Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 31

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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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But this strike was the kind of attack that would work against someone wearing an ordinary school uniform. My uniform was something else entirely. It was a luxury item among luxuries—a defensive garment purchased for ten million crowns and crafted from Arachnid silk. Ronell herself had said it: clothing made from this material wouldn’t tear easily, no matter what.
I trusted in my uniform’s resilience and twisted my body with minimal effort to slip inside Reina’s guard. The fabric held, but a dull, heavy ache bloomed across my chest. From the sound of the impact, I suspected at least one rib had cracked.
Yet I had evaded her fully. The garrote around her neck had succeeded as well. As I pulled the cord taut to hoist myself upright, Reina’s body crumpled, and I drove a satisfying knee strike into her abdomen as she collapsed toward me.
“Gack!”
Die, you bastard, die! This is payback for making me carry you around half-naked that one time! This is for making me cram math all night until my head was ready to split! And this—this is the fist of sorrow for having my peaceful private room turned into a shared cell!
Once I had the upper hand, I didn’t stop pummeling Reina. Knee strikes, kicks, light hooks—and finally a full suplex—until the Professor of Practical Combat blew his whistle and stopped me.
“Evan Laef wins. Any further strikes motivated by personal grievance will result in penalties.”
“Was it that obvious?”
“My goodness. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”
The professor gave me a look of exasperation and confirmed that I’d earned an A+. Well, if I had the A+, I had no further business with Reina.
I left the unconscious Reina on the floor and joined the line of the injured for treatment. After receiving some basic healing magic and painkillers, with bandages wrapped snugly around my chest, I was thinking of heading to the campus shop to buy some chicken as a way to celebrate my successful high scores across all the exams.
“Student Evan Laef. You have a visitor.”
The Dormitory Manager stopped me just as I was about to head out for my chicken celebration. Surprisingly, the news was that my younger sibling had come to visit from my Hometown.

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“Big sis! Big sis! What in the world is going on here?!”
That was precisely what I wanted to ask. What exactly was this Visitation Room? And what was the identity of that suspiciously luxurious, glittering lace-trimmed expensive outfit Titi was wearing?
“Was it all a lie that you went to university?! Did you get locked up?! What is this reinforced glass partition even doing here?!”
“Calm down. This is probably because I’m still a first-year student in the Department of Magic.”
“I knew it! I had a feeling you were some kind of gangster running things in the Capital! You lied to Mom and got yourself thrown in prison, didn’t you?!”
“Skill.”
“Creature delivery has arrived.”
This brat was scratching at me playfully. I was about to smack her through the reinforced glass partition when Titi stopped her teasing chirping and pulled out an enormous lizard from her bundle, setting it down with a thunk.
The lizard was albino, with crimson eyes and white skin. Its claws were exceptionally sturdy and sharp—at a glance, it was clearly built for climbing trees—and it looked impressively healthy and robust.
Its body was roughly one meter long, and with the tail included, somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 meters. Slightly smaller than the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard in the world, but with a sharp, beautiful appearance. Despite its white skin, the distinct striped pattern was striking—this was unmistakably a venomous serpent’s bearing.
“Kyaaaa! It’s a Lace King Lizard! How can it be so cute!”
I received the lizard through the guard and scooped it up into my arms. Cute. Absolutely adorable. With such a precious appearance and that white coloring, it was simply beautiful.
Moreover, it was intelligent and recognized its owner, which made it popular among enthusiasts. I could understand why it was popular enough to fuel poaching. Lace King Lizard, you’re absolutely precious!
“Hmm… I think I’m beginning to understand why the Serpent King sent you a mating request.”
“What’s with the lizard?”
“The Serpent King asked me to deliver it.”
“Oh! An entrance gift!”
This is why you have to make good friends. The Serpent King heard I’d been admitted to the Academy and sent a gift. Sure, feeding something that size would be expensive, but at least I wouldn’t be bored living alone.
Reina was always more or less useless anyway, so I was practically living by myself.
“Apparently it randomly shares vision with the Serpent King or transmits messages or something like that.”
“Oh. Communication features too.”
“Well, the delivery’s done, so I’ll be heading out now.”
“Wait.”
Something about what this bastard’s been doing feels off. How did he manage to cover travel expenses all the way here? What’s he been eating and doing this whole time that his face is so plump and round, with a shine to it like he’s been living well? And those clothes—he’s picked out something that gleams like he’s been spending freely.
“How much did you receive?”
“Eek, eek?”
“Gerth gave you pocket money.”
“Eek!”
Just as I suspected. I adjusted my glasses and let my eyes gleam with understanding, and Titi began trembling before stammering out a response.
“I, I did, receive, money, but not, a lot, so um, eek….”
“How much did you receive?”
“A, a million? Crown? Eek?”
Judging by his demeanor, he definitely received at least a million.
“Hand it all over.”
“Eek! Why! It’s my pocket money that I received?!”
“You’ll lose it if you carry it around. Do you have any idea how many pickpockets there are in the city?”
“Eek, pickpockets, eek….”
“I’ll keep it safe and return it to you when you go home for break. Hand over everything except your return fare.”
“You’ll return it later, right?”
“Of course. Should I write up a contract?”
“Eek! Yes, write it! Eek!”
I scribbled on the paper Titi brought, promising to return the full five hundred thousand Crown I was holding once break came and he returned to Ilam, then signed it. Titi, clutching the contract like treasure, shook out five hundred thousand Crown from his chick-shaped coin purse and handed it to me, waving his hand.
“Please return it when break comes, eek!”
“Sure.”
I waved back at the departing Titi. Stupid bastard. Return it? I’ll spend every last coin of this before break arrives, and that’ll be the end of it.
So this is how good it feels to have a younger brother. I chuckled contentedly, hoisted the lizard onto my back, and headed back to the Academy. I need to get that exchange permit sorted out soon. If Titi goes tattling to Mother and she comes all the way to the Capital looking for me, she’ll think I’m actually locked up in prison.

