CHAPTER 46: THE ART OF AGGRESSIVE GRATITUDE

There are different ways to express gratitude.

Some people just say "thank you."

Some offer gifts.

And then there are the rare, incredibly devoted types who... offer their bodies.

Ahem. I mean that in the noble, sacrificial, totally-not-suggestive way.

But what no one in the history of gratitude has ever done, at least, not without head trauma, is call their benefactor a bastard.

And yet... here we are.

"You bastard."

That’s what this guy called me.

Now, if you’re wondering who such an ungrateful soul might be—

It’s the same guy I "saved" just a few minutes ago. The one who was about to make a cringe-worthy love confession in front of a demon frog.

I gave him a chance—

The chance to have the best accommodation in the academy for the next one month.

And this is how he repays me?

Typical.

You see, the frog initiation ceremony wasn’t just some weird demonic prank. It was a tradition as well as a test.

And obviously, what test doesn’t come with a reward?

Especially in a place like Noxvalen, where the motto is probably something like: "Survive first. Complain later."

The rule was simple— the earlier you arrive the better the accommodations you get.

The first five get luxurious individual villas with five rooms and all kinds of facilities.

The next twenty get decent apartments with a couple of rooms and a personal training chamber.

Functional but still brag-worthy.

The rest just gets dual-sharing rooms.

Yeah, it was unfair but they didn’t really care.

Just then—

The boy, thinking I was ignoring him, tried punching me.

His brown eyes were locked onto mine like the ungrateful bastard he was.

Of course, before that fist could land on my face, I caught it with ease, pulled him forward and shoved my knee deep into his gut.

"Guaafff"

With a weird sound, he kneeled on the ground instantly.

Ahh... finally some manners.

Weakness was a sin in this world. And this guy without a single hint of self-preservation tried to attack me—his saviour— who was also stronger than him.

So, I had to give him a small lesson.

One that might actually save his life someday.

Because unlike humble and benevolent me, some folks around here are total nutcases.

I mean, even Noah—the actual protagonist—once sliced off his brother’s arm for doing the same thing in the novel.

And even if I had done something similar, the man sitting in the centre of the room wouldn’t have blinked.

So really, this guy got off easy.

THUD!!!

...Okay, maybe I said that a bit too early.

Because just as I was about to turn, with a loud crash that shook the floor, a fluffy crimson bear landed directly on top of the guy.

Bearlo.

He had jumped into the frog right after me,

...so, of course, he arrived at the perfect moment possible.

His muscular body dropped out of the teleportation portal like divine punishment—

—and flattened the poor guy, face-first into the floor.

A perfect kiss... between man and the ground.

The kiss was so passionate that I could imagine even gravity blushing.

The boy’s eyes turned blank as he lost consciousness.

Bearlo got up immediately, brushed imaginary dust off his black martial-artist robe and bowed politely toward the boy.

"I apologise," he said and walked towards me without waiting for forgiveness.

I turned without any hesitation.

Meanwhile, Viola was still standing there, staring at me with a mix of confusion and something dangerously close to anger, maybe.

Well, I couldn’t blame her. I had given her quite a few surprises today.

She must be wondering how I knew about the entrance.

I waited for the questions to come and right on cue, she opened her mouth—

"I will kill you," she said, flatly, "if you ever pull me into something as disgusting as that beast again without a single explanation."

...Seriously, this girl

She was smart, the moment we appeared here, she must have understood it was all a test...

... and yet she wasn’t asking how I knew. No curiosity about the portal or interrogation about how I was so calm.

Just threats.

How naïve.

Still, I smiled calmly. "Understood."

Then, my gaze shifted back to the man sitting in the centre of the room—Azriel The Hollow.

I recognised the guy. He was our soon-to-be homeroom teacher. The man responsible for guiding the main cast in the novel.

A cold and emotionless bastard, who cared what to eat next more than how many students died.

Even now, after our small commotion, he didn’t even blink.

His expression was as lifeless as his name.

I knew about him a lot more than some of the other characters.

Because—well, I used him in my game.

Back in the game, he was the tutorial NPC. And surprisingly, his fandom ranking was 26th out of hundreds of characters.

Apparently, people liked being emotionally destroyed by this cold bastard.

Seriously. They would screenshot his insults, frame them and post them with captions like "Daddy Azriel told me to die slower today."

The internet never failed to surprise me in my past life.

But right now, this bastard—Azriel the Hollow—was the one who was truly exceeding expectations.

He wasn’t saying anything. Not a word explaining what to do next let alone a greeting.

He was just sitting there, staring at empty air.

Well, who cares. He was probably just waiting for more students to arrive.

Without another glance at him, I turned.

"Come on," I said, motioning to Viola and Bearlo.

We walked past the boy who was still kissing the ground with closed eyes and made our way to a quieter corner of the hall, where a cluster of empty chairs sat.

Now we wait until more students come.

Not that I expected the others to show up anytime soon.

Even after seeing us jump into the frog’s mouth, most of the students would still be too paranoid to try the same.

So it’ll take a while... at least until the beast gets bored and starts gulping them down one by one.

Or so I thought.

Because just then—defying my low expectations—a girl teleported into the chamber.

Her lavender hair was tied into a loose ponytail, swaying gently and her golden eyes scanned the room... then paused on me with amusement.

Ahh. Right. She was here too.

Sylvie.

The strongest in raw strength among the Empire’s candidates.

A commoner, technically but that label didn’t even begin to cover it.

And the reason was simple.

She wasn’t human. Not that even she knew that yet.

She was a half-dragon.

—

Author’s Note:

Hey guys!

Please keep dropping your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to leave a Power Stone and Golden Ticket if you’re enjoying the story—it seriously helps and massively motivates me to keep writing.

I’ll be starting 2 Chapters per day very soon, and if fate allows (and my sanity survives), I’m even planning a mass release in the near future.

Thanks for reading and sticking with Rael’s chaotic journey.

You guys are the best.