episode_0025

XXII.

“Why are you so surprised? There was plenty of time to be surprised, but the guy was fine at the time.”

“You received a trust? The great mage of Circle 9?”

Of course, the story about meeting God and the story about his son and daughter were surprising enough, but this was even more surprising because it was unexpected.

Among the characteristics shown by those who received oracles in the first place, there is ‘manifestation of Holy Power’. He who is so full of Mana with Circle 9 that there is no room for more is an oracle? Divine manifestation!?

“Okay. To be honest, at some point, I was giving up halfway. As the devil descended outside, I was wondering what the candidate would do, but I wasn’t interested. Probably, the Empire and Kingdom bastards wouldn’t have even known about the news of the Demon King’s descent if Evergreen Academy hadn’t asked them to be candidates, as if it was their natural right.”

“Well… .”

So did I. Because I was busy making a living every day. I probably wouldn’t have been interested if I hadn’t gotten my mother’s card, the Primordial Arcana.

“And if it weren’t for the various benefits they provide to Evergreen Academy in exchange for being a candidate, I would have been so angry and opposed to the behavior of those damn bastards like a rebel.”

“That much? Then, when the devil comes… … ?”

“What is that? I thought that if I did well, the two empires could fall into the hands of the devil. Then again, isn’t that good as is? Maybe God came to me because he knew about my heart and mental state.”

He looked up high and spoke in a pious tone, as if he were a priest, even though it was only for a moment, when he said, ‘God came to visit me.’

“At first, I never thought that the being I was meeting was God. But he hit upon the things I regret and the people I want to take back. Then I looked around in surprise and realized that I was not standing in my room, but in a place I didn’t know anything about. And he said There will be someone who will take care of my mistakes and regrets.”

“Is that me?”

“That’s right. At that time, I didn’t know who it would be. Because he just said he was the ‘last candidate’. And when I returned to my room, a divine power that I could never possess radiated from my body. A divine power so powerful that everyone in Evergreen could recognize it. And I testified to the oracle. Regardless of my will.”

Is the ‘him’ that Dean Hu saw the same person as the ‘him’ I met? It was a question that suddenly occurred to me.

“What did he look like when the Dean met him? Was he a handsome man with impressive water-colored, turquoise hair?”

“Huh? No, no. What would he say he was like? I vaguely remember it being bathed in light, but it wasn’t turquoise hair. Dark black. okay. I remember the hair color was black.”

different.

Since it is a being similar to a god, it can change its appearance, but when it raises its head for no apparent reason, it is said to be a different person.

“So? What the Dean has said so far is that I can bring my son and his family back to normal, normal? It sounds strange, but does that mean you can do it anyway?”

“No. Not right now. He said it would only be possible if you became stronger. Perhaps your power, which I have observed for a few days, is not limited to wielding that spear. It seems to have something to do with that girl who sticks next to me wherever she goes.”

“But do I have to help you unconditionally?”

He asked me quite sharply, but I decided to ignore it rather than act awkwardly. And this question was quite effective.

“Huh? So, I didn’t even give you a spiritual altar. Please take care of your convenience.”

No, it may not be quite effective, but it may be too effective. If you see him getting up in a rage.

“You are giving it to me so that I can grow faster and get things done quickly. I don’t mind taking it easy. What should I do if I get sick from eating something like Yeongdan by mistake?”

From the beginning, I knew that all the conveniences Dean Hu had provided me were not in good faith. But I follow his intentions in good faith? why? Because his situation is pitiful?

‘That’s bullshit.’

As I said, all his misfortunes are of his own making.

What if his daughter, Marlene, had also actively intervened when he was in Circle 8, even though he wasn’t in Circle 9? No, at least as I said before, what if I gave my son an artifact?

It’s a good thing to be self-employed.

Do I need to give up the benefits I would gain just because I feel sorry for him?

‘Nothing.’

It’s not like Dean Hu is always on my side like Arcana.

“Bad guy!”

“At first, I thought you were helping me with good intentions. Some kind of snag? Is this a candidate who looks like that? So I felt a little grateful. But after listening to the end, it turns out that the dean ultimately helped me for his personal benefit.”

