Chapter 20: Different approach

this is a fictional story by realTensai

It was after class that Alvis made his move. He would use his famous ‘ask for homework’ technique to get closer to her. Alvis waited a bit after the bell had rung, and only then went to her.

“Hey Fiona, mind helping me with this homework we got?”

“I don’t have time for you.”

Ahh! My famous technique!

Alvis clutched his chest in a dramatic matter, though Fiona just ignored him and stood up, wanting to leave the room. Yet Alvis would not give up so fast.

“Do you mind sending me the solutions, then?”

“Do it on your own, scum.”

Ouhh, that hurt!

Even though her beautiful face made Alvis’ heart skip, her tongue was as sharp as a knife. Alvis almost fell to his knees after being rejected so hard. All he could see was her long, elegant black hair as she exited the classroom. His plan had failed miserably.

“I told ya it would not work.”

Dane had observed the entire scene and Alvis was shocked he did not burst out laughing midway through. Though he did it now.

“Well, I made a few miscalculations, so I will take that L. But just because I failed now, does not mean I will give up.”

That was right, Alvis would not stop just after one rejection. The loop in which he tried to save Nero had hardened him and raised his frustration-tolerance. This one rejection was nothing.

“Ha, you have changed. You don’t choose the easy path anymore.”

Alvis understood what Dane meant. Before, Alvis would not have left his comfort zone and would have played to his strength. He would have given up and would have convinced himself there was nothing he could do. Just like he did in the past when he gave up on living.

However, Alvis changed. The system forced him to do things he did not like. Thus, he had no choice but to leave his comfort zone. Through that, he slowly became a person who could walk on the hard path of life. Life was not in easy mode, after all.

With his initial plan failing, Alvis had to come up with something new. In only two weeks, he had to find out who the girl was he had to save. He narrowed his list down to three girls: Fiona, Maya, and Lia.

Alvis started with Fiona because he figured she was the one who would take up most of his time. As he had just experienced, Fiona was not easy to talk to. Because she came from a noble human family, her pride was in the way of her acting normally. In a way, she was even more difficult to approach than Nero.

However, Alvis had to deal with her to find out what her problem was. It was apparent that something weighed down on her. And if she was the one Alvis had to save, he probably had to take that weight off of her.

Of all of his candidates, Fiona had the highest likely hood of being the right one. Not only because her having a problem was obvious, but also because Alvis could not quite believe Lia or Maya was the girl.

Maya’s change in behavior was just a byproduct of Lia’s change, so Alvis thought of her as the weakest candidate. But even though something had changed with Lia, she still seemed fine. Her grades were perfect and her social life too. The only difference was she retired as the student council president.

Alvis just could not believe she needed to be saved. He could not even imagine a problem she could have. However, if she somehow was the girl, Alvis had a heck of a task before him. After all, Lia was arguably the most popular girl in the school.

——

Days passed, and Alvis could not say he had made progress. Every time he tried to talk to Fiona she rejected him or straight up ignored him. Even though he did not want to give up, he realized Fiona was something different. Her pride simply did not allow her to talk to him.

With that realization, Alvis changed his approach. He would give up on trying to get closer to her and would get his information otherwise. It still was not clear if Fiona even was the girl he was searching for, so what he needed right now was information about her. More precisely, the reason for her changed behavior. If Alvis were to find that out, he could know for sure if she had to be saved or not.

That was why Alvis was currently waiting for his classmate, Victor. They had made an appointment to meet at the fountain in the backyard, yet Victor was not there yet. Their appointed time would be in one minute, so Alvis was not sure if he would be late.

However, just when the clock hit four, Victor arrived. The goblin wore his usual sunglasses, not letting one see his eyes. No matter how the weather was, he always wore them. Together with his black suit, those two things became his trademark.

One would think he was a businessman if one saw him, and one would not be wrong. After all, the entire school knew him as the ‘goblin who knows everything’. If one needed information, one just had to go to him. However, one also had to pay for it. Victor was a cunning goblin who knew how to make money.

“Alvis, my friend, how can I help you today?”

