Level: 3]

If this had been a game, a choice would definitely have appeared just then.

1. Accept the proposal.

2. Reject the proposal.

I had chosen “Accept,” and that must have increased her Affection Level.

What would have happened if I had rejected it?

Either way, during the boss battle that followed the increase, I could feel that Cecilia’s additional attacks were much stronger than before.

‘Then this isn’t a bad choice, either.’

Honestly, even if I invested fifteen more days, there was almost no chance my combat power would increase dramatically.

Once I got the Shattering Sword and set up my Tier 2 Shards, I would be stuck in a stat plateau until I cleared the Doll Dungeon anyway.

It wasn’t as though the Shattering Sword would fail to drop for an entire month.

But what if spending fifteen days with Cecilia led to additional growth?

Even better.

“But what’s that? It wasn’t there a moment ago.”

Cecilia pointed to where the Goblin Lord’s body had vanished.

An old wooden chest was sitting there, demonic energy pouring from it.

“Could this be... a treasure chest? I’ve heard about them from the head of the house.”

‘So this is what it looks like.’

In the original, after the clear screen appeared, the Abyss Core spun around and an interface for selecting a chest popped up.

In reality, it seemed to simply pop out like this after defeating the boss.

The setting that the demonic energy in the chest had to be purified with an Abyss Core was the same, too.

The moment I held Renee against it, the lock clicked open and the chest opened.

A red flash burst from inside.

Did the Shattering Sword drop?

[Shattering Greatsword (II)]

It did drop.

Not a sword, but a greatsword.

‘Of all things, a greatsword. It’s a dud.’

Academy of the End had several weapon types, but greatswords were one of the most notorious dud weapons.

None of the playable characters used a greatsword as their main weapon.

Aren, as the protagonist and a swordsman, could use one, but...

[Attack Power 10 / Fluidity -10]

Look at that speed.

As expected of the Shattering series, it had a large Attack Power increase, but it cost a full 10 Fluidity in return.

A weapon that could only be used by accepting a penalty that tied up your hands and feet in exchange for one powerful strike. It was not even worth considering.

There was a practical reason I could not use it, either.

I did not know how to wield a greatsword, and more importantly, it was heavy.

“It’s a greatsword.”

Cecilia’s reaction was lukewarm, too.

Since her final weapon was a longsword based on Azure Night, there was no way she would have much interest in it.

“...What if we split it in half and use it like dual swords?”

‘Well, I’ve never seen anything good come from splitting a sword in two.’

“Still, it’s a little disappointing that this was what we got from our first treasure chest...”

I was pretty deflated as well.

It was encouraging that a Shattering-series weapon had dropped on the first run, but the problem was that I could not use it.

Academy of the End was not an unfriendly game, but situations like this were definitely irritating.

Why give me a weapon I could not even equip?