“Hey An. Do you have a moment?”
“Hn? You are…?”
“We met during the incident with the skeleton horse, remember? But I haven’t introduced myself, so I will do so now. My name is Isaac Elia, and I transferred to the Luminous Academy starting this year.”
It was a few days after the incident in the grassy plain, and Isaac visited Angel while she went on with her regular life. She stared at him as he introduced himself, and desperately tried to stop his eyes from wandering into the big bumps in the chest area of the red jumpsuit he was used to seeing in the game.
“I came here to ask you if you wouldn’t consider becoming my exclusive technician.”
“Me? Yours? That’s a pretty sudden proposal.”
“I know it’s not ideal, but you’re an excellent magic item technician. If I sat idly by, someone else might take you, right? It must have been fate that led us to meet the other day too. I was just thinking that I can’t let this chance get away…”
“Hm…”
Isaac flattered Angel, desperately trying to recruit her.
He was not lying, he really did want her as his exclusive technician, but there were perverted thoughts behind it too.
He figured her favorability towards him must have gone up at least a little during the incident with the skeleton horse, and thought that when he spoke like this to her fellow technician Neid, he accepted it.
He figured this would work on Angel as well, but… She shook her head.
“Sorry, but I can’t accept that. I have no intention of being your exclusive technician.”
“Eh!? W-why!? Not to brag, but I’m pretty strong! You saw me fighting on more than even grounds with the skeleton horse, right? There’s a clear line between me and the other students in terms of strength, and your magic items would make it shine even brighter! I’m sure we’d be the best pair! So why…?”
“You might be strong, but I have a prior engagement I want to prioritize.”
“…Yuugo Clay?”
She was with Yuugo during that incident.
Isaac figured that could be the case, but she really was in charge of servicing his magic item.
He was frustrated about Yuugo getting ahead of him, but still tried to talk her away from him.
“You shouldn’t get involved with that scum. You might not know because you’re in the technical department, but over in our area, he’s famous for being scum. The kind of guy that takes what he wants by force, and even takes girls and dumps them one after the other. I’m sure he has ulterior motives with you too.
If he causes some sort of trouble, it’s going to hurt your reputation too. You really should cut ties with him before that happens.”
“Scum… He seems pretty respected by Melt and his little brother though. You joined this school from high school, right? Then don’t you think you’ve been hearing the exaggerated versions of those stories?”
“No way! He…!!”
Isaac tried to somehow convey how unscrupulous Yuugo was, but Angel was not listening.
Angel saw with her own eyes how he acted and how people around him reacted to him, so suffice to say, what Isaac said, and she saw as mostly hearsay, held little value to her.
Angel put out her hand to stop Isaac, and spoke with a somewhat exasperated expression.
“Sorry, but no matter what you say, my promise to Yuugo comes first. It’s my duty to take care of his Blaster. This is going to take some effort too, so… I don’t have the time to work on something else.”
“Wait! If exclusivity is off the table, at least service and develop magic items for…”
“I just said I don’t have the time to accept more work. I have to start working on using the fire magic crystal he just got too. Sorry, but I can’t do what you want right now. Go ask someone else. Later.”
“Ah!? An, wai…!!”
Isaac was flatly rejected, and whispered with surprise as she walked off.
The way he expressed frustration by stomping on the ground showed his childish temperament, but after he calmed himself down with deep breaths, he reassured himself.
(That’s okay, I just have to give up for now. There wasn’t an announcement that she can’t join a party, like there was with Melt. I shouldn’t rush, and instead, wait for an opportunity.)
It was too bad he failed to form a contract with Angel, but it was not over yet.
If he brought her a request at the right time, there was a chance she would take it.
And… He was actually curious about Yuugo.
He lost the duel with Zenon and lost his memory, which changed his personality. He could not help but feel this abnormality was what caused the game’s story to be derailed.
(Could it be…)
He had accepted to a certain extent that the original scenario breaking made Zenon and Yuugo’s roles change, but actually meeting Yuugo gave him a strong feeling that something was off.
He started to doubt that rather than losing his memory… Yuugo was swapped with someone else.
If that was the case, Yuugo was not just a character, he was another rival fighting for the role of hero.
Whether he was going to kick him down or use him, he wanted confirmation that he was a reincarnated person from another world like himself and the others. And then, he could use that information.
(I’ll watch you for now. I have to learn a few things, like if you really are from another world like us.)
Isaac thought to himself while chuckling.
He was going to watch him and try to get information, such as a weakness… But he failed to notice a shadow watching him.
That shadow suddenly disappeared, leaving Isaac.
And then, Isaac moved to take action right away, unaware of the irony that he himself was also being watched.
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Thank you for your great translation!!!