Chapter 93

Chapter 93

Method

Perception.

It was a skill newly created after I drank the elixir Hubert had given me as a reward.

It was a skill I had never seen while playing the game, nor even on the community where users shared information.

Because of that, I could not figure out exactly what conditions had been satisfied to create this skill.

At least, what I remembered was that “Keen Senses” was not a skill with an upgraded version.

Perhaps even that was because no one had discovered it until now.

There were two things bothering me.

The existence of the “Blindfold of Piercing Insight,” and the sensory amplification elixir I had never seen even in the game.

It was certain this had happened because of the elixir.

However, the fact that the upgraded version of “Keen Senses” was “Perception” bothered me.

As I had been using it as an excuse until now, Perception, even by simple interpretation, could hardly be seen as a technique that obtained visual information.

However, the senses enhanced by Keen Senses had definitely included sight as well.

A sensory amplification elixir supposedly made by “Midas.”

Though Hubert said he bought it at an auction, there also seemed to be a high possibility that it had been an elixir personally commissioned.

That would explain why I had not seen it in the game.

The ingredients were brains of monsters born blind, was it?

If they, despite being blind, had at least survived without being culled, then their brain structures may have been unique.

There was a high chance the alchemist who made the elixir had reached that thought as well.

Since I did not have knowledge of alchemy, it was difficult to determine whether that was truly an effective recipe.

Even so, learning a new skill through alchemy felt somewhat strange.

The skill had already appeared, and in the end, what mattered was what kind of skill it was.

The “unknown” commonly brings fear, but the moment that “unknown” clearly seems positive, fear soon turns into expectation.

I left the somewhat “unfriendly” status window alone.

There was no more information to obtain from it.

As level 10 of Keen Senses moved into Perception, Perception had already reached level 5, and thus, I could immediately grasp what kind of skill it was.

What I was most anxious about was whether the effects would disappear as Keen Senses vanished.

Keen Senses had been useful to me in many ways.

Fortunately, my senses remained the same.

It might have been my imagination, but they even felt a little sharper than before.

That was not the end of Perception’s effects.

It went one step further from Keen Senses, which had merely been passive, and changed into an active skill.

When I used Perception, I could create a “wave” that spread far outward, centered on me.

For now, it seemed only I could feel the wave.

There was no separate cooldown or consumed energy either.

It was a concept similar to radar, and everything touched by the wave returned as information, then drove directly into my head.

Only, the form of the information was very different from the five senses.

It provided far more information than simply seeing with ordinary eyes or hearing with ears.

When it touched a wall, I could recognize small details such as the bumpy texture of the wall or how old the wall was. I could even identify things one could not see, such as the fact that there was bread in Crank’s pocket over there right now.

—Rustle.

Just then, Crank quietly took out the bread and took a large bite behind Edward’s back as he explained the class.

He was hiding behind Amon’s broad back while eating bread.

...Crank did that from time to time.

In any case, to summarize, the information provided by Perception seemed to be strongly affected by my knowledge and memories.

If I sent out a wave, I could tell who was nearby without turning my head and properly taking in the people around me.

What gave me goosebumps was that even if I could not properly remember someone’s name, if I had heard it in passing even once, it accurately provided that information.

And fundamentally, it was information I could have recognized if I focused.

For example, because I had heard the bread bag inside Crank’s pocket rustling, it felt like I could recognize it with Perception.

Through Perception, it confirmed that this was not a guess, but a fact. Even when I was not focusing on hearing, Perception did not miss it.

If I raised Perception’s level, then just as “Keen Senses” had before, my sensory abilities would rise sharply, and the performance of the wave Perception sent would also rise together. That seemed to be the mechanism.

In any case, its performance was extremely satisfying.

Because not even a day had passed since Perception appeared, I kept sitting there sending out waves even in the middle of class.

It was rather fun.

With so many people in the classroom like now, the amount of information was complicated, but I was passing time by sorting through that information one by one.

I had told Sierra roughly that my senses seemed to have sharpened. It was not as if I could now celebrate by saying, “I really got Perception!”

It was while I was sitting still in the classroom with my arms crossed, sending out waves.

This class was one where Edward said the students seemed to have loosened up too much during open class, and his intention to put them through outright hardship was abundant.

It was a class where we had to catch small monsters called “Musteres” that Edward would release in the academy forest.

Musteres were monsters close to small animals like weasels. They did not particularly harm humans, and were rather expensive monsters often raised by noble ladies as companion animals—in other words, pets.

