Ch.330330 – Murderous Class Schedule

# 330 – Murderous Class Schedule

The Academy’s service was thorough upon my return after a long time.

First, there was a noticeable increase in quality lectures that would normally never be permitted for first-year second semester students.

Professor Stand Mill’s <Function Monopoly Theory>.

Professor Pythagoras’s <Casting Magic Through Knowledge Assessment>.

Professor Temonica’s <Healing Through Picnics>.

If I remember correctly, these are hidden lectures that only open when first-year students achieve a certain overall academic level.

This is an event you’d never find in playthroughs where students aggressively undermine each other, become lazy from too much peace, or where chapter bosses run wild and ruin the academic atmosphere!

My efforts in managing Hestia’s mental health and taking care of my friends have paid off like this.

“Young Master. Be honest with me. Are you deliberately choosing difficult lectures just to torture us?”

“…That’s a misunderstanding. I just wanted to take at least one easy class where I could relax while earning credits…”

“How do you always manage to pick such terrible ones… This is even worse than <Sleeping Well Anywhere>…”

The Andersen Young Master, who’s playing Academy life on self-imposed hard mode, must be doing his part too, right?

Seeing his exemplary Academy life that serves as a model for the Seogwiyeon always makes my heart swell with admiration.

“Let’s take a class together on Friday!”

“Are you serious? You want to take the same class as me?”

“Why not? I could!”

The Andersen Young Master was quite shaken by my decision to take the same class as him.

Already receiving harsh glances from Western Noble Association nobles and followers, he dismissed everyone around him and left a private message just for me.

“Cancel your course registration while you still can. If you can’t cancel it, just give up on it entirely.”

“I like taking difficult classes too!”

“Everyone says that before experiencing it. I don’t mind being criticized within Seogwiyeon. As a leader, I can take responsibility for their wrong choices. But you getting involved is different. I wouldn’t be able to face Arcadia if something happened to you that Seogwiyeon couldn’t help with.”

“I’m still going to take it!”

“Sigh… I don’t know who you take after to be this stubborn. If you’re determined to take it, I’ll try my best to look after you.”

“Should I bring April too?”

“…That won’t be necessary.”

Your pupils were shaking tremendously, Young Master!

* *

The second good thing about the new semester.

Areas surrounded by caution tape like crime scenes have increased throughout the Academy.

“What’s this place?”

“Be careful. It feels similar to the mana-dense zones we saw in the ruins.”

“Is that dangerous?”

“If you enter carelessly, your body might get crushed or spontaneously catch fire. Don’t go in unless you have definite means to protect yourself.”

“Eek!”

Isabelle poured cold water on Titosoga’s curiosity, who had once again signed up for Professor Bronze’s class.

“Hmm. Isabelle, you’re surprisingly knowledgeable.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not a cook but the designated next leader of the Esonia Exploration Team. I naturally have this kind of experience.”

“Hmph. I’m jealous… I want to be an explorer too…”

Titosoga whined, putting her finger in her mouth.

I poked her cheeks repeatedly to get her attention.

“Tito-Tito. Look at this?”

“What is it?”

“Yap!”

I jumped right in, ignoring the caution tape!

[You have entered a restricted area with an excellent jump.]

[Jump experience +1]

“Hieek! You shouldn’t go in there! Your body might explode and die!!”

“Oknodie! What are you doing so dangerously? Why aren’t you coming back out quickly?”

“Isabelle said it herself. You can enter if you have means to protect yourself. I already have such means!”

[You have prevented abnormal phenomena by continuously breaking up mana patterns being assembled nearby.]

[Mana Control technique experience +1]

With high-level techniques, you can easily prevent abnormal phenomena in mana-dense areas even without large amounts of mana or powerful mana cultivation methods.

This becomes impossible if the density increases to the point where you can’t break the pattern’s concentration or if the re-manifestation speed is too fast, but this is just a corridor where first-year students pass through.

It’s not a mana-dense zone with such malicious density.

While mana-dense areas without manifesting phenomena are considered like unpredictable powder kegs to humans, they provide home-like comfort to other creatures.

The main characters are spirit fish, swimming through mana like fish through water.

“Fishy, come here~”

As I continuously suppressed the abnormal phenomena and stabilized the mana, a spirit fish popped out through the dimension.

Blub-blub

Not only Titosoga but even Isabelle opened their mouths blankly like fish, watching the spirit fish floating in the air, opening and closing its mouth.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Right? Isn’t it pretty?”

“Are you going to catch and keep it?”

Titosoga pleaded with a pitiful expression like a child begging parents for a pet.

Sorry, but I’m not your mother!

“I’m going to do this!”

I wrapped the spirit entity’s body with dark mana and opened my mouth wide.

Spirits have different mechanisms from actual living beings, so even though flesh, bones, and eyes are visible, they don’t physically exist.

They’re pure energy forms.

That’s why I can do this.

Gulp!

Swallowing it whole!

“Kyaaaah! The fish, the fiiiish…!”

━━━

[Rare dish <Spirit Fish> has been collected in your cooking encyclopedia.]

━━━

[Food encyclopedia <Rare><Seafood><Raw><Spirit> stack increases.]

━━━

[Collection Effect]

20 Raw Dishes Collected – Natural Healing Power increased by 2%

━━━

Rare Dish [Raw Spirit Fish] Collection – Acquired [Smooth Skin], Mana Purity increased by 1%.

━━━

Titosoga had a sad face like someone who just heard a puppy they saw on the street was sold to a dog meat restaurant.

“Hnnng.”

Her eyes welled up with tears like finding an abandoned leash in the backyard of a dog meat restaurant—not a good sign.

“Calm down, Titosoga!”

