“…What conversation.”

“Right, no need to drag it out. Why do you keep getting startled?”

“Ah, startled? What the fuck are you talking about…”

Philip forced a laugh.

As I took a step closer, he flinched and retreated backward.

Smiling, I asked.

“Not startled?”

Philip’s face contorted.

Just then, the doorknob turned and then stopped abruptly.

From outside, Tsheringen asked in a bewildered voice.

[Lucas?]

“Go on ahead. I have something to discuss with Philip.”

[…Ah~ Right.]

Tsheringen understood the meaning and laughed.

It seems Philip’s behavior had bothered him too.

As no one tried to pick the lock, Philip scowled, his face etched with shock.

“…I have nothing to talk about. Move.”

“Me neither, Philip. You think I asked to talk because I wanted to?”

“What?”

“You might have nothing to talk about, but your grade probably thinks differently, don’t you think?”

“……”

The bastard clamped his mouth shut.

I took the opportunity to check my watch.

There were about 15 minutes left until the next team’s reserved time.

Taking out the Wand I had holstered, I said.

“Let’s talk while sparring. 15 minutes should be enough.”

“…What, no, why now…!”

“Why? Because you’re overly afraid of me. How are we supposed to get teamwork points like this?”

We can’t.

The mages specializing in Grade 1 to 3 victims currently active in Bavaria were personally selected by me.

And if that same process is applied to the school, our team will obviously fail.

If one side unilaterally fears the other, normal team activity is impossible.

Perhaps because the provocation worked, Philip’s face flushed red as he huffed.

“Afraid? Don’t make me laugh! Who the fuck do you think you are…!”

“Then prove it. Raise your Wand.”

“……”

“If you want to run away, I won’t stop you, but…”

With each step I took, the bastard kept retreating.

I flicked my hand, pulling the distant spatial magic artifact towards me. Then, I summoned an empty exam site.

[3, 2, 1. Begin.]

“…!”

Everything turned pure white.

I couldn’t see it since I had my back to the entrance, but it probably disappeared. Now that we’re inside Mimesis, we can’t leave this space until the time runs out.

‘If you want to run away, I won’t stop you’? What nonsense.

Of course, it was just words. There’s absolutely no escape.

As expected, shock flickered in Philip’s eyes, likely seeing the entrance vanish.

“Well then, this is rather surprising. It was definitely me who feared you, but now you’re avoiding me.”

I said, keeping my eyes locked on his.

“Philip.”

His expression was quite a sight.

I felt like bringing Luca here. The guy who looked down on and ignored you so much is now in the completely opposite position; shouldn’t you see this?

Smiling, I tilted my head slightly.

“Afraid I’ll drink your blood or something?”

“…!”

Kwaaaang—!

I crossed my arms in front of me and forcefully transferred Magic Power to my legs.

Philip’s greyish-brown Magic Power, crashing against the barrier, scattered into the air.

He had attacked with such force that I was pushed back quite a distance.

As I slowly straightened my lowered body, Philip pointed his Wand at me, his hand trembling uncontrollably, and shouted.

“Don’t come closer. Seriously, fuck, just try coming closer! I’ll kill you.”

“Am I a mosquito, that I’d drink blood? Philip, think logically.”

“I said don’t come closer! Ah, fuck. Where’s the artifact?!”

My ears are rotting.

Trying to empty my brain, I smiled.

“Alright, well. Since we’ve drawn our Wands anyway, let’s do this properly.”

Kwaang—!

I parried his attack directly and assumed a ready stance.

A look of disbelief flashed across his face.

“Do you prefer the Wand or the sword? Which is more comfortable?”

“…What…”

That bastard would obviously try to use the Wand.

He wouldn’t want close combat.

I personally prefer the Wand too, as it consumes less energy, so it doesn’t matter.

It wouldn’t hurt to show him that close-range attacks are possible even with a Wand.

“Well, if you don’t like either…”

“Uwaaaaaahk!”

As I tried to approach him, the bastard screamed like crazy and swung his Wand wildly.

His completely haphazard attack method left me speechless. Then, laughter escaped me.

