41~Are you even a man?
“That gray-haired girl with curls, she’s standing so upright, truly worthy of being called a deity girl. Her figure is well-preserved, except for the somewhat disappointing chest area. Nevertheless, she’s exuding an impressive aura. I wonder which family she hails from. Hmm, due to some shortcomings, I’ll give her an 85!”
“Ohh, the big sister with straight brown hair is also quite nice! The average-sized area is more than made up for by her height and beautiful legs. With such height, she must be from the nobility of the northern kingdom. Approvable, approvable, I’ll give her a 90!”
“Hey, Dillin, look look, that’s the young miss from the Kalebes family, renowned in the kingdom since long ago. Tsk tsk, no wonder she descends from a well-known deity girl family. With such a beautiful and poised figure, it’s no surprise she secured a spot on the ‘Coleman Golden Flower Chart’— this presence and posture are unmatched by ordinary deity girls. A perfect score of 100!”
“…………… First of all, what exactly is this Coleman Golden Flower Chart?” Unable to endure the incessant chatter of the spiky-haired youth beside him pulling him into endless conversations, Dillin, who cradled a book, quietly raised his gaze.
“Huh? You even don’t know this? Come on, are you even a normal male student?” John looked at Dillin with disdain, but honestly, looking at his friend sitting beside him, quietly reading the book, he felt that his old pal had undergone some changes these past few days.
He had become… quieter than before.
Though a thirst for knowledge was a common trait among the Divine Sons, Dillin hadn’t been so obsessed with reading that he would seize any free moment to delve into books.
But, John didn’t find this odd at all.
Men, after undergoing painful transformations and making reluctant choices, often experience slight character changes. That was normal enough.
The matter with Aistride must’ve hit him pretty hard, right?
John sighed softly in his heart.
Although Dillin showed no expressions, John understood that he must’ve been stewing over this secretly.
What man wouldn’t be bothered by something like this, especially young lads who haven’t yet grasped what it means to be carefree?
Dillin’s immediate infatuation with Aistride was obvious to John. Rather, with the charm of that elf princess, which man wouldn’t have been smitten? Unless they were a brute.
John understood Dillin’s feelings. There was nothing he could do about it, except to act goofy and cheer up this emotionally wounded friend. Who knew this tight-lipped guy would just ignore him and stay silent?
Not speaking and pretending to be a sage, eh?
“The so-called Golden Flower Chart, as its name suggests, is the Coleman Academy’s ‘Campus Flower’ ranking chart.” John wagged his finger as he taught Dillin about it. “Are you even a bl**d-boiling young man? You don’t even know this?”
“I know this, does it have any real meaning?” Dillin tilted his head.
“Of course it does! Why do we go through hell and high water to get admitted to Coleman Academy?”
“To learn knowledge and better ourselves.”
“My friend…………” John looked at Dillin with great astonishment.
“? What’s wrong?”
“Has something impure possessed you? How can you say something so proper and upright?”
“Is there something wrong with this sentence?”
“Not wrong, it’s just too proper, not something easily coming out of a student’s mouth.”
Dillin kept silent.
“I say, looks like you’ve remodeled your persona after getting dumped? Transformed from a smoking, listless youth into an optimistic literary youth?”
“Go admire your beauties.” Aware that John’s mouth would never utter anything meaningful, Dillin ignored him and lowered his head to read his book.
“Hey, look, isn’t the reason we’re at Coleman Academy to find our destined deity girl? Being dedicated only to study has no future, you shouldn’t give it all up because of one setback, right? Three-legged frogs are rare, but aren’t two-legged humans everywhere? Why would a man hang himself from a single tree?”
“I’d suggest you pay attention to the Golden Flower Chart. Who knows? Your future other half might be among them.”
“I hear your take, sounds like you came to Coleman to pick a concubine.” Dillin teased him.
“Eh, you can say that, and I dare say many Divine Sons secretly think the same! Think about it, as the top academy, Coleman gathers deity girls from many noble families. The majority will be the next generation of family heirs, and if you happen to get noticed, it’s at least saving you thirty years of missteps, right?”
“………… Am I to understand then, that you came to school just to wait for some rich woman to pick you?” Dillin looked at John, slightly exasperated.
“Inaccurate, waiting alone won’t work. These are all miss of the great noble families, you can’t just wait. There comes a time when you need strong actions to win their hearts!”
“You see what I mean?”
“I think it’s unlikely.” Dillin glanced at the spiky-haired lad. “There’s no way most deity girls will look favorably upon grassroots divine sons.”
“……… Hey, you still can’t let go, can you? Looks like you were truly hurt, eh.” John patted Dillin’s shoulder, filled with sympathy.
“? What nonsense are you spouting now?”
“Choosing a concubine, there’ll be plenty of time for that later, no need to make a grand show of coming here to select at the competition venue, right?” Dillin looked at his book, not lifting his head.
“That’s true, but today’s different. Hey, do you know why our arena’s packed today?”
“No clue.” Dillin glanced at the somewhat Roman arena-like circular arena and didn’t care much.
“Tch, stop pretending, how could you possibly not know?”
“? Why would I know this?” Dillin was dumbfounded by John’s question from out of nowhere. “Didn’t you drag me here today to watch the match? If you hadn’t dragged me here, I’d probably still be reading in the dorm.”
“Spare it, stop pretending. With Aistride’s match today, could you actually focus on reading?”
“Oh, her match is today, huh.” Dillin nodded. “So where’s she competing?”
“You tell me?”
“Right here in arena twenty-three?”
“Heh, really stop pretending, I know the first thing you did when the match schedule came out was find out where Aistride was competing. You should be thanking me; if I hadn’t snagged two spots early, we wouldn’t be able to see your old flame………”
“If you say one more word, I’ll punch you.” Dillin grinned insincerely as he tightened his fists.
“Alright alright, my mistake, should’ve said ‘ex’ flame……… Ouch!” John covered his spiky head, deciding it’s better to stay quiet to avoid further provoking Dillin.
Tsk, as expected, he hasn’t let go yet, otherwise why get so worked up?
Yet, what John didn’t know was that Dillin’s agitation wasn’t because his feelings had returned, it was simply due to an ingrained response.
Perhaps even Dillin hadn’t realized yet but right now he strongly disliked hearing rumors about himself being fabricated carelessly by others.
“Something like this, if it doesn’t exist, then it doesn’t exist. Don’t throw around the term ‘old flame’ without grounds. That phrase makes others uncomfortable, and me too. Love and a lifelong partner aren’t things to be joked about.” Dillin said coldly, surprising himself with his own words.
