Chapter 73: A Deal?
Richard stared me down, and I personally became really nervous. However, I made sure to keep the same smile I had, lest I showed my nervousness.
After some time, he rubbed his chin before shaking his head.
"No, I didn't really think of anything to give you."
I blinked a few times.
"You didn't?"
Richard scratched the back of his head with a clueless expression.
"I mean, normally people just do things I ask them to. Now that I think about it, it is a little strange that they would just do things for free... but that's how most of them are."
Wh-
This guy...
"Did you remember the people that did those favors for you?"
Richard raised an eyebrow.
"Um, some of them I guess. Not too many though."
...My condolences to the ones that tried to curry favor with this dense guy. Wait, but he's actually really smart, so how can he be dense?
Oh, right. There were no classes on common sense or basic social customs.
Hm.
I guess there's no reason to harp on it too much.
"To be honest, the way I fight isn't really something that can be taught, but more so understood. At the same time, it was something I learned through a lot of effort, so it would leave me feeling a little unhappy if I were to just give it away for free."
Richard gave a quick nod.
"Ah, alright. How about ten thousand gold coins?"
Holy shit. That's one thousand meals right there. But at the same time, money wasn't something that was that huge of a concern right now, since I technically had one hundred thousand for now, and Nathan had him that pale meat business.
I interlaced my fingers and covered my expression with my hands just in case any emotions there slipped out.
"Isn't there anything else you can offer other than money?"
Richard scratched the side of his head.
"Um, I don't know. What do you want?"
...
Is it possible this guy is just pretending to be stupid? Fuck. Honestly, I didn't really know what nobles did in relation to each other in terms of bribing and other similar actions.
My question was posed because I thought that this guy was aware of things like that. But then again, that was expecting too much out of a person that didn't understand the concept of bribes in the first place.
I suppose doing it in a more normal way was fine too.
"How about you just owe me one? At some point in time, I may send you a letter requesting some help from you. Of course, if you think that it is too much, you don't have to do it, but I would appreciate at least an attempt."
Richard promptly nodded.
"Alright, sure."
I felt a little relieved. Although this kind of arrangement is absolutely worthless when the party that owes the favor is untrustworthy or shameless, as they probably won't even do anything. However, Richard seemed to be a little too oblivious to have that character, so I was willing to gamble this much.
Though unreliable, I gained quite a bit from this.
With a smile, I started.
"Very well. The mentality I will talk about can be summed up most simply in a single word."
I raised my hand.
"Cruelty."
Richard raised an eyebrow. He nodded, telling me to continue, so I did.
"To put it most simply, it means doing whatever it takes to win."
I placed one hand on the table and leaned over.
"For starters, know there are many things we are unwilling to do to another person either consciously or subconsciously. This can include dirty things, such as going for one's genitals, or spitting at someone."
Hearing that, Richard posed a question.
"Isn't that cheap?"
I held out my hands on either side with a smile.
"At the end of the day, the winner is the one that emerges victorious, regardless of the methods, correct?"
Richard nodded.
"That is true."
I took a deep breath and went on with my spiel.
"If you boil it down, it just means taking advantage of another person's weakness, but there are some we ignore without thinking about it. For example, if you grabbed onto someone's eye, you may find it too hard to pull out, but it would cause the person in question extreme pain, which can be used to win."
Richard nodded with a fascinated question. I had a bad feeling, so I added something.
"By the way, you shouldn't do things like that in a spar."
He put one hand to his chin and furrowed his brows.
"Why is that?"
I let out a sigh.
"A spar is more friendly, so you don't do anything that can permanently harm the other. Most of these things won't apply for sparring, but believe me when I say you will probably put this into practical use relatively soon."
...Too soon, to be honest.
Richard let out a long hum before smiling.
"Alright!"
Seeing as he agreed, I cleared my throat and continued.
"The reason why this isn't a technique that can really be taught is that everyone has a variety of different weaknesses. This can come from their physical body or their personality. Understanding how to take advantage of that can let you make bets that you will probably win."
He looked a bit confused, so it was probably time for an example.
"Imagine if a person was wearing heavy armor and heavy weapons. Since those are exhausting on stamina, you can half-heartedly commit to the fight, waiting out until they are quite tired, then finishing them off."
Richard's eyes sparkled, but then he furrowed his brows. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but then shut it right after. His eyes returned to sparkling like they were before.
He didn't seem displeased, so there was probably nothing wrong.
