episode_0045

Ruth and Chloe’s eyes turned to each other.

It was not a friendly gaze, even in empty words, but rather full of hostility and wariness.

If it were hate or disgust, I would understand. There might have been some conflict between the two without my knowledge.

But what is this?

‘What does it feel like to watch a budget meeting?’

At that time, the professors who took on the role of fighting cocks would spit out harsh words and criticisms at each other, but that did not mean that they truly hated each other emotionally.

They just belong to different fields, have different interests, and are faithful to their own roles and interests.

The look in Ruth and Chloe’s eyes was similar to that now. Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same.

Rather than being hostile with one-dimensional emotions, it feels like there is a reason for it that goes beyond that.

While we were glaring at each other, Chloe smiled sharply first and looked back at me.

“More than that, Mr. Finance Minister, did you manage to handle the ‘yesterday’ incident well?”

“Yes? Yesterday?”

“Yes. There was something that just the two of us, the finance director and I, did.”

“… … … What?”

No, there’s nothing wrong with what you said, but why are you speaking so ambiguously?

Ruth hesitated for a moment at the loud words, then turned her trembling gaze toward me.

Why you again?

“… … Mr. Finance Minister, I will accept the offer you just made to me in secret.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you called me first and invited me. Of course, I should repay your kindness, right?”

“Wait a minute. A secret proposal? Mr. Finance, what the heck… …?”

You said you would do it earlier, didn’t you? Why are you accepting it again when you said you would do it?

And what’s the secret proposal? The secret proposal. If you spread this wrong, you won’t be able to join the student council.

More than anything, this time it was Chloe who approached me and looked at me with a look that demanded an explanation.

“Minister of Finance.”

“Minister of Finance!”

“Two people?”

Why are you guys looking at me like that?

What’s with that disappointed tone?

“I request an explanation.”

“What the hell does that mean!”

“After… … .”

One side is the protagonist of this world and a 6th-grade wizard, and the other side is the disciple of the great wizard and a 5th-grade wizard.

I thought we’d be seeing each other again at least until they graduated, so I tried not to do anything that would make them blush.

Hey, students.

Am I your friend?

“Student Ruth, Student Chloe. What are you doing now?”

“Oh, yes?”

“That… ….”

“It’s true that I worked with Chloe yesterday, and it’s true that I made a personal suggestion to Ruth just now. So what’s the problem with that? At least I didn’t brag about it to each other and ask you to interrogate me.”

Well, I understand that you want to show off to others since you’re still a student.

Chloe was recruited by me with the promise of a raise, and Ruth was given the great opportunity of joining the student council.

First of all, the Minister of Finance… … Well, even if I say it myself, isn’t it true that I have a close relationship with a high-ranking person? If I knew the Vice President when I was in college, I would want to brag about having such connections and friendships.

The age difference isn’t that big, but they’re students and kids after all, so it’s understandable.

You can’t say anything to me about that.

“And both of you, please don’t be so vague in your words. You have to convey accurate information so that there are no misunderstandings. First of all, Chloe and I just finished the summoning ritual that took place in the Forest of Magic yesterday.”

“… … Summoning, ritual?”

“Student Ruth may not know it yet, but it will be announced soon anyway. The Academy detected the magic of the summoning spell a few days ago, and the guards arrested the associate professor and assistant professor who had been plotting it. Chloe simply went into the forest in my place, as I was unable to do so myself.”

“… … … … … .”

For some reason, Ruth seemed to be looking back and forth between me and Chloe with greatly puzzled eyes.

From experience, I knew that if I asked what was going on, they would probably say it was nothing anyway, so I just brushed it off.

Above all, it’s your turn now, you bastard.

“And the secret suggestion that student Ruth mentioned was about joining the student council.”

“Hey, student council? Is this… Ruth Spero?”

“Is there a problem? Ruth is a 6th grade student and is more than qualified to be a member of the student council. Above all, the authority to decide on the student council officers lies with the student council president. I am a close senior and junior to her, so I was asked to convey the message on her behalf.”

Anyway, from now on, that’s how it will be. Since my junior is like this and that, if I say something like that, you’ll accept it without a problem.

Rather than going at my own pace, I just don’t care.

When I think about the accident that my junior caused when we were attending the academy, I seriously wonder if it was because he had no brain.

Well, anyway.

“Both of you have become like that. I have explained everything, but what else do you want to say to me?”

“… … … … … .”

“… … … … .”

“I am a former finance director and a faculty member at Grandis Academy. As such, I will naturally treat students with favoritism and be friendly, but that does not mean I will give special treatment to certain students. Please keep that in mind.”

So, the main character or Chloe, it’s not like you guys were asked or recommended by me, it’s nothing special.

