What a sight.

Such an amusing expression is something you can’t buy, even with money.

I enjoyed the look on his face for a moment and then glanced at my watch.

It was 3:30 AM when I was called here, and now it was almost 5 AM.

‘Time to wrap this up.’

After confirming that no one else was around, I unhesitatingly pulled out my wand and aimed it at his forehead.

Then, I began chanting the spell I had memorized so thoroughly it made me nauseous.

“Enter through the narrow gate.”

It was my first time casting this spell, but thanks to the perfectly established divine power, the effect was certain.

The student in front of me, who had been staring blankly, suddenly looked around in confusion before losing consciousness and collapsing forward.

Thud―!

“…!”

“What, what are you doing…!”

The students lying far away shouted. Instead of answering, I cast the same spell and put them to sleep.

This magic works on the mana constituting the brain, damaging perception and memory for a certain time before the activation point.

The deleted target is the magic.

Any memories that could identify it as magic—light, red color, the action of extending the arm, the wand—are all erased.

Of course, other memories might be deleted too. If my magic was classified as a shocking event, all ‘shocking’ memories from before might be erased.

‘I hope I didn’t make these idiots even dumber.’

I clicked my tongue as I looked down at them.

I didn’t erase their emotions either.

Since I had to live with them in the same space, their emotions needed to remain vivid.

‘Expelling them would be fine, but…’

If news of a violence incident involving Lucas ‘Ascanien’ reached home, the family would inevitably have to intervene. It would become a public issue.

So, anything that could be handled within my reach should be dealt with by me.

“Ugh….”

Manipulating the minds of three people at once started to give me a headache.

‘Do I need to increase my mental strength or my physical strength….’

In any case, it would be best to raise all stats as quickly as possible.

‘Let’s see how they can be used.’

I decided to evaluate how to utilize them.

I called up my status window.

Lucas Rene Ascanien

Title: ???’s Hunter

Health: -3.4 (+0.1) [-0.4]

Mental Strength: -7.7 (+0.5)

Mana: ?

Skill: +1.015 [+4.015]

Impression: -10

Luck: -6.485 (+0.5)

Trait: Dawn 777, Divine Power

I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

Just from what happened this morning, my mental strength increased by 0.5 points.

‘Not bad.’

I wondered if anyone else would pick a fight.

I checked my skill points again.

The midterms were in a month.

But given that I needed to quickly improve my magic skills, the midterms were a hindrance. They included not just magic but many liberal arts subjects.

‘But I can’t give up the advantages of good grades.’

There’s no easier way for a student to raise their image. Higher grades would increase the credibility of my words.

Very conveniently, my brother also suggested I should at least raise my grades to average.

So….

‘This could be useful.’

I smiled as I looked down at them.

“Impressive magic.”

A voice came from somewhere.

I reflexively looked up.

Someone was looking down at me from the top of the building.

I didn’t mean for someone to pick a fight so quickly.

There was definitely no one there before, but suddenly, someone appeared like a rat. It wouldn’t be a big problem if one or two people knew since I planned to pretend not to use magic for the next two or three months… but maybe I should deal with this.

As I reached for my wand, someone urgently shouted, waving a hand.

“Wait! I’ll come down.”

He gripped the rooftop railing and infused his legs with mana, jumping down to the ground.

“Sorry. I should’ve introduced myself first. I’m Narce Farnese. I came from the Papal States and will be attending this school as an exchange student starting next week.”

An exchange student, huh.

That wasn’t in the novel.

Maybe it happened but was excluded because it wasn’t important to the plot, or the storyline was already changing. It could be either.

For now, the former seemed more likely.

But the latter couldn’t be completely ruled out.

So, it was best to gather information through conversation rather than erasing his memory right away.

I stared at the exchange student, who didn’t seem to be planning to leave, waiting for him to speak.

“You’re Lucas, right? Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from the Papal States.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

I examined his face and called up the favorability window.

Narce Farnese

Favorability +7

‘Favorability is positive?’

I couldn’t believe my eyes and checked the favorability window again. The number was the same.

It was an unusual score.

He had heard a lot about me from the Papal States, yet this was the score?

‘What did he hear….’

As I silently stared at his face, he seemed embarrassed and began to speak.

“I was already very angry, but you took care of everything, so I feel relieved. Thank you. The animal they had was my pet.”

