"I would like to purchase 2 hours of your time, Ed Rothstaylor."
It happened two days later, the moment I came out of my Elemental Studies class to eat lunch.
She looked elegant and quite polite at first glance, but her bright turquoise eyes were filled with greed for money.
Her reddish-brown hair was neatly combed and tied up to her shoulder blades, running down her shoulders.
There was a small bandage from the bottom of her neck to her forearm, a result of her injury during the Joint Combat Practice class. It had been a long time since then; it made me realize just how serious her injuries must have been if she still had some wounds left. That nice girl Janica must have completely stomped on her.
She was waiting for me in the academic district, sitting on a bench with a rather dignified posture. I knew who she was.
She was someone who would become at odds with Princess Pheonia, acting like cats and dogs. She was one of the four heroines of 'Sylvania's Failed Swordmaster'.
The only daughter of Magnate Elte Kecheln, the greatest merchant on the continent. A rare businesswoman who climbed to the top of the tower of gold coins with only her desire for wealth.
In the future, people would pay respect to her by calling her 'The Golden Daughter.'
Lortelle was someone who understood human greed better than anyone else.
She wasn't someone who would have an active role until Act 2, well after Janica had left, but her face would pop up here and there in Act 1 as well.
Her roles before and after Act 1 were clearly different. Although she was already quite infamous even in Act 1.
'Bad Ending Maker''Newbie Grinder''The Developer's Curse'
These were what players used to call her. Other than these nicknames, people also used to say such hurtful words against Lortelle in Act 1.
I couldn't remember much of my newbie days from long ago, but just remembering how many times Lortelle used to ruin me in Act 1 still made me shudder.
Getting involved with Lortelle in Act 1 always guaranteed a bad ending.
During Taylor's Class Assignment Examination event, you could choose to rescue Lortelle from a Kobold raid, but rescuing her would result in Taylor witnessing Lortelle's 'secret.' Later on, Lortelle would have Taylor kidnapped and taken out of the academy until he was declared missing. That was Bad Ending Number 2.
In the monster subjugation episode, there was an opportunity to be in the same group as Lortelle. But if you chose to join the same group as her rather than join your friend Ayla's group, Ayla would fall off a cliff and die. Why? Because Ayla stumbling off a cliff would trigger an event where Taylor would be able to quickly catch her. But of course, if you joined Lortelle's group, Taylor wouldn't be able to save Ayla, resulting in her death. That was Bad Ending Number 7.
During the Joint Combat Practice event, there was an option to protect Lortelle from the high-ranking fire spirit Takan summoned by Janica, but in doing so, Taylor would get burned and seriously injured. That was Bad Ending Number 13.
Then during the subjugation of Glasskan, there was an event to reclaim the Student Center by breaking into Nail Hall using the way proposed by Lortelle. But if you were to follow her advice, Taylor would be ambushed and killed by a bunch of spirits that were waiting on that path. That was Bad Ending Number 22.
Swearing at the developers for creating such a character couldn't be helped, but if you were to play 'Sylvania's Failed Swordmaster' all the way to the end, you would start to understand the developer's intentions and even begin to admire it. The intention wasn't that complicated either.
Lortelle Kecheln's role was as the 'hidden heroine.'
A character who was the complete opposite of the righteous and benevolent Princess Pheonia. Lortelle had only been treated as a character to control and take over, but her true character would be revealed in the second half of the story.
The twist in her story and the unexpected gap between her two sides made the players recognize her strong charms as a character. Only talking and understanding calculations, Lortelle grew up with no choice but to gradually view the world calculatingly.
She led a life of picking up and eating bread thrown away in the slums. She developed beliefs that were built on fraud and deceit. She harbored a loneliness that had swallowed a part of her heart, yet no matter how much money she accumulated, it never disappeared.
While the player's opinion of Lortelle would slowly improve little by little, and they finally began to understand the loneliness engraved in her life, it was at that precise moment that a question would be asked:
Would you be on the side of the 'Student Council', led by the Benevolent Princess, or on the side of the 'Top Class', led by the Golden Daughter Lortelle?
Would you support the upright beliefs and idealism shown by the noble Princess Pheonia, or would you support Lortelle's realism, who had been fighting loneliness in a wild-like reality?
"Excuse me? Ed?"
To summarize, the system that had constantly been driving players into bad endings in Act 1 was intentional.
The players began to consciously avoid Lortelle due to them falling trapped in her bad endings. This formed a psychological gap between the players and Lortelle.
The larger the gap, the more dramatic the twist reveal would be to the player in the future.
I was talking about the true harmony between the system and the story.
"Ed Rothstaylor? Hello? Can you hear me?"
It was quite amazing when I looked back on it.
I nodded my head in satisfaction as I walked.
Well, there's that.
And then there was this.
"How long are you going to keep following me?"
"I had no idea you would be this stubborn in ignoring me."
No, I need to be stubborn and ignore her.
Wasn't it obvious?
It was always better to set the mood first in whatever you did. That's what this was.
