[Status Window]
Name: Theo (Kim Min-seong)
Age: 20 years old
Occupation: Really Amazing Villager
Titles: Proud Son, Village’s Best Handyman, Skilled Swordsman, Scarecrow Slayer, Scarecrow Crusher, Someone with a Large Mana Pool, Competent Magic User, Farming? Easy as Pie, Skilled Mediator
[Achievements]
Can’t Do Anything on Your Own?
ㄴ All Stats +5
I’ll Take Him With Me!!
ㄴ All Stats +5
Your Country Sucks
ㄴ All Stats +15
The status window had become remarkably detailed at some point.
Though my job title was still the unimpressive “Truly Awesome Villager,” the presence of my titles and achievements made it feel significantly more impressive.
I had even added a new title since entering the academy.
It was the “Skilled Mediator” title. This one was probably earned because I kept stepping in to mediate between Iris and Estelle.
At this rate, maybe I should consider myself a professional mediator.
“Ahem.”
I couldn’t help but feel a bit proud of myself.
On top of that, I had previously earned a hidden achievement titled “Your Country Sucks”. Not only had it rewarded me with one million won, but it also provided an impressive stat boost of +15 to all stats. This one was significantly higher compared to other achievements.
…But honestly, whether it’s a +5 boost or +15, it all feels the same to me since I can’t actually check my stat values anyway.
“Status Window. Stats. Information. Stat Info.”
I tried every possible term I could think of, wondering if there was a special phrase to unlock it, but nothing resembling a stat window appeared.
Why was that? If they were going to give me stat increases, shouldn’t they first unlock the stat window?
Or was there a specific condition I had to meet to unlock it?
“Ugh, I don’t know anymore.”
“Hey, dorm mate. What’s got you racking your brain like that?”
After a long while, Marty spoke to me first.
That noisy guy, who had been unusually quiet for a time, finally seemed to have broken his silence. Now he was back, striking up a conversation again.
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how to handle life at the academy.”
“Oh~ Makes sense. I mean, rumors about you fighting with a noble lady have already reached our class.”
Marty wasn’t in Class A but had been assigned to Class C.
Still, it seemed the rumor had already spread not just in my class but across others as well.
Rumors, as always, spread ridiculously fast.
“She started it, so I only responded. It wasn’t even a fight to begin with.”
All I had done was reply to someone who provoked me while looking down on me, yet somehow, the story had blown up into a full-fledged argument.
Honestly, rumors are one of those things you should never trust at face value.
Once a rumor passes through even a couple of people, it gets blown out of proportion, so much so that it feels like it might explode entirely.
“Wow, you’re really living up to your reputation as someone extraordinary right from the start, huh?”
“What’s with this ‘extraordinary’ thing?”
“You know, the commoner who made history by being admitted to the academy! That’s what they’re calling you.”
A commoner who made history at the academy, huh…
It felt like too much praise. Honestly, I was just a really amazing villager.
People really loved these kinds of heroic tales, though, to the point it almost felt like a problem.
“And on top of that, you’re the man loved by both the Crown Princess and the Saintess!”
“No… it’s not like they love me. We’re just friends…”
“Ugh, I’m so jealous, you bastard! Two beautiful women! And they’re both insanely high-ranking, too!”
…It didn’t seem like this guy had any intention of listening to me.
“Argh! Hand over one of them to me, you jerk!”
Deciding it wasn’t worth responding, I chose to ignore him and review what I’d learned today instead.
Speaking of today, there was that incident after magic class where Lina got scolded by the teacher.
That probably had already spread around by now.
Later, she seemed like she wanted to borrow someone’s notes from our group, but no one lent her anything. Maybe she borrowed notes from her own group instead; she seemed to have her own circle of people.
I wasn’t particularly curious about it, but I remembered it anyway. The fact that she came over to our group to borrow notes despite the commotion she had caused earlier left a bad impression.
I had a feeling I’d keep running into her in the future, so I figured it might be a good idea to think about how to deal with her in advance.
“Ah, which one is it going to be, the Saintess or the Crown Princess?! What should I do?!”
Marty was still caught up in his own dramatic illusions and was completely lost in thought, even though none of the supposed “choices” he imagined existed. It was just another ordinary, peaceful day in the dormitory.
