WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 22: Asking for a Date
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Right after the Freshman Welcome Test.
The Class E students were still caught up in its aftermath.
It felt as though the spectators' whispers still echoed in their ears.
"Seriously, how can someone with an overall E-grade be top of their class?"
"If trash like that can be top of the class, how bad must the ones below them be?"
"Tsk, tsk... What a worthless bunch."
Those echoes lingered because they had been trampled by mockery again and again.
Because lungs pierced by daggers had drawn breath that many times.
"Look at them struggling over there."
"Hahaha! They're dangling there helplessly, and what? Are they crying too?"
"Why did people that far beneath the standard even enroll..."
Everyone had heard it.
The contempt aimed at Class E, the lips curling in mockery.
The students had no choice but to hang their heads.
They gritted their teeth against the humiliation that made them tremble.
"Oh my, are they trying to act like the runner-up? They're especially persistent."
"They're forcing themselves back up. Do they not understand reality...?"
The Class E students.
They had been called prodigies somewhere, too.
They possessed valuable talent and immeasurable potential.
They had always taken pride in themselves.
'But.'
Even they were treated as inferior students here.
Grandia Academy.
The continent's finest educational institution.
A stopover for countless talented people.
Among the real deal, they were painfully ordinary.
'This is too much.'
The efforts they had built up over the years were dismissed so easily.
They did not even come from distinguished bloodlines.
Commoners. People of lowly status who had begged for the chance to learn.
Perhaps being ignored by the noble students was only natural.
'We only did our best...'
Skill, power, money.
They had none of it.
At this academy, it was only natural for people like them to be looked down on.
Even the faculty did not intervene in conflicts between classes.
They claimed it encouraged competition and stirred up the students' fighting spirit.
So.
No one had protected the students' hearts.
Yes, that should have been the case...
"Hehe, you shouldn't go messing with someone else's Bread Shuttles."
Someone stepped forward.
A boy in a mask.
He patted each of the battered students on the shoulder.
After telling them to rest, he walked toward the sparring grounds where they had been thoroughly trampled.
'...'
At the time, the students had not expected much.
A spar between the top student of Class C and the top student of Class E.
The outcome had been obvious to anyone.
Class E's complete defeat was already set in stone.
The test had been prepared as a stage for them to be mocked.
"Luyan, you've worked hard."
"Please rest for a moment."
The outcome would be the same.
That boy would be completely crushed as well, then subjected to countless jeers.
The Class E students had only one prayer.
'Please.'
Please.
Let this sickening moment end soon.
Let us escape those disgusting voices.
The students sprawled across the waiting area had resigned themselves to that.
They looked like defeated soldiers who had lost the will to fight.
As they sat there smoking their bitter aftertaste like cigarettes...
"W-What...?"
A miracle happened.
A voice thick with its usual amusement.
A relaxed, joking tone from behind that grotesque mask.
"Hm."
"You said you'd finish it in one hit..."
"Is this all?"
It was the moment everyone's expectations shattered.
The boy utterly overwhelmed Shariel.
Neither burned by the blazing flames nor stained by soot.
"..."
The Class C students' cruel, stinging mockery.
He silenced all of it.
Students from both the higher and lower classes could only gasp in admiration.
The sight of him swinging that colorful sword as he cut through the flames.
《Test complete. The winner is Viktor.》
In the end, he claimed victory.
He had broken through that towering wall.
And he did not stop there.
"So."
"Anyone else got a problem with my shuttles?"
He stared down the students remaining in the waiting area, subtly pressuring them.
At the same time, he flashed a V-sign at the Class E students.
He had protected them.
He had landed a blow on behalf of the classmates who had suffered.
Of course, he might not have meant it so kindly...
But to the exhausted Class E students, that was how it looked.
"He took our side...?"
"Why? We may be in the same class, but it's not like we're close..."
"And we even worked together to try and push him out of first place..."
The eight students called the Bread Shuttles were especially moved.
They ranked near the top within Class E.
They had taken great pride in their abilities, which meant they had always carried plenty of resentment.
Then that kindness reached them.
"You all worked hard today."
"Don't pull the rickshaw tomorrow. Get plenty of rest instead."
"The test must have exhausted you, body and mind."
And after the test, he had even shown them such thoughtful consideration.
The Shuttles could not help but soften.
A dangerous person. An impossible-to-read person.
Their opinion shifted to, 'Maybe he's not such a bad person.'
"He might actually be a decent guy..."
"Even after we did that to him, he stepped up and stopped people from insulting us..."
"...We should apologize properly. For looking down on him and trying to threaten him back then."
