The Only Male Student in the Academy

042. Midterm (2)

“Uh, in our future…??”

Marie is startled.

I speak seriously to Marie.

“Yes, it’s an important story.”

“Hey, there…. Now, hold on… Bird, can you think about it…?”

“Hmm?”

I hadn’t said anything yet, but Marie backed away.

Her face was very red.

“Well…, Er, I think Ariel is good, but… Bird, there are a lot of things to think about… There are family issues, and personal history issues…. The world and ranks are quite different, aren’t they…?! It’s not that I hate Ariel at all…! Shi, can you give me about 5 days…?”

“…I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but I was thinking of talking about our future schedule.”

“…Eh?”

Marie makes a dumbfounded expression.

I scratched her head.

“What is this? It’s the exam period.”

Raised the level to some extent by catching monsters in the Blatta Dungeon. He also obtained the long-awaited Skill, and even defeated the golem in the dungeon with underground water.

Now that I’ve defeated even the annoying Claire, there’s no reason to run around the dungeon for the time being.

No, it would be more accurate to say that I can’t afford to go through dungeons.

Studying for exams and working on reports and leveling at the same time is too hard.

“So we were talking about stopping party activities during the exam period.”

“That, it was like that…”

Marie averted her gaze as if she was ashamed of being mistaken.

Looking at Marie like that, I worry. What should I say from now on?

‘After the midterm exam, the midterm boss battle, and then the boss battle….’

Marie will die in another month. Even after the test period is over, Marie and I cannot go through the dungeon together.

So, should I tell you to break up the party here?

Or should I make an unfulfilled promise and wait for the day Marie dies?

I don’t have good judgment.

“Well, then, Ariel… Would you like to study for the exam together…?”

Did he even sense that I was hesitating?

Marie suddenly asked that.

“Studying for an exam?”

“Uh, yes… Ho, it’s better to do it together than to do it alone…”

“Yes, but…”

You’d better do it with your friends.

I was about to say that, but I swallowed.

“……There’s nothing wrong with studying for the exam together. But where are you talking about?”

“Uh, like a library or something…?”

“I’ve said it once, but I don’t want to be seen with a woman.”

Claire won’t flirt anymore, but there won’t be any need to scratch.

It becomes difficult when strange rumors spread. In particular, Mari is scheduled to appear as a boss in Chapter 1, Phase 1.

If I do it wrong, the story could go wrong, so I didn’t want others to see me with Mari.

“Above all, I had to do assignments for the time being, so it was difficult to find time.”

So, I decided to round it off.

“Assignment…?”

“I decided to investigate the underground canal. If I write a report and submit it to Professor Catherine, I will reflect it in my grades.”

“Uh… Ariel alone…?”

Marie expresses her doubts.

I nodded.

“Yes, I do it myself. I’ll rent ‘invisibility cloak’ and ‘silent shoes’.”

“I-I’ll help too…!!”

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Suddenly Marie shouted in a loud voice.

“…No, I’ll borrow the equipment, so I can do it myself.”

“Well, but… It’s the same party as ours. I-I think it’s better to do this together…”

“But you’ll have to study for the exam too.”

“Uh, anyway, I’m going to write and submit the report as well… While recognizing it as a grade…? Well, then I’m doing it for my own sake…”

“Why are you trying to help me so much?”

The reason Mari helped me the other day was probably because I was in an extreme situation. So it must have been hard for Marie to bear ignoring me.

However, now that I have overcome the crisis, there would be no reason for Marie to help me this much.

Of course, in the original work, Mari did help Lucius slightly, but she wouldn’t have been a character who actively helped Lucius to this extent.

“Because Ariel helped me…”

And that’s what Marie said.

There was no answer. Rather, I have stronger doubts.

“He helped you? …When did I?”

“Fah, you organized a party…”

“That’s what I needed too, so I just accepted it…”

“Even so… I got here thanks to Ariel.”

Marie hesitated before speaking.

“Ah, I’m still… I’m far short of my sister… But still, I’ve become quite strong… I wouldn’t have come this far if I hadn’t had a party with Ariel…”

“That’s…”

Me too.

Without Marie, she wouldn’t have obtained the In the Blatta Dungeon, she wouldn’t have defeated her golem in the cistern, and she wouldn’t have grown enough to defeat Claire.

Rather, I think I received more help.

‘… Marie must be thinking the same way.’

As much as I received a lot from Marie, I wonder if Marie thinks she also received a lot from me.

So she may be thinking that she wants to give back even a little bit.

Only then did he seem to understand Marie.

“So you want to help Ariel… Even for me…”

“I see.”

I nodded.

I don’t know if I understood Mari’s explanation correctly.

But I think I was convinced.

“Okay. If you want to help, feel free to do so.”

That’s how I started partying with Mari a little more.

The next day, we entered the underground canal.

Entering a dungeon has always been the case, but a lot of things have changed.

First of all, I made the equipment simpler than usual. Today, I didn’t come to raid the dungeon, I came to investigate the dungeon.

