Chapter 1731 - hhh

had started to ignore me.

Or to be more accurate, she had entered a phase where if I did as much as looking at her, she would blush and flee. If fleeing wasn't an option, she would then look away instead. I could only guess this was usual childhood friend crush fare, but right now it was also pretty convenient.

As classes ended, I figured it was time to start raising my bond levels with everyone I deemed as important. Considering I was aiming at mostly pursuing girls at the start, that operation would have become monumentantly more difficult if I had a cutie patootie in woman shape following me around.

First, I had decided to approach the princess. Mostly because I figured trying to befriend her just after class ended, before she headed back to her dormitory, would be easier and less suspicious than the alternative. After all, despite Silvenia claiming all students were equal, they still had to give Penia some special protection at the end of the day.

For example, she had a knight that followed her all day long. That knight had not raised a hand during practice to help Penia in any way, but I imagine if someone actually tried genuinely harming the princess he would suddenly reveal himself as the most badass guy around and protect her.

Thankfully, he also wasn't stopping anyone from just coming up and chatting her up, so the moment we were free to leave class, I made my way towards Penia as fast as possible— Normally she would be surrounded by students who also wanted to befriend her of course, but i actually managed to make my way towards her pretty easily. Maybe because of my Class, people gave way.

"Hey, Penia." I waved at her.

The knight glared at me for a second, but did nothing as Penia sent me a surprised look. "Oh, hello Taylee." Despite knowing each other, we had hardly interacted during classes so far, so my sudden approach was definitely coming off as a shock. "Are you in need of something?"

I shook my head. "Not really." That wasn't exactly true, I was in desperate need of sucking her titties. That was for the future though. "I just wanted to check on you… Are you having that weird dilemma?" I was actually kind of worried about this. Hopefully I had not missed a character arc.

Penia blushed. "Hah… You really are something, Taylee." Had I said something strange? "But no, I have not yet arrived at the answer I seek. To be honest, I have been way too busy with my studies to even think about that topic in the first place." School was truly something wonderful.

I nodded. "Alright then. Just remember that if you need help with something, you can always call me."

She smiled. "Thank you, I know that you truly mean those words. I'll make sure to do so if the need arises." Good. Hopefully that little conversation just now had raised some amount of friendship between the two of us.

But now it was the time for the main event. "Okay, but by the way, I have something I want to give to you." Deciding on a gift for a princess was pretty hard.

Following the tropes of characters like her, she would either want something simple because she had always received expensive gifts and was tired of them… or she really would just want something super expensive. If the latter was the case, I had to sadly admit it would take some time for me to start building up some significant trust between us. I just didn't have enough money to go around purchasing diamond necklaces and the like.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? If this is an attempt at thanking me for helping you expose Ed there is no need for it. I was just doing my duty as a princess— No, as a student of this academy." Once again, I had no fucking clue who Ed was.

But I couldn't exactly ask without looking strange, so I ignored it. "It's not about that, I just want us to get closer, so I bought you a small gift." I hit her with the honesty that only a protagonist could show.

Just like that, her blush returned. "B-but…" She was truly caught offguard. "If nothing else, I have to say you are a forward man, Taylee. But while I am flattered, as a princess, I cannot accept something born from that kind of intention. Please do not think of me as rude, but it simply is what it is. Also, an academy really isn't the place for this."

"Yeah, yeah, just take it already." I handed over some flowers to her.

A very basic gift in dating sim land, one which I doubt she would love. I also doubt she would hate it. So considering I was not yet rich, this was the best way of romancing a princess without risking it all. There was one problem here though…

That problem was Ayla. "Taylee…!?" In the back of the class I could hear her shouting my name. Well, this minor NTR is what she deserved for running away during our romantic CG event. Besides, she already knew I was going to give gifts, so she should have prepared her heart!

Her reaction wasn't what mattered though, because what I was looking forward to was Penia's reaction. "You're giving me flowers? You really are forward…" Well, she didn't seem to dislike it, so I would consider this a success, even if she had not become a mess and declared her love on the spot.

The knight, who had stayed silent so far, finally interjected. "A little too forward even—"

"Not forward enough." I corrected him. "I'm going to come out from the gate. Penia, we are going to get as close as two human beings can be." We might need to, for the sake of the world. "So expect a lot of gifts and attention from me."

Penia sighed. "Hah… I cannot and will never deny a sincere gift, but I will warn you that friendship is the farthest this relationship can go." They always said that before their plotlines got resolved. I knew how video game women worked!

Still, I wouldn't argue right now. "That's fine by me." From now on, I would give her a gift everyday.

"I-I know it's not!" What kind of tsunderism was that?

My next target was Lortel.

I had not interacted with her yet, but she had backed me up in the past when Professor Glast almost threw me into Class F, so I did feel grateful towards. Furthermore, I recognized her as a character who got a trailer all to herself— She was a main heroine, someone just as important as Ayla and Penia.

However, I knew almost nothing about her. I sort of remembered enough from the trailer to know she was a merchant, and Ayla had confirmed that in the past by gossiping about it, but that was the limit of my knowledge. Which meant that finding a gift for her was even more troublesome than finding one for Penia.

Also, while I had talked with Penia, Lortel had left class. Which could have complicated things, but thankfully finding her was easy after I asked around a bit.

Currently she was just resting on a bench. She did not have guards like Penia did, but she was more than strong enough to defend herself from anyone. She was from Class A, after all. "Hello, Taylee." She actually greeted me first. "I heard you have been looking for me."

She had? But I had just started doing that… Just how fast did information travel in this academy? "Yeah. Hopefully that didn't come out as a bother or anything." If she was mad at me, I… I would just have to blow past that with sheer confidence. Just like I had done with everything else so far.

She waved me off. "I'm not mad at all, but I am curious…" There was a dark gleam in her eyes. "So, what do you want with me?" Sex. Also to save the world.

The latter was the most important part. "I just wanted to get to know you. Basically, I was hoping we could become friends."

She narrowed her eyes. "Friends? I would love that~" She had said that in a pretty weird way. As if she was talking about something completely different from me.

But an image of her was slowly being built in my mind, in that way I really was getting closer to Lortel. Even if the reason that image was being built is that I knew how these tropes tended to go. Lortel was a merchant, Lortel talked like she was about to swindle me, Lortel was from a video game, and so… Lortel was probably the type of girl who thought all relationships were transactional. Something like that was pretty common.

Still, I'm sure that would change as the days went by. "Nice! So, here's a gift to show my sincerity." Much like with Penia, the first gifts were the most stressful ones. This one was especially the case, since I had not gone for something safe like with Penia.

At first, Lortel accepted it with a smile. "Oh, how kind! Thank you very much, Taylee—" And then she realized what I was actually giving her. "A… a book about finance?" It had been pretty cheap since it was on sale.

The gift I gave her followed the classic dating sim logic that gifts were always good as long as it followed the hobbies or profession of the girl. What the actual gift was did not matter as long as it was connected to her character in some way.

She carefully put it aside. "T-thank you very much, I'll treasure it. Yes, this will definitely be… very helpful." So my genius plans had worked. Good. "But if you gave me a gift, it's only fair that I give you something in return, don't you think?" As she talked, she began getting up from the bench. Lorten then took my hand, and slid something to my palm. "I look forward to a great friendship, Taylee McLaur."

"Huh?" I took a look at what she had given me, it was heavy, it was shiny, it was—

Gold. She had given me gold. And a pretty generous amount too. Way more than what I had paid for the book.

Which meant I should reject this. This was meant to be a gift, not an exchange. In fact, considering her character, if I accepted this, I would be kind of throwing any sincerity between our little bonding sessions into the trash. Which meant I should return the money and say it wasn't necessary.

I pocketed it. I am only human, after all. "Thank you very much, Lortel the kind, generous, and saintly!" This was the best! I could keep giving her cheap books and getting tons of cash! An infinite money making glitch had been found! I am the master of all RPG's…!

She grinned. "There's no need for all that, we are friends now after all. And friends help each other. Just keep that in mind, and I'm sure our friendship will keep blossoming." I felt as if I was being hired into a mafia.

I saluted. "Yes, queen—" And then I came back to my senses. "Wait, wait, this isn't how things are supposed to go!" I took my— her money out of my pockets. "I'm trying to seduce you here, so stop seducing me! You're reversing the roles!"

Lortel's eyes widened. "You're trying to seduce me…?"

"Yeah!" There was no sense in denying it. Mostly because if I didn't state my intentions to the world, I would have fooled myself and accepted her money. "So please keep your money, I'm the one who's going to give gifts from now on." I forced the gold back into her hands.

"But—"

"No buts, you amazing woman!" I couldn't back down, or I would get swept by her charms (money, tons and tons of money). "I already made my intentions clear, but expect to see me again. Got it?"

She sighed. "I— There is no point in this, Taylee." It was kind of strange, but she was making the same face Penia had. As a manly sexy protagonist, I must have a very special effect on women.

