Chapter 286: Hidden Moves

‘I’ve made my decision, so now I need to figure out how to set the Confession Villain’s end…!’

‘I think I need to read the results of Pret’s investigation that the Original Protagonist stole back in Chapter 267.’

‘But I can’t request that in a place with so many eyes watching.’

Promising to do it after the lecture ended, I deactivated the [Character Analysis] skill that had been activated at some point.

“…Thanks to Professor Ti’s guidance. He told me that although my physical abilities are weak, my Aether Control is excellent. If I could use that to manipulate wires, I could buy time by tying up enemies in an emergency. Though I couldn’t keep Risi-senpai tied up.”

Though I hadn’t consciously slowed my thinking speed, time didn’t completely stop while using [Character Analysis].

Hailga’s sentence got cut off a bit.

But all that was cut were the first two letters of the name ‘Skadi’, so it wasn’t a big problem.

“Did the wire break? Or was the physical force insufficient to hold Risi?”

“I think it was both. The Aether seemed to be pushed back by Risi-senpai’s strength, and then the wire snapped. If the wire had been more durable, it might have lasted a bit longer, but the result wouldn’t have changed.”

“The physical force of Aether isn’t something that can be solved immediately; it has to be improved through training. For now, it would be best to acquire some wires suitable for actual combat.”

“There’s a saying that a 0.1-second difference decides victory or defeat in real combat, so that makes sense, right? I’m glad I challenged Drembi to a duel. Once I receive the compensation, I’ll buy good-quality wires first.”

Hailga tried to keep a bright face with a joking remark, but she couldn’t completely erase the complicated expression on her face.

Wires were easily damaged items, practically consumables that had to be replaced after just one or two uses.

It was understandable that spending a large amount of money on such items felt painful.

“Oh! Speaking of which, let me ask—has the compensation I’ll receive been decided?”

“Not yet. This weekend at the Imperial Family gathering, His Majesty will designate someone. That person will review the details of the incident and make a decision, so the amount will be determined within next week. Payment will be made within a month.”

“There’s no chance that ‘someone’ could be Her Imperial Princess, is there?”

“Unfortunately. She is currently studying alongside you, so her objectivity would inevitably be questioned. His Majesty will surely choose someone else.”

“I suppose that’s how it would be.”

As if she had expected it, she immediately nodded in understanding.

But a clear hint of regret passed over Hailga’s expression.

The fact that she was disappointed at this timing was proof that she considered Fjodra as being on her side.

Fjodra seemed to have picked up on Hailga’s unconscious thought as well.

Judging by how she subtly said the following:

“Once the person who will decide the compensation is chosen… I’ll inform them of your situation and persuade them to get you the maximum amount possible.”

“Really?!”

“…Still, don’t expect too much. Even if they choose someone with objectivity in mind, the final decision is at the discretion of the selected individual. It’s not uncommon for the involved party to go and make a ‘request’, and for it to be accepted.”

Seeing Hailga’s eyes sparkle, did she suddenly worry that if the compensation was too low, Hailga would be disappointed in her?

Fjodra couldn’t confirm and changed her words.

The way she stressed the word ‘request’…

‘It means the villain’s family might decide it’s better to pay a large sum to a member of the Imperial Family to build connections, rather than paying a large amount to a Viscount family!’

In short, she was mentioning the possibility of a bribe.

Even though she avoided saying it directly.

As a member of the Imperial Family, it wasn’t something Fjodra could easily bring up.

“I see. I understand.”

Hailga smiled bitterly and put away her expectations.

After all, she couldn’t ask Fjodra, a third party, to prepare a bribe from her own pocket to increase the compensation she would receive.

And she couldn’t prepare a bribe herself either.

‘Honestly, offering a bribe and making a request doesn’t suit either of their characters.’

Anyway, judging from this conversation, it was safe to say there was a 0% chance of a development where the villain would repent and go apologize to Hailga and Dyuf.

The villain’s father, Count Ophrausi, didn’t seem like a very clean person either.

“I brought up something unnecessary.”

Feeling sorry and awkward for raising expectations only to take them away right away, Fjodra showed a regretful expression.

Hailga watched her quietly for a moment, then suddenly smiled confidently and spoke.

“It’d be great to get a lot of compensation, but money wasn’t the goal of the duel in the first place, right? I’m already satisfied because I got to beat Drembi black and blue!”

