episode_0046

A month passed by in an instant.

To be exact, I was just working like crazy and before I knew it, the festival was right in front of me.

Although the festival is still two days away, the streets are packed with students. Merchants are selling all sorts of goods, and parents and visitors are arriving early and staying in dormitories prepared separately.

There’s a little parade, excited students duel in a fit of rage, magic explodes everywhere, security is called out, buildings collapse, the academy falls apart, fuck.

It was such a financially miserable sight that I drew the curtains.

“After… … .”

In the darkened office with the blackout curtains drawn.

Instead of looking at that crap called the festival budget, I checked the report one last time.

A report that is the most important document kept at the Grandis Academy and is marked as being treated as top secret.

It has the names of the chairman, me, and Circe in it.

There was a desperate plan prepared to stop this festival.

‘I’ve done everything I had to do.’

For the past month, we have been busy preparing for the problems that would arise if the festival were to last only one or two days and then be halted.

Add a little more hair loss agent to Circe’s study to have enough quantity.

Instead of including a clause in the contract that says, “If the festival is canceled during the festival for unavoidable reasons, you will be refunded,” for supplies purchased for a week’s worth, we bought them a little more expensively.

The dormitories where visitors stay are located as close to the entrance as possible to make evacuation as easy as possible.

The hair-loss agent is prepared as a substance that evaporates quickly and has a weak effect, but is effective for at least a day when exposed to the wind.

Oh, and I even put up a wall around Circe’s lab under the pretense of research to prepare for physical protests and complaints from Circe.

In addition, we have prepared countermeasures for various other problems.

Now all that remains is.

Kwak.

It’s just a blast.

