Chapter 32
Chapter 32
[You didn’t get close to him, did you?]
“…We’re not close.”
[Good! You, from now on, just stick close to Cassis.]
“Yes.”
That was my plan anyway.
Sian is Sian, but what’s important is the debt.
Unless I can make money by selling Sian’s holy power.
“…That’s a good idea, isn’t it?”
[No, it’s not.]
[It’s bad.]
The system immediately rejected it.
I clicked my tongue, “Tch.”
Regardless of my reaction, the system spoke in a slightly tired tone.
[…Well, are you done being sad?]
[Now let’s gather luck stats…]
Right, it seems we’ve talked about everything related to Terezia, so now I should ask about luck-related things.
“That’s right. What exactly happened with that luck thing?”
* * *
I gaped at the flowerpot that had just grazed my head and fallen.
“Aaaargh! Irina! Your hand!”
“…”
As I sat on the floor trembling, Isiel beside me was even more dramatic, which oddly calmed my startled heart.
The system had tried to explain to me about luck, its stats, and how the luck index gradually fills up over time, but gave up.
Then it said that since I could now see all those stats, I should just experience and learn as I go.
At that time, it was late at night and I was sleepy, so I just nodded, thinking, “Surely I won’t die, right?”
[SYSTEM | You avoided the flowerpot with 3 luck points~]
[SYSTEM | Congratulations~]
‘I almost died just now.’
And I didn’t know I would learn this so quickly.
Sitting in the reception room, disinfecting my hand, I had an earnest conversation with the system.
[You avoided a near-death crisis using 3 luck points.]
[Check your stats now.]
[SYSTEM | Luck 2/15.]
Just a little while ago, my luck status was ‘5/15’.
‘So, if there’s a threat, I can avoid it with luck points, right?’
[That’s right.]
‘…Then is my maximum luck 15?’
[That’s precisely the problem.]
This is more serious than I thought.
‘What happens if it takes 16 luck to avoid a threat?’
[Then you can’t avoid it anymore.]
I gaped.
All this time, they said my stat was 20, but how on earth did I survive?
I could understand why the gods mocked me, saying, “How are you lucky?”
‘How is the avoidance criterion determined?’
[For ordinary people, it’s usually at the system’s discretion, but for you, we tend to adjust it directly.]
According to their explanation, my luck was so low that if left alone, I’d be constantly tripping, always eating something bad somewhere, and even if I ate the same thing as others, I’d be destined to get sick.
[So if we just left you alone, you’d be destined to die young, that’s why we always kept an eye on you.]
So that’s how it was.
[You just barely avoided the flowerpot with 3 luck points, right?]
[If you had used 7 luck points, that flowerpot wouldn’t have fallen at the timing you passed by.]
“Ah…”
Ah, damn it.
How can this be so unfair?
So while others might not even face the threat of a falling flowerpot, I always had to live with such threats because even if I filled up my stats and had points, it was too little.
It was fine when I didn’t know, but now that I know, I feel wronged for no reason.
[All people in the world are avoiding their own misfortunes in this way.]
[For example, that coachman could die in a carriage accident on the road today, but he won’t die because he can avoid the carriage accident with 10 luck points.]
‘So in cases of death, is it because they don’t have those points?’
[It could be that, or the luck needed to avoid the accident could be astronomical.]
[But this ‘luck system’ is just a ‘system’ we created to directly intervene in accidents happening in the world, so its accuracy isn’t that high.]
I see.
Looking at my measly luck of 2, I moved with a slightly sad face.
No wonder every time I gambled before, everything I chose was a bust.
Seemingly feeling sorry for my sadness, the system tried to comfort me.
[Oh well, but now that you’ve unlocked your stats, you can increase them rapidly.]
[Later, you’ll be able to avoid even life-threatening crises with luck, so let’s work hard to gather it.]
“Yes.”
[We’ll put luck in every quest, so gather it little by little.]
“Okay.”
[We’ll manage this as usual, so you just live normally~]
“Thank you.”
If I managed it directly, I’d probably use luck on useless things like ‘avoiding mushrooms in today’s meal’ every day, and end up dying from lack of points when it really matters.
[It’s good that you understand…]
[We’ll take a break for a while.]
[We’re exhausted.]
* * *
After disinfecting my hand and returning to the study, I couldn’t concentrate and kept turning the system on and off repeatedly.
However, just as that was getting boring, Isiel visited.
There was a huge bandit-like figure behind him.
“…What brings you here with Apple?”
Don’t drag our busy chef around.
Isiel called the maid standing behind him.
The maid held out a tray to me with eyes full of worry.