"There is though!" Just like with the princess, from now on I would give Lortel a gift everyday.

A girl named Elvira was my last target for now.

I knew even less about her than I knew about Lortel. I had seen her trailer, and according to the Ayla gossip machine she was some genius alchemist, but differently from Lortel I had never even briefly ganged up on a professor with her. So this was even riskier territory.

I couldn't just ignore someone of her importance though, in fact she might be the most important heroine of them all. As an alchemist, she would be my designated potion maker— How was I supposed to save the world without spamming Full Restores? It just wouldn't be possible. So I would have to brave through the unknown.

Finding her had proved to be much more difficult than Lortel though, in fact now it almost felt as if Lortel wanted to be found. Still, after a long time of asking around, I discovered that she was actually a part of Ophelis Hall.

As an alchemist, she had been judged differently from my fellow losers, so despite not being the greatest marble master to ever live, she still managed to snag a place at the best dormitory of the school. Something which would normally put an unbreachable distance between us, but thankfully I was also a part of Ophelis Hall.

So I found her room, and knocked on it. "Excuse me?" Hopefully she wouldn't be doing wacky alchemist shit like summoning demons and stuff.

"Coming!" I could hear footsteps as she rushed towards the door, once she opened, I was met with a second cute redhead. "Hah? You ain't my delivery." A disappointed redhead. "You're… that Taylee guy, right? The super asshole who cheated his way here?"

I smiled towards her. "Yeah, I'm Taylee. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Elvira. So again, what do you want here?" She seemed pretty aggressive. Which was kind of adorable considering she had pointy teeth. What a blessed heroine she was.

"I'm here to give you something." My seed, she could use her alchemy to cultivate it in her womb. "I'm hoping we can become friends." I handed her the gift I had carefully chosen.

I had gone with a similar strategy as with Lortel, but instead of buying books I bought alchemic reagents. Cheap ones, but hopefully she would still like it. To be honest, to me it all looked like a bunch of generic grass, so for all I know I had been scammed into oblivion.

She carefully took it from me. "Hm? Are you hoping to commission something? Sorry, but I don't waste my time with that stuff." She sent me an annoyed look. "If you want that, go bother a lesser alchemist." She was about to close the door on my face.

So I needed to make things clear. "I'm not here to commission anything, I'm just here to make you my friend—" Screw that, I have a feeling nothing but complete honesty would get through her. "Or to be more accurate, I think you're pretty cute, so I'm here to steal your heart."

Elvira snorted. "Steal my heart? Well, these cheap ingredients won't be enough—" She slowly processed what I had just said. "T-the hell!? You're into me or something!? Are you for real!?"

I put my hands on my hips, and nodded. "Correct. You're an attractive woman." She wasn't the same type of girl like Penia or Lortel, both who exuded sexuality, but she had her own charms. Being able to craft potions also raised her charm of course.

Lady Elvira, this great hero is about to fight generic starter level enemies, so can you please give him some health items? I'm not asking for anything crazy like a Phoenix Down at the start, but even something that only healed scratches would already be immensely useful. And if she could also craft things like poison, I might ask for her hand in marriage.

A trembling grin appeared on her face. "W-well, it's nice that you have good taste." She shrugged. "You know, I've been hearing some nasty rumors about you, so I was planning on teaching you a lesson, but I guess those rumors must have been wrong." The greatest alchemist of the first year had been planning on teaching me a lesson?

It was a good thing I added her to the seduction list. I could fight generic bullies all day, but the thought of a girl throwing some random vial at me and making my balls itch for a year was just not something any man would be able to handle.

"So… we are cool now?" I'm truly glad I avoided a problem before it ever became a problem.

"Nope." Her grin got even wider. "We are not even close to cool, p-pretty boy." Hoh, being called a pretty boy was always good sign. "This gift you bought me is trash— I'm gonna be expecting something better next time." I couldn't buy anything more expensive, so maybe I would pivot into buying food. "Don't think getting into my pants is gonna be easy, or doable at all, got it?"

I didn't back down. "And yet, the hardest pants to remove are the most worthwhile pants to remove." Something, something climbing mountains.

"You weren't supposed to focus on that!" She sputtered. "Ugh…! Look, I'm expecting better from you next time, now leave me be! I have work to do!" This time she closed the door on my face.

But in a strange way, I have a feeling I made progress. While she didn't like my gift, she also felt like the only girl who was susceptible to my heroic charms. So this priority target isn't impossible to seduce.

From now on, I would give her a gift everyday.

I did not want to piss off Elvira, that was something I was certain of.

So I had to find better gifts to give her. I had already stopped giving her random crap, and changed to the flowers strategy instead, but she did not seem to be impressed with it either. Which was bad news, now that I had triggered her flags, I couldn't just untrigger them.

But buying expensive gifts was just not currently possible for me… I couldn't even buy more gifts in general. Maybe Ayla had been right to freak out when I wasted all of my money, because now that I needed a pivot, I simply did not have the resources to do it.

But I ended up having an idea.

Acken Island was a big place, one with plenty of forests and the like to explore. So maybe with some effort I could end up finding some good alchemy reagents to gift the scary ball itcher. Also, with this being a RPG, there was always the chance of me stumbling onto some legendary equipment hidden in a cave.

But there was one issue with this… Fear. I had gone for my journey after class ended, and I have to confess that wandering through strange forests while the Sun is setting has proven to be a very bad idea for my stress levels. What if I get lost and die here!? What if I stumble onto some monster!? I don't even know what's a good alchemy reagent anyways!

I'm going to die here! "Calm down already… You're the protagonist, damn it." My hand was on the hilt of the sword, as I shook in fear.

Yes, at least I had my weapon. So surely even if I found a monster, I would be able to defeat him? I had beaten up mages in class already! Also, there shouldn't even be monsters in places like this. The academy made sure to put plenty of signs to warn people of the areas where monsters were kept for mock missions, and this was not one of those areas. The most I could stumble upon was a friendly spirit.

And my wandering hadn't proven to be completely fruitless. Even with my inexperience, I was able to find some items that were clearly magical along the way. Some strange mushrooms here, some otherworldly flowers here, that kind of stuff. I had brought a bag to stuff my findings, so carrying them wasn't a problem either.

Eventually, I hit the jackpot. "A shack?" That was giving it too much credit, it was more like I had stumbled onto a poorly made shelter of wood. One that was falling apart. Still, its existence meant that someone should be around.

And I quickly confirmed that by looking around.

There was a bonfire, and while it was not lit, there was a young girl resting next to it. I recognized her as Lucy, the top rated student of my year, and of the few that had entered Class A. She must have been camping for fun or something.

To be honest, she was an existence that I did not know how I should feel about… I constantly heard how she was an absurdly talented mage, and she looked pretty cute in a unique way, and yet I couldn't remember her from any of the trailers. Wasn't that strange? The top student of the protagonist's class shouldn't be a NPC… Was she just someone who would join the party much later and the game didn't want to spoil that in the trailers? A villainess? Simply not a playable character?

I couldn't say, but I had thought about approaching her for my gift giving program in the past. The problem was that despite being a part of Ophelis Hall, she was never actually in it. We were also from different departments, so I simply never had the opportunity of actually approaching her.

So should I wake her up to try and talk with her? Probably not, I imagine that would just make her mad. More importantly, it might freak her out to have a stranger showing up to her little camping base, and if she does indeed freak out, she might send some magic my way by instinct. That would be best avoided.

Still, I couldn't help, but get close to her. "She's kind of pretty…" I crouched down, trying to get a better look.

Lucy really was a looker, much like every girl here. She had a different flavor of course, since she was a loli and all— despite me calling her that though, it's not like she looked like a kid or anything. Instead, it was more like she was the perfect petite woman. Video games really were amazing.

Also, while her breasts were small, they were still nice to the touch. My palm was gratefully rubbing them, and blessing them into growing. "Hey, isn't this bad…!?" I stopped myself, hoping that she wouldn't wake up from that.

Upon seeing a defenseless girl, I naturally sexually assaulted her. This wasn't due to my character though, instead it must have been Taylee's fault. Probably echoes of his soul or something. For sure. Thankfully this mistake had seemingly not woken up Lucy. In fact, she didn't seem like she would wake up anytime soon.

Now that I was taking a closer look, she appeared to be exhausted. Had she wasted all of her mana training? In that case, she really wouldn't wake up even if I happened to molest her a little bit, would she? Not that I was particularly into molesting girls, but at the same time it's not like she was innocent here. Sleeping in some random forest was dangerous.

A guy far worse than me could pass by, so she needed to be taught a lesson.

I began groping her butt. "Heh… I know, I'm going to train her body to my touch~" Not really, this wasn't that kind of game. Still, groping her a little bit until I was satisfied should be fine. It's not like it would matter as long as she didn't wake up.

