episode_0036

The midterms are over.

The students returned to the academy, and naturally, for a while, they chatted about the uninhabited island.

Rather than protesting or complaining about the midterm exam.

“I saw it with my own two eyes!? The chairman swung his fist and the kraken just exploded!”

“You said you folded the kraken in half with one finger earlier?”

“That’s it! Hey, have you tried the Kraken leg roast?”

“… … … No.”

“Don’t talk about it if you haven’t tried it. I want to explain how it tastes, but I can’t.”

A story about the chairman and the kraken.

“You really survived on a deserted island for a week? Does that make sense?”

“Well, it wasn’t that bad after living there. Now, I’m sure I’ll survive no matter where I fall.”

“I heard you were crying and making a big fuss.”

“Oh my, slurp! Where did you hear such nonsense! So that’s why I gave up? I finished it! I even got a special scholarship this time!”

“Well… … .”

Tales of bravery on a deserted island, etc.

Of course, there were many, if not all, positive stories about the midterms themselves. To be exact, the Kraken and the stories of the heroism drowned out any complaints or protests about the exams.

In the end, the students who remained at the academy were more interested in the Kraken and the story of survival on a deserted island than in their complaints about the exams, and most of the dissatisfied students were those who dropped out.

It was not without potential problems, especially since most of them were nobles who had grown up well.

“Father, I said so! It’s a really ridiculous test!”

“I have already received a letter from the chairman regarding the exam. He very politely asked for my understanding regarding the purpose and content of this exam.”

“Huh?”

“It’s true that it’s a radical method, but it’s also true that the Imperial Academy students got lost and returned with serious injuries. Above all, the son of the Baron next door to us completed the race and returned, but I couldn’t show my face at the Count’s banquet this time.”

“Uh… … … .”

“What kind of person is the chairman, and what kind of place is Grandis Academy! The most prestigious educational institution in the kingdom would have held such a test without thinking! You should have thought about seizing the opportunity, and as a noble of the kingdom, you only say such weak things!”

“Oh, Dad?”

“Go away! Don’t come to me again with something like this!”

“Father!”

That also went through without any major problems thanks to the arrangements made in advance by the Minister of Finance.

The pretext that the chairman, who is the strongest person in the kingdom and also a hero, wrote letters to each noble family ‘in person’ to ask for their understanding.

I think there must be a reason for that, since it’s something that’s done at the Grandis Academy, which is a top prestigious school.

And although there were many who gave up in the middle, there were also quite a few who finished the race, so much so that they were even compared to those in aristocratic society.

Everything was as expected.

“Although the cost of dinner, the rental of the magic ship, and other expenses such as travel expenses were unexpectedly large, a significant portion was covered by the Kraken subjugation fund. As a result, compared to last year’s midterms, the cost was reduced by more than half.”

“You enjoyed your break, so that’s a big harvest. How did you react to the test?”

“These are the results of a survey targeting students and parents.”

“… … It was worth the effort to write the letter. At this rate, I think it would be worth doing this every year?”

“Of course I’m thinking about it.”

This is why I desperately tried to protect the chairman’s authority and the Academy’s honor.

Grants? Donations? In fact, you can easily get them by simply being open about your financial situation and being honest, or by using the authority of the Academy and the Chairman.

However, even if we can put out such an urgent fire, the Grandis Academy from now on will not be the chairman’s academy. As for the financial issues in the meantime, there is a high probability that I, as the finance director, will be the one taking the blame for everything instead of the chairman.

Whether it’s the royal family or other powers, they will continue to meddle in the operation of the Academy for their own benefit.

‘A beggar who burns down the whole house while trying to catch a flea.’

If we’re on the verge of bankruptcy in three years, it’s not like we have lice in our house, it’s like the pillars of our house are rotting away. Anyway.

For the sake of the chairman’s dream, and for the sake of my own safety and future, Grandis Academy must pretend that there are no problems and resolve its financial issues.

Of course, it’s a level of difficulty that will make you scream “This game sucks”, but there are still cards that can be used.

The existence of the chairman and the reputation built up by Grandis Academy as the most prestigious school in the kingdom.

‘Even if it’s the same kind of hypochondria, if the last in the school does it, no one will believe it, but if the top in the school does it, it looks like there’s a reason.’

