Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 74

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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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As I stood there bewildered, the Department Head Professor seized the globe with magic and yanked it toward him, then pointed at Crownpolis with his finger and lifted it straight upward.
“A straight line.”
At those words, I found myself naturally gazing up at the ceiling. Ah, I see. So I jump up to the stratosphere, adjust my angle carefully, and land on the Serpent King’s Tower. Gravity magic really can do anything.
“Would it be possible for you to deliver my reply letter as well when you go?”
“No problem, but it must be paper that can withstand high heat.”
“I’ll use the postal service then.”
“Good thinking.”
That overpowered man can jump off the planet itself and his body still endures it. Will there ever come a day when I don’t have to bow to the Department Head Professor?
Having finished my business, I thanked the Department Head Professor and set out to find Seian. Last time I waited two hours and he didn’t show, so today I figured I’d wait about four hours. I had that much time before evening volunteer work anyway.
Rather than sit dead in front of Seian’s House gate, I bought coffee milk and five red bean buns from the campus store and moved to a better spot.
This should be enough to get through four hours without going hungry. Personally, I craved condensed milk castella, but my current financial situation left me no choice but to eat red bean buns to my heart’s content. I hoped to repay Gerth soon and develop Ilam enough that the Horse Racing Track would flourish so I could embezzle from it.
I was anxious about leaving things in Titi’s hands, but with Leri around this time, it should be fine. Most of the Horse Racing Track’s operational authority would fall to Leri, and unlike Hubert or Gerth, Leri wasn’t the soft-hearted type. He was a capable talent with the backbone to resist even Titi’s honeyed words.
The letter from the Ilram Autonomous District Women’s Association was surely an inquiry about consolidating the village. As I pondered how to handle it, I tore into my first red bean bun. I needed sugar to think. I needed sugar for strength. I chewed through the bread, wondering how to harmoniously integrate that fanatical Evan Laef cult with the citizens of Ilam.
“Huh?”
“Oof!”
Today I was lucky. I’d barely torn open one red bean bun when Seian came sauntering toward his house. I leaped up with my hands full of bread and dashed toward him.
“Stop right there!”
But Seian put up a pathetic resistance. He started running away to escape me. I didn’t even need magic to block him. I ran up the stone wall, did a mid-air somersault, and cut off his path.
“Let me see you for a moment.”
“Let go!”
When I grabbed Seian’s wrist, he struggled desperately to break free. It wasn’t beyond my strength, but if I kept this up, I’d leave marks on his arm. I should give up on holding the bread. As I used both arms to subdue Seian, the bag of red bean buns tumbled to the ground.
“…!”
I pushed Seian against the stone wall and trapped him within my arms. Though I had to look up at him because I was so much shorter, I had him contained nonetheless.
“Tell me why you’re doing this.”
Seian didn’t answer for a long time.
“…You don’t need to know.”
So I waited all this time just to hear that? I wanted to smash the stone wall in frustration, but that would only frighten Seian, so I held myself back and spoke as politely as I could.
“Hiding things won’t solve anything. You can’t do everything alone, can you?”
“Must be nice that you can do everything alone!”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What do you mean it’s not? You’ve been ignoring me all along anyway!”
At Seian’s bitter words, I opened my mouth in shock and reflected on my past actions. Had I ignored Seian? Did I? I had shown consideration because he was far weaker than me. I had supported him because his problem-solving ability fell short of mine. But did that mean I ignored him?
“Lucky you, able to use magic and born with talent! I’m jealous! How pathetic must I look to you? You look down on me, belittle me—you think I don’t notice?”
“No, Seian. I—”
“What good does understanding do? Will you solve my problems for me? No matter how amazing you are, you wouldn’t want to get involved in Cecilia’s affairs, right?”
Ever since the day I received Cecilia’s gift, something felt off. So it really was a problem involving that woman. Certainly, anything connected to Cecilia would be difficult for me to resolve. Even when I was Mitchell Neftis, she was an uncomfortable opponent, and now I was nothing but a commoner.
Right now, I couldn’t even sit down and have a conversation with the Crown Princess. Even if I shouted in front of the Imperial Palace that Seian shouldn’t be bullied, the palace guards would just arrest me. The gap between the First Imperial Princess Cecilia and Evan Laef was that vast.
“What did Cecilia say?”
“She told me not to hang around strange places and just attend class quietly before coming back. Got it?”
“That’s tyranny.”
“Then why don’t you go pick a fight with Cecilia?”
“….”
“Hah. You’re nothing special after all.”
Seian Crowell laughed as if I were pathetic, tapped my shoulder, and slipped away. I couldn’t protest because his words held no falsehood—I simply lacked the strength to protect Seian Crowell from Cecilia.