The moment she let out a moan however, I stopped. "Welp, this is the end." I got up. If I pushed too far it would be the end of me. And not just from Lucy attacking me— She could probably tell some teacher about this and get me expelled. Or even worse, maybe I would get arrested.

What had I been thinking? I needed to control myself better. It didn't matter how stressed I had been ever since I arrived in this world, I should try behaving better.

To distract myself, I went around looking at her camp. This place was pretty shoddy, but at least it was clear she was trying her best. There was a bunch of jerky that she was preparing, and she had also collected a bunch of strange materials. Was Lucy also an alchemist? She wasn't part of that department, but nothing said she couldn't practice alchemy on the side.

I looked at all the stuff she had collected. I don't know if they were valuable or not, but since she was the top student they had to be, right? Well, it had nothing to do with me… Though now I kind of wanted to wake her up and ask her if she was willing to give them to me. She definitely wouldn't though.

I opened my bag, and stuffed all of her items inside. "Someone camping for fun would never understand my struggle." I'm here for survival, so this was fine. You couldn't blame someone for killing in self-defense, and this was kind of like that. Besides, with this Lucy was helping save the world and cleansing her karma. What a good girl.

Good girls need rewards.

I tip-toed to her for a second, and gave her another good titty rub. A reward.

Then I walked back, after walking a lot I was kind of hungry, so she wouldn't mind if I ate a piece of jerky or two, right? Differently from the alchemy reagents, it's not like I would steal— take— confiscate everything. Just one or two would be fine with me. So shamelessly, I snacked on her food. Surprisingly, it was actually pretty good.

It's not like it had crazy spices, but you could taste how a cook had poured their heart and soul into this— Wasn't that kind of strange for something as simple as jerky? It didn't matter, since it was so good, I decided to eat another. And then another. And then another. A growing protagonist like me was a glutton, as it was to be expected.

As promised, I didn't eat all of her jerky… But the moment I decided to go back and give her a reward for the food (a butt rub this time), I ended up tripping. I managed to steady myself, but I did accidentally ruin the drying rack that was holding all of the jerky, dropping them to the ground.

I flinched. "Shit…" Well, in a place like this, it was likely for a wild animal to stumble onto the food and eat it all anyway. I won't deny that I had caused the problem, but it was something that would inevitably happen with Lucy sleeping and not being vigilant.

Still, it was time to go… Before I fell to temptation again. To say goodbye though, I gave her that butt rub that had been promised— That was falling into temptation! I had to go. I was going. If I happened to stumble onto her again however, I might fall to temptation again. In a way, this was even more dangerous than Lortel's money.

I left, promising myself to never again touch a loli like this.

…

It was a brand new day, and I was once again looking for reagents. It was a brand new day, and I had once again stumbled onto a sleeping Lucy. Could it be that just as Ayla had a Taylee radar, I had an automatic Lucy one?

"...Heh." There were no items around for me to confiscate this time though. Bad girl. Bad girls needed to be punished.

AN:

Spoiler: Taylee's super special game diary, don't read ♡

If you like my content or want to request commissions, make sure to check out my Patreon! I would appreciate any and all support! Like ReplyReport Reactions:Kukulkan, ficfachag, NeraByte and 57 othersFakekingThursday at 11:05 PMAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 05 View contentFakekingThe Goku of rape!Thursday at 11:06 PMAdd bookmark#6One could dread it, run from it, the Monster Subjugation class came all the same.

I was terrified of it of course, I was finally about to face off against monsters in this supposedly incredibly difficult game. Despite all my hard effort studying, training, and raising bonds, I might just die like a nobody. Still, there was at least some excitement in my heart at the idea of making money.

Also, it helped that this would be an activity done in groups, so even if I was weak maybe I could drag someone strong like Lortel or Penia with me and get an easy win.

The professor, Glast, finally announced it. "Make teams of four, afterwards I will explain how this will all work." Four huh?

A smile reached my face as luck proceeded to smile on me. This was just the perfect number for me to drag along all the gals I knew in the Combat Department. Now, if I had been wasting time trying to get close to the male playable characters as well I would have to divide my party, but being frugal had paid off.

First, it needed to recruit the girl who had been ignoring me. I was fine with giving her time, but now I needed her in my team. Even if Ayla wasn't exactly the strongest mage to ever live.

Currently, Ayla was talking with a bunch of her friends, probably planning on joining up with them. Sadly for those friends, they were a bunch of randoms. So while I did hope they did well in this assignment, they wouldn't be partner upping with my childhood friend, that was for sure.

I approached Ayla without any hesitation. "Yo, we are going to work together on this, right?" And asked the obvious question. I didn't want to waste any time, not when there were plenty of people who would love to poach Lortel and Penia away.

My childhood friend flinched. "O-oh, hi Taylee…" Instead of a blush like I had been expecting, she seemed more downtrodden than anything else. Had something happened to her? "You want to partner up? I wouldn't… I wouldn't mind that, but…"

I raised an eyebrow. "But what?" I was getting seriously scared that I had missed something important. I probably deserved this though, I had been very busy, but that was no excuse to have not fixed the problem that arose between us earlier.

Still, Ayla was wearing the hairclip I had given to her, so I doubt it was anything I couldn't fix.

One of her friends stepped up, while Ayla hid behind her. "Isn't it obvious? Everyone in class knows you've been trying to chat up the princess, and now you come here acting like nothing happened? You're the worst, cheater!" For once, I wasn't being called a cheater because of my Class.

I hadn't really thought about it, but I had been pretty public when it came to bonding with Penia. While I met Lortel on campus, Elvira in the dorm, and Lucy whenever luck smiled at me, I would always go and give a gift to Penia as soon as class ended. I never missed a day.

"Cheater…?" Still, it's not like I was actually cheating on anyone. I would do it if the opportunity came up, but Ayla and I had not gotten together.

And Ayla being Ayla, she actually came to my defense. "It's not like that, everyone… Please don't bully Taylee." Yeah, don't bully me! I haven't done anything bad recently— Besides the Lucy stuff. "And Taylee, I… I'm very glad you remembered me, but if you like another girl, then please… go with her. She might misunderstand otherwise." Geez, teenage drama was such a pain.

Ayla was acting as if I had just asked her out, but this was just a class project. "Ah, forget about it! You're the one misunderstanding things!" I, maybe a bit forcefully, grabbed her by the wrist. "I like you, so let's just go already, okay!?" Seriously, my time is limited here!

That friend from before glared at me like I was a demon. "Hey, don't hold her like that! What do you think you're doing!?" Admittedly, I did look like the bad guy here. I wasn't though. That is all I will say!

But Ayla once again came to my defense. "I-I'm fine! I…" She was blushing, as she closed her eyes. "I'm so glad it was just a misunderstanding…" And just like that, our friendship was restored, and the Arcana didn't reverse. I think. "I'll be more than glad to partner up with you, Taylee!"

Mission accomplished. "Awesome!" Mission accomplished. Ayla would probably be the most easy to convince though, so I shouldn't get too happy about this.

One of Ayla's friends pinched her nose in frustration. "Serioulsly…? And after all that talk…" I had missed some girl gossiping, hadn't I? Well, it was whatever. That kind of thing was better away from my brain anyways.

Ayla did look way more cheery now though, as she questioned her friends. "So, is everybody okay with Taylee joining us?" Oh? Now an actual misunderstanding was happening.

Her friends were silent, but one of them slowly nodded. "I guess we did need one more member, and Taylee is strong." I had gained some reputation in class by this point, even if I was solidly still below the true heavy hitters. "So, sure—" But I couldn't let this happen.

So I cut her off. "Nah, I ain't joining you guys. No offense, but I already have a team in mind." I looked at Ayla. "I just came here to get you, that's all." If her friends were truly her friends, they would understand that Ayla deserved better, despite her NPC looks.

She was a woman who belonged to two worlds, being both generic and yet important. People could probably make a fairly popular animated movie about this.

"..." I had driven her friends to silence.

Ayla started looking between us like a lost puppy. "B-but… Um…" She probably didn't want to ditch her friends, and that was fair enough. She would need to though, there was just no helping it.

Thankfully, her NPC buddies seemed to accept their fate. "It's fine, Ayla. Just go with him." One of them mumbled under their breath. "There's no fixing bad taste." Hey, it wasn't bad taste until recently. I'm sure original Taylee was a perfect gentleman— His strange love for sleeping lolis that totally existed aside.

"T-thank you guys!" Ayla's smile was brighter than the Sun. And then the sun set as she looked at me. "And Taylee, I know you don't mean to sound rude, but stop being mean before I get mad, okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, my bad." I knew I was being kind of a jerk here, but it was just the fact that I was under a timer getting to me. Some guy might already have gotten Lortel or Penia by this point. "Sorry guys, I'll make sure to take care of Ayla." And as an apology to her, I would gift her something after the mission was done.

Maybe another hairclip. Bitches loved hairclips.

