305: Boy Meets Boy

I knew quite a bit about Chloe from the game, and like Cecil, she was a "brain" type.

She fought by channeling Mana through two whips, manipulating them in a style that fused offense and defense into one. It was a simple style, which was exactly why it was so damn powerful. In the Original Story, monsters were shredded into mincemeat the moment they even tried to touch her.

Chloe’s whips had been a force of nature during the previous Calamity, too, but her卓越した magic was what would be truly troublesome. I didn't know if she would resort to Movement Magic during the exam, but either way, she was going to be a massive pain to deal with.

Cold, ruthless, and a total stickler for the Academy rules—she was a stubborn, inflexible woman. Or, at least, she was supposed to be.

And yet, there she was, training Cecil.

I have to assume she’s a completely different person from the character I knew. Which just makes her even more of a handful.

"I talk to Teacher Chloe all the time."

Just then, a voice piped up from right beside me.

I hadn't even noticed him sitting there, but the one happily stuffing his face with omurice—and getting ketchup everywhere—was a stunningly beautiful girl. No, wait. It was Olynn.

As usual, the guy had the face and voice of a woman. Apparently, people who didn't know him were completely convinced he was a girl; he supposedly spent half his time turning down confessions by explaining his actual gender.

But he was popular with the female students, too. It was likely due to his looks, sure, but also because he was just so friendly and caring.

I mean—

"What on earth do you two even talk about?" I asked.

"Hmm, well, I like books, so we talk about things like new releases," he chirped.

"...Wait, you actually read books?"

"Yep! I’m in the Library all the time!"

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered a rumor about a "mysterious beauty" in the Library being a hot topic lately. Olynn’s hair had grown quite a bit recently—honestly, it was getting ridiculously long. I’d tried asking him why he didn't cut it, but he’d just given me a vague, "Eh, just because."

This guy is always so serious, and yet... Then it hit me. The Noblesse development team must have successfully incorporated a bit of Sloth into his personality. As expected, those devs really knew how to hit the players' sweet spots—no, never mind.

"So," I sighed, "did you actually find out anything useful?"

"Teacher Chloe is incredibly smart!"

"Anything else?"

"She speaks very politely!"

"And?"

"Surprisingly, she seems to like romance stories."

My eyebrow twitched at that. It was a bit of undisclosed lore that hadn't even appeared in the Original Story, but it was completely useless for combat. Is Olynn just another airhead of the Allen Clan after all?

"What's the point of—"

"She’s extremely pensive," Olynn interrupted, "but we might be able to use that against her."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"It feels like she’s always thinking three steps ahead—like she's looking at the back of the back of a situation. So, I figured if we can read her perfectly, we could actually turn that around and seize the advantage."

...Wait. Maybe Olynn is different.

This guy was actually thinking. Most "smart" types didn't bother coming at you head-on. It was just like how Neil and Priscilla had immediately moved to take down Cecil first. If we had realized she was the target back then, there were so many more ways we could have handled it. If Shari had set a few traps, we could have settled the whole thing in a heartbeat.

But Chloe would see right through something like that.

That’s why we had to go for the "back of the back." To pull that off, my knowledge, Olynn’s analytical power, and Cecil’s brain would be essential.

I’ll give you credit, Olynn. You’ve been promoted from 'Reckless Girl' to 'Brain Girl.'

Wait, no. Boy...