I Will Carry as an Academy Veteran

45

Under the sun, flags were raised high.

Only the cheers of the crowd directed towards me could be heard.

Even for a third-rate villain like me, they send cheers like this.

It’s a perfect victory to the point where no other words are needed.

“I, have stood in the sky.”

[Amazing stuff!]

[Achieved the impossible!]

[Won the one-kilometer flag stealing race perfectly!]

[‘Race’ events are closely related to ‘endurance’! Endurance +1!]

Look.

It seems the same for this one too.

Though tired, I could feel vigor in my body.

As a reward, my endurance increased by 1, and now my endurance has finally reached 7.

Since the minimum endurance for Academy students that I know of is 14, my weak endurance hasn’t changed.

However, by gaining endurance and bringing the first victory for the Blue Team, I can say that I’ve laid a solid foundation.

“You did well. Adrian, Lutellus is looking this way.”

“I hope it was a good show, but it seems it didn’t quite hit the mark.”

Alright.

Then, I’ll make a quick exit now.

My sports festival is over with this.

Because.

‘I have things I must do.’

Honestly, if I said I’m not scared, it would be a lie.

But it’s something I must do.

* * *

After laying the groundwork, things progressed rapidly.

Three-legged race, relay race, obstacle course, and so on, the Blue Team was overwhelmingly dominant to the point where words fail to describe it.

They just won by a landslide.

In the three-legged race, Supple froze the track, and Relvrian used wind magic to break the all-time record for the three-legged race in the sports festival.

And.

– Hmph.

Even though Evnis confidently entered the eating contest and set a new record with 50 bread loaves.

Since this event calculated the amount eaten by 10 runners consecutively, he lost.

Leaving behind the wailing Evnis, the morning events were all swept by the Blue Team.

Hmm.

Adrian being on the White Team was a bit of a variable, but in reality, the sports festival is just a sub-event, not the main story, so whether you win or lose, there won’t be any rewards that would overturn the story.

If you win, you get a commemorative trophy and a slight boost in your abilities, and if you lose, there’s an event called “Past Efforts” that increases the camaraderie of your ‘team’ made up of colleagues.

In some ways, this is beneficial; you can save a couple of ability points to upgrade your equipment later on and start by increasing your character’s affinity in the “Sports Festival of Defeat.”

So.

Since the Green Team’s affinity seems to be fully developed now, this wraps things up on this end.

There’s really nothing more for me to worry about.

Anything more I do here will just be a hindrance.

The rest depends on her.

So, I’ll focus on my work, on what I can do.

…That way.

The promised lunchtime arrived.

“Why is everyone looking so gloomy?”

“Adrian….”

“Senior….”

“Mr. Adrian….”

All the morose guys gathered in front of me.

Oh.

“Adrian! What kind of trick did you pull! In the ‘fair’ Sports Festival! I’ll kill you today and go to hell myself! [Divine Sword: Execution]!”

There was also one guy who wasn’t like the others.

I casually dodged his divine sword and then raised my hand to give him a light tap on the forehead.

“Huh? Did you just hit me…? No, you actually dodged my attack…?”

“Calm down, you idiot. What makes you think I’d meddle in the Sports Festival.”

“…Whenever something bad happens, I always suspect you’re behind it.”

hahahaha.

This guy.

“I guess you just don’t like me.”

Saying that, Evnis snickered and crossed his arms.

How disgusting is this.

So, shall we settle this here?

“By the way, I don’t recall calling you, Evnis.”

“….”

“I called Milije, Kalen, and Reyna. So why are you here too?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Evnis.

“W-Well, you see…”

He emitted steam from his ears and head like a teapot.

“I-I’m here to, to supervise to prevent any strange acts! Just because I was banished from the family doesn’t mean I’ll go to the, to the extremes… you know! So, that’s why!”

He malfunctioned.

“Just kidding.”

“…Y-Yes, huh?”

“It was a joke. Why react like that?”

“…I’ll kill you.”

He lowered his head deeply, and Ebneis’ eyes shone brightly, and a light axe, visualizing ‘destruction’, appeared in her hand and flew accurately towards my head.