Her friends began waving me off. "Yeah, yeah, just go away already."

I did not argue, I just grabbed Ayla's hand and began taking her away. It seemed there were more people surrounding Lortel than Penia, probably because adding a princess to the party seemed scarier than adding a merchant, even if that merchant was super rich and of a higher Class. So Lortel would be my priority.

A red Ayla shyly began questioning me as we walked. "So, who is in your group, Taylee? I'm looking forward to meeting them." Hah, that was rich coming from someone who had once questioned my bonding strategy.

"You'll see. You'll see." I repeated myself, feeling surprisingly excited. After all, while this was scary, I was getting an actual RPG party together. In a way, it almost felt like the start of my adventure.

…Now that I started thinking about this, I really hope this simple quest doesn't turn into some big deal. That was a pretty big trope too… All I could do was pray that in the original game this was a simple introduction to how side-quests worked and nothing else.

And for that side-quest, I needed Lortel. Sadly, there was a guy on my way. A guy talking with Lortel, and trying to partner up with her. "Move out of the way, small fry!" So I did the appropriate thing and pushed him out of the way. Sorry, but it's a dog eat dog world out here.

Ayla gasped, as she watched the man fall down. "Taylee!?" Eh, it was fine. Professor Glast didn't even bat an eye, so at least the faculty didn't care.

Lortel let out an awkward chuckle. "Well, you're lively today, Taylee." She sent me one of her smiles, the type that would be described as fox-like in a video game. "Are you here to join my team?" …Or to give me another gift?" I was kind of running out of cheap books, if I was being honest.

Which is why this mission was important. "Leave the latter for later. I'm here to make you enter my team."

Ayla sighed. "So you really went with the gift idea… I guess I already saw that with Princess Penia." Yep, and it had worked like a charm, so maybe this loser childhood friend should stop judging me with her eyes.

Lortel let out a quiet giggle. "Well, you're probably the strongest student who has asked to join my team so far, Taylee, so sure. I would love to work with you, Taylee." Another mission accomplished. "And I'll make sure to pay you handsomely, of course." She was already taking coins out of her purse.

But as usual, there was no way I was going to accept that. "I'm not a mercenary Lortel, and this is just a class assignment. I'm not taking your money." Even if I really want to! Couldn't Lortel stop throwing around money like that for just one day!? It was driving me crazy!

She clicked her tongue. "Tsk, it's always like this with you… I have to ask though, does your friend… Um, Ayla, right? Does Ayla want to join me too?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Duh, I wouldn't leave my childhood friend behind.

Concern was now clear on Ayla's face. "Is… is there a problem with that?" She seemed pretty reserved around Lortel. I couldn't blame her, I didn't care much, but something about Lortel seemed to intimidate people. "I'm not gonna ask for money either, if that's what you're worried about."

Lortel let out a sigh. "No, that's not it. To be honest, I'm sorry to say this, but Ayla… you're a bit weak. Not to say you're a bad student, you're good, but I need better than just good. And I can easily find better than good." She crossed her arms. "So, as mean as this sounds, I can't take you into my group. Sorry Ayla, sorry Taylee."

Ayla looked down. "Oh…" She was silent for a moment, before recomposing herself. "Well, there's no need to apologize, I get it. And I don't want to drag Taylee down, so I hope you two—"

I began patting her head. "Don't go making big decisions like that, I'm the team leader here." I then looked at Lortel. "And speaking of that, I don't think you understand the situation. I'm not joining you, you're joining me. I get to pick the team members."

"..." Lortel tilted her head. "I don't mind that, I suppose. But…" Her gaze suddenly became cold. "Is our last teammate going to be another girl? Princess Penia is obvious, but I also know you've been meeting with the top alchemist of the year frequently. Is there any other girl I missed?" Um? Was this supposed to be some big gotcha?

I guess she was calling me a wannabe womanizer, and hoping that I would be surprised at that. I had expected this though, as a merchant character, Lortel had to have ears everywhere. And apparently even with that she didn't know about the Lucy thing, so I was happy more than anything.

Ayla was shocked though. "Other girls…?"

I shrugged. "She's talking about my efforts towards making friends." Ayla calmed down, understanding what I was talking about. "I can't add Elvira to the party though, since she's not part of the Combat Department." At least not right now. Later one when it became optional work maybe it would be possible?

Lortel narrowed her eyes. "Making friends? I believe you said you were going to try and seduce me the first time we met?"

"Gah!?" Ayla exploded.

Welp, there was no denying it. "Yeah. I'm seducing you. What's wrong with that?" Since I couldn't deny it, I would just take it on the chin. It's not like trying to hide all of this would ever work anyways. The only thing I couldn't afford becoming common knowledge was the Lucy incidents.

It's not my fault, it's her fault!

Lortel's eyes widened. "Y-you admitted it?"

Ayla looked at me like a hurt puppy. "B-but you said you liked me…" She let out a whimper like a hurt puppy. I think she might have just become a hurt puppy in general. "Were you—? Did I misunderstand what you meant, Taylee?" Now both her and Lortel were staring at me.

I have to say, even with how I have been trying to act ever since I got in this world, I was afraid. I pushed that fear down however, it was no time to back out. "Nah, you got me. I'm going to make both you and Lortel mine." I'm pretty Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster was not a harem game, but whatever.

"..." I had made them both silent is what I had done.

I forced myself to laugh. "Haha… hahahaha! Yeah, both of you are going to be m-my woman!" My voice did crack at one point, but I forced myself through it. "Now stop wasting time! We gotta get the last party member! S-she's mine too!" And now I was stuttering. Great.

I just had to grit my teeth and push through any embarrassment. And more importantly, through any refusal. Which is why before they could complain, I grabbed one hand from each, and began dragging them towards Penia. She was the last person I needed to convince, but she was a friendly girl, so it shouldn't be too bad.

While we walked, Ayla's eyes had become swirls. "B-but why…!? I-I… I need to write to Taylee's parents about this…!" She was mumbling some scary stuff, but it's not like I knew those guys anyways!

Lortel was a bit more composed, but she was definitely caught off guard. "What kind of person does something like this…?" The kind that has the world's fate on his shoulders! I'm trying my best here, okay!?

As I reached Penia, the guy who had been talking with her left at a pretty convenient time. He had a disappointed expression, so I can only guess that the princess had rejected him. She was a loyal woman, that was for sure— or more realistically, she had high standards. Hopefully I would meet those standards.

As usual, she was also being watched over by a knight. It actually made me wonder if he would participate in the assignment or not. If he did, there was no way he would count as an actual member of the group, right? If he did, I would have to kick him out. Actually, since he was a guy I wanted to kick him out even if he didn't count.

This was embarrassing to admit, but when it came to JRPG's, I always made parties with only girls (and the protagonist) as soon as the game let you!

"Yo, Penia." I let my party member's hands go, so that I could wave at the princess.

She hesitantly waved back. "Hello…?" She took some time staring at the reddened Ayla, and then quickly glared at Lortel, before looking at my childhood friend. "It's nice to see you too Ayla. We haven't talked ever since the entrance exams, right?" She didn't address Lortel at all.

And Lortel was actually glaring at her too. Did they have story together? I had never seen the two interact, so maybe this was the classic natural enemies trope? That would be troublesome, but nothing that I couldn't work through. At least if I needed to.

"Y-yeah!" My friend's brain returned to reality, and she quickly glanced at me, and whispered. "Don't tell she's also—" A target.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she is." In what world would a guy not try to get with a princess? Especially one who… had as much land as Penia. Yeah, she was the princess of an empire alright.

Ayla covered her face, refusing to see reality. "Wah!? What happened to you, Taylee!?" Being around Ophelis Hall, surrounded by so many maids, had driven me to a beauty fueled insanity. That was my excuse.

Penia raised an eyebrow. "I… Am I missing something here?" We had just kind of gone to her, and started acting like weirdos. This is Ayla's fault, of course. "Well, whatever it is, please don't try your usual tricks with Ayla around, Taylee. That's just cruel—"

Lortel interjected. "You see, Princess, Taylee is trying to get on with multiple women. So I imagine he just doesn't care if Ayla is around." She just snitched on me like that, huh? As expected of a merchant. It was kind of surprising to me that everyone knew Ayla liked me though, I guess she was kind of awful at hiding.

I bet Taylee would have been dense enough to not notice until the end of the game, or until he progressed enough into her personal story, but… I could fake a lot of things, faking being a hero was doable, but faking being a black hole would just be impossible. So there was no point in ever even trying.

Penia had never looked so disappointed. "What… What happened to you, Taylee?" Was Lortel going to say that next? She needed to! The rule of three was important! "I know the fox is telling the truth, but I still want to hear it from you, Taylee. Are you really trying something so ludicrous?" I knew Lortel would get described as a fox! I just knew it!

