Seeing Dekan's sincere gaze, Croix couldn't hide his momentary unease in his eyes.
But soon, he seemed to have made a decision and clenched his teeth.
"Dekan, I'm willing to help you, but not by joining you to explore the Shadow Worlds. Please don't consider this anymore."
Afterward, Croix firmly closed the door, leaving a bewildered Dekan standing outside.
The last time he was rejected like this was in his previous life."Sigh."
Dekan sighed. Although he appreciated Croix, he hadn't expected him to be so resolute in refusing to join their team. But mages like Croix should be in high demand. Even though his healing hurts, in terms of healing output, it was probably unmatched by any healing class profession.
With some regret, Dekan walked back home alone. When he reached the door of his dormitory, he hesitated for a moment with his hand on the doorknob. Silently, he turned back and suddenly stomped on his own shadow.
"Meow!"
Accompanied by a familiar meow, Teacher Cat emerged from Dekan's shadow, springing up like a coil.
"Your ability isn’t good, you can't even defend against physical attacks."
Dekan chuckled, looking down at Teacher Cat on the ground with a playful expression.Teacher Cat scratched its head in distress and said to Dekan, "...Give me a bottle of that potion, meow."
Hearing Teacher Cat's innocent request, Dekan burst into laughter.
He crouched down, unceremoniously grabbed the back of Teacher Cat's neck, aligning its gaze with his own.
Looking into its eyes, he said, "You already owe me a favor, right? You need to repay the favor of me saving you before we talk about a deal."
"...I can teach you a few spells, meow."
"No, learning magic is too troublesome, and it's difficult to learn magic that doesn't match my magical affinity. It's more convenient to use spell cards."
"But you have a limit to the number of cards you can carry, meow. It wouldn't hurt to learn a few more spells."
"My magical attribute is quite ordinary. Most spell effects don't work well for me. For me, it's better to hone my card-making skills than spend time researching magic."
"What do you want then, meow?"
Teacher Cat seemed prepared to be blackmailed by Dekan.
"Tell me something about Croix."
Dekan's request surprised Teacher Cat. This guy didn't seize the opportunity to extort him.
But it hesitated.
"Uh... What do you want to do to him, meow?"
"Don't worry, I just want him to become my companion. Of course, I won't do anything harmful to him, and I won't force him. You can relax."
"Alright, go ahead, meow."
"What puzzles me the most is why Croix repeated a year. I've never seen anyone with such an extreme level of magic power at school before."
If Dekan's guess was correct, the reason Croix lived on the fourth floor was because he had repeated a year. There was no way he was a freshman. Even though there was a distance between them earlier, Dekan could still sense the terrifying magical power fluctuations emanating from Croix's body. It was scarier than elves and demons.
"...Croix is actually an excellent student, meow. But he has never successfully cleared any Shadow World so he can't graduate as a student of the Mage College. Either he succeeds in clearing one this year, or he'll have to transfer to the College of Alchemy, meow."
"How is that possible? Someone like him can't clear a Shadow World?"
Even if Croix couldn't deal damage, with some support spell cards, he could still function as a healer quite effectively.
The divine blessing on Croix's body weren't entirely benign, but they also weren't malign. The reason Croix couldn't clear the Shadow World couldn't be attributed to these blessings.
"..."
Teacher Cat fell silent for a moment.
"Besides the divine blessing, Croix also carries a divine curse, both of which he can't resist or remove, meow."
Dekan frowned. The curse must be what prevented Croix from clearing the Shadow World.
"What is the curse?"
The real reason Croix couldn't clear the Shadow World must be this curse.
"Misfortune will accompany him throughout his life. Not only is his own luck extremely poor, he will also bring misfortune to his teammates."
"In a Shadow World where he's present, the difficulty increases significantly."
"You can also understand it as, even though he's tier 6, when matched with a Shadow World, he's treated as if he's tier 7."
"So, some students... refer to him as the 'wipeout engine.'"
Teacher Cat explained.
This revelation left Dekan deep in thought.
He probably understood why Croix seemed so despondent.
Croix must have had an accident while attempting to clear a Shadow World. It was likely that he brought his teammates into a higher difficulty Shadow World and got completely screwed because of it. To protect his teammates, he had to desperately heal them. His healing methods, even if his teammates didn't die from it, would still be considered a death sentence.
"No wonder Croix is so determined not to team up with us..."
Dekan murmured.
Croix wasn't avoiding him and Cornelia because he despised them. He was afraid of accidentally causing their deaths.
Even if he and Cornelia both reached tier 4 in the future, once they teamed up with Croix, they would likely be dragged into a tier 6 Shadow World.
"As expected, strong teammates come with significant risks. But, he underestimated me and Cornelia."
The more Dekan thought about it, the more he felt that Croix would be a good teammate. With Cornelia, clearing a Shadow World a tier above them would be equivalent to easy mode, and a Shadow World two tiers above them normal mode. Even without teaming up with Croix, they might be dragged into high-difficulty dungeons due to bad luck.
It was better to have an invincible healer like him, or rather, a chad medic.
In any case, if Croix were at the Demon Academy, things would become much more interesting. They could probably drag Baron Bacher through the entire Demon Academy's exploration. Unfortunately, Baron Bacher didn't have the chance to meet someone like Croix, an angelic healer, and burned out too soon.
"Now that I understand why he rejected me, it's much easier."
They would still need to get Cornelia's approval for the new member. Of course, she would definitely agree. After all, who could refuse such a kind-hearted person from joining Team Beautiful Heart?
Dekan decided to persuade Croix next Monday after school. While Dekan was deep in thought, Teacher Cat climbed on Dekan's shoulder again and shouted in his ear, "Give me that potion, meow!"
"We're even now. If you want the potion, you'll need to offer something of equal value."
"...What do you want, meow?"
"You go and let Cornelia give you a good petting."
"The red-haired girl, meow?"
"Yes."
"That's impossible! Absolutely impossible, meow!"
"Then, no deal."
"Meow!"
Teacher Cat sprawled on the ground, pounding it with its limbs, seemingly very unhappy.
Even if Dekan was extorting it, it was still better than making a life-threatening request. Suddenly, it seemed to think of something, flipped over, and looked at Dekan, asking, "How about I give you the card [Polymorph: Elven Cat]?"