In the bowl was something unidentifiable, steaming and looking like chewed gum.
“What… is this chewed gum?”
“It’s a cookie I baked myself.”
“I… see, a cookie that makes you want to chew.”
I hurriedly tried to recover and covered my mouth with my hand.
Otherwise, I had no confidence in controlling my expression.
Is this… edible?
They brought it right away without even letting the steam out or cooling it.
As soon as I raised my head, I met Apple’s eyes.
Apple had deer-like eyes on his bandit-like face.
Right, what could our cute Apple do in front of a person in power?
“Why cookies all of a sudden?”
“It looked fun when you were baking them yourself.”
Ah, I see.
Judging by Apple standing behind, it seems he received his help.
If it’s Apple’s help, it should be trustworthy… but the shape of the cookies didn’t inspire any confidence.
I picked up one that had some semblance of shape among the cookies that looked like they had been stepped on.
I could see Apple shaking his head very slightly with a serious face from behind.
Our Apple, his face had become half of what it used to be.
It seems he was quite tormented by Isiel.
Following my gaze, Isiel turned his head with an “Hm?”
Apple quickly resumed his polite posture, folding his hands neatly.
I put the cookie in my mouth with eyes full of suspicion.
“…”
I chewed slowly twice and then spoke, trembling.
I knew it was impolite to speak with food in my mouth, but this taste was so shocking that I couldn’t help it.
“Isiel, are you trying to kill me?”
“Speak after you eat.”
“…”
I cursed vigorously with my eyes, but the innocent Isiel showed no sign of understanding. Rather, his face was full of bright expectation.
The butler quietly offered me a napkin, and I immediately spat out what was in my mouth.
“Why did you spit that out?”
Sensibly, Apple handed me apple juice.
While cleaning my mouth with the refreshing apple, I looked at Isiel with eyes full of resentment.
At that moment, the system posted after a long time.
[SYSTEM | You successfully avoided the ‘Fainting Cookie’ by using 2 luck points.]
[SYSTEM | Remaining luck 1/15.]
“…”
So this is what I avoided by using 2 points, an even worse cookie.
“Mr. Isiel, you don’t like me, do you?”
“What nonsense.”
I said, brushing back my fallen hair.
“Did you take this to Mr. Cassis?”
“No, not yet.”
“Absolutely not.”
My words became short as I felt urgent.
“From now on, just don’t bake things like cookies. No, don’t even go near the kitchen.”
“I don’t want to.”
“…”
Right, do as you please.
What can I do when the boss’s friend and the empire’s power bully says he doesn’t want to?
[SYSTEM | You can avoid Isiel’s cookies by tipping over the cookie tray with 3 points.]
Why are you telling me this now?
[SYSTEM | …..]
[SYSTEM | Irina Seike’s luck is 1/15.]
What’s this?
Is it saying that even without points, it has a lot to say?
[SYSTEM | YES]
Now even the system is giving me side-eye.
“Have you tried this yourself?”
“No, should I try one?”
Just as Isiel was about to pick up a cookie, a wind suddenly blew strongly from somewhere, tipping over the tray.
“…”
Isiel, that person seems to have an incredibly high luck stat.
What kind of wind blows to tip over a tray made of iron?
Feeling unsettled, I headed to the kitchen where Apple would be as soon as day broke.
“Oh my, Miss, you’re here?!”
“Yes.”
“What brings you here?”
Apple welcomed me very warmly, saying it had been a long time.
“Why, I came to try making something after a long time.”
“What?!”
“Am I being too brief?”
I wanted to test the recipe I got from the previous ‘Chef Quest’.
Since I also gained the cooking proficiency skill, it seemed good to look at it when I had time.
I opened the ‘Cooking Proficiency Quest’ and ‘Cooking Skill’ again.
[Cooking (C-)
C- > 1 point > C.]
[‘Cooking Skill Training’
How long are you going to stay at ‘C-‘?
It’s not even ‘C’, but ‘C-‘, right?
Students who receive ‘C-‘ shouldn’t curse at the professor, but rather understand the professor’s miserable feelings for having to give a ‘-‘ instead of a ‘C’.]
It still felt unfair looking at it again.
I quickly skipped the content and checked the training conditions.
[>Successfully cook C- grade dishes 100 times. (0/100)
>Successfully cook C grade dishes 30 times. (0/30)
>Successfully cook C+ grade dishes 10 times. (0/10)
>Fail cooking higher grade dishes 1,000 times. (0/1,000)]
[※This quest will continue until you reach ‘C+’.]
If it were a quest that ended after cooking a few times, I’d do it slowly, but as you can see from the content, it wasn’t easy.
