Academy’s Drunk Fighter

A typical party is usually made up of two vanguards, one ranged damage dealer, and one support.

This is also mentioned in the tournament’s party recommendations.
And among them, I chose Charlotte as the mage, and Scholar as the support.
Naturally, I had to fulfill the melee role, blocking the enemies who would come after them.

However, after hearing about Yoon Siwoo’s team composition, I realized the gap was overwhelming.
It was to the point where the option of "holding out" wasn’t even on the table.
‘This is bad.’

Assuming Yoon Siwoo’s team composition didn’t change, his setup was a defensive strategy with three vanguards and one rear guard, which was different from a normal team.
Therefore, normally, the strategy would be to protect the sole long-ranged mage in the team and drag the match into a long fight.
But this party had two peculiarities.

The first was that their mage could freely handle healing, buffs, and all sorts of magic — an extremely capable mage.
In the game, Hellicia’s magic had the strength that made it hard to even guess whether a student attacking at full power could break through her barrier.
Also, usually, when a warrior and a mage of equal skill fought, it was common sense that the knight would win, but there were almost no knights at this Academy at the same level as Hellicia.

Even that alone was a huge problem, but the second issue was that the vanguards protecting her were too powerful.
Starting with Yoon Siwoo — even if I fought him with everything I had, I couldn’t tell if I could even stop him — and the rest of the vanguards were all absurdly strong as well.
"Puhaa~."

That’s why I gulped down cheap alcohol while rummaging through the many characters I knew in my head.
I pictured the optimal team composition that could break through their party.
[Arhel Meriana]
[Parma Gael]
[Shirokumo Hanawa]
.
.
.
[Iske Yato]

Countless names floated up before my eyes.
I filtered out the ones who couldn’t join me in this situation.
For reasons of status, psychological reasons, past traumas, and each of their own stories.
I weeded out those I could never persuade, and tried to recall only the ones who might realistically help right now.

Originally, I had already prepared three candidates in advance, but given this situation, I had to change my strategy.
If I didn’t, there was no way I could win.
The final candidates that emerged after all that filtering...

Did not exist.
"This is... hopeless."
At this point, the odds of beating Yoon Siwoo’s party and winning were near impossible.

No, not even near — they simply didn’t exist.
Even if another party fought Yoon Siwoo’s team and bought time, it was certain that those parties would be annihilated faster than expected, so devising further strategies was meaningless.
Then, did a character exist who could buy me that time?

There was.
But that person wasn’t someone I could persuade right now, so they were unusable.
Thus, as always, what I needed was only one thing.

"Maybe... later."
Only time — I could only believe that time would eventually solve everything.
After all, the rule about four members per party was just because the maximum number of prizes awarded could only go to four people.

It wasn’t necessary to fill all four slots.
That didn’t mean I planned to do nothing, of course.
At the very least, I would do everything I could within my reach.

What I did afterward wasn’t anything special.
I attended classes as usual, racked my brains solving homework and problems from the Academy, and every morning, I suffered through hangovers as I trudged back to school.
An unchanging daily life.

But thinking back to the past, when I would hole up at home all day without speaking to anyone and live like a corpse, I had somehow started moving forward, even if only a little.
No, to be honest, my behavior now might be even worse than it was back then...
"Not bad."

Each day was filled with feelings that could almost be called joy.
A frog in a well cannot know the vastness beyond.
But through a hole in the sky, it envies and sings of the clouds and the passing scenery.

The existence of ‘other people’ that I had only seen through the internet.
Because I had both feared and yearned for it, this situation — though a small step for others — was a giant leap for me.
However, I could not stay at the Academy forever.

This place was certainly a safe natural fortress, guarded by many powerful people...
And precisely because of that, enemies would come with even greater ferocity to tear it down.
The existence of the strongest pillar was like that.

As long as it stands, it can withstand any danger, but if it falls even once, everything crumbles.
I couldn’t tell whether I would survive that process.
Maybe someone like Yoon Siwoo would, but as for me...

No — with high probability, I would die.
I hoped that time would never come, but eventually, I would have to leave.
"Charlotte, here’s your repaired staff. I heard ink comes out from the tip?"

"Ah, th-thank youuu..."
Going beyond my original goal of just getting treated and leaving.
"Senior! There’s a rumor a liquor infusion shop opened...!"

"Yeah, seems like they struck a deal with the merchant guild."
To protect those I had grown close to and liked.
"The bracelet’s almost complete! I think it’ll be ready before the tournament!"

"Oh, I’m looking forward to it!"
At least until the day I left this place, I would ensure they survived.
"Oh, about that time with Siwoo student, did it go well...?"

