CPU?

When Caroso woke again, he found himself in the school infirmary.

Nimel lay in the bed beside his, sleeping soundly.

"So that's Caroso..."

"He exhausted himself fighting the teacher in the very first class. Does he really need to go that hard?"

"Yeah, wasn't the first class just a placement test? To see what abilities and weaknesses we have..."

"But he's so handsome..."

"Stop dreaming. He's the Grand Duke's son. At the very least, he'll marry a noble lady someday."

"Can't I at least think about it?"

"I wouldn't mind being his mistress."

"A one-night stand would be fine too."

Outside the window, several young girls whispered among themselves.

They had not merely passed by. They had come specifically to see Caroso, one of the school's celebrities.

Caroso had already been famous before, but sending himself to the infirmary during the first class was something that had not happened in a long time.

[Boss Caro, we misunderstood that principal before. He really did have your best interests at heart.]

[Hard to say. I wouldn't recommend teaching like this. Look at how badly Boss Caro got beaten up. If I had a kid and a teacher dared hit them like this, I definitely wouldn't stand for it.]

[Heh, parents these days are so troublesome. Back in my day, if my dad found out a teacher had hit me, I'd get another mixed doubles beating when I got home.]

[The school doctor is so pretty.]

[Hehehe, she's exactly the kind of priestess big sister I like.]

[Boss Caro, don't be harsh on Nimel later. She already tried very hard and even exhausted herself in the end.]

[Battlefield Nimel is still more imposing. Before, she was always following Boss Caro around, so everyone thought she was just his little tail. She didn't have that kind of charm.]

[The current Nimel still isn't there yet. Nimel on the battlefield was way cooler than she is now.]

[People grow up.]

[Yeah, it's school after all. She also knew the teacher couldn't possibly go for the kill.]

[Finish building Boss Caro's two decks first, then build a deck for Nimel.]

[Boss Caro's deck is way too terrible. Those pieces of equipment barely even have special effects. If he used my equipment cards, he could beat Bai silly.]

[Is that "beat Bai silly" of yours proper?]

Caroso had not turned off the bullet comments before passing out, so the netizens had seen everything.

Caroso glanced at the bullet comments, then examined his injuries.

As expected of a simulated dungeon, only ten percent of the injuries suffered inside remained after leaving.

Caroso and Nimel had ended up like this purely because both of them had overdrawn all their magic power.

Caroso looked at his feet again. They had been roasted when he stepped on the fireball earlier, but they had recovered now.

Aside from the dungeon's own damage reduction, the priestess's role had been irreplaceable.

After Caroso finished checking himself, Nimel slowly woke up as well.

"Mm..." Nimel opened her eyes and saw Caroso's handsome yet cold face.

His seemingly emotionless eyes were fixed on her.

Nimel jumped in fright and hurriedly sat up, lowering her head as though waiting for Caroso to reprimand her.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Caroso asked coldly.

"I... didn't fight well at the beginning..." Nimel lowered her head even further.

"Your mistake was allowing yourself to be distracted in battle. You should view the battle from a broader perspective," Caroso rebuked her. "Before, neither your mindset nor your fighting was as good as Kati's. You didn't even bring out fifty percent of your strength."

[What's Kati?]

[Uh... Boss Caro's dog.]

[Hell, isn't that too much?]

[Facepalm. When will Boss Caro ever change?]

"Mm..." Nimel bit down hard on her lip.

"Did I need you to worry about me?" Caroso demanded.

"I... couldn't help it..." Nimel's voice was so soft that Caroso would not have heard it if not for his sharp hearing.

"Letting emotions rule you is a great taboo on the battlefield. You have to turn yourself into an emotionless war machine in order to weigh the pros and cons perfectly."

"I understand." Nimel nodded.

[That's easy to say, but people have feelings.]

[Yeah, being calm can't solve every problem.]

[If your comrade is lying there, the rational choice is to abandon them. But who can truly do that when the time comes?]

"However..." Caroso's large hand settled atop Nimel's head. "You fought well when you joined forces with me at the end. If you can keep that up, you probably won't hold me back."

"Really?" Nimel's eyes brightened.

"You barely pass." Caroso's voice softened somewhat.

"Thank you, Brother..." Nimel said quietly.

[Holy shit? Why does Nimel actually look kind of happy?]

[Fuck, I feel like Nimel got CPU'd!]

[Slap her, then give her a sweet date.]

[Hell, Boss Caro used to only slap people and never give them sweet dates. Did we teach him something terrible?]

[He's already this good at UFO at such a young age. What's he going to be like when he grows up?]

[Did you notice? Nimel only used to call him Brother in urgent situations. Before, she always called him Elder Brother.]

[Is this a self-destruct progress bar?]

"Alright, we've recovered too. We should go ask what happened afterward," Caroso said.

"Mm." Nimel nodded obediently.

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Caroso turned and saw Krumen carrying a tray into the infirmary.

At present, Caroso and Nimel were the only ones in the entire infirmary. The school doctor seemed to be absent.

"Looks like I timed it well. As expected, you're awake, Young Master." Krumen walked between them and set down the tray. "On the left are the cowboy ribs and passion fruit juice you like. On the right are the lamb, borscht, and vegetable salad Miss likes."

"At this hour, the cafeteria is packed, so reservations aren't easy. Besides, I thought the two of you would prefer eating right away after waking up, rather than walking all that way."

Gurgle, gurgle.

Caroso rubbed his stomach. He really was a little hungry.

He looked at the sky. It had been morning when they entered the battle, but it was already evening now.

"You were performing equipment maintenance earlier. Why did you come here?" Caroso looked at Krumen in confusion.

"Because I am your butler. Since you fainted, Young Master, I naturally had to take proper care of you." Krumen said, "I collected the magic potions the school compensated you with on your behalf. I found the best school doctor, and the medicine used on you and Miss was the most suitable for restoring magic power."

"I also reserved the beds for the two of you in advance. Quite a few people were injured today. Most had wounds that would heal as soon as they reached the infirmary, but they were all wealthy and wanted the best medical treatment. My role was to reserve your places and keep anyone from disturbing you."

"Thanks for your hard work." Caroso felt as though he were still back in Azure Wolf Province. She truly took thorough care of everything.

"Not at all. Here is the bill. Please reimburse me."

With that, Krumen took out a long slip of paper.