Healing at the Academy Convenience Store - Chapter 1041
Only Krnovel
1041. Episode of EVE 33
After a short outing with Eve.
I returned to Zephrine and sat in deep thought.
Thinking back, my life plan of becoming emperor and then sucking honey from behind was ruined miserably by the guy’s declaration a few days ago. Of course. Eve, who has been holding on to that talent, has declared that she will extend the partnership contract indefinitely.
Normally, no matter how bad the contract is, they release you after 5 years at most, so isn’t this too vicious? Of course, I signed the contract, too…
“If the plan changes, I will have to adapt to the change myself.”
Since all the game knowledge is in my head anyway, I’ll just live my life day by day. It doesn’t work. In other words, this is the timing when Wolfram von Lohengrin’s own strength is required.
He doesn’t have any combat skills, only has 5 stamina, and a little bit of dagger fighting skills.
If you ask which growth you want to pursue, it’s obviously a melee fighter. Magic requires talent, so I’ll pass. Archery isn’t bad either, but Sylphia looked at me with pity when I picked up a bow a while ago, so I’ll pass on that too.
There is a big advantage in memorizing all the monsters’ patterns… . It will be either a Blunt Warrior or a Speed Warrior. And here, the Blunt Warrior has a bit of an advantage. The Speed Warrior isn’t bad either, but it’s too weak against the opponent’s defense. No matter how talented I am, I can’t fight a giant golem with a dagger.
What is required of a talented warrior is not only high skill, but also the potential of a mythical ability to break through the opponent’s attack resistance and defense. If you raise a dagger warrior but there is no defense or defense damage, it will be a waste of time.
Unless you’re really lucky and can eat anything, or you get a legendary item that can penetrate all defenses, you don’t want to raise a character for that unless it’s an extreme situation. Or you have to make money on an expedition today because you might die tomorrow… . Unless it’s a situation like that, a talent character is a job that shines in the early game and then comes alive in the very late game depending on the item settings.
“That is. What can fill my deficiency is… not a dagger, but a blunt weapon. Or a sword.”
Close-range damage dealer, or a bruiser with plenty of defense. My path is set.
And there is only one way for a character like this to grow easily.
You hunt monsters to the point of death, farm, and then hunt and hunt again through grinding.
Even if there are thousands of monsters in front of you, you have to be prepared to go in and circle the whirlwind to be a bruiser. Even if your party members back out thousands of times with the mindset of ‘I’m going to die if I go in there,’ you have to have the determination to dive in.
This is a bit, no, a very ignorant way to develop a character, but… this is the right answer.
I threw away my two daggers and headed towards the student council armory.
My current stamina is 5, and my strength is 4. To be honest, it’s impossible to lift a blunt weapon, but I have no choice for weapon proficiency.
It’s not that you’re using a blunt weapon effectively right now, but the fact that you’re using a blunt weapon overlaps and leads to growth.
Luckily, there was a blunt weapon in the armory that fit my hand perfectly.
A wooden mallet with a studded edge. The 9T equipment, the [Hexagonal Gong Mallet], is also known as the ‘Beginner’s Batta’.
“Phew… Memories are coming back to me… .”
Isn’t it the exact same weight as the one that Mr. Kim Jong-seok, a second-year liberal arts math teacher at Choi Won-go, used to hit?
Teacher, your deep meaning. I will inherit it. Because those snaps and turns have seeped deep into my thighs.
“Then shall we go?”
He headed to the battlefield, carrying in his arms the will of Pata that had been passed down from generation to generation.
***
Of course, I have no intention of going alone.
I melted down the gold I earned last time and took out a little bit of money for the expedition budget.
As a result, the first to apply and join after a rigorous screening process was Nephterian.
“i look forward to!”
“Please take care of me.”
“yes yes!”
If you grow Nephterian well, isn’t he a character that can tank across time and space, a character that eats up the concept of turns?
The AI level is also high, and it is more than enough to be used as a party member… It is the tankiest of the tanks I always recruit when I go up the knight school tree.
okay.
Nephterian… If I use Nephthy as my party’s tank, things will become much easier in the future.
“Then I ask for your help in the future. Even though it’s temporary, we’re colleagues… Also known as a party!”
“No. We are not a party.”
“yes yes…?”
A surprisingly cold rejection, even as I spoke. I caressed my lips without realizing it.
First, I was surprised by the coldness of the words I blurted out so thoughtlessly. Second, I was surprised by the weight of the word party within me. Third, I was surprised by the fact that I had no regrets even though I had coldly rejected him.
“I’m sorry. The word ‘party’ itself is a very heavy word for me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“No. It’s just my personal opinion. We’re not a party… I see. I guess it’s right to call us temporary colleagues who share the same goals.”
“Is that… different from a party?”
“different.”
“yes yes!”
Nephthys looked a little surprised, but I never corrected her.
I have only one party or partner right now, so there’s nothing I can do.
First of all, if I get permission from that guy, I’ll consider recruiting the next party member… but without that, there’s no way to increase the number of party members.
“Then, I will now give you an operational briefing. Let’s see. The place we are heading to is a hunting ground near the Scorching Desert. We will focus on creatures with outer shells but low defense. These will be crustaceans or reptiles. In other words, we will be exterminating desert scorpions and bugs.”
“Ah… yes!”
Nephthy followed my instructions faithfully, even though she was bewildered.
