Ch.16Drawing (2)

I was momentarily shocked after seeing the steam locomotive drawing Marie showed me, and immediately checked my notebook. Originally, my notebooks were divided between one for organizing the plot of the Biography of Xenon and a general notebook.

I kept flipping through the pages wondering what was going on, and there they were—my notes about the plot development of the Biography of Xenon, plain as day. Only then did I realize my mistake.

I had brought the wrong notebook.

The notebook covers looked similar, which probably led to this mistake, but it was clearly my fault. Despite always telling myself to be careful, I ended up making an error.

‘I should have been more careful…’

I could only sigh inwardly. People don’t change, I suppose—this disaster was born from the carelessness I’ve carried from my past life to the present.

The reason my family dotes on me isn’t just because I’m the youngest late-born child, but because of this scatterbrained personality. When I was little, I once nearly had a serious accident when I slipped while trying to pull out a book. I remember my father quickly catching me then.

This wasn’t the only incident—there was a similar one recently. I accidentally said dialogue from my manuscript to Cecilly. That alone should give you an idea of how absentminded I am.

“Looking at the wheels here, it looks like a carriage, doesn’t it? Except for that horn-like thing.”

Marie tilted her head as she examined the steam locomotive I had drawn. If there was any silver lining, it was that I had only drawn the front part of the steam locomotive, and rather crudely at that. To the people here, it would probably look similar to a carriage.

Especially since it wasn’t drawn in 3D but in a 2D flat format, it would look very similar to a carriage except for the steam-emitting mechanism.

Judging that I still had a chance to salvage the situation, I spoke to Marie in the calmest voice I could manage.

“I drew it because I was bored. I’ll give you a different page.”

“Hmm… okay.”

Marie returned the page with the steam locomotive without any suspicion. I crumpled up the returned page and handed her a different sheet.

Checking both sides of the paper was now an essential procedure to prevent situations like this from happening again.

“How are you going to present? I don’t have anything special, so I’m going to write about the Biography of Xenon.”

“I’ve read many books, so I’m going to choose one of them.”

“I’m jealous. You’ve got the bonus points in the bag.”

“We’ll see after the presentation. Even something simple can turn out differently depending on how well you present it, right?”

Last week, Professor Virus called on me and I couldn’t give a proper answer, but now I’ve been given time to prepare, so it should be fine. Thanks to my presentation skills honed since my past life.

Actually, I naturally developed these skills in college when I was repeatedly assigned to present during group projects. I would fill in for the one or two members who kept skipping out. Of course, I made sure those teammates who escaped group projects with ridiculous excuses paid for it later.

‘But how exactly do we format the presentation?’

This question suddenly occurred to me, so I cautiously raised my hand. Professor Virus brightened when he saw my hand and asked me:

“Do you have something to say, Issac?”

As expected, Professor Virus remembered my name. But I didn’t mind.

“I was wondering if we’ll be presenting at the front of the blackboard.”

“We’ll do that later. There’s a group assignment where I’ll randomly assign team members.”

“…A group assignment?”

Good heavens. So that dreadful group assignment exists here too.

Professor Virus didn’t seem to notice my pale face and smiled contentedly. I wonder what he imagines a group assignment to be.

“Yes. Of course, as you might think, there will be difficult students to deal with. But it’s fine. There haven’t been any problematic incidents during group assignments so far.”

“…That’s a relief.”

“Even if problems arise, just tell me and I’ll take care of everything, so don’t worry.”

I suspect they’ve either acted or covered up issues. It’s believable in a society with established social ranks. Students with higher status probably exploited their teammates thoroughly.

This might seem presumptuous, but that’s the kind of world this is. That’s why I can’t easily let my guard down. I just hope I end up in a group with someone who has their head on straight.

Meanwhile, Marie, who was sitting next to me, listened to our conversation and asked the professor:

“Are there other majors besides humanities that have group assignments?”

“I believe there are some subjects that do.”

I should just accept it with resignation. As I said earlier, I can only pray for normal kids.

“You mentioned randomly assigning team members earlier, right? What if there are people we want to work with?”

“That’s not allowed. It would violate fairness, so that part is absolutely non-negotiable.”