"In the spars, you may have seen me hit someone in the neck. However, I didn't randomly hit them there. There are certain arteries that the brain depends on mostly for blood going to the brain. More than just hitting it, it's more like I press my sword against part of their neck."
The corners of my mouth crept up.
"That way, one side of their body goes numb, giving an opening for a lethal strike."
Richard frowned as he scratched his head.
"But I don't really know any weaknesses. Could you teach me?"
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I could, but while that would increase your power right now, it wouldn't in the long term."
That was kind of bullshit, as I could just explain the various weak points of the human body to him as well, but I was just too lazy to.
"After all, a lot of opponents you may fight without any prior knowledge. In those times, you will have to find out their weaknesses as quickly as possible. In other words, even when you are fighting with your life on the line, you have to remain calm."
Richard placed both hands on the table.
"Understood. Remain calm."
I shook my head.
"You are brushing this off too simply. While it sounds easy in theory, this is actually also a skill you will have to practice, along with your deduction abilities. The human body normally puts all the energy into the body during a crisis and takes away power from the mind, even more so for the part responsible for logical decisions."
I lowered my hands and tapped on the table with my index finger.
"The easiest way to combat this is to put yourself in more scary situations, but that isn't realistic. Instead, whenever you are sparring with someone, don't just let yourself go in fighting. Take a step back and hold yourself in before going berserk, and think of a general plan."
Richard sucked in a cold breath.
"I've never done that before. Do you always do that too?"
I let out a laugh.
"Of course, otherwise why am I even teaching you this?"
Hm. That's most of it, I think.
Ah, right, there was one more.
"After you do have a calm mind, you will have to think of things from the other person's perspective as much as possible. This is obviously quite hard to do, but the better you can, the easier it will be to find out things that may not be immediately apparent and take advantage of them."
Richard continued to rub his chin almost like he was trying to grind it down, then frowned.
"That sounds really difficult."
I laughed.
"Of course it is. It's not as simple as just telling you some techniques that you can copy. But while it is far more confusing, it has the matching results."
A smile formed on his face.
"That does make sense. I suppose this makes it understandable. Strength is not everything... it is also how you use that strength."
I stood up and pointed at him with a smirk.
"You're catching on quick."
Richard crossed his arms and smiled confidently.
"Of course I would!"
I then walked out and gave a wave.
"Don't forget that you owe me a favor."
Richard let out a laugh.
"Of course, that was the deal."
Thankfully he didn't realize I was just saying go for the weak spots but lengthening it like how a high schooler adds extra words to an essay.
He stayed in the room and mumbled to himself, digesting the words that I had said to them. When I stepped out in the hall by myself, I felt out of place. Even though logically, I should feel more comfortable while not around an archduke's son, for some reason it felt worse like this.
Ordinarily, there would be a few people roaming around the halls, but here, I only saw one.
Even with just a few people, it was still possible to blend in with the crowd, but now there was no crowd. It made me uncomfortably aware of said person in the hall.
A girl with light blue hair, like ice, and bright yellow eyes. She had casual-fitting clothes that matched her hair color.
Wait, now that I think about it, even if this girl was in a crowd, she would stand out like a sore thumb. But more importantly-
"What are you doing here?"
She narrowed her eyes, almost as though wanting to pierce through me. I simply gave a cordial smile and chuckled.
"Oh, someone invited me to come to their room to chat. Now that it's over, I intend on heading to my class."
Her eyes had narrowed further, but she did eventually drop it and walked past me. After letting out a soft sigh, I went back to the staircase.
Her name was Lumi, but like Richard, I knew very little about her.
She was in Class S as well but was a first-year. In the later stages of the game, if you were able to be promoted to a higher class, you would meet her. The strange thing about her was that she never panicked.
That may not sound like anything special, but the kingdom goes under several calamities that threaten the entire population several times. However, she would never end up dying. In fact, she was never even scratched.
You have opportunities to talk to her, and a secret we found to get a few extra dialogue lines was if you never took a hit during battles.
But other than that, there's not too much.
Another small fact was that she was the only commoner in the first-year Class S.
In short, she was either unbelievably powerful or unbelievably lucky. Either way, I found it more trouble than it was worth to involve myself with her. She didn't seem to care about much, so it was better to leave it that way.
I made it to class and was somehow still a little early, so I decided to pose a question to the teacher.
"By the way, Harold. How do you attune mana?"
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