Ch.49Chapter 49 – In This Case, Let’s Postpone the Evaluation!

“Students, I apologize. It seems we’ll have to suspend the evaluation for now until the situation is resolved. Once the new evaluation schedule is determined, I’ll send the dates through the student management portal. I believe it would be difficult to conduct an accurate assessment under these circumstances.”

As expected, the end-of-term evaluation was suspended without being completed.

“Well, I understand.”

“Sigh, I was hoping to finish quickly and have some free time. That’s a bit disappointing.”

When Professor Calibro announced the suspension of the evaluation, the students expressed their disappointment.

But surprisingly, they didn’t blame me or the Academy.

“I wonder how powerful magic would be if cast using equipment that’s been inspected?”

“Seeing how that Lava Spear reduced the target to ashes, it must be at least two or three times stronger, right?”

“Ugh, what a shame. If that’s true, it would be an incredible discovery.”

Instead, the students were curious about how much more powerful their magic would be if they used equipment I had inspected.

“I’m sorry, Pathos. Something unexpected happened, and we have no choice but to suspend the evaluation.”

“I’m fine with it. I’m just surprised the students aren’t raising any objections.”

“Ah, so that’s what you’re curious about. Oh, but I’m sorry. I need to report the current situation to the Chancellor, so I can’t answer your question now. I’ll see you later.”

Professor Calibro hurried off to the Tower of Documents after being summoned by the Chancellor.

With nothing particular to do, I was heading back to the dormitory after the canceled evaluation when I ran into Mina and Elena.

“Mina, Elena.”

“Oh, Pathos.”

“Are you heading to the dormitory?”

“I suppose so. I was supposed to be a teaching assistant for the end-of-term evaluation all day, but suddenly my schedule opened up.”

As I had told them, I was supposed to help with the evaluation as an assistant for the entire day.

However, due to the unexpected incident that led to the suspension of the evaluation, my day had unexpectedly become free.

“Should we go to the café then?”

“Café?”

I became interested in Mina’s suggestion.

Was there a café at Glesius Academy?

“Yes. They built one on the top floor of the central dormitory building. Today’s their opening day, so I wanted to check it out.”

“If you don’t mind, would you like to join us, Pathos?”

“Well, I’m fine with it if you two don’t mind my company.”

Since I had nothing else to do today, I accepted Mina and Elena’s invitation and headed to the café that had been built on the top floor of the central dormitory building.

Upon arriving at the café, Mina, Elena, and I ordered drinks.

“Since it’s our first time here, I’ll treat you both. Is that okay?”

Having become comfortable with Mina and Elena, I spoke to them as I would to friends.

“Sounds good to me!”

“If you’re treating, I’ll gratefully accept, Pathos.”

Neither of them objected to my offer.

I ordered three fruit juices.

It’s better to stick with something familiar rather than trying new drinks from the start.

There was a reason why I was buying drinks for them.

“So, you’re wondering why nobody complained when the evaluation was suspended?”

“Yes.”

That was exactly what I wanted to ask about.

In South Korea where I used to live, students would strongly protest if there were any issues during an exam.

Perhaps it was because they believed good test scores would help them get into good universities and secure good jobs.

But here, no one said anything even when the entire evaluation schedule was pushed back.

Don’t they need good grades to graduate from the Academy and get good jobs here too? I wondered.

That’s why I wanted to hear from Mina and Elena, who knew this world better than I did.

“Well, it’s disappointing that the evaluation was suddenly suspended, but the reason is that we received a special buff that made our magic more powerful.”

“Is receiving a buff a bad thing? Or is there some special reason?”

“The evaluation is literally an opportunity to understand your limits and how much you’ve mastered what you’ve learned so far. It’s not that receiving a buff is bad. But can you be certain that you’ll always be able to receive such buffs in real combat situations?”

I shook my head at Elena’s question. I couldn’t guarantee that I would always receive such buffs in real situations.

“As you answered, buffs aren’t something you can receive anytime. That’s why it’s very important to measure what your limits are without them.”

“I see. Knowing your own limits seems very important.”

“Yes. That way, when you work later, you can distinguish between what you can and cannot do, avoiding wasting time. That’s why receiving help from others during evaluations that measure your limits and current abilities is discouraged. If you’re evaluated based on buffed abilities rather than your true skills, you won’t know exactly where your real abilities stand.”

“Hmm.”

Thanks to Elena, I began to understand why the students remained calm despite the suspension of the end-of-term evaluation.

The point was that receiving every possible buff to get good grades in evaluations wouldn’t help in real situations.

“My father, who is called a Grand Magician and has experienced many real battles, gave me a lot of advice about actual combat. One of them was that in real situations, there’s no one who leisurely waits for someone else to cast buffs on them.”

“Why is that?”

“Because those people are all dead, he said.”

I felt a slight chill seeing Elena say “they’re all dead” with a sweet smile.

“My father said that in real combat, you never know what variables might arise, so people who only wait for buffs are essentially waiting for death. That’s why in noble society, those who rely on buffs to fight are treated like drug addicts.”

“Why is that?”

“When you receive a buff, you get a kind of euphoric feeling, and if you become too addicted to it, you can’t live without it.”

“So it creates a kind of withdrawal symptom.”

“Yes. That’s why such people, after becoming dependent on buffs, eventually go insane.”

After hearing Elena’s explanation, I realized how dangerous my ability could be.

Just by using my ability on equipment, anyone could now destroy a target that supposedly only one student per year could break.

‘Should I request some kind of protection?’

I thought I might need to ask the Chancellor for protection.

It’s highly likely that others have already learned about my ability.

And there’s a possibility that people from other countries or those with dangerous ideologies might kidnap me to exploit my ability.

For now, it would be better to consult with the Chancellor about this.

I decided to put aside my worries about the future and enjoy the drinks sold on the top floor of the central dormitory building.

‘Such headache-inducing matters will be handled by my future self.’

Ah, it’s sweet. Sweet drinks are truly the best.

Though I do worry that eating so many sweet things might lead to diabetes later.

‘I could probably fix that with my ability.’

If I could lift the curse on the Chancellor, surely I could cure diabetes?

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

The Emperor, the supreme sovereign and absolute power holder of the Gelebrio Empire.

Decartro IV had been troubled lately.

“Alas, what am I to do…”

The concern that had arisen for the emperor of one of the world’s superpowers, which occupied more than half of the central continent, was none other than hair loss.

In his youth, Decartro IV was a man who boasted luxurious platinum blonde hair, earning him the nickname “Platinum Lion.”

However, after his father, Decartro III, passed away from old age and he ascended to the throne, his hair loss began.

The position of Emperor came with many threats and, above all, tremendous stress from state affairs.

As a result, Emperor Decartro IV’s hair began to fall out at an alarming rate after taking the throne.

Now, more than 30 years after becoming Emperor and approaching his 60s, his hair was no different from that of a dying old man.

The fact that he had any hair left at all was due to his once overwhelmingly abundant hair.

Otherwise, Decartro IV would have lost all his hair by now.

“Iellon, my old friend. Is there truly no way to cure baldness?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I have consulted the world’s greatest alchemists and sought guidance from races blessed by the World Tree, but there is no cure for baldness.”

“Alas, what am I to do.”

Decartro IV sighed at the news that there was no way to cure his baldness.

“Is there truly no one in this world who can cure my baldness…”

At the same moment, Pathos, who was drinking at the café, suddenly felt an itch in his ear and began to scratch it with his little finger.

“Is someone talking about me? Why is my ear so itchy?”