“Aww…”

When Professor Virus sternly reprimanded her, Marie pouted, clearly showing her disappointment. If that were possible in a group assignment, it wouldn’t be a true group assignment.

“Time is up now. We’ll start presentations from the front row.”

The presentations proceeded smoothly. Some students stumbled over their words due to extreme nervousness, while others gave presentations worthy of admiration.

Me? I was just average. Not outstanding, but not poor either. However, thanks to my extensive reading at home, my knowledge was broad, which seemed to satisfy Professor Virus.

“So… when I felt this part… um…”

A rather unexpected situation occurred—Marie, who was next after me, stumbled through her words and botched her presentation. For someone who had always seemed bright and energetic to me, this was unexpected.

“Good job, Marie. Please try to present with more confidence next time. Understood?”

“…Yes.”

She somehow managed to finish her presentation, but as soon as she sat down, she buried her face on the desk. Judging by her reddened ears peeking out, she was clearly overwhelmed with embarrassment.

‘Well, she might have been educated at home, but that probably didn’t include presentation skills.’

She might have learned more basic knowledge and culture than others, but not presentation skills. If the education nobles receive at home is considered rote learning, then academy education is higher education. This means there are more aspects where one needs to develop abilities on their own.

Moreover, there will be more presentations like this in the future, which must be discouraging for her. She must be filled with a sense of humiliation, shame, and embarrassment she’s experiencing for the first time.

“A notable point here is that, watching my father’s training…”

While another person’s presentation continued, I kept staring at Marie, who remained face-down. She seemed to lack the courage to lift her head.

To cheer her up and also tease her a bit, I pressed my cheek against the desk and waited patiently until she looked at me.

“… …”

“… …”

Ah. Our eyes met.

While I was watching, Marie must have felt my gaze because she glanced at me while still face-down. Of course, she buried her face again immediately after, but we definitely made eye contact.

“Marie.”

“… …”

“Marie?”

“…What.”

“Are you crying?”

Flinch-

When I asked jokingly, Marie’s body jerked noticeably. Then she slowly lifted her face from the desk and looked at me.

Despite her prickly expression, her face was completely red—impressively so, almost rivaling my hair color.

Even though she glared at me with a prickly expression, I didn’t remove my cheek from the desk. After staring at me for a while, Marie’s lips quivered, and then she let out a deep sigh.

“…If I were to make an excuse, they don’t teach this kind of thing at home.”

“Didn’t your brother teach you?”

“My brother is uneducated. Not in literature. And you’re lucky. You present well and have read a lot of books.”

Thanks to my teasing, Marie seemed to have cheered up and was now grumbling. I smiled and removed my cheek from the desk.

Her face was still red, but judging by her grumbling, she seemed to have regained her spirit. Honestly, it didn’t make sense to be so disheartened over one failed presentation. She probably just needed a moment to think.

“…And that thing you did earlier.”

“Huh?”

“What you did when you were looking at me earlier.”

“What?”

When I tilted my head and asked, Marie slightly frowned. Her expression said, “Are you making fun of me?”

Her reaction actually confused me. Marie exhaled a long breath through her nose, as if frustrated by my response.

“…Never mind. Forget it. Think whatever you want.”

“That…”

“You two students there? Could you please lower your voices during the presentation?”

Yikes. We must have been too loud. I immediately shut my mouth when the professor called us out.

Marie also closed her mouth, and while the flush had subsided from her face, her ears were still red. Unfortunately, her white hair made it even more noticeable.

“…It’s cute.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

After this brief incident, Marie returned to her normal self. By then, it was Cecilly’s turn.

“As you can see, I am a demon. While not as long-lived as elves, we still have a longer lifespan than humans. And I’ve learned many things over the past hundred years.”

As I felt during her speech, her voice was truly enchantingly beautiful. There was a power and charm in her voice that drew people in.

Even now, students who had shown no interest in other presentations were focused on Cecilly’s. It might partly be because she’s a demon, but it was still impressive.

I listened attentively to Cecilly’s presentation. Given that she was mentioning the years she had lived, I had a feeling she would share something good.