“Why did you eat the fishyyy…”

“Eating this makes your mana clearer!”

“My daddy said the same thing… He said eating Poppy would make him healthier… That’s how Poppy died…”

Oh no.

So Titosoga’s papa had already used this pattern.

“It’s not a lie. Spirit fish are actually used as main ingredients in elixirs.”

“Isabelle. How could you say that now!”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Hic-hic!”

“See? You’re making Titosoga cry even more!”

After the level 1 crying sound “hnnnng” came the level 2 crying sound “hic-hic,” with no signs of calming down.

Don’t tell me… she’s about to burst into level 3 “waaaaaah” crying!?

“I’m sorry, Titosoga. But spirit fish are prey at the bottom of the ecosystem’s food pyramid. No matter how cute they are, they’re destined to be eaten by someone.”

This won’t work.

Such rational persuasion can’t stop Titosoga’s “hnnnng” tears, heart-wrenching “hic-hic,” or the headache-inducing “waaaaaah” that affects even listeners.

Tsk, I didn’t want to go this far.

But I have no choice.

I made up my mind and took Titosoga’s hand.

“Stop crying! If you stop, I’ll give you the next spirit fish I catch. If you cry, you won’t get any!”

Titosoga, who had been crying miserably, stopped crying as if by magic.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Really really?”

“Yes yes.”

“Hehe. I love you so much, Oknodie!”

Isabelle remarked, dumbfounded:

“I can’t tell who’s the child here.”

Titosoga, who managed to snatch elixir ingredients from a veteran player.

Still, her irresistible cuteness is truly a cheat key.

* *

Giselle decided to ask Oknodie about what happened at the Foundation when she got the chance.

Of course, this wasn’t something to bring up openly in front of others.

It was a sensitive matter that could only be discussed when classes ended and there was time, after moving to a safe place away from others’ eyes and ears.

So Giselle waited.

Oknodie is human too, so if she waited, there would surely be time when she wasn’t attending lectures.

9:00 AM to 10:50 AM.

1st period, Homeroom.

Oknodie was busy registering for classes.

11:00 AM to 12:50 PM.

2nd period, All About Disassembly.

Professor Bronze said this semester’s lecture was an extension of <Discernment>, teaching methods to disarm various traps or unlock locks, and lined up stage-by-stage locking mechanisms.

Oknodie, who was the first to unlock even the highest-grade locks, disappeared with excited steps saying she was going to eat fish.

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

Official Academy lunch time.

Any professor who infringes on this time is classified as the worst scum even among the many malicious professors at the Academy, but fortunately, Professor Bronze wasn’t that bad.

Released belatedly, Giselle searched for Oknodie but couldn’t find where she was or what she was doing.

2:00 PM to 5:50 PM.

3rd period, Combat Function Tech Tree.

The Dark Association’s information network scored a hit.

Oknodie was found in the Knight Department’s den.

“Functions activate simultaneously in the same field. How many such simultaneous activation functions you possess greatly changes the power and efficiency of the same activity or task. While a common person’s swing might fortunately have just one correction multiplier from the poor <Manual Labor>, a mercenary’s swing comes with solid correction multipliers from <Swordsmanship> and <Tenacity>. And here, Oknodie demonstrated five related functions simultaneously. Everyone, applause.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Seeing her grinning sheepishly among the sullen-faced Knight Department aspirants made Giselle feel deflated after all the time she’d spent worrying about Oknodie.

As Oknodie bowed and dashed out of the lecture hall, Giselle exclaimed in alarm:

“Please wait a moment!”

“Oh? Miss Giselle. What are you doing here?”

Oknodie, who was about to kick off the wall and jump onto a tree, stopped like a cat with all four limbs against the wall.

“I’d like to have a private conversation about what happened at the Foundation after dinner. Do you have time?”

Oknodie checked her schedule on a magic watch and answered:

“No, I can’t!”

“Oh dear. Do you have a lecture?”

“Yes! I have Professor Sadaco’s lecture from 7 PM and Professor Pinkberry’s lecture from 9 PM!”

“Then how about Tuesday?”

“It’s packed with lectures and training!”

“…Wednesday?”

“It’s packed with lectures and training!”

“Then when are you free? Never mind. Let’s talk on the weekend. Is Saturday after breakfast okay?”

“I’m attending a lecture with Sister Arcadia then!”

“…Could I see your schedule, please?”

Giselle felt terror looking at the schedule packed with 38 credits across 13 lectures.

How… can a person endure such a schedule?

“Why do you have so many lectures?”

“It’s all thanks to Papa!”

“Is this… the Foundation’s doing too?”

Hearing his voice distorted with anger, Oknodie tilted her head before answering with a smile:

“Yes! If it weren’t for Papa, I wouldn’t be able to take so many lectures.”

Those Foundation bastards.

They’re planning to make Oknodie collapse from exhaustion by depriving her of rest time, sleep time, and time to spend with everyone at the Academy, forcing her to only study!

Not wanting to think about her friendships being severed, they must be inducing her to voluntarily drop out by making her sick of the Academy itself.

“If a person takes this many lectures… they’ll die buried under assignments.”

“It’s okay. I won’t die because I’m special!”

Is that how they deceived you, Oknodie?

The Foundation’s top scholarship student.

Were they planning to eliminate any place for Oknodie to be except the Foundation by using that ‘specialness’ as a weapon?

Making her return a week late must also be their scheme to ensure she can’t catch up with lecture progress, just within the limits of not receiving sanctions from the Academy.

I don’t like this.

The Foundation’s cowardly actions always angered him, but this really crossed the line.

Giselle’s eyes narrowed but opened sharply.

“If you thought I would just sit back and take it, you’re mistaken. I’ll turn the Foundation’s evil plot against them.”