Chapter 155: Hikari's Story(2/2)
The moment the car came to a halt, our butler swiftly stepped out and hurried to open the door for my sister.
Knowing I wouldn't receive the same treatment, I opened the door for myself. As I stepped out, I noticed the grand gate of the academy wide open and bustling with life. Aspirant students and their parents filled the area, their loud chatter filling the air.
As we emerged, the chatter seemed to hush for a moment, and I felt the weight of numerous gazes on us.
We radiated the aura of a rich magic family, after all, and our arrival in a luxury car made it impossible not to notice us.
"Miss, do you need anything?" the butler asked my sister, his voice filled with deference.
She shook her head slightly, a hint of frustration in her eyes. "No, I'm fine, thank you."
The butler bowed deeply to her. "The family has high hopes for you, Miss. I will be here to pick you up the moment you are done with the exam." He completely ignored my presence, his cold expression making it clear that his respect did not extend to me.
My eyes hardened as memories of my time as Duke Fray Von Garoff resurfaced.
'...Those were the days.'
Disrespect like this would have meant certain death.
Yet, at this moment, there was no need to antagonize the Nakamura family over something so trivial.
What would be the point of eliminating such a useless pawn?
So, I chose to ignore him completely.
My sister glanced at me, but said nothing.
I, on the other hand, moved on my own towards the grand gate, my attention subtly shifting to the throngs of people passing through.
Old habits die hard, and I couldn't help but gather information from those around me, reading their body language and movements.
There was so much to learn from the smallest gestures.
The personnel at the gate diligently guided the candidates, ensuring they were escorted to the correct area for the exams. I slowly made my way towards them.
As I was about to cross the threshold of the gate, though, a wave of mixed feelings hit me.
This wasn't the first time I'd crossed such gates.
It was my second 'first' time, to be precise.
The last time I did this, it led to an encounter with a particular silver-haired, red-eyed girl who later became my wife.
Thinking back to that moment, I guess I'm excused for pausing just before passing the gate, right?
...
After calming my nerves, I stepped through, bracing for whatever might come next.
Immediately, prompts flashed before my eyes.
[New Chain Quest!]
[A Capable Brother: I]
[Description: Your sister is aware you have been bullied your entire life. When she tried to intervene, Nakamura Hikari told her to not involve herself with this. As such, she has given up on it, but is still worried about the bullying you'll face going forward. Prove her she's just worrying for nothing.
Tasks to Complete:
Humiliate all the main Bullies behind the bullying(0/7)
Complete the Chain Quest [Time To Shine: I] (0/1)
Have your Sister recognize your value(0/1)
Additional Information:
Once a [Bully] is properly humiliated, ??? will tremendously increase.
??? is one of the main conditions to achieve the [Best Possible Path] in Regular Trials...
On Failure: The Original Identity will steal your [Perfect Mana Pathways+] after you leave the Trials
On Success: Level Up(50), [Pushion Understanding] Skill, [???] System Feature]
I stopped in my tracks.
It was like the old times, when even small quests were like bombs generating hundreds of questions at once
What is ???
Could the ??? System feature be the same thing I need to increase?
Why is the [Best Possible Path] so important?
What's this new Failure Penalty? So far, not a single original identity was able to 'steal' something from me in case of failure.
Is Nakamura Hikari special?
Why is this Trial so weird?
Is there some deeper meening behind all of this I'm not seeing?
Strange.
["Ok, Ok. Calm down, Akira. Let's keep our split tasks. I...I'll work harder to see if I can find any deeper meaning behind all this. I'll keep on spinning all the pieces until they will somehow fit. But while I do so, you mustn't forget your purpose. It hasn't changed, not in the slightest."]
Yui's urgency in her voice was enough to snap me out of my thoughts.
'Alright. I'll leave the heavy lifting to you, for now. As you said, my goal has not changed'
["Yeah, make em bite the dust, Akira!"]
I chuckled a little
'Yeah, I will'
["Good. Now I'll go to work, I guess."]
Just before she cut the connection, I stopped her
'Ah, one last thing, Yui'
["Mh?"]
'Thank you.'
She laughed, but didn't reply. She didn't really need to.
Sometimes, silence conveyed much more than what words could.
With that, the connection was cut.
'Anyway, it's really a problem, this damned Quest...'
Leaving aside all the dubious stuff, It wasn't in my style to humiliate others as the quest demanded.
However, leaving aside the Failure Punishment I couldn't afford to suffer from, I sympathized with the original identity and truly wanted to repair the relationship this identity had with his sister.
Forming a pedestal for the original's confidence aligned with my goals, even if it diverged slightly from how I would act.
Even so, it's not like I'll throw myself in it without any form of preparation.
As always, Information was crucial.
Without it, I wouldn't act.
As such, I began scanning the crowd for the familiar faces of those who bullied the original.
The minor ones could be left alone. After all, after beheading the lion behind them, the cubs would have no choice but to bow down, if they want to survive. It's a cost-effective strategy.
I tasked Yui with extracting as much information as possible from the memories, while I focused on gathering real-time intel.
The things she had to do were many, but fortunately, she's quite an advanced AI. This much work is nothing compared to having to monitor and manage data of thousands of players back in SAO.
In short, she's quite capable.
But aside from that, it didn't take too long to find my preys.
The first person I spotted was a blond-haired, blue-eyed guy who looked quite strong for his age. Judging by his physique, I estimated his strength to be above that of an average human. However, given my body was still adapting to the new Magic System, accurately gauging his capabilities was challenging.
Especially someone who could manipulate 'Mana' to a decent extent like him.
While I might have difficulties, it doesn't mean I'm blind. A person's relationship with Mana can also give you a general sense of their strength.
Leaving aside [Sixth Sense], that's different.
That doesn't change, no matter the Magic System.
Even so, I didn't care. He was one of the targets, and as such, he would go down.
---
Author's Note:
With this, all misunderstandings should be, more or less, cleared up.
If you have more doubts, as always, I'll wait to reply to them in the comments!
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