“Hmm… I see. If that’s the case… then I should prepare a commemorative gift for my classmate who achieved a splendid victory in her first-ever duel.”

Promising a gift at this timing.

Seeing Hailga’s reaction, which seemed to be comforting her, Fjodra felt even more sorry.

“A gift?”

“Yes. I’m thinking of giving you a set of wires and auxiliary tools needed to use them as weapons. Don’t refuse. Since you’re planning to enter the Demonic Realm with me, having proper equipment is also a measure for my own safety.”

“I definitely won’t refuse! Thank you, I’ll use them well!!”

Even though the gift wasn’t prepared yet, let alone actually received.

Hailga quickly blurted out her thanks, as if nailing it down so Fjodra couldn’t take it back later.

In response, instead of frowning, Fjodra raised the corners of her mouth.

She seemed to like Hailga’s bold attitude.

“The bond between seniors and juniors looks so warm and heartwarming!”

The one who burst into hearty laughter was Bjorn.

“It seems the important conversation is over, and the meal is almost done, so I’ll announce the revised rules for the treasure hunt.”

Judging by this, it seemed they would still do the treasure hunt in the afternoon.

Even if they just gave up on the treasure hunt cleanly and suggested doing the ribbon snatching from last time instead, no one would complain.

I had no idea why he was so serious about this game.

“The method of directly stealing the opponent’s treasure seems problematic. How about this: after a battle, the loser hands the treasure directly to the winner? What do you think?”

“What if the opponent refuses to fight or runs away during the battle?”

“That won’t happen. Because anyone who tries that will immediately get a penalty.”

In response to Pret’s question, Bjorn pulled out a headband that said ‘Cute’ and shook it as he answered.

Just how many types of those penalty headbands are there?

I felt a deep sense of dread.

“Quite a few faces are full of worry. You think that with these rules, even if you try hard to find treasure, you’ll just get it all taken away and end up with a penalty?”

The possibility of getting treasure taken away had already been drilled into us plenty during the morning training.

So no one was worrying about that issue again.

But he didn’t seem to realize that the reason me and a few other students looked worried was because of the headband he was shaking.

“If you had all trained hard for a long time, I’d say just accept the win or loss… But the difference in skill and training period between beginners and others is so stark that I thought you might feel it’s unfair. And for the skilled ones, they’d just need to fight, which defeats the whole point of the ‘treasure hunt’, right? So I prepared a few more rules!”

At Bjorn’s words, Hailga, Risi, and Svein looked intrigued.

“Winning a battle doesn’t mean you can take all the treasures. Before a battle, you have to agree with your opponent on an equal number of treasures to stake, and you can’t fight the same opponent consecutively. Ah! Of course, treasures must be stored in a bag inside the Capsule. Using a dud to cheat is also against the rules.”

At least it meant you wouldn’t lose all your treasures at once.

It wasn’t a fundamental solution, but it was a minimal relief.

‘But having to stake an equal number of treasures…’

‘If you don’t find any treasure at all, it’s impossible to obtain treasure through battle.’

‘Moreover, the number of remaining treasures has decreased, making them even harder to find.’

‘Can I, who didn’t find a single treasure this morning, even find one before time runs out?’

This was a rule that made me sigh involuntarily.

“Ah, right! I almost forgot to praise you because I was busy thinking about the rules!”

Just as I was about to resent Pret, who had found as many as 19 treasures this morning, Bjorn said something unexpected and turned my attention.

“Honestly, I thought you might just stand around helplessly with the ingredients in front of you. So I brought a recipe book and even planned to step in and help if necessary. But to think you guys made such excellent dishes on your own! I felt very relieved that you won’t starve anywhere. At this rate, it seems you’ll even be able to gather ingredients yourselves and cook later.”

This meant they’d soon have us gather cooking ingredients from the mountain behind.

If I had to resent someone here, I thought it would be Bjorn, who prepared this kind of training, not Pret, who just participated diligently.

“You did the cooking, so I’ll take care of the cleanup. So anyone who wants to rest more can rest, and anyone who wants to start the treasure hunt right now is free to do so.”

The moment Bjorn finished speaking, the sound of chairs scraping could be heard from all around.

Even though most of the people here were children of noble families raised with etiquette to not make such noises carelessly.

It seemed everyone was in a hurry.