Chapter 105

Chapter 105

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 105: A Prudent College Life (5).

Wednesday.

After hearing from Sonia that Ire Hazlen had woken up, I rushed to the Southern Holy Spirit Sanctuary as soon as school ended.

“Sonia!”

“Have you arrived?”

I wrapped my arms around Sonia, using my ‘Hug Me’ ability.

“I was lonely,” I admitted.

“Don’t say such cringy things.”

Sonia buried her face in my chest and sniffed.

“…This smell—cellulose? What is this? Did you sleep with a thesis instead of a blanket?”

She had me there.

Sonia sighed lightly and shook me gently.

“There’s no need for you to tidy up completely before I get there. A maid must take care of the young master’s shortcomings.” She twitched her lips.

After that, I followed Sonia’s guidance to the recovery room where Ire Hazlen was being kept.

As I stepped inside, a girl was engaged in some sort of restraint play.

“Mmph, mmph.”

A gag filled her mouth, a blindfold covered her eyes, and earplugs muffled any sound. She was bound in a turtle-shell binding made of something that resembled wire. Good grief.

“Sonia, explain this.”

“She seemed highly likely to escape, so I restrained her.”

“Who told you to go this far? This is basically kidnapping and confinement!”

“Still, we couldn’t just beat up a stranger until she passed out. What if we had to pay compensation later? All of this was done with you and the family in mind, so please understand.”

As much as I wanted to argue, her logic was hard to dispute. But this situation couldn’t continue. We couldn’t communicate like this, and above all, it would only heighten Ire’s hostility toward me.

I took a deep breath and decided to first release the restraints on her face.

As I removed the blindfold, her moist eyes blinked against the sudden light, and when I took off the gag, sticky saliva stretched like a thread between her lips.

Panting heavily, she slowly opened her mouth and uttered a chilling request.

“……Kill me.”

Do you really think I’d unleash a walking mass of fortuitous encounters armed with 800,000 rounds of knowledge and know-how? You’ve escaped once; I won’t let you slip away a second time.

Naturally, I anticipated that the protagonist might be hostile, so I’d come prepared with a few essential items.

“Sonia, please step outside for a moment.”

“Understood. But just in case, take this.”

Sonia handed me a small plastic device.

“What is this?”

“It’s a personal alarm. You pull it like this—”

Beeeeep! Beeeeep! Beeeeep! Beeeeep!

“The sound carries outside. If things get dangerous, pull this, and I’ll come in to handle it.”

This is driving me crazy. Does she think I’m a child?

“Well then, good luck.”

As Sonia left, the atmosphere grew even more suffocating.

Ire continued to glare at me, her eyes filled with resentment.

“Safaul, just kill me quickly. I can’t bear the thought of him doing anything terrible to me. Absolutely…!”

Her desperate struggle was almost pitiful.

However, time did not rewind as she had wished. This was a sanctuary where the Outer Gods held no power.

Watching the spirited Ire thrash about, I settled into the chair.

From this position, my gaze fell below hers; she stood bound.

I glanced up slightly and noticed tears of blood streaming from Ire’s eyes. Her expression was a mix of deep resentment and pain.

“Are you okay?”

“……”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Tying me up like this and saying such things…!”

“I’m sorry about that. But compared to the torment you faced at the hands of the Outer God, isn’t this much more comfortable?”

“……”

Ire simply closed her eyes.

Did she faint? Or was she simply unwilling to talk to me?

“……Finish it quickly.”

“What?”

“You know what…! If you’re going to do it, just get it over with already!”

What exactly was she asking for?

The interview?

Or did she want me to end her life? Was she so consumed by suffering that she sought an escape?

If it was the latter, I had to decline. Without her, I would be left to handle everything in this world alone, and that felt profoundly wrong. After all, happiness is multiplied when shared, and sorrow is lessened when we share our burdens. So, let’s face this together.

Of course, to forge a bond strong enough to share that pain, I first needed to unlock the door to her heart. I had to convince her, without a shadow of a doubt, that I was not the Aidel she knew.

Now, it was time to execute the plan I had meticulously prepared.

“Hehehe.”

I placed the bag I had brought in front of the desk. The heavy thud of it hitting the wooden surface made Ire’s expression falter a bit.

Yes, it must have surprised her.

Now, go ahead and take a look. The comprehensive gift set I’ve personally brought!

In a dazed state, she infiltrated the college, concealing her identity to monitor Aidel and Zelnya.

However, on the day of orientation, an incident occurred.

Aidel von Reinhardt. That guy had used the same bizarre tool as before to knock her out, then dragged her to the Holy Spirit Hospital and locked her away.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself restrained. Aidel appeared shortly after, a sly smile plastered on his face as he asked how she was doing.