‘What the hell is this?’

I knew long ago that among those who bully others, none have real substance, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone whose inside and outside are so perfectly different.

Maybe he was called a coward when he was young and got traumatized.

His bullying so far must have been a defense mechanism and a tool to prove the high rank he desired.

Standing still, I swatted away his attacks casually and said.

“Talk. So I can fix whatever needs fixing.”

I instantly poured Magic Power into my legs and kicked off the ground.

Kwaaaang—!

Closing the distance to right in front of him was ridiculously easy.

If my opponent had been Leonard or Tsheringen, approaching in a straight line like this would have gotten me slammed into a wall already.

Seeing Philip frantically turn his body, I shifted my body’s Magic Power to my right rear.

“…!”

As I used Magic Power to instantly pivot 180 degrees, Philip gritted his teeth, perhaps because he didn’t have the leeway to attack.

As I continued the pursuit, Philip’s Wand began to tremble more pitifully. The attacks that had been hitting the barrier I deployed moments ago now scattered without even reaching it.

‘This is… Hans was much more skilled.’

Well, the fact that the bastard was running backward probably contributed to this lousy skill.

I lowered my output to match his level.

“Tell me yourself why you get so startled seeing me, if my guess is wrong.”

“Hmph, the training already ended properly! What’s the problem whether I get startled or not?!”

“What do you mean, what’s the problem.”

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Even at that reaction, I saw him flinch.

Kwaang—!

I blocked the stream of his Magic Power coming from behind with a barrier.

Trying hard to attack from outside my line of sight, huh.

But when attempting something like this, adding supplementary attacks to divert attention is effective, which he didn’t do. Of course, since I was still chasing him, he wouldn’t have the capacity to worry about that.

“If we were picking solely based on skill, we’d just line everyone up by grades. Why do you think they make us do team activities? Have you never once tried to grasp the intention behind the assignment? Even if you don’t get along, you shouldn’t show it during the exam. So tell me.”

“Tell you what?! What the hell!”

I’ve been saying it all along.

Is his brain not working because he’s scared?

“Why are you avoiding me? I need to know to fix it.”

“You can’t fix it!”

Kwaang—!

I stamped my foot.

Red Magic Power spread in all directions, rushing towards Philip.

Seeing it, the bastard’s face crumpled. Simultaneously, his body lurched backward sharply.

“…?!”

Thud!

Perhaps due to a disconnect between his arm and leg movements, the bastard tripped over his own feet and fell.

As I approached to help him up, he screamed and scrambled backward.

Stopped in my tracks by the absurdity, the bastard pressed his arms against his face.

His face, not yet fully covered, was excessively red.

Wondering if he needed to go to the hospital, I looked closer, and the bastard’s mouth twisted intensely.

“Huheup…” (Sobbing sound)

“……”

Hmm?

My thoughts paused for a moment.

Unable to hide my bewilderment, I let out a dry laugh and asked.

“Hey, are you now…?”

The bastard let out a long string of curses that sounded almost like a wail and shouted.

“I’m scared!”

“……”

“Your magic is scary, and like you said, I’m scared you’ll suck my fucking blood, huh?! I’m scared your family will retaliate if I get on your bad side. Are you satisfied now?! Fuck, why, why do you keep asking, embarrassing me…!”

‘He’s being awfully specific.’

The bastard now started crying openly.

Another dry laugh escaped my lips, but he didn’t seem capable of noticing such things right now.

Right….

Various thoughts must be running through his head. Though I don’t understand them.

‘I knew it from the moment he obsessed over hierarchy.’

This must be his true psyche.

Being fearful isn’t a sin, but hiding that fear and acting viciously towards others to look strong is.

Now that I see it, perhaps belittling and bullying Luca was also to prove that, unlike others, he wasn’t afraid of Pleroma.

“Hey.”

Whatever the case, the ones who should be crying right now are our team members who might miss out on bonus points because of this guy.

I bent my knees, sat down in front of him, and offered the best words I could muster right now.

“Get up.”

***

Leaning comfortably against a school bench, I gulped down cola.

The carbonation scratched satisfyingly down my throat.

