Healing at the Academy convenience store

This is a system message I’ve encountered quite frequently, to be more precise.

I reflected on that moment while gazing at the screen.

[※ Congratulations. The main story of D/Z SAGA will now begin.]

[From this point on, Kelters will experience numerous encounters, conflicts, farewells, and regrets in Jephryn, progressing toward the story’s conclusion.]

[If you assemble a team of allies to raise your favorability, special events with characters will occur.]

[A deep bond with your comrades is sensed!]

[With further deepening of the bond, you can designate a ‘special someone’.]

[※Choosing a heroine should be done with care, as it may be irreversible.]

This was the message that appeared at the conclusion of sections Act 1 Scene 4. Clearly, these words were intended for Kelters.

Why did it come to me? Reflecting on the D/Z SAGA I am familiar with, the answer was straightforward.

“A flawed and problematic situation.”

What else could it be? That Kelters’ heroine system was applied to me? Then what happens to the story?

It’s essentially a system message that appeared to me, who fulfilled the condition of completing Act 1 Scene 4; in other words, it has no practical impact.

So, who is my heroine, and what is my storyline? Where can I discover hidden storylines? Could I suddenly meet my demise? As it stands, Wolfram already has a high probability of facing death; is there a route similar to that outrageously bad ending for Kelters?

I chuckled.

“At any rate, I should now choose my skill.”

Acquiring and selecting skills, while ultimately allowing you to learn skills of the same tier, have distinct effects.

Among the numerous 9th-tier skills, I can select a skill that I can use far into the future.

Certainly, the 9th tier is filled with random skills, but among them are a few support skills that can be used until the end of the game. Skills like ‘Playing Dead,’ which I obtained earlier.

While I was mentally reviewing skills, I heard voices coming from below the hill.

“Wolfram!”

“Senior!”

While I was examining skills, I quickly glanced at the two individuals calling my name.

Hmm.

“……”

A faint pink aura subtly enveloping both of them.

There’s no doubt.

Are you serious?

“···Senior, let’s go look for the treasure chest!”

“Wolfram! It’s a treasure created by our friendship! Let’s go see it!”

“···Sure, let’s do that.”

The heroine system.

It has undoubtedly been applied to me.

“Let’s go, Senior!”

“Let’s go, Wolfram!”

***

Eve von Roengreen is incredibly busy, dreadfully busy. If she didn’t have a massive amount of mana, she would have surely collapsed.

Although her efficiency might be poor, Eve can convert mana into stamina. Otherwise, this sixteen-year-old student council president would have collapsed a long time ago.

However, even with this skill that grants her exceptional performance through mana conversion, Eve von Roengreen’s mental resilience is not limitless.

Her willpower is indeed high, but she doesn’t reach the extreme level of those individuals known as willpower monsters, like Rudika Hatson Shadow.

And today’s meeting was taking an even greater toll on Eve’s spirit.

“Mask sales have dropped by over 15% compared to last year.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Regular students and squire students are quite satisfied.”

“It will likely remain that way, so tell Yggdrasil to stop wasting effort.”

“Then, should the president handle this directly…?”

“……”

Eve glanced at her secretary, whose eyes were filled with admiration.

“······In any case, convey this directly to Yggdrasil. Understood?”

“Yes, President!”

Considering the cost of masks, preventing the hoarding of Yggdrasil is indeed a significant accomplishment.

However, this is not her achievement. It was Wolfram von Roengreen’s.

It was a feat accomplished by the man listed at the top of her family register.

He has transformed Jephryn. Had a positive impact on a hundred thousand students.

How amusing. Currently, Wolfram has enough accomplishments to either regain control of the student council or divide Jephryn.

“Then why did you pass it on to me?”

What if.

What if Eve is Wolfram?

What if she fell from grace after being usurped from her royal seat by her younger sibling?

What if her ambition lies in the position of student council president, she would have done it this way.

First, after taking all the credit for the pollen prevention measures, she threatens the student council.

