บท 19: EP 19 – Class (2)
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As a healer, Trisha's presence in the 'Hero Party' was subtle.
Whether it's in combat or anything else, there's not much for her to do.
However, the reason why she's never ignored in the group was because she had her own strengths.
It's her job to keep everyone on the same page and get along, and is responsible for livening up the mood.
Currently, Trisha was feeling distressed in fulfilling that role.
'Oh no…!'
Although the effect of Divine power varies greatly from person to person, the special abilities it brings are no secret.
And Trisha's ability was seeing people's emotions.
'Why is she like this…?'
She trembled when she saw Elijah's current state.
Although Elijah was bright and smiling like usual, her emotions were surging violently like a strong current underwater.
To put it simply, she is furious…!
"…This should be the last one."
Luca said after cutting a wolf-like monster in two with his massive double-edged axe.
"Given the presence of these powerful monsters, there should be something here."
"Right."
Listening to Lucas's words, Falco raised his monocle. His gaze was focused on the bluish rocks scattered nearby.
"It's a rare mineral deposit. We shouldn't get a low score if we take a couple."
"Oh, then let Luca handle it."
"…come and help, Grid."
As the reluctant Grid got dragged along, Trisha approached Elijah.
Elijah was just silent and seemed lost in her thoughts.
Even now, her emotions were still churning with insidious colors. Finally, Trisha could no longer bear to watch on the side.
"Hey, Elijah."
"Hmm?"
"Is something bothering you?"
Trisha cautiously inquired, but Elijah only shook her head and smiled.
"No, none at all."
Lie.
The dark energy welled up as she said that.
"I am here if anything is troubling you. I don't want you to take it all on your own."
"Eh, you're my friend. Of course I wouldn't do that."
… Lie.
Trisha broke out in a cold sweat.
Emotions reflect a person's disposition. Using her ability, she's able to observe its color and roughly guess people's 'personality'.
Now, if Trisha were to say the most unique people she's seen as of late, it would be none other than Princess Tristan and Elijah.
The Princess' color was basically a gray of nothingness. However, black matter would surface from time to time. It was like sticky ink, that's how dark it was.
But it looked like she's suppressing it.
'… I've seen it a few times.'
Although not common among the general populace, it isn't strange to see from someone in the Tristan Family.
Elijah on the other hand.
'Truly, strange.'
Evil people naturally radiate negative emotions.
However, Elijah had always been a color close to pure white. But now, Trisha was shocked to discover dark colors mixing in.
Possessiveness, dominance, monopoly, something like that.
It was as if whenever Elijah thought of a 'certain person', it would come out.
Perhaps, even Elijah herself is not aware of this.
'… It's definitely not like this before.'
It felt like this all started after the freshmen welcome party incident. Fortunately, the monsters were subdued without any casualties.
What exactly happened there?
"But you look like you're thinking about something."
'More importantly, you're so angry that it's literally changing your very colors.'
Trisha wouldn't be able to be at peace if she doesn't appease Elijah.
"… Was I too obvious? As expected, nothing can really go through you Trisha."
Ah, she's starting to open up.
When she saw the white light shining within Elijah, Trisha couldn't help but smile in relief.
She then started to wrack her brains to keep the conversation going.
'At what point did Elijah got so angry…?'
"Ah, by any chance, that Dowd Campbell-"
However, Trisha immediately shut her mouth before she could even finish her sentence.
It's because she saw Elijah's emotion quickly getting stained with darkness again.
What made it scarier was the fact that Elijah still had a wide smile on her face.
"Well, I suppose I guessed correctly."
Fortunately, she seemed willing to share her thoughts.
"No, it's just that, I've been involved with him lately…"
Elijah then continued to tell one story after the other.
From how she asked him to become friends to her owing him. So recently, she's been acting like a love pigeon to the person he liked. She even went as far as breaking her own principles because 'that person' is from the Tristan Family, her enemy. And yet, she's been dismissed as not even a friend…
Seeing Elijah pouring out such a steady flow of sentences made Trisha blinked blankly a few times.
This, could it be.
"Elijah, do you think of that person as a real friend?"
"… Uh?"
Trisha was shocked by Elijah's unprepared response and hurriedly shut her mouth.
She saw Elijah's emotions getting mixed up and unknowingly blurted out such words.
