Ch.31Chapter 31 – You Can Fix This Too? (1)

How many days had passed since my meeting with Bergen Steiler, the Chancellor of the Gelebrio Empire?

‘The Chancellor has informed me that your enrollment procedures have been completed. You should go to Glesius Academy with the letter of recommendation to complete the admission process.’

Monday morning. On the day when students were starting a new week, I headed to Glesius Academy with the letter of recommendation written by Chancellor Bergen.

My shop was located not far from the bustling street connected to the main gate of Glesius Academy, so it didn’t take long to walk to the academy’s entrance.

I walked briskly toward the main gate of Glesius Academy, avoiding the people who were busy moving about since early morning.

After walking for about 10 minutes, the walls of Glesius Academy, surrounded by a moat, came into view.

The walls surrounding Glesius Academy were very high, and they couldn’t be seen from a distance—only becoming visible as one approached.

Perhaps the walls themselves had some kind of magical treatment applied to them.

Deciding to solve this curiosity later, I first needed to enter the academy.

As I carefully approached the main gate of the academy, soldiers in full armor blocked my path.

“Halt. External visitors are prohibited from entering the academy on weekdays. No one except pre-authorized personnel or current academy students may enter the academy.”

The guard stated the regulations and refused to allow me access to the academy.

“I’m here to enroll in the academy.”

“The academy’s enrollment period ended several weeks ago. Please go back and try again next year.”

“Then, please look at this.”

When the guard tried to send me away by mentioning that the enrollment period had passed, I took out the letter of recommendation that Chancellor Bergen had written for me from the pouch I always carried.

“T-this is?”

“What is it? Why are you reacting like that?”

When the guard who received my recommendation letter was surprised by its contents, his colleague approached to check the letter.

“Good heavens!”

And he, after taking the recommendation letter from Bergen and checking its contents, was so startled that he dropped it.

I quickly picked up the dropped letter and tucked it safely away.

“We’ve been waiting for you after receiving notification. There are orders from above to allow anyone with this recommendation letter to pass through, so you may proceed.”

“Welcome to Glesius Academy.”

After showing the recommendation letter, the guards opened the gate to let me into Glesius Academy, as if they had been informed in advance.

Ah, of course, they didn’t open the massive gate that seemed impossible to open by human strength, but rather a smaller door built next to it.

“Wow. This is truly a paradise.”

As I passed through the door opened by the guard and entered Glesius Academy, a magnificent sight unfolded before me.

The gardens and walkways were so immaculately maintained that it was hard to believe this was a civilization somewhere between medieval and modern times.

Unlike the buildings outside that were typically 2-3 stories tall, the buildings here boasted heights of 4-5 floors, with taller ones reaching 9-10 floors, as if built with modern construction techniques.

If the academy buildings were this impressive, how massive would the imperial palace where the Emperor of the Gelebrio Empire lived be?

I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

“Hello. Might you be Pathos?”

While I was admiring the academy, someone called my name.

“Oh, who are you?”

When I turned around, a woman with striking emerald hair, dressed in formal attire, was looking at me.

“Ah, you probably don’t know who I am, so let me introduce myself first. I’m Shannon Delenore. I serve as the secretary to the Chancellor of Glesius Academy.”

“I’m Pathos. I’ve received a recommendation letter from Chancellor Bergen Steiler and will be enrolling at Glesius Academy.”

I shook hands with Shannon and exchanged greetings.

“Would you follow me for now? The Chancellor wishes to see you.”

Shannon’s words that the Chancellor wanted to see me.

Was it because I was recommended by the Chancellor, or was it out of personal curiosity?

Either way, I just hoped they didn’t have negative thoughts about me.

I followed Shannon deeper into the academy.

The academy was extremely quiet, perhaps because all the students were in class.

Given that not even the usual sounds of insects or birds chirping could be heard, I suspected that something was completely isolating the inside of the academy from the outside.

Shannon led me to a massive tower-shaped building.

“Here is where all administrative work for Glesius Academy takes place. We call this building the ‘Tower of Paperwork.'”

