Chapter 2 |
◈ Mistaken for a Masked Monster
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I'm Not a Suspicious Person
Ranne Kihano.
Eldest daughter of House Kihano, an old and storied knight family. A girl who had earned herself a knight's epithet despite her young age.
She was drenched in cold sweat.
'How... how did this happen...'
Today was the day of the entrance exams.
She had left her family home and set out for the Academy.
Somewhere along the road, mid-gallop, a desperate cry reached her ears.
Chivalry was sacred to her, selflessness a virtue. Turning away simply wasn't something she could do.
Not a moment's hesitation. Ranne wheeled her horse around.
At the end of that road, death was waiting.
A monster clutching hundreds of spellbooks, murmuring incantations under its breath.
- Grrrrgh... grrr...
An apostle in service of an Evil God. It had to be.
Ranne gripped her spear and stood her ground.
It wasn't enough. Nowhere near.
The gap between them felt so vast it made her dizzy.
Her spear couldn't even scratch it.
Battered and broken, she had braced herself to die.
"Just a passing traveler."
"......"
That was when he appeared.
The man who stepped into view.
'Just now... he defeated an apostle of an Evil God... with nothing but a tree branch...'
He had come from nowhere and put the apostle down in the blink of an eye.
Ranne couldn't make sense of what she had witnessed.
She ranked among the strongest of her peers.
And yet the enemy that had left her without so much as a scratch on it lay defeated before her.
'Something's wrong.'
An attack that could have warped the world out of shape.
But what was stranger still...
'I couldn't feel a single thing from him...'
A blow that went past overwhelming, into something truly uncanny.
Not a trace of energy. Nothing.
Mana, aura, divine power... even dark energy would have been something.
'Nothing...'
Just stillness.
Her senses found nothing to latch onto. No afterimage, no residue, not a whisper of anything.
Like nothing had happened at all.
It made her doubt her own eyes.
Then, unbidden, a voice surfaced from somewhere deep in her memory.
- When the difference in skill... goes so far beyond the words "gap in ability"... when the disparity is truly absolute.
- There are times when you can barely even sense the other person's presence.
- Remember this, Ranne.
From when she was small.
Words her father had given her, the greatest knight in all the North.
- When what just happened feels more like a dream, and everything in front of you looks like an illusion...
- Never, under any circumstances, make an enemy of the person standing before you.
Her mouth had gone completely dry.
It was exactly as her father had described. Word for word.
"......"
There was no measuring it.
Just how vast the distance between them was,she couldn't begin to fathom it.
The boy smiled, easy and unhurried, the look of someone who hadn't found this worth his entertainment.
For the first time in her life, Ranne felt dread from another person's smile.
'Please.'
Please let the person in front of her not be an enemy.
She prayed.
***
Jangbungi had vanished without leaving a trace.
Viktor had greeted her afterward, but Ranne gave no reply.
"......"
"Hmm."
The girl was frozen stiff.
Had it scared her that badly?
'Then again... Jangbungi did have a pretty terrifying face.'
A face that could make your knees buckle just looking at it.
Unbreakable protagonist or not, at her core she was still a girl who hadn't come of age.
After witnessing something like that, of course she'd be shaken.
"Are you alright?"
"...Oh."
Asked again, she came back to herself.
Stiffly, she lowered her head.
Her violet eyes wavered.
"Th, thank you for saving me..."
"Think nothing of it. I happened to pass by and lend a hand, that's all."
A smooth, easy answer.
He extended his hand with the most harmless smile he could manage.
"Viktor."
"Oh... I'm Ranne Kihano."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Kihano."
A brief handshake.
Her reaction was strange. Even as he spoke warmly, Ranne wouldn't meet his eyes.
It occurred to him just how suspicious he must look.
The man who had felled an apostle of an Evil God with nothing but a tree branch.
'Oh.'
Wait. Had she been frightened not of Jangbungi, but of him?
Only then did he notice her shoulders trembling faintly with tension.
Alarm bells went off in his head.
'She doesn't think I'm dangerous, does she?'
He understood. If a stranger suddenly appeared and beat an elephant senseless with a pair of chopsticks, he'd probably be unnerved too.
'...Actually?'
That might be kind of impressive, he thought.
Regardless, now wasn't the moment for that.
First priority: make it clear he wasn't a threat.
Sure, he had saved her, but as far as she was concerned, he was still some unknown stranger.
Physically cornered as she was right now, Ranne's instincts would be sharper than usual.
'I could actually die here!'
Exhausted or not, a protagonist was still a protagonist.
He, on the other hand, had every single stat locked at E-rank. A walking liability.
