NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40
<40 - I’m Going Crazy Wanting to Know>
“Isabel, I have someone I want to get closer to but I don’t know how to do it. What should I do?”
As Isabel was foraging for ingredients in the nearby forest, she accidentally slammed her face into a tree.
“Uh, are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“But your forehead is super red!”
“More importantly, who do you want to befriend?”
“It’s a secret!”
Isabel couldn’t hide her disappointment.
It felt a bit much to be collecting ingredients on her precious day off just for me.
“Um… it’s a secret, but I’m telling you specially, Isabel. Please don’t tell anyone else, okay?”
“Got it.”
“I have only one friend other than me who just hides away all the time, and that friend is really close with someone else, so I can’t get closer to them.”
Isabel smiled knowingly.
“I see, that type. They get so close to one person that it’s hard for them to befriend others.”
Soulmates.
Best friends.
People with such close friendships become hard to approach.
Isabel shared her wisdom.
“In that case, you should talk about your best friend to get closer. That’s how I bonded with the guys in the expedition team.”
“Really?”
“And talking about hiking makes them happy.”
“Huh?”
“Fishing isn’t bad either.”
The social skills Isabel learned from the harsh society of the Esornia Expedition Team, using hiking and fishing as conversation starters!
Thud!
Thud!
‘The Answering Door can’t go hiking or fishing.’
It didn’t help, but I decided to keep that in mind.
Anyway, I could just spark interest with topics about my interests, right?
Gizel insisted seriously.
“There aren’t any friends closely related to Oknodie.”
“Is that so?”
“Unless you’ve hidden from Isabel’s eyes and made a new friend, there’s a chance it’s someone we know.”
Isabel felt indebted to Oknodie.
Her concern for Oknodie spurred Gizel to pay for separate inquiries, so she reports on Oknodie daily.
Gizel, who has a different experience as a merchant, has a surprisingly sharp perspective, which Isabel often turns to for advice.
“It’s likely Dorothy.”
“Dorothy?”
“She’s a classmate from Group A’s upper class. Recently, she helped when her comrades betrayed her at Minerva’s gate.”
“Wait, that girl passed the upper class…”
Honestly, I was surprised.
While I admired her persistence, I wondered how anyone could get through this rough world just with determination.
I couldn’t find any special qualities in Dorothy that would warrant her succeeding.
Feeling of difference.
While I thought highly of my skills in identifying wild ingredients and artifacts as an adventurer, I fell far short in people-watching compared to Gizel, the merchant.
I didn’t realize just how kind, upright, and pitiful Oknodie was from the very first meeting.
I knew, but I didn’t expect it to be this much…
Despite being in the same girls’ dormitory, and on the same first floor, unlike Gizel, who had far more information about Dorothy than I could ever know, I wasn’t paying attention at all.
“Don’t beat yourself up too much. Collecting information about those related to Oknodie is just a job habit of being a merchant. It takes a lot of time, and it’s a shady hobby that can’t be shared with others.”
“No, not at all. Thanks to you, I’ve received help. I think it’s a pretty great hobby.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Just so you know, that girl hasn’t used the automatic laundry magic circle in several days, so she might smell a bit.”
“Still, that’s kind of off-putting.”
I’d prefer it didn’t reach the level of hobby.
If it slipped any further, it’d be downright stalking, right?
Snooping around for information about Dorothy wasn’t hard at all.
Thanks to having the help of another person who knows everything about the A Group girls.
“Dorothy? Oh, the one who carries a bow. The movements of Group B are getting strange again, so I offered to stick together with the A Group, but for some reason, she wants to go alone due to the shock of being betrayed by her hometown friend.”
Seoguyeon’s only girl, Arcadia.
Contrary to the first impression of being strict and difficult, she showed a responsible side as a noble upper-class student who cared about the safety of A Group girls.
From the perspective of someone who frequently asks for help when losing track of Oknodie, she was someone I felt grateful to.
“Do you happen to know what room Dorothy is staying in?”
“Room 120.”
As I made my way back to the dormitory, I spotted the back of a male student I recognized at the entrance.
“What are you doing in front of the girls’ dorm?”
“Is he Oknodie’s comrade?”
That was Lockpell, the guy who betrayed Dorothy once before, now looking troubled as he gazed at the curtained window.
“I’m waiting for Dorothy to accept my apology.”
“What a stick-in-the-mud.”
“I did something terrible.”
“If you knew that, you shouldn’t have done it.”
“Back then… I wasn’t in my right mind. I thought everyone back home needed help, and I thought if I had to drop out with Dorothy, I’d at least pull through.”
“I’d never let that go.”
“…”
“Stop making that face. I’m actually on my way to see Dorothy.”
Lockpell’s hand hesitated in mid-air as he reached for Isabel’s shoulder.
