Chapter 124
Chapter 124
Second Semester (3)
I had been spending my time productively. Ever since meeting the Vice-Commander, nothing had changed much. We merely continued our preparations while time slowly passed by.
“Did you finish registering for your classes?”
I was lazily spending the afternoon lying on the sofa inside the chapel. Winter, meticulous as always, asked once again something she had already asked several times before.
One week remained until the semester began. Most students had already returned to the academy. Since course registration here depended not on first-come-first-served but on the professors’ discretion, it did not matter whether one arrived early or late.
“Course registration…….”
“I did it. All of them.”
“Ah. Yes.”
But Winter still looked uneasy even about that. If everything depended on the professors’ discretion, then it also meant it would be difficult to attend classes if the professors disliked you.
Considering Davide’s infamy, Winter’s concerns seemed completely reasonable.
“I told you not to worry. Seriously.”
“……Still.”
The moment I lightly scolded her, she immediately shrank back. I personally did not care much about course registration, but thankfully the Vice-Commander had helped me.
She told me not to worry because she would ask professors she knew personally. I trusted those words firmly. Even if, by some chance, the Vice-Commander had been messing with me, it did not matter.
I had no great attachment to classes anyway and merely intended to fill the required credits somehow.
“How’s your progress?”
“……Not good.”
Winter, who had once prepared for the festival like an excited child, answered gloomily. Watching her, I clicked my tongue softly.
“I seriously can’t think of any method.”
Winter was not completely stupid. Although lacking somewhat, she at least possessed the ability to read the political atmosphere.
The countless ideas she came up with were shared through meetings, only to sink beneath the realistic and merciless evaluations of the Religious Order members.
Food, games, events. None of them could stand confidently before my infamy.
“I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
“Neither did I.”
Sometimes there were ideas that even I thought were decent. However, I could not refute Aro and Canis’ realistic questions.
‘Would people really gather?’, ‘Would anyone really try something that dangerous~ in a Religious Order that has Dabi~?’
“There’s nothing I can do even if you stare at me like that.”
Unable to argue back, we remained stuck in place. Winter stared at me with resentment-filled eyes, but I merely shrugged.
Whether things worked out or not, I had nothing to regret either way.
“What about this?”
Then a rather amusing thought crossed my mind. The moment I brought it up, Winter looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Defeat Davide.”
“Huh?”
Winter repeated my words with a bizarre expression after hearing what came out of my mouth.
“Defeat Davide. How many people do you think I’ve bullied? Besides that, there are probably plenty of people who can’t stand looking at me.”
“……So?”
As I continued speaking, Winter’s expression gradually turned meaningful. Chuckling, I continued.
“We charge an entry fee and have them fight me. If they lose, the participation fee stays with us. But if someone defeats me, they get all the accumulated entry fees.”
Winter shook her head firmly. Instead, I stared at her in confusion at her skeptical reaction.
“That’s gambling. The Academic Department would never permit it.”
“As far as I know, the Karata Order runs lotteries or things similar to that.”
“Huh?”
“A lottery is gambling too, isn’t it?”
“Ah?”
Only then did Winter realize something strange. The Academic Department officially did not acknowledge gambling. Yet other Religious Orders used gambling systems.
“Ah, then is it something permitted by the Lofty Order?”
Once her thoughts reached that point, she fell into deep contemplation.
“First of all, what event were you planning to use?”
“Obviously combat.”
I answered enthusiastically for once. If you were a warrior, then naturally you should settle superiority through battle. Besides, my body had been feeling somewhat stiff lately, so this was perfect.
“Rejected. Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
But Winter firmly opposed it. The firmness was unlike her, so I asked for the reason.
“If it’s combat, people are going to get hurt, and we’ll have to cover the treatment costs too. More importantly, Senior is the Cult Leader. If you somehow lose, it’ll be a complete disaster, and even aside from that, there are many ways it could damage your reputation.”
“Hmm.”
The assumption that I could lose was slightly unpleasant, but Winter’s words were reasonable. Even though I had defeated Soloven, you never knew what might happen.
“Then?”
“Arm wrestling. Wouldn’t that work at least?”
I nodded at Winter’s suggestion. If it was merely arm wrestling, then even if I lost, my reputation would not suffer too greatly.
Though to begin with, it was not as if I possessed enough reputation to overcome my infamy.
“We can’t keep doing only that for an entire week, so we should probably use it as an event to attract visitors.”
“Right.”
Once we reached that point, Winter’s motivation began burning once more. Of course, we still had to overcome the massive walls named Aro and Canis.
Still, I was satisfied simply because she had regained her enthusiasm. Watching Winter become absorbed in drafting plans, I leaned back onto the sofa once again.
The sunlight poured down drowsily.
***
“I’ve been deceived.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, Professor.”
At last, the semester began. I registered for the classes recommended by the Vice-Commander, and fortunately I got accepted into all of them.
Or so I thought, but it had been a misunderstanding. Every class I registered for belonged to Gorilla. The course descriptions had clearly listed different names.
“I am truly delighted.”
“Pardon?”
I had arrived at the classroom first, only to find Gorilla planted firmly on the podium. The moment he saw me, Gorilla seated me right in front of him.
Then he started talking on his own. At his words about being delighted, I looked puzzled.
“I never knew you trusted me this much. To think you’d take all of my classes.”
“…….”