One casual tap from the flat of her sword and he'd be finished.
Bugs were his only tool. Outside of those, he was fragile in every sense of the word.
"Um... Sir Viktor."
"Yes, Miss Kihano."
First things first: look harmless.
Because if he didn't, he might genuinely not survive this.
He loaded up his charm.
After a long hesitation, the girl finally spoke.
"Why did you help us...?"
"That's a strange question."
"I... I suppose it is..."
"Does a person need a reason to help another person?"
The silver lining, if anything, was that he was a veteran.
He knew Ranne better than anyone.
Fourteen thousand hours spent together.
A thousand times he had seen this world through to its ending alongside her.
Crying through a screen, laughing, starting over, ending it all again.
"Chivalry."
Ranne Kihano.
Epithet: Don Quixote de la Mancha.
"Fight for those who cannot fight. Know fear, and do not retreat."
The things she held sacred.
The Seven Virtues.
Of those, he invoked mercy and courage.
"That's what I was taught. Which is why I couldn't pass by someone in need."
"......"
An aspiring knight.
Ranne had grown up on tales of the northern knights, and the admiration had come naturally. To her, chivalry was a way of life, and anyone who walked that road was a fellow traveler.
In the original story, conversations that drifted toward this topic would send her affection rating climbing steadily.
Which meant that with just these few words, he had...
"A noble soul...!"
Stamped himself as someone worth trusting.
Grab.
Ranne's hand closed around his.
No trace of tension left. Her violet eyes shone, bright and earnest.
That gaze was overflowing with warmth, almost overwhelmingly so.
"I'm moved by your spirit of sacrifice! Please forgive me for being on guard even for a moment!"
"Ha ha, it's fine. It must have been startling, Miss Kihano."
"You really are a wonderful person, Sir Viktor!"
"Now you're embarrassing me."
"Please, call me Ranne! I aspire to knighthood myself, and someone who shares that same devotion is practically a fellow student under the same master!"
"In that case, Ranne."
He smiled, easy and genuine.
This was their protagonist, alright.
'Northern knight... honestly, she comes across less like a knight and more like a naive country girl.'
Exactly the type to move to the capital and get swindled within a week.
Pure-hearted, if you were being kind. Didn't know how the world worked, if you weren't.
For him, that was good news.
Easy to handle.
"I was shocked! To think there was someone my age as skilled as you, Sir Viktor!"
"I'm nothing special."
"My father was right. The world really is vast!"
The last of her tension had clearly drained away. Shoulders that had been hunched tight now sat straight and easy.
'Good. Keep it that way.'
He could exploit bugs, yes, but in raw stats he was a walking disaster.
An absentminded flick to the forehead might knock him out cold.
His numbers were bad enough that a passing farmer could probably take him.
He smiled at Ranne and quietly begged for mercy in the silence of his own head.
"Ah... well, I'll go check on the people in the carriage."
Even mid-conversation, she glanced back with obvious concern.
Typical of a protagonist, that kind of conscientiousness.
He wasn't particularly worried. Thanks to the two of them stepping in, there should have been no casualties.
In the quiet that followed, he reached into his coat and checked what he'd picked up.
"Hmm."
A few items between his fingers.
Rewards from defeating Jangbungi.
Ding!
[You have obtained rewards.]
- Evil God's Mask x1
- Evil God's Robe x1
- A Tome That Should Not Exist x1
Mask, robe, spellbook.
All items obtainable only through the route of hunting Jangbungi.
In the original story, these were things you could only acquire when Jangbungi reappeared late in the plot.
'Mine through a shortcut, but still.'
Alongside saving Ranne, obtaining these had been part of the plan from the start.
Having them would drastically ease the difficulty of what lay ahead.
[Evil God's Mask]
- Category: ???
- Grade: ???
- Description: Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. Get.
"Oh my."
Deeply unsettling. The other two items were the same.
Not that it mattered. Whatever the flavor text said, the effects were outstanding.
[Evil God's Mask]
- Effect: Negates attacks directed at the wearer three times. Activates only while equipped.
- Remaining charges: 3
[Evil God's Robe]
- Effect: Allows items to be stored inside the robe. Functions only while equipped.
- Items stored: 0/100
Attack negation and an inventory.
Both were absurdly powerful.
'Especially the mask.'
Didn't matter whether it was a Grand Archmage's meteor or a Sword Saint's cleave coming at him.
Any attack. Three times. Negated. Unconditionally.
For someone with every stat locked at E-rank, who could die in a back alley at any moment, nothing in the world could be more necessary.
Bluntly: one stab wound and he was dead.
'Three extra lives. That's how I'll think of it.'
And then the robe.