Thanks to that, there is no problem with doing something like the deserted island survival midterm exam, which would have turned the school upside down a long time ago if it had been done at other public or private academies.

This was possible because there was a chairman who cared extremely about the quality of education and the safety of students.

Perhaps because of that, the chairman’s face was bright as he received my report.

In a way, this result proves that she was not wrong.

“Hogu, when will Sir Julius come?”

“He’ll probably come within 3 days. He’ll be quite busy, but Kaerne is Julius’s beloved disciple.”

“Then I guess I have some free time.”

“Are you free?”

“Now that the midterms are over, shouldn’t we contact the bribe students, including Lisha, again?”

Before the midterm exam, one of them asked me to tell him the exam content in advance, but I refused.

He didn’t seem too disappointed, as if he had tried it once, but just in case.

Bribery is the art of relationships.

So, what this means is that the artist called the Minister of Finance has to go crazy to paint a single picture of bribery.

Opponent? The opponent is the person who provides the paint to paint the picture. They just don’t know that they are actually the winner.

‘While making the rounds of the bribe students, I need to receive more bribes or lighten their mood a little, there must be a pile of documents related to the midterm exams, so I need to take care of them all, I need to return a certain percentage of the security I received from the nobles along the way to the archipelago along the way along the way along with a thank you letter as is customary, I need to study the business administration thesis that I’ve been piling up for a week, meet with the Food Materials Management Director or Laura to see how things are going in their regards, meet with the Student Affairs Director and the General Examinations Officer to hear their stories, the Planning Director needs to meet with the Academic Affairs Director and hold a meeting, and visit the Department of Fantasy Magic to see if they properly donate 40% of the investment fund.’

Okay, that’s all I’ll do for today.

Still, perhaps because I had slept well and rested well for a week, I didn’t feel particularly overwhelmed even though there was a mountain of work to do.

Well, that’s about it.

“It’s everyday life.”

“It’s daily life.”

On the chairman’s desk, there were seven piles of documents that needed to be approved for a week, covering the floor, but this was also something the chairman had to do every day.

The chairman and I looked at each other and smiled.

Take a short vacation.

Now it was time to return to the most ordinary daily life.

*

Ruth was sitting on her dorm bed.

Although she was given the option of being admitted to the best dormitory as she was a 6th grader, Ruth refused and instead rented an entire small dormitory with the money she earned from investing in a salt mine.

It would be nice if I could live with Mina as a roommate, but ‘according to the admission documents’, students of different genders cannot live in the same room. It was natural.

So Ruth just sighed.

“… … It’s still too uncomfortable.”

It was quite difficult. Living while lying about your gender.

At the same time, it was a choice that looked quite far into the future.

The reason I wore a chest bandage and used my energy to deceive my skeleton was to get closer to Professor Circe.

‘For some reason, Circe only used men as test subjects in the Holy Land.’

Professor Circe is known as a genius and master of life magic, but it is not known whether she gained such knowledge through human experiments or whether she used that knowledge to conduct human experiments.

What is certain is that Circe had a somewhat strange preference for male test subjects.

‘If possible, I wanted to deal with it at the Academy, but even if it failed, I wanted to approach the Holy Land as a test subject since they would know I’m a man.’

But Professor Circe, for some reason, is not active at all. I saw her briefly during the midterm exam, and Circe was clearly weaker than before.

Why on earth would a 6th-grade wizard be demoted to a 5th-grade wizard, even if only for a little while?

……also.

“There are so many things I don’t know.”

It’s not like I don’t know much. I know how to get to the 6th level, the salt mine, Professor Circe’s work, Adam’s work, and the future of the Academy.

But Ruth only knows the big results, and nothing about the intermediate process.

That’s why even in the salt mines, didn’t the collapse start before a few of the tops arrived?

This is especially true when it comes to academy work.

‘Because I was always last.’

Previously, he only cared about his own growth and knew little about the detailed circumstances or secrets of the Academy.

I remember the commotion that happened at the Academy, but I don’t really know what caused it. I just knew it was going to happen.

But even that ‘knowledge’ has become useless now.

‘What the hell was the problem?’