***
“Estelle.”
“Oh my? For Iris to visit me first, this is quite the surprise.”
Iris had come alone to Estelle’s room.
This time, it wasn’t as if Theo was in Estelle’s room, nor did Estelle have any plans or matters related to Theo, which made Iris’s visit feel all the more unusual.
Until now, the two had seemed fairly close, but that was only because Theo was between them. In reality, their relationship was so distant that it wouldn’t have been inaccurate to say they barely sought each other out at all.
The overlap in their paths and their time spent together had only happened because they were both looking for Theo.
But today, Iris had come to see Estelle for a reason that was clearly unrelated to Theo.
“I came because I have something to discuss.”
“Hmm, I see. Leaving a lady standing isn’t proper manners, is it? Please, come inside.”
The dormitory Estelle used wasn’t much different from the one Theo stayed in. It was a plain and unremarkable space.
However, her roommate happened to be away at the moment, so Estelle was alone, which allowed her to invite Iris in with a bit more ease.
“Unfortunately, I can’t offer you tea in this setting.”
“That’s fine; I didn’t come for tea.”
“So, what brings you here?”
Typically, nobles or members of the imperial family spoke in a manner that carried a certain level of decorum.
Rather than stating their purpose from the beginning, there were quite a few annoying procedures, such as talking about recent events and complimenting each other.
But this was the academy, after all, and Estelle and Iris weren’t close enough to bother with such procedures. Estelle simply asked directly why Iris had come.
“I wanted to discuss how we’re going to deal with that annoying woman. I think it’s about time we made a decision.”
Iris also found it much more comfortable and preferable when someone asked so directly.
She had always thought she didn’t get along well with Estelle, but in moments like these, their thoughts aligned perfectly.
“Oh, you mean that Lina or whatever her name is.”
“Yes. I really don’t like how she keeps speaking down to Sir Theo. Don’t you feel the same?”
“I didn’t like her from the start. From the very beginning, she spoke down to Sir Theo and acted arrogantly toward him.”
Estelle let out a chilling smile.
The only reason she had tolerated Lina this far was because Theo seemed to like her.
But this morning, during class, Theo’s attitude toward Lina had made it clear that he no longer held any interest in her.
“I didn’t like how it seemed like she caught Sir Theo’s eye, but now that he’s lost interest? There’s nothing holding us back anymore.”
At Estelle’s menacing demeanor, Iris also smiled with a similarly chilling expression.
“I like how we’re on the same page with this. All right, shall we discuss what to do next?”
“Do we really need to plan? I think we can just say whatever we want.”
After all, Estelle was the kind of person who always spoke her mind without hesitation.
From the perspective of nobles and members of the imperial family, her behavior could be seen as a bit tomboyish, but Estelle herself didn’t pay much attention to such opinions.
Of course, even Estelle was careful with her words and actions when Theo was around.
But conversely, that meant she had no reason to hold back when he wasn’t present.
“Oh, this sounds fun. I’ve been under some stress lately, so this is perfect.”
Though there was a lot she wanted to say, Estelle had been holding herself back in Theo’s presence, which had only added to her stress.
“Well, that’s just how you’ve always been, Estelle.”
“What about you, Iris? What will you do?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll handle it my own way.”
“And what exactly is Iris’s way?”
If Estelle was the type to say things openly, Iris was the type to express herself through actions.
“I plan to challenge her to a duel.”
“What? A duel, out of nowhere?”
“I’ll bet that if she manages to land even a single hit on me, I’ll agree to get along with her.”
“…That woman, does she even have any notable skill in swordsmanship?”
“Yes, as far as I know, she received surprisingly high marks in swordsmanship. That’s probably why she’s in Class A.”
That made sense.
Being in Class A inherently meant having talent, whether it was in swordsmanship, magic, or even both.
“Well, who knows? It’s possible she doesn’t actually have talent and just happened to score high.”
Of course, like Estelle said, it was indeed possible that she had merely scored well.
The entrance exams for nobles and members of the imperial family at the academy had clear problems and answers.
If someone understood those well enough, they could achieve a high enough score to make it into Class A, even without exceptional skill.
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