Ch.107Smart College Life (7)
by fnovelpia
To change a person’s perception, a powerful shock is needed.
This is especially true for human relationships.
Want to show someone that you’ve become a completely different person? The method is simple. Just consistently act in a way that’s the complete opposite of your original attitude, without pretense.
Then, at the right moment, tell them the truth.
“…So, you’re not Eidel von Rheinland?”
After two weeks of expounding on the mysteries of physics, I revealed my identity, and Ireh’s attitude changed dramatically.
Her expression said, ‘Is this guy insane?’
No, why on earth?
“So actually, you’re from another world, and you read something I wrote, then you fell into this world, and now you’re doing all this to get your doctorate again…”
“That’s right. It’s the truth.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Right. Even I would find it hard to believe.
But the evidence was overwhelming.
Her name, the skills she used, her backing, the names and numbers of the attached outer gods, events from previous cycles, and so on. After I told her everything, Ireh’s face turned pale.
[Psychological state: She is confused.]
She cautiously spoke.
“…Even if what you say is true, there’s no guarantee you’re a good person. So prove it. Prove that you’re not a bad guy.”
I smirked.
I took out a security buzzer from my pocket.
“If I pull this, Sonia will come running immediately. Even if she’s far away, the receiver is connected remotely. And as long as she’s here, you can’t defeat Sonia.”
“So? What are you going to do with that?”
“Gamble.”
I put the buzzer on the ground and kicked it away. Then I pressed the button to release the restraints.
As the devices constricting her body gradually opened, Ireh collapsed weakly to the ground.
She staggered and leaned against the wall. She looked pitiful, struggling to get up like a newborn kangaroo.
I offered her a chair.
Seated in the chair, Ireh caught her breath and looked at me. But her eyes were somehow reddish.
It wasn’t bloodshot. Her eye color had completely changed, and she was shedding thick, dark tears of blood.
“Finally, finally…”
I sensed a malevolent energy.
[─ The outer god ‘Steel Flowing Like Earth’ has devoured ‘Scaffold of Skulls’ and absorbed black hole energy.]
[─ A Raging Wind phenomenon is occurring!]
[─ The Aether energy of the Sanctum is temporarily disappearing!]
Click.
Ireh Hazlen—no, Sapaul, who had taken over her body—drew a gun made of pron.
“…I can kill you now, human. Farewell.”
Whoosh!
The first shot grazed my earlobe. That was close.
“What? I was clearly aiming for your forehead, ugh!”
Ireh’s consciousness was still resisting.
I failed in my initial response, but I seized the opportunity to strike her wrist. The gun Ireh dropped vanished like an illusion. It was pointless since she immediately created another gun, but still.
There’s only one way to avoid gunfire.
Take the rear position and get in close.
I kicked Ireh’s lower abdomen and bent her knee to force her to kneel. This is exactly the self-defense technique I learned in training class.
“This, you predicted this…?”
“I know the Sanctum isn’t 100% safe. By the way, you were thinking about something else during our conversation, weren’t you?”
“Ha, human.”
Sapaul twisted her body with a strange laugh.
“Don’t underestimate me.”
My survival instinct rang alarm bells. With split-second judgment, I jumped away from Ireh’s body. Immediately after, countless iron bars shot up from where I had been, interlocking like a checkerboard.
If I had been hit by even one of those, I would have died instantly.
“How dare an inferior life form provoke our kind, you shall pay the price.”
“Grr?”
“What did you say?”
I was surprised by my own words.
But now that it had come to this, I couldn’t stop.
“Honestly, it doesn’t make sense for an outer god to be threatened by something like this. Getting scared just because someone made one resonator. Oh my, how cute. Outer gods aren’t all that special, are they?”
No, this is crazy. When faced with mortal danger, I’m just blurting out whatever comes to mind. Is this also survival instinct?
Boom boom boom.
The room began to vibrate like rippling water.
“…Indeed, you must die here.”
I smiled grimly.
The time limit is 30 minutes. During that time, I need to prevent this thing from going outside while also ensuring my own safety. Until the Sanctum’s effect returns and Ireh regains her senses—
“Come at me, you little punk.”
I have to hold out.
***
[Me: So]
[You’re saying Eidel has been hanging around the southern Sanctum a lot lately?]
[Not only did you buy that Sanctum with the money you earned, Seti]
[But you’re not even coming out to see us]
[Seti: For real]
[He’s such a bad person]
[He doesn’t listen to anything I say]
[I only trust big sis Rustila]
The shock of losing 20 billion seemed to have turned Seti into a child.
Rustila was on her way to take out Eidel, having accepted Seti’s assassination request. Verdia and Zermel, who were now more like servants than supervisors, accompanied her.
“You even brought your sword, miss.”
“There’s always the possibility of an emergency. If Eidel is in danger, or if he’s cheating—”
“Excuse me, you two. You’re not even dating yet.”
“Yes. That’s why if something unexpected happens, I want to talk to the other person first.”
The two androids trembled. Rustila’s eyes were quite fierce.
Of course, the best scenario would be not having to use the sword at all.
As soon as they arrived at the Sanctum, a familiar face greeted the group. It was Sonia, Eidel’s personal android, known for her stoic expression.
“It’s been a while, miss.”
“I’m looking for Eidel. Do you know where he is?”
“The young master is in the recovery room over there. He said no one should enter without a special signal because he’s doing important work… Miss, come back! Miss!”