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“Professor, why is she like that?”
After the intense volunteer work ended, I’d been sitting through dinner with my mouth hanging open the entire time. Reina Letem asked the Department Head Professor about the reason for my strange state. However, since I hadn’t mentioned my encounter with Seian Crowell, the Department Head Professor could only shake his head.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Let me know too!”
“Can you fight Cecilia?”
“Are you insane? Tell me to commit suicide instead.”
So Letem held Cecilia in that much regard too. Well, she was the next Emperor of a centralized empire—naturally, no one would want to cause any disturbance.
Then what about the incredibly strong Department Head Professor?
“Could you fight the Third Princess, Professor?”
“That much? I could kill her easily.”
“Assuming you need to continue your social life afterward.”
“Then perhaps suicide would be the better choice.”
Well, if the heir to Count Letem was saying he’d rather commit suicide, how could a mere professor fight her? I continued slurping down tonight’s tom yum soup with my mouth still agape. The Common Professor was becoming an increasingly masterful spice virtuoso with each passing day. Soon enough, he’d probably appear in some cooking manga as “The Dark Cooking Four Heavenly Kings: Spice Master Common.”
“Why? Did you pick a fight with the Crown Princess?”
“If I want to keep seeing Seian Crowell, I think I’ll need to fight and win.”
“Hey, hang in there. There are plenty of other men besides him.”
“There is only one Seian Crowell.”
“If you look hard enough, you’ll find another piece of trash like him somewhere.”
Noisy gorilla—did you think beautiful trash like Seian Crowell was common in this world? When I snapped back at him, the Common Professor smiled with infuriating satisfaction and ladled more seafood into my bowl.
“Hang in there, youth. I’m rooting for you.”
“Rather than rooting, could you actually help?”
“How about preparing a revolution like Dr. Bruno?”
“The risk is too great.”
“Love cannot be won without risk.”
“That’s so reasonable it’s infuriating.”
Revolution…. Was revolution truly the only answer? I could recruit revolutionary forces centered around the Village Guard of Ilam, and over several years, overthrow the state and put the Crown Princess on the guillotine.
“Ah, Professor, stop! We’re all going to get arrested by the secret police at this rate! Evan, you idiot, don’t take this seriously! Don’t talk about revolution, you crazy bastard, or we’ll really get arrested!”
Reina Letem must have heard my muttering—she clamped her hand over my mouth and shook my neck back and forth. It hurt and was exhausting.
“This lunatic still won’t come to her senses.”
“That’s the way of youth.”
“Professor, did you learn the word ‘youth’ recently?”
“Relatively recently, yes.”
“Oh, then this is my mistake.”
I was the problem. I was the problem. Reina muttered in lament while chanting a prayer for Evan Laef’s sanity to return.
“If there’s nothing you can do for the Crown Prince, then all you can do is give your absolute best at what you’re capable of right now. Humanity has always carved new paths this way.”
“Wow, Professor, the way you say that makes it sound like you’re not human yourself.”
Reina laughed in resignation and clapped, and from the Professor’s words just now, I felt something strike a chord deep within me. It wasn’t quite a chord—it was something more concrete and quantifiable that resonated with a sharp, crystalline ring.
“My absolute best.”
There it is again—that sharp ring again. This is it. That resonance from my Normal Skill Premonition Level 6.
“Things I can do: volunteer work, studying, muscle training, club activities—oh, it must be club activities.”
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
“Club activities would be… playing around, nitpicking the Third Princess’s work, festival preparations… Wait? Guitar playing?”
Guitar playing! That’s it!
The moment I spoke of guitar playing as the premonition that resonated most deeply in my heart, I received my answer and solidified my resolve.
“I’m going to become the greatest guitarist!”
“What are you talking about, you lunatic.”
“Hmm. It seems you’ve found your path.”
“What makes you say that?”
I needed to finish eating quickly and practice chord fingering. With that thought, I munched away at my rice when the Department Head Professor gave me an unexpected gift.
“If it’s alright with you, Evan, I’ll give you one of my collection. I owe you a debt from before.”
If it’s a debt, it must be that incident with the Eastern dragon crashing through the ceiling and the lake gushing everywhere. If that’s the case, the Professor certainly caused me considerable trouble. Thinking I deserved compensation, I nodded, and Reina quickly finished her meal and squeezed between us.
“Professor, what about me? Don’t you have anything for me? I’m on drums.”
“Drums are too bulky to collect.”
“Tch.”
“Though I do have drum sticks that belonged to someone who died while exercising with Dr. Bruno.”
“I’ll have to decline.”
That guy would get so excited when his drums arrived, he’d pick up those sticks and start banging on everything in sight. Just thinking about it made my head spin already. The Department Head Professor, who had told us to return to the Dormitory, used magic to leap away and return to his own home.

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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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