Chapter 52

<051. RESULT>

This is a system message I see very often.

I recalled the memory of looking at the screen during that period.

【※Congratulations. The main story of D/Z SAGA will now begin.】

【From now on, Kelthers will experience countless meetings, conflicts, partings, and regrets, advancing toward the conclusion of the story.】【If you gather companions and raise their affection, special events with the characters will occur.】

【You will feel a deep bond with your companions!】

【If the bond deepens even further, you will be able to designate a ‘special partner’!】

【※Be cautious when choosing a heroine, as it may not be reversible.】

This was the message that appeared when the main story 1-4 ended.

Of course, it's a very obvious message, but it's directed at Kelthers.

Why did it come to me? The answer was simple when I thought about the D/Z SAGA I knew.

“Bugged game.”

What else could it be? There's no way it could be anything else.

The heroine system was applied to me? Then how does the story progress?

This is just a system message that popped up because I satisfied the trigger for clearing 1-4, with no real effect.

So, who is my heroine and what is my route? Where is the hidden route? Could I die? Is there a route like a pile of insane bad endings prepared for me, like Kelthers?

I chuckled.

“Anyway, I should use the skill selection right now.”

The skill acquisition right and the selection right ultimately allow me to acquire skills of the same tier, but their effects are clearly different.

I can choose a skill from the countless 9-tier skills that I can use until the distant future.

Of course, there are only miscellaneous skills at 9-tier, but among them, there are a few support skills that can be used until the end of the game, like the ‘Pretend to be Dead’ skill I got before.

While reviewing the skills in my mind, a voice came from the bottom of the hill.

“Wolfram!”

“Senior!”

I glanced at the two people who were calling me while I was reviewing the skills.

Huh.

“······”

A faint, blurry light pink aura gently enveloped the two people.

No doubt about it.

Are you serious?

“···Senior. Let's go see the treasure chest!”

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

“···Alright. Let's do that.”

Heroine system.

It was definitely applied to me.

“Let's go, Senior!”

“Let's go, Wolfram!”

***

Ib von Loewengrin is incredibly busy. Extremely busy.

She would have certainly collapsed if not for her immense but limited mana.

Ib can convert mana into stamina, though inefficiently.

Otherwise, this sixteen-year-old student council president would have collapsed long ago.

However, even with this conversion skill that allows her to show unparalleled action, Ib von Loewengrin's mental strength is not infinite.

Her willpower is undoubtedly high, but she is not one of those monsters of willpower, like Rudica Hotsan Shadow.

Today's meeting was further eroding her mental state.

“The mask sales have dropped by more than 15% compared to last year.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. The common students and the knight department students are truly delighted.”

“Since it will continue to be like this, tell Yggdrasil not to waste his efforts.”

“T, Then should this matter be handled directly by the student council president...?”

“······”

Ib glanced at the secretary, whose eyes were filled with admiration.

“······Anyway, tell Yggdrasil directly. Understood?”

“Yes, President!”

Considering the cost of the masks, stopping Yggdrasil's illegal accumulation of wealth was a truly meaningful deed.

However, this is not her achievement.

Wolfram von Loewengrin.

It was the work of the man whose name is written above hers.

He changed Jefrin.

He positively influenced ten thousand students.

How ironic. Wolfram has now achieved enough to either regain the student council's authority immediately or even split Jefrin.

“Even so, why did he hand it over to me?”

What are you dreaming of?

What are you planning?

I can't read it.

Ib cannot understand where her brother is looking.

“Did I do something wrong? Wolfram.”

At that moment, what flashed through Ib's mind was what Wolfram said to her in the forest, looking down at her with a detached expression.

【Accept it and find a solution. Otherwise, you'll stay in the same place forever.】

“···He wants me to follow. I'll wait for him.”

Ib clenched her fist.

This is the throne she usurped from Wolfram von Loewengrin.

Yet, the fact that Wolfram himself is encouraging her, Ib cannot accept this encouragement purely.

Even if she lacks the qualities to be president, she can make up for it with effort. Ib clenched her fist.

“Are there any other items on the agenda?”

“···One more.”

“What is it?”

“It's about the top student in the first year.”

“···Coolpeace, right?”

“Kel? Kelty? ···Kel···What was it? Anyway, the top student in the first year. I received the report verbally, not in writing, so I don't remember it well. I apologize.”

“So, what did that arrogant Coolpeace do?”

“···Yesterday, he sneaked out of the dormitory with friends in the middle of the night, ate junk food, and was caught by the dorm supervisor on his way back.”

“······”

She held her aching head. Is that what the top student in the first year should be doing?

“So? What did the dorm supervisor say?”

“···His recent grades have been very poor, and he also lost to a girl who was considered a poor student.”

Ib sighed.

I already know.