According to Edward, these ones were trained, so they would be fairly tricky to catch.

A small bell was attached to the hind leg of the Mustere that was freely climbing Edward’s body.

The Mustere was quite cute, causing the female students to squeal.

There was only one rule.

We must not kill the Mustere.

For students who originally learned to kill monsters and face demons, this was a major penalty.

Moreover, the forest was quite spacious.

If anything, mages had neutral magic such as “Chain,” so it would be somewhat better for them, but for students like me or Crank who were not mages, it was no different from being told to run with our bodies.

To begin with, removing the attribute from basic magic like “Chain” was not especially easy either.

“This must be to develop the ability to respond to situations where nonlethal suppression is needed.”

Capturing Yorphang alive this time, and the Adventurer Guild capturing the monsters students had faced in the Colosseum—things like that.

It was not as though every situation required killing the opponent.

Edward said four Musteres would be released, and if we failed to catch one by the end, there would be supplementary physical training.

“Then shall we form groups? Groups of two.”

Having finished all explanations about today’s class, Edward raised two fingers and said that.

This time, it seemed Edward had not assigned groups separately.

If it was groups of two, then at least half of us were guaranteed supplementary class.

“Zeto.”

No sooner had Edward finished speaking than Eisel spoke to me.

Then, when I turned my head toward Eisel, I sensed through Perception that Yuri, who was on the other side of her, flinched.

“Want to do it together?”

Did she want to catch a Mustere?

As she said that, the look in Eisel’s eyes was extremely serious.

“...Let us.”

***

I was walking through the forest with Zeto.

The forest was very wide and quiet, and I liked that it felt as if only the two of us existed in this space.

Musteres or whatever else were outside my interest.

...They were a little cute, but that was not what mattered right now.

My head was filled with thoughts about Zeto’s curse.

Then, during open class, I witnessed Zeto having an intimate “date” with the Saintess.

It truly could not help being shocking.

In the previous round, Zeto had become acquainted with the Saintess, but he had never gone around the academy laughing together with her like that.

The time when Zeto drew Master’s sword had grown earlier, and Krectar had died early.

On top of that, a curse I had not felt before was now lodged in Zeto’s heart.

How much had twisted, and because of what, no longer mattered.

Now I had to take action.

Why had I chosen regression even after surviving?

In the end, it was for myself.

I could not lose Zeto.

At present, the relationship between Zeto and me could be considered greatly twisted.

Unlike the previous round, Zeto rarely approached me.

“In the previous round, he would somehow find me wherever I was and come to me...”

It had been frustrating, and because I had failed to suppress my twisted desires several times, it seemed he had come to feel burdened by me.

However, there was something I strongly felt when I spoke with him in the flower garden last time.

The one who had changed was not Zeto... but me.

The relationship with him that had been naturally built up by Zeto in the previous round had to be “rebuilt.”

For the sake of removing his curse too.

Although Zeto had become acquainted with the Saintess... no one knew whether the Saintess would pour an enormous amount of divine power into him, discover the curse, and kiss him.

“A kiss with the one he loves...”

If I did not want to see him kiss another woman, if I hated even the possibility of that.

Would it not be enough to make him love me?

Would it not be enough to make Zeto love me, to make him look at “only me”?

That was the thought I reached.

First, I needed knowledge.

I knew absolutely nothing about how to approach a man.

Before meeting Zeto, I had only been busy surviving. I had had no interest in men, let alone the people around me.

There was no one around me I could really ask about this kind of problem.

At best, “that woman” from the “Black Hand” came to mind.

“Eisel! You have someone you like? Really? Who is it? I want to see him too!”

Imagining her reaction made her seem utterly unreliable, so I went to the library.

The academy’s library had an enormous amount of books, so I thought there should be at least one book related to romance.

...There were more than I expected.

Among them, I found one book with a title that especially caught my eye.

101 Ways to Capture a Man.

It seemed to be a fairly famous book written by an author named “Giacomo.”

And so, right now, I was practicing one method I had seen in the book.

“If you want to know whether a man is interested in you or not, try not speaking to him first. Then you will know immediately.”

Do not speak first.

It was a simple method.

“Zeto sometimes speaks to me first, so I wondered whether it would have any meaning...”

Soon, I glanced at Zeto beside me.

“Mm...”

He only occasionally stopped his feet and let out a hum.

Since entering the forest and exchanging a few brief words, he still had not spoken to me at all.

“...Why?”

I was terribly bewildered.

Even though there was no one around, only the two of us, and in this quiet forest where all that could be heard was the sound of birds chirping in the distance...

