38. Preparing the Birthday Banquet (1)

“Welcome, Count Yulian-nim!”

“Hello!”

“Nice to see you! Count Yulian-nim!”

The noble students bowed towards me in unison.

Over thirty students from noble families. There were scions of prestigious aristocratic houses, and children of nameless, remote, low-ranking nobles.

However, no matter the family, none could be of higher status than me, the heir to a Grand Duke and holder of a Count’s title. So, they all paid their respects to me.

Back in the first year, Yulian had conveniently skipped the Alchemy Department’s classes.

But now that I was consistently attending Istia Hall like this, there was no way the noble students could pretend not to notice me.

‘Still, it’s been a month since I started attending lectures. I wish they’d ease up a bit now.’

These Alchemy Department students, who acted so high and mighty in front of commoners or in their hometowns, were even more strict about hierarchy because they were nobles.

Even the arrogant and self-important Lady Chloe of the Marquis family couldn’t defy me. These students in the lecture hall wouldn’t even think of raising their heads until I gave them permission.

Since these students usually held their heads high, their necks must be hurting from bowing so deeply.

‘But that doesn’t mean I need to be particularly kind to these guys.’

There was a decorum befitting the heir to a Grand Duke. I had to accept their greetings as if they were perfectly natural for me.

I raised a hand and said,

“Greetings to you all. I offer you the courtesy of the North.”

As I accepted their greetings, they all sat down at once. Even then, they glanced at me, trying to read my expression. The students whispered in low voices.

“I can’t believe it every time I see it. Count Yulian-nim, I heard you officially became the heir to the Frontier Count last winter?”

“Yes, that’s right. That must be why he’s transformed so splendidly to match his position. How can someone be so handsome…?”

They were embarrassing words, and I had no intention of eavesdropping. But the Sylph I had summoned brought their words to me anyway.

“I heard Yulian-nim came in first in the power evaluation at the Golden Hall this time.”

“Really? Does that mean he beat Chloe-nim and that arrogant witch? Chloe-nim is renowned for her combat skills as well as her alchemy. So, the blood of Reinhardt can’t be faked! Maybe the rumors from the first year were all nonsense…”

“Maybe so. Anyway, we need to make connections with the Count-nim while he’s at Pantheon. Our family’s territory is close to the North. We absolutely must.”

“Hmm. Well, if you don’t have ties to the Orhain Dukedom in the South, then making connections with the Reinhardt Frontier Count family is the right answer. No, frankly, even though our family is closer to the South, I want to make connections with him too. I’m the second son of my family. I’d rather join the Alchemists of the White Nights Order than the Sentiac Knights and have a free future…”

The noble ladies looked at me with admiration, and the noble sons clearly wanted to make connections with me at any cost.

Of course, I had no interest in them. Unless they were key figures in Demon King Slayer, I had no time to spare for them.

‘But there’s no need to treat them badly.’

The political situation on the continent would fall into chaos rapidly from the second part of Demon King Slayer. Since they were also children of nobles, they would play some role in that chaos.

So, it wouldn’t hurt if they had friendly relations with me, especially with Essenmund Territory.

Especially the Orhain Dukedom in the South, which one of the noble sons had mentioned earlier. There was nothing good for me in siding with them.

Duke Pedro de Orhain of the South. The ruler of the southern Empire and the master of the Sentiac Knights, a powerful knight order alongside the White Nights Order.

And Pedro, Lucia’s biological father, would be at the center of the great chaos that would occur in the second part of Demon King Slayer. Compared to what that Duke would do, Cardinal Grius was a joke.

‘Demon King Slayer Part 2, huh…’

Demon King Slayer Part 2, which would follow after the Nest conquest. I briefly recalled that second part.

Not only for me, but for most Demon King Slayer users, the second part was as good as nonexistent.

If the first part of Demon King Slayer was close to a dating sim where you enjoyed academy life with pretty heroines,

From the second part, where the Nest conquest failed, the genre changed to a dark fantasy RPG with a completely different, gloomy atmosphere, unlike the first part.

So, users mainly played the first part of Demon King Slayer. Collecting 19+ illustrations of pretty heroines was the goal for most users.

In fact, you couldn’t even get those illustrations in the second part. So, there was no reason to play further.

‘Even the ending was 100% a bad ending.’

I also played the second part casually for that reason. I watched the bad ending and started the first part again to conquer the heroines. That was my play pattern.

But now it was reality, not a game. I had to anticipate and act in advance, not only for the current first part but also for the second part.

To do that, I had been moving busily, incomparably more than when I played Demon King Slayer. Attending these Alchemy Department lectures diligently was part of that.

And another piece of evidence of that effort was in this lecture hall. The villainess heroine that I had always failed to conquer in Demon King Slayer. But now I had succeeded in conquering her.

“Glory to the lion’s courage that subdues even the northern wind. I am Chloe of the Aetern Marquis family, and I greet Count Yulian-nim.”

Chloe came down from the upper seats of the lecture hall towards me.

She gave me her usual, old-fashioned greeting.

Chloe’s current attire was not the student uniform but a noble dress. She was wearing a very luxurious dress to show off her family and wealth.

Such old-fashioned greetings were a custom only observed by high-ranking nobles. To boast by including the symbol representing their family in their greetings, they had to be at least a powerful Count family.

In this lecture hall, Chloe, the daughter of the prestigious Aetern Marquis family, was the only student who could give me such a formal greeting.

‘Of course, even if there were others, Chloe would have crushed them to prevent them from doing so. She hates it when someone else stands out besides herself.’

I accepted Chloe’s greeting.

“The abundance of ripe wheat ears in the Rochetern Plains. Greetings, Chloe.”

