Ch.103Smart College Life (3)

I arrived at the southern Spiritual Center.

After greeting the priests, I laid Ireh down in the infirmary.

“May the blessing of the stars be with both students.”

The outer gods were making retching sounds—gweeeeek—in my head.

The Spiritual Center is a place where stellar energy is concentrated. Since outer gods can’t use their power here, Ireh would need to recuperate here until her condition improved.

I sighed as I looked at the protagonist who was in a daze.

“Let’s do some friend-or-foe identification.”

Zernya and I waited until my father arrived.

Zernya spoke with a gloomy expression.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“Same here.”

“They said she’s in a coma. Do you think she’ll survive?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

That’s when it happened.

Urgent footsteps could be heard from outside.

Zernya and I poked our heads out to look. A man in a white gown was rushing toward us.

“Who’s that man?”

“My father.”

“Oh.”

Zernya, who had taken one stack of Talulla, sank.

I jumped forward, bowed my head to my father, and picked up his bag.

“Father, it’s been a while.”

“Eidel, is that you?”

“Yes, the patient is over there—”

Father immediately washed his hands and entered the infirmary.

After examining Ireh, he spoke gravely.

“How strange.”

“What is it?”

“There are at least a dozen outer gods.”

The priests were startled and trembled.

Father diagnosed Ireh’s condition quite accurately. He discovered that three forces were working together to consume her, and that her Pron levels weren’t too bad yet.

“The main cause of her unconsciousness would be this external injury that looks like it was made with a tool.”

Ahem.

“Is treatment possible?”

“We’ll try preventive measures. At least emergency treatment should be possible.”

Soon, father began the operation.

Though I say operation, he didn’t open up Ireh’s skull or anything like that.

Medical arts using constellations.

Using his constellation, father performed non-destructive surgery to suppress the outer gods’ energy. It was an advanced technique that involved channeling the constellation in wave form to fight them.

“This should get her through the major crisis.”

Checking the status window, I saw that Ireh’s Pron level had dropped by about 2,000.

Right after the surgery, Zernya exclaimed while watching my father wipe away beads of sweat.

“Amazing.”

She looked at me and asked.

“What kind of constellation does he have that allows him to perform such surgery?”

“Ophiuchus.”

“Ophiuchus, as in the zodiac?”

“Yes. The thirteenth constellation.”

The Rheinland family isn’t a renowned medical family for nothing. That’s precisely why I called my father.

“By the way, which school did your father graduate from?”

“Stellarium Medical School.”

Zernya’s face lit up.

She stood up and went straight to my father.

“Senior, senior!”

Look at this fox-like girl!

***

There really must be such a thing as chemistry between people.

I never dreamed my father would adore Zernya like this. The same was true in reverse.

[“I’ve heard humans value school ties, regional ties, and blood ties.”]

Following Cartesia’s words, I thought about it.

School ties – Both from Stellarium Medical School, making them senior and junior. (O)

Regional ties – Adelbein (North) / Rheinland (South). (X)

Blood ties – The Adelbein family and Rheinland family are related by marriage. (O)

“I can’t believe this.”

Now I see that Zernya’s sudden approach wasn’t sudden at all—it was her grand plan utilizing school and blood ties.

Moreover, father had become a medical school professor starting this semester. He would likely encounter Zernya much more often from now on.

After talking with Zernya for a full three hours, father approached me with a somewhat relaxed expression.

“Eidel.”

“Yes, father.”

“What exactly have you been up to all this time?”

“Pardon?”

Did I do something wrong?

I’ve been absolutely careful not to do anything that would upset father.

“The council of elders is in chaos because of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Some of the family elders have changed their position, saying you should be made the head of the family.”

Ah.

To summarize father’s words:

You’ve completely messed up the power succession structure.

“This father of yours had hoped that the Rheinland family would remain a family of medical professionals. But it seems you’ve understood my intentions quite well.”

What are you suddenly talking about?

“It’s no use playing innocent. That’s why you brought that young lady, isn’t it? She told me everything—that the woman you claim needs treatment is actually someone you barely know.”

Wait a minute.

Something seems off about this conversation.

“Your judgment and audacity to summon your father to a place like this is impressive. The timing was impeccable too. Boldly aiming for the family head position just when your value has skyrocketed after recovering the Aether Belt.”

“Father, there’s a misunderstanding—”

“Not a misunderstanding, but a celebration, you wolf-like fellow.”

Father pressed firmly between my eyebrows as if pushing me.

