Chapter 200
The construction of the two-story house progressed smoothly.
Before long, the frame had been erected, and once the roof and beams were secured at precise intervals on top of it, the outline of the building began to take shape above the ground.
The structural frame of the first floor was completed first. After that, the place where the staircase would be installed and the structure that would support the second floor were added on top of it.
The interior had already been divided under the assumption that there would be six rooms.
Two on the first floor.
Those rooms were arranged relatively spaciously, separated from the living space, while on the second floor four rooms were divided at even intervals, their intended purposes already visible just from the framework alone.
The walls were still nothing more than temporary partitions, and the windows had not yet been opened.
But just from the floor and staircase placement, the general form of the house had already begun to appear.
I stepped back and looked at the structure.
‘It feels like we built it pretty quickly.’
Only four people were participating in the construction.
Rufina, Lapin, Shia, and me.
For the sake of efficiency, we had even made four sets of work clothes.
They included gloves to protect the hands, a simple tool pouch around the waist, and a leather apron worn in the front.
Rufina was currently inspecting the materials and joints. She was essentially doing the tasks I was supposed to handle.
‘Rufina really is an absurd talent.’
She truly lived up to being an all-purpose staff member whose stat distribution filled out a perfect hexagon.
Even in fields she had no prior experience with, as long as someone explained it once, her rate of learning was far faster than that of ordinary people.
“……”
Shia silently carried heavy wooden boards.
Anything that required a lot of physical strength was entirely Shia’s responsibility.
‘At first I wondered if she might break the materials because she’s too strong.’
But she seemed to have become skilled at controlling her strength now. The materials weren’t breaking.
The efficiency was almost comparable to when I worked while using the abilities of a Spirit Creature.
Lapin was also a great help.
Holding a hammer with her gloved hand, Lapin continued hammering nails without caring about the cold.
Perhaps for the sake of work efficiency, she often carried out the work while fused with her Spirit Creature.
“Kyahaha! Bang bang bang!”
“……”
Shia looked at the cheerfully laughing Lapin with uneasy eyes, as if thinking, ‘What suddenly got into her…?’
Since Lapin normally had no expression and maintained a quiet atmosphere, her current appearance must feel like she had suddenly become a completely different person.
Only I knew that Lapin’s personality changed when she fused with her Spirit Creature, so the misunderstanding was inevitable.
‘It’s hard to explain this to anyone… Lapin might end up getting strange looks for a while.’
Anyway, the construction progressing much faster than I expected was also thanks to them.
‘All four of us have abilities that aren’t ordinary, so it’s only natural it’s being built faster.’
While we were in the middle of working, the sun climbed high into the sky, so we decided to take a short break.
“It’s lunchtime now, so let’s eat first. Come into the storage.”
“Wow, food!”
When Lapin raised her arm high while wearing her silk hat and shouted excitedly, Rufina smiled as if she found it cute.
“Miss Lapin, you seem very excited.”
“Yeah! Because the food Villed makes is always delicious!”
Poof—!
With a small popping sound as if the energy had suddenly drained away, Lapin returned to her usual self.
“Shia, let’s go together.”
With no expression and in a calm, gentle tone, Lapin trotted over to Shia.
“……”
Perhaps because Lapin’s personality had instantly changed like someone with a split personality, Shia stepped back with trembling eyes.
She looked desperate not even to make eye contact.
“I-I’ll go alone.”
“Let’s go together.”
“…Don’t come.”
But despite Shia saying she didn’t want to, Lapin grabbed her hand and headed toward the Upgraded Livestock Shed together.
Shia, her face pale, ended up being dragged along.
Maybe because she was happy to have a friend her own age for the first time in a while, Lapin seemed to like Shia and always took care of her.
It was the same when eating.
“Shia, this pasta is good too. You should mix it with lots of sauce.”
“I-I’ll eat on my own.”
Shia glanced nervously at Lapin, but eventually she placed the food Lapin recommended onto her plate and ate it.
It didn’t seem like Shia actually disliked Lapin.
‘If she truly hated her, she would have openly shown hostility and refused to talk to her like she did with me at first.’
The two seemed to be getting along fairly well in their own way.
Especially Shia—there was a noticeable change in her.
When I first saw her, she looked like a sickly wolf, but now her face had filled out a little.
Yeah. When I first met Shia on the island, she had definitely been far too thin.
While we were eating, Rufina suddenly spoke as if she had remembered something.
“Ah, Young Master. I don’t think I’ll be able to help with the work in a few days.”
Then Rufina continued explaining.
It seemed the freshmen admission results had been announced. Because of that, a small event would soon be held.
“The freshmen’s Visitation Event will be held. The administrative office says there’s a mountain of work to do. Ugh, there’s absolutely no way for me to slip away.”
The Visitation Event.
It was an event held before enrollment where freshmen and their parents visited to hear explanations about admission and tour the academy.
Shia also spoke after hearing Rufina.
“…I don’t think I can help that day either. My father called for me.”
“Sounds like you’re both busy. It can’t be helped.”
I nodded.
I had a rough idea of the reason.
‘It’s about time to prepare for the Opposition Training.’
It was a mock war training involving freshmen and Second-year Students.
Heidel, Elined, Caelyn, Kunking, the Imperial Princess, Ren, Shia, and others…
All the top-ranked students representing our year would participate in this high-intensity training.
