Chapter 138

It was impossible to rely on the existing family ties and I had to start from scratch, always keeping an eye on my family’s moods, and somehow get through the dangerous areas.

This was the limiting condition of the spring outing episode.

If you couldn’t meet all these conditions, the choices would threaten you at every turn, leaving you with the potential for a bad ending at any moment.

However, with the information meticulously gathered through repeated attempts, this episode could be solved rather easily if you went about it in a less straightforward way.

Without the power of family ties, you could quickly get through the dangerous sections by humbly aligning yourself with your family’s moods.

Given the high threat level, it was important to maintain a close distance with your family before getting into friction with nobles. If you needed to keep away, you might have to stick close to one person, even if it meant their affinity would drop a bit. You could make up for the dropped affinity by pleasing those who had lowered affinity.

Simply being within a few meters was enough; especially being with Isabella meant you wouldn’t be threatened by nobles.

By dragging out time and sticking as much as possible to your family while completing the schedule, and finally drawing the portrait, you could easily clear this episode.

But there was something odd about this method.

Although the game was notoriously unkind, rigid, and unreasonable, there were also some rational elements.

One such element was the achievement level.

Though it was just a percentage number, this figure didn’t set a minimum but didn’t cap the maximum either.

If it was low, that meant you hadn’t done well; if it was high, that meant you had done well.

It served as a measure of how excellently you performed the episode.

Yet, during my spring outing episodes, I never managed to raise the achievement level above 50%.

Even when the episode cleared and not a bad ending occurred, the achievement level stayed around the 40s, much lower than other episodes.

Why did this happen?

It was evidence that this approach wasn’t the right one.

The achievement level, which changes as you clear the episode, reflects your results as if grading them.

In reality, when you filled the gaps and cleared with better results, the threatening choices disappeared, affinity rose, and Carsein’s restrictions lifted.

In other words:

If you achieved 3% in achievement level, you were missing 97% of the solution.

If you achieved 30%, you could still improve by 70%.

Even with 99% achievement level, there was still 1% left to fulfill.

Rephrasing it differently:

In this complex and varied game, it shows how much better a result you could achieve. It indicates that you haven’t reached the perfect 100% achievement level.

From this conclusion, I realized:

The spring outing episode couldn’t be cleared simply by staying close to your family. There had to be another way.

“Grr…”

*Splat.*

‘Is this the last one?’

▶Remaining HP: 82%◀

Hemnan and other nobles rushed me, but their movements were obvious.

Of course, since I was facing multiple opponents without weapons, it was inevitable to take a few hits. Blood trickled down my cheek.

‘Surely, I don’t look like I’m losing.’

My status window confirmed this.

There were no status ailments, and though my health points had decreased, it wasn’t critically low.

It was a moment where all my efforts were evident.

“Did they all fall? To just one person?”

“That’s impossible. How could this happen…!”

“Before, they’d grit their teeth and rush, but usually, they’d barely catch one or two.”

“Has he changed too much?”

Just moments ago, the young ladies were laughing merrily, but now they were whispering, confused by the situation.

Well, I think so too.

I feel it most acutely.

For you, seeing Carsein, who used to be defeated easily by many, change this drastically must be quite shocking.

‘But, it’s perfectly normal.’

In Rusmaier, we’d often go hunt monsters when bored, and fought with Aiferosian Yarikins to keep our skills sharp.

Even after returning to the training hall, practice never stopped.

Day after day, I built up my stats and picked up a sword.

If there was no change, that would be strange.

As I accepted this result, someone laughed among the crawling nobles.

“Kukuku. Hahaha!”

It was Hemnan, rising despite his battered state.

“Think this will change anything? Foolish.”

Was he delirious? No, he wasn’t.

“You’re still a commoner. Just a lowly commoner hitting highborn nobles again!”

The one waving his arms laughed again, as if delirious.

Other young ladies, who had been flustered, now showed proud expressions.

‘That’s right. It’s understandable. Considering the opponent.’

What else could I do?

There’s no Bargrand here.

Not Carsein Bargrand, but a pauper, a clown in the hands of nobles.

And then.

*Ping!*

▶A problem occurred in the dangerous area!◀

▶A choice will occur in response! Be careful!◀

That commoner would become the ringleader causing chaos at this gathering by inflicting all sorts of evil deeds on the nobles, depending on the upcoming choices.

Seemingly, this was the complete opposite of the clear method for this episode.

Being apart from the family was already risky, yet entering a place where nobles gathered willingly made him prey.

Causing an incident in a high-threat area meant the choice would soon strangle my neck.

No matter who saw this situation, affinity would plummet instantly.

In short, I was in the worst possible scenario.

But because of this, it could be another way to clear the episode.