Feeling prideful of that, I puffed up my chest, and put my hands on my hips. "She's correct." Once again, denying it would be foolish. "I like you too, and I like Lortel, and I like Ayla, so you should all get with me." I meant that. Heroines were easy to like of course, they had been designed by some artist with that explicit purpose, but it was still true.

The princess let out a groan. "I wish I could rip out my eyes." Hey, the only ugly person here is your dumb knight.

Speaking of the knight, he seemed furious. "What am I even hearing!?" I bet he could kick my ass, so this was kind of scary. I ended up taking a step backwards. "I had promised to not interfere in the princess' school life, but this is just—!"

Penia shook her head. "Claire, it's alright. Please calm down." Oh, she saved me. Best girl.

The knight took a deep breath. "But… Hah, as you wish. But do not feel as if you have to take anything from this… low-life." Yeah, yeah, talk all you want right now. Once I have realized my hero potential, I'm gonna beat you until you are a zero-life.

Penia then looked at me. "I don't think I need to say this, but I have no interest in whatever you're planning, Taylee. Just like before, the most I can offer is friendship." When she fell in love with me, I was definitely going to tease her with those words.

But it wasn't time for that. "I'm not here to seduce you— kind of. I just came here to ask if you want to join our group for the Monster Subjugation. You're the last party member we need." It would probably be the strongest party in the entirety of the Combat Department.

Ayla was nothing special, and I was just a little bit special, but Lortel was part of Class A. And while the princess wasn't, her strength was definitely on par with that, she just hadn't gotten lucky on the stupid marble exam. So maybe even a Dark Souls mission would be easy— or at least doable.

The princess sighed. "I'll have to refuse." She motioned to her knight. "He will be accompanying me, so as to feel if I'm not cheating, I would like to complete this assignment alone, and besides…" She stole a quick glance at Lortel, who just fakely smiled in response. "I'm not compatible with one of your party members." Geez, it was that bad?

I frowned. "Just get along with Lortel." That's all I could say about the subject. "And about the knight, does he count as a party member or something? Let's just kick him out if that's the case." I grinned. "I have a sword, so I basically count as a knight already."

She waved me off. "He doesn't count as a member of the group, no, but… He gives me an unfair advantage."

The knight interjected. "It's not unfair at all, princess." He looked at my group and elaborated. "Essentially, I will intervene if the princess is at risk of losing her life, but that is all. I won't actually help her defeat any monsters." Woah, that was kind of an insane cheat, wasn't it?

Not in the way that Penia was thinking of, but it would give me a lot of comfort to have a knight backing one of my party members up in case an enemy got lucky. Especially since I didn't know how hard this would actually be.

The princess really wasn't happy with this though. "It is unfair, Claire. The fear one feels when facing monsters simply won't be present with you around, so having a group on top of that is just… wrong." She was kind of crazy about rules, wasn't she? I know she had refused a golden marble in the previous exam, so this seemed to be a trend.

The knight argued back. "Princess, please do not think of it that way. I ask that you accept joining their group… As annoying as a particular member of theirs is, there's no denying their skill. You should work with them."

She looked down. "No, that's my decision." She tried her best to recompose herself, forcing a smile onto her face. "And that's that. I'm sorry, Taylee, but it's true that you are all very skilled. I'm sure I won't be needed." But I want my party full of hot girls!

Lortel smirked, and side-eyed some students. "Yep, and I have just the right guy in mind." She was probably planning on paying someone to join us, maybe even someone from Class A. So Penia really was right about not needing her.

But once again, I want my party full of girls! I have been investing tons of gifts into this, so if I failed it would feel as if I had been wasting both money and time! And considering the present situation, that just wasn't acceptable… The princess was more than stubborn enough to where any argument would just fall into deaf ears though…

So I would avoid arguing with her at all. "Professor Glast!" I shouted at the man, who immediately looked as if he wanted to kill me. "I formed my group! It's me, Penia, Lortel, and Ayla!" The princess' consent was optional. This was for everyone's good, and it's not like you were supposed to ask if a person wanted to be helped before helping them.

The professor almost snarled at me. "Don't shout and come here next time, Taylee." But despite that, he began writing down my team, without even checking if everyone was on board.

The thing about Professor Glast is that he was an elitist, and as a member of Class B (one that had done well in classes so far), he was willing to take me at my word. Penia could just put an end to this with her own words of course, but…

Seeing what I had just done, she was forced to accept I was even more stubborn than her. "Hah… You truly are something, Taylee."

"Something great, hahahaha!" Our party had been formed.

AN: lf you like my content or want request commissions, make sure to check out my Patreon! I would appreciate any and all support! Like ReplyReport Reactions:ficfachag, EternalPonderer, ProtagNeptune and 48 othersFakekingThursday at 11:06 PMAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 06 View contentFakekingThe Goku of rape!Thursday at 11:07 PMAdd bookmark#7With each step I took, I had to remind myself to calm down.

I would soon see combat, and not just against some lame bully who was born to be bullied themselves. This was going to be the real deal, kill or be killed. And even the first option left me a bit uncomfortable if I'm being honest, I was not the type who could personally easily slaughter an animal for food and this felt similar to that.

Especially since I didn't know the lore of this world… Were monsters just beings of darkness who wanted humanity to die? Were they just like random aggressive animals? If nothing else, I pray that this dumb world wouldn't pull some messed up twist where I was secretly killing human souls or something.

I take another step, I tell myself to calm down. "Everyone, be careful. It's getting kind of dangerous to walk around here." And I'm not the only one here. Strangely, trying to reassure my party members reassures me as it reminds me that if worse comes to worse, at least I'm not kicking the bucket alone.

On the back, Penia nods. "Yes, the path ahead is narrow. We should stick close to the walls." I have a feeling that if I wasn't the leader, she would be. Right now she was just the torch carrier though.

And we needed a torch, because we had drawn the short straw and ended up getting assigned to a mission in a cave. It sucked here, it was damp, it felt strangely hot, there were holes and dangerous paths everywhere, and we couldn't see a damned thing without the aid of a tool. Honestly, I am pretty sure Professor Glast must have sent us here to get rid of us.

Alternatively, he probably just thought this was the least we could do. Being strong had its perks with the teacher, but it had its drawbacks too.

Claire, the knight in charge of protecting Penia, interjected. "That's right, and princess, stay close to me. In case you fall, I'll pick you up."

"Claire, please don't try babying me…" Penia let out an annoyed sigh, but she didn't stop him.

And so we all began walking through the narrow straight, aware that if one of us fell, we would probably die. There was no way to even see how much lower the person in question would fall, but that would probably just incentivize everyone to not mess up— Honestly, we were all trained people, so if nothing else I doubt any of us would die such an embarrassing death.

"Kyah! Help!" Ayla shouted, as she slipped and almost died an embarrassing death by falling into the unknown.

I was too far away to help her, but Lortel wasn't. Thankfully, she grabbed the girl by the wrist. "There…!" And with the strength of a Class A, she pulled her up. "Be more careful, okay, Ayla?"

The girl nodded, now pale as a ghost. "Y-yes, thank you very much for saving me…" She sneaked a glance at the abyss below. The abyss that had almost taken her. "I-I can't believe that I almost… I almost—"

I cut her off. "I can't believe it either! But this isn't the time to scream, so I'm going to control myself! But you better prepare yourself for a scolding of a lifetime, Ayla!" I calmly said, screaming my entire soul out. How was I supposed to accept that my childhood friend almost died just like that?

Ayla trembled. "S-sorry!" But as I said, this wasn't the time for it.

So we carried on past the narrow path. No more accidents happened, everyone being even more careful now that they had seen Ayla failing. Not that anyone had really been slacking in the first place, but this had helped to put into our heads that this was serious business.

Well, their heads. I was aware of how dangerous this was from the beginning. It would be just like some supposedly difficult game to try something cheap like getting one of my precious party members with a tactic like falling from a high place.

Once we were through the narrow path, and in a more open space, the first thing I did was march over to my childhood friend. "Ayla, are you okay!? Did you hurt your leg!? Do we need to go back or keep going!?"

Lortel snorted. "He was keeping that inside like a kettle, huh?" I sure was!

A blushing Ayla struggled to get her words out. "I-I'm completely fine, don't worry. We can keep going." She had the audacity to look a little happy. Probably being all giddy that her amazing childhood friend was showing her some attention. This despite her childhood friend being a wannabe womanizer.

Now that I had made sure she was okay however, I almost punched her in the head out of sheer rage. "Good, now watch your step the next time, you moron! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!? If you mess up like that again, I'm going to throw you down some spooky death abyss myself, got it!?" My main objective was survival.

I had accepted my role as a protagonist that needed to save the world, because I existed in this world. However, that didn't mean I would accept an ending where any of my friends didn't make it to the final act. Ayla wasn't allowed to die.

"U-Um…" Her blush had not disappeared, but at least Ayla now had the decency to look down in shame.

