There is a concept called “parachuting.”
Not the parachute you use for activities like skydiving, but the kind where someone uses connections to get a position or rank in a workplace that doesn’t match their abilities. You know, that kind of parachute.
Lilith in the original story was exactly that type of character.
It was probably because of her title as a saintess. While there was a religious aspect to it, her divine power was just too useful to ignore.
Because of this, the academy forced the decision to place her in the advanced class, even though they knew she was lacking.
They likely thought the position would shape her into someone worthy of it… And while that eventually happened, the process was so turbulent that it would’ve been better for her to start in the lower class.
Appearing suddenly during the final season of the first semester and being put straight into the advanced class? Honestly, it was absurd.
While it wasn’t obvious because I effortlessly suppressed everything, every student assigned to the advanced class was an elite.
Their growth rates were absurd, to the point where they could easily handle moderately low-level fieldwork. And yet, in the midst of such students, a newly awakened, inexperienced saintess was parachuted in?
There was no way she could adapt properly. Even though she was a saintess, most opinions about her were negative. In fact, the first time the original story introduced Lilith, it was through bad rumors about her.
After hearing those rumors, if you participated in religious events scattered throughout the game, you might run into her randomly.
With the title of saintess attached to her, she was in a position to receive love calls from all sorts of places.
Once you built some rapport with her, she would be promoted to the intermediate class. If you added personal training to her second-year first-semester schedule, you’d encounter her again through more random events.
Since all her encounter events were random, she was one of the top five hardest characters to build favorability with. There was even a joke that only the chosen ones could meet her.
The only saving grace was that, after meeting her a few times and picking the right dialogue choices, her story would unlock.
Well, with the affection system being broken now, building favorability doesn’t really mean much anymore.
In any case, that’s all stuff from the game. Reflecting on it in the now drastically altered flow of reality feels meaningless.
So, how does it feel in reality now? Not much different.
Since she joined as a freshman at the start of the semester instead of being parachuted in, she didn’t earn the nickname, but her struggles remained.
While not as extreme as in the original, she still feels like she’s in the rear ranks.
Honestly, if it weren’t for her raw stats and divine power, she’d barely qualify for the intermediate class.
Even as a saintess who wielded divine power, she fought with her fists, just like in the original story. That can be excused, but she had a tendency to act impulsively, rushing into things based on what she saw in front of her. It made her easy to counter.
A more accurate description would be that her physical abilities were excellent, but her skills couldn’t keep up. In fact, her knowledge of combat was almost nonexistent.
In a grim world like this, for a princess of a kingdom near the Demon Lord’s forces to not know how to fight? It’s strange, but there was a reason.
As the only child born after much hardship in a war-torn kingdom, her parents probably wanted her to live in peace. When you look at it that way, the lack of narrative coherence becomes understandable. It’s just parental sentiment, after all.
There’s no logic in a parent’s love. Thinking that way made it easier to accept.
In the end, her current situation is a disaster born from inheriting a combative nature but never learning how to fight. What a mess.
Because of this, in today’s free-for-all event hosted by Reina, she ended up being the student who received the most healing. She charged forward like a wild boar and, unsurprisingly, kept getting injured.
She seemed to know this herself, as she remained visibly dejected all day. But knowing her personality, I figured she’d shrug it off by tomorrow and act like nothing happened.
I didn’t expect her to call on me like this.
“So, you’re asking me to teach you how to fight?”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t believe she’d ask me for help like this.
Caught completely off guard, my instinctive reaction was a negative response.
“You just started school. Why not focus on attending classes properly from now on?”
“But everyone else takes those classes too. There’s no point in just keeping up with them. I want to move up quickly.”
My reflexive rejection didn’t faze her at all. She spoke with the conviction of someone who believed failure wasn’t an option.
That can’t be right. You’re going to grow so fast you’ll surpass everyone else.
Sure, you’ll need to learn the basics from scratch, but once you get a handle on those, you’ll dominate. You’re brimming with talent; you just haven’t unlocked it yet. After all, bloodline doesn’t lie.
Even during today’s free-for-all, I noticed her movements gradually improving. Honestly, she’d figure things out on her own soon enough.
Add in her divine power as a saintess? Voilà, a main character is born.
But Lilith, unable to trust herself, seemed desperate.
After spending the whole day getting beaten up, her confidence had clearly taken a hit.
“I know it’s shameless to ask after yesterday, but please, help me.”
“I don’t think I’ll be much help.”
“You know full well the position you’re in right now, don’t you?”
It felt like she was overestimating me by a mile.
