Nell, Amina, and I finished allog our status points.

  Only I was left.

  "Well, for me..."

  That said, I already had a clear idea of how I wao build my character, so I quickly finished allog my status points and was done.

  Liberta Css 1 / Level 9 Basic Stats: HP 11, MP 7 BP 0 EXBP 0 Skill 1 / Skill Slots 3 Spearmanship Css 2 / Level 94

  "Wait, you're already done?" "Yeah, I already knew what I wao do."

  My stat allocation was the opposite of Amina's—three parts HP to two parts MP.

  "e to think of it, I never asked you, Liberta, what kind of style you wao aim for." "True." "Are you curious?" "Yeah, Nell, you're curious tht?" "Of course. It’s kind of unfair that only Liberta knows about us."

  After quickly finishing my stat allocation, I was about to think about what to do when Nell peeked at my status s. The allocated stats were already dispyed there. Then, Amina popped her head in from the other side, and suddenly my face was sandwiched between Nell and Amina's.

  "Are we really going to talk in this situation?" I thought to myself.

  "The name of the style I'm aiming for is a bit... violent." "Violent? Now I’m even more curious."

  I hesitated to say it, thinking that if I used the game's sng term, Nell and Amina might get scared.

  "e on, it’s just the hat’s violent. It doesn’t mean Liberta is violent, right?" "Is that so? Well then..."

  Amina, sensing my hesitation, smiled and assured me it was fine, so I decided to reveal my ultimate goal.

  "The style I’m aiming for is... the Headhunter Assassin." "Eh?" "Whoa, that’s even more violent than I expected!"

  True to their word, her of them seemed scared, but they both had question marks floating above their heads.

  "Wait, Liberta, are y to get revenge on someone?" "No, no."

  Nell, knowing I was an orphan, seemed to think I was aiming to take revenge on whoever abandoned me, but I quickly waved my hands to deny it.

  "It’s just a bat style that doubles as a scout. My main on is a spear, and my skill set is simir to an assassin’s, so that’s why it’s called that."

  I have no i in assassination or anything like that. It’s just a style I loved using in the game because it was effective both solo and in a party, so I decided to go with it in this world too.

  Headhunter Assassin. A spear user specialized in critical hits, targeting oints with surprise attacks.

  "My skill set sists of four passive skills: Spearmanship, Scythemanship, Scouting, and Assassination. It’s a style that works well both solo and in a party."

  The name "Headhunter" es from a skill dropped by a specifister, which is not only high-damage but also cost-effective.

  "Hmm, I think Liberta could bee a Hero." "Or maybe a Sage." "Those cssic styles are too predictable and easily tered. I know they’re strong, but... they don’t feel appealing to me."

  They seemed to have some thoughts about the name, suggesting typical heroic styles like Here, but those were just strong, one-dimensional styles in the game.

  The Hero is an all-rounder, capable of healing, using powerful skills, and bang sword and shield. Strengths: Versatile. Weaknesses: Jack of all trades, master of he Sage is a magic-focused css with a wide range of spells and high damage output. Strengths: Broad magical attacks and high firepower. Weaknesses: Physically weak and vulnerable to magic resistance.

  "Eh?!" "Hey, it’s not like I’m doing anything shady. You tursuing the styles you like, so why ’t I do the same?"

  Both styles felt overused and cked excitement. Sure, they’re strong in the hands of skilled pyers, but they’re just not for me.

  "But still..." "Hey..." "Alright, alright, let’s end this versation. We have an early start tomorrow, and we o get enough sleep to level up effitly." "Okay..."

  Ohe suhe only light came from the moon and stars. Outside the tent, Dent and the others were gathered around a campfire, and its light seeped through the gaps ient.

  We had brought a mp, but staying up too te would affeorrow’s performahere were no sleeping bags, so we id out bs on the ground and covered ourselves with another b—a primitive way to sleep.

  "...You two, aren’t you a bit too close?" "Well, the tent is small, so what we do?" "Besides, it’s warmer this way. My wings are great for insution." "And I have a high body temperature." "Uh, but being this close... okay, I’ll shut up."

  It might be a bit too warm for this season, but sihere’s no greenhouse effect here, it gets fairly cold at night. The bs were just enough to keep us fortable.

  Sleeping close together like this ractical, but the se looked questionable enough that I worried someone might call the cops. I wao ask them to give me some space, but when they both gave me a gre, I had no choice but to give up.

  "I’m turning off the mp." "Okay." "Sure."

  Nell reached over and turned off the mp, plunging us into darkness.

  If only we could fall asleep that easily.

  "..." "..." "..."

  None of us could sleep. Despite being exhausted from the day’s activities, sleep just wouldn’t e.

  "Hey, are you asleep yet?" "Nope." "Not yet~ This is weird. Normally, I’d be asleep by now." "Maybe it’s because we don’t have pillows?" "I sleep without a pillow." "Me too. Maybe it’s because it’s not our usual bed?" "Are you talking about that bed filled with slime cushions?" "Yeah, those are great. I even put some in my room’s bed."

  We tried closing our eyes and f ourselves to sleep, but it didn’t work. So, we ended up chatting lightly until we felt sleepy.

  The ground was harder than usual, and the pillow was just a towel ed around a leather bag. In terms of fort, it couldn’t pare to the slime cushions we usually used.

  "...Hey, tell us something." "Like what?" "Anything."