"You’re not thinking something weird, are you?"
"N-no, of course not...!"
I would give it my all.

That was my plan.
.
.
.
.
And then time passed — and finally, the day of the tournament dawned.

 
****
The morning scenery was no different than usual.

Just birds chirping and flowers blooming — an ordinary morning.
However, on the road leading to the Academy, a massive crowd of broadcasters and people had already gathered, bustling everywhere.
It was such a massive scale that it was hard to believe so many people could gather in one place.

I stood dazed for a moment by the grandeur, then pulled myself together and headed into the shopping district where various goods and food were already being sold.
Of course, today, what I was going to buy was alcohol.
And a very large quantity of it.

"That will be 122,000 won."
"Uegh."
Buying ten bottles of alcohol all at once made my bank account plummet instantly.

Why is it so hard to earn money but so easy to spend it?
Knowing exactly how much I had spent only made me even angrier.
Why!! Why the hell am I spending this much money?!

But this time, I had a reason.
‘Since outside alcohol isn’t allowed, it can’t be helped...’
Convenience store alcohol or anything from outside wasn’t allowed inside the Academy right now.

Only alcohol sold by vendors authorized during the festival period was permitted.
In other words, this was the only alcohol I would be able to drink during the tournament.
If I couldn’t drink and maintain my intoxication during that period...

I might actually end up killing myself, so I had to be fully prepared to prevent that.
"Esha?"
"Ah, Yoon Siwoo."

"Um... can’t you just call me by my name now? Everyone else does."
"It’s kind of hard for me psychologically. I’ll switch to casual speech later if I can."
"Mm... well, I can’t force you."

While I was at a shop, Yoon Siwoo approached and spoke to me.
Strangely, even though most of the misunderstandings between us had been cleared up after that incident, it still felt awkward to casually talk to him.
Maybe it was because I’m just a bad person, or maybe there was another reason...

The name "Yoon Siwoo" felt strangely familiar yet also uncomfortable to me.
"But... is that ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) alcohol?"
"Ah, yeah. It's festival-grade alcohol, so the alcohol content is low, but... it can’t be helped."

"Why alcohol though...?"
"Ah, that’s..."
If I mentioned the curses related to alcohol here, what would he think?

More likely than "Oh, I see," he’d probably just think I was lying because I wanted to drink.
So I decided to be blunt.
"Because I like alcohol."

"Ah, come to think of it, you did buy alcohol once before too."
"You saw that?"
"I have a pretty good memory."

The fact that he remembered a momentary encounter from over a month ago sent a chill down my spine, but I opened one of the bottles and took a sip to sort out my thoughts.
"Anyway, I’ll be going first. Later... no, actually, let’s try not to run into each other!"
"Huh? Uh... wait, why...?"

Why? Obviously because if we meet, I’ll definitely be eliminated.
Leaving behind Yoon Siwoo, who looked like he wanted to talk more, I precariously hauled the almost-toppling bottles and made my way into the Academy.
Along the way, a lot of students stared at me, but I didn’t care and carried all the bottles to Scholar’s workshop.

"My goodness, what is all this?"
"Alcohol."
"I mean, I can see that but... why are you bringing alcohol to my workshop?"

"I’m going to use it during the tournament. So I need a place to hide it."
"Excuse me? I don't really have any place like that..."
"You have a subspace pocket, don’t you?"

"H-How did you know about that?"
I pulled out a small red pouch from Scholar’s desk.
A miniature subspace pocket — a temporary invention of his — something that maximized spatial compression, like those often seen in novels and comics.

"It’s still a little unstable. Besides, I was planning to use it for my research report..."
"If it’s you, Scholar, I’m sure you’ve already made it perfectly. You don’t doubt yourself, do you?"
"That’s not it! I’m the best inventor there is...!"

"Then it’s fine for me to use it, right?"
"Ugh... y-yes, go ahead..."
Reluctantly nodding, Scholar allowed me to stuff all my bottles into his bag, and I immediately headed for the library.

Since Charlotte basically lived there, if I wanted to get her, I had to go myself.
Just then, Scholar called out to me from behind.
"You know what time you’re supposed to be at the waiting room, right?"

"I-I do know. But... why haven’t you told me about the fourth person yet...?"
"Ah... that person?"
Although I was a little flustered, I masked my emotions and spoke calmly.

"That person... well, we’re going to meet during the tournament..."
"During the tournament...?"
"Of course!"

‘That’s the plan anyway,’ so it wasn’t a lie.
That person was originally supposed to be eliminated alongside another party during the tournament.
"Th-then, I’ll get going first!"

"..."
Avoiding Scholar’s suspicious gaze, I dashed out of the workshop as if running away.