Academy’s New Guard is Unusual - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The protagonist of this game was Evangeline.

Evangeline had numerous flaws. The greatest among them was her cursed social skills.

Evangeline’s social skills were terrible. Of course, she had her reasons, but it was still serious.

There was a reason she had so few friends despite being described as the ‘Continent’s Greatest Beauty’ in the game. One of those few friends was Andy.

Of course, to Andy, Evangeline was just an acquaintance he occasionally greeted, but to Evangeline, Andy was a best friend.

That was the reason I recruited Andy first.

“Be friends with Evangeline.”

“Be friends with her? You don’t mean just get close to her?”

Andy tilted his head, as if something was strange. I gave a light nod.

“Yes, be friends with Evangeline.”

“Yes! Boss-nim! Just leave it to me! I’ll make her unable to live without me!!”

Andy spouted impure words and gave a sloppy salute. I held back the urge to correct the angle of his salute.

“But Evangeline… that’s a name I’ve never heard before. Seeing as Boss-nim is emphasizing it, she must be an important person?”

“She is a very important person.”

“Oh-. Is it perhaps this? This?”

Andy asked, holding up his pinky finger. I furrowed my brow.

“Absolutely not.”

“Heh heh, understood. Where is the target? I’ll go handle it right away.”

“She will be here soon.”

I turned my gaze to the bakery in front of us. It was a famous bakery, to the point where it was a mandatory stop for any noble visiting the capital.

Evangeline was crazy about bread. She loved bread so much that she would use it as a pillow to sleep on. Her bizarre logic was that she could eat the bread even while sleeping.

If it was Evangeline, the moment she arrived in the capital, she would run to that bakery.

“What are the target’s features?”

“Pink hair and a beauty.”

“A beauty, huh. Heh heh, this will be worth the effort.”

Andy rubbed his hands together with a lewd smile.

How long had we waited?

A splash of pink poked out from the end of the alley.

It was the protagonist, Evangeline.

According to the settings, Evangeline was the Continent’s Greatest Beauty. In the game, it was described that her appearance made one feel ‘love’ beyond just ‘beauty’.

Because of that appearance, Evangeline went through countless hardships.

Her family was ruined, her parents’ necks were hung on the gallows, and her younger sibling went missing.

Because of that, Evangeline considered her appearance a curse, not a blessing. That was the reason she covered most of her face with large, thick glasses that made her look stupid.

It was a common trope in games where a woman wearing thick glasses turns out to be a stunning beauty once she takes them off.

The problem was-.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Evangeline would fall over at the drop of a hat. Just like now.

There was clearly nothing to trip over, but Evangeline fell flat on her face. She made such a crisp sound that it hurt just watching. Her dragonfly glasses rolled on the floor.

“Ah, it hurts…….”

As Evangeline lifted her head, the noisy street went quiet. Everyone stared at her blankly, as if bewitched.

Even I, who knew Evangeline’s settings, was momentarily surprised.

‘So this is why she’s the Continent’s Greatest Beauty.’

Evangeline hurriedly put her glasses back on. However, the gazes that had already been drawn to her did not scatter.

Then, Evangeline-.

“Kyak! Kek! Kyuk! Syuk-syuk! Syak!”

She made bizarre noises while waving her hands. With her messy pink hair and dragonfly glasses, she looked like a real crazy woman.

The gathered gazes hurriedly scattered.

“D-don’t tell me- is that her?”

Andy pointed at Evangeline with a dubious expression.

“Yes, that’s her.”

“Hmmmm. I think I need to charge an extra fee for this-.”

“An extra fee?”

“Haha, just kidding. Just kidding.”

“Take it.”

I took out a pouch and tossed it. It was a pouch filled with gold coins.

Andy was actually flustered and waved his hands.

“N-no, I was joking! It’s fine!”

To think the guy who would become a Great Mage had such small ambitions.

I narrowed my eyes.

“It’s a friendship fee.”

“No, who takes money to be friends-.”

Instead of answering, I pointed at Evangeline.

“Kya-ha-hak!”

Now Evangeline was puffing up her body like some kind of animal. People were busy avoiding her rather than giving her any attention.

Hmm, Andy let out a small groan and quietly took the pouch.

Soon, Evangeline entered the bakery. I pushed Andy’s back.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes! Player entering the game!”

Andy spat out an ominous line and followed her into the bakery.

‘Evangeline.’

Seeing the protagonist, Evangeline, in person was a unique experience. Of course, it wasn’t a good feeling.

Because when I played Yeonjol, Evangeline was the landmine that gave me the most Game Overs.

Having to just graduate this trash-tier sunfish-.

I’d rather fight an Outer God. Seriously.

‘Still, Andy is here this time.’

When Andy would become friends with Evangeline was an important element in the game. It was because Andy helped alleviate Evangeline’s fragile sunfish mentality, even if just a little.

Since I attached Andy to her early this time, the possibility would increase even more-.

“Kya-ha-aak!”

The bakery door opened roughly and Evangeline ran out. Evangeline let out a bizarre scream and fled quickly.

Andy, who came out late, pointed at the fleeing Evangeline and shouted.

“Boss-nim! That bastard is running away!”

What a pain.

I cursed and headed toward Andy.

“What did you do to make her like that?”

“No, I didn’t do anything! I just said hello and she did that!”

Andy shouted as if he were aggrieved.

It was a strange thing. Evangeline was always close to Andy, if no one else. So why-?