“Really.”

I handed the animal I was holding to him.

“Yeah. I was really scared when it disappeared since I had no one else to rely on.”

He checked the animal’s heartbeat and sighed in relief. Then he pulled out his wand.

“I’m still upset… but I can’t report this to the school.”

“Why?”

“Because then they’d know you used magic to defend yourself. So, I thought of taking care of this in another way.”

He smiled and lightly flicked his wand, casting a spell on the fallen students again.

‘Hmm….’

Look at this.

‘We can’t let them know you used magic to defend yourself’?

I smiled faintly and watched him closely.

Sure, I should’ve known from the moment his favorability was positive.

There was plenty of reason to be cautious.

Let’s find out what kind of person he is.

‘Status window.’

Ding―!

But, at that moment, it wasn’t the status window that appeared.

I frowned and began to read the text.

〈 Chapter 3. Constant Dripping Wears Away a Stone (1) 〉

Option 1: Make the optimal choice. (0/1)

* Route 1 ― 〈 Option 2 〉

* Route 2 ― 〈 Chapter 4. Slow and Steady Wins the Race 〉

‘The optimal choice.’

It appeared again.

If I were to make the optimal choice now….

It must mean deciding my attitude toward that guy.

Whether to make him an ally or minimize contact and maintain vigilance.

However, unlike before, neither choice leads to a death route. It means that whichever I choose, it won’t be a significant problem.

I looked into his eyes and summoned the status window.

‘Status window.’

Narce Farnese

Favorability: +7

Title: ?

Health: +8

Mental Strength: +9

Magic: +10

Skill: +7

Impression: ?

Luck: +4

Traits: Divine Power, Foresight (Lv.1)*, Insight (Lv.2)*

‘…Huh.’

I felt a similar emotion as when I saw Leo’s status window.

Is it possible to have these stats at his age?

I quickly skimmed the stats and examined the traits.

‘Insight as a trait.’

Insight Lv.2

― 3.0 points to next level

*Divine blessing applied

So, he figured out that I shouldn’t use magic with this.

A useful ability.

No, it’s hard to call it just useful.

If conditions allowed, it’s an ability I would want to have.

And with foresight….

Foresight Lv.1

― 2.0 points to next level

Divine blessing applied

I twisted my lips into a smirk.

The optimal choice, huh….

Of course, I should make him an ally.

Just because he’s an ally doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be wary.

The ones you need to watch the most should always be kept in the most visible spot.

Ding―!

Congratulations!

‘Proposal 1: Make the optimal choice.’ Completed!

‘Route 1 — < Proposal 2 >’ is confirmed.

I immediately summoned the Dawn Spear.

Dawn777

― 757 days, 5 hours, 1 minute, and 35 seconds until final outcome ‘Chapter X. Death’

― Possibility of change: 6.4% (+1.0%p)

With this decision, the survival probability increased by 1%p.

It was 5.3 the last time I checked… looks like it already increased by 0.1 percentage points before.

Anyway, this decision isn’t disadvantageous to me.

Let’s see how he moves from the most visible spot from now on.

“This should do.”

The guy stood up and put the wand back on his waist.

“What were you doing?”

“Just something similar to the divine power you used. It won’t be noticeable.”

He showed a refreshing smile.

So, he did a mental manipulation too.

Yeah, it wouldn’t be noticeable. I followed his cheerful smile with a casual one of my own. Then he looked at the students and asked.

“I mean, I’m fine with ending it like this, but… you look like you got hit a bit. Are you planning to just let it slide?”

“No.”

I mumbled as I looked at the peacefully sleeping faces of the students.

“No way.”

It’s a chance that rolled in; I have to use it well.

* * *

“Ah….”

The pleasant sound of birds mixed harmoniously with the distant conversation of students. Warm light gently settled on the skin, and a cool breeze softly brushed the entire body.

A student briefly opened his eyes and then closed them again, reluctant to wake up from such a comfortable sleep.

‘Hmm… hmm?’

Breeze? Brushing the entire body?

The student’s eyes snapped open.

“…!”

He was lying in the clearing where Lucas was summoned.

The student jumped up and kicked his friends awake.

“Hey! Wake up!”

“Argh!”

“Ugh….”

“What happened earlier?!”

They had summoned Lucas to mess with him, but now they were peacefully sleeping. No matter how much they tried to recall, their minds were blank.