After the battle that day ended, no problems occurred until I distributed the items and looked after the guy’s strengthening.
The guy was still trustworthy, competent, obedient, and compliant.
And yet, until the end of that day’s hunt, I never once thought about having Nephthy join my party.
okay.
Not even for a single moment.
***
After finishing the report, I sat down on the sofa in the reception room. Eve was sitting at the head of the table, tilting her head while sipping black tea.
“By the way, there was something strange in today’s report… Why are you holding a bat? Wasn’t your main weapon a dagger?”
“If you want to live an ordinary life, a dagger is enough, but if someone says they won’t let you go for the rest of your life, I think life will get a little tiring. Wouldn’t it be tough to make a living with just your talents?”
“It’s because of me?”
“Then. Who extended my partnership contract to life, so I’ll be on the front lines even as I get older? Or what? Are you planning to relegate me to office work for the rest of my life?”
“That’s impossible. If I were to command the entire situation from the Imperial Palace, your goal would be to command the field or look around each territory….”
“Yes. Then a blunt weapon would be better than a dagger.”
Even if you raise a dagger warrior, the only thing that will increase is talent. Even if talent is a fraudulent ability… . Stamina and strength are essential for going in the direction Eve wants.
“That’s… that’s true. That’s true… Are you okay?”
“Are you okay? What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it true that your life’s path has been twisted because of me… or that you can’t do what you want to do? Like that you wanted to end things with a dagger… or that you wanted to become faster? Don’t you have any dreams like that?”
“Ha. You’re worrying about that now? That’s ridiculous. Do you know that worrying about that will only lead to a broken contract?”
“No… but….”
“It’s all just pointless worry.”
“When people worry, they… .”
“therefore.”
I fixed my gaze on Eve, and the guy flinched for a moment.
Anyway, don’t worry about it yourself.
“Are you okay? Since I have set this path, you cannot escape for the rest of your life. You must become the emperor and lead this country. We are walking a path from which we can never return.”
“I never once thought about going back.”
Okay then.
“Then there’s no problem. You become the emperor and I will do my best as your partner. I just checked a little bit for that. It’s nothing special.”
“Huh. Right… That’s right. By the way… Are you good at club fighting too?”
“It’s a club now, but it will gradually be replaced with heavier and duller blunt weapons. Long staffs, maces, battle axes. Warhammers. Something like that.”
“Can you handle it…?”
“Hmm. You can do it. Don’t worry too much. It might be better to be jealous than that.”
“Yes? Why?”
Because, well… .
“From now on, your body will gradually get better. Your abs might even get torn, and your skin will get better. Don’t the guys in the journalism department generally have good bodies?”
Eve glanced at my face, then slowly lowered her gaze.
Yeah, that’s the part. That’s where my steel six-pack core will come from. Haha.
“Oh, I see. Hmm… That’s good… Hoo…”
“Okay. So don’t worry too much about it… .”
“Who cares? Who cares about something like your body…!”
“Hmm? Body? What I was talking about was career path.”
“Ah… Aha. Okay.”
Eve hesitated, then nodded.
My face looks a little red….
Why are you doing that?
***
After that, Nephthy and I explored various places in Zephrin alone.
Sometimes Sylphia also participated, and sometimes Eve came to visit.
However, the catchphrase is that ‘the high school student designated by the student council becomes the hero who pioneers Zephrin’, so the main character has always been Nephty.
The two-fighter combination of a large shield tank and a bludgeon warrior is very monster-specific, but I can somehow solve that with my knowledge.
As a result, Nephthy’s equipment improved every day, his specs increased, and he attracted the attention of those around him, but I also continued to grow while putting him at the forefront.
I wielded weapons and built a body for my… no, ‘our’ goal.
When my weapon changed from a wooden axe to a one-handed axe, and then to a two-handed single-edged axe, my stamina was 10, my strength was 9, and when I combined the skills I had, I was able to judge that I had ‘grew.’
“Senior. Is today the end?”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your hard work, senior! Thank you for your guidance!”
Our brief adventure with Nephthys has come to an end, and with it our training.
The reason is that spring has passed and the weather has started to get warmer.
Now that all my undergraduate classes are over and I’ve finished my final exams, all that’s left is summer vacation after the semester ends.
Today is effectively the last day of the second semester, as we don’t know how things will turn out.
“Excuse me, senior… Could you please help me with guidance in the second semester as well?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t give you a definitive answer.”
“Ah… Yes! Thank you so much for everything!”
I ended up refusing Nephthys’ request.
We really got along well over the past period, I felt at ease, and this guy was exactly the Nephterian I remembered from the game, but not for a single moment did I think, ‘I want to have him as a party member.’
So, I’m going to end it here so we can laugh together.
Nephthy left with a smile, and instead went to the student council room where the prickly Eve was waiting.
“What are you so upset about today?”
“It’s not because of you. It’s because of this.”
Eve pushed the letter in front of me.
When I picked it up and read it, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Indeed. You deserve to be upset.”
“I’ve never been upset. I’ve just been annoyed.”
【To Wolfram and Eve, I hope to see you at the palace during the summer vacation. Your older sister, Isis von Lohengrin】
It was an invitation to the snake den sent by a viper.
However, there was no good reason to refuse.
In the end, it looks like I’ll have to spend this summer vacation with Eve and go home together.