The next morning at breakfast, Zenith looked at Allen with a stunned expression.
The boy sitting at the table had washed his hair again. His smooth brown hair slightly covered his newly trimmed, straight eyebrows. At the same time, he was wearing a pair of square-framed black glasses. He had removed the lenses, but it was unnoticeable without looking closely. He had changed into Paul's clothes, which looked a bit loose, the low collar giving him a somewhat lazy air.
He smiled at everyone at the table.
His overall aura had suddenly transformed from sharp and aggressive to gentle and kind.
Allen nodded gratefully at Lilia, who was standing beside him, strictly adhering to her maid duties and not eating at the table.
"Thank you."
Lilia blinked.
Last night, Allen had suddenly knocked on her door, asking for a pair of glasses, saying his face might be too scary and he was afraid of frightening Rudeus. Although she found it strange, she gave him a pair of her old, retired glasses.
Now, it seemed they suited him surprisingly well.
"You're welcome. They suit you."
Allen smiled and nodded to himself.
This should be much better. I spent a long time modifying my look in the mirror last night. I'm sure it will make Rudeus less afraid of me... Ugh... why do I feel like I'm playing a galge...
He turned to look at Rudeus, and the result—
Rudeus wore a horrified expression, lowered his head, and began to wolf down his food.
'A cross-dressing pervert!'
Allen's lip twitched, not knowing what to do. However, this seemed to have hit Paul's strike zone. He stared at Allen's glasses, his gaze drifting down to the bulging muscles on Allen's chest, then turned his head to Lilia at his side, nodding from time to time as if very satisfied. [Congratulations, host. You have once again gained Paul's favor...] Allen smilingly extended his spoon, scattered the system text, and scooped up some soup. This is so damn ridiculous.
Throughout the morning, Allen intentionally or unintentionally tried to get close to Rudeus. At noon, he even used the Ben Franklin Effect, deliberately dropping his spoon and asking Rudeus to help him pick it up, then offering thanks with a purposefully deadpan expression of sincerity.
But Rudeus, seeing this performance, looked as if he had seen the Dragon God Orsted from the novel's illustrations ahead of schedule. He seemed even more afraid of Allen... In the afternoon, Rudeus, who had gone out to survey the terrain, didn't even return home. Naturally, the swordsmanship lesson was cancelled. Instead, a very enthusiastic Paul engaged him in a real man's 1v1 fencing battle. Rudeus only returned home in the evening, and Paul had dueled to his heart's content, not even bothering to check if Allen, the nominal teacher, was actually fulfilling his duties. Lying in bed, accompanied by the system's joyous announcement of Paul's skyrocketing favorability, Allen fell into a painful sleep.
The next day, early in the morning, Paul came to call Allen out for fencing.
Unable to refuse his hospitality, Allen accepted the challenge.
This time, Rudeus stayed home. But the problem was, the two of them got so engrossed in their exhilarating fencing match that they fought for the entire day. During this time, Allen clearly felt that Paul, who had been living in the countryside for a long time, had regained some of his swordsmanship proficiency. At night, Allen once again fell into a painful sleep. What is all this...
On the third day, things took a turn.
Rudeus finally had to face his swordsmanship teacher. And after two days of observation, he realized that Allen just looked like a bad guy but wasn't actually a bully like the ones from his past life.
But he still hadn't gained his favor, which was to be expected. Rudeus just saw Allen as a normal passerby.
The afternoon practice is a chance...
But, an accident still happened. When an absent-minded Rudeus once again dropped his wooden sword, Paul, who was sitting on the side with his brows furrowed, stood up. He picked up the wooden sword and started fighting with Allen!
Allen looked at Rudeus in horror. He saw Rudeus looking at Paul with an expression of worship, as if he were seeing a god descend from heaven. Then he immediately turned around and went into the house, only to dash out a moment later, clutching his plant dictionary, and went out to play under Allen's despairing gaze.
In the evening, the system notified Allen that he had improved the relationship between Rudeus and Paul, rewarding him with a 5-point participation score for the major event.
At night, Allen painfully slapped his own face, making a solemn vow to complete the Rudeus favorability quest the next day.
Allen, oh Allen, how could you have fallen so low??Fourth day. Fencing.
In the evening, Allen stared at his dinner bowl with a愁眉苦脸 (chóu méi kǔ liǎn - a face full of sorrow and worry), feeling that his sanity was on the brink of collapse.
[Rudeus: Countdown: 9:16:47]
[Hang in there, host. If this continues, Paul is going to propose to you.]
Allen painfully buried his face in his bowl.
Zenith cast a questioning gaze at him.
"What's wrong, Allen? Are you not feeling well?"
I'm feeling very unwell. Do you have any idea that if this continues, I'll become your mistress before Lilia does?
Allen struggled to pull his face out of the bowl and smiled with a twisted mouth.
"It's nothing. The food is delicious. I love it."
"Really?! Darling! Allen has been praising my cooking all these days!"
Paul smiled and nodded in agreement, while looking at Allen with an appreciative expression.
"He also often praises my swordsmanship."
Brother Paul, please don't. I'm scared...
Allen rested his forehead in his hand and looked at Rudeus, who was eating with his head down.
The latter seemed to sense his gaze, looked up, and gave him a faint, teasing smile.
Allen, feeling utterly defeated, met his gaze and nodded.
Just then, Paul suddenly spoke.
"Rudy, I've noticed you don't seem very interested in swordsmanship these past few days."
Rudeus's eyes lit up. He quickly glanced at Allen, as if he understood the meaning behind his nod. He then said.
"Father, actually, Teacher Allen's swordsmanship is very good. It's just that my talent seems to be in magic. And recently, the weather has gotten warmer, and many plants outside are growing lushly. I can't help but want to go out and identify more of the plants recorded in the dictionary. I'm sorry."
Hearing these words, which were clearly meant to cover for his teammate, Allen actually found Rudeus quite considerate and couldn't help but feel some fondness for him.
[Treason from below! Rudeus has successfully obtained the host's favor!]
'Crap, just kill me now! Right now, this instant!'
Paul stroked his chin and looked up at the ceiling. After a long moment, he said something shocking.
"To be honest, I didn't think so before, but since Allen came, by comparison, I really don't think you're cut out for the sword..."
Allen looked at Paul in horror.
'My favorability is already on thin ice, Brother Paul, don't doom me!!!'
The steam from the food suddenly billowed up.
[Successfully obtained Rudeus's favor. Time elapsed: 86 hours, 31 seconds. Evaluation: A narrow escape from a desperate situation. A clever angle. Paul is definitely someone you can entrust your life to.]
[Detoxification Magic Slot unlocked.]
Allen stared at Rudeus, dumbfounded. The latter quickly glanced at Allen with a grateful expression, then widened his eyes and looked at Paul with feigned innocence.
He spoke carefully, the upturned corner of his mouth barely visible in the lamplight, his true intentions revealed.
"Then, Father, can I shorten my sword practice time to focus on studying magic? I think swordsmanship is fine just for physical fitness. After all, I'm not cut out for it, am I?"
Paul was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked at Allen.
Allen's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.
Rudy, you're a master of dirty tricks. I'm impressed. But Paul, what the hell do you mean by looking at me?
You should be looking at your wife for matters concerning your child's education!!
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