“Ah, heard a loud voice, thought it might be…”

Here it is.

The information gained from countless retries was correct.

*Ping!*

▶Arina Bargrand witnessed this scene!◀

▶A definite choice has appeared! Choose carefully!◀

***

According to the information gathered through the Retry Technique, if Carsein clashed with nobles, he inevitably ended up with a bad ending.

Of course, there were issues with risk levels and choices, but one thing was common.

Arina Bargrand’s appearance.

“Miss Arina!”

“You came at the right time. Prince Carsein…”

“Ugh… I can’t believe he’s still doing this.”

As Arina appeared, the nobles put on hopeful looks and started acting.

After letting them misunderstand various stories, they removed their masks and revealed their true intentions.

Some acted as if cutting someone’s throat, others showed ugly faces, and some even wore triumphant smiles.

This clearly led to a bad ending.

Especially since Arina, who values the etiquette and dignity of nobles and the prestige of the Duke’s House, was present.

“Explain what’s going on immediately, Carsein.”

[ 1. Just see for yourself. These kids are provoking me! ]

[ 2. They smashed my stuff! I was just retaliating! ]

[ 3. Don’t you see this dirty shirt? Hemnan surely messed it up to stop me from painting! ]

…

…

With Arina’s low voice, the choices appeared.

‘Future is obvious choices.’

Arguing my innocence, pleading for injustice, explaining their crimes without missing a detail.

No matter which one I chose, it seemed I couldn’t avoid negative consequences.

But.

I didn’t act without thinking.

According to the information from the Retry Technique, if Carsein distanced himself from his family, 90% of the time he would meet nobles, and 10% of the time, he would face accidents.

Considering most accidents were caused by the nobles anyway, it practically meant he always met nobles.

The key point was where he met the nobles.

‘Conditions are met in that aspect. Impossible to eliminate.’

What remained was preventing Hemnan from escaping and creating a valid refusal authority.

For that,

I had to do something crazy.

[ 1. Just see for yourself. These kids are provoking me! ]☑

“Just see for yourself? These kids are provoking me.”

“Ha, provoking?”

▶Arina’s affinity decreases!◀

▶Current -5% dropped!◀

“Hemnan only suggested sitting together. He happened to meet you here, invited you, offered tea and snacks, and talked. That’s provocation to you?”

Immediately after choosing, affinity dropped.

But I didn’t care.

[ 2. They smashed my stuff! I was just retaliating! ]☑

“They smashed my stuff. So, I retaliated. That’s all.”

“What? They smashed your stuff?”

“Yeah. I bought a nice-looking turmerus hairpin on the street, but I dropped and broke it.”

“Listen. I didn’t break it on purpose. I just made a mistake.”

▶Arina Bargrand’s affinity decreases!◀

▶Current -10% dropped!◀

“Stop lying, Carsein. Hemnan explained he dropped it by accident.”

As I continued, affinity kept dropping.

I was sure of it.

I didn’t miss the third choice.

[ 3. Don’t you see this dirty shirt? Hemnan surely messed it up to stop me from painting! ]☑

“Don’t you see this dirty shirt? Hemnan surely messed it up to stop me from painting, right?”

“Ha. Carsein, what kind of behavior…”

▶Arina Bargrand’s affinity decreases!◀

▶Current -15% dropped!◀

“Do you really believe such nonsense!”

This was the third time.

Her eyes glowed as if ready to burn me alive.

But.

*Ping!*

▶Perfect Clear Conditions Met!◀

▶Choose your option.◀

I was confident of success.

‘Yes, that’s it.’

If you had to face threats, you had to do it in a place where you could gather solid evidence.

If you had solid evidence, you had to ensure the risks, even if they were small, so the nobles couldn’t back off.

Raising affinity wasn’t the answer. Instead, lowering it but removing the threat was the right path.

If this cleared my name,

I could leave this place reasonably.

“Apologize to Hemnan and everyone here immediately. Otherwise, I won’t stay silent.”

[P. You haven’t changed, Arina.]

“You haven’t changed, Arina.”

“What?”

“Look at the item I bought and what’s stuck to Hemnan’s foot.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Fine. You’re mad. Even enduring this far exceeds my limits. Go back to mother—”

Right then.

Another guest arrived.

“Gasp, gasp. Sister!”

Claire, seemingly rushing, caught her breath.

“Shouldn’t you listen to Carsein?”

Her arrival brought up the episode progress screen.

*Ping!*

▶Episode IV. Spring Outing Cleared with Maximum Achievement!◀

▶All Risk Penalties Nullified!◀

▶All Affinity Penalties Nullified!◀

▶Perfect Clear Rewards Calculated and Distributed!◀

So, it worked that way.

‘Not my job.’

I left the building without hesitation.