Of course, if you think about , these two are special, but as protagonists and comrades, they just fit the bill. If you didn’t fit my criteria, I would’ve cut you down like a knife.

Unless the main character is a 6th grader, the only students I give special treatment to are bribe students like Lisha. Strictly speaking, they are not students but customers.

I may have sounded a little harsh, but the bottom line is simple.

You are students and I am a faculty member, not your friend.

‘Why do you keep acting like we’re so intimate in the first place?’

This is the third time I’ve met the main character, and I’ve only worked with Chloe for one day, right?

But why are you approaching me like you’re friendly? Rather, shouldn’t I be the one who feels closer to them, having seen them in ? From your perspective, aren’t I a stranger?

I find it really awkward to act as if we’ve known each other for a long time.

In the first place, I don’t really want to become close with him on a personal level. If the main character is a perennial last place player like in the game, I’ll have to train him somehow, but he’s already a 6th grader, and if I leave Chloe alone, she’ll figure it out on her own.

It’s not like I bribe you like Lisha, it’s not like I connect you with people like Kaerne, it’s not like I bribe you with merchant connections like Beatrice.

‘Tsk.’

I suddenly felt emotional, so it seemed like I was experiencing the side effects of the military stimulant again. I’ll have to ask them to take some of the poison out of me when I get back to the office.

Anyway, I’ve said everything I wanted to say, so I should go to work now…

“… … Lie.”

“Student Ruth?”

“Nothing. Anyway, what should we do about the student council?”

“After the student council president responds, you can meet me again. The meeting place is… … .”

“Let’s go to the dorm I’m staying in.”

“Yes? But.”

“To the dormitory.”

“… … Okay, I understand.”

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve seen that dorm.

After sending Ruth away with her strangely dark eyes, only Chloe remained.

“… … … ?”

what.

Where did he go?

*

Chloe Piste was confused.

Did you meet your future self and another self yesterday?

Did you hear that Ruth Spero is a regressor?

You came to see the Minister of Finance and accidentally ran into Ruth and the weirdo from yesterday?

Did you just hear something really sensible from the Treasury Secretary?

It was all true, but at the same time it was not true.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Chloe’s problem, but ‘the other Chloe’s’ problem.

‘Wait a minute, why aren’t you coming out! You said you wanted to see me!’

‘… … … I’m not ready yet.’

‘What do you mean you’re not prepared! You kept nagging me about how to do my hair and how to put on my makeup when I was meeting the finance minister in the morning!’

Adult Chloe, a psychic, can share visions and communicate with thoughts even when not in dreams.

Clearly, the future self I met in my dream yesterday looked very mature, even though he looked worn out.

The ever-so-easy-going adult Chloe completely froze when she heard she was meeting the finance minister today.

To be exact, it was just stuck in a corner, like a ice rink or something.

‘Why are you so shy! Didn’t you hang out with the finance minister in the future!?’

‘Yeah, that’s true. We’ve been hanging out together for several years.’

‘Then why!’

‘… … But what should I do, I get nervous every time I see you?’

No, is this right?

Even though we’ve been together for years, you still get nervous every time you see each other?

Is this ridiculous piece of crap really my future self?

Chloe, who was feeling truly skeptical, sighed and tried to leave the alley.

Stop.

‘No, let’s go out!’

‘Oh, no! Just organize your clothes a little more, a little more.’

‘You were just talking about organizing and stuff and then it suddenly came out!’

While the Treasurer was talking to Ruth Spero, the adult Chloe, possessed only by her legs, dragged Chloe into a nearby alley.

She said she was shaking just looking at the finance minister’s face, that she had to touch the clothes she had been wearing so much and put on more makeup or something.

Naturally, Chloe was extremely frustrated.

‘What would the Finance Minister think if he suddenly disappeared? I told him I had to go first!’

‘I’m not mentally ready yet… ‘

‘Mental preparation is fucking shit!’

Didn’t you ask yourself in your dreams why you didn’t look back at yourself? If you actually looked back, wouldn’t you turn your head away in embarrassment?

While struggling to move her legs somehow, Chloe glared at the back of Ruth Spero as she walked away.

‘Regressor, regressor.’

Since she had already decided to believe in her future self, she had to believe in the ridiculous idea of regression. It was against the laws of magic she knew, but… … After all, there were many things in the world that were not magical.

Anyway, if Ruth Spero really is a regressor and the weirdo that threatened her in the forest yesterday.

‘What am I doing in the future that the regressor will try to rule out?’

But there are still many ambiguous parts to say that. If she really does become a villain in the future, there is no need to pass over it so ambiguously in the forest.

The murderous intent displayed by the villain, Ruth Spero, at that time was real. Ruth could really kill Chloe.

Chloe’s [Dancing Flames] was even allowed there.