Put on an invisibility cloak and put on silent shoes. The same goes for Marie.

Take the items made with .

Finally, Marie learned her new skill.

[Eh, Ariel… …. De, hear…… ?]

Marie spoke her words directly into her head.

[Well, we couldn’t talk to each other when we attacked the underground waterway last time…. Boo, I thought it was inconvenient, so I thought it would be convenient to have ….]

“……I see.”

Certainly Is a good skill to learn. This will allow for even better linkage play.

The problem is, I don’t know if the day will come when we can revive that link play.

“…….”

Feeling a little unorganized. With a complicated mind, I just try not to think deeply.

Anyway, the dungeon exploration has begun.

The method has changed a lot from before. First of all, we had to drink two types of potions.

—–

[Vision enhancement potion]

Crafting Rating: Unknown

Quality: very high

Efficacy: very high

: Increases visual ability.

[Deaf Potion]

Crafting Rating: Unknown

Quality: very high

Efficacy: very high

: Increases hearing ability.

—–

This is not something I made myself. It’s like furnishings like an invisibility cloak and silent shoes.

To be precise, this is the item I received from Professor Milas.

-“I’m participating in a clinical trial, so you want a potion? Hmm, students these days are so much fun.”

-“Okay, just in the middle of collecting data.”

These are the potions obtained through that.

If possible, I would like to make a potion myself, but this is not very easy.

Recipes related to potions can only be obtained through the quest given by Professor Milas, but all of these are difficult.

‘Still, I managed to get the potion because I’m a person with whom I can communicate well. Since this happened, let’s ask for a recipe in a way other than a quest. Whether you buy it with money….’

[Ariel, there is a monster in front of you.]

I was lost in thought for a while, but the voice rang again in my head.

As Marie said. Countless rats were coming in front of me.

It is a monster called Plague Rat.

One of the rat monsters roaming this underground canal, it’s not very strong.

However, it has the annoying ability of giving dot damage called ‘plague’ to the surroundings, but it is very annoying because ‘plague’ is also combined with ‘healing effect reduction’.

An enemy you want to avoid rather than fight.

With that in mind, I held up my new invention.

—–

[Magic Engineering Tool: Spider Hand]

Crafting Rating: 7

Quality: Fair

Endurance: Normal

: A firework crafted through alchemy. Can be worn on the arm.

Shoots a weighted rope at a designated location. The weight contains the same strong adhesive as the ‘spider web’.

When the weight touches a moving creature, it pulls the target. When the weight hits a wall or floor, it moves to that point at once.

When carrying an excessively heavy target, a lot of durability is consumed. It will be destroyed when its durability is used up.

—–

“Marie.”

I called Marie by name and held her hand.

Marie seemed a bit surprised, but she had no time to spare. I pulled her in and fired my spider hand at her ceiling.

‘… This guy is too light.’

It was so light that I was worried about it. Wouldn’t it be lighter than the alchemy bag I usually carry?

Raise the bird with one hand and move the spider hand up.

Rats squeak past right below, and we watch the scene with bated breath.

[Eh, Ariel…. That that…… Cow, hand……. Oh no…….]

‘… Hand?’

Marie tried to say something via , So I looked at my hand inadvertently.

His left hand is facing the ceiling. Because he has a spider hand.

Her right hand is holding Marie’s waist.

Umm….

‘… I hugged her inadvertently.’

Once you realize that fact, you become conscious of it.

I remembered my previous life. The memories of Kim Il-hwan, who lived as a single mother for 28 years.

At that time, I didn’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a friend for her. Should I say that socializing with people is bad? I guess I didn’t have any long-lasting friends.

He was someone who felt fatigue before pleasure in human relationships. So, let alone a girlfriend, I didn’t even make friends with her properly.

But if you’re not interested in women, that’s not the case. There was a time when I wanted a girlfriend.

However, I didn’t even try, concluding that dating would only cost money and make me tired.

I don’t have any regrets about that choice, but I still have a longing for it.

But if you think about it, am I not getting along with women more than ever?

Even if it’s only one person.

“Eh, Ariel…”

Marie raised her voice.

A trembling voice as usual. And a red face. Eyes looking at me.

Marie opens her lips with her face looking slightly frightened.

“Monsters, they all passed…”

Those words brought me to my senses.

“…Sorry. I was thinking about something else for a while.”

Immediately manipulate the spider hand and come down.

Then Marie takes a small step back and distances herself from me.

…… It is awkward.

You feel like you made a mistake even though you didn’t commit anything.

‘… Come on, Kim Il-hwan.’

Haven’t you experienced and tasted it several times in your previous life?

People in the world do not pay much attention to others. If you hate others for no reason, you hate them. No one likes others without a reason.

Marie is close to me because of her good nature, and because she feels a strange favor with me.

You don’t seem to think badly of me, but that’s about it.

Just like in my previous life, no one will like me in this life.

Let’s not rush.

Of course, I haven’t been in a hurry yet, but let’s always keep a cool mind in our hearts.

‘Anyway.’

I can’t go long with Marie.

So let’s not think about it.