Wolfram's fiancée, Ayla Trista, defeated him, and despite the no-exit order from the dorm, he escaped and got involved in the destruction of the common dormitory, causing a nuisance.

On top of that, his poor grades and losing to a poor student.

“Don't beat around the bush. Do I have to hear a report of this level?”

“······There's a proposal to strip Coolpeace of his top student privileges and demote him to a regular student.”

“What's the clear evidence?”

“His previous actions can be seen as mistakes due to poor adaptation at the beginning of the semester, but this time it's a clear violation of school rules and not even a well-intentioned act.”

“No room for leniency.”

“Yes, that's right.”

Ib sighed.

Wolfram is already making things complicated, and now this annoying top student is causing trouble.

She said it without any emotion, just as she would handle any other paperwork.

“Yes. As the student council president, I will revoke Coolpeace's top student privileges.”

She instructed the secretary.

***

“Is this the treasure?”

“···Senior?”

“It seems so.”

Nephthys Rudica looked back and forth between the treasure in the ruins arranged by her ancestors and me.

Well, if it said 【Your adventures so far are the real treasure.】 in elegant handwriting, it would be touching.

“This is the treasure...? Our adventures together?”

“That's what it says.”

“···What did we do on this adventure?”

“I took a hit from a golem's attack.”

“I dispersed it with a protective barrier.”

They both looked at me intently again.

“Didn't Wolfram do all the adventuring?”

“Yes, only Wolfram did. Did Wolfram know the contents of this treasure?”

“No way.”

No matter how suspicious I am, it's impossible for me to know the contents of this treasure.

Otherwise, I would be a madman who went on an adventure knowing the treasure was fake.

Unless you consider Wolfram von Loewengrin to be a madman who is addicted to going outside and would go crazy if he couldn't leave the academy, it's an impossible inference.

“Really...? Wolfram isn't deceiving Rudica, is he?”

I nodded silently.

“Yes, really. This is my first adventure. Going out to the Sleeping Mountain Range or the eastern forest entrance with you guys isn't even an adventure. How could I know the true nature of this treasure?”

“······First time, huh.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I see. Then I can understand everything. Everything.”

“?”

“Wolfram read the ancient documents, listened to the fairy tales, and chose Rudica and Nephthys as his companions for his first adventure. Right?”

“Yes, but...”

“That's enough. Wolfram's first adventure companions are this Rudica. That's enough.”

Saying that, Rudica smiled happily and gave up on the treasure chest.

“U, Um. There should be something more. There doesn't seem to be anything else.”

“Instead, there are many rare minerals and herbs around here. Partasch.”

I nodded at Partasch, who understood and started dragging the cart to dig up the herbs and minerals nearby.

What a good boy.

So obedient.

“Will you often call Rudica as your companion in future adventures?”

“I will.”

“Hmm. No, there must be something more... I believe it. I believe in the first emperor!”

I don't quite understand, but Assassin Rudica seemed very satisfied, while the opposite was true for Knight of Faith, or rather, Knight of Desire, Nephthys, who kept staring at the handwritten note.

“There doesn't seem to be any magical device, and it would be a waste to burn it... Ah!”

“What's wrong?”

“Senior, isn't this the handwritten note of the great first emperor? Isn't it?”

I nodded at Nephthys's question.

In the original, even when I appraised the item, it said it was the handwritten note of the first emperor.

“That's right. I understand everything! Ah-ha!”

“······?”

“This note itself is the treasure! So, a handwritten note from the first emperor 300 years ago, a note showing concern for future students! It will surely fetch a decent price at an auction!”

“······Isn't that a desecration of the imperial authority? All relics of the great ancestors are managed by the royal family.”

“Ugh. If we use the slums of the Knight Department's 4th District...”

“That's a surefire reason for expulsion, Nephthys.”

Nephthys immediately deflated.

“My instant wealth. My liberation. My freedom. After hitting the jackpot and paying for my sister's tuition, I would graduate and travel the world eating delicious food...”

Isn't that too big a dream to achieve with one job in the eastern forest?

Nephthys, who brought the treasure map and was filled with lofty dreams, sat on the ground and sniffled.

In a way, I did deceive her.

“I don't know about traveling the world eating delicious food, but I can make something at the convenience store to celebrate the end. Rudica, come with us.”

“R, Really? Then I want to eat meat!”

“Okay! Got it!”

Listening to the two of them chattering, we headed for the convenience store.

By the way, didn't the aura around Nephthys turn a little more pink when she heard about making something to eat?

“Thank you, Senior Wolfram!”

“Hmm. Don't aim for instant wealth, and work hard.”

“Yes! I will be an indefatigable worker!”

“Take a break sometimes.”

“Yes!”

I had the illusion that the aura around her turned a little more pink.

Is it okay?

It should be fine.

Well, how could the affection level rise so easily?