“But despite all those years, I recently met someone who has more knowledge than me and knows more about demons than I do. I was able to learn so much from that person.”

She looked directly at me and gave a truly beautiful smile. I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by her sincere smile.

Could she be referring to what happened last week? Based on the context, that seemed to be the only possibility.

“That’s when I realized that someone you can learn from is worth having by your side.”

“What did you learn from that person?”

Was it because Cecilly was a demon? Professor Virus stroked his mustache and asked with an interested expression.

Cecilly looked at Professor Virus and spoke.

“I learned, at least in part, what kind of race demons are. Something I didn’t know myself. I can tell you if you’d like, Professor.”

“Hmm… unfortunately, as a human, I wouldn’t be able to empathize even if I heard the definition. Still, it was an excellent presentation. I’ll give Cecilly extra points.”

“Thank you.”

Cecilly bowed her head at the professor’s praise of giving her extra points. Then she shifted her gaze to me once more and smiled brightly.

I felt shy at her smile but still applauded. The presentation itself was clean and perfect.

Next was Rina, who was sitting next to Cecilly, and she performed her presentation just as excellently as Cecilly. Her elegant and gentle tone was particularly impressive.

By the time everyone’s presentations were finished, the lecture was about to end. After the last student’s presentation, Professor Virus clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Now, attention please. Before the class ends, I have something to tell you. As I mentioned to Issac earlier, my lecture includes a ‘group assignment.’ This might be unfamiliar to you all, but simply put, think of it as teamwork.”

“Group assignment? Teamwork?”

“What is that exactly?”

When Professor Virus mentioned the group assignment, the lecture hall began to stir. Everyone seemed confused about what it was, but I knew all too well how terrible and miserable group assignments could be.

Those poor lambs don’t know it yet. By my prediction, once the group assignment ends, distrust towards others will be firmly planted in the students’ hearts.

Meanwhile, as the murmuring in the hall seemed to subside, Professor Virus began to explain the group assignment.

“The purpose of this group assignment is simple. I will present a task, and you will complete it with teammates I randomly assign. It’s really simple, isn’t it? However, if there are insincere students or if cheating is detected, that student will receive a zero, so please be aware. Throughout my teaching career, I’ve often seen students who use their backgrounds to their advantage, so don’t think you won’t get caught.”

Even with such warnings, those who want to use their power will eventually do so. It’s bitter, but that’s reality.

Moreover, there will be those who use tricks without necessarily exploiting their family background, and those who avoid participation with absurd excuses. The only fortunate thing is that since this is the students’ first group assignment, they’re more likely to attend. That’s much better than not showing up at all.

“Also, collaborating with teammates other than those I’ve designated will also result in a zero.”

“Then, Professor, how will the teammates be assigned?”

“Considering fairness, we will conduct a drawing.”

You’re certainly thorough about fairness. I smiled wryly. But there’s probably no method as fair as drawing lots.

“The group assignment will take place three weeks from now, but I’ll tell you the content in advance. It’s related to the Biography of Xenon, which you all like.”

“… …”

Is my book becoming a textbook? This is quite peculiar.

While I was inwardly chuckling, Professor Virus revealed the task content that would shock me.

“The task I’m giving you is to predict and analyze how the Biography of Xenon will develop, and to present it coherently. The Biography of Xenon contains many clues that allow you to predict future developments. I’ve found a few myself.”

“… …”

“Even if your hypothesis is wrong when the new volume of the Biography of Xenon is published, it doesn’t matter. What I want is for you to synthesize clues, clearly analyze cause and effect, and predict what impact your hypothesis might have. The reason I’m telling you this now is to accommodate students who haven’t read the recently published Biography of Xenon.”

The professor then looked around the suddenly quiet lecture hall and asked the students with a satisfied expression.

“How about it? It’s really easy, right?”

Yes, it’s really easy, Professor.

Since I’m the author of that book, it would be as easy as pie. Of course, if I wrote exactly what’s going to happen, I’d receive a heap of suspicion, so I can’t write it exactly as planned.

‘…So what should I do? Should I just present?’

I felt like I was caught between a rock and a hard place.