What should I name the lizard? I was strolling near the fountain on the Campus Grounds with a white Lace King Lizard on my back when Seian Crowell approached me with an expression of barely contained fury.
Ah, that’s right—today was the day I was supposed to return that embarrassing plaque. Between the injuries and visiting my sister, I’d completely forgotten about it in the chaos.
“You did this on purpose to humiliate me!”
No, it’s a misunderstanding, Seian Crowell. Just hear me out first. I jumped back to avoid being kicked, but the King Lizard on my back suddenly slid to the ground and lunged at Seian Crowell with lightning speed.
“Ahhhhh! What is this!”
The wild King Lizard clamped its jaws around Seian Crowell’s leg and spun its massive body in circles. As the human-sized lizard thrashed about with Seian Crowell’s leg in its mouth, the paper-thin boy had no choice but to tumble across the ground in its wake.
“Calm down! Lizard! Calm down!”
I panicked and rolled along with the Lace King Lizard in my arms. The lizard finally paused, eyeing me cautiously. My hands and face were scraped raw from rolling across the ground, and when the lizard saw me, it decided to clamp down on Seian Crowell’s arm and roll one more time.
“Stop! Lizard! Stop!”
Just as I prepared to roll along again, the Lace King Lizard ceased its assault and yawned, opening its mouth wide. I scolded the creature for playing innocent—”Bad lizard, bad lizard!”—and smacked its rear end before rushing over to check on Seian Crowell’s condition.
“Are you alright, Your Highness?”
One look told me he was anything but alright. The prince’s uniform was caked in dirt, his entire body reduced to a filthy rag. His clothes were torn to shreds, and blood seeped from the cuts and abrasions visible through the rips.
I’m going to die if I don’t handle this perfectly. Seeing Seian Crowell’s eyes brimming with tears, I scooped him up before he could scream and bolted toward the Infirmary.
First, treatment. I needed to get him healed before he could cry out and draw a crowd, erase the evidence, and then even if he accused me of nearly killing him, no one would believe it.
As I bounded forward with Seian Crowell in my arms, the Lace King Lizard sensibly followed. With the massive lizard prowling across the Campus Grounds, screams erupted from every direction.

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“I’ll kill you! This time I’ll have you executed!”
I quickly threw Seian Crowell onto the bed and pulled out the emergency sleeping draught Kanna had given me. I uncapped it, took a swig, held it in my mouth, pinched Seian Crowell’s nose, and pressed my lips to his to force the medicine down. Seian Crowell swallowed the drug I’d passed to him without resistance, but then he shoved me away and tore at his hair, screaming.
“No count! That doesn’t count! That wasn’t my first kiss!”
“Oh my. How unfortunate. So it was your first kiss, then.”
“What? You’re saying it wasn’t yours?!”
Seian Crowell, struck by this revelation, turned pale and demanded an explanation.
I reflected on the distant past. My first kiss, my first kiss… The attempt in bed with Seian Crowell had fallen through. In my previous life, there was nothing notable either. Besides, this was just lips touching and a tongue pushing in—whether it even qualified as a kiss was debatable…
After carefully considering the matter, I concluded that if Seian Crowell called it his first kiss, then it must be mine as well.
“I see. It was my first kiss too.”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Seian Crowell, why do you hate it whether I say it wasn’t my first kiss or that it was? Men’s hearts are truly incomprehensible. I decided to employ the technique the Department Head Professor had taught me.
“Sleep!”
“Gack!”
Having already consumed a massive dose of sleeping draught, a blow to the back of his head would ensure he had no choice but to succumb to sleep.
I called for an Infirmary staff member and asked them to bring someone capable of healing magic, and while they were at it, I also asked them to fetch Kanna from the Dormitory.

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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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