“Well, that is!”

“That’s why I also treated it in a calculated way. Oh, by any chance, you won’t say that I helped you because I was a hero candidate, right? All the other candidates were annoying.”

Unlike the first time, Dean later became surprisingly calm as my words progressed.

“Do you want something?”

“Well. The question is what you can give. Oh, don’t get me wrong. If it is possible for me and my group to treat the family of Dean Hu’s son, I will do my best. I have no intention of threatening you with that as collateral. However, while the effort is in progress, I need to be paid a reward commensurate with the effort. Calculatively.”

“Is it good?”

“… E?”

“So, as much as I did. You’re saying you’re going to calculate that and do it too, right? Calculatively. Right? What I understood well.”

If Dean Hu had gotten angry at what I said, it wouldn’t have been his situation… . I tried to stand up. And I thought he was going to be angry.

So the cushion of the chair where my butt touched was 0.5 cm higher than before. To stand up at any moment. However, Dean Hu smiles sincerely, saying that he likes it with a very bright face.

‘Oh, I forgot because it was so serious. This inspiration. He was crazy.’

“Good! I assure you of our full support, to a level you can’t even imagine. Now, from this moment until the devil disappears.”

“I like it too. Well then, thank you.”

I held out my hand, and Dean Hu took my hand. Maybe it’s because he’s a wizard, but he says he likes it even more when he says he’ll give me as much as I get.

That day, I couldn’t decide whether to leave Evergreen Academy or not, so I unpacked my luggage for the second time.

◈ ◈ ◈

Bubble bubble―. Bubbling~.

Sounds delicious? Yeah, maybe it sounds delicious. If there was no sound that followed.

Push tasting!

“Do not melt! When you two meet… … .”

Kwaaaang!!!

“… It explodes.”

Smoke billowed out with heavy drinking. Inside, the woman inside the blue protective shield remained calm throughout.

When an unknown drug broke through a glass tube and dived into the reagents collected below, and when the two met and exploded, causing an explosion.

“You really are a very hardworking child.”

Unusually, the woman who passed through the place where the purple smoke was billowing had a gloomy expression as she personified the sample with only traces remaining.

“Linaaa!!!”

“The witch is coming again.”

bang!!

The door opened with a sound similar to the explosion heard a moment ago, and there was a woman wearing pointy glasses and tight-fitting clothes, her eyes shining.

“Lina! I made it clear! Magic experiments are prohibited in the dormitory!!”

“Yes.”

“But what number is this now?! Are you ignoring what I say as the dormitory manager?!”

“No.”

“You are truly incorrigible! I can’t stand it anymore! For the safety of other students, I will ask Lina to leave the dormitory!”

“Okay.”

“This matter can never be overlooked! No matter how much of a hero candidate you are!!”

“Okay. Yes.”

“Aaaaa!! you! I won’t leave you alone!!”

A woman who spits out abusive language, speaks as if she has great pride in being the head of a female dormitory, and uses ‘hysteria’ to express her presence.

Lina, the main culprit of this explosion who does not react much to the woman’s hysteria in front of him, would be better described as a ‘girl’ rather than a ‘woman’ due to her appearance.

She is about 150cm tall and has purple, almost black hair that is tied on both sides and falls down to her shoulders, making her look even younger.

Short stature and cute appearance. As if she likes purple, the cute design dress she is wearing is also purple.

The lady inspector’s face looked hideous, with blood sticking out all over the place as if it was about to explode at any moment, and as she screamed so hard, the people watching started to wonder, and half-joking and half-serious murmurs were heard here and there, saying, ‘Isn’t that why she’s vomiting blood?’ .

Yes.

Academy students are currently out in the women’s dormitory hallway to take a look.

After Candidate Lina entered Evergreen Academy, the relationship between the housemaster and Lina was not good, but since it has been an annual event that has been happening every two days for the past month or so, everyone is thinking about it now.

But at the same time, you might think it’s a little strange.

There are other Academy nominees, many of them women. But why does this lady get so hysterical about a candidate named Lina every week?

And why doesn’t the candidate named Lina take issue with that?

To know this, you must first know the background of this cute woman named Lina.