Victor sat down on the bench next to Alvis and leaned back.

“I need information on Fiona.”

“You mean the reason for her changed behavior?”

“Yes.”

“The payment comes first.”

Alvis took one 50 Union note out of his purse and gave it to him. Victor accepted it, nodding his head while doing so. The smile on his face confirmed the money was enough.

Giving him 50 Unions just for information may seem like much, though Alvis would not hesitate to pay money if it would help him clear his level. Also, if Alvis were to respawn, he would get his money back anyway, so this was not a problem. Somehow, he felt as if he would rip him off.

“Alright,” Victor said, starting his explanation. “The reason for Fiona’s change is a simple one. So simple, I may even feel bad for demanding 50 Unions. But business is business.”

“Just tell me the reason.”

“Fine, fine,” Victor said, smiling. “It is because of her mentor.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Alvis could not explain how her mentor would lead to such a change in her. If he remembered correctly, her mentor was Mrs. Adler, one of the best teachers the school had to offer. Maybe Mrs. Adler was too strict with Fiona, leading to her being overstrained.

“Do you remember Fiona’s big sister?”

“Of course I do. She was the student council president before Lia and graduated as the best in her grade.”

“Fiona always looked up to her big sister, wanting to follow in her footsteps. That was why she also wanted to have the same mentor as her. Everyone knows that the right mentor is the key to success. However, Fiona did not get the mentor she wanted and got Mrs. Adler instead. Mrs. Adler would be the perfect mentor for almost every student, yet for Fiona and her pride, this was unacceptable. Her family was not even upset about that, though Fiona picked that up as if they had given up on her. That is why she is like she is now. She wants to prove her worth and show that she can be just like her big sis.”

Alvis crossed his arms, having a lot to take in. Everything Victor said made sense and matched the impression he had gotten of Fiona. Yet Alvis somehow did not want to accept it. Her reason was so petite, it just could not be. But because it was Fiona they were talking about, he knew it was the truth.

A deep sigh was all Alvis could muster up. He just realized he had wasted most of this loop on the wrong girl.

Fiona was not the girl he had to save.

“Thanks, Victor.”

“No problem. It was good to do business with you. Feel free to contact me in the future,” Victor said before leaving.

Alvis kept sitting on the bench, wanting to reflect on everything.

Fiona was not the girl he had to save. Why? Because there was nothing he could do to help her. Alvis could not change her mentor after all. So it was safe to conclude she was not the girl he was searching for. With Fiona out of the way, there were only two candidates left.

Maya and Lia.

Out of those two, Lia was the more likely. Even though Alvis still could not quite believe it, the facts were talking on their own. Lia was the hottest candidate.

What now?

This loop only had a few days left and Alvis knew he would not complete the level in this one. If this loop was doomed to fail, the only logical thing to do was to use the remaining time to its fullest.

Alvis would keep training his magic abilities and improve his inventions, so he could get a lot of stat points in mana and intelligence after respawning.

Alvis would also try to confirm if Lia really was the girl he was searching for. He would do so by talking to her. To his luck, Lia was easy to talk to so he would not have to go through dozens of rejections just so they could exchange greetings. This was something positive, at least.

Haaah, I hate this level.

——

Alvis spent the last few days just like he had planned. His schedule contained learning new spells and creating mana items together with R-18. In this loop, he also failed Mr. Zweistein’s test. After the hologram fireball, followed a beam gunshot, which was a hologram too. Obviously, Alvis did not know that and thus failed again. It felt like Mr. Zweistein would just keep adding stuff until Alvis failed.

On the day when Nero would be picked on, Alvis acted again. By sending Mr. Woltzer to the area, everything was cared for. Even though Alvis did not have to save Nero, he did it anyway. It felt wrong for him to abandon her.

Throughout the last few days, he spoke to Lia a few times. They chatted about trivial things, so Alvis did not find out what her problem was, yet he noticed she was putting on a facade. It was not something one would recognize without actively looking out for it, but because Alvis did, he noticed it.

With so many indicative, Alvis had to accept it.

Lia was the girl he had to save.