‘So that’s why Shia can’t help that day.’
The Opposition Training squad was a dazzling lineup of people all belonging to the SSS tier.
Even in the game’s original storyline, the Opposition Forces overwhelmingly suppressed the freshmen.
All participants in the Opposition Forces were Schuler, so they must have all received the notice.
…But I hadn’t received one.
I was technically a Schuler as well, but honestly, I considered it a relief.
‘This is also following the original storyline.’
It wasn’t hard to guess why I had been excluded.
‘Even if I’m a Schuler, I really don’t belong there…’
Among my peers, I was Villed—the small fry with one of the lowest Magical Energy reserves.
But in the Opposition Training, the seniors absolutely must not lose.
Simply put, it was like this.
It would be like a military drill instructor losing to a trainee who was supposed to learn from them.
‘If we lose, it’s beyond embarrassing.’
The Opposition Forces were seniors who had already undergone a year of training, and they were also Schuler representing the entire year.
If a representative Second-year Student were to lose to underclassmen who had barely received training, it wouldn’t just be that individual’s problem.
It would lead to doubt being cast on the ability of all Second-year Students.
‘Losing is absolutely unacceptable.’
Even in the game, if the Opposition Forces lost to the freshmen, a bad ending would immediately trigger and the game would restart from the beginning.
It was an episode important enough that victory was assumed from the start.
‘Of course… with that squad, I believe they’ll handle it just fine.’
Especially Ren—I didn’t need to worry about him anymore.
‘Ren said he would return to his hometown during the break.’
During the vacation, he would stay in his hometown and receive special training from Ruga, the Former Empire’s Current Greatest Swordsman.
Because of that, his mastery of swordsmanship would deepen and his perception would broaden.
Since this was the point in the story where villains far beyond the standard began to appear, he would grow immensely stronger.
‘Right. He’ll gain a lot of good experience from this training.’
It was the same in the game. If good results were achieved during the Opposition Training, various skills or stat increases could be obtained.
There was even a chance that, if luck favored you, you could form a special connection with an important figure or obtain equipment items.
…I’m looking forward to seeing how much Ren will grow.
With that thought, I finished eating the rest of my food and returned to work.
---
Time passed, and eventually the Yggdrasil Admission Visitation Event was held.
The successful applicants apparently toured various places around Yggdrasil together with their parents…
But of course, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.
‘I’m busy building a house.’
At the time, Lapin and I were building the house together.
…However, after some time passed—
Perhaps because they came along the park path, visitors occasionally passed by the Upgraded Livestock Shed.
Judging from their ridiculously flashy clothing and arrogant expressions, they were obviously nobles.
“Oh my, could that really be the son of the Dedencman Family…?”
“Tsk tsk. I heard Count Deron already gave up on that son.”
“To think the son of the great Dedencman count family would become a laborer like that. Count Deron must be extremely strict.”
They seemed unable to believe that a noble’s son was building a house like a lower-class laborer, so they appeared to think my work was simply a form of punishment.
“What, you here to sightsee?”
When I shouted, they shook their heads and turned away.
“Tsk tsk. How rude…”
“My beloved son, no matter how ugly you become, at least don’t end up like that second son.”
“Well then, we’ve seen enough. Let’s go.”
Once I shout like that, people usually leave.
Hopefully nothing more annoying happens…
---
Yggdrasil Academy — Main Building, top floor, the Headmaster’s Office.
Headmaster Tott read through the roster for the Opposition Training.
Heidel and Elined of the Pinzer Family.
The Empire’s Imperial Princess, Arlhardt.
Her knight, Ren.
And many other highly promising students filled the list—it was an excellent roster.
But… something felt missing.
Yes.
A name that should have been there was absent.
Noticing this, Headmaster Tott spoke while looking forward.
“Where is Dedencman?”
“Dedencman, you say…?”
The blond young man adjusted his glasses.
With sharp features and an Imperial Coat uniform reaching down below his thighs, it fit his body perfectly.
It was Jennings, the Hawk-Eye tactical professor, who deliberately pretended not to know.
Headmaster Tott noticed his intention and turned his gaze toward him.
“The second son. I heard he was receiving punishment at the Upgraded Livestock Shed.”
“Ah… are you referring to that troublemaker?”
When Headmaster Tott simply stared without speaking, Jennings awkwardly adjusted his glasses and continued.
“Since the Opposition Forces absolutely must not lose, we excluded Schuler whose abilities were lacking.”
“I see. As you say, the Opposition Forces must not lose. If they were defeated by entrants who have not even received formal education, it would be tantamount to denying the value of the academy’s training.”
After hearing Tott’s agreement, Professor Jennings lowered his head and smiled.
“But.”
The headmaster’s voice continued.
…Jennings’ smile stiffened for a moment.
He looked at Headmaster Tott with uneasy eyes.
Headmaster Tott looked as though he had found an amusing toy.
“Dedencman is still a perfectly legitimate Schuler, is he not? If he is a proud Schuler of Yggdrasil, then not a single one of them should be absent from the Opposition Training. Make sure he participates.”
Jennings sighed.
“Headmaster, this is not a matter for jokes. The honor of the entire academy is at stake in this important training. Dedencman—his Magical Energy level simply does not match the rank of a Schuler…”
“Hahaha. Now then, Professor Jennings.”
Headmaster Tott curled the corner of his lips upward.
“I do not like repeating myself.”