Ch. 59 - Are There Even Any Humans Left in the Poet's Academy?
When Suwen accompanied Geya all the way back to the Poet's Academy on foot, only to find her hurrying off as if she had an appointment with someone, his heart died a little inside as he clutched his chest.
"Heartbreak is a damp, gloomy rain. Even though the dark clouds are already visible, you still refuse to leave... Wuu wuu!"
Rushing off to meet someone at two in the morning—what else could it be for?
Although he'd heard early on that this senior was rather 'frivolous,' he'd thought he was the exception who could capture her heart!
Suwen was fantasizing again.
Fantasizing that he was the lucky one favored by his senior, that they would soon be drinking together. The night air hazy, her rosy lips drawing close to his ear, exhaling fragrant breath as she shyly told him to stay in this room tonight...
"Ow!"
*Thud*—something like a thick, heavy book smacked onto his head, making Suwen wince in pain as he hurriedly turned around.
"Bruto-xuechang? What are you doing here?"
"Went to a brothel, of course."
The brown-haired Bruto looked utterly drained as he grinned and threw an arm around Suwen's shoulders.
"The brothels have been getting a shipment of noble potions lately. Just happened to coincide with the poets' gathering, so I went to try them out."
"Xuechang, those things damage your brain..."
"Where's your mind going? Not that kind of drug!"
Bruto smacked him on the head again.
"It's a type of, hmm... potion that gets your blood pumping! You know why those noble gentlemen can always find a new bastard child from the countryside every so often? Guess where they get all that energy?"
"Well... please take care of your body."
Due to his poor impression from the previous reception, Suwen didn't want to interact too much with Bruto.
"I'll head back to my dorm first."
"Don't go yet."
Bruto's breath reeked of alcohol as he swayed and grabbed hold of him.
"That was Geya who just ran off, right? Did you two go on a date?"
"No. We just happened to meet and came back together."
"Why was she in such a hurry?"
"I don't know."
"Is she going to a tryst with someone? To climb into someone's bed?"
"Bruto-xuechang, I really need to go—"
"Don't you want to know who Geya's sweetheart is?"
"I... I—"
"Come on, let's follow her. If we get caught, we'll just say the senior brought you along. With me in front, Geya won't have time to blame you!"
With that, he yanked Suwen along, not waiting for him to refuse—or perhaps not intending to let him refuse at all—half-dragging him in the direction Geya had left.
Bruto had long wanted to dig up some dirt on Geya to stop her popularity from soaring any higher and leave himself some room to compete. Now he could use Suwen's little crush to his advantage and gather some intelligence:
"Look, she's heading toward the central garden—it's densely wooded there, a perfect place for a battle!"
"Bruto-xuechang, speculation without evidence is called slander!"
"How is there no evidence?"
Bruto grinned.
"I've battled there myself. With Judy."
Suwen's pupils suddenly widened as he looked at Bruto, crying out in shock:
"Judy? You mean [Toothless Judy]!?"
"Keep your voice down!"
Bruto covered his mouth.
"It's three in the morning, and we're stalking a young woman! Do you want Geya to discover us, report us, and get both stalkers expelled from the academy?"
"I'm sorry."
"I don't even know why you're reacting so strongly. So what if she doesn't have teeth? That doesn't mean she's not beautiful."
"Judy is indeed very beautiful, but..."
Although he apologized, Suwen still opened and closed his mouth, standing there stunned for quite a while.
"But isn't it a snake raised by the dean!?"
"Wrong! A 'toothless' snake! Did you forget? As an ornamental pet, the dean even pulled out its fangs."
"Is that the point!?"
"Why not? Otherwise, what if it bit me?"
"But it's a snake!"
Suwen clasped his hands together, swaying his body like a snake.
"How could you bring yourself to do it? Are humans no longer enough to satisfy you?"
"Hey, what's wrong with snakes? Don't snakes deserve to enjoy human pleasures? Little Suwen, if someone reports you for racial discrimination, that'll leave a stain on your record too."
"But only you're enjoying it, right?"
"You're not a snake—how do you know it's not enjoying it?"
"I—"
Suwen was momentarily speechless.
Xuechang truly was an expert in debate. If he didn't argue with him, he really didn't know how to refute it for a moment.
"Besides, Judy is a transparent emerald green snake, quite petite, no worse than those girls..."
"Okay, okay, Xuechang. I know you have broad tastes. You don't need to go into such detail with me."
Suwen would rather stalk Geya than pollute his ears any further.
"But the central garden is being watched by construct guardians. How can we get around them?"
"Watch me."
Bruto whistled.
From within the green leaves of the garden's flowerbeds, there soon came a rustling sound.
Before long, two small snakes with crystalline, emerald-green bodies emerged from beneath the leaf stems.
Bruto gestured to the two small snakes for quite a while.
Suwen couldn't understand, but the snakes apparently did.
They climbed onto the two construct guardians at the corridor entrance, covering their eyes.
"Now's our chance!"
Bruto pulled Suwen along as they rushed into the garden.
By the time they were gasping for breath and finally caught sight of Geya in the center of the garden, Suwen felt puzzled even while panting:
"Besides [Toothless Judy], the other one is..."
"[Fanged Susie]. The dean bought her a while ago as a new companion for Judy."
"You did it with the fanged one too!?"
"Hey, I'm not that perverted—I'm afraid of pain."
"Then why does it also obey your commands?"
"I don't really understand either, but maybe it's because I stood watch for it?" Bruto said, stroking his chin.
"Stood watch for what?"
"When Houston was battling intensely with it, I had to keep watch to make sure no outsiders came by, right?"
Suwen stood there dumbly, his brain seemingly unable to process the information overload.
"Don't make such a big fuss."
Bruto patted his junior's shoulder, quite enthusiastically.
"Without some special hobbies, how dare you call yourself a wandering bard?"
This time Suwen didn't answer him, just blinked.
So are there even any humans left in our Poet's Academy?
"Alright, enough nonsense. I knew this Geya was up to something... Relying on the dean's favor, she even dares to come to explicitly forbidden areas."
Bruto crouched down, slowly approaching Geya to catch her in the act.
But as he crept forward, a trace of starlight flowed like water down from the stone monument before Geya, falling into his eyes and transforming into a line of text—
[Lost Calendar Year 1000, June 10th, Starberry Town, sunny day.
Fourth day after being kicked out of the tavern?
I led three hundred civilians and captured the noble who ruled this territory.]
He was stunned:
"What!?"