Was it okay for someone who had no right to grab someone to ask for such a selfish favor now?
Unable to shake off the hesitation, he withdrew his hand.
What an idiot. How can a guy be so timid?
“Are you helping?”
“If it’s just to let that annoying guy know I’ve been telling someone outside the dorm for days that he’s waiting for someone.”
“I hate to ask, but please.”
Isabel lightly knocked on the door of Room 120, where Dorothy was staying.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Isabel. I’m Oknodie’s comrade who helped you in the forest.”
“…Come in.”
Creaaak. The door opened just wide enough to let in her foot, almost as if fear lingered in the air.
As expected, the musty smell of someone who hadn’t washed their hair in days filled the room, as Gizel had predicted.
“Wow, you actually passed.”
“I racked up a ton of points after touching the Black Hat Instructor. Like, around 1800 points?”
“How is that even possible?”
“I guess the instructor’s score started piling up from the moment the exam began, different from examinees who rested for a day and began the Game of Tag the next day.”
“…Was that what they meant by saying you might pass if you’re lucky?”
If that’s the case, the first person to touch the instructor would get a one-time lump sum of the score the instructor had built up since the start of the exam all at once.
If Oknodie knew that from the start, she could have easily passed the magic circle by touching the instructor alone.
“The actual points coming in were reduced to 18 due to a hundredth of the score and since I didn’t make it on time, I finished with -50 points. But hey, that kept me from giving up and pushed me to continue.”
What would Oknodie have done?
Instead of 18 points, wouldn’t she have been able to monopolize all 1800 points?
Considering the entrance exam’s 1 point is converted into 100 points, she had a chance to earn a staggering 180,000 points.
She knew it but never aimed for it.
I know the reason.
She worried about her comrades.
In the first gate, even though she had the chance to immediately enroll with the head privilege, she was the one who gave it up due to worrying about everyone she had been with.
Such a foolishly kind and pure-hearted girl.
At the same time, a child suspiciously talented raised as an assassin in a noble family.
The more I thought about it, the more it hurt my heart.
“Did you even take that girl’s request?”
“It isn’t that, but I wanted to ask a request.”
“Is it about that idiot outside?”
“That’s a part of it.”
“Lockpell that idiot deserves to suffer a bit more. I still can’t get over how unfair it is. Do you think it’s too much?”
“I couldn’t care less. Besides, I’d never forgive him. A man who betrays once can betray again. Not fit for a comrade.”
Sure, I could keep a good-looking guy like Lockpell around for romance, but as a comrade or husband, that would definitely be out of the question.
Lockpell, having a history of betrayal at a critical moment, was the very definition of an irresponsible man.
He’s someone I can neither trust nor want to trust.
“If it’s not about Lockpell, then what were you going to ask?”
“Oknodie wanted to become friends with you and sought advice.”
“Huh? Me?”
A spark of life returned to Dorothy’s downcast eyes as a look of surprise flickered.
Hehehe.
Seeing her playful smile, I realized that Gizel’s information could sometimes be wrong.
“Was it not her?”
“Of course not. I haven’t seen her once since passing. Is it possible she mistook me for someone else?”
“Guess I just wasted your time. I’m really sorry.”
“Wait. I’m curious now. What kind of girl is she? Tell me more!”
“I’m not sure if it would be wise to share this with you.”
“Trust me. Even though I sought advice, I somehow passed the entrance exam under my own strength as an upper-class student. Don’t you think the forest keeper’s tracking ability is quite trustworthy?”
Her overly confident assertion got Isabel curious enough to recount the story.
“That’s not my friend next door, is it?”
“Next door?”
“I was scared that after entering the dorm, we might still have to take some dormitory exams, so I’ve been observing from inside my room this whole time.”
“…If you’ve returned to civilization, just adjust! You have an individual room in a comfortable dormitory. Why go through so much trouble?”
“Tch. Who wants to do that? I was just too anxious to help it.”
Reversing the conversation, Dorothy shared her own observation.
“A few days ago, a strange maid entered the rooms of those two. A really weird maid only changed the sheets between Room 111 and Room 112.”
“Changed the sheets?”
“She acted strange, trying to listen in by pressing her ear to the wall outside.”
“…Listening in?”
“Something felt off. Don’t you think there’s something special going on between the muscular girl living in Room 112 and Oknodie? I’m sorry, that’s the only person I can think Oknodie would be concerned about.”
“Not at all. It was definitely helpful.”
“Oh, sometimes the kids in the neighboring rooms lay their ears on the wall to eavesdrop. If you ask them, they might know something.”
Two rooms only changed sheets.
A maid eavesdropping.
The neighboring residents are buzzing with something.
Ah, I messed up. I’m getting way too anxious myself.
I was going crazy with curiosity.
If I don’t get to the bottom of this secret, I might not sleep tonight.