Here we go again (Patreon)

After fiddling with this new thing, I'm getting the feeling it's not going to work out. I'm horrible, I know, but I thought to myself when starting out that I was going to give it a try and see how it went, mainly in the sense of whether I'd at least put out more chapters than my previous story, but I think I can say that's not going to happen. The reason isn't really complicated, I'm just not feeling this one that much. The characters aren't popping for me and the demon lord plotline was just too boring. I generally found it uninteresting to write.

As always, there's something else in the pipeline I've been thinking of (as far as coming up with ideas for stories, at least I'm never short on those). Since I'm already at it, I might as well tell you guys. Basically, it's about a guy who somehow ends up in a gacha game he played casually as a 1 star character (so basically trash). 

Why this story in particular? As I've said in comments and a post here or there, I think characters are the most important part of a story. Interesting characters can hard carry a bland plot and world (not that I'm intending for those to be bland). And the 'gacha' setup is tremendously helpful for this, as I have an excuse for literally pulling characters from thin air, that I can engineer to be whoever I wish, and who would normally never interact with each other.

In the meantime, here's the last part of what I wrote for 'These academy girls are way out of my league!'. Kinda pointless since I won't be continuing it, but I felt it was a waste not to at least put it out there.

The first chapter for my new story will be either today or tomorrow. I hope this one works out, but I'll have to write it and see first.

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Before Edmund knew it, the examination week was already drawing to a close. He’d written fourteen subjects in all, two per day with every test lasting three-and-a-half-hours. It had certainly been exhausting, but he didn’t find it all that difficult. In fact, he often finished long before the time was up, handing in his paper to give himself a bit of rest before the next one.

This behavior seemed to flummox the other students. The glances sent toward him were curious at first, but later turned patronizing. Apparently, they didn’t find the content so simple. Not seeing any point in trying to fix his peers’ misconceptions and not caring about making friends, Edmund wound up somewhat ostracized. If it weren’t for Aleric, he probably wouldn’t have had a single person to talk to.

Currently, he was waiting for said roommate, dozing on a long wooden bench. The two of them had agreed to head out into the city after exam week was over as a way of celebrating. However, while laying there with his eyes half-closed, he suddenly heard a familiar voice, one that had been absent for the past few days.

“Is that you, Edmund?”

Turning his head, he spotted Will with a few of his friends. Remembering that the fellow was a business student, Edmund wasn’t surprised to see him skipping today’s subject—Inscription. Most likely, he too was waiting for someone to come out.

“Ah, Will. How’ve you been?”

Looking at him curiously, Will drew closer, his two friends whispering something to each other.

“Oh, are you waiting for someone? Me too. You don’t mind if we sit, right?”

In fact, Edmund did mind a little. At the moment, he was occupying the entire bench, stretching his legs on the other armrest. However, given this was a public space, he couldn’t exactly refuse.

“Sure. Yeah, I just finished up, now I’m waiting for my roommate. We were going to eat something to relax after everything was over. How’ve you been?”

In the middle of sitting down, Will halted, his expression turning stranger.

“Huh? I thought you were a martial student, but you’re taking Inscription?”

Edmund sighed inwardly. This was one of the reasons why he kept to himself. He didn’t want to deal with the headache of talking about his major.

“I do practice some swordplay, but that’s not my major.”

“…”

After a moment’s surprised silence, Will opened his mouth in confusion. However, before he could get his next question out, one of the guys next to him suddenly interrupted.

“You probably don’t know, Will, but he wrote every single subject. Everybody basically knows since he’s always the first out. And he’s friends with Alaric.”

It seemed like a jumbled mess of sentences with little connection to each other, but Will’s reaction was like someone struck by lightning. Pupils widening, he looked at Edmund like he was seeing him for the first time. The other two boys were likewise staring at him, their expressions complicated. Edmund didn’t know who either of them were, but apparently some gossip about him had reached their ears.

“You’re… trying to get into S-class!!”

Blurting the words out in a disbelieving tone, Will all but tripped over his own feet in an attempt to get away from Edmund. If he was friendly before, his current attitude was borderline fearful.

Edmund sighed, feeling this was all rather annoying.

“That’s correct.”

For some reason, his admission was even more surprising to the three boys, like they’d somehow expected him to deny it. Will’s two friends acted particularly strangely, not like he did, but with slight scorn instead. One of them even went so far as to click his tongue, mumbling something to himself.

“What’s with that reaction? Having a recommendation doesn’t mean he’ll get in. Are we supposed to bow and scrape just because he has some connections?”

Hearing the contempt in his voice, Edmund’s placid expression suddenly stiffened. That type attitude pissed him off immensely. In fact, it was exactly this kind of situation back at his orphanage that resulted in a huge conflict, with him almost being kicked out, and the other guy being sent somewhere else.

Getting up slowly, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, closing the distance until he was basically rubbing noses with the cheeky asshole.

“You better watch your mouth. I may not compare to the academy’s top knights, but I’m more than enough to deal with the likes of you.”

Likely not having expected to be confronted so straight-forwardly, the boy’s face flushed red, his expression turning stormy. He looked like he wanted to contest Edmund’s claim, but at the same time, cautious about confronting an S-class aspirant.

“Do it if you have the guts. Or are you just talk? I’m right though, aren’t I? You’re no different from the rest of us, just someone who doesn’t know his place-…!”

Still in the middle of his sentence, he suddenly blanched, his pupils narrowing. Without warning, Edmund’s fist shot toward his face like a bolt out of the blue.

He flinched, wanting to block or dodge, but there was no time. The only thing he could do was turn his head slightly, wanting to take it on his cheekbone instead of his nose.

However, the blow he waited for never came.

At some point, a person had appeared between them, grasping Edmund’s wrist firmly in a strong hand.

He was tall and handsome, with wavy, golden hair and ocean-blue eyes. Clad in a formal white shirt, proper pants and leather boots, he cut quite the figure.

“…sorry for making you wait, Ed. As usual, you didn’t seem to have much difficulty with the test, but it was a tough one for me. I hope I don’t do too badly, haha!”