Penia frowned. "Must he be so mean to a girl that almost died?"

The knight smiled. "This is not mean at all, princess. To be honest, seeing this type of thing is pretty common in missions like these." I don't want to hear a peep from the knight in shining armor who didn't do a damn thing. Get out of my party!

Penia nodded. "Well, if nothing else, I can tell he is genuinely concerned—"

"Shut up, peanut gallery!" I did not appreciate them commentating over my heart attack as if this was some kind of show. "And Lortel…! I…" I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, one of relief. "Thanks for that. You have a free kiss ticket, feel free to cash-in whenever we get together." She was a life saver.

One who didn't look amused by my words. "I imagine I will never use this ticket, but you're welcome. How about instead of the ticket, however, we make it so our next exchange is already paid for? I already do owe you plenty of gold." At the end, she was smiling ear to ear.

I bet this moron saved Ayla purely by instinct, but was now telling herself she actually did it to get a favor from me. That sounded like it fit her character. "Our next exchange is already paid for? Don't be a moron, don't you know what a gift is? Stop trying to pay for them. And before you mention a favor, there's no need for that. I would already do whatever you ask anyways."

She narrowed her eyes. "You would already do whatever I ask… but a kiss needs a ticket?" It would be a special one of a kind kiss. She really shouldn't waste this opportunity.

The princess interjected. "If nothing else, he truly does mean his words—" She stopped herself, hearing the sounds of footsteps. Immediately, she turned towards it, and prepared for battle. "They're here, everyone, get ready!" The monsters had come to us.

From the shadows, goblins began stepping out. A dangerous opponent in hentai land, but seeing as this game was not +18 I shouldn't worry too much about that aspect of goblinhood. Instead, I was worried that this game was supposed to be difficult, so I knew these goblins wouldn't pull any punches. Especially because while I didn't know if this was purposeful or not from their side, we were now in an ambush.

I drew my sword. "Everyone, stay behind me!" I could act as a piss poor mage, but seeing as I was the only person here who specialized in physical combat, it fell upon me to act as the tank of the party instead.

Penia continued for me, I guess she would be the sub leader here. "Yes, and make sure to stay close to each other. We'll focus on defense and whittle down their numbers slowly!" Essentially, she wanted to turtle up.

It wasn't a bad idea, we needed to stay rooted. After all, the monsters had chosen this time to attack for a reason, the path behind was dangerous. We couldn't retreat, so the only thing we could do was try to weather the storm until we won. Also, this was a tactical RPG, turtling was what gave one warm in the dark nights!

Lortel pouted. "I was about to say that too." She extended her hand, and casually used magic that was way too strong. Intermediate Magic, to be more specific. The kind that you would only learn in the second year.

Not to be outdone, Penia prepared her own magic. "Why does that matter!?" She summoned water balls around herself. Though instead of attacking, they worked like a shield. This was technically Beginner Magic, but she was using it like a pro.

These two really were super strong, I had made the right choice to bring them along.

Oh, and Ayla was kind of there. She summoned a minor spirit. She threw a little bit of water magic that barely did anything. She was trying her best here.

But she was clearly the weak link, and so an arrow was shot at her from one of the many goblin archers. "Hey, she already almost went down today, so don't you dare try to hurt my woman!" I parried the arrow away, and decided that I should focus mostly on protecting my childhood friend. "Ignite!" I shot a fire spell towards the goblin as my counter attack.

Using fire in caves was dangerous of course, but I think this cave was wide enough to where this small amount wouldn't matter much. It's not like I conjured some hellstorm anyways, in fact my fire just barely wounded the goblin archer.

Still, I couldn't complain. It was already crazy that I could use magic while swinging a sword around anyways— That was because normally using magic would take quite a bit of focus, something which would be impossible when one was thinking of how to move their sword. For me however, swordsmanship almost felt automatic. So I could combine the two fairly easily.

Ayla gasped. "Stop saying that kind of stuff!" Then she should stop being so weak.

Nonetheless, this was the kind of rhythm we found ourselves in. Lortel and Penia were the powerhouses that could handle anything. I was the shield that went zooming around, occasionally deflecting arrows, occasionally taking down a goblin who got too close, occasionally firing back an ignite. And Ayla was the cheerleader, who was useless, but also cute so nobody got mad at her.

And of course, there was Claire too. The knight wasn't doing anything but occasionally sending worried glances at the abyss at our backs, but I knew he would step-in if any goblin actually got dangerously close to Penia.

This was a winning position. It should be a winning position. And yet… Why did I feel something was dangerously wrong here?

To find that answer, I stopped thinking like a human being, and started thinking like an asshole game developer. I have played plenty of god awful tactical RPG's. I have beat Thracia 776. I know how this kind of thing works.

Let's say I'm a new player, one working his way through Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster. This game has been hell, so I learn to be timid— New people to this kind of genre already tend to rely on turtling anyways, so once I get caught between an abyss and monsters, I turtle to protect myself and my party, especially because one of my members is relatively weak. This is actually advantageous to me as weird as it sounds, since in a grid based system I now can't be attacked from the back. The less ways there are to attack me, the less damage I take each turn.

Now let's not be a new player anymore, I am now a shitty developer. I know the average player is going to turtle, so I put some dumbass push mechanic to kill their high hp units. Or maybe there's infinite reinforcements. Or maybe archers will spawn from behind the narrow path or something. Or maybe the ground will begin to collapse and force them to move anyways. The point is, there is a turn limit here, because of course there is. Fuck the player, he should have bought a Nintendo Power magazine.

I return to being the protagonist, a new idea in mind. "Fuck being on the defensive! Everyone, break through their front no matter what! Let's act like a spear!" I could have ordered us to attack from the sides of course, to not get surrounded during our charge, but…

I want to break right through them, and turn this whole thing around. It should be fine when our members are individually worth much more than them anyways.

Penia looks at me like an idiot. "That does not sound like—"

"Shut up and do it! Don't make me drag you by the hand!" I throw myself at the enemies, using an Ignite to protect my starting charge.

Once I'm in the thick of it, I start cleaving through my enemies like they are made out of butter. Before I felt as if my potential was being held back, and I was right. I'm not a tank, I'm much more of a pure damage dealer. The Rutger of this cursed lands.

My starting charge created a cascading effect however. My allies had not followed my command at first, but… "Taylee!" Ayla got worried for me, and so broke rank. She dashed towards me, this time being the one to try and protect me.

"You idiots!" Seeing us rush like morons made Penia worried, and like a good girl she rushed after us. Her water balls crashing through any goblin on her way, and to her sides.

Claire went after her as well of course, the knight would not leave the princess behind.

And so, Lortel was left completely alone. "Gah! I should have made my own team!" So she decided to come after us too. Her ice magic freezing and cracking any enemy who dared even for a moment to stand on her path.

My spear had been formed.

I did slow down just a bit however, so Ayla managed to catch up to me. While I trusted everyone else to do just fine in this charge, she was the weak link. Even so, once that was done I went right back to executing my plan.

There was one final swing of my sword. "Die! All goblins should die painful deaths!" And I was now on the other side of the ambush.

You know, I had been worried about killing these things, but now I simply didn't care. Actually, I was even super excited. I guess this is just the power of adrenaline at work. That by itself was a far scarier feeling than the goblins themselves.

With me on the other way though, it didn't take long for my companions to arrive too. Which meant it didn't take long for Penia to scold me. "Taylee McLaur, what were you thinking!?" She used my full name, so that's how one knows its serious business.

I made an annoyed face, while putting another goblin down. "I'm thinking we are now the ones doing the ambushing!" As I had done many times before, I forced myself to laugh. Though with this much adrenaline running through my body it was way easier than usual. "This is why I'm the leader, and not you, hahahahaha!" That's right, my plan was better than her turtling shit!

Her eye twitched. "Don't tell me you put us in jeopardy because of some stupid pride!"

Ayla glared at me. "That can't be it, right Taylee!? You just got nervous and made an impulsive decision, right Taylee!?"

And so did Lortel. "That's totally it. He's a danger to the people around him." She was usually pretty composed, but right now she looked murderous. Probably because she had been the one most left behind.

Hell, even the knight looked like he wanted to murder me, so I better give a good excuse for this. "Don't question my orders! It worked, so I'm great! I bet we would have all died a super messed up death if we stayed back there anyways! That's my instinct working!" Or more accurately, my experience! I just did what I thought was right after getting fucked over in different RPG's many times!

I may not have played Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster, but I have played games! Suck my dick, Nintendo!

Penia seemed to calm down a bit. "I… Look, Taylee, even if we are in a dangerous situation, you shouldn't let fear control you—" And at that moment it happened.

The place where we had been standing before began to crack. It wasn't like it was all destroyed in a second, but there was a good chance if any of us stayed behind, the people closer to the edge would have fallen to their deaths, and with everyone busy there wouldn't be a Lortel to save any dumb Aylas. To prove that point, now that the goblins were the ones being pushed back, a few of them did fall.