The most likely one is.

‘I’m not sure. Whether or not you can rule me out now.’

This becomes clearer when we recall what the disguised Ruth said.

At that time, we talked about ‘summoning magic’ and ‘the background’ more than Chloe herself.

‘There is hostility towards me, but there is information that needs to be found out more than that.’

However, from what I heard from the Minister of Finance, the summoning ceremony was not that important or dangerous.

The story is about a few professors who were caught by the security forces without proper materials or defense.

Apart from the peculiarity of summoning magic, this is just a common occurrence in the vast Grandis Academy.

But why was Ruth so obsessed with summoning magic and its masterminds?

‘Is there something the Minister of Finance didn’t tell me? No. He said it was going to be announced soon anyway, so if there was information he wanted to hide, there was no need to announce it in the first place and draw attention to it.’

There is still too little information to draw a clear conclusion, but here are some reasonable guesses.

1. The summoning ritual has a hidden meaning that the Academy has not been able to discover.

2. Ruth Spero was tracking the mastermind behind it, and when she saw me coming out of the basement, which was not there, she mistakenly thought I had something to do with the mastermind behind it.

3. That’s why he threatened me to get a definitive answer as to whether I was really involved.

‘But that misunderstanding has just been cleared up.’

Because the Treasury Director himself said that Chloe went to the basement because it was his request.

If my guess is correct and Ruth Spero was mistaken in thinking Chloe was involved with the mastermind, then you don’t have to worry about Ruth attacking you.

But why is that?

Chloe couldn’t shake off a strange sense of foreboding.

‘There’s something more. Something I don’t know about.’

And that’s probably──why she died at the hands of Ruth Spero.

Of course, your future self would know… …but.

‘… … … … … … .’

‘… …Why aren’t you saying anything?’

‘If I close my eyes, I won’t see Adam. Then I won’t have to be nervous.’

‘First of all, let me ask you this. How did you manage to hang out with the Finance Minister while feeling so… um, embarrassed?’

‘Of course I acted desperately. When people get too excited and nervous, their faces become stiff.’

This is driving me crazy.

He was definitely so charismatic yesterday, but when the Finance Minister got involved, he changed 180 degrees.

Is this me? Is my future self going to be that ugly? What on earth happened to make me love the Finance Minister so much?

Chloe soon gave up thinking about it. Didn’t she say that to the adult Chloe? That unless she met the finance minister properly, Chloe was herself and not herself.

I really wanted to think that way. I didn’t want to say that such a miserable future was the same as ‘me’.

In a situation where the other person is denying themselves and not themselves.

Chloe managed to sneak out of the alley while the adult Chloe let her guard down.

Tadah!

‘Now, wait a minute!’

‘Wait a minute! I can’t stand seeing things like this!’

A promise is a promise, so Chloe has to meet Adam and become close to him. No, if she doesn’t do that, she’ll be too frustrated to bear it.

The finance minister just said that we are just students and faculty, but for adult Chloe’s purpose, that relationship needs to change right away. Of course, it would be more efficient to say something during this time of hesitation.

While adult Chloe screamed, Chloe ran to the finance director who was looking around.

“Chloe student? Where on earth did you go───”

“Minister of Finance!”

“Oh, yes?”

Chloe had no experience in dating, and had never felt love, let alone affection for the opposite sex.

Rather, ignorance is bliss. Rather, Chloe was able to get away with it because she knew nothing about love or romance.

Just like right now.

“At the festival!”

“Yes?”

“How about the two of us going together!”

“… … … ?”

Chloe, an adult in her psyche, was driven to the brink of fainting from the hot and straight ball.

Chloe, the one who had done it, was a little embarrassed, but she crossed her arms proudly anyway.

To be honest and objective, Chloe is beautiful, and although not as beautiful as that princess, she has big breasts, and she is the apprentice of the great wizard and a 5th-rank wizard.

If you bring up reasons like faculty and staff, you can somehow force it through using excuses like festival patrols or a short break.

Why would a man who is only handsome like the Minister of Finance refuse this───

“No.”

“… … … Yes? No, why!?”

“I have to work.”

“Ah.”

“How can a faculty member leisurely go to a festival? And he is the former head of the finance department. He probably won’t be able to leave his office for the entire festival.”

“Sorry, sorry… … .”

“If you know, that’s enough.”

Chloe, who had been excited by the rejection without any hesitation and the very reasonable reason, became quiet.

The finance minister sighed when he was teased with, “I’m a student so I’m going to go have fun and watch the festival. Do you want to go too?” while already having a hard time working every day.

Chloe, the adult in my head.

‘… … … … .’

That’s the image of Adam, the finance minister.

quietly.

Very quietly.

He was looking at me with rapt eyes.