Heavyweight Teammate

"Yes, him. Ram, my only friend from childhood. He wants to apply to Saint Delro Academy now."

Faced with Jia Xiu's question, Emilia answered with complete certainty.

Jia Xiu scratched his head. It was not that he judged people by their appearance, but no matter how he looked at the man before him, he did not seem like a spellcaster.

This Ram was well over two meters tall, exceptionally burly, two sizes bigger than even the guard named Quido. With the head of a leopard, the eyes of a tiger, a face full of flesh, and even two canine teeth jutting from his mouth... Jia Xiu was not even sure whether he was human.

For the sake of rigor, Jia Xiu used Insight.

The results were several times more absurd than Ram's appearance.

[Name: Ram]

[Race: Human-ogre hybrid]

[Level: 5 (Priest LV.3 + Barbarian LV.2)]

[Relationship: Stranger]

[Attributes: Strength 14 / Agility 4 / Constitution 16 / Intelligence 2 / Wisdom 6 / Charisma 1]

[Traits: Darkvision / Passive Perception / Heavy Weapon Proficiency / Great Luck]

A human-ogre hybrid.

Should he admire Ram's father, or his mother?

With strength and constitution that high, intelligence even lower than Bubu's, and he still insisted on applying to Saint Delro.

And that priest-barbarian class combination—what kind of reasoning could possibly produce that?

Sure enough, project funding was not so easy to earn.

"Ram, come meet a new friend," Emilia called.

The mountain-like brute slowly walked over.

"Hello. My name Ram."

Ram's voice startled Jia Xiu.

It was rough and tearing, hoarse and dry. He almost thought Burial Lake Band had started warming up right in front of him.

Surprised or not, he could not ignore someone greeting him.

"Hello, I'm Jia Xiu. Your voice is... pretty distinctive."

Before Ram could reply, Emilia became anxious first.

"Did you eat something random again and get it stuck in your throat?"

"I ate durian," Ram answered innocently.

"No, why would durian get stuck in your throat?" Jia Xiu had not expected the most baffling question he encountered after coming to Larven would not appear on the exam, but here.

"It has spikes. Scratchy."

"Spikes? You ate the durian shell!"

"What else?"

"You eat the flesh."

"The flesh stinks."

At that instant, Jia Xiu felt his thoughts explode.

There was something unreasonable hidden within that logic, yet beneath the unreasonable part, it somehow seemed a little logical.

It was like frantically looking for his phone, failing to find it no matter what, then deciding to call it so it would ring—only to suddenly realize the phone was in his hand.

Was this the terrifying realm of Intelligence 2?

While Jia Xiu was left speechless by the shock, Emilia acted as though this was perfectly normal. She casually picked up a small hook, stuck it into Ram's mouth, and pulled out a piece of durian rind in a few quick motions.

"How many times have I told you not to eat random things?"

After scolding Ram a few times, she took out a handkerchief to wipe the saliva from her hands, then gave Jia Xiu an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry you had to see that."

Seeing Emilia's reaction, Jia Xiu confirmed two things.

First, although the combination of a princess and a human-ogre hybrid seemed strange, they had to be real friends. Otherwise, she would not be so practiced at digging things out of his throat.

Second, Emilia's slightly awkward manner proved that she was not entirely a political animal. There were still moments when she acted like a normal person.

"It's fine. What's the big deal? I brought along a pretty unusual friend myself, didn't I?"

"That's true."

To dispel Jia Xiu's doubts, Emilia took the initiative to explain.

"My childhood was not very good. At the time, my mother was only a maid in the royal palace, so ever since I could remember, I was always excluded by others."

"Back then, I loved going to the circus to watch performances. Do you know about the attraction called a freak show?"

"I've heard of it."

A so-called freak show was when circuses hired people born with deformities to put on display, satisfying the audience's curiosity for the bizarre. Clearly, unusual hybrids in this world were also candidates for such exhibits.

"I met Ram at a freak show. Back then, he was locked in an iron cage. The moment I saw him, I felt..."

"Like you were both suffering from the same affliction?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. We pitied each other, so I bought him, and he became my first friend in childhood."

"So you want to help him."

"Yes."

"All right. Actually, it doesn't have to be funding. Owing me a favor would work too," Jia Xiu suddenly said.

Emilia's expression relaxed slightly. "I'll provide the funding and owe you a favor. That isn't impossible."

After the somewhat sad backstory was over, they still had to return to the key issue.

Jia Xiu asked, "I don't understand. Why does Ram insist on applying to Saint Delro? He doesn't seem particularly suited for it, and if his level isn't enough, then even if he gets into a good academy, his future studies and life will be very difficult."

He had put it tactfully. In short: why make yourself suffer for no reason?

Ram answered the question himself.

"Ram worships Torgan. Ram remembers Mother worshipped Torgan, so Ram wants to forge things, and also learn enchanting."

After the durian rind had been removed, Ram's voice was much more normal, merely deeper and heavier than an ordinary person's.

As for Torgan, he was the god of forging and craftsmanship, one of the more benevolent gods. His followers were mainly dwarves, along with craftsmen of other races.

Elves were not included among those other races, because elves could never worship the same god as dwarves.

Now Jia Xiu understood. Ram was a priest in order to follow Torgan, while being a barbarian was a tendency inherited from his ogre bloodline.

Emilia continued, "Ram may be a little slow, but he's very talented at forging. His enchanting level is lower, but it is barely usable, and the best master magical craftsmen are at Saint Delro Academy."

As she spoke, she handed Jia Xiu a shield. It was Ram's work. Its appearance was indeed somewhat rough, but the craftsmanship was excellent.

Jia Xiu did not understand forging, but he did understand how to inspect information.

This shield really was not bad.

"And Ram is very lucky. If you're not smart, you just work harder. With rote memorization and a little luck when guessing, he can pass the written exam too."

Very lucky?

Jia Xiu recalled the Great Luck trait he had just seen among Ram's traits and expanded its detailed information.

[Perhaps all his misfortune was concentrated in his childhood. After that, good fortune has always stood by his side. He almost never triggers traps, attacks often fail to hit him, most of his guesses are correct, and he occasionally encounters unexpected surprises.]

Such an outrageous trait?

Wait.

Jia Xiu suddenly realized something.

Lucky, skilled at forging, fond of enchanting.

This was a born materials scientist!

Even if he did nothing, it would be worth keeping him in a laboratory as an honored fixture.

Emilia added, "You don't need to help Ram to the point of cheating. Just help him as much as you can without affecting your own exam."

"I'll do my best."

Jia Xiu thought that perhaps he should introduce this "good-luck charm" to Margaret and find a way to bring him into the group. Joining the group would not stop Ram from continuing his forging research anyway.

"Ram is very obedient."

Ram only looked fierce. His emotions were stable, and his temperament was gentle. After all, Emilia had dug around in his throat like that, and he had not said a word.

"If you're obedient, why do you keep eating random things!"

Emilia sounded like she was scolding a troublesome child...