The Shuttles came to think that perhaps the person before them truly deserved to be called Big Bro.
Perhaps they could learn a great deal during their time at the academy if they stayed by his side.
So, the Shuttles decided to thank the boy first.
"Welcome, Big Bro!!"
Their loud chorus rang out.
"We've been waiting, Big Bro!"
"Big Bro! Come sit over here!"
"We put down a cushion for you in advance!"
That was the story behind the Bread Shuttles' change of heart.
* * *
"Um..."
I couldn't hide my confusion.
It was because of the welcome that had poured over me the moment I entered the lecture room.
After receiving their respectful greetings, I sat down in the seat with a cushion.
'...What's going on?'
The Bread Shuttles were standing at the front, leading the way.
And they looked genuinely pleased about it.
Even when they didn't say anything, these guys usually wore their annoyance on their faces.
Well, of course they did. Pulling rickshaws, playing Beyblade, playing Sonic, and so on.
I'd been making them do all that. If their expressions hadn't soured, could they even be called human?
That was why I could always see their brows furrow whenever we met...
'Why do they look so happy today?'
Had they not been thoroughly crushed in yesterday's test, too?
I'd expected a funeral-like mood, but the room wasn't as gloomy as I thought.
I tilted my head in confusion.
"Big Bro, is something wrong?!"
"Ah... It's nothing."
"Yes! Please let us know if you need anything!"
"..."
No, what is with you guys?
At this point, it was getting scary.
As I awkwardly scratched my head, one of the hesitant Shuttles spoke up.
"B-Big Bro... Thank you for yesterday!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Yesterday's test. I was truly moved. I knew you were strong despite being in Class E, Big Bro, but I never expected you to overwhelm the top student of Class C! And Lady Labriell, who is called a genius of flame magic, no less!"
"Ah... You meant that. She was certainly a difficult opponent."
"Haha! You're too humble, considering you beat her with a single balloon!"
"I got lucky."
"Word has already spread throughout the academy."
No, it really was luck.
Do you know how weak I am?
I only looked strong because I spammed bugs. My base rating was fixed at E-grade, okay?
You guys could flick even a booger-sized bit of mana at me and punch a hole right through me.
'This is troublesome...'
[Still, have their attitudes not become much friendlier?]
'That is true, but...'
[They must have been impressed. Yesterday's test was shocking enough. You gave Class C a blow on behalf of those children who had been thoroughly humiliated.]
'Is that what happened?'
Had I succeeded in gaining their favor by accident?
Well, I had put on quite a show yesterday.
I'd take it, so I decided to nod and let it go.
"Ahem. I'll continue to improve. I can't remain in Class E for my entire academy life."
"Yes, Big Bro!"
Big Bro.
I'd made them call me that, but hearing it now felt a little strange.
And everyone called me Big Bro, whether they were male or female...
After clearing away that stray thought, I exchanged a few words with the Shuttles gathered around me.
'Well... since it turned out this way, maybe I should make active use of them.'
Even if they were Class E students, they all had the basics down.
Students with no real talent couldn't even enroll in Grandia Academy.
In other words, these guys also had enough potential to grow.
If I could open up their growth routes without obstruction, they could become as strong as Class A.
The game had probably been balanced that way.
'In my previous life, even runs like [Clearing the Story with Only Class E Characters] were popular...'
That meant they weren't impossible to raise.
The difficulty was fairly high, but it wasn't a problem for a veteran player like me.
If I succeeded, I would gain dependable allies.
I planned to stay in Class E for a while anyway, so I thought I might as well raise them along the way.
'Especially the one who gets strong... Was it Luyan?'
The runner-up of Class E, Luyan Jestar.
If raised properly until the latter half of the original story, he could reach S-grade performance.
"..."
Unlike the other students, Luyan sat quietly in the corner of the lecture room.
He seemed determined not to even look this way.
Did he still have some pride left?
'If I'm going to target someone, it should be him...'
He was effectively the emotional pillar of Class E.
He looked slight, but his overall balance was solid.
His early-game efficiency wasn't great, but once his blocked acupoints were opened, his potential would explode.
He was also a pretty boy, so he had a fair number of fans in the original work.
His strong pride was a minor issue, but...
'I'll think about that later.'
As I quietly organized my thoughts, a message suddenly appeared before me.
Ding!
[Sub Quest]
-Details: Raise every Class E student into an individual with at least B-grade ability.
-Quest Time Limit: Until graduation
-Penalty upon Failure: None
-Reward: Character-exclusive item, 'Black Tuner’s Scales (S-)'
So this counted as a quest too.
