271: The Promise

Carta used to be ranked fifth.

But somehow, she had managed to leapfrog over both Duke and Cynthia.

I’m sure her taking down that whole group of upperclassmen during the clash with Neil played a big part in it. Still, I couldn't help but chuckle. To think she was originally slated for expulsion—her current performance made that fate seem like a bad joke.

Olynn and Cecil might not have been lighting up the overall leaderboards yet, but they were showing some truly terrifying potential. Honestly, you couldn't even measure them by standard intermediate-year standards anymore.

Of course, the same could be said for Lilith and Tura. They still struggled with group battles and magic-centric combat, but their individual Gifts were off the charts. It wouldn't surprise me at all if these rankings were turned upside down again in the near future.

But what really stopped me in my tracks was the name sitting at eleventh place.

—Luna Candy.

No way. At the very least, she’s definitely not the type of person who should be anywhere near this rank in the overall standings.

And yet, there she was, standing right next to me and staring at the board.

"...Just a little more," she whispered.

She had jet-black hair and delicate, beautiful features. She was on the shorter side and her Mana capacity wasn't exactly impressive, but she possessed a very specific Gift: the power to manifest and control imaginary magical creatures.

I’d reached out to Carta before because I knew her Flight Magic was arguably the most valuable thing in this entire world. But Luna? She was the exact card I needed in my hand right now.

The only reason I hadn't made a move yet was because of her... tricky personality. She was the ultimate shut-in. She was so pathologically timid that if you approached her the wrong way and spooked her, she’d probably just drop out of school on the spot.

In the Original Story, she was a powerhouse if you recruited her, but if you messed up the timing of your approach, she’d vanish forever. To put it in gamer terms, she was the Liquid Metal Slime of female students. Usually, you have no choice but to sit back and wait for her to come to you.

But what baffled me was that her rank had actually gone up. There was no reason for someone like her to do something so conspicuous. It didn't make sense.

Then again, come to think of it, my life lately has just been one big gamble after another. Success or failure? Might as well roll the dice.

"Yo. Looks like you've been working hard."

Luckily, Cynthia and Lilith weren't around. This was my chance to talk.

Luna looked up at me. She was about the same height as Carta, I think. I couldn't see her face clearly, but then again, every single person at Noblesse was annoyingly attractive.

And then—

"...The promise."

She blurted out that single word and then bolted, disappearing before I could even blink.

...Huh? Wait, was that a success? Or a failure? ...Which one was it?!