Hearing the criticism pouring in from all around made chuckle bitterly.
They asked what my thoughts were, but they were calling my opponent diocre.
The First Prince also had a look of surprise...
No, why is his expression like that? Did he suspect sothing and concoct a sche?
Did he just think that I, a gloomy loner, would cause trouble if he asked for my thoughts? And now he’s surprised by my outburst?!
It's unfair. If he had intended it from the beginning, I could have just cursed him, but now that I realize he just threw it out there, it complicates my frustration!
‘What is it, Grandpa?’
What kind of nonsense is that? The translation of my sugaki skill is incredibly precise. There’s no way I would have called him the First Prince.
What if he misheard , even though he’s old and senile?
Look, the log says gloomy loner prince.
...Huh.
Wait?!
I did say it?! I just called him the First Prince!
What is this?! Why did that title slip out of my mouth?!
I couldn’t comprehend it.
For nearly a year, I had suffered under this sugaki skill.
While it could change others’ titles, it had never allowed to call soone normally.
What variable has arisen? Why did the sugaki skill allow to use a common title?
As I pondered this amidst the ongoing criticism, I let it wash over .
This was more important. If I could figure out why I called him the First Prince normally, I might find a way to escape the curse of the sugaki skill!
Maybe I could even start calling my friends by their nas! Huh?!
“Puhahaha!”
Despite ignoring everything else, I couldn’t overlook the laughter that rang out in front of .
The First Prince was laughing. Just a mont ago, he had been astonished.
“Is this the arrogance of a talented person? Fine. The victor has the right to say such things. Though I don’t know how long you can remain the victor.”
The reason people had been criticizing just now was due to my disrespect toward the First Prince.
Since he acknowledged this rudeness as justified arrogance, any further criticism would only irritate the First Prince.
Those who quickly grasped this fact chose to praise the First Prince's generosity instead of criticizing .
At that mont, a voice echoed in my mind.
Not my grandpa's voice, but soone else's.
Startled, I looked up to find the First Prince regarding with a gaze devoid of emotion.
...Huh? Owe ? ?
Why not just join in the criticism instead?!
I don’t want to be indebted to you!
I don’t want to be on the receiving end of your requests!
Can’t you just shout, “You bitch!” instead?!
I scread inwardly, but those words never reached the First Prince.
It had been quite a while since the day of the Partlan family’s party.
From the fact that I was still alive, it was clear that the end of that party concluded neatly with the First Prince managing the situation I had created.
The word “debt” approached nacingly, but since he hadn’t co looking for afterward, it seed he wasn’t planning to deal with imdiately.
It would have been better if he had just taken care of things right away. Then I could handle what I was tasked with and leave it all behind.
Leaving it as sothing to deal with later left a constant discomfort in a corner of my mind!
I an, allow to prepare like a pathetic loser.
Wow, who would have thought a pathetic loser would be reevaluated?
What, am I supposed to just not repay my debt?
Do you think that would work?
What if the First Prince decided to do sothing to ?!
If I can’t even ignore the First Prince until I beco strong enough to do so, then if he sets his mind to it, I’d be at his rcy!
Benedict wouldn’t be able to help either!
No matter how much of a monster he is, he can’t win against a kingdom!
...Uh. Hmm. I can’t say for sure he wouldn’t.
Since it’s Benedict, I can’t make that guarantee.
Anyway, the situation with the First Prince isn’t sothing I can address right now, so I’ll move on to another topic.
Should I talk about the sugaki skill first?
To sum it up, the normalization of titles only happened that once.
After the party ended, I conducted countless experints, but nothing changed.
No matter how many tis I tried to call the First Prince by his na, I kept ending up with the gloomy loner prince title.
The sa went for other titles. There was no na I could call correctly.
After various tests alongside my grandpa, our conclusion was that we had no clue.
If I were to explain this phenonon, it would seem the pathetic loser intervened to uphold the promise of boosting his reputation.
But, you know, I really don’t think that pathetic loser would do sothing like that.
If he were the kind of useless god who would care about such things, he wouldn’t have reduced the penalty of the sugaki skill ages ago, would he?
Think about it. That jerk loves it when I insult him, and he loves it when I’m in trouble.
There’s no way he’d help out just because I’m struggling...
No, never mind. I was just montarily agitated and spouted nonsense.
If I keep talking behind his back, sothing horrendous will probably co out in the next quest.
Let’s talk about the reward the duke gave instead.
After the party concluded, the duke, upon seeing again, told to say anything I wished if I wanted sothing in return.