[Listen, unfortunate students trapped inside the academy.]

[I, Wolfram von Roengreen, the most legitimate descendant of the royal family, have taken care of all this dust that flies around in May for you.]

[Even my younger sister Eve von Roengreen, who illegitimately assumed the role of the student council president, will have to acknowledge this.]

[You may wonder how I stopped this pollen nightmare.]

[The answer is outside. I took myself out of the academy and eliminated the source of the pollen.]

[I treaded the path that no one else dared to take and achieved a result that brings joy to everyone.]

[Think about it. Realize your own disgrace.]

[For the past 300 years, haven’t we been living a shameful school life under the name of our great ancestors?]

[Why haven’t we ventured beyond the walls of the academy that the founding emperor created for our protection?]

[This is cowardice and fear, like a chick that refuses to break its shell when it’s time to be born.]

[Follow me.]

[The world is vast. Step outside Jephryn, and I, Wolfram von Roengreen, will lead you.]

Truly a flawless strategy.

It transforms Eve into a power-grabbing usurper and Wolfram into a leader of resistance, struggle, and liberation. If he can achieve such remarkable feats as controlling the pollen, Wolfram could do it right now.

By using snacks infused with magical particles to empower the students?

More than 30% of the eager knights-in-training itching for action would switch to Wolfram’s side.

Then, the odds would be 2 to 1.

“Then why did you hand it over to me…”

What is he envisioning?

What is he plotting?

She can’t decipher it.

Eve can’t discern where her older brother’s gaze is fixed.

“Was I wrong? Wolfram.”

At that moment, what crossed Eve’s mind were the words Wolfram had calmly spoken to her in that forest.

[Accept it and find a solution. Otherwise, you’ll remain stagnant.]

“Follow me, you say.”

Eve clenched her fist.

The royal position stolen from Wolfram von Roengreen. Yet Wolfram himself is encouraging Eve, who hasn’t had an easy life, to fully embrace that encouragement.

Rather, if she lacks the qualities of a president, she can compensate for it with effort. Eve clenched her fist.

“Any other matters?”

“There is one.”

“What is it?”

“The case of the top first-year student.”

“Coulpis, was it?”

“Kel? Kelti? …Kel… what was it? Anyway, he’s the top first-year. I don’t remember it well because I received an oral report. I apologize.”

“So, what did that arrogant Coulpis do?”

“…Apparently, he and some friends sneaked out of the dormitory in the middle of the night, ate some junk food, and got caught by the supervisor on their way back.”

“…”

Is that what the top first-year should be doing?

“So? What did the supervisor say?”

“…He mentioned that Coulpis’s recent grades have been very poor, and he also lost to a girl who was evaluated as inferior.”

Eve sighed.

She knew all that.

Wolfram’s fiancée, Aila Tristar, defeated him, he broke dormitory rules, and was involved in the destruction of the common dormitory after getting into a brawl and causing a disturbance.

Then there’s the academic decline and the defeat against an inferior girl.

“Don’t beat around the bush. Do I need to listen to such a minor report?”

“…There was a proposal to revoke his top student privileges and demote him to a regular student.”

“On what grounds?”

“His previous actions could be attributed to adjusting to the early semester, but this one is a clear violation of school rules with no good intentions.”

“Beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Eve sighed.

As if Wolfram wasn’t already making things complicated, now there’s this irritating junior top student as well.

With no emotion, as she typically handles paperwork.

“Yes. Under the authority of the student council president, I revoke Coulpis’s top student privileges.”

She instructed the secretary accordingly.

***

“Is this the treasure?”

“…Senior?”

“It appears to be.”

Nephti and Rudika exchanged glances between themselves and the treasure left by their ancestors and me.

Well, if it said [The adventure you’ve been on so far is the real treasure] in fancy writing, it would seem quite uninspiring.

“Is this the treasure… The adventure we’ve been on together?”

“That’s what they say.”