‘Nice.’

Cola is already available here. Come to think of it, it did have some history.

But according to the faint memories left in my head, I don’t think it should have been imported at this time.

‘Well… they probably warped it over the North Sea.’

Due to various preservation processes and added tariffs, the price ended up being double that of its homeland.

The taste was different from what I used to drink, but finding something here that also exists in modern times somehow felt good.

I finished half the bottle right there in my seat and asked Philip, who was tightly gripping his bottle.

“Don’t like cola?”

“…Never had it before.”

“Really?”

Well, I know it because I’m from the modern era; how could everyone know about something from across the continent that just started being imported?

“If you don’t want to drink it, just throw it away.”

“……”

After pondering for a long while, the bastard opened the cap.

He looked at the contents with extreme suspicion, then just as cautiously brought it to his lips.

Then, his eyebrows shot up.

I put on a smile that would likely be received as friendly and said.

“Would’ve been better if you drank it right away when the cooling magic was still on it.”

“…Hmm.”

Though suspicious, the bastard continued to drink the beverage.

I don’t want to spend a single cent on this guy, but since teamwork depends on it, I need to lay the groundwork properly so things don’t go wrong.

Favorability, that is.

Conveniently, I also have a trait that increases persuasiveness, so let’s try raising it slowly, one point at a time, without him noticing.

“Philip. I want you to know this.”

I clasped my hands together and gazed at the students wandering in the distant school garden.

“I’m not you, so no matter how much I might want revenge, I wouldn’t suck the blood of a guy like you.”

“…Keoheok?!” (Coughing fit)

The bastard barely managed to cover his mouth and coughed for a long time.

Seeing the seat was thankfully clean, I let out a sigh of relief.

“What, what are you suddenly talking about?!”

“In the first place, I’m not even Pleroma. Besides, why are you so scared of Pleroma?”

“……”

“If you can’t talk about it, fine.”

What wouldn’t a fearful guy be scared of?

Perhaps because he had just whined about being scared earlier, the bastard didn’t refute me this time.

“Honestly, I could use magic even without drinking blood.”

“Then why all this time…?”

“Do I need to tell you even that?”

Replying thusly, I opened the Trait window.

Charm Lv.2

― ‘I want to be friends!’ 3 points increase in Favorability towards certain targets

― ‘If you say so, it must be right.’ 30% increase in persuasiveness

― 3.0 points required for the next level Points Held: 27.0 Points

‘Good.’

I should leave about 10 points remaining for turning back time.

Things might be relatively peaceful now, but who knows when trouble might strike again.

‘Let’s just raise it by one level for now.’

As I thought that, the text before my eyes changed.

Charm Lv.3

― Applied with 40% probability to individuals with 0 or lower Favorability, applied with 5% probability to individuals with 1 or higher Favorability

― ‘I want to be friends!’ 4 points increase in Favorability

― ‘If you say so, it must be right.’ 35% increase in persuasiveness

‘Now it tells me the application probability.’

Anyway, the trait had always been applying to the bastard.

I closed the window and looked at his face.

The bastard, who had been sitting listlessly until just now, furrowed his brows as if noticing something strange. Confusion was evident on his face.

It’s natural, since his feelings towards me changed without him realizing it.

‘…….’

Raising Favorability is definitely a good thing, but maybe because the target is who he is, my stomach feels…

Anyway, opening the bastard’s Favorability window, the value had gone up as expected.

Philip Göring

Favorability 0 [Conquerable (Stage 2/5)]

“If you can’t believe I’m not Pleroma even after testing in Bavaria, then there’s nothing I can do. I have no obligation to convince you of that, do I?”

Philip nodded reluctantly.

Bastards obsessed with hierarchy, if you act completely nice to them to dispel their fear, they start seeing you as beneath them again.

‘Annoying bastards.’

I don’t know how much teaching it will take for them to get it.

But if I come on strong here, the bastard will continue to startle violently enough to hinder activities in the future.

So, it’s a bit regrettable, but I’ll have to use both methods. Managing my expression, I opened my mouth.

“It was unexpected.”

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