When Jake opened his eyes, he was staring at a familiar ceiling. It was none other than the infirmary's ceiling. If he was here, that meant the gate conquest was successful.
Thinking about that, Jake smiled. "Now I can rest in peace." He was about to close his eyes, but a hand knocked his face. "Ouch! What on earth?" He looked to his side and found Marilyn sitting at his side.
"Don't say like you are going to die," she scolded.
"Of course, not, silly. I just want to sleep."
"Well actually, you can't do that yet. The chairman will call us tonight."
Jake put on a weary expression. "Why so sudden? I bet people are injured and want to rest."
"Aside from you and Ms. Rowe, everyone is safe, though. It's all thanks to you," Marilyn praised while poking his nose.
Jake blushed when he heard a compliment. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he coughed and asked, "Is Reina okay?"
"She is. She only experienced mana fatigue. She is currently enjoying the Nurse Grandma's parfait beside you," Marilyn said, pointing at the bed beside him.
When those two looked at Reina, Reina paused the spoon before her mouth. She looked at them back with a gaping mouth, making them laugh.
Marilyn stopped laughing when she saw Reina's blushing face. The latter's face was as red as a tomato, and in fact, she looked like she was about to explode. If they continued laughing, the girl couldn't handle it anymore.
"Okay, let's stop teasing her. You need to go," Marilyn said.
Jake looked at Reina's parfait and gulped. "At least, let me drink grandma's special parfait."
Marilyn nodded at him. "Okay, but don't try to skip the event. It seems the chairman wants to announce something important." After saying that, she left the infirmary, leaving Jake alone with Reina... and Nurse Grandma.
Jake politely asked grandma to make him a special parfait. After that, he waited in silence. The only thing that made sounds was the spoon that was clashing against the mug when Reina spooned the parfait.
Jake noticed something. Even though Reina was a noble, she ate like a commoner. Well, he wasn't annoyed by that, but it just made him wonder if she never had an etiquette lesson in her home.
Reina saw Jake looking at her again, and she hid her face behind the mug while blushing. "P-please don't make fun of me."
Jake blinked his eyes, realizing his rude behavior. "Ah, no. You misunderstood us. We laughed because your face is cute when you are eating. We definitely didn't make fun of you.
Reina's face reddened even more when she heard that. She leaned her body forward, revealing the cleavage behind her pajama, and pulled the bed curtain shut.
Jake felt guilty when she behaved like that. Even though he sincerely apologized, she didn't accept his apology, but he couldn't clear the misunderstanding if she hid herself like that.
"I will try to apologize again later," Jake murmured.
"Mr. Butler... you are actually a dense person, aren't you?" Nurse Grandma said, suddenly appearing beside him with the special parfait.
Jake felt offended when she said that. However, she pardoned her words because she brought a special parfait.
'I am not a dense person! Many people praised me for my sharp mind!' He retorted in his mind as he received the parfait gladly, but the grandma looked at him coldly. "Is there something wrong, grandma?" he asked carefully. He was sure grandma didn't have a mind reading ability, so his internal rambling shouldn't have been found out.
Grandma wrote something on paper and slapped it on his forehead. "One point deduction for flirting with a patient."
"Ah...." Jake finally realized his mistake. He recalled the words he had said to Reina and realized it sounded like he was trying to pick her up. No wonder Reina avoided him after that. He admitted he was dense sometimes.
Even though Jake committed a mistake, he didn't apologize to her because it wasn't an empty word. It was true that he thought her cute. Besides, he didn't have bad intentions anyway, so he continued to eat in peace.
After eating, he left the infirmary with Reina. It seemed that she was waiting for him, so they walked together.
"Butler," Reina suddenly called in a stiff tone.
"Yes?" Jake wondered why she was being unusually stiffer than usual.
"I just want you to know that your training method is very effective for me."
"Thanks?"
"I am wondering if you want to train together with me in your spare time?" Reina asked in a low voice. She looked away with a blushing face. If people passed by, they would have a misunderstanding because it seemed like she was confessing to him.