Why on earth does Circe do nothing? Why on earth doesn’t the professors’ summoning ritual make a fuss? Why on earth did Adam meet Beatrice instead of Chloe?

No matter how much she thought about it, Ruth couldn’t figure out why.

And in this midterm exam for survival on a deserted island, we experience a huge change that didn’t even exist originally.

‘first.’

They decided to keep the fact that they had returned to the past a secret.

I was frustrated with the situation changing without me knowing why, so I was going to be honest with Mina or Adam if it didn’t work out.

‘That could actually be a problem.’

I changed my mind after seeing the ‘before’ Adam and the present Adam on the deserted island.

The future has already changed in a way that Ruth does not know. If she were to reveal that she had returned to the past, she would not know what the butterfly effect would be. Since she could not be sure of anything, Ruth had no choice but to be cautious about taking on an irreversible adventure.

Revealing the regression was really the last thing I did. Even though I wasn’t that smart, I knew how big the repercussions would be.

But that doesn’t mean we can be irresponsible.

“… Let’s find out.”

Even though he doesn’t know much and is ultimately a failure who couldn’t save the world or Adam.

This return will surely be a miracle that will never happen again.

Ruth collected her complicated mind and made one goal clear.

──Find out why Grandis Academy collapsed.

If the academy doesn’t collapse and the chairman doesn’t die.

Surely Adam would not have fallen so low.

‘First of all, it’s not an internal problem.’

It can’t be an internal problem at the Academy. There weren’t any problems at the Academy until Ruth graduated.

If it were an internal problem, there would be financial issues or internal strife among the faculty and staff, but the chairman was the richest man in the kingdom and held absolute power in the academy. There was no way problems could suddenly arise. Ruth was certain of that.

Above all, it is hard to imagine that the chairman, who could kill a kraken with one blow, would die because of the betrayal of faculty and staff.

The only thing I’m worried about is Professor Circe’s secret activities.

‘I can control that.’

Above all, even Professor Circe could not possibly destroy the academy with the chairman on her own.

There is only one possibility that can be thought of.

‘An enemy from outside.’

After the collapse of Grandis Academy, the entire kingdom was in chaos, and since I was in a foreign country at the time, I had no choice but to rely on rumors. As they were just rumors, their truth could not be guaranteed, and the content was inconsistent.

There was a common saying that was circulated.

‘It was said that the Empire and the Crown tried to intervene in the Academy.’

So the conclusion is simple.

As I am currently living my academy life, I am monitoring Professor Circe, checking on key figures such as Mina and Adam, and preventing any outside interference.

Ruth nodded firmly, finally having decided on a proper goal.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that she has to do anything right now. Rather, Ruth, who realized that it was too late, put on her chest bandage again and changed her frame slightly.

‘It’s stuffy.’

However, if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to hide my growing breasts or hips. Perhaps it’s the aftereffect of quickly reaching level 6, but my body’s growth has been truly explosive.

If this continues, I will probably grow to a size that cannot be hidden even by skeletal transformation within a year. Maybe I should wear armor like the youngest knight. I sighed and left the dormitory.

Even so, today is the day when eggs are suddenly on sale at the grocery store. I haven’t forgotten it because it was something I had such fond memories of ‘before’.

‘At that time, I didn’t have money so I couldn’t buy it.’

Now it’s different. Ruth is a regressor. She has a lot of money from the salt mine, but she has to save as much as possible to prepare for the future.

But the days of being so poor that you couldn’t buy discount eggs are gone.

Ruth took steps to change the past.

“There, you.”

“… … Huh?”

“Ruth Spero, right?”

A schoolgirl with blazing red hair, a ponytail tied with a black ribbon, and an annoyed expression blocks the way.

The moment Ruth saw her face, she couldn’t help but pause.

Well, that’s because he killed someone himself before.

“… … Chloe Pisty.”

“Of course I would know. No, maybe you’re more famous? Anyway, I have something to say.”

“What… … is happening?”

“You, I heard you spoke to the finance director at the entrance ceremony. Right?”

“… … … … .”

“I’m looking into that guy.”

Chloe Pisty. A female student who was originally close to Adam and left with him after the Academy collapsed.

But now she is.

He stood before Ruth in a completely different appearance.

“I have a question for you.”

“Adam Keynes.”

“About that guy.”