  But since we spent so much time together, it was hard to think of something to talk about.

  "Okay, let’s talk about that decree the king issued a while ago." "A decree? What was it about?" "Liberta, you don’t know?" "Nope."

  Amina brought up the topic, which was a big help. I had been gathering information about this world through Dent, but I must have missed this part.

  "It’s not surprising you don’t know. It’s something that affects us oners, but not directly." "Something that affects us but not directly?" "Yeah. There’s a school for adventurers run by the kingdom. It used to be for noble children ahy merts’ kids, but the king issued a decree saying that oner children could also take an exam to enroll. It’s meant to discover talent from all walks of life."

  At first, I thought it was some kind of riddle, but it turned out to be something that directly affected my future.

  "Wait, oners couldn’t enroll in schools before?" "Of course not. Why did you think they could?" "Yeah, the tuition is expensive, and it’s full of nobles. It’s not a pce for oners." "Seriously?"

  In the game, the protagonist was a runaway noble, so they could take the exam and enroll as a oner without any issues. The word "tuition" never came up, and as long as you passed the exam, there were no problems.

  In the game, enrolling in the school gave you tless bes. What I wanted most was the travel permit. If you achieved excellent grades during your student years, the king would grant you permission to travel to the easterern, northern, southern, aral tis.

  If things went well, I could obtain this permit in the first year, which would greatly expand my options for acquiring monsters, materials, and skills.

  Without enrolling in the school, the only way to get this permit was to build es with nobles or make signifit tributions as an adventurer on one ti—both of which were tedious processes.

  But with the school route, all I had to do was enroll and bee a top student.

  "Liberta, were you pnning to enroll in the school?" "Yeah." "Wait, what?!"

  There was no reason not to. Acc to the setting, you could enroll at the age of twelve. So, I figured I had about two or three years before I could enroll.

  Nell cautiously asked me, and I casually revealed that I had po enroll all along. Amina was shocked by how nont I was.

  "Is it really that surprising?"

  I thought getting too excited would keep me awake, but it seemed like anap in our on sense had surfaced.

  "Of course it’s surprising! Most people wouldn’t even think about it." "Yeah, I thought Liberta would just tinue being an adventurer." "Me too."

  I hadn’t realized the css disparity was this severe. Well, thinking about it calmly, educational institutions were pces for the privileged.

  My Japanese on sense and game knowledge had led me to believe that passing the exam would be enough to get into even the most prestigious schools.

  Questiohing, even the obvious.

  If Nell and Amina hadn’t told me, my pns would have been ruined.

  "That’s oion, but if I want to travel the world, I think enrolling in the school is the way to go."

  To bee stronger, I o improve my equipment and skills. Each ti—east, west, north, south, aral—had uems with distinct characteristics.

  There were ooo, but some were exclusive to specific regions, like only the south or only the north a.

  And if I wao quer the dungeons in the tral ti, there were limits to what I could do in one pce.

  The adventurer route Amiioned was too ineffit.

  "Is it absolutely necessary?" "Not absolutely, but unless something major happens, I pn to go. Luckily, it seems like passing the exam is enough to get in. And if things keep going this way, I should be able to earn enough money."

  The only dowo the school was the "ed" events that Amina a had mentioned.

  ed quests usually had great rewards, but they were often tedious. Plus, nobles had fas, and accepting a quest from one faeant you were aligned with them.

  This made iions with other fas plicated, increasing the ces of harassment or duels.

  The effort required to deepeionships with nobles just wasn’t worth it.

  "Are you sure? Liberta, you might not know this, but nobles look down on us oners. Some bad nobles might even force you into a duel you ’t win for the slightest disresped make you a sve. I’ve heard stories like that." "Yeah, I’ve heard from an acquaintahat someohey knew had a terrible experience. And this decree ushed through by the king and the prime minister despite noble opposition, so the nobles aren’t happy about it."

  Some nobles were named units with unique skills, but even though they were strong, the only real be of teaming up with them was the pyer’s attat to the character.

  I had my favorites too, but if asked if I absolutely wahem in my party, I’d say it wasn’t worth the effort.

  Nell and Amina were against me enrolling in the school.

  "Thanks for w about me. But if I want to achieve my goals, I’ll have to deal with those issues."

  I uood their s, but that didn’t mean I would give up.

  "Besides, not all nobles are bad, right? I’ve heard the king of this try cares about the people, so not everyone is against his decree. I’ll manage." "Maybe, but..." "Hmm, Nell. If this keeps up, Liberta is definitely going to enroll."

  You could call me optimistid I’m sure there are things I’m overlooking. But there are things I have to do, even if it means fag those disadvantages.

  With me in the middle, Nell and Amina groaned and started w.

  "It’s not like I’m enrolling right away. I’m not strong enough to pass the exam yet, so it’s something for the future." "That’s true." "Yeah, you’re right."

  I said I wasn’t strong enough now, but if the exam was the same as in the game, my current level would be more than enough to pass. After all, it was an early-game exam.

  It was desigo be easily cleared by beginners. But that was only if you were just following the story without ara preparation.

  If you wao maximize your bes while progressing, there was a lot more you could do.

  With plenty of time left to prepare, I o make the most of it.

  "Alright, we have an early start tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep." "Right, I’m starting to feel sleepy too." "Me too, I think I’m getting drowsy."

  Tomorrow would bring its own challenges, so I closed my eyes ahe approag drowsiake me into sleep.