So.

I lightly stepped aside like dancing to avoid it.

“Why are you avoiding!”

“Hmph, you can’t even reach me with that level of skill.”

“Whoaaah!”

It was a cry full of despair.

* * *

After the noisy end of the first part of the day, it was lunchtime for the physical education contest.

Usually, it’s common to eat by going around the street vendors’ area.

Moreover, eating together would also increase the favorability of the nearby colleagues and the heroine.

However.

That’s an event where you can only go with one colleague.

So, it shouldn’t be done.

It’s just a loss of favorability.

In the Selenium Saga, character favorability is no different from a lifeline.

If you manage it roughly, even a perfectly good route could be twisted into a mess.

So, this was always my method.

“Is everyone ready?”

“We’ve got it.”

“Got it?”

“Yes, we did as you instructed, senior!”

[Meow!]

Three people and one beast lifted the lunch boxes they brought.

The beast had jerky in its box.

And.

“Well, what’s this? What did you bring?”

One clueless person.

“Oh, Ebneis. Adrian asked you to buy lunch at the street vendors… didn’t you hear?”

“Raina, didn’t Ebneis say I didn’t call her in the first place?”

“Oh… right. What should we do? If we knew this would happen, we should’ve bought one more….”

Well.

That’s right.

Lunch.

Since the street vendor event could only raise one person’s favorability, after buying lunch at the street vendors, deciding on a place and ‘eating together’, during the physical education contest period, it was possible to raise everyone’s favorability by doing it together.

For your information, I created this and once made it a popular strategy guide.

Leaving one person standing blankly, the others spread out their lunch boxes.

“Oh, Milije. Is that a sandwich?”

“Yes, Raina senior! Oh, and, senior, is that a salad?”

“hahahaha, since wizards don’t move around much, they need to pay attention to their management, right?”

“Ah, I’m a meat-eater….”

Perhaps it was because they were a team, the guys’ outfits were different from usual.

Reina had a ponytail, a white sleeveless tee, and long gym pants.

She neatly folded her top and placed it beside her.

Calen looked the same as usual, but his top was draped over his shoulders, and he had a white strap tied around his head like a headband.

Millijay had a white strap around her head and her top tied around her waist.

It was the typical attire of one-time appearance characters, even if they didn’t exit, the fact that they were extras didn’t change.

Nero also had a white ribbon tied around his head, which he frowned at, wondering if Millijay had done it or he had done it himself with his forepaw.

Ebony… abided by the gym uniform rules, with the gym uniform zipper pulled up all the way and long pants. She tied a white strap around her shoulder like a badge.

Under the tree, with lunch spread out, everyone was laughing joyfully.

Except for one.

“What is it?”

“…Yes?”

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Oh, I wasn’t staring at you….?”

Ebony glanced briefly at the lunchbox, then sat down on the ground, hugging her knees.

Tsk. Acting like a fool.

“Take it.”

“…Yes?”

I took out another lunchbox and placed it in front of her.

“I thought this might happen, so I prepared an extra one.”

“Why, why is this for me….”

“There’s a match you’ll be participating in this afternoon, right? You said you wanted to beat me, didn’t you?”

…”

She puffed up her cheeks and refused to take it.

I see.

She doesn’t want to owe me anymore, is that it?

Fine.

I handed the lunchbox to Reina instead of Ebony.

“Reina, this is now your lunchbox. Do as you please.”

“Yes, I’ll take good care of it, Adrian.”

After saying that, Reina casually placed the lunchbox in front of Ebony.

“…”

“Is this a gift from Wolfgang on my behalf? Oh my, are you still not going to accept it?”

After saying that, Ebony cautiously accepted the lunchbox.

“Adrian.”

“Why, what, are you going to say something suspicious again? If I were to guess, why, I’m your enemy, so I’m saying this in advance because I suspect you might say something absurd.”

I looked at Evnis and said,

“Before being enemies, aren’t you my junior? That’s all. If you can’t understand that, just think of it as my simple whim.”