“What did we do on this adventure?”

“I took a hit from a golem.”

“I shielded it with a protective barrier.”

They both looked at me intently once more.

“Didn’t Senior Wolfram do all the daring stuff?”

“Indeed, only Wolfram did. Did Wolfram know what this treasure contains?”

“There’s no way he could have.”

Even if I’m suspected, it doesn’t make sense that I would know the contents of this treasure. That would mean I embarked on an adventure knowing the treasure is a fake, which would be absurd.

Unless one considers Wolfram von Roengreen to be suffering from an addiction to venturing outside to the point of madness, it’s an impossible conclusion.

“Is that really the case…? Wolfram isn’t deceiving Rudika or anything?”

I nodded silently.

“Yes, that’s correct. This is my first adventure, to begin with. What I did with you guys, like going to the dormant mountains or the edge of the Eastern Forest, wasn’t even an adventure. How would I know the true nature of that treasure?”

“So, it’s your first time. I understand now.”

“Hmm. That’s right.”

“Alright, I can grasp all of that then. Every bit of it.”

“?”

“Wolfram read ancient texts, listened to fairy tales, and in the end, chose Nephti and Rudika as companions for his first adventure. Right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Okay, that settles it. Wolfram’s first adventure companion is Rudika. That’s enough.”

Saying so, Rudika happily closed the lid of the treasure chest with a cheerful smile.

“Uh, hmm. It feels like there should be more. But I guess not.”

“Instead, there are many rare ores and herbs around here. Patrasch.”

When I signaled Patrasch to understand the meaning, Patrasch began digging up nearby herbs and ores.

Such a good boy.

So obedient.

“Will you often refer to Rudika as Wolfram’s first adventure companion in the future?”

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

“Hmm. No. There’s definitely more to this… I believe it. I believe in the first emperor!”

I’m not certain, but the very content assassin, Rudika, is the complete opposite of Nephti, the knight of faith—or rather, desire. Nephti kept gazing at the handwritten text.

“There doesn’t appear to be any magical mechanism, and it would be a shame to burn it… Ah!”

“What’s the matter?”

“Senior Wolfram, is this perhaps the handwriting of the great first emperor? Isn’t it?”

In response to Nephti’s question, I nodded.

Even in the original work, when examined with item appraisal, it was noted to be the handwriting of the first emperor.

“So, that’s it. I’ve figured it all out! Aha!”

“······?”

“The memo itself is the treasure! Hence, the 300-year-old handwriting of the first emperor. A note concerned about future generations! Surely it would fetch a decent price at an auction!”

“Isn’t that disrespecting royal authority? All the relics of the great ancestors are under the management of the royal family.”

“Uh. If I use the slums in the Knight School’s Fourth District…”

“That’s absolutely unacceptable and grounds for expulsion, Nephti.”

Nephti slumped immediately.

“My get-rich-quick scheme. My liberation. My freedom. The wish to graduate after paying my sibling’s tuition with a big hit… “

Wasn’t that too ambitious for what we accomplished in the Eastern Forest?

Nephti sat down on the spot, almost in tears.

Well, Nephti was the one who brought this treasure map and was fueled by dreams of wealth… It’s a bit unfortunate.

In a way, it’s as if I led her astray.

“I’m not sure about a global gourmet tour, but let’s make something at the convenience store to celebrate. Rudika, you come too.”

“R-really? Then, I want to have some meat!”

“Oh! Understood!”

Listening to the two chattering away with their orders, we made our way to the convenience store.

By the way, didn’t the aura surrounding Nephti change a little more to pink when she heard about making food?

“Thank you, Senior Wolfram!”

“Hmm. Don’t aim for quick riches, work diligently.”

“Yes! I, Nephti, will become a hardworking individual!”

“Don’t forget to take breaks now and then.”

“Yes!”

In this conversation, I had the illusion that the aura had turned a little more pink.

Will it be alright?

It should be.

Is it truly this easy to raise someone’s affection?