Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 39

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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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Normally, tomorrow would be the day of my lecture with Mallo.
But instead of holding class in the lecture hall, we decided to go out for field practice in the Fortress downtown.
‘Right, field practice…’
It was something I’d blurted out in half-panicked protest, but looking at it logically, I had nothing to lose.
I’d come to the Fortress in the first place because the Loan Sharks had hired me to find a missing person—a Young Master, as it were.
If I found the Young Master and brought him back to reality, the enormous debt my parents had saddled me with would be erased, and I wouldn’t have to spend my life running anymore.
‘To conduct a proper search for the missing person, I’ll need to venture beyond Gwangryun Academy.’
The problem was that my mental handbook contained almost no information about other locations in the Fortress.
Wandering through the Fortress with no knowledge was suicide, so if Mallo would accompany me, I couldn’t ask for better.
But where should we go? Where should I start searching for a missing person whose name and face I don’t even know?
As for places I actually knew, there was the Academy, Goldilock’s, Welcome Mart…
“I’ll let you know where to go tomorrow.”
Really? Mallo grinned, his chin propped on his hand.
“Then I’ll look forward to it.”
Ugh.
That smiling face just doesn’t get any easier to look at. I reached to tuck the order form and pen into my apron and turned to leave.
Then it occurred to me—I still had to work the evening shift here today.
My eyes drifted toward the Arcade. Just not long ago, I’d nearly gotten sucked into one of the game machines over there.
Chased by Gom-tal, threatened with claws…
I hesitated for a moment, then turned back around.
“Um, Professor, since you’re here, there’s something I wanted to ask you about…”
“Hmm?”
“My friend was telling me that, well, occasionally—very occasionally—difficult customers come to Goldilock’s.”
“So?”
“So, if everyone knew I was your student, they… wouldn’t bother me…”
I was genuinely embarrassed, but there was no help for it.
As long as Mallo was around, things stayed peaceful, but once he left, who knew what might happen.
Mallo’s brow furrowed as if he’d fallen into thought, then he seemed to understand and asked:
“You want me to touch you?”
“What?! No, I mean—who would say something like that—”
“You don’t?”
“…Yes, you’re right.”
Whenever he’d rubbed whatever scent it was all over me, hardly anything dared come near.
It was a matter of survival.
“Hmm, well, it’s not a difficult thing…”
Mallo glanced around the place as if looking for something, then gestured to me.
When I bent forward slightly, he leaned close and whispered in a low voice near my ear.
“I just don’t feel like patting my student’s head in a place this crowded. It’d be a bit… embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh… that so? Well… um, never mind then…”
I stammered, my face flushed with heat.
“No, there’s no need to drop it like that.”
Mallo looked delighted, crossing his legs at an angle as he sat. He said:
“You should do it instead.”
“Pardon?”
“If you touch me, wouldn’t that work?”
My mouth fell open.
“I… I…”
“I?”
I almost launched into a complaint about reporting him to the Dean of Students—what kind of insane professor does this?—but on second thought, it wasn’t really such an unreasonable thing to say.
After all, Mallo wasn’t even a real professor, and before that, he wasn’t human, and above all, he’d simply given back what I’d been about to ask in the first place.
So there was no reason to feel this embarrassed. Since I had his permission anyway, and hair this pretty and golden…
Oh, it’s so soft.
“…You’re stroking it like you’ve been waiting for this chance.”
“Um… to be honest, I’ve always thought it was pretty. But it’s even softer than it looks… it’s actually kind of addictive.”
“…”
Mallo simply rested his head contentedly, lost in thought. Then something rough caught on my fingertip.
“…A bracelet?”
The bracelet I’d mistaken for a hair tie before. A crudely made thing, woven from cheap beads.
But where had I seen this…
‘A Rainbow Bracelet?’
〈See, you always said you wanted one. It’s exactly like the one they advertised on TV, right? Right?〉
“Lee Yuri.”