Naturally, she was in a foul mood.

A flurry of thoughts raced through her mind. Why hadn’t Aidel been banished from the family? Why was he always with Zelnya? How much of that smile was genuine? And why had the Outer Gods instructed her to eliminate Aidel?

Her vision blurred as the mental tug-of-war intensified.

Eventually, Aidel grinned and set down a black bag.

“I’ve prepared a gift for you.”

She sensed the inevitable had come.

“It will be very interesting.”

“Ugh…”

“It took a little time to make, though.”

For a fleeting moment, she contemplated biting her tongue. It would be excruciating, but it might be the best way to escape the humiliation.

Unlike in dramas or movies, suicide in one swift act was no easy feat. Yet if pushed to the brink of rape, she could see herself doing it repeatedly.

Just as Ire was about to part her lips, a sudden announcement broke through her thoughts.

[This week’s headline news]

The war with the southern region’s Darwin Legion Outer Gods, which has lasted for decades—if not centuries—has effectively come to an end. Some scholars are heralding this as a historic event, marking the successful development of Ether Belt restoration technology.

“……?”

A radio sat on the desk, its speakers filling the room with a stream of good news.

The war in the south had ended, the Ether Belt had expanded, and the forces of the Outer Gods were faltering—could that even be true? It had never happened even once in tens of thousands of iterations.

No, it was still uncertain. Perhaps she was merely witnessing her life flash before her eyes.

Aidel carefully arranged papers, notebooks, and a tablet on the desk. Finally, he retrieved a writing instrument, glancing between the tablet and the notebook before beginning to scribble what looked like formulas on the blank page.

“What in the universe are you trying to do…?”

“Shh!” Aidel pressed his index finger to his lips.

“From now on, I’m going to make a gift for you.”

Scratch, scratch.

In the quiet recovery room, the only sound was the soft, rhythmic scratching of the pen against paper.

A question mark hovered above Ire’s head.

What on earth are you plotting, Aidel von Reinhardt?

Her curiosity gnawed at her, but she managed to hold off on asking for the first thirty minutes. However, as the hour dragged on and she failed to decipher any pattern in his actions, restlessness crept in. Was the text he was writing even a human language?

Flutter—

One hour in.

Unlike the steadfast Aidel, Ire was confronted with a new crisis: she needed to go to the bathroom.

“…Ugh.”

She could endure this much. If she had to make a request, she would rather ask the android for help than rely on that third-rate scum known for his perverted nature over countless cycles. It wasn’t a rational decision; she simply instinctively disliked him.

Yet, Aidel showed no signs of taking a break.

How could someone stare at a book and notebook for three hours straight without so much as a glance in her direction?

Finally, four hours in—

“Whew.”

Finally, Aidel rose from his seat.

“I’ve organized all my ideas.”

“What?”

“Now it’s time to write the thesis.”

Aidel pulled out his laptop and began typing.

Tap, tap.

The soft, steady rhythm of the keyboard was like the crackling of a campfire, and it drained the last bit of Ire’s spirit.

“Ah, uh, excuse me…”

“Hmm?” Aidel glanced up, momentarily distracted.

“Just a moment… the restraints.”

“What?”

“The restraint! Please… loosen it.”

“No. You’ll run away.”

“That’s not—it’s not what you think!”

After another hour, bringing the total to five, Ire, who had been flailing like a fish under the oppressive weight of the restraining suit pressing on her lower abdomen, finally managed to convince him to let her go to the bathroom. She pleaded desperately, assuring him that she wouldn’t try to escape.

“…Haa.”

She wanted to die from the embarrassment.

However, the news coming from the radio was unexpectedly hopeful, making it difficult for Ire to abandon this world line.

Aidel’s strange behavior persisted beyond the weekend.

“Can I hammer it here?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

At the sound of Aidel’s voice, Ire, who had been dozing off, was startled awake and lifted her head. Aidel was hammering a nail into the wall, a second nail precariously held between his teeth.

“Nailed it! Now we just need to hang it.”

“Young master, what crazy thing are you doing again?”

“Can’t you see? I’m hanging a blackboard.”

“Did you lease the Holy Spirit Hospital for this?”

“No?”

“Then why are you damaging someone else’s property?”

“Sorry, I misspoke. I didn’t lease it; I just bought it.”

“?”

“?”

“From now on, this place is the Holy Spirit’s Hall, presided over by the god of education and graduate school.”

In essence, he was claiming it as a one-person study room.

While Sonia and Ire stood bewildered at Aidel’s declaration, he pulled out a few sheets of paper. He began copying the formulas written on them onto the blackboard one by one.

“This can’t be.”

At that moment, Safaul, who had been quietly conserving his strength, began to stir.

“Ah, shit.”

Ceti cursed profusely.