Becoming a Popular Person

Two young heroes who returned alive from the 9th floor after the Magic Palace Transfer!

That was the headline in the newspaper this morning.

Whether grandstanding with this is truly appropriate, I don’t know, but recent stirrings within the Imperial Household feel… unsettling.

Surely, this is a diversion of some kind.

I spoke with Professor Veganon about the matter as well.

Having returned alive from the ninth floor of the Demon Labyrinth, there was a need to understand the environment there.

During this discussion, I relayed that there were signs of a door having been opened on that ninth floor.

“The possibility of an Apostle emerging…”

Veganon, her face etched with contemplation, mulled over my words before nodding slowly.

“The early opening of this Demon Labyrinth, too… perhaps there’s a connection. You’ve gathered valuable information.”

She praised my diligence.

“There’s one among my contemporaries who has been researching the Demon Labyrinth in great detail. I’ll consult with him.”

“Thank you.”

If Veganon trusts him, I suppose I can as well.

I sincerely hoped, if possible, that nothing significant would come of it.

In any case, thanks to all of this, I’ve become something of a celebrity at the Academy.

Even the first-year students all seem to know my name.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve become so well-known recently.

I never imagined I’d find myself in this situation.

I blinked, looking at the female student standing before me.

For the record, this was a woman I was meeting for the first time today.

A year below me, she bowed deeply, extending a love letter.

“Um, why are you giving this to me?”

Taking the letter, she blurted out the words she had so carefully prepared.

“Seeing you perform so brilliantly in the individual combat matches, my heart went out to you, but then hearing that you might not return… my heart simply sank!

And that’s when I realized I was in love with Hanon-senpai!”

She truly put in the effort, didn’t she?

I can’t be cruel to a girl who’s confessed her feelings.

Still, I can’t very well start a relationship.

“I’m sorry, but I have a fiancé.”

Time to play the trump card.

“That’s alright!”

But that card didn’t play with the other party.

“Engagements are, after all, promises made by adults!”

Those from Jerion Academy seemed to have a headstrong streak.

Still, I couldn’t just let it slide.

“I’m really sorry, I don’t have any desire to date anyone right now.”

I returned her love letter, gently pressing it into her hand.

And then, I left the heartbroken girl behind, walking away.

‘I never imagined I’d be called out for a confession.’

You live long enough, you see everything.

Back when I was playing professionally and making a name for myself, I was popular with the boys, but never with the girls.

Truly, life is full of surprises, it seems.

‘My reputation has become too much, though.’

The scale of the incidents I’d been consecutively involved in was just too grand.

My name was already spreading by word of mouth.

Add to that the sensational news coverage after the solo match and this latest grand slam, it was bound to happen.

At that moment, a familiar head of red hair came into view.

She peeked out from between the walls, her lips pursed.

“How nice. Getting confessed to now?”

Serone Parmia.

Her forehead still gleaming today.

“It’s a happy thing, to be loved by someone.”

“Hmph, you look like you’re about to burst from smiling so wide.”

“The same goes for you.”

Serone’s shoulders twitched.

She darted her eyes around, then subtly grabbed my collar.

“Well, if, if you like, I could love you even more.”

If she had a tail, it would be wagging furiously.

But soon, something seemed to displease her, and she furrowed her brow.

“Thinking about it, it’s absurd. Why are they all making such a fuss now? When they’re normally busy bashing Prince Sweet Potato.”

Serone has only been spending time with me.

But still, the Academy buzzed with my name, loud enough even for her ears to catch.

Isabelle, of course, was another matter entirely.

She was already a celebrity within the Academy walls.

“Isn’t having your reputation improve a good thing?”

“It’s the flip-flopping that grates on me.”

Come to think of it, Seron hadn’t exactly liked me at first, either.

Somehow we kept getting tangled up, and now we’ve ended up like this.

A relationship I could start right away, if I were to accept her.

But I can’t, not when I know nothing of love.

If I date someone, it’ll be seriously.

I don’t want a shallow relationship that would disrespect the person I’m with.

“Right, Seron, there aren’t many like you who would notice my good qualities so quickly.”

“Exactly. So treat me preciously. Cherish me more. Be grateful that someone as pretty as me likes you!”

Praised like that, her shoulders seem to rise ever so slightly, and she rattles on with whatever comes to mind.

She’s consistently herself, that one.

“More importantly, Seron, I was thinking of going out today.”

Seron and I had made an agreement about one thing.

Now is the rest period after the Autumn Magic Competition.

It’s only a short break of about three days, but it’s enough to go out for a stroll.

The moment I mentioned the date we had planned, Seron’s expression shifted in an instant.

Her eyes sparkled as if she had been waiting for those very words.

“You say that so late! I need to get ready, so come to the dorm in an hour and a half!”

“An hour and a half to get ready?”

“Oh, you clueless sweet potato, you really don’t know anything. Getting ready takes that long for a girl, of course.”

“Girl?”

I bolted before Seron could pounce.

Thanks to that, I now have a good hour and a half of time to kill.

Besides my uniform, I don’t really have much else to wear.

I haven’t bought any casual clothes from Hannon, after all.

So I was heading aimlessly toward the male dorms when another familiar face began to emerge.

A pair of spectacles and a head of hair like a broom.