A gentle hand grasped my wrist.
Mallo spoke with a smile on his face.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m hungry.”
“Oh… yes, of course. I’m sorry. I’ll bring your order right away.”
I turned and hurried my pace.
Why does Mallo have the bracelet I saw in my dream?
Of course, it could just be a simple reflection of my subconscious. It’s common for things I’ve seen in reality to appear in dreams.
But why is my heart pounding like this? Am I afraid? Or am I anticipating something without even knowing it?
When I glanced back at Mallo on the way to the kitchen, he was looking out at something beyond the window.
What was he thinking about? Part of me wanted to know, and part of me didn’t.
* * *
[- ̗̀ෆ Survivor Exclusive Hotline Thread 829 (321 days after last explosion ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!)ෆ ̖́-]
[※Notification: ‘TruthAndHealthShare22’ has entered. Everyone welcome them!৻(≧ᗜ≦৻)]
[TruthAndHealthShare22: Hello everyone. I’m a practitioner researching the principles of life cultivation.]
[TruthAndHealthShare22: Don’t you feel you need to pause for a moment in this suffocating world and reflect on yourself?]
[Cart Collector: lmao]
[Cart Collector: here we go again]
[TruthAndHealthShare22: Let us pause together and research what truth truly means and what life is,]
[※Notification: ‘TruthAndHealthShare22′ has been removed by request of multiple users. Their access is blocked for a period!(´；ω；`)]
[There’s People on 12th Floor: Who keeps spamming the access code?]
[48: Ugh, who is it who?!(๑ò︵ò๑) If I catch them! I’ll give ’em a real piece of my mind!]
[Cart Collector: still gotta admire the persistence though]
[Cart Collector: anyway who went shopping last week?]
[Cart Collector: come clean! you totally wrecked the display shelves]
[Dang Do-choi-go: oh that was me]
[Dang Do-choi-go: my bad lol a signal came up outta nowhere so i had no choice ㅠ]
[48: holy crap!ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ that was close!]
[48: but even if the shelves collapse, does the cart guy have to clean it up? aren’t you the warehouse manager?(,,•́ . •̀,,）]
[Cart Collector: well]
[Cart Collector: when there are casualties in the store, our workload increases too]
[Cart Collector: can’t get into details]
[Cart Collector: i don’t hand out flyers for nothing]
[There’s People on 12th Floor: you’ve got it rough]
[Cart Collector: when you say stuff like that it pisses me off lol]
[There’s People on 12th Floor: you don’t get it]
[There’s People on 12th Floor: i want to live with a little dignity too]
[Cart Collector: who here lives with dignity]
[48: right we all just survive like animals]
[Cart Collector: never thought i’d hear that from you lol]
[Dang Do-choi-go: lol things have been pretty heavy lately]
[Cart Collector: huh why? you hear something?]
[48: huh? what what?╭◉␣◉╮]
[Dang Do-choi-go: lol anyway like i said before]
[Dang Do-choi-go: if you hear any new rumors going around downtown hit me up in DMs]
[Dang Do-choi-go: i’ll pay 1.2x the standard rate]
[There’s People on 12th Floor: but what rumors exactly? this isn’t like you at all]
[Dang Do-choi-go: oh i just made a new friend]
[48: a friend?]
[Dang Do-choi-go: but there’s so much weird stuff going on around them]
[Dang Do-choi-go: trying to help out ㅎ]
[48: wow ㅎㅎ]
[48: that’s so cool]
[48: but weird stuff like what?]
[Dang Do-choi-go: ah that’s kind of~~ㅎㅎ classified~~?]
[Dang Do-choi-go: sorry sorry! you understand right?ㅎ]
[Cart Collector: ???]
[48: ㅎㅎ..]
[※Notification: ‘TruthAndHealthShare222’ has entered. Everyone welcome them!৻(≧ᗜ≦৻)]
[Cart Collector: lmao]

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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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