Evnis listened to my words, then holding a sandwich from the lunchbox, said,

“I wasn’t trying to say that. Did you put poison in this?”

This guy is something else.

“It’s a joke, well… thank you.”

Evnis said that with his tongue poking out, then took a bite of the sandwich.

Alright then.

“Shall we go in?”

“Yes!”

“Yes! Senpai!”

“What a wonderful picnic!”

Under a large tree,

We spread out a mat, had our meal, and sometimes bloomed the flower of conversation.

After finishing the meal,

We briefly talked about the events we would participate in and then parted ways.

It seems the guys will also participate in the afternoon events.

But unfortunately, we won’t be able to see their victory.

After all, this sports festival should be a thorough victory for the Blue Team.

“I wanted to see it, but it’s time to start moving.”

It’s probably about time.

The sports festival lasts for 3 days in total.

But the opening day of the event is always the most exciting.

Especially after lunch, the atmosphere becomes more intense.

And at that moment, the kidnapping incident, which I referred to as the ‘Act 2,’ occurs.

“We need to know who the target is.”

And when the guys come out, I’ll make the first move.

No need for other colleagues.

It’s something only I can do.

“The place where the kidnapping takes place is a secluded alley in the Magic Department. A place in Block 6 where no one comes.”

If there is a ‘heroine’ that I know in that place, then that person will be the one kidnapped by the ‘darkness.’

Finding a shortcut through experiences honed over a thousand hours, I quickly headed towards the secluded alley in Block 6 of the Magic Department.

“Hmm…”

I found something strange.

Two students lying unconscious on the ground, with badges indicating they are part of the student council on their arms.

“Security guards, have they already fallen victim?”

If the ‘security guard’ has fallen, it means the guy is nearby.

In the original work, the ‘heroine’ is kidnapped after approaching and confirming a student council member who has collapsed.

But something seems off.

As the heroine arrived here, not a single person was seen…

Soon, along with the sound of wind whistling behind her, the sound of footsteps hitting the ground echoed.

Here it comes.

“Oh my, who could it be again.”

Where the wind blew.

From the alley I just passed, someone walked out.

“The prey walks in on its own.”

Boldly dressed in a revealing black coat.

Two students from another student council, unfocused, followed behind.

The girl wore a mask covering her eyes and nose, holding a folding fan.

A familiar sight.

You’ve come.

“Pavella the Puppet.”

“Oh my, do you remember me? Well, you can’t help but remember.”

The boss has appeared.

Then, it’s time for the heroine to be kidnapped.

…Come to think of it, besides me, there’s no one else here.

Hmm.

Could it be.

These guys, for some reason unknown to me, are after not the heroine but…

“…Ah, I can’t forgive. That pretending not to know, acting like you know nothing voice. You’ve become even more detestable.”

…Are they trying to kidnap me?

This ‘kidnapping’ is an inevitable ‘forced’ game event, even in the original work, so no matter what I do, I can’t avoid it.

Turning my head down, I noticed a thin thread that had appeared, tying my ankles to prevent me from escaping.

If I wait a little longer, I’ll melt into the ‘shadows’ and be transported to their hideout.

So, that’s how it is.

“What… are you?”

Are you scared?

Hah.

If you were that scared, you would have surrendered already.

“You’re being kidnapped right now, why are you laughing?”

Why wouldn’t I?

“Pavella the Puppet, thank you for saving me the trouble of finding you myself.”

“What…?”

I actually find it quite nice.

The annoying task has disappeared.

“To hunt a beast, one must go to the beast’s den. Isn’t that right?”

“Hah, you’re quite something. But that’s it, in a few tens of minutes, no, a few minutes later, you’ll be begging me on your knees to spare you. That’s your true nature.”

The folding fan snapped shut, and the girl turned around.

“Commence the ‘transfer,’ Slave 1, Slave 2.”

Good.

I don’t know how the trigger got twisted to lead to this situation.

You are challenging someone who is rotting away in this world.

If that’s the case, then accept the challenge personally.

Come.

I’ll crush everything.