And even worse, from behind the narrow path emerged more goblins. Some of them were archers and started sniping from far away, and some crazy ones even tried crossing the path. While we could hit the snipers even if they were far away with our magic, we would be fighting a war on two sides.

Yep, I was right. "Ahahahahaha! I'm the best! A genius tactician! A remarkable hero!" Fuck ass game developers and ambush spawns.

Penia's face fell. "That's…"

And Lortel returned to having a foxy smile, even if it looked like it would once again disappear at any moment. "I suppose some people just have a good sense for this kind of thing… You find the same thing in business, really." When people were scared, they returned to the familiar, huh?

While Ayla had stars in her eyes. "Woah! You just saved us all, Taylee! You're incredible!" Finally some honesty, and yes, I sure am.

"Don't encourage him, Ayla!" It didn't matter what Penia said.

Now that we were the ones in advantage, victory came easily.

I was giddy.

The quest had gone great… Apparently every group had someone from the faculty tailing them to report how we had done at the Monster Subjugation, but that wasn't the case for us. Instead, Claire had explained how things went to Professor Glast, and that made me scared he would fuck me over… but I actually got praised instead. For some reason.

So my grades were great, and now I could hunt down monsters to make more money any time I wanted. Not to mention how it was great training, my skills had skyrocketed during that, and I even gained a stat point or two. Though I was admittedly thinking of resting a bit before taking any more missions, since that had been a pretty tiring endeavor.

Nonetheless, my party was the best. So even a few days after the Monster Subjugation, I was still wandering around the halls and feeling like a king.

And then that all died once I saw an announcement. "The hell? A special event?" It was right there, written on a board.

Ayla, who had returned to following me around, interjected. "They do this kind of stuff sometimes. From what I heard, even upper year students are invited, so it might be something super fun!" Right. I suppose this was a nice chance to see if I could spot any obvious main character that I had missed thus far.

There was no way this game didn't have an upper classman as an important character. I refused to accept such a sad reality.

It was kind of hard trying to read the board, since there were too many people in my way. So I started trying to push my way closer. "Gah, move you suckers!" I went ignored, but eventually I did manage to get close enough to read what the actual event was.

You know, I had thought maybe we would work together with an upper classman in a quest, or maybe they would be our mentors for a bit. Something nice, something to promote cooperation between years or something like that.

Nope, we were going to fight instead. 1v1, final destination. It would be an event held between first years and second years, and who you would fight would be decided by a lottery… You wouldn't necessarily have to face off against an upper classman, but it was a possibility. Yes, there was a possibility of having to fight against someone with an entire extra year of training.

"What kind of humiliation ritual is this!?" I hate Silvenia.

AN: If you like my content or want to request commissions, make sure to check out my Patreon! I would appreciate any and all support! Like ReplyReport Reactions:ficfachag, NeraByte, dragoongfa and 56 othersFakekingThursday at 11:07 PMAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 07 View contentFakekingThe Goku of rape!Thursday at 11:07 PMAdd bookmark#9Joint Combat Training. That was the name of the newest event I had to worry about.

It would be a series of fights, student versus student. Both first years and second years would compete, coming from all departments. There was also nothing stopping a second year from fighting a first year if luck decided that way, because the fights would be decided by a lottery.

To try to keep things fair however, only Beginner Rank Magic would be allowed— And to keep things safe, mock weapons would be used instead of real ones. And when it came to Alchemists, they couldn't use any potion that was too dangerous, nor could Spiritualists summon anything too high of a rank.

Still, it would most likely be a one-sided slaughter from the side of the upperclassmen. Even if they were only allowed Beginner Magic, they should still have way more experience using that than first years like me. But it didn't matter much, it's not like this event would be important for our grades.

It was just meant to be something fun. Second years would get to see how far they had gotten, first years would get to see how far they had to go. And of course, there would be just normal fights too, where a student could maybe gain some respect from their peers by showing off what they could do. Winning wasn't important. Losing wasn't important. Having fun was important—

Fuck that! "So yeah, I wanna win." I bowed towards Lortel. "So please give me some good info! I know you're the info having woman!" I didn't like asking things of her, because she could take it the wrong way, but it couldn't be helped.

I wanted information on who my opponents could be. I did ask Ayla to tell me all she knew of our seniors of course, but it was all basic gossip. Nothing that had helped me too much. Meanwhile, there was no way Lortel wasn't already aware of everything they could, since she was the suspicious merchant character.

She raised an eyebrow. "I am the info having woman? What a way of describing me…" A smile slowly grew on her face. "But sure, I don't mind telling you a few things here and there. For the right price, of course—"

I shoved a finance book in her face. "Here, take it." May her merchant skills forever grow. If she was going to ask for money however, because I was already broke again. Buying random junk as gifts wasn't cheap, you know?

She pushed the book away. "That's not what I'm asking." Ah, she really was going to ask for gold. Welp, I was cooked. "Instead, I just want you to be by my side, Taylee—" I had already said I was going to make her my woman. "And I don't mean romantically. Basically, if a future dispute happens I might ask you to do something or another for me." Was I easy to read?

I made an annoyed face. "No need to give me info in exchange for that. I would already help you out with whatever you need if you just ask me too."

She narrowed her eyes. "And if I asked you to take my side over Penia's?" Was that rivalry about to reach its climax? "It's not like I have any active plans against her right now, but I will be honest, she is not someone who I agree with. Politically speaking, that is." Wasn't that a dangerous thing to say about a princess? "So while you might have not noticed, different factions are forming in the academy, one who supports me, and the other who supports her."

That was the most juvenile RPG thing he had ever heard. Factions? Politics? This was a stupid magic school, why would any of that matter—? Though then again, there were many nobles and rich people who attended this school. There was a high chance Lortel and Penia were just fighting for their future.

What a pain. "I'll support you both, since I like you both."

She sighed. "I expected an answer like that coming from you… Oh well. Then I'm afraid I won't be able to give you any information." Fence sitters truly never won. I wasn't a fence sitter though, I just wanted two pussies at the same time!

I pouted. "C'mon, Lortel! Please!" I was basically begging her. "There's no way you want us first years to get humiliated by our seniors, right? I know you have some class pride in you!" I really couldn't afford to lose her.

Our teachers — With the exception of Professor Glast — All assured that it would be okay if we lost, that obviously we were at a disadvantage here, but… Damn it, I know how these things go! There might be a terrorist invasion! Or maybe I'll win some legendary prize if I beat my opponent! Or maybe impress someone into joining my party!

So I can't lose—! Also, I just can't accept some smug senior bastard wiping the floor with me.

Lortel seemed a bit too happy about my current state of being. "Sorry no pride here~" Traitorous wife, I take back your special kiss ticket. "You really should just take my side, you know? I'd be willing to give many things to have someone like you… Because as strange as you are, there's no denying your competence."

I waved her off. "Nope, I'm not changing my mind. I'm taking both sides here. So I'm leaving." Even if I didn't have any info, I would still try my best. "But before I go, here." I once again tried handing the book over to her. It was important for our future together!

She frowned. "I already said I'm not going to accept this as payment…"

I shrugged. "It's not payment. It's just a gift for the girl I like." Had she expected for this to be some big dividing point between us? Hell no. It's like she was hearing me say I would take Penia's side, instead of what I was actually saying.

"...I see." She took the book. "Thank you. I imagine you're going to reject my gold as usual?"

I nodded. "Yep. It's a gift, I'm not selling you anything." And I don't even need her gold anymore. When the Joint Combat Training ends I'll just form a party and do another quest. Hell, I might do a quest before it as training. "Anyways, see ya Lortel!" I turned around, and began walking off.

But as I was about to leave, Lortel stopped. "Wait for a bit." Oh? "Admittedly, the thought of losing to a bunch of arrogant seniors does put me off… So I guess I don't mind saying a thing or two."

I turned around to face her. "What the hell? Lortel, be careful. You're growing wings, and If the school learns of your nature as an angel, they might try and take you away!" I'm glad she changed her mind at the last minute, even if she gave me a small heart attack.

She did not seem amused about my comment. "Yeah, yeah… So, I doubt you need to know anything about the first years. As worthwhile competitors there's you and me, Penia, Ziggs, Clevius… and you are also familiar with Elvira, right? I know you go to her dorm all the time. She's definitely going to be a tough opponent."

I raised an eyebrow. "I do know her, but I wasn't expecting her to be much of a fighter." But yeah, I was more or less familiar with the first years.

Penia and Lortel were Penia and Lortel. Ziggs was the only male student in Class A of our year, and he fought with a surprising amount of savagery, while also somehow being graceful. Clevius meanwhile, was kind of a beast when it came to brute strength, but also a coward who easily freaked out and messed up— As far as swordsmen went, I was confident I was better than him.

Both of these guys were people with trailers, so I shouldn't take them lightly.