Jake liked to train alone, so he was about to reject it, but he stopped that idea when he recalled that Misael would challenge him to fight. He didn't want to accept the challenge. Not because he was afraid, he was just lazy. So, he thought he could use Reina to shield him from Misael.
"Sure," Jake said.
Reina's face beamed when she heard that. "Then let's train together everyday after school!"
"Wait, everyday?" Jake called Reina, but the latter already ran past him with a happy feeling.
Jake put on a dumbfounded expression as she got further. "She left. Ah, well. I will talk to her later."
Jake went to his room immediately. He really wanted to rest after a long day, but it was already night, so he could only take a bath before leaving his room again.
After leaving the room, Jake went to the gymnasium again. The gate had already disappeared, proving that the Conquest was really successful.
When Jake walked toward the crowd, they approached him.
"Yo, Butler. I haven't said this, but your training method is really effective. Thanks to you, my virtual mass limit has increased," Warren said.
"I can also increase the grade of my [Shadow Stealth] in less than a week."
Jake couldn't handle too many compliments, so he didn't know how to act. "Well. It wasn't a big deal. Stop sweating about small stuff."
"Butler, I heard you are writing training manuals for students. Do you also write something for all of us?" someone from class B asked.
"Jake, please teach me to be stronger!" Olympia said in excitement.
Jake was troubled by all these people. If they kept surrounding him with validation like this, it was only a matter of time before he escaped. Luckily, Marilyn came to the rescue and pulled him from those people. No one dared to bother the royal princess, so he could escape from them.
"Thanks for the save," Jake said.
"Hehe, you are hopeless without me, so this older sister will protect you from them."
After getting away from them, Jake had to keep Marilyn company, but at least, he was comfortable with her. She was one of a few people who knew him well.
After a while, Mr. Whitehound, Ms. Green, and the Chairman arrived in the gymnasium. Everyone stopped talking and paid attention to them.
The Chairman greeted them with a smile. After that, he said, "First, I want to say congratulations to you all for conquering the gate and coming back stronger. As the chairman, I am really happy to hear the students' improvement. I am sure all of you have hunted monsters and are wondering about your own loot, but don't worry. We have registered your names in the Empire's bank, and we have all moved all of your loot in your safes. Everything is well! You can get your bank ID card tomorrow in the administration office."
Someone raised his hand and asked, "What about the loots we have hunted together?"
The Chairman smiled. "We store them in the Academy's safe vault. We will give you the list of the loot tomorrow, and you guys can decide how you are going to distribute them all tomorrow. I am here for another purpose!
The students looked at the Chairman in wonderment, and he continued, "Mr. Whitehound and Ms. Green have written all your contributions in the dungeon, and I have decided to give the top seven contributors rewards. The name I will call, please stand before me."
Everyone was excited when they heard that. Hunting inside the gate was already a good fortune and experience for them. They didn't expect the Academy to be generous.
Ms. Green shut them up when they became too loud, allowing the Chairman to announce the top seven contributors. "Top seventh contributor. Saving a lot of lives in the Gate with her healing magic. Please come forward, Miss. Lisa Machbell."
Everyone clasped their hands as Lisa walked toward the Chairman with a beaming smile. Even though she didn't fight at all. No one disagreed about her getting the top seventh.
After Lisa, the Chairman announced the next top sixth and top fifth. "For controlling the battlefield with their crowd control abilities, top sixth and fifth, Anastasia Remington and Brian Foreman."
"Using her abilities to support people on a large scale and continuously, top fourth, Her Highness Marilyn Norrington von Beryl."
"Achieving an impossible feat as a magic swordsman at low levels and using her ability to decrease the danger of the boss, Reina Rowa, the third biggest contributor!"
"Dealing the final attack to the boss at a critical moment, the second biggest contributor, Warren Reid!"
"And finally... Using his exceptional experience to control the battlefield, he was the playmaker in the raid of the mid boss and the last boss. For helping his classmates to reach extraordinary heights at low levels, the biggest contributor of all, please come forward, Jake Butler!"
should get plenty of people popping in for the special artwork
Welcome back. Thanks for the chapter. 🙂