The name of this cute woman is Lina. He’s a candidate.

Lina without any last name.

Yes. It means she is a commoner.

On the day she awakened, on Lina’s 20th birthday, her parents were brutally murdered in the nobility in front of her.

The reason was that even though Lina was an adult, for some reason she had the appearance of a child.

Why is this the reason?

The baron who owned the estate where Lina lived was a pervert. Lina’s young and quite curvy body, her pretty face, and a commoner who just happened to be an adult.

How appetizing was it? From that pervert’s point of view.

In any case, of course, as a parent, if you were a sane parent, there was no way you would allow such a nobleman’s request. Even if it means you could die.

In the end, Lina’s parents were beaten to death while trying to protect their only daughter, Lina. The unknown baron showed Lina the cruel death of her parents, as if to show her what would happen if she did not follow his wishes.

And Lina received God’s grace at that moment.

The first thing she did after becoming a candidate was to get revenge on the Baron. I don’t know the context at all, but the Caligo Church, which did it simply because it was what ‘candidate’ Lina wanted, solved all of the Baron’s corruption that it had been investigating.

If you are not a Danseung noble, you are of high status even if you are a baron, the lowest in the Gonghu Baekjanan family. However, at the time the oracle was spreading, the power of the Caligo Church was great enough to suppress even the nobles. And Lina was considered very important as the next candidate.

Although it was a tragedy for the Baron. In the end, the baron was unable to exert any effort and was stripped of his ancestral noble status.

When the Baron was demoted to a commoner, Lina cast a ‘poison’ spell on the Baron’s body, killing him slowly and very painfully. So she became the 31st candidate.

If you listen to this point, it may seem like the story of candidate Lina’s life turnaround, but the world is not that easy.

From the first to the thirtieth candidates, there was a decisive difference between those thirty and Lina.

It’s just identity.

Before Gray, he is the only candidate without even 1% of noble blood.

The other candidates also belonged to a class so low that they could not be called nobles. Benjamin, the highest-ranking person, also spoke out when he saw that he was a bastard whose mother was a maid. If you expand the scope to include your in-laws’ cousins, you are connected to the nobility.

If you ask why this is a problem, it is because of the issue of ‘sponsorship’.

In this way, the noble family that extends to the in-laws’ eighth cousins includes the candidate in their genealogy and fully supports them. Not only money, but everything from servants to escort knights.

Lina had nothing like that. This does not mean that there were no nobles who wanted to support her or adopt her, but Lina did not forget her parents who were killed by the nobles.

He rejected all their offers and devoted himself to magical research alone. No, it had to be that way.

Lina’s only friend was magic.

Even though there is no support other than the basic items provided to the candidate, she has already reached the level of Circle 6 master, probably because she follows the rules of the candidate.

Because she has a clue about Circle 7, she has been conducting experiments non-stop in the lab and dormitory recently, often causing explosions.

But it’s not just her.

To begin with, it is Evergreen Academy, where the dean is a wizard from Circle 9. Magic explosions naturally occur frequently, and the walls of the dormitory are designed to withstand the explosions.

And she is also a mage of Circle 6. Do not experiment with quantities large enough to pose a risk in the first place.

Then why is this lady harassing Lina?

Evergreen Academy is not all clean and noble people. Like Professor Yirgacheffe, who passed away just a few days ago.

Connaught Lee, the academy’s female dormitory director, originally dreamed of entering Evergreen and becoming an Evergreen student from a very young age.

However, although her family was wealthy, it could not buy her talents that she did not have. I really didn’t have any talent at all. So miserable.

He did not have the brains or perseverance to become a scholar, and he had no talent for magic or swordsmanship. He also had absolutely no qualifications as a spiritist or summoner.

The only thing she’s good at is ‘manipulating’ subordinates, as she was born and raised as a member of a merchant family – but she’s not even in her teens or 20s on the continent.

In the end, I couldn’t become a student, and of course I couldn’t become a professor, and I was only able to take on the role of housemaster, who strictly managed the students, similar to how I would manage a subordinate.

She evaluates herself this way.

