The next afternoon, Eugene gathered all the people involved in the situation and headed to the club room.
[First Emergency Meeting of Ivan Petrovich Yermov]
After finishing the scribbles on the blackboard, Eugene scanned the audience with a serious face.
The cramped club room was filled with an incongruous crowd. A total of nine people, including the six members of the Isabelles hero party and the three possessors, looked at each other with serious faces.
Alright, everyone please focus. (Eugene)
All eyes in the audience turned to Eugene at his words. Eugene cleared his throat and spoke.
I have been granted authority by the God. I can quantitatively measure how much affection one person has for another. (Eugene)
At these words, Elpheira raised her hand. Eugene ignored her and continued speaking.
Its not magic. Its the authority granted by the God. If you want to argue, come at it with theology, not magic. (Eugene)
Elpheira quietly lowered her hand. Unfortunately, there was no priest present at this gathering.
Just as Eugene, the only priest in this club room, was about to speak again, Ecdysis raised her hand.
What is it? (Eugene)
Is it not just talk, but really quantitative? How do you quantitatively judge human emotions? How reliable is that? (Ecdysis)
As much as I believe in the existence of the God. Any other questions? (Eugene)
Ecdysiss sharp rebuttal was frustrated. Eugene nodded his head and continued speaking.
Now, let me show you some solid evidence. Isabelle, please? (Eugene)
Yes? (Isabelle)
Congratulations! 91 points. Extremely favorable. (Eugene)
Oh my goodness!! Out of 100 points? Does Uncle really like me that much? (Isabelle)
No, Isabelle. This is your favorability toward Big Brother. (Eugene)
Then what does that mean exactly? (Isabelle)
Isabelle sat back down with a strange expression on her face.
If theres good news, its that Isabelle has the highest score. Ah, this is about his emotions towards Isabelle. (Isabelle)
Oh my goodness!! How many points?! I knew it would be like this. You believe in Gods existence? Hallelujah!! Dont you all believe in God? Atheists? (Isabelle)
27 points neutral. (Eugene)
God is dead. (Isabelle)
The ecstatic Isabelle, who had stood up, sank back down, lost in Nietzschean philosophy. Eugene, scanning the increasingly gloomy audience, pointed to each person one by one.
Ecdysis, 26 points. (Eugene)
Out of 30?! (Ecdysis)
Out of 100. (Eugene)
Wait! Wait wait wait!! Like this, about peoples hearts? Isnt it a bit, a bit inappropriate to just say it without permission? I, Im not prepared to hear it. Unlike humans, elves have delicate sensibilities (Elpheira)
Elpheira, 25 points. (Eugene)
Aaahhh!! (Elpheira)
With the shrieks of high school students checking their report cards, the three collapsed.
So, after a round, the time for publicizing grades continued for a while.
By the way, I am 21 points. Fortunately, you all have higher scores than me. By the way, less than 20 points is hostile. (Eugene)
So does that mean Ivan is on the verge of being hostile towards me and Oswald? (Yuri)
Lets be thankful its not hostile. There was a time when he was almost antagonistic toward me as well. Its rare to find anyone who has a truly adversarial relationship with Big Brother. (Eugene)
Why? (Yuri)
Because theyre all dead. I almost died within 3 seconds too. (Eugene)
Oh.
Thats not a person, its almost like a beast, and a fierce one at that Yuri muttered in fear.
Oscar, scanning the Heros party engulfed in frustration, asked calmly as if they were pathetic.
So whats the point of all this? As long as its not hostile, isnt it irrelevant?
No, it becomes a problem the moment you realize there is someone he truly likes.
W, who, who is it? Who is that person! Is it even a demon?
I doubt it. Theyre all human, and if theres one commonality
Eugene paused for a moment. He wanted to explain as kindly as possible, but it wasnt easy.
Its the fact that theyre all deceased. Everyone.
Everyone?
Everyone Almost everyone. Those who had a certain level of affection have almost all died. All the ones who were liked in his heart.
The possessors and the facets of the hero party were momentarily lost for words.
They had spent almost a lifetime on the battlefield. And not just any battlefield, but in the cruel fight known as the last war of humanity, where half the continent burned.
How many humans lost their lives during the war? It was a war that literally erased half of the Allied Kingdom. Those who lost their parents were common, and those who lost their siblings were even more common.
In the midst of that, if Ivan spent decades on the battlefield, how many people did he lose?
How could someone endure that? After all the people who had even a pennys worth of goodwill were dead, what kind of life would they lead?
Was that what human life meant? What would a person living through such a moment feel day by day?
Isabelle suddenly bit her lip.
The curse he received when slhe killed Dragon General. The wicked curse that suppressed emotions in a persons heart came to mind. Perhaps her father was in a situation similar to Ivans.
But even then, Ivan occasionally laughed and sometimes shed tears. Even though all those moments were only when eating hometown food. On the contrary, that might mean there was still hope.
The chance for him to live a better life. The chance to give him a better life.
Perhaps, and surely.
Yes. Thats the problem, I think we can all agree, is that hes fundamentally a little a lot broken.
So?
If he truly had no interest in anyone, we would all have scored 20 points.
Eugene said confidently, tapping the blackboard.
Look at Isabelles score of 27 points. According to her actions, that score can go up! Our goal from now on is 50 points in other words, to raise our affinity to the level of friendly!
Friendly!
A subtly insignificant score?
Elpheira murmured with a slight frown.
Ignoring the elfs words, Eugene concluded.
If we can quantitatively confirm emotions, we can also understand what actions can gain or lose his favor! By using this, we will become important figures to him and restore his mental well-being!
Wow!!
Youre a hero!
Ecdysis and Isabelle cheered.
Lucia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, raised her hand.
So whats the plan? I mean, I get that hes in that state but is there any solution other than just showering him with gifts like to that state? Especially when we hardly have any time to meet separately? (Lucia)
Hehe, that answer isnt my job. Oswald?
Well, its my turn now. Please pay attention.
Oswald stood up and approached the blackboard. He erased all the scribbles and began to write with elegant strokes.
[Everyone can do it. 1-on-1 Date]
Can I go home now?
Oscar nodded with a neat smile. Alright, lets just get away from these lunatics for now. And with that.
His opinion was naturally drowned out by the cheers of the hero party members. (As soon as they erupted in cheers, they looked at each other with skeptical expressions and sat back down.)
Oscar stood up, then hesitated, sat back down, and let out a sigh. By the principle of majority rule, the opposition was overruled.
In this way, democracy cannot always be the solution.
*
Big Brother believes theres a spy in this university. Not just believes, but is actively investigating.
So?
The three of us will assist in the search for the spy. For that
*
After class, Ivan noticed three people watching him among the students who were hastily fleeing as usual.
The trio of possessors approached stealthily with sinister smiles.
Leading the way, Eugene rubbed his hands together with a wicked smile.
Big Brother, I have a solution.
Hmm?
Why, um. Werent you looking for a spy? You said they would definitely be in this class.
And you havent found one.
Ivan is someone who understands opportunity cost. It means theres no need to try the same method again in the same way after its failed once.
Even in Ivans chilly words, Eugene continued to speak with a sly smile.
Alone, thats true. But what if the three of us are together? Like, you know, the Three Sovereigns trio did a lot of things together, didnt they?
Spoiling the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei ultimately lost to Cao Cao. Despite Ivans skeptical gaze, Eugene continued without being discouraged.
If I want to confirm someones information, shouldnt we become close first?
And?
And we have an expert in becoming close right here.
He gestured towards Oswald.
Trying separately didnt work. If Oswald uses becoming close to make the suspect and me friendly, the status window will reveal information.
I happen to play the role of kidnapping the suspect.
Hows that?
Fairly.
For these guys standards, it was a pretty useful method. Even as a possessor, their taste was to exploit the loophole in the status window.
As Ivan nodded silently, Eugene whispered with a sly smile.
But you know, its just common sense. There must be a spy in the academy, right?
Hmm.
But usually, the spy is exposed by the protagonist, and in the process, the academy is once threatened by the spys conspiracy, right?
Thats not wrong.
So, once we find the spy among ourselves and wait and see, then naturally lead the protagonists there, wont stage clear according to your words proceed smoothly?
Oh.
Ivan was somewhat impressed. It had been a long time, really, a very long time since he had seen someone discussing common sense.
As Ivan nodded quietly, a smile spread across Eugenes lips.
Lets tackle it one part at a time. Divide the students by their countries of origin. While we search for the spy among them, sir, you can take out the protagonists from those countries separately and buy some time.
Eugene opened his notebook and started scribbling secretively.
Tylesse Isabelle, Oscar.
Drovian Ecdysis.
Kalion Elpheira.
Krasilov Lucia
*
In the club room, while listening to Eugenes explanation, Rundis suddenly exclaimed.
Wait a minute! Why am I not included in the Ivans date course?!
Uh Rundis, youve already had a date with Big Brother during the vacation.
No!! Thats different from this! This is cheating! I cant accept this!
Lets ignore the dwarf. Keep going. Sounds plausible, right?
Please exclude me. Im satisfied with just training with Yermov.
Ivan nodded heavily and looked at Eugene.
Would it be okay without me? Searching for the intelligence agent of the enemy county is a somewhat difficult operation for a novice.
Haha, Big Brother, youre too much. Are we novices? With Mind Sorcery and the status window, were invincible.
To be honest, we seem more capable than most agents in the Counterintelligence Command. Mr. Ivan.
Thats not wrong.
Ivan nodded heavily. Although these three hadnt completed the exact training, frankly, this guy was useful depending on how you used him.
All three were strong enough to detect spies to some extent. Plus, they possessed an ability beyond the standard, the status window.
Yuri possessed a striking swordsmanship skill, even higher than Isabelles practical scores, while Oswald was the top among his peers in the Mind Sorcery faction.
Indeed, they were impeccable as companions.
Ivan nodded reliably.
Then lets proceed according to your plan.
Supporting someone elses plan is a rare thing, but its not a bad instinct. After all, one cant handle everything alone.
In the club room, Isabelle, who was listening to Eugenes explanation, raised her hand and asked.
But what if a real spy appears? Then wont uncle go crazy and say, I must kill that guy?
Ehehe.
In response to Isabelles question, Eugene wiped his hands together and chuckled slyly.
Would that really happen?
Logically, with the Counterintelligence Command monitoring around the clock, and the princess sitting directly in the schools principal seat, not to mention that the university had been recently exposed to terrorism.
In such a place, a spy, especially a demonic spy, would hardly exist.
Thats what we call common sense. Its a matter of course.
Why is this really happening?!
This was the scream Eugene let out on the second day of implementing the operation Anyone can do it, 1-on-1 date.