And scales, an S-grade item no less.
I had no reason to refuse.
I lightly clicked the quest acceptance button.
'Good... Things are going smoothly.'
While I kept the conversation going, I sorted through my thoughts.
Just as the noisy gathering began to settle down, my eyes met Alice's among the students.
"Oh."
I was glad to see her.
I had arrived late yesterday, so I hadn't been able to watch her test.
Apparently, she had declared forfeiture the moment it started.
'It was only natural, but...'
Alice still couldn't properly control her own ability.
She was probably afraid of hurting others, so she avoided activating her dream.
She was such a pitiable girl.
Despite having such selflessness, she was still destined to become a disaster.
The original story had plenty of bleak parts.
"Miss Alice."
I waved lightly to greet her.
We had spoken before, so I thought I could approach her more warmly.
Alice was one of the supporting characters I cherished most in Ngme.
I wanted to get as close to her as possible.
I also had to prevent the future where she became a disaster.
"Good morning."
"Eek..."
But my friendly greeting received no response.
The girl flinched in shock when our eyes met.
Her shoulders hunched, then began to tremble.
After panicking for a moment, she quickly avoided my gaze.
'What?'
And she didn't stop there. She quietly slipped out of the lecture room.
I could only stand there blankly.
What?
What was that?
'Don't tell me.'
Did I just get rejected before I even confessed?
* * *
Alice.
A few days ago, she had seen something she should never have seen.
"O-Our eyes met...?"
"H-How? That has never happened before..."
The seventieth floor of Purgatory.
The back of the monster that ruled over that place.
The girl who had carelessly spied on him had been caught by the clown.
"I-I'm going to die. H-He'll kill me to s-silence me..."
"Sniff... W-What do I do...?"
It was a situation where she had felt her life was in danger.
She had seen something she should not have, so she believed she would surely be silenced.
Yet, contrary to her expectations, no harm came to her.
Time passed while she remained unable to understand why.
'Why...?'
As Alice worried through her tears, the mask that had looked straight through her and worn a grotesque smile remained in her mind.
Alice took it as a warning.
'He isn't going to kill me right away? B-But if I say anything...'
There had been no need to kill Alice.
He was someone who had killed the master of a place even Grandia's faculty had not dared to challenge with a single gesture.
Overwhelming strength.
The academy's fate had practically fallen into his hands already.
In that situation, he probably didn't think he needed to silence anyone.
'He told me to behave myself...'
If she opened her mouth, she would die.
He was someone who had sliced a dragon to pieces with a single finger.
Even Grandia's faculty would be nothing to him.
'I need to stay still. Quietly... I need to live as though I'm dead.'
It was the cold conclusion she had reached.
Or perhaps she had simply been terrified...
'If I let anyone know, I don't know what will happen to the academy...'
This was Alice's best option.
There was simply too much she did not know.
Why?
Why had someone that strong enrolled in Class E?
Why was he moving around while hiding his strength?
They said the strongest people were all insane. Was the boy one of them too?
Why had the academy failed to notice anything strange about him?
Was he so far beyond the faculty that they could not even sense his strength?
Could the headmaster stand against him?
'I don't know. I don't know anything...'
Countless questions arose, but none were answered.
Only the fear in her heart continued to grow.
Even on her way to school, Alice repeated it to herself over and over.
'Never.'
She must never get involved with that person again.
She must never draw that person's attention.
She must not even act as though she knew him.
"Then how about this? Let's be friends from now on."
Those words he had said before bothered her, but that didn't matter.
Why would someone so extraordinary have any reason to pay attention to her in the first place?
Since she had received a warning, she only needed to show that she understood it.
She had to convince him that she would never tell anyone.
'T-Then... it'll be okay.'
Yes.
She would live quietly.
He wouldn't act as though he knew her either.
Her wishful thinking went into overdrive.
With that resolve, Alice took a deep breath.
Yes, she had definitely made that resolve...
"Miss Alice."
What was this situation?
"I finally caught you. You've been running away all day..."
Before her stood a grotesquely smiling mask.
And a wall behind her, preventing her from escaping.
The clown had one hand pressed against that wall.
She was pinned against the wall.
It was a romantic tableau straight out of a novel, a boy and a girl.
But Alice felt as though she might wet herself at any moment.
"Y-Yes, yes, yes..."
Her voice shook like a goat's.
The clown smirked, then gently took her hand.
"How about a little date? Just the two of us."
"Y-Yes... Huh?"
Alice's shoulders trembled.
She felt like crying.
Footnotes:
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