Chloe looked momentarily bewildered at my greeting. It was understandable. It was the first time I had replied with the Aetern Marquis family’s greeting.

Until now, I had always interrupted her greetings and criticized her. Even the cunning her hadn’t expected my perfectly normal greeting.

“Yes? Yes, yes!! I’m honored too…”

She stuttered, her face even turning red. Surprised herself, she quickly fanned herself to hide her expression. It was an uncharacteristic, shy maiden-like reaction for Chloe.

It was a good reaction.

‘Well, it’s my turn to pull her in again for a while. Or rather, am I pushing her away?’

Push and pull was always necessary with Chloe. The Marquis’s daughter, Chloe, had so much to gain.

I already knew that the Marquis’s daughter turned into an M-type only when it came to me. So, there was no need to treat her coldly like before.

If Chloe was hoping to be cursed out internally, I had no intention of doing so.

In other words, a push-and-pull technique to completely subjugate this arrogant lady to me. Judging by her reaction, I didn’t think my idea was wrong.

“Let’s go up, Chloe.”

“Yes… Yes! Understood.”

I moved with Chloe.

The lecture hall was tiered. And it was Istia Hall’s custom to sit in seats according to the students’ rank. So, our seats were at the very top.

I sat in the student representative seat that Chloe had yielded and took out my lecture notes.

“Chloe. You’ve done the assignment, right?”

“Of course! I am the representative student of our department. So, I must always set an example.”

Chloe handed me a thick stack of papers.

“Oh my. If by any chance Count-nim hasn’t done the assignment… you can copy from mine… no, you can refer to it.”

As she said that, Chloe subtly pressed her body against me. The unique scent of her expensive perfume wafted strongly. And she subtly revealed her cleavage by loosening the top of her dress.

‘That’s too blatant.’

Still, she didn’t grope my dick outright like Lilia. I gently pushed Chloe away and looked at the assignment she had handed me instead of her cleavage.

As expected, it was a perfect assignment.

A neat handwriting befitting a high-ranking noble. With that handwriting, she was solving the difficult assignment given by Elmeier, the scholar professor of the Alchemy Department, without any difficulty.

The assignment was on the topic of ‘Examples and applications of the multi-elemental property changes of matter.’

It was an important assignment on the multi-elemental property changes, which was the core of the Alchemy Department’s second-year advanced course.

“Multi-elemental transformation. It’s different from learning about the transformation of a single elemental property in the first year. An alchemist who has entered the 3rd Circle must be able to freely transform at least three elemental properties.”

The four elemental properties of water, fire, earth, and wind. Three elemental properties meant that there were obviously three variables.

The formulas for the change form and change amount of those elements. And to make that calculation happen instantly and the alchemy to be realized,

You had to perfectly study the various material properties and practice formula calculations in advance. Chloe’s assignment was also filled with calculation formulas.

“Professor Elmeier happened to give an assignment on the change of three elemental properties this time. Of course, I’ll be entering the 4th Circle soon, so I already knew everything and it wasn’t difficult. But it would be a very difficult assignment for ordinary students.”

From the perspective of an ordinary alchemist, Chloe’s assignment was close to perfect. It meant that it was an answer sheet that ordinary students would be very envious of.

So, Chloe seemed to be expecting some words from my mouth.

‘She’s probably hoping I’ll ask her to show me the assignment directly.’

But I had no intention of owing Chloe anything. It would be the opposite, though.

I took out a stack of papers that I had put between my lecture notes.

“Good assignment. But it may not be as good as yours, the department representative. But I’ve already done my assignment in my own way.”

“Really? Oh my…”

Chloe looked at the assignment with interest. I handed the assignment to Chloe.

“It seems like it will take a while for Professor Elmeier to come. Would you like to take a look?”

Chloe couldn’t hide her confident expression.

Professor Elmeier spoke. His voice had no highs or lows, so it sounded very boring.

“…If you’ve done the assignment yourselves, you’ll know. It’s completely different from the change of two elemental properties, where there are only two variables. The change of three elemental properties requires such a computationally complex formula. Also, it’s not just the formula. To realize the formula with alchemy, understanding of the formula and repeated calculations are essential. In other words, it means that a countless amount of learning and effort is required. Of course, that’s not a word that suits most of you nobles at all.”

Professor Elmeier’s lecture was in full swing. I had spread out the assignment that I had stayed up all night to complete next to my lecture notes and was listening to the lecture diligently.

‘Chloe didn’t point out any flaws. Still, it was worth staying up all night.’

Chloe, who was trying to find flaws in my assignment with her eyes wide open. But in the end, she couldn’t find any. That’s how hard I had worked to create the assignment.

‘…He’s completed all of Professor Elmeier’s instructed theoretical descriptions and example solutions. At this rate… the professor won’t have anything to point out either.’

It felt like I was returning to my past life for the first time since the possession. That feeling of piling up reports and staying up all night. Of course, I couldn’t compare myself, who was an ordinary engineering student, to myself now.

Thanks to the characteristics, I could instantly understand the alchemy theory in my head and the calculations were smooth. But as expected of the notorious Professor Elmeier, the amount was enormous and there were many difficult formula problems.

‘I had to refuse Aylin’s night service because of this assignment.’

Still, it was a gain that my alchemy characteristic proficiency had increased that much. And it was lunchtime. Thanks to drinking plenty of Lilia’s breast milk, I was in good condition, as if I had slept well.

“Then, in the remaining time, I’ll explain this formula with real materials as an example…. Wait! It’s your freedom to fall asleep during the lecture. But those who snore will disturb the other students. Wake them up next to you!”

I poked Chloe’s side, who was next to me.

“Hnya! Count-nim… if you touch me like that!”

Chloe, who was dozing off next to me, woke up with a loud voice.