‘Right now I’m the dormitory superintendent, but someday I’ll become a professor at Evergreen Academy. ‘It won’t be long until I get to be called Professor Connaught Lee!’

However, I only spend 30 minutes reading a day. I can’t see any more than that.

From Connaught’s perspective, something truly absurd happened. Those who did not take the exam can now specially enter the academy at any time, not even during the admission season. Even people over 30.

Yes. This is a story about a hero candidate.

Connaught was usually harsh with candidates, especially female candidates, but Lina was someone she really disliked.

A shabby and miserable commoner. A child who was born with magical talent simply by the grace of God and is labeled a genius.

In addition, she had a pretty face, and more than anything, her magical achievements, which made her grow stronger just by breathing, were envied and looked up to by the academy students. The image she dreamed of when she was young has come to life.

Not to Connaught himself, but to a commoner child.

At first, it started with nagging. However, this commoner bitch doesn’t even pretend to listen, answering in short answers, perhaps because she’s stupid or because she’s ignoring her.

Every time that happens, I get angrier and more irritated because I feel like I’ve discovered my inner jealousy over not being more confident.

And today.

I’ve been warned several times over the past hour.

Do not conduct magic experiments inside the dormitory. The same warning was given not only to Lina, but also to all other Academy students, and they at least pretended to protect it. He seemed apologetic if caught.

The pleasure you feel when nobles and geniuses bow their heads to you! Joy! Connaught was very pleased with such events, even feeling a certain sense of superiority.

“But you!!”

“Yes.”

Look at this.

He is not listening to his ‘admonishment’ at all and is only responding. From behind, you can hear academy students giggling as they stick their heads or upper bodies out the door.

“Profit!! This bitch!”

It felt like the entire academy was laughing at him. As if he knew Connaught’s dark intentions and was laughing at him. Later, I heard these and other words as if I was hallucinating.

“Okay.”

Connaught got angry and said, ‘You bitch!’ and he said, ‘Yes.’ With a very calm face, he doesn’t even pay attention to himself, and like a genius, he suddenly takes out a notebook and begins to quickly write down something as if something occurred to him.

And Lina’s actions succeeded in cutting Connaught’s string of reason cleanly.

Palms raised to the shoulders, backswing pulled back as hard as possible. The hand that gathered so much strength instantly flew towards Lina’s cheek.

Sigh!

‘Party’ or ‘Wow~!’ It’s not the same sound effect, but a sound effect that makes you feel sick just by hearing it.

“Aaaa!!”

And the scream of pain that matched the sound effect unexpectedly came from Connaught, who had struck first. Lina didn’t seem to notice that a blue shield had appeared around her body, but she was so absorbed in the formula she was writing down in her notebook.

However, it was only after the number of people around her increased that Lina became aware of the atmosphere around her. Connaught was still screaming, and the students around him were examining his arms.

“Why?”

“You! You said that!!”

“Huh? I? That’s impossible. Visualization is Circle 9.”

Lina says as briefly as possible that it is impossible for her to harm Connaught.

As if he doesn’t want to talk to you. However, the content is so meaningful that laughter like ‘Foot!’ and ‘Kick!’ erupts here and there.

“What, what, what are you saying! It hurts!!”

“It means that the level of breaking your wrist through the realization of imagery is only possible when you reach Circle 9. Even if Lina has the desire to do so. Even if you only know about magic at the level of common sense, everyone knows it. Didn’t you know?”

Let me solve it again and explain it. In other words, he wanted to break Connaught’s wrist, but he said he ‘couldn’t’ because he didn’t yet have the ability to use magic without anyone knowing. Lina.

Even though there is no need to do so, just looking at the academy student who interprets Lina’s words and gives her a face mask, it seems that Connaught’s reputation is at an all-time low.

“Lie! My, I saw it!! You, you, you! I won’t leave you alone!!”

“As you wish.”

“Kill! I will kill you!! I won’t leave you alone!!!”

At that moment, Connaught, who was still yelling at a high pitched voice while holding his shaky arm, started screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Ah! Fuck. It’s so fucking loud.”

A man’s voice that should not be heard was heard from the women’s dormitory building. And the voice of a man who seemed very uncomfortable.