Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 114
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I’d probably landed three hundred punches at five hundred degrees. When I proposed a fight to Magania, the Tiger Man looked me up and down and refused, saying he was scared. Left with no choice, we settled for a safe arm-wrestling match instead, and with my trained muscles bolstered by superhuman skills, I snapped Magania’s arm and shattered the table in one motion. This led Gerth to acknowledge that I’d grown strong enough not to get beaten at the Academy.
When we reported that we’d grown stronger throughout the break and needed to return to the Academy, Gerth somehow procured a cart and loaded it with fragrant cargo before seeing us off. In the courtyard before the Tower, just like the last break, the Serpent King’s Tower Staff, Mother, Titi, and Thomas came to say goodbye.
“Gerth. What is all this?”
“Sesame seeds.”
Ah. No wonder there’d been that toasted sesame aroma vibrating through the Tower for days. He’d been roasting sesame the whole time.
“You’re selling this? What a waste.”
If Gerth roasted it himself, it must be a crop harvested from the Tower. Hand-cultivated sesame like this couldn’t even be found in the Lagael Region, the granary. When I expressed genuine regret, Gerth shook his head vigorously and stated his purpose.
“Take it and give it to Professor Ha.”
“Professor Ha? You mean the Department Head Professor? Why the Department Head Professor?”
“He can extract sesame oil.”
“I see….”
You’re probably the only one in the world who’d use a gravity mage who slays dragons for that purpose. I was so impressed I offered my respect, and Eugene and Reina asked what our conversation meant.
“The Department Head Professor of the Magic Department can use gravity magic.”
“Yeah. From what I’ve seen him do, it looks like telekinesis or gravity magic.”
“With gravity, you can extract oil from sesame seeds.”
“I see….”
“Gerth’s cooking uses a lot of this sesame oil.”
“Then we absolutely have to ask him!”
Reina slapped her chest and said she’d beg on her knees if necessary to get him to extract the sesame oil, and Gerth smiled and responded.
“Professor Ha will do it if he doesn’t want to die.”
It was a kind statement saying Reina didn’t need to kneel, but to those listening, it sounded utterly menacing. When the female informant asked if the Department Head Professor had done something wrong to Gerth, I had no way to answer.
“I don’t know the nature of their relationship either.”
“What? That professor wasn’t a beastkin, was he?”
He didn’t appear to be. Beastkin tend to show their nature visibly—like Gerth with his lizard scales or Hubert with his fox tail.
Of course, the mole beastkin I’d seen before seemed to have no other distinguishing features besides going blind in sunlight….
“Oh, that’s right.”
Speaking of the starving child mole beastkin reminded me—when exactly will our house be completed? When I stopped by Ilam near the Harbor the other day and asked a worker, they said construction was still ongoing. On top of that, I heard the project supervisor had been transferred from Titi to Hubert.
So I asked the fox gentleman about it, and Hubert whistled awkwardly and pushed my back.
“Houses don’t get built in a day or two, ma’am! It’ll be finished when the time comes! Don’t you worry!”
“It’s been half a year, not a day or two. And I’m not your mother.”
It’s a small house too—shouldn’t the exterior walls at least be finished after half a year? Why haven’t I heard any news of progress?
“Don’t worry about such things and just focus on your studies!”
Why are you sounding like our mother? Stung by the school report card comment, I climbed onto the cart and grabbed the reins. I’d better escape before grades come up.
“Miss! Safe travels!”
“Dear! If there’s an event like last time, be sure to write!”
I will. I gathered White One and sprawled him across my lap, waving to everyone.
“Farewell, family and those like family!”
“You’re not calling us a disgrace to the royal family, are you?”
“Come on, I’m not cunning enough to pull something like that.”
“I am not a disgrace!”
I denied it to the bitter end and led the cart forward. I’d hoped to encounter bandits along the way and shake them down for spending money, but oddly enough, I didn’t see a single bandit this time.
When I lamented this misfortune and wondered aloud why no bandits appeared, Reina told me to look in a mirror if I had any conscience. Following her advice, when I checked my reflection at the inn, I found the beautiful Evan Laef staring back at me—muscles and physique so magnificent they threatened to burst through my school uniform.
When I still didn’t understand, Eugene patted my shoulder and consoled me, saying it was truly difficult to see oneself objectively. Why was this fool comforting me while talking about himself? I couldn’t comprehend it.
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Upon arriving at the Academy and unpacking my belongings at the Dormitory, the first place I sought was the Department Head Professor’s office. I climbed the stairs with sesame seeds loaded on both shoulders from the cart, and the professor, having already grasped my purpose, groaned about sesame oil again.
Listening to him, he mentioned that in the old days he’d not only extracted sesame oil but also separated butter from milk, and he complained that the lizard must think of him as a centrifuge.
“By the way, Evan, your physique has improved considerably.”
“Is it that noticeable?”
“Indeed. If your body continues to develop like this, you won’t collapse even if your mental strength is exhausted.”
I appreciated the compliment, but unfortunately it was a dream that would never come to pass. This current physique could only be maintained by eating ten meals a day, and once I returned to my normal diet, the weight would fall away. Of course, I’d continue exercising, so some muscle would remain.
