Chapter 46: My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Flares Up Again…
Coleman, located at the forefront of the continent, is an absolutely neutral place isolated from war, and a place that all scholars yearn for.
The residents of Coleman City are rather mixed, with almost every race represented. Due to its relatively central geographical location and the fame of the Coleman Academy built upon it, commerce is prosperous. With centuries of undisturbed peace, the residents have been able to rest and recuperate.
The city presents a scene of great prosperity, with clusters of tiled houses and bustling streets that are always busy. The living standards of the residents here are generally higher than in other countries, especially in the war-torn frontiers.
One could say that Coleman, a neutral city surrounded by four warring lands and close to the Demon Race’s jurisdiction, has avoided the horrors of war mostly thanks to the Coleman Academy built by the Elves.
Therefore, the somewhat competent Coleman lords have all but given up trying too hard, supporting the academy as long as principles aren’t breached. The Coleman Academy needs land? As long as the funds are available, it’s no issue.
The Coleman Academy is renowned worldwide and incredibly wealthy. Where other academies’ godlings and godgirls have to queue and book in advance just to use training grounds, the Coleman Academy boasts over a hundred specially designated training areas for its godgirls alone. There’s no need for a lottery system for slot availability; there are always idle venues ready for use. The professionalism and environment of these venues are absolutely top-notch.
Afternoon, Venue No. 23.
Dillin has arrived, but not in his usual capacity.
A golden-haired loli with a strange feathered headpiece that covers her ears tiptoed to the spectator seats, having arrived an hour early to claim her spot to avoid the nightmare of being too small to secure a seat.
She supported herself on the chair’s edge, her feet kicking up as they struggled to climb onto the seat.
The sparse crowd gradually grew denser. By the time there were twenty minutes left until the match started, Venue No. 23 was already packed to the brim, not even a standing spot left.
“Ugh,” Tillysha sat arms crossed in the now sardine-like spectator seats, clearly dissatisfied.
Her expression was blank, her cheeks puffed up from being squished by the surrounding crowd. Her head was adorned with a rather apt-looking red ‘#’ mark.
Thankfully, she had the foresight to come early; otherwise, she’d have been squished into elf-dry like a raisin.
But even with a comfy cushioned seat, she still felt incredibly uncomfortable.
All these people coming and going, entering and exiting… so dirty…
There was a faint smell too. Did they even bathe today? Was it lunchtime? Did they change clothes after bathing? Wouldn’t they wear the same clothes all day?
All that dust, not to mention the body fluids and dead skin flakes people secrete — how could they even leave their houses like that? So embarrassing!
Even if they had showered and changed at noon, being crushed in this crowd would have caused them to sweat up a storm, practically undoing all that cleanliness.
The thought of these unwashed people pressing against her was enough to send shivers down Tillysha’s spine.
Of course, she knew it wasn’t their intention, and perhaps she was overly sensitive, but these feelings were unavoidable.
She wasn’t fond of physical contact with unfamiliar people.
Tillysha covered her nose with one hand as if wrapping herself in a blanket, her cautious eyes glaring protectively like that of a little kitty defending her meal.
Her clothes were likely already a lost cause, but if her hair got contaminated with dead skin or body fluids, she’d surely lose her mind!
Tillysha leaned against the armrest, defending her territory to ensure this human tide wouldn’t push her out of her area.
The crowd was so dense even before the match began; it goes without saying how popular Aistride was among the students.
Every face from the morning’s matches was here, as well as many others that hadn’t appeared. It was hard to believe they weren’t here just for Aistride.
Some may ask, why were there so many spectators? Don’t they have classes?
This is where the Coleman Academy’s regulations come into play. During the days of the rookie godgirls’ competition, all godboys, mages, and alchemists have a holiday.
This is why the stands at Venue No. 23 now held various grades of godboys, mage students, alchemist students, and godgirls who haven’t progressed to their own match-ups yet.
The Academy naturally had its own intentions for this arrangement. The foremost goal for rookies is to find likeminded teammates and form teams, and this set-up helps increase the godgirls’ exposure to attract godboys who may find them compatible.
So, the few days off given during the godgirls’ competition isn’t for leisure—it’s to let godboys watch the matches and find a godgirl they fancy.
Once a fancy is found, the socialization phase begins. Chatty and socially adept godboys, assuming they’re not completely inept, usually don’t lack godgirls who see potential in their teams.
The Academy is training the godboys’ communication skills, as the team captain needs to resolve any issues within the group. While other professions don’t necessarily need strong social skills, you, as a godboy, do. Even if you’re not naturally charismatic, you’ll at least need some tact.
You’re being pushed into communication, being pushed into socializing.
If you don’t know how, you can learn. But if you don’t have the courage to try, and stutter and stammer in front of a godgirl, sorry, but once the godgirls are taken by other godboys, you’ll be left alone.
The clever godboys already see this — this is the first round of elimination for them. Only the dumb ones think they’re really on holiday.
The rookie godgirls’ competition is not only a competition among themselves but also the beginning of an intra-godboy rat race.
As for all this, Tillysha isn’t unaware. She noticed it long ago. It’s not that she didn’t want to compete—it’s more that she couldn’t.
Hardware limitations aside, no matter how enhanced her Divine Analysis Technique might get, she only had one godboy skill, making her appeal somewhat limited. Not to mention a few persistent jerks who kept getting in the way, further reducing her chances of attracting godgirls.
Besides, she didn’t need teammates right now. Having them would only complicate things. A three-person team would eventually draw suspicion from anyone, no matter how dumb they were.
And anyway, what good would it do to drag someone in when she herself had little to offer? At this point, her success in transforming as a godgirl was still a huge gamble. Luring someone into her broken little group would just be cruel.
The first match ended quickly. Despite the packed audience, there were few cheers or sighs.
Clearly, everyone was waiting for the main event.
Speaking of which, where was that idiot John? Had he not even managed to secure a seat?
Just as Tillysha looked around, her eyes suddenly caught a flash of silver.