I was at a loss for words.

The family head position? I wasn’t even interested.

As the saying goes, “Let he who desires the crown bear its weight,” becoming the family head comes with corresponding responsibilities and pain.

How am I supposed to handle business and asset management?

I was planning to leave the family fortune to Seti at the very least.

“You were very thorough. Well, I don’t doubt your abilities themselves.”

Father patted my shoulder.

It was the most affectionate conversation I’d ever had with Arnold, but it gave me a more chilling feeling than ever before.

“How’s your madness?”

“Pardon?”

“From Alcatraz. I heard you became like that after being attacked by an avatar. If you want, this father of yours could diagnose you again—”

“I’m fine now.”

“…Then my son was simply a genius all along.”

It was spine-chilling.

He may be Eidel’s father, but sometimes looking at him makes my heart clench. It’s fortunate we share the Rheinland bloodline; if we were complete strangers, I might have been terrified.

“Eidel.”

Tap, tap.

Father lightly patted my shoulder again.

“Get along well with that girl.”

Something, something is happening.

It seems like an absurd misunderstanding is snowballing.

I turned my head to glare at Zernya.

She was smiling slyly.

It seemed like both my father and Zernya had some kind of scheme…

“Haah.”

My head hurts.

At times like this, I should relax by reading research papers.

***

One week later.

I found a seat at a suitable PC room for course registration.

I’m somewhat relieved having left Ireh under Sonia’s surveillance. I even gave orders to tie her down and beat her if the protagonist tried to escape.

I checked the time.

8:10 AM.

There’s still plenty of time until the 10 AM course registration.

However, there was one problem.

“Ha, fancy seeing you here again.”

Zernya appears.

Sitting down next to me and starting to grumble, she looks just like a cat that’s had its treat taken away.

She stares at me with a thug-like expression that reminds me of the bullies you’d see at some trash high school, giving me mixed feelings.

“Of all places, the same PC room. Is this coincidence or what?”

I sighed and focused on the screen.

The important thing is which professor’s major course to take.

Even when taking an easy course like General Physics, if the professor’s teaching ability is through the roof, you’ll learn something new—whether it’s fresh ideas or insights that view problems from different perspectives.

Click.

I added Professor Feynman’s General Physics class to my cart.

And, click.

Zernya added the same class.

“Hmm, so that’s the section you want.”

“Hey, you should take classes with the medical students.”

“It’s a common course anyway, so it doesn’t matter which section I take. The grades are combined too.”

“There are plenty of other good professors. Don’t target mine.”

“That’s ridiculous. Does this person belong to you?”

Professor Feynman wasn’t the only one Zernya was targeting.

Click, click.

General Chemistry, General Biology, basic coding, writing, mathematics—she was trying to register for all the same sections and schedules as me.

“Aren’t you taking any major courses?”

“Hmm, first-year pre-med is basically the same as natural sciences. And even with all these, I still have 12 credits to spare.”

It’s infuriating that medical students can take up to 30 credits per semester.

This is fucking unfair. Honestly, the Physics department should get the same treatment. I remember crying from how easy it was when I tried to live like a medical student in my original world by taking 8 major courses every semester. Sob.

As soon as it hit 10 AM, I quickly snagged General Physics first. Honestly, as long as I got Professor Feynman’s section, I didn’t care much about the rest.

“…Ha, got it.”

Zernya succeeded too.

“…Ha, I’m fucked.”

Seems like she hasn’t reformed yet.

If this leads to some political marriage, I won’t be able to face Rustila. At best, we’d end up like my father and Seti’s mother, and at worst, both families would be wiped out as a package deal.

[Registered Credits/Available Credits: 21/22]

“Argh! This is so frustrating!”

I have 1 credit left.

The formula “3 credits = 1 course” is the standard rule, so I can’t use this anywhere.

“Now let’s add some required major courses, hmm.”

Unlike the medical students with their exclusive league, I had to shed desperate tears to pick up a 1-credit major course.

“Molecular Biology. One option.”

Second year, not available.

“Organic Chemistry. Need to take this too.”

Third year, not available.

“History of Medicine? It’s a second-year course and the lecturer is a senior?”

Fourth year.

Fuck, nothing’s available!!!

There are no delicious 1-credit Physics department courses!

With trembling hands, I selected to change the course registration process.

[Undergraduate Courses (College)]

Click.

[Graduate Courses (Graduate)]

Suddenly, there were plenty of options.