“What a shame. Weight class is directly proportional to combat power, after all.”
I agree with that. But eating ten meals a day is exhausting. Since Gerth isn’t providing the food, the expenses aren’t trivial either.
“If any lucrative side jobs come up, please call on me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Last semester I’d only done one biological experiment, but I’d earned a decent sum. I made sure to emphasize this to the Department Head Professor, then wandered around the Magic Department Administration Office to check my course registration. That’s when I noticed students from my year gathering in droves to stage a protest.
Seeing my classmates shouting for the Magic Department to awaken, it seemed relevant to me. As I joined the crowd, a friend aspiring to become a jeweler greeted me warmly, saying it had been a while.
“Hey Evan, you’ve gotten ripped?”
“Something happened. Your hair looks even better.”
“You noticed? I changed shampoo.”
The fragrance was pleasant. We exchanged stories about how we’d spent the break, then got down to business. As it turned out, the protest did concern me after all.
“We didn’t get to meet the Oracle this time!”
“What?! Seriously?!”
I’d completely forgotten about it because I was busy with the Band and the Horse Racing Track. The Combat Techniques Department and Magic Department did have such big events every time students advanced a year.
“The brutes in the other department got to meet the Oracle!”
“Why are we being discriminated against!”
“The Magic Department must awaken!”
This was worth protesting over. Since I also wanted to meet the Oracle and ask about my future path, I took a picket and joined in the chants when Professor Ha, wearing gloves, emerged from the administrative office with a microphone and tapped it.
That man was having a rough time, coming all the way here from the Academic Department just to curry favor with that Headmaster’s faction.
“Microphone test. Ah, ah. Second-year students, the reason you didn’t get to meet the Oracle is—”
Professor Heinrich, commonly called Professor Ha, who’d spent a year grinding away in the Magic Department and apparently lost all fear, revealed that the Oracle didn’t come because he’d petitioned the Headmaster. That fellow didn’t know how terrifying mages were, which is why he died early in the original story.
“There is a fact I must disclose: the majority of you received an F in my class.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The mages who’d been shouting for awakening fell silent as mice. I too had received an F in the etiquette class last semester, so I had nothing to say in rebuttal.
“You beasts don’t even know the bare minimum of courtesy—what career counseling are you talking about?!”
He had a point, but that was that and this was this! I was about to shout something in frustration when Professor Ha shot me a withering glare and drew his finger across his throat in a slashing motion. For someone who looked so delicate, he certainly had a temper.
Come to think of it, that’s probably why Kanna kept throwing herself at him in the original story, and he kept refusing. Now that I thought about it, it must have been difficult for him to reject the pride of the Assassination Family by saying he disliked her for being a commoner.
“In any case, first-year students are only assigned lower-tier spirits. Forget what happened before and show improvement in future etiquette classes.”
The atmosphere was becoming tense—it looked like it might escalate into actual violence. Since I’d helped with things one way or another, and I certainly didn’t want Professor Ha dead, I was considering whether I should conjure an ice barrier when the man suddenly shouted.
“However!”
Thank goodness. It seemed he’d prepared a proper carrot after the whip. After Professor Ha reminded them to pay attention in his etiquette classes, he announced something quite exciting.
“Over the past year, I highly commend the fact that all of you have maintained your travel permits without causing any incidents. Therefore, I’ve received permission from the Academy Headmaster for a second-year Magic Department retreat!”
“Yay!”
“A retreat!”
“So we’re actually going out to have fun?!”
Professor Ha really made a bold decision. It couldn’t be easy to supervise these future criminals outside the academy.
“This is my first group trip!”
“Mine too!”
“I’m a mage, so I was always excluded from school outings!”
“You too?!”
Now that I thought about it, these kids must all be starving for friendship and group activities. No matter how individualistic and selfish mages were said to be, they didn’t hate going out to play with friends.
Just look at Reina and Kanna. How desperately they’d been craving friendship. When I first suggested going outside school to have fun last year, they’d practically danced with excitement.
Even when we took the train to the Northern Region, they’d assigned separate cars for the mages. Loneliness makes even mages do things they normally wouldn’t.
“The place we’re going is!”
Energized by the students’ enthusiasm, Professor Ha built up the suspense about the destination. As my classmates made drum-rolling sounds with their mouths to build the atmosphere, Professor Ha clenched his fist and announced the retreat location.
“Southern Bunny Land!”
“Yesssss!”
“Bunny Land!”
“Wait, isn’t group entry for mages forbidden there because they destroy things?!”
There was such a rule? I didn’t know! So we really hit the jackpot?! I hugged my classmates and shouted “Bunny bunny! Bunny bunny!” while Professor Ha smiled warmly at our excitement, apparently moved by our joy.
“The dates are the second week of March—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My Friday class will count as attendance, but please get prior approval from your other liberal arts professors.”
We all shouted “Yes!” in unison, and Professor Ha returned the microphone to the administrative staff, coolly peeling off his gloves and tossing them away. Poor Professor Ha—his obsession with cleanliness never changes.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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