Her emotions didn't budge, regardless of the situation, when they're together.
"Ah, it's nothing!"
"…"
Trisha was feeling a suffocating tension from Elijah's silence.
This was the first time she's seen her hesitate. It's as if she had never thought of this before. Inside, her already muddled emotions became murkier by the second.
"…But, he drew the line because we're not that close?"
As Elijah struggled to come up with an answer, Trisha's face became more contemplative.
Elijah's normally white colored emotions were creeping into a gloomy mess.
She has to say something here…!
"I, I'm sure that person didn't mean it!"
"Then why did he say that?"
'How would I know?'
But she can't possibly say this.
"Uh, it, isn't it because he's being considerate for you?"
"… Considerate?"
"Isn't that Dowd from a small barony with no backing? He probably thought that if he sticks to you, who's the hero candidate, it'll bring you a lot of trouble. Many will definitely get dissatisfied with it…! So, he's preventing that from happening now…!"
"…"
Trisha managed to squeeze out an excuse.
And although the rationale was weak, at least she's not wrong.
"…"
It even made Elijah think about it, her hand on her chin while pondering.
"…Is it necessary to go that far? No, he is the kind of person that does things without saying anything… But still, it's only between friends…"
"You can see it for yourself the next time. He'll definitely say that he didn't mean it when he said you weren't close! Eun!"
"…Is that so?"
"He'll draw a line with you until his status become a bit more stable! Deep inside, he probably feels very close with you…! Yep, that's it…!"
"… Really?"
Please stop asking more questions.
Please understand and let your anger go.
Trisha hopefully thought.
"Oh, wait. Isn't that Tallion?"
Fortunately for Trisha, she was saved by these words from the men gathering minerals next to them.
"Where?"
"About a 30-minute walk from here."
"…You can see that, Grid?"
""
It was Grid who spoke, as he was staring into the distance.
As a long-range marksman, his eyesight was naturally very good.
"By Tallion… you mean Viscount Armand's son? They're good at using spears, right?"
"But it's a bit strange. I've never seen him so angry. And is he muttering curses?"
"…He's cursing?"
"Okay. Let's see…"
Grid frowned and focused on Tallion's mouth.
"…I swear. I'll kill that bastard. I'll kill that dog scammer. I'mma kill him. I'll turn you to a skewer… Wow, how bloody."
Everyone's heads turned at Grid's words.
Tallion Armand was known as the epitome of human excellence and restraint. The most perfect role model.
What made such a person be this angry during class?
"…"
There's only one.
Elijah flinched upon hearing the word, 'scammer'.
I had no intention of provoking the guy that much.
All I wanted was to experiment on the gift's reach.
[ Target 'Tallion's anger has reached the threshold! ]
[ Giving indelible shame! ]
[ Negative tendency has been imprinted! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
[ Skill: Evil Ruler has been activated. Obtained 1 command right over the target! ]
"…"
It worked so well.
Well, it wasn't really anything special in the first place.
It was an obvious route that any freshmen would take. A talent like Tallion would've done the same.
That's why I just went ahead and tried to hit all my targets.
I even threw in some of these lines, just in case the provocation wasn't enough; 'It's really amazing! You're always behind!' 'Thanks for the materials!' 'Thank you for your incompetence!' 'If you try a bit harder, you might catch up!'
All of which were from the original story.
The polite sarcasm was pristine.
That's roughly… I've repeated it about 25 times.
"…"
Well, he's really mad 'mad' right now.
Thinking so, I quickly ran away from the pursuing Tallion.
I couldn't care less about class, I'm about to get skewered by a damn spear!
[ Danger Detected. ]
[ Determined as attempt to injure. ]
[ Skill: Desperation raised to C Class. ]
This even came up.
I wouldn't die, but the model student was definitely angry enough that he'd break my jaw.
'The problem is…'
If he keeps chasing me like this, I'll eventually have to face him at some point.
I really don't want to fight Tallion right now.
President Atallante herself warned me to not stand out. Nothing good will happen, especially since this guy is related to the big boss, Purifier.
Angering him is fine, but if I fight and accidently hammered him too hard, I'm risking of losing the 'connection point' between him and the Purifier.
I don't want that.
"Hey!"
So, I tried to talk it out with Tallion, who's still chasing me with a hideous look from behind.