“Andy, if Evangeline had been next to you without my order, what would you have done?”

“Huh? I would have pretended not to know her. Why would I- with that thing.”

“What if you were fellow freshmen?”

“I guess I would have just greeted her for the sake of appearances?”

“Hmm, that was the problem.”

I realized why things had turned out this way.

The problem was that Andy had approached her first. It seemed that had triggered Evangeline’s wariness.

“Boss-nim! Should I unleash the kids?”

“Unleash who. If you wait, she will come.”

“Huh? She just caused that scene and you think she’ll come back? No way, surely not-.”

To Andy’s dubious question, I pointed to the end of the street. There was a woman wearing a hood, and pink hair was poking out from the side.

“No, she’s already back?”

“Evangeline loves bread very much. Even if there were a demon, she would have returned.”

“Even if she loves bread, does it make sense for her to come back already after causing that scene?”

It makes sense. Because Evangeline is trash-tier.

“Go in first and buy all the bread with chocolate in it. Every single one, without exception.”

“Huh? All of it? That bread over there is super expensive-.”

A mage who spends billions on research complaining about the price of mere bread. It was Andy’s chronic illness.

“Use the money I gave you. It’s an order. Buy it all, and stand there quietly holding it.”

“Ugh, understood-.”

Andy’s voice dropped sharply.

He was talking big, but now that he actually had to spend money, he seemed to be getting cold feet.

“If you stand still holding the chocolate bread, Evangeline will approach you. Do not show interest, just eat the bread, and Evangeline will not be able to resist and will beg for the bread. That’s when you give her one, and she’ll be hooked.”

“It’s that simple?”

It’s not simple at all. It’s only a method that works because it’s Andy.

Instead of explaining, I pushed Andy’s back.

“Do not show interest first, under any circumstances.”

“It’s not like she’s a wild animal-.”

Andy grumbled as he entered the bakery.

Soon, Evangeline carefully approached the bakery. After hesitating for a long time in front of the bakery, Evangeline went inside.

The look of it was a bit funny, but connecting Evangeline and Andy was very important.

It was no exaggeration to say that the end of the world depended on it.

‘If it’s that kind of world, wouldn’t it be better if it just ended.’

I pressed my temples firmly due to fatigue.

‘Do I really have to buy all of this?’

Andy trembled slightly at the brutal price of the bread.

However, it was Boss-nim’s order.

“Here, take everything from here to here!”

Andy recited a line he had wanted to say for a long time. He felt an inexplicable pleasure at the surprised look on the bakery clerk’s face.

‘Is it really okay to do this? Won’t I go broke? Even so, it’s too expensive!’

Andy handed over the gold coins with trembling hands. To hand over gold coins while buying bread! It was something he had never imagined.

At that moment, the bakery door opened and a woman with pink hair entered. Her face was not visible because of her thick, large glasses. It was the target, Evangeline.

Andy just stood there holding the bread as ordered.

Evangeline, who entered the bakery, wandered around as if bewitched. After circling the bakery once, Evangeline examined the bread as seriously as a mage selecting a magic stone. It was so solemn that the bakery felt just like a laboratory.

Then, Evangeline hesitantly paced in front of the clerk. Even at a glance, it looked like she had something she wanted to ask the clerk.

After pacing for a long time, the clerk asked Evangeline if she was looking for a specific bread.

Evangeline answered something, but her voice was too small. The clerk asked again because they couldn’t hear, and after that repeated about three times, annoyance appeared on the clerk’s face.

When the clerk asked again in a sharp voice-.

“Choco-breeeead!!”

Evangeline squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

Andy, who was watching, was genuinely impressed.

‘Wow, she’s truly trash-tier.’

When the flustered clerk said that all the chocolate bread was sold out, Evangeline collapsed. She looked like someone whose family had been ruined.

As Evangeline even welled up with tears, the clerk hurriedly pointed at Andy. Andy turned his gaze away, pretending not to be interested.

Evangeline hesitantly approached him, looking cautious.

Andy did not pay any attention to Evangeline. Even if it wasn’t Boss-nim’s order, he didn’t want to get involved with Evangeline anyway.

“E-excuse me-.”

Evangeline, who had reached in front of him at some point, cautiously called out to Andy.

“What is it?”

“Ch-chocolate bread! You bought! All of it! I heard! That! I also! Like chocolate bread! That’s too much! A-ah! No! Not that!”

Evangeline muttered something to herself. Her voice was so small that it couldn’t even be heard properly.

In the end, Andy, unable to stand the frustration, took out a chocolate bread and held it out, asking.

“You want the chocolate bread?”

“E- yeeees! I will pay! I will pay for it!”

“Forget it. I have plenty anyway.”

Andy, who didn’t want to get any more entangled, tossed her a chocolate bread.

Evangeline, who received the chocolate bread, made a strange expression. She seemed to be deep in thought.

“Ah! Don’t tell me!”

Evangeline, who sighed to herself, lifted her chin.

For some reason, I felt uneasy.

Evangeline pointed at Andy and said.

“You, did you fall for me?”

What? Why did the conversation suddenly go that way-.

As Andy was flustered, Evangeline became even more convinced.

“Sorry, I like older guys. Wait! You’re not going to take the chocolate bread back just because I rejected you, right?”

Evangeline hurriedly hid the chocolate bread behind her back.

Andy vowed to himself.

That he would have to charge an extra friendship fee for this.