‘Tower of Paperwork, huh.’

It was an exceptionally fitting name for a building that oversaw all administrative work.

Surely there wouldn’t actually be mountains of paperwork piled up inside?

With a mixture of anticipation and concern, I entered the Tower of Paperwork, only to find it surprisingly uncrowded inside.

“When will you send the budget plan for last year’s practical training?”

“Please send the scholarship budget documents for the second half of this year quickly.”

“…Haha, it’s a bit noisy, isn’t it?”

“Well, it’s less chaotic than a marketplace.”

Contrary to my expectations, what I saw in the Tower of Paperwork wasn’t paperwork but people holding crystal balls, frantically making demands.

It felt like watching office workers requesting materials from other departments.

“Let’s go up now. There’s an elevator, so we don’t need to take the stairs.”

“Ah, yes.”

I thought we might have to use the stairs, but surprisingly, the Tower of Paperwork had an elevator.

I followed Shannon to the elevator.

Once inside, Shannon pressed a button, and the elevator carrying us began to ascend.

After rising for quite some time, the elevator finally stopped near the top, and a large wooden door appeared before us.

“Chancellor. I’ve brought Pathos.”

Shannon walked forward and knocked on the door, presumably checking if the Chancellor was inside.

“Yes~ You may come in.”

Wait a minute. Why am I hearing a young girl’s voice from behind the Chancellor’s door?

When Shannon heard the invitation to enter from behind the door, she opened it.

The Chancellor’s office came into view, and there, a young girl who looked like she had just graduated from elementary school was sitting on a sofa, holding a coffee cup in one hand and a chocolate chip cookie in the other, waving at me.

“Oh yes~ So you’re the person Bergen called Pasot?”

“Chancellor. It’s not Pasot, it’s Pathos.”

“Ah, how bothersome. Pasot, Pathos, they’re basically the same. As long as you understand, right?”

“But you get upset when people mispronounce your title and call you a village chief instead of a chancellor.”

“That’s different! Village chief and chancellor are completely different things!”

What’s going on? This looks like a conversation between an immature little sister and her more worldly older sister.

Wait, is this really a conversation between the Chancellor and her secretary?

“Ugh.”

I felt dizzy from the Chancellor’s attitude.

A young girl like that is the Chancellor? Isn’t a Chancellor usually someone of a more advanced age?

‘Could she have accidentally taken some rejuvenation potion?’

“Oh! You have good intuition! That’s right! I created a rejuvenation potion, but the side effects were too severe, and I ended up way too young!”

The Chancellor accurately guessed what I was thinking.

Wait, how did she know what I was thinking when I didn’t say anything?

“Hehe. I may have become a little kid because I took the rejuvenation potion incorrectly! But back in my day, I had a smoking hot body that made all the men’s hearts flutter!”

“Yes, yes, Chancellor. More importantly, isn’t Pathos’s enrollment the priority right now?”

This Shannon person seems truly remarkable. How does she continue working as a secretary under such a Chancellor?

“Now, please come over here and have a seat.”

At Shannon’s invitation, I sat on the sofa in the middle of the Chancellor’s office.

The Chancellor extended her hand to me, and I placed the recommendation letter from the Chancellor on it.

As soon as I handed over the recommendation letter, the Chancellor unfolded it and began reading its contents.

“Hmm, for Bergen to write a recommendation letter, you must be truly exceptional…”

While reading the recommendation letter, the Chancellor repeatedly tilted her head and looked at me.

Perhaps there was something about me that she found suspicious.

“Alright. I’ll approve your enrollment. However, while I’m granting your admission based on Bergen’s recommendation, you’ll need to go through one verification process.”

The Chancellor handed the recommendation letter to Shannon and then addressed me.

“I heard from Bergen. About your ability. The ability to fix anything?”

She was looking at me with a meaningful smile.

What kind of difficult verification was she planning that made her look like that?

“The verification is simple. I want you to use your ability to return me to my normal state… from this child form caused by the side effects of the rejuvenation potion.”