In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 41

As part of my class, I’ve been learning about my profession, Summoner. It’s a job where all the strengthening benefits go to the summoned creature, leaving the summoner without any stat boosts. And my summon? A miniaturized lizard (a subspecies of dragon) barely the size of a gecko.

On top of that, most lessons revolve around professions and skills, with little mention of stats. Even if I said something like, “My stats are around 70 trillion,” it would likely cause unnecessary trouble—assuming anyone even believed me.

To avoid complications, I’ve suppressed my stats using magic and an item box, maintaining an all 100 stat sheet. Because of this, people here at the vocational training school assume I’m quite weak in terms of combat.

Yesterday, however, during a mock battle with some guy, I won effortlessly. I thought this would clear up the misunderstanding about my strength and maybe improve my standing in the school’s social hierarchy… but nothing of the sort happened.

Well, I expected as much.

Even though this is a vocational school, and there are students like that guy with combat-oriented jobs and skills, the majority of people here are still former Japanese citizens who’ve grown soft from living in a peaceful society. The issue isn’t just jobs or skills—it’s probably the intimidation aura that constantly leaks from me due to my lack of social skills and discomfort in this unfamiliar environment.

In fact, if anything, yesterday’s event seems to have worsened my isolation.

“Why is this happening…?”

“Well, you know,” said Koumei, the one person who still talks to me. “Apparently, it wasn’t just the special class students at the scene—most of the students in the school building fainted as well. Everyone already suspected you were strong, Sajima, but why did you go so overboard yesterday?”

“It wasn’t intentional…”

I really didn’t mean to go overboard.

I had specifically directed my intimidation at that guy alone. I might have let a little bloodlust slip, but I didn’t expect it to affect the entire student body. Then again, I suppose it’s technically possible for me to knock out every human on Earth with a magic stat below 100 if I wanted to. Maybe I was too careless this time.

Still… aren’t they too weak? Or should I be impressed by the few who didn’t faint?

In that sense, Koumei might actually be remarkable for talking to me despite enduring my intimidation. However, when I used [Appraisal], I found that he didn’t have any unique skills. The only thing that stood out was his Mental Resistance Lv. 7. But with average stats around 350, I figured even that level of resistance wouldn’t be enough to withstand me getting slightly annoyed.

And considering the changes in environment and my sudden stat boost over the summer break, my intimidation aura has probably grown stronger. Is he not afraid of me? Well, I do appreciate having someone willing to talk to me.

A month has passed since I transferred to this vocational school.

I’m not exactly a morning person, so my day usually starts with Ichika yanking my blanket off. Since I’m hopeless in the mornings, she takes care of breakfast, too.

I’ve heard that exercising can help you wake up, but only in “moderation,” apparently.

The school schedule has added a lot of physical training and skill-based drills, which has been a significant source of stress for me. The workouts here are laughably light—3 kilometers of running, 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, and 100 squats. One digit too few. On top of that, I can’t participate in combat training because my intimidation aura alone might cause a school-wide fainting spree.

Watching my classmates train diligently, though, makes my body itch to move. To make up for it, I’ve been experimenting with ways to increase resistance using magical compression or adding extra weight, but the half-hearted exercises at school leave me feeling unsatisfied. As a result, I’ve been indulging in solo combat training with my clones at night to vent my frustrations.

The downside is that I’ve been going to bed completely exhausted every night, falling asleep like a rock, and accumulating fatigue. Ichika’s increasingly delicious homemade breakfasts are the only thing keeping me going.

Because of this cycle, I’ve been unintentionally leaking a bit of my intimidation aura, even though I’d gotten better at controlling it. After breakfast, Ichika usually drags me by the hand to school.

As we leave our detached single-story dorm and head to campus, I can feel the fearful stares directed at me and the admiring gazes aimed at Ichika. Recently, her nickname changed from The Ice Witch to Beast Tamer of the Mad Dog.

…That “mad dog” is probably me, isn’t it?

Was the problem that I unintentionally knocked out a large portion of the student body, including “What’s-His-Name,” with my intimidation aura during the mock battle? Or was it the fact that my control over the aura has become sloppier by the day? Or perhaps the sight of Ichika pulling me along by the hand, which might look like a dog being led on a leash, is the issue?

I can sort of guess the origin of my new nickname, Mad Dog. But if anything, isn’t it the job of a Summoner to tame creatures like that?

When I muttered something like this to myself, Koumei chimed in with a response.
By the way, Koumei is pretty much the only person I could call a friend at this school. That said, he’s popular and often talks to other people, so we’re not always together. Even Ichika isn’t constantly by my side.

In fact, I spend most of my school time alone.

However, since discovering the joys of combat training with my clones, I’ve lost any satisfaction I might have gotten from things like magically enhanced air-squats or sneaky strength training.

As for the academic side of things, reviewing material from my past life and learning new concepts has been engaging enough. But gym class—with its half-hearted exercises—and the Profession and Skill Exploration period—where I gain nothing that [Appraisal] hasn’t already told me—are tedious beyond belief. Especially since all combat training has been off-limits for me after that mock battle.

This daily dose of boredom and frustration from gym and exploration has made it increasingly difficult to control my aura. In other words, my rising irritation prompted me to finally approach my instructor and ask:

“Can I skip gym and exploration?”

The answer was, “Do as you like. To be honest, after that incident, we were considering asking you to step back from those classes anyway.”

That was… surprisingly easy.

And so, starting today, I no longer need to attend gym or exploration classes. When I told Ichika that I’d be heading home early, she decided to come with me.

Well, considering Ichika is in the same boat as me when it comes to gym and exploration—especially with her [Keen Insight] that likely reveals even more information than my [Appraisal]—she must find those classes just as dull.

Maybe I’m being self-indulgent, but if she’s choosing to leave just because I’m heading home, that makes me really happy. If the roles were reversed, I’d definitely follow her!

In my previous life, I knew couples who broke up over arguments about dividing household chores. So, I’ve been trying to do my part.

But honestly, Ichika’s magic is faster and more efficient for cleaning and laundry, and her cooking is far superior to mine, even though my cooking skill has surpassed Level 21.

My contribution? Taking out the trash… to the dungeon. It’s more like a kid’s chore at this point.

By the way, I’ve set up an infinite slime summoning circle on the upper floors of the dungeon to handle waste decomposition. They’re low-level slimes, around Level 100, but they can eat through things like tin cans.

That said, I sometimes worry—just a little—that Ichika might get fed up with how little I contribute to household tasks and decide to leave me one day. To suppress that anxiety, I’ve made it a habit to combine trash disposal with a trip to the dungeon’s lowest level for combat training with my clones.

Now that I don’t have to attend gym or exploration, I should be able to sleep earlier.

Hopefully, starting tomorrow, my mornings will improve. At the very least, I’ll make an effort to prepare breakfast.

With that thought in mind, I let my battle-worn body sink into bed, drifting into a deep, blissful sleep.