Barbar, Gullet, Leto, Second-Year Dormitory Supervisor Professor. They all referred to Gorilla. All four classes I applied for were taught by Gorilla.
“Barbar must be your surname.”
“Correct. My name is ‘Leto Barbar.’”
“Then what about Gullet?”
“A title. It was the name I used back when I worked as a mercenary.”
I wore a conflicted expression. Normally it should have been listed under the name Leto Barbar. I had no idea why the Academic Department allowed such nonsense.
There had only been one fatal mistake. I simply did not know Gorilla’s real name. In the game, he was only ever labeled as Gorilla, and since he was not an especially important character, that was all there was to it.
‘That Vice-Commander.’
It was definitely because I brought up her age. This had to be her revenge for that. I clicked my tongue quietly.
“Anyway, welcome, Davide. I shall turn you into a human being.”
“I’m already human.”
“No. You are not human.”
What was this supposed to mean? His decisive tone left me dumbfounded. Seeing me gape speechlessly, Gorilla flashed a triumphant grin.
Watching even a smile become ferocious on Gorilla’s face, I swore to myself that I would cancel these classes.
“You cannot cancel them.”
“Pardon?”
“You won’t be able to cancel these classes.”
“……Mind-reading or something?”
“I don’t know what mind-reading is, but whatever you’re thinking is close enough.”
He had completely seen through me. Still, I remained confident. No matter if he was both the second-year dormitory supervisor professor and connected to the Vice-Commander, he could not stop a student from dropping classes.
“My classes have assistants. Students attending the course work as teaching assistants. I call them student assistants. Those students receive a modest scholarship and bonus points toward their grades. The point is that it serves as experience-building for those who dream of becoming professors. Rather than assistants, they should probably be called associate professors.”
“……Wouldn’t the other students object if I did all of that?”
I desperately searched for a way out. I did not particularly care what kind of work it was, but since he was trying this blatantly to drag me in, I could not simply stay still.
“Do not worry. The student assistant system is something only I implement, but over the past three years, not a single person has volunteered for it. I was the one who originally proposed it, but in truth, it has never once been properly carried out until now.”
“…….”
“Well, there are various reasons for that, but putting those aside, you do not need to worry about student backlash.”
He was even crazier than I expected. As expected of Gorilla, his grip strength was incredible. I could see the stubborn determination of someone unwilling to let go once he had grabbed hold of something.
“But you never received my permission, did you? I believe this is something I have grounds to protest.”
At my perfectly reasonable point, Gorilla pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me. I accepted it politely while wearing a puzzled expression.
“Read it.”
The luxuriously wrapped item was a letter. More precisely, it was simply stationery with whatever message they wanted to write scribbled on it.
“…….”
Why were these bastards always so serious about things like this? I let out a hollow laugh.
The contents of the letter were simple. They intended to formally introduce the student assistant system through a trial operation.
I had passed the qualification screening, and if I completed the assignment successfully, I would receive substantial rewards.
“You’re giving me all of this?”
“Yes. I already discussed it with the Academic Department. They approved it as well.”
Part of me wanted to reject it immediately, but the rewards were tempting. The compensation itself had already surpassed the level of a mere scholarship, but what truly caught my attention was something else.
‘An artifact enchanted by the Director.’
This was an incredible opportunity. Museion Academy possessed countless artifacts accumulated over a very long history.
Was that not the reason Magus attacked with Fiendbeasts in tow? And now the Director herself would personally enchant one of those artifacts?
It was not something you could even assign a price to. It was practically a relic-class item.
“The reward is way too excessive.”
It was a natural question. No matter how difficult the student assistant duties might be, this was not the kind of reward one casually offered.
An enchantment from a Penta-class magician, of whom only four existed on the continent. Naturally, it was suspicious.
“I think so too.”
“Pardon?”
Unexpected words came out of Gorilla’s mouth. If even Gorilla was saying something like that, then at the very least it meant he had not been involved with deciding the reward.
“Don’t tell me.”
“That’s right. This was originally proposed by Sheila. Apparently she submitted the proposal to the Academic Department and Her Imperial Highness, the Imperial Princess. Her Imperial Highness was greatly pleased and said that if you completed this safely, Davide, she would personally bestow upon you an artifact she herself once used.”
As Gorilla said that, he crossed his arms. He merely folded his arms, yet somehow his massive frame looked even larger.
“Then the Director stated she would personally enchant that artifact herself. That is how things ended up.”
Only then did I fully understand the situation. Simply put, the Imperial House intended to increase my influence so they could use me as one of their pieces on the board.
One reason was likely to publicly establish that I belonged to the Imperial House’s side. And the Director appeared to be trying to interfere with that.
“I’ll do it.”
I would need to hear the details directly to know more, but from my perspective, this was not bad at all. I understood that these bastards intended to use me politically.
Unfortunately for them, once I finished wiping out Magus, I intended to spend my days leisurely focusing only on Religious Order matters.
“It seems the Imperial House plans to use you extensively. It will never be an easy road.”
Suddenly, Gorilla spoke with genuine concern in his voice. I looked at him.
“Professor. I’m Davide.”
I had absolutely no intention of moving according to their wishes. Hearing my confident response, Gorilla let out a faint chuckle.
“Indeed. Since you are an adult, your path is yours to walk.”
For once, Gorilla smiled pleasantly. Though unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done about how ferocious he still looked.