Fortunately, a few fragmented scenes floated back to them.

‘…I think I ate dirt.’

It couldn’t be, right?

The student gagged with a dying expression.

He thought he had just imagined it, but the salty taste inside his lips made him feel even worse.

‘…It couldn’t be. Really.’

And then… he remembered Lucas grabbing his collar.

And his friends lying on the ground.

As he tried to recall more, he felt his mind going blank.

But, regardless of everything, the conclusion was clear.

Piecing together the faint memories, it was….

‘Did we get beaten up…?’

An overwhelming sense of rejection and fear washed over him whenever he thought of Lucas.

For some reason, he felt he shouldn’t get involved with him anymore. No, he didn’t want to. He didn’t know why, but he wished he could go back to before they summoned him.

He even made a desperate vow to somehow shut Lucas up.

It was clear… they had been overpowered by Lucas without even a chance to retaliate.

One of the friends, staring blankly into space, muttered in a lifeless voice.

“…We lost to a guy who can’t even use magic?”

“…….”

The atmosphere grew heavy.

“That can’t… that can’t be right. How could one regular guy defeat three mages? What happened? Hey, you’re smart. Try to remember what happened.”

“Smart? Don’t you know I ranked 36th in the class last year?”

“You’re better than us. I don’t remember anything!”

While they argued, another student waved his hand.

“Shut up. This isn’t about grades. We summoned Lucas. You pushed him against the wall and tried to feed him that rat. After that….”

“…….”

“When we woke up, we were all lying on the ground. Judging by the footprint on the back of his uniform, it looks like Lucas stepped on him….”

The students’ faces grew darker.

“None of us remember him using magic. Right?”

“If he had, we’d remember. Especially since it’s Lucas.”

“Right? And… we probably fainted after that. No memory.”

Silence followed.

A student, sitting on the floor, spoke up.

“Was our magic that pathetic? Could a regular person break through it?”

None of them could bring themselves to say no. Everyone here had barely managed to get into the school, so they had no words to defend their skills.

Then, one student, shaking his head firmly, spoke up.

“Get a grip. We didn’t hit him, remember? We were just trying to scare him, not beat him up.”

At that, the students exchanged glances. Another student pressed him.

“Explain clearly.”

“What did we do? We wrote the note vaguely, and we didn’t actually feed him anything. Besides the one first-year, no one knows we called him out. And that first-year left before we did anything.”

He continued, looking around at his friends who were listening intently.

“In short, even if Lucas reports us, there’s no evidence to get us in trouble. No need to worry.”

“…Right. That makes sense. Then what if we report Lucas first? We might be able to turn the tables.”

“No, the risk is high. We don’t have any evidence except the footprint on his back. And we also stepped on his jacket, so we’re not entirely innocent. Keeping quiet is the best option.”

Moreover, reporting wouldn’t necessarily put us at a disadvantage.

Considering he knocked us all out and left alone, he can’t be entirely confident either.

It’s a risky card to play first, but it’s useful if he tries to mess with us.

We lost to a guy who can’t even use magic, so our pride is shattered. But is pride important right now?

As long as we avoid expulsion.

Just avoid expulsion.

The student forced a smile.

* * *

‘X… X, we’re screwed.’

They might not even avoid expulsion.

The student rolled his eyes in shock at the sight before him.

“What the hell?”

Leo, sitting across the classroom, muttered in disbelief. Though he didn’t say it aloud, other students had similar reactions.

“Hey, I thought you didn’t hit him…!”

The friend next to him whispered urgently.

“We left him there, and he just got up and came back fine.”

Lucas, with his hands in his pockets, smirked as he walked past.

The student felt his vision blur as he desperately avoided Lucas’s gaze.

Lucas’s face was bruised. Though covered with medical tape, it was clear that a punch had landed.

Thinking back to yesterday when he was perfectly fine, why did he now look like he’d been beaten up?

It was obvious who did it.

Cold sweat ran down his back. The clear evidence of school violence made his mind spin.

‘Did we… hit him that obviously? Are you kidding me…?’

“Hey.”

Lucas, who had left his bag on the desk, came back and grabbed his shoulder.

His vision shook wildly. The student slowly turned his head.

Lucas, looking down at him, smiled inexplicably when their eyes met.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep