Meeting (1)

So, how did this happen?

The Baron Campbell Household was a small noble family located in a small barony on the outskirts of the Empire.

It was barely even mentioned in the main story of Sera.

There were no dungeons with monsters in the area and the main industry was also just simple dairy farming. The Lord and his family were actually nothing more than friendly neighbors.

Naturally, the slightest accident or event would cause a big uproar, as if the world had been overturned.

Namely:

The Lords son entering the Imperial Academy. The effect was a rare spectacle of the territorys residents collectively weeping as if they were being abandoned.

Youre leaving at last, Dowd.

Yes, Father.

Baron Armin Campbell, a warm and kind middle-aged man, hugged me while wiping away his welling tears.

You are the pride of our fief. Please take care of yourself and graduate safely.

Of course, dont worry.

I pulled away from my father with a reassuring smile.

He may look like this, but hes built with pure, hard muscle.

Dairy farming and farming were hard jobs in general, so your body gets toned even if you dont specifically train it.

However, never get into a fight. The Imperial Academy is a place where high-ranking children from all over the empire gather. Its best for small barons like us to be as inconspicuous as possible

Dont worry about it, really.

Doubling the confidence level in my smile, I cut off Nagging Season 1823718029837.

Well, his worries were not unfounded considering the main story of Savior Rising.

An aristocratic family with weak prestige would be easily swept up in all sorts of power struggles between the powerful and eccentric high-ranking nobles.

Fortunately, I also dont have the slightest intention of disobeying my fathers advice.

Dowd Campbell

< Status Info >

Strength: F

Agility: F

Endurance: F

Luck: F

Power: F

< Skill Info >

[ No Skill in Possession ]

< Mastery Info >

[ No Mastery in Possession ]

< Special Gift >

[ Unawakened ]

It was an eye-watering, neat status window.

However, all my stats were F, an unprecedented trash starting line that Ive never once encountered out of all the playtime Ive put into Sera.

This is dangerous

With a wry smile, I turned my gaze to the small window next to the main page.

[ Main Quest ]

Description: Enter the Academy and get assigned to a class!

This was something I often saw in the game, so it was nice seeing it here. However, the existence of a system page called the Quest Window was a problem in itself.

The fact that a main quest exists means that there are scenarios to overcome. This also meant that the Academy that I was about to enter would become a breeding ground for different types of plots and conspiracies.

I cant just skip the main quest

Considering the games system and mechanics, it will probably be game over the moment I refuse to do the quest.

I dont think that would ever do anything good for me.

At the very least, something akin to death would await me.

But it doesnt make sense for me to complete the quest myself.

In the first place, my motto was, Never do anything that interferes with my survival.

I have no idea why Im here, but one thing is certain. I must live to see the happy ending.

In that sense, getting involved in the main story with these garbage stats would simply get me deleted in one breath.

Although this guy does have an unawakened special gift, its hard to expect anything from it.

I dont even have a clue on how to awaken it.

All I know is that it would automatically awaken when the character completes a special action

I might know the ones for the player characters, but there was definitely no way I would know the gift conditions for an extra character like this.

If so, what was the best course of action that I could take in this situation?

Faithfully fulfilling my role as an extra.

Dont stand out, dont show off, and stay low-key.

Besides, the main character would take care of everything, right?

Dont worry, Father!

Uh. Now that I think about it, the advice that my father gave couldnt sound any wiser.

Is that really nagging if thats the case?

I will definitely do my best not to stand out at the Academy!

Uh, no, theres no need to go that far

Dont worry, Ill never have the vain ambition of raising the territorys honor!

Yes, its true that I dont particularly want that, but

After such exchanges, I finally departed from the estate.

The expressions of the residents in the territory who were seeing me off and my father were a bit strange, but whatever. Anyways, whats good is good.

And thus, my lowkey academy life as an extra is about to begin!

I really thought that.

I was envisioning a truly hopeful future.

Ah, those dream-filled days.

Do you need a doctor? You dont look so good.

No, Im fine.

Actually, Im not fine.

As someone who decided to commit to being an extra, meeting the person in front of me was horrifically burdensome.

I glanced at the other person impassively reading the newspaper and sipping tea.

Eleanor Elinalise La Tristan.

The most likely candidate for the Final Boss.

How did I end up traveling with someone like this?

Thinking so, I couldnt help but let out an inward sigh.

The train bound for Elfante Imperial Academy had two-person cabins.

You had no choice since you couldnt choose which person you wanted to share the room with, and it was completely random. It was just that it was probably okay to lament if the person you were with was this terrifying.

This type of luck was astonishingly horrendous.

Why would a Dukes Daughter get a cheap compartment that a countryside Baron uses, anyway?

As I was thinking about that, an answer suddenly came from the other side.

Her gaze was still fixed on the newspaper.

Duke Tristan cares a lot about public image. He focuses on creating a friendly image rather than making us ride first class just because were from a noble family.

Dont worry, you didnt make the stupid mistake of thinking out loud. Your expression is just funny.

The Student Council President laughed as she said one thing after another.

The thoughts of the people who ride in the same compartment as me are all the same. You were simply giving off a similar look to them.

Is that so?

It seems like this wasnt a one-time occurrence.

Well, as Duke Tristans daughter, shes a huge celebrity bordering on royalty. A lot of people mustve felt pressured by her presence.

Rest assured, you wont be harmed just by being involved with me. Im sorry for worrying you.

However, she cared too much for another person.

Isnt this different from the one in my memory?

In the game, this person obviously didnt care about other people.

She judged everything by value and was a perfectionist who never tolerated flaws. Finally, she was an arrogant person who always saw others as beneath her.

Those were the characteristics of Eleanor that I remembered.

But what was with this delicate and thoughtful appearance she was showing me right now?

Even if she was doing it to manage her image, this was undeniably strange.

Do you have any other questions? It doesnt seem like youre convinced.

No. Its just that youre surprisingly nice.

Hearing this, Eleanor removed her gaze from the newspaper for the first time.

Her eyes slightly narrowed.

Surprising?

What?

Have you heard anything bad about me? Have we met before?

Thats because I know youre one of the possible people wholl destroy the world.

However, it was only after meeting the main character that her villainous transformation began. It all stemmed from her inferiority complex towards the main character, who was considered perfect in all aspects and had a talent that far surpassed her own.

Of course, you might wonder how the world would end just because of an inferiority complex, but the real problem is the curse that this person had.

Gray Devil.

Thinking of the Tristan Dukedom and the name of the existence inside Eleanor, I couldnt help but smile bitterly.

Its the worst amongst even the Devils, endgame villains of this world. Its so bad, in fact, that it appears in the myth of creation.

The moment that its released, the world is practically over. The trigger was the moment when Eleanors mind collapses.

Throughout the scenario, Eleanor constantly has friction against the main character, and when her mentality collapses, the demon takes over her body. After that

It was a direct path to world destruction. Except for the main character, who had completed their final growth, no one could stop the entire world from falling into chaos.

And here I just said, I thought you had an explosive personality but it turns out you dont towards someone like that.

I must have gone crazy.

Ive just heard a lot about you being strict.

Eleanor stared at me for a while, then sighed. I wondered if my improvised excuse worked.

Youre a strange man, arent you?

Yes, I often hear that.

I blurted with an awkward smile before immediately looking out the window.

Id rather avoid further communication.

Anyway, my goal was to just have the main character beat the main quest. There was nothing good about hanging out with people who would often appear in the scenarios.

My purpose was to lead a peaceful and quiet Academy life, so lets do just that. Lets remain calm and enjoy the view outside.

The spring scenery in full bloom was very picturesque. It almost feels like you can smell the fragrance of the flowers with your eyes.

The new buds blooming, the stretching mountain and streams, the wide fields, and the huge boulder flying towards this window

Wait, the last one Fuck!

Student Council President.

Hm?

Excuse me for a moment.

Right after saying that, I dove into Eleanors arms.

?!

Eleanors eyes fluttered wildly.

It seems that even she cant help but panic when she encounters someone who rushes at her out of nowhere.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the situation continued without pause, leaving no time for explanations.

!

!!

!!!!!!!

A house-sized boulder flew towards our compartment, tearing most of it off.

The train, which was in motion, swayed greatly from the impact. Subsequently, the trains body deviated from the track and tilted over.

!

!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!

A few tumultuous turns ensued as the entire train rolled on the ground.

There were screams everywhere, but even that was drowned out by the roar that followed.

Its probably the sound of the entire train being thrown to the ground.

And throughout all of this, Eleanor and I remained unharmed.

It wasnt necessarily because we were lucky; it was all thanks to the faint, blue shield that surrounded Eleanor.

An automatic defense made from the remains of a saint.

I survived because I knew that this person always carried this

Drenched in a cold sweat, I let out a sigh of relief.

If I had been directly hit by that thing without any protection, I wouldnt have lived. Not with my abilities.

You, are you okay?

Yes? Ah yes. Im okay.

Then, can you move? Its a bit heavy.

After hearing Eleanor mutter something like that in an emotionless voice from below, I finally realized that I had been hugging this person with my entire body.

I quickly got up from that embarrassing position. After a while, the Student Council President also stood up.

She looked down at the ground, tidying up her messy hair and uniform. Perhaps its because of the ambiguous mood, but her nape and face were slightly red.

Um, what now?

I should probably apologize first, right?

Im sorry

Its alright. You were just trying to save me.

What?

Ive never had this much contact with a man before, but thank you. I know your intentions, so there is no need to apologize.

Did she interpret it that way?

I just rushed in knowing that she had a shield.

From Eleanors perspective, it probably looked like I was protecting her in anticipation of the impact.

Well, she didnt know that I knew the existence of the defensive barrier in advance.

As I was thinking about that, Eleanor spoke again.

Whats your name?

What?

This person, according to her character setup, only asked the name of someone she liked, didnt she?

Something tells me that well be involved often in the future if I answer her here.

You, whats your name?

However, I couldnt just say, What for? to someone who was staring directly at me.

Rather, its the worst option.

Im Dowd Campbell.

Dowd, Dowd, Campbell, Campbell.

Eleanor closed her eyes and muttered my name a few times, then nodded.

All right, I got it. I wont forget it. I will definitely pay you back later.

No, you can just forget about it.

Cant we just not get involved with each other as much as possible?

As I was thinking that with an awkward smile, something suddenly appeared in front of me.

System Message

[ You have gained the favor of a villain! ]

[ Satisfied Special Gift Awakening Conditions! ]

[ Obtained the skills Desperation and Fatal Charm! ]

What the fuck?