Two weeks had passed since the start of the academy.
And during those two weeks, nothing truly worth mentioning had happened.
At least, that was how it should have sounded.
In the game, time skipped from one important event to the next. A few lines of text, a transition, and suddenly days or even weeks were gone. But this was reality. Time moved slowly here. It stretched. It settled in. It made you feel every hour of every day.
…Or at least, that was what I would have liked to say.
In truth, the last two weeks had passed in a blur.
I trained like a madman.
Just like I had done back in the temple.
At first, I thought it would become boring sooner or later. Repeating the same movements, exhausting my body, draining my mana, then doing it all over again the next day didn't sound like something a sane person would enjoy.
But I had been wrong.
The feeling of becoming stronger, even little by little, was dangerously addictive.
Each day, when I noticed I was slightly better than the day before, I wanted more. A little more speed. A little more strength. Better control. Better timing. More precision. It was like chasing a high that kept moving a step ahead of me, close enough to tempt me, far enough to make me keep going.
And since the academy offered students all those facilities for free, I made full use of them.
Training grounds.
Mana rooms.
Practice halls.
Private arenas.
Anything I could use, I used.
Now then, there was another important thing.
I hadn't only been working on myself.
There was something else I had to put a lot of effort into.
You all know exactly what I'm talking about.
I won't say it out loud, because it's really degrading m—
[
If there was one thing that had not changed over the course of those two weeks, unfortunately, it was the useless Goddess living rent-free inside my body.
She was still there.
Still talking back....
Still ruining my dignity!
Anyway, my relationship with Jayden and Milleia had improved a lot.
And when I say a lot, I truly mean it.
There had been several moments where I had to hold myself back from yelling at them, or from punching some random idiot from my class in the face right in front of them, but in the end, I managed.
Now, I could proudly say that if Ante-Eden ever brainwashed me, Jayden and Milleia would do everything in their power to save me without killing me first.
Yeah.
That was amazing.
I had grown so close to them that even I found it surprising.
Of course, there was still a certain distance.
I could feel it.
A part of me still belonged to another world, and another part of me had seen a future where I would murder their loved ones and countless innocent people. That wasn't something I could completely forget. Even if I laughed with them, even if I spent time with them, even if they treated me like a real friend, that gap remained.
Still…
They were friends.
The kind I could spend time with.
The kind whose company I didn't hate.
Back on Earth, only Ephera and Emric had known the truth about me and my past. I had a few other friends too, but Ephera died. I snapped, and I—
I shook my head.
There was no point going down that road right now.
The improvement in my relationship with them wasn't even the most important part anyway.
No.
The most important thing was that Jayden and Milleia had also grown much closer to each other.
There was still a wall between them, though.
Jayden still couldn't fully reach Milleia's heart.
But he would get his chance soon.
A very peculiar event was coming, and when it happened, he would finally have the opportunity to break through that wall.
Then there was Lyra.
She was still wary of me.
But less than before.
Or at least, I hoped so.
It seemed these last two weeks had convinced her that I wasn't after Milleia's body which was probably what she had first assumed.
No, not probably.
Certainly.
She was still confused about my goal, but seeing that I wasn't actively doing anything harmful to either Milleia or Jayden had lowered her guard a little.
Her relationship with Milleia had also grown much closer.
Milleia was without a doubt the only girl Lyra could be completely comfortable around. With her, Lyra didn't need to keep a mask on. She didn't need to weigh every word or stay on guard. Milleia was simply too innocent to imagine anything underhanded.
One thing that surprised me was how much progress Lyra made with Jayden too.
And this time, I didn't have to do anything.
It happened just like in the game.
Jayden had that protagonist aura around him, that aura that naturally drew even difficult girls toward him. Watching it happen in real time over those two weeks was honestly kind of fascinating.
And I made the smart decision not to interfere.
If I had tried to get involved in Jayden and Lyra's growing connection, Lyra would definitely have become suspicious. She would have started digging, and that would have risked ruining everything.
So for now, I focused only on helping Jayden get closer to Milleia.
And let me tell you, that was difficult.
Jayden was interested in Milleia, yes.
But he wasn't in love.
That was a key difference from the game.
In the game, the choices existed from the start to help secure the heroines. There was already a clear framework pushing things forward. Real life didn't work like that. Real people weren't automatically driven by scripted feelings.
A week ago, Jayden finally snapped and told me everything.
He admitted how annoyed he had become with my constant nagging about how to seduce Milleia. He said he wanted to act according to what his own heart told him, not follow someone else's plan.
And for the first time, I saw a glimpse of endgame Jayden in him.
Just a glimpse.
But it was there.
He was slowly progressing.
Slowly becoming more decisive.
More solid.
More like the man he would one day become.
So I told him I regretted pushing him too hard.
I apologized for being forceful.
And I promised I would stop meddling in matters involving him and Milleia.
Like hell!
Do I have to spell it out for you, Jayden?!