...he did not speak to me.

“Zeto truly has no interest in me...? No, that cannot be...”

In the end, I reached a result that could make sense.

Had I not felt it even when I returned after facing Varsium?

The distance between him and me.

Nothing had happened.

Because nothing had happened... he did not like me.

At last, I touched the wall that seemed as if it would soon collapse, the one I had not touched until now.

But I did not give up.

That was what I meant by “rebuilding.”

“What method would be good...?”

For me, who had read the book carefully, there were methods that could capture Zeto.

No less than 101 of them.

Then I glanced at Zeto, and the snow-white bandages around his eyes entered my sight.

Sometimes, stare intently at a man without saying anything; tuck your hair behind your ear; or sometimes tie your hair in front of him. Such “visual methods” had no meaning for him.

It was then.

“...Found it.”

Zeto said that briefly, then grabbed my hand and began running down the path, telling me to follow.

It seemed he had found the Mustere.

I did feel a little disappointed that he had focused only on the Mustere with me beside him, but Zeto was always diligent in everything, so there was no helping it.

I was satisfied that I had ended up holding his hand by chance.

—Jingle.

Soon, a clear bell sound came from above the tree.

When I looked up, the Mustere was running fiercely along a tree branch at quite a height.

“I will try catching it.”

I said that to Zeto and flew into the air.

It was because, in the middle of that, one method I had seen in the book came to mind.

“Induce physical contact disguised as coincidence.”

“...Ah!”

Sparks burst as I flew into the air, and I performed with all my heart, just barely missing the Mustere, then fell downward.

The moment I flew into the air, I had already calculated the direction where Zeto was and the position where he would run.

And my calculation was perfect.

Zeto saw me and was trying to catch me.

There was no need for him to catch me, but Zeto’s body always moved first.

Soon, my body fell toward Zeto.

The landing. The landing was most important.

I could not let him catch me safely.

—Thud, tumble!

At last, Zeto failed to catch me properly, and our bodies tangled together.

“Ugh...”

I naturally groaned and raised myself.

“If it is not coincidence, then the more intense the contact, to the point of being somewhat embarrassing, the more effective this method is. It will be excellent stimulation for a man.”

Perfect.

It was literally an embarrassing posture.

...I had successfully climbed on top of Zeto’s body.

Soon, Zeto raised himself.

“...Miss Eisel, are you all right?”

The one who should have been embarrassed, who should have been ashamed, was not me, but Zeto.

“This is... well...”

...Yet the one who became terribly embarrassed was me, and because of that, I stammered.

My hips were pressed completely against Zeto.

Excellent stimulation.

Those words applied to me too.

I had to get up, but strength left my legs, and I could not.

Heat rushed to my face.

“...”

I quietly lowered my head deeply.

***

“How are we supposed to find that little thing, Mustere or whatever it was, in a forest this wide...”

Yuri, whose mood was poor, took out her irritation on the Mustere for no reason.

Then Lucia, who was in the same group as her, smiled brightly and opened her mouth.

“Why? The weather is clear and nice, isn’t it? The air is fresh too...!”

In her hand was the bread Crank had given her.

Lucia seemed to have no interest in the Mustere and had taken it out to eat, saying it was good weather for eating bread.

Meanwhile, Yuri was bothered.

By Zeto.

Eisel had taken him away right before her eyes.

“I should have spoken first...”

Yuri wanted to be in a group with Zeto if possible too.

However, after becoming conscious of the things her father Zeras had said, she had ended up hesitating.

“Haa...”

Just as Yuri let out a deep sigh in hollow disappointment...

“Ah! Ahh...!”

Lucia, who had been eating bread, suddenly pointed somewhere deep in the forest and cried out softly.

Seeing Lucia’s eyes grow round, Yuri wondered what had happened and approached her.

Then she looked in the direction Lucia was pointing.

“Wh-what? What are they... doing over there...?”

After seeing that sight, Yuri could not hide her bewilderment and stammered.

Over there, Zeto and Eisel could be seen, and the problem was their posture.

Eisel was mounted on top of Zeto’s body.

It was an extremely indecent posture.

They were not moving much either.

Because they were far away, she could not hear what conversation they were having.

Soon, Lucia, whose mouth had fallen open without even biting into her bread, carefully opened her mouth.

“A-a grown-up... that kind of...! Miss Yuri... should we cover our eyes...?!”

“...”

Lucia wondered why there was no answer and turned her head to look at Yuri.

Yuri was dazed, shocked as if she could not believe it.