"Look, let's just say it's my loss and split the harvest in half. How about that?"
[ Danger Escalated. ]
[ Determined as attempt to seriously injure. ]
[ Skill: Desperation raised to B Class. ]
"…"
Well that didn't work.
I wasn't even trying to agitate him this time.
Right now, I just kept running away from the angry, demonic Tallion.
'…But won't I eventually get caught like this?'
After all, this was a man who could closely keep up Elijah. Even with the B Class Desperation, I feel like I'm losing terms of speed.
If he does catch up, won't I have to fight him?
While I was contemplating on my next move, someone suddenly appeared in front of me and I nearly crashed into them.
"…!"
I almost ate dirt because of my forceful stop. Fortunately, the person grabbed me before that could happen.
"What are you doing, sir?"
Elijah sighed, while patting her forehead. Beside her was a tired, panting priestess.
'It's Trisha.'
She was the Hero Party's Healer. She was nicknamed as the 'Natural Lie Detector' because of her ability to see other people's emotions.
As I briefly glanced at the familiar face, Elijah calmly said.
"Trisha, can you isolate us?"
"Uh, en!"
A hemispherical barrier then formed around us, which blocks people's perception.
Elijah continued.
"You could've just peacefully come with us. Why are you running around in a such place?"
"…No, there's a reason for this."
She turned her head in dissatisfaction.
"So what's the reason? We saved you, so you should tell us that much."
Although Elijah sounded normal, seeing Trisha's contemplative face on the side was indicating that she's having some… 'violent' thoughts.
It's clear that she's angry with my response.
"…"
That thought flashed through my mind.
However, making Tallion angry and her angry were on different levels of importance.
Who knows what sort of strange effects getting stained by 'negative tendency' brings.
It might not be a big deal for a mid-chapter boss, but something like that on the protagonist would undoubtedly cause a butterfly effect.
So, what now?
The lie detector Trisha was next to her so an excuse would just backfire.
For now, let's go with the truth.
"That guy started the fight first."
"Fight?"
"He asked why a guy like me is friends with you."
At this time, both Elijah and Trisha's expressions became strange.
"…?"
Was this really such a surprise?
"…Why would you fight over something like that, no. I guess he probably thought of you as a scammer or something."
After muttering that, Elijah looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"Then why don't you just ignore him? Tallion is pretty strong. And you said that we're not even close…"
"How can I ignore that?"
It's literally a test subject served in a silver platter.
"…"
Hearing this, Elijah cleared her throat while turning her head slightly.
Her nape was slightly red.
… Is she still angry about this?
Am I not speaking nothing but truth right now?
"…"
"…"
Meanwhile, Trisha's eyes started to twinkle when she heard me and poked Elijah in the side.
Immediately after, Elijah asked.
"…Sir, did you know that this would happen?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you know that he would act like that from the beginning?"
Did I know that Tallion would be so angry?
I purposely agitated him so how could I not know?
"How can I not know? Anyone with some sense can tell."
"…Is that why you didn't come with me before? Were you afraid that he'd harm me too?"
"…?"
Uh, no?
I don't understand what me provoking Tallion has got to do with you being harmed.
[ Favorability of the target 'Elijah' has been increased! ]
[ The favorabilty level has been upgraded to 'Interest Level 2'! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
[ Due to the good inclination of the character, the reward has been reduced! ]
"…"
I had no clue why this suddenly popped up here.
While I was at a loss, Elijah sighed and turned her head to Trisha.
"Trisha, would you mind removing the barrier?"
"Uh, why?"
"Nothing, it's just."
After saying that, she suddenly reached for her sword.
"I've always hated nosy people. Especially meddling in others' relationships."
"…Uh, Elijah?"
Trisha stiffly called out.
Elijah's current expression wasn't something a hero candidate should have.
"You have to return the favor of harming your friend in the same way, right?"
'I haven't been able to relieve some stress lately. This is good.'
As she muttered something like that, the following message appeared:
[ Target 'Elijah' has been influenced by you and is feeling intense anger towards target 'Tallion'! ]
[ Negative tendency has been imprinted! ]
[ Rewards Available! ]
[ Skill: Evil Ruler has been activated. Obtained 1 command right over the target! ]
"…"
What's this.
What the hell is going on?
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