Even his small stature.

Poara peeked his head out from the entrance of the men’s dormitory, glancing around furtively.

He looked suspicious enough that I subtly approached him.

Then, when Poara was looking the other way, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Gotcha. You scamp.”

“Kkyaaa!”

Poara screamed and tumbled to the ground.

I hadn’t expected a reaction quite that intense, and I was surprised.

“Poara, why are you acting like you’ve got something to hide?”

“Ah, Hanon-sunbae.”

Poara finally seemed relieved, and he sheepishly stood up.

He looked around again, then let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, you see…Beakiring-sunbae has been acting strange lately.”

“Beakiring?”

Top-tier spiritualist, Beakiring Monem.

Until Poara showed up, she had been number one in the special department’s spiritual studies.

But after Poara contracted with a spirit lord, Beakiring was pushed down to second place.

Beakiring and Poara were, in effect, ill-fated rivals.

“Did something happen?”

Poara sighed at my question.

It seemed he’d been through quite a bit.

“Even before the individual competition, she never liked me.

But ever since I won the competition, she follows me everywhere and keeps spying on me with her spirits.”

Spying with her spirits.

Hearing that, my expression turned peculiar.

“Every day, she tells me I’m too thin and small and need to eat, and she even packs me lunch, but the seasoning is weird.

Even then, she asks me every day if it’s delicious.

I think she’s trying to torment me.”

“……”

Silence was all I could offer.

Because such actions were events triggered only when Beak Ring’s favor reached a certain threshold.

“Why does Beak Ring-sunbae dislike me so much?

Sunbae-nim is more than capable, even admirable. I want to know if I’ve done something wrong.”

Poara expressed her melancholy.

Is this how Card felt when he looked at me?

Now I understand why that guy constantly wore that look of utter disdain.

“Poara, what do you think of Beak Ring?”

Poara lifted her head.

Then, she gave a bashful smile.

“Among the spiritology sunbaes I know, she’s the coolest. She possesses that much talent, yet never ceases her efforts.”

A character who has talent, and puts in the effort to boot.

That was Beak Ring.

“Compared to her, I’m nothing special, except for my contract with a Spirit Lord.

Maybe Beak Ring-sunbae doesn’t like that part of me.”

“Because you beat her in the individual tournament?”

It was Poara who defeated Beak Ring at the international individual tournament.

It was said to be a neck-and-neck match, far from one where someone was overwhelmingly dominant.

To anyone watching, that fight was clearly a battle of endurance.

Which of them had more tenacity?

And until the very end, it was Poara who had that extra bit of staying power.

“Honestly, the reason I could win back then was thanks to Hanon-sunbae.”

“I wasn’t even there.”

“Ahaha, just before I collapsed, I remembered the image of sunbae facing the enemy.”

Poara clenched both fists tightly.

As a spiritology student, she didn’t have much physical strength, but the will contained within was genuine.

“Sunbae-nim always displays an indomitable will.”

This, even I hadn’t foreseen.

“Back then, if sunbae hadn’t come to mind, I would have lost.”

I never imagined that the things I’ve done would affect others in this way.

“It was all thanks to you, senior, that I won.”

Poara looked at me with eyes shining bright.

A far cry from the image I saw on the screen during the boycott, so long ago.

Back then, Poara’s eyes held no color at all.

Poara had changed, just as so many others intertwined with me had changed.

That fact, for some reason, pleased me.

Because it made me think I could change even more people going forward.

“Poara.”

So, I decided to tell her.

“Run.”

Before my words had even finished, Beakiring was already lunging at Poara.

“Uwaaagh!”

“Poara, junior, you were saying things as you pleased, care to repeat yourself?”

Beakiring pinned Poara down and began to savagely squeeze her cheeks.

It seemed she had secretly been eavesdropping with a borrowed spirit, even one contracted to a spirit lord like Poara.

Quite the tenacity.

“You really don’t understand people’s hearts at all!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

I sympathized.

I watched Poara apologize repeatedly, my heart aching.

But love, in the end, isn’t one-sided, it’s mutual.

This was a problem for Beakiring to resolve, surely.

“Good luck.”

Hoping desperately that Poara wouldn’t break, I quietly slipped back.

Getting caught up in this mess would only complicate things.

‘I should prepare and go meet Seron.’

I was thinking this as I retreated.

“Hanoun.”

This time, my name was suddenly called.

Following the familiar voice, I turned my head and saw the dark blue hair.

The girl, face set in a rather sullen expression, stared at me, unblinking.

“Sharine?”

Before I could even begin to question Sharine’s sudden appearance,

she strode towards me and raised her fist.

Thwack!

Sharine, a discontented look plastered on her face, pounded my chest.

“What is it?”

Sharine, ignoring my question, swung her fist several more times.

For me, with a body of steel, it felt like the tap of cotton.

But, it seemed to have relieved some of her anger, because a smug look blossomed on her face.

Like she’d just punished a wicked wrongdoer.

“Husband, stop going around charming people, will you.”

I wasn’t quite sure what transgression I’d committed.

“You’re going on a date with Seron, aren’t you.”

“Yes, I’m about to get ready and head out.”

Unable to lie, I answered, and Sharine swung her cotton fist once more.

“Take me too.”

Now, what was this all about.