Seeing her in front of my Elemental Studies class in the academic district, she immediately threw out a meaningful line. Not bad.
"I would like to purchase 2 hours of your time, Ed Rothstaylor."
That was certainly a great start.
This student was the Golden Daughter, Lortelle.
Someone such as her coming out of nowhere to make me an offer was certainly something that made me curious.
Normally, I should've started asking her questions.
What did you mean you wanted to buy two hours of my time? What were you planning on making me do? If you wanted to buy it, then did that mean you would give me money? How much money would you give me? Would you give it to me right now? What was your true intention?
If I asked such questions, Lortelle would continue the conversation with a grin on her face. That was probably what Lortelle thought was going to happen.
Naturally, she would steer the conversation to form around the questions I asked, controlling and avoiding certain questions while taking the lead in the situation.
Considering Lortelle's specialty was her silver tongue, she had the ability to negotiate and talk until you found yourself falling into her proposal before you could even come to your senses.
But that would be if I didn't know what her intentions were.
As I knew, I shattered all her expected developments and strode along, ignoring her. And yet she kept on following me. The difference in our strides was quite wide. She had to follow me at a quicker pace, but this didn't slow her down.
"I heard you are having a hard time after being disowned. Perhaps I could be of some help?"
"Don't say things you don't mean."
"Oh my, speaking politely is more important than you might think. It means you respect the other person."
She didn't care at all about my rude manners due to her nature.
Lortelle ran in front of me and adorably held her hands behind her back with a cute smile on her face.
"I felt touched after seeing you…"
She then spat out her story in her sly way.
"Of course, it's not like I haven't heard the rumors that you were a little, small, tiny bit arrogant and egotistical, but that's fine! It's honestly not that important. Hahaha!"
"It's only human nature to want to give out a helping hand after watching you continue to learn here despite it being such a difficult environment. After all, there was a time when I was also poor and hungry."
"So?"
"A deposit of three plain gold coins."
It was as much money as the maids at Collen Hall, one of the other dormitories where ordinary students lived, would make for a full month's work.
"I want to become friends with Janica."
"Hahaha!"
I started laughing even without her explanation.
"I knew it."
"Can't you introduce me, please? All you have to do is come with us, and the three of us can all talk together. I don't think it will even take the full two hours."
"Since becoming the Daughter of Gold, do you buy personal connections with money?"
"Well, I won't be coy about it then."
Lortelle took three gold coins from her sleeve and put them in my pocket.
"Here, keep this for now. I know it well. The more people on my side, the better."
Lortelle seemed to have realized this intuitively. After all, she had been living her whole life walking on a tightrope, with people watching her from below.
She would eventually get into a political battle with Princess Pheonia soon. It was best to make as many allies as she could from now on. The rift between the two wasn't something that could be closed by being considerate and giving in a little bit.
As I stood still, staring at her, Lortelle began to smile that cunning smile of hers again.
"You're looking at me as if I'm a pathetic person. Usually, by now, people would be trying to hide their faces, thinking, 'Wow, what a jackpot!'"
I spoke with a big grin on my face.
"Alright, let's shake on it once."
Nobody knew the true nature of greed as well as Lortelle did. At least, that was what she thought.
Mad and immature greed was like a disease that had reached the incubation period. It was quite easy to control when the situation was calm, but the moment you were pushed into a corner and urgently needed a bit of money, that greed could take over an entire person's being.
Those who didn't have food for tomorrow soon became those who no longer had a place to rest. And just a bit of money would make their eyes look bloodshot. As a native of the slums, Lortelle knew that feeling very well.
Not only that, but the bigger the difference in wealth there was, the more the power of greed would consume a human's heart, making it uncontrollably strong.
Those who had once lived a lofty lifestyle would collapse the moment they faced poverty. She had seen too many debtors take their own lives because they couldn't accept the difference between when they had money and when they were broke.
The amount of gold it took for them to break down wasn't at the scale of a house or a property either. Ultimately, it came down to one small coin.
No, it wasn't the amount of money that was important. Because even if you were to offer the same amount, someone would always be willing to sell more.
Selling one's pride for just one gold coin.
Selling one's family for just one gold coin.
Even selling oneself for just one gold coin.
The market price of a gold coin wouldn't change and was set, but those who were cornered without a choice would always bring more and more things to sell.
Because there was no other option.
Because it was the only path they could see.
That was why the 'first time' was really important.
Holding that gold coin in their hand after the first time, thinking it was fine because it was just once, it would then become the beginning of a disaster that would drive a cornered person off a cliff. The first time was the starting point of all subsequent schemes and tactics.
It was so easy and simple to take advantage of someone who was desperate.
It was quite sad.
"..."
When Lortelle finally came to her senses, Ed Rothstaylor had already left. Was it because she was flustered for a second?
"Well, that was quite interesting."
Looking at Ed's back as he left, Lortelle let out a giggle.
When he shook her small hand, the three gold coins she had shoved in his pocket had found their way back into her hands.
He had an attitude that didn't even let them become a bit closer.
It was as if… he had understood all of Lortelle's intentions from the very beginning.