I will literally die if you don't save this kingdom with the awakened Heroines at your side!
[
'Shut up!'
I had indeed slowed my plans down a little.
I had softened the way I gave advice.
But I was still playing the wingman.
I had simply grown more discreet.
Before, I pulled strings openly.
Now, I pulled them from the shadows.
And since Jayden had become reluctant, I shifted part of my attention toward influencing Milleia instead. I created small problems for her and made sure Jayden would be the one to help her solve them.
How many times had I done that over the past two weeks?
The one who stole your notebook was me, Milleia....
The one who threw away your academy card?
Also me!
The one who had a few girls harass you in class?
That was me too!
And every single time, I made sure Lyra was occupied elsewhere so she wouldn't step in and solve everything before Jayden could.
It was exhausting.
It was troublesome.
It required timing, planning, and a lot of caution.
But I did it.
For two entire weeks.
Without being caught.
Without arousing Lyra's suspicion.
Still, even that wasn't the most tiring task I had on my plate.
No.
The most exhausting thing by far was keeping that idiot prince away from Milleia.
For Eden's sake.
How could Alfred keep trying to flirt with Milleia while his future fiancée was basically a ticking bomb waiting to explode?
Did he want to die?
Because that was how you died.
I could not bear looking at Layla's expression whenever her eyes landed on Alfred and Milleia.
It was terrifying.
And it was becoming urgent.
Very urgent.
I could feel Layla's patience wearing thinner by the day.
I had tried my best to push Jayden closer to Milleia, hoping he would eventually gather enough courage to speak up against Alfred like a proper man protecting the girl he liked.
It did not work.
In the end, with no better option, I focused on preventing meetings and conversations between Alfred and Milleia whenever I could.
I was almost certain that Alfred's presence was one of the reasons Milleia still hadn't fully opened her heart to Jayden.
He must have made some kind of impression on her.
Was she conflicted between Jayden and Alfred?
As expected, I really had to get rid of Alfred before he stole Milleia from Jayden the way he did in the game.
Milleia was one of the Main Heroines.
More importantly, she was the Cover Heroine.
Yes, technically, there were pseudo-happy endings that didn't require her.
But they were nearly impossible to achieve.
And for good reason.
Milleia possessed Raphiel's bloodline.
Once she fully awakened it, she became a complete cheat character.
During the final boss fight, she had been the MVP as far as I was concerned.
So yes.
At this point, I had no choice anymore.
I would have to speak to the villainess.
And that alone was enough to give me a headache.
I hadn't really spoken to her yet.
She had never spoken to me either.
Normally, she would have, at least at some point. But right now her thoughts were completely monopolized by Alfred and Milleia, and not in any positive way. On the outside, she still looked normal.
But there was clearly something boiling dark beneath the surface.
And my plan…
My plan was a nightmare.
If there were difficulty rankings for plans, then even 'hell' difficulty wouldn't be enough to describe this one.
I wanted to set Alfred and Layla up together.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
It sounded insane.
Alfred was obviously interested in Milleia.
But I had no other choice if I wanted to keep Layla from eventually doing something terrible to her.
Because of me, Alfred had started interacting with Milleia earlier than he was supposed to. And Lyra, who had noticed what she thought was a slight interest from Milleia toward Alfred, had started playing matchmaker.
I tried to stop her.
She didn't listen.
Too bad for her.
She had just earned herself a place on Layla's blacklist.
I warned her.
In the end, both Milleia's and Lyra's lives were almost resting in my hands.
Which meant I needed to approach Layla without raising any suspicion.
And that was the real problem.
Edward Falkrona and Layla Tarmias having a private conversation alone was the kind of thing that could become top news across the academy in a single afternoon.
And even worse, if her overprotective brother caught me approaching her, he would probably break my legs first and ask questions later.
He had definitely heard the rumors about me being a skirt-chaser.
There was no way in hell he would calmly allow me near his sister.
And to make matters even worse, Lady Luck had decided to toss the twins into the same class, [Pegasus Class].
So yes.
The difficulty level rose even higher.
"Sigh…"
That problem would have to wait.
For now, I needed to focus on today's event.
Two weeks had passed.
And that meant the clubs, or, as they were commonly called here, activities had officially opened.
The first years had been invited to visit every club and choose one if they wanted. Second years and third years were already stationed around campus, ready to present their clubs, give demonstrations, and recruit new members.
The more students a club attracted, the more Eden points it earned for the class behind it.
And if a club hit a certain recruitment quota, there were bonus points too.
In other words, today was going to be chaos.
The first years wanted clubs for entertainment, interest, or simply to help their class earn points.
The seniors wanted fresh recruits and as many points as they could squeeze out of the event.
Of course, I was going to take part in it too.
I would visit the clubs.
I would observe.
And most likely…
I would meet them.
Miranda.
Louisa.
…and the last [Main Heroine] of the First Game.