Chapter 13: The Gentleman and the Wizard

Igni thought spring had finally come when women would flock to him like ducks to bread, but the class went on with some general explanations and ended. Nothing else happened.

Elenoir: “Hehe. Okay everyone~~~, Let’s make sure to study hard starting tomorrow~~~”

Elenoir left the classroom with these words.

The remaining students all took different actions.

Some left immediately for home. Others gathered together with old acquaintances.

Yoori: “Hey, Igni. I found a really good cake shop recently. Do you want to go together?”

Yoori takes Igni by the hand and tugs gently.

Alicia: “Yoori, you’re really a guy...right?”

Besides Yoori, Alicia cannot help but be concerned.

Yoori: “What are you talking about, Alicia! I’m a guy no matter which way you look at me!”

Alicia: “Um…. yeah…. I guess? ….. well…. actually…..”

Alicia does not seem convinced.

Igni: “Let’s do cake afterwards. There is something more important to do first.”

Yoori: “Like what?”

Igni: “We need to help that girl.”

As Igni said this, he pointed out Iris who challenged Elenoir with full confidence and got whipped in mere seconds.

Yoori: “Really? But the teacher said she’ll turn back to normal eventually.”

Igni: “.....no, I don’t think so.” Yoori: “What do you mean?”

Yoori tilts his head in confusion.

Igni: “I’m sure the teacher went easy on her but…. Iris is much <WEA•KER> than the teacher thought, so if we leave her as she is, she may not return back to normal.”

Identifying the difference in strength.

Without this absolutely necessary skill, it would have been impossible to survive in the Demon King’s realm.

If you cannot identify the combat strength difference between yourself and your opponent, you would easily forfeit your life.

Of course, you absolutely need this skill to be popular as well.

But Igni only got to use it one time in this aspect.

Yoori: “Wait, REALLY?! What should we do?!?!”

Igni: “We need to make her drink water. LOTS of water. Make her drink until she throws it all up."

Yoori: “W-water?”

Igni: “That’s right. Water has the property to wash out any toxins in your body.”

Iris continued to sit upright in her seat, and Igni helped her by the shoulder and forced her to stand.

Edward: “C-can I help?”

Igni: “No, it’s okay.”

Edward: “O-okay.”

Behind Igni, Edward sags his shoulders.

Completely ignoring the down and depressed Edward, Igni takes Iris to the drinking fountain. Behind him, Alicia and Yoori follow after him.

The Secret Art of Popularity No. 5.

— ”Lend a hand to any damsels in distress.”

SO, Igni took Iris to the drinking fountain and put her mouth near the faucet, and she began to instinctively start drinking.

Yoori: “Wait?! What did you do, Igni?!”

Igni: “I didn’t do anything. Her body must have been thirsty for water.”

Yoori: “W-WOW, IGNI! You’re not only good at magic, but you’re also skilled in knowing how to deal with these situations!”

Igni: “....thanks.”

Igni: (IF ONLY YOORI WASN’T A DUDE… *SIGH)

Igni got seriously depressed.

Igni: (His looks and personality are all super cute BUT HE’S A GUY…)

Iris: *COUGH. *CHOKE. *SPAT

Iris begins to cough and spit up the water.

Igni: “Good job, Iris. Keep going. Just throw it all up!”

Iris: *COUGH. “UEHHHHHHHH” (sfx throwing up)

From Iris’ mouth, a yellowish, doughy liquid comes crawling out.

Igni: “Okay, now you’ll be okay. Do you feel better?”

Igni looks into Iris’ eye to confirm.

Unlike before, light returned to her eyes.

Iris: “It was so scary!! UWAAAAAAAN!!!” (sfx crying)

Large tear drops fell from her eyes as she rushed into Igni’s arms.

But she still had the yellowish liquid on her mouth and it *SPLATTED all over Igni’s uniform. Plus she was crying so her tears and everything else also stuck all over Igni’s uniform further dirtying it.

Alicia: “Oh gosh…”

Alicia was a little grossed out.

But…. but Igni is different…!!

Igni: “Yeah, it must have been really scary.”

Iris: “It was dark… and I couldn’t see… and I couldn’t feel anything…. and…!!”

Igni: “Don’t worry. It’s okay now.”

Yes, Igni trained 2 years to become popular! This guy was different…!!

Secret of Popularity No. 4 — Always be a gentleman.

Following this commandment, he did not ONCE show any irritation or disgust towards Iris, and takes it all in.

Igni: (....THIS!! THIS IS IT!!)

YES, THIS! THIS IS WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR!!

Igni: (Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Rolmod Wizard Academy.)

With ultimate satisfaction caressing his face, Igni takes all of Iris in.

Iris: “Thank you. Thank you for helping me!!”

Igni: “Don’t worry about it. We’re classmates, aren’t we?”

As Iris continues to let it out without a smidgen of self-consciousness, Igni reaches the pinnacle of joy.

And there were two bystanders who didn’t know what to make of the situation.

And the scene went unchanged and only more time passed by.

Yoori: “Oh, Miss Iris also lives in the dorms.”

Iris: “Yeah, my parents said, ’If you’re enrolling into a school, you need to live in the dorms’...”

Yoori: “Igni and I are also living in the dorms.”

Iris: “What?! Sir Igni is too?!”

Yoori and Iris are conversing happily in front of Igni and Alicia.

…..they both didn’t know what to make of this sudden upgrade in Igni’s title, so it was ignored.

Alicia: “I think she got rounder in her character.”

Igni: “I’m sure she was nervous because it was the first day.”

Alicia: “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Alicia rides on her broom low to the ground. The title of A-Rank [WIND] Wizard is not for nothing.

Alicia: “<SIR> huh? I think she likes you, Igni.”

Igni: “Uh, yeah, you think so?”

Something was not right with the sequence of events compared to what Igni imagined would happen, so he’s still processing the situation.

In his mind...

[IT’S OKAY. I GOT YOU.]

[I LOVE YOU!]

Or something along the same lines as that…

But in reality…

[YOU’RE OKAY NOW]

[I WILL FOREVER BE IN YOUR DEBT! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?]

[IT’S IGNI]

[SIR IGNI?!]

And it happened like that.

So this was… not quite as Igni hoped?...no, is this sequence of events off? Igni just didn’t know what to make of this.

Iris: “Does Sir Igni live alone in the dorms?”

Igni: “No, it’s a 2-person room.”

Iris: “What?! I’m so envious! I would love to live with you, Sir Igni!”

Igni: “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

Igni: (Wait? What? Did women come on this strong…?)

It was sad, but Igni can count on one hand the number of times he actually talked with a girl, so he had no baseline of comparison to know what is normal and what is not.

Yoori: “Hey, the male dorms are close, so we’ll head that way.”

Yoori grabs Igni by his hand and pulls him in that direction.

Iris: “H—HEY!! Even if it’s you, Yoori! I can’t forgive you for taking Sir Igni’s hand like that!”

The light in Iris’ eyes fades quickly.

Yoori: “Huh? What? What do you mean? You know it’s me that’s Igni’s roommate, right?”

Iris: “WH—HOW—WHO—WHAT?!?!”

Iris looks between Yoori and Igni.

Alicia: “Yoori is a man.”

Iris: “WH—!!”

Iris faints from shock.