Lortel made a concerned face. "Never underestimate alchemists… Continuing on with the trend of first years, there's also Lucy of the Magical Department. I don't think I need to say this, but if you are unlucky enough to face off against her, just give up on the spot. It's better to avoid hospital time." She sure got a lot of hype.

I already knew all of her weak spots though. Sure, that only applied sexually, but it was something!

Speaking more seriously, I get that she's probably way above me, but that doesn't mean I'll give up. If I do draw her as my opponent, I'll do my best to win anyways. Although I don't expect that to be the case, because looking at this through the lenses of game design, it would make little sense to make the player go through this event and match him up against a first year. After all, why even add second years in that case?

Lortel continued. "But now on to what you most likely really want to hear… What second years you should worry about." Here it comes. Info about the true bosses. "And the answer is almost none. This might sound strange, but our year is actually way stronger than theirs. At least according to what I've gathered so far."

"For real?"

"For real." That was hard to believe. "The only exception to that rule is Yennekar Palerover, the top student of the second year. They say she's the most talented spiritualist in the entire school. I can't confirm anything, but rumors say she even formed a pact with a High-Rank Spirit recently." So there it was…

The woman who would definitely be my opponent "So she's a super Ayla, got it." Speaking in the lens of this world once having been fiction, it just made sense to put me against her. Either me or Ayla, I suppose.

"That's… an understatement." Eh, I'm sure I could beat her. It would be a hellish fight and all that, but by targeting the summoner it was doable. Maybe. "But that's about it for everyone worthy of note—" She stopped herself. "Actually, there's one more guy. He is not that strong, but I figured you of all people should already be aware he's going to show up."

Well, she seemed strangely worried out of nowhere. "Who? I don't have many past enemies that I'm aware of." Because I literally wasn't aware of my past.

With all the gravitas she could muster, she answered. "Ed Rothstaylor." Who? Wait, was this the Penia guy? "Are you going to be okay facing him?"

"Yep." I still had no clue who he was. Maybe he would be my climatic opponent though.

"So, you wanna join our training?" I was having lunch with Elvira, so I took the opportunity to invite her.

Recently I had been training with my party members for the upcoming Joint Combat Training, and this seemed like a good opportunity to introduce Elvira to everyone. Sure, that would mean her discovering my harem ambitions, but I wasn't expecting that to be kept a secret for much longer anyways.

She waved me off. "Nah, I don't need to train." She grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "Unless I get real unlucky and get stuck with Lucy, I'm confident I can blow past whatever is in my way." Once again, people were making Lucy out to be kind of terrifying.

It's kind of hard for me to get scared of her though. Not when I had thoroughly explored her butt with my hands. "Alright, if you say so. I'm not gonna lie though, it's kind of hard to imagine an alchemist fighting… No offense." She was definitely going to take offense.

She took offense. "This is a bomb." From who knows where she took a small bomb. "I'm going to throw it at you. Afterwards, feel free to answer me if I know how to fight or not." Couldn't I be given a break? She wasn't in the Combat Department, so of course—

She actually threw it at me!? "W-woah!?" And like a moron, I actually grabbed it. I grabbed the magical alchemy grenade.

Elvira chuckled. "It's fine, it only reacts if you pump mana through it." She began laughing. "It was a nice reaction though, hahahaha! Just for that, you can have some more." Ignoring my pale state, she began giving me more strange bombs.

I grit my teeth. "You're forgiven since you're cute and you're giving me stuff. That is all I will say." Despite being the gift giver, I was not immune to gifts. "Why though? Don't tell me… You have finally fallen for me?" I had done it. Thank me Taylee, you might have died a virgin, but at least your body will experience happiness.

Elvira blushed. "There's still a long road ahead of you b-before you even get close…!" She huffed. "I— I just don't want people to walk all over you. It would be bad for my reputation, if the one guy with good taste who's into me gets his ass beat." Nice.

What a good girl. "I see. I see. As a reward for that, let's go on a date."

"Hah! I-I'll pass!!" Foolish Elvira… This was a date. We were on a date!

Training with other people was always better than training by yourself, and so that's exactly what I was doing.

Going on a quest was a bit too troublesome right now, so I either tended to spar against Penia or Lortel. Sadly, it seemed I could never train with both at the same time, since they would just avoid each other. Oh, and Ayla was here too. She gave me strength by being cute and doing nothing as usual.

Both Lortel and Penia are stronger than me, I have to admit that. Of the two, Lortel feels like more of a standard fighter, while Penia… Penia is a pain.

"Ah…! Let me get close already!" Even approaching her was a pain. She always kept-up her little water ball trick. So whenever I was in range of a melee I would struggle to push through and be forced to retreat. Meanwhile, when I was far away she far outpaced me in magic.

My shitty Ignite just couldn't win. And the worst part is that I'm pretty sure Penia is capable of much more, she's purposefully going easy on me.

She sent me an annoyingly innocent smile. "C'mon, do not let stress get to you, Taylee!" And while she did that, she sent more balls of water my way. Balls of water that could break through straight concrete.

The truth is that she seemed to be pretty happy. While Lortel accepted training with me, I could tell she didn't care much. Meanwhile, Penia had been over the moon when I suggested we should start having frequent training sessions. Which really shouldn't come off as a surprise, she was that type of stellar student.

It was actually because of that happiness that I never suggested the next step… Involving Claire. The guy was probably a master swordsman who could teach me a bunch of stuff, but I just knew asking for him to join us would sap the joy Penia was having. This princess clearly was going through an arc of wanting to be a normal student.

I slashed at the balls, destroying them with my Energy of Aura. "I'm not letting the stress get to me, shut up!" I was letting the stress get to me. "Now let me conquer you with my sword!" Sexually!

Suddenly, Penia sent what I am pretty sure was intermediate magic against me. "Do not think about that type of stuff during training! Focus!" How did she know!? I didn't say anything weird, did I!?

Still, there was no running, so I decided to try and fight against this magic as well. "Guh…!" But this was much worse than the magic from before. As my sword clashed against the water, it felt as if it was going to break. "I… I am focusing…!" My sword began glowing. Something was coming.

Something had been coming for a long while. I had been feeling for a few training sessions now that I was about to awaken something new.

But then Ayla spoke-up. "Go Taylee! I'm sure you can do it!" Her encouragement filled me with something. It filled me with—

Anger, so I glared at her. "Who said you could stop your own training— Argh!?" So naturally I was hit with the Water Magic. Seriously though, Ayla was supposed to be talking with spirits to become stronger, not to be slacking off!

Thankfully, Penia had not meant to truly hurt me with that attack, so instead of having all my bones crushed under the pressure of water, I was just sent flying a few feet back. Something which would kill most people, but was perfectly acceptable under anime rules.

Ayla flinched. "S-sorry…"

Penia did not miss anytime in admonishing me. "Well, it's no excuse for you to lower your guard, Taylee. Especially when there's an attack quite literally coming at you." Tanking it was a good experience too, you know?

Still… "I'll handle it better next time." Yeah, I'm getting stronger. I just know I'm about to learn something special!

It was time. I had done my best to prepare with the time I had, but time was finite. Today the Joint Combat Practice would happen.

A little bit before the event officially started, our opponents were announced. Ayla and I were reading through the list together. "Hmmmm… You're going to have a tough fight ahead." I had stumbled onto her name first, it seems her fight would be one of the first ones. Which would undoubtedly up her anxiety.

Nobody liked being one of the firsts. "Ah… I'm doomed." Ayla looked like she was about to cry, and I didn't blame her. I don't particularly recognize the student who she is fighting, but it's a second year. "Oh, but good things do happen." Suddenly however, she cheered up.

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "Hah? What are you looking at?" What happened for her to suddenly smile like that? She straight up looked sadistic. That was something I had never seen in the face of my childhood friend.

She pointed at one of the listings. "Look, look! It couldn't have happened to a better person~" Yeah, this was definitely a new side of hers. Kind of cute though.

I took a closer look. "This guy, huh…" It was a name I had seen many times by now, and still didn't really know why he was so important.

Ed Rothstaylor vs. Lucy Mayreel

If any of the hype my loli victim had been receiving was true, I'm guessing this poor bastard is cooked. Still, despite how giddy Ayla seemed to be at the prospect, I couldn't find myself to care, since I didn't know him. I would be cheering for Lucy of course, since she was my woman.

My childhood friend giggled. "Oh, I hope she fries him until there's nothing left~" She made what could only be described as a demonic face. "Honestly, to think he has the nerve to keep attending the academy after all that he did..." I for one hope he lives. Mostly because I think his existence was necessary for this side to show up, and I thought this side was hot.

"Yeah, what a guy…" I replied a bit too nonchalantly, as I kept reading the listing. And finally, there it was, as the final fight of the day. "Hah, that's what I expected." I had been right on the money.

Taylee McLaur Vs Yennekar Palerover

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