He stated that as long as he had the power, he could make even the most absurd request co true.
His statent wasn’t far from the truth.
With the might of the Partlan family backing him, even a noble young lady's fanciful wishes could easily be fulfilled.
However, if there was one thing the duke didn’t expect, it was that I wasn’t an ordinary young lady.
To be honest, what I wanted now were things that the duke could not provide.
Armor or shields of a legendary grade, skills—such items couldn’t be obtained through money; they had to be earned through action.
If I were leveling a magic-type character, I would have countless things to ask the duke for, but unfortunately, I was a holy-type tank.
I could ask the duke for other things, but since he explicitly asked to tell him what I wanted, I didn’t want to ask for sothing ordinary.
Various items flashed through my mind repeatedly, and during that mont, one request occurred to .
Sothing that was impossible in the ga.
Sothing that could be possible in reality.
Direct intervention from an NPC.
“Duke...”
“Is it okay if I gain the right to request sothing from Duke Sloppy?”
I would postpone my current reward. Instead, I would ask him to fulfill any request I made at that ti.
It was sowhat unreasonable and possibly rude, but the duke nodded without showing any sign of displeasure.
After that, we engaged in regular conversation.
We talked about what had happened at the academy. Whether Joy was managing her school life well. Ordinary advice one would expect from an older man.
“Oh, by the way, you ntioned that you gave Joy so advice. May I also hear about that?”
Since it wasn’t anything secret, I told him right away.
About how to build a foundation when leveling up a magic-type character.
When the duke heard what I taught Joy, he suddenly furrowed his brow and began muttering to himself as if contemplating sothing.
He looked like a mafia boss scheming to wipe out a rival organization, which involuntarily made straighten up, but he wasn’t planning anything evil.
He was rely deconstructing the idea I had proposed.
“Amazing.”
What followed was admiration.
“Repetition. Mastery. And minions? Training magic like one would train muscles? If an old man from the magic tower heard this, he would scream, but it’s worth researching. Alrn Young Lady, who taught you this?”
‘No one taught .’
“Is it truly your own idea? How interesting. Is this sothing a non-magic user could think of?”
The duke regarded as if the term genius was inadequate to describe my insight and then chuckled.
“I intended to repay you for inviting , but instead, I’ve received sothing in return. Do you truly not want anything for now? Even sothing trivial would suffice. I just don’t want to increase my debt.”
‘In that case, I have one thing...’
“Then I’d like to ask one thing.”
I asked about what had happened to the duke that made him leave the territory before the festival.
I was curious about the significant issue that required his urgent presence.
The duke, without any hesitation, answered my question.
“I was asked for help by Duke Burrow. When he spoke in such a rush, I thought it must be serious, so I went directly. But by the ti I arrived, everything had already been resolved.”
He grumbled that he had wasted ti before the festival for nothing.
Was there even a chance of a problem occurring with the Burrow family at this ti? It didn’t seem likely.
Though I had my doubts, since the duke confird there was no issue, I decided to let it go.
Aside from that, nothing else happened.
I was asked by Arthur to please take it easy. Frey was pestering , and I ended up sparring with her.
Then, after leaving the Partlan territory and returning to the Alrn family, I inford Porcell that my condition had recovered and trained with the other knights.
“Now that the young lady is incredibly strong, I won’t be able to offer the sa consideration as before.”
‘That’s what I was hoping for!’
“Puh. Do you think I’ll treat you with more consideration than those pathetic knights?”
“Good attitude! Young lady!”
When I expressed my thoughts on this, I couldn’t help but think it would be easier just to die.
During my ti training alone at the academy, no matter how intense it was, it always ended with, “I might die.”
However, training with the knights of the Alrn family was on a different level. When one is pushed to the brink of death, one’s mind goes blank, leaving no room for thought.
But in comparison to rolling around, my growth was slow.
At first, I thought my stats were rising, causing the slow growth, right?
But as I thought about it, one fact ca to mind.
The debt that the pathetic god had promised to repay in nestel. While my stats rise automatically, I don’t grow even when I train.
To put it simply, while rolling around with the knights of the Alrn family, I gained nothing.
When I realized this, it felt so empty.
I denied reality, cursed the pathetic god, and then blad my foolish self.
Though there are things that don’t show up as proficiency or stats, it’s not as if my struggles were entirely in vain; it still felt empty.
As I spent ti in this way, before I knew it, the day of the start of the second sester at the academy had co very close.
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