Rustila hopped over to the door.
What could have happened that he hadn’t checked his messages?
Suspicion, worry, and anger mixed together, creating a peculiar feeling.
Before knocking on the door, she put her ear against it. Perhaps because it was soundproofed, she couldn’t hear much.
However, when she enhanced her senses with Aether, she could gradually hear something:
– Ah, hnngh, ugh.
It was moaning.
One woman, one man. The two voices intertwined alternately. She could also hear the sound of bodies rolling on the floor.
Rustila grabbed the doorknob in shock.
It wouldn’t turn. It was firmly locked from the inside.
[“Rusty, something’s wrong. I sense a strange energy from inside.”]
Her backing, Vega, warned her.
In that moment, a thousand thoughts raced through her mind.
Rustila immediately drew her sword and heated it.
In just one second, the roaring blade plunged into the door.
After cutting perfectly twice horizontally and twice vertically, the door fell backward, finally revealing the interior.
“Eidel! Ei, del…?”
The smell of sweat hit her nose.
The humid air and murky fog dampened her cheeks. Rustila looked down at the floor like a broken doll.
“Die, just die!”
A girl was straddling Eidel, holding a dagger to him. Eidel was desperately resisting, pushing the girl away. It was a tense tug-of-war.
“Rustila, perfect timing! Help me…!”
Assessing the situation.
Situation assessment complete.
Eidel was innocent.
There was simply one more thieving cat eyeing the handsome and capable man.
“What are you doing to my Eidel?!”
Rustila kicked the girl, knocking her down. She was momentarily surprised by her own action but quickly changed her mind.
Because the identity of that thing emitting a strange energy was none other than an outer god.
[“Rusty, that child is being controlled.”]
Eidel rolled over to the door and lay down.
“Ah, shit, that fucking hurts.”
“A-Are you okay?”
“I’m fine but not fine. Anyway, thanks for coming exactly when I needed you. I really can only count on you…”
At those words, “I can only count on you,” her heart, which had remained calm even during countless training sessions, began to flutter.
Rustila touched her heated cheeks and looked straight ahead.
A dark energy was enveloping the girl. It was unmistakably the energy of an outer god.
“…I understand what happened.”
The girl had been possessed by an outer god and was trying to kill Eidel.
This much could be considered a mitigating circumstance.
But the situation where they had pressed their bodies together, rubbing against each other, rolling around… that was absolutely unforgivable.
“What, are you also here to die?”
The girl pulled out a gun from thin air.
“Then you must die.”
Rustila sensed the flow of Aether. Somehow, the Aether that had dimmed was gradually gathering again.
The outer god probably only had a few minutes left to rampage.
Rustila recalled what she had learned from Naiere. What should she do in this situation? Which skill should she use?
She made her decision.
Quickly and concisely, without causing harm to life—
[─ Omega-level Transformation: <Multiple Body States>]
Subdue.
***
Rustila’s strike purified the entire recovery room. Thanks to the massive stellar energy that swept through, all the pron was neutralized.
Sapaul could no longer use techniques that relied on pron. So he had to attack with martial arts, but he was beaten like a dog on a hot summer day by Sonia who had followed, and retired.
And so the incident ended.
With this, one of the outer gods in Ireh’s mind was gone, and Sapaul had lost the trust of his comrades.
They would probably split up soon. I hadn’t intended it to go this far, but as they say, all’s well that ends well—it was a win-win.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but be amazed.
To think that Rustila had reached the level where she could freely use Omega-grade techniques.
“Ha, I almost died pathetically. Rustila, I really can only count on you.”
I hugged Rustila with all my might.
“Uh, uwaaa.”
“Ah, right. My clothes are dirty now. Sorry.”
Just as I was hurriedly trying to pull away.
Instead, Rustila hugged me tightly.
The warm and heartfelt touch, the sound of a beating heart, even the floral scent that passed by fleetingly. Everything felt vivid.
Rustila whispered in my ear.
“…That’s all I needed to know.”
It was a seductive voice.
Ah, wait. This position might be a bit dangerous.
***
Zernya sat vacantly in the student cafeteria.
She hadn’t seen Eidel today.
So she was eating alone to rave reviews.
Cube steak with diced onions was her lunch today. Usually, she would pass about half of these onions to Eidel, because his father had asked her to.
“Why is he asking me to take care of his son’s diet?”
Zernya grumbled, but she had no choice. After all, he was someone she would see day and night once she advanced to the major courses. If she listened well, she would get good grades and could pave the way for success.
For several weeks, she had been feeding Eidel onions, beans, oysters, eels, crabs, shrimp, sesame seeds, and pumpkins. Especially onions, which she always fed him with vitamin supplements. This was also at his father’s request.
“…”
Suddenly, she became curious.
“Search, search.”
Zernya looked up the benefits of onions while munching on her steak.
[The main component of onion smell is allicin. When combined with vitamin B1, it creates allithiamine, which has excellent effects on enhancing virility.]
“What.”
[Similarly, the included components selenium and magnesium enhance the secretion of sex hormones.]
“WHAT!”
[The aforementioned vitamin B stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, increasing sexual arousal, and the quercetin component is known to have a positive effect on prostate function.]
“…”
[In the southern region, there is a custom where newlyweds share onion dishes to spend a passionate night.]
Zernya threw her phone.
…Her knowledge had increased.
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