Sure, I aced the entrance exam, broke records in the practical test, and got directly into the student council… Okay, maybe the hype was justified.
This was all my own doing.
But what do I do? Accepting this request feels like it’ll add another layer to my troubles.
Besides, I’m not even sure I can teach her properly. My knowledge of combat boils down to gaming strategies and the unhelpful advice of “just dodge everything and land all your hits.”
That said, refusing her outright felt… risky. She’d probably storm off to train alone and show up tomorrow bruised and battered.
“Please. If you help me, I’ll grant you any favor you want in return.”
As my hesitation dragged on, Lilith, now desperate, made an outrageous offer.
A wish from a main character? That’s a deal worth taking.
Truthfully, she’d grow on her own in no time.
Even if I taught her poorly, she’d still thrive and become independent.
With that in mind, I nodded as if I had no choice.
“Alright. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but fine.”
If all I had to do was lend a hand and earn a wish in return, there was no reason to refuse.
“Really? Awesome! Then let’s head back to the place we went earlier. Advanced students can use it freely.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. The sooner, the better.”
My plan to head to the student council would be delayed again.
Well, I guess it’s fine.
Lilith and I returned to the sparring room where the free-for-all had taken place.
On the way back to the dormitory, the spot beside me felt strangely empty.
Ever since coming to the academy, I hadn’t spoken much, yet my mouth, which had stayed quiet all this time, now itched uncomfortably from being shut for just a little while.
To be honest, she was the chatty type—just not very good at starting conversations in front of others.
“Ah, come to think of it, I forgot to tell her to meet me tomorrow and go together.”
Maybe that’s why. Even though no one was around to hear her, a muttered monologue escaped.
“I’ll tell her tomorrow and go with her starting the day after.”
She thought she might be clinging a little too much, but since he didn’t seem to dislike it, it was probably fine.
This kind of thing was normal between friends, after all.
For Seria, who’d never had a proper friend before, her first friend, Rudion, was a precious bond.
‘I don’t know if Rudion even thinks of me as a friend, though.’
Honestly, it didn’t seem like Rudion had any close friends either.
She had never seen him chatting with anyone else… Oh.
The face of a fellow classmate suddenly popped into her mind.
The mysterious silver hair that shimmered like moonlight, contrasting with her strangely dark, black eyes.
Despite her calm appearance, she had shown a bold side, though she acted unusually timid when it came to Rudion.
The reason was clear. I had seen everything she did during yesterday’s practical test.
“Her name was Lilith, wasn’t it?”
There was a letter from her father that mentioned a kingdom overtaken by the Demon Lord’s forces. Someone who had fled from there was now attending the academy.
And engraved on the pendant Lilith carried was unmistakably the crest of Lafine.
If she was going to carry that around, why bother concealing her family name?
Perhaps she had wanted to reveal it, but someone else stopped her.
‘Lilith… Lafine.’
A saintess chosen to join the advanced class, and she’s a princess from another kingdom? The world truly works in mysterious ways.
Well, all of that was irrelevant now.
What mattered was that Rudion had taken the seat next to her at her suggestion.
They had only briefly encountered each other during yesterday’s practical test. For him to comply without hesitation when she suddenly asked him to sit next to her… it was strange.
Did he also recognize her pendant?
No, that couldn’t be it. Rudion wasn’t the type to change his behavior just because he knew who someone was.
After all, he didn’t treat her, an imperial princess, any differently. Why would he bow to a foreign princess?
‘Then why… hmm…’
She couldn’t figure it out. Her limited relationships didn’t give her enough perspective to understand others.
Simply knowing that Rudion had followed Lilith’s suggestion willingly told her nothing.
‘Is he just good at listening to beautiful people?’
Honestly, Seria was confident in her looks wherever she went.
Lilith’s beauty, though, was striking enough to overwhelm even Seria, a fellow woman.
… She felt a bit annoyed with herself. Thinking that Rudion might judge people based on their looks—what was she even thinking?
At that moment, something translucent and unfamiliar suddenly appeared before her eyes.
It was rectangular, glowing faintly blue, with text written in a language she could read.
Ding!
[The Favorability System has been unlocked!]
[Reaching certain favorability levels will grant special rewards and unique abilities.]
[Favorability: 8/100]
[12 points remaining until the next reward.]
“…Huh?”
The sudden appearance of this notification blew away all the thoughts she had been mulling over.
For a moment, Seria stopped thinking entirely and blankly made her way back to the dormitory.
It took her a long time to even understand what it was, and when she realized who it applied to, she ended up burying her face in her pillow…
But that was a story only Seria would know…