In the game, there had been a personal inventory, so bags and cloaks were just extra storage. But this was reality.
'There's no built-in inventory here.'
Which meant he had to use the items from the original story that functioned as bags.
Among those, the Evil God's Robe was in a class of its own. Top tier, without question.
Lightest of the lot, and the most storage space by far.
Both the mask and the robe needed to be worn at all times.
[A Tome That Should Not Exist]
- Effect: ???
The spellbook had a use. Later.
Store it safely until then.
He pulled out the items that needed to be equipped first.
'Let's see.'
The mask's shape was oddly reminiscent of a jester.
Two wide eyes and a grinning mouth, frozen in place.
'Actually kind of cute.'
He put it on without hesitation.
The fit wasn't bad at all.
No obstruction to his vision, no uncomfortable pressure anywhere.
Not much different from wearing nothing.
True to its reputation as a broken item, even its comfort was in a class of its own.
[Equipping item 'Evil God's Mask.']
[Equipping item 'Evil God's Robe.']
The robe was just a black cloak, so he threw it around himself without ceremony.
Being a set item, it cut quite a figure on him.
Ding!
[Set item equipped. Additional synergy activated.]
- Your intimidating presence increases dramatically.
- When others look at you, they are gripped by an inexplicable sense of dread.
- During the solar eclipse 'Night for a Jester,' the seal on ■■■ is released.
The catch.
Intimidation and dread.
Wearing these two together made it significantly harder to raise other characters' affection ratings.
'Well, it's worth it.'
Setup done.
Ranne appeared to have finished on her end as well.
Time to head out.
'Got an exam to get to.'
The Grandia Academy entrance exam.
***
After everything had settled.
"I have to say, I was surprised. To think Sir Viktor was also on his way to the entrance exam."
"Quite the coincidence."
"I can't begin to say how relieved I am. Honestly, this is my first time leaving the North, so I've been rather nervous about everything. Having someone to travel with makes such a difference."
"Having you along kept the road from being dull for me too, Ranne."
They hadn't been late, and no disaster had befallen them.
The people they had saved offered them a ride in their carriage.
The Academy was on their way anyway, they said. Happy to take them along.
So this was what it meant to live righteously.
They had bowed their heads over and over, pressing their gratitude on them.
"By the way, Sir Viktor, that mask on your face..."
"A fashion piece. I'm quite fond of it."
"Is it a trend these days? The world outside the North is always full of something new."
A few hours of travel like that, and they arrived.
'Grandia Academy.'
The finest educational institution on the continent.
The title wasn't unearned.
Practically the scale of a small city, people said.
To put it simply: imagine half of Seoul given over entirely to one academy. That was roughly the size of it.
"It's incredibly vast...!"
"It would have to be, to carry that title. Cadets mostly live in the cadet-exclusive zone at the very center. Outside the zone, there are shopping districts, residential areas, a craftsman's quarter, and more."
"A proper academy city, then."
They joined the line of students waiting for the entrance exam.
The chatter of those around them buzzed softly at the edges of his attention.
Murmurs, rising and falling.
His thoughts drifted.
His reason for coming to the Academy was simple enough.
Stopping the world's destruction meant following the course of the original story.
'And... there are far more bugs available inside the Academy than out here.'
R&GA.
(Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen)
As the title suggested, the Academy was the game's main stage.
Most frequently appearing setting. Most documented bugs by far.
Naturally, it was far more advantageous to operate from the inside.
- Next applicant, please come forward.
A moment of distraction, and his number was already up.
"Well, I'll head in."
"Of course! I know you'll pass without any trouble, Sir Viktor. I'll see you inside."
"Best of luck to you too, Ranne."
Their examination halls were different, so they parted ways for now.
They'd meet again in Class A anyway. It hardly mattered.
He stepped through the doors.
Inside, an examiner stood waiting.
The man looked at him, and his face crumpled in open displeasure.
"Unpleasant-looking kid. Shows up in a clown mask and everything."
"Ha ha, I'm in your care."
Rude.
Probably meant to rattle the applicants.
As a veteran, Viktor let it slide with an easy smile.
"Smartass. Come up front. Follow my instructions and take each section of the exam one by one..."
The exam itself was ordinary.
A basic ability assessment. The kind of thing you'd find at any fantasy academy.
Strength, stamina, mana sensitivity,all measured through various instruments.
Ten minutes, give or take, and the results came in.
"Applicant number 3720. Full name, Viktor."
He had finished the exam with full confidence.
The results, naturally, were exactly what they always were.
"Theory: A+. All other categories: E-rank. Below standard. Rejected."
"Damn."
Turned away at the door.
