Chapter 172: The Fan and the Wizard

Ch. 172: The Fan and the Wizard

So Igni was sent out to go negotiate with [The Legion] Estea, but he did not know where to find her in the first place.

So he decided that the best place to start would be to ask around on where he could find her.

Igni: "Lilly, could you help me?"

Lilly: "Yes, that's fine." And of course, he was not planning on going alone.

If it was a guy, that would be one thing, but if he is going to convince a girl, then it would be better to have a female with you for reassurance purposes.

According to the information he was provided, Estea was in Class E.

So Igni began walking towards the Class E classroom.

Igni: "Hey, sorry to bother you. Could I ask you something?" It was the afternoon after class was over, and Igni decided to ask a couple of girls still chatting in the room. The girls glanced over his way and then blushed with recognition.

"Oh! Are you Igni from Class D?!"

"We saw you at the [Tournament]! You were so amazing!"

And Igni received unexpected praise.

Igni: (What?! Is this for real?! They know who I am?!?!)

Igni: (Am I finally Popular?!?!)

And he felt joy bubble up within him.

But holding it back, he smiled as he spoke.

Igni: "Thanks. Yeah, I'm Igni." The Ultimate Secret to Popularity No. 2 ーー A confident man will be Popular.

If he were to panic at his rising fame or even to show elation at the news, that would be far from Popularity.

Yes, he needed to act cool in this situation........

"Well, I was actually rooting for Fray during the [Tournament]ー"

"Yeah, he's so good-lookingー"

Igni:(..............what?)

It was the first time in his life Igni felt jealous, murderous rage towards his little brother whom he almost forgotten about.

Lilly: "Igni, we should wrap this up. There's still much work to do after this."

And with a little exasperation, Lilly asked Igni to hurry up, and Igni immediately shut out his anger towards his younger brother.

Though they were there for a different reason, they at least still remembered his name.

Igni: (That should be good enough for now....)

And as Igni cried tears of blood inside, he shoved those dark thoughts completely out as he asked the girls.

Igni: "Is Miss Estea here?" "Miss Estea?" One of the girls turned to look around the classroom briefly, but immediately shook her head.

"Hmmm, yeah, I don't think you'll find her here after class."

Igni: "Do you know where she could have gone?" "It's after school so probably the library? Miss Estea is always studying."

Igni thanked the girls as he left the classroom.

Igni: "........so she's in the library a lot, huh."

Lilly: "That's impressive. She must be very studious."

Lilly is technically an exchange student from Arurumenia, the Elves' nation, and spoke with a bitter smile as she mumbled to herself. She likes Spells, but not the studying part.

And Igni walked to the library which he hadn't visited in quite some time.

Though it's not particularly important, the Rolmod Wizard Academy's library is quite impressive.

Walking away from the main school building, a multi-floor tower stood in the distance.

There, you would find all kinds of Spell and Mage texts, and the faculty and students had free access.

Igni: (......the library, huh.)

Igni: (If I go there everyday, would it make me look more intelligent?)

As those thoughts skimmed through his mind, he looked upon the massive library building, and a past memory suddenly came to him.

<<<<>>>>

[What's this? Why are you suddenly reading books all of a sudden?]

[Grandpa! Don't you know?! "Intellectual" guys become Popular!!]

And Igni proudly bragged about the tip he picked up from the city a day ago.

Because Igni was constantly training and reaching puberty, they had to go back to the city often to rebuy fitting clothes.

Lucas could have gone alone to purchase the clothes, but then Igni would have been away from human society for years, and there is much you can learn from just being in the city.

That's why Lucas continued to take Igni along when they visited the cities.

When Igni was inside the city, he overheard one of the groups of girls' conversations which inspired him to start reading.

In short, "Intelligent men are popular".

[I see.....so that's why I see you reading a book.]

[That's right! I'm going to become a man of intellect and start my super Popular life andーー]

[TOO NAIVE!!!]

And Lucas' hand flashed forward so fast that Igni, who had his attention fully on the book, was not able to dodge.

[UGHHHH!!! What was that for?!?!]

[Reaching out to new hobbies to become more Popular is a noble aspiration deserving of praise! But Igni, you have overlooked something very important!"

[SーSomething important........?!]

Aghast, Igni dropped the book as he waited for Lucas to speak.

[That is.......you are <incompatible> with that trait......!!]

[IーIncompatible....? WhーWhat do you mean, Grandpa!!]

[In this world, there are compatible and incompatible traits........! It follows the same logic as Spell Types and compatibility to it.....! In the same way, Popularity also has compatibility as well......!!]

Igni's mind turned into a blanket of white at the devastating truth his grandfather delivered.

[CーCompatibility with Popularity......? BーBut what could those possibly be......?! How could you ever know what they are.......?!]

[Unlike Magic, it's not something you can easily discover. But, at the very least, you should be able to decipher whether certain things are easier or more difficult for you to do. For instance, Igni, between a man with black hair and red hair, do you know that there are certain kinds of fashion that work for one but not for the other?]

[YーYeah, of course. I know that much.....]

[In other words, the "Compatibility" of Popularity is the same as that......! Depending on your birth-given looks and body shape, it will naturally shape the approach to your Popularity.....!!]

[I......I see..........!]

Igni was amazed at his grandfather's logic.

[In other words, Igni, you are not compatible with the intellectual approach!! Of course, you can always challenge yourself with an incompatible character trait but.........if you do, you will be at a disadvantage. A severe.....and brutal disadvantage......!]

[............!!!]

Igni felt his fists tighten as he realized the naivety of his earlier thinking.

[If you understand, let's go back to training. Hey, don't worry. I will teach you the perfect approach to becoming Popular.]

[RーReally?!]

[Of course! That's why I'm here.]

[ThーThank you, Grandpa! I'm counting on you!!]

No matter how eccentric, Lucas is still an [Extreme].

Seeing confidence overflowing out of his grandfather, Igni felt an indescribable sense of relief.

[But...grandpa....]

[What is it?]

[Doesn't that mean that I'm....stupid?]

[.............................]

<<<<<>>>>

In the end, Lucas did not answer that question, but Igni drew many lessons from that experience. An approach that was compatible with who he was. The fact that there are other approaches to Popularity that is incompatible with himself.

That's why Igni decided to master his one and only Spell {Fireball}.

Lilly: "Is that her?"

On the 3rd floor of the library, there was a girl sitting at one of the tables and reading.

She had flaxen hair and golden eyes.

She looked delicate as if she was part of a dream and would disappear at any moment. She was also quite small. So small in fact that the book she was reading almost hid her whole body.

But the girl who was intently reading was undoubtedly the Estea they were looking for according to the information Igni got from Miru.

Igni: ".........pardon me. Are you Miss Estea, perhaps?"

Igni gently tapped on Estea's shoulder as he asked.

Estea: "Oh, whaー whay?! What do you want?!?!"

But the shock of being suddenly spoken to deeply disturbed her as she almost fell out of her chair in panic.

Igni: ".....are you okay?"

Igni placed a hand to keep her from falling out of her chair.

Igni: "I'm so sorry to have frightened you. I'm from the Student Council and...."

But before Igni could finish introducing himself, Estea interrupted.

Estea: "........you're the real thing..."

ーーis what she said.

Igni: "......real?"

Estea: "Oh, yes! You're Mr. Igni, correct?" Estea's voice trembled slightly as she asked, and Igni nodded.

Estea: "WーWow!! You're real! You're the real Igni!!"

She clutched the book in her hand tightly as she wavered back and forth and finally stuck a hand out to shake.

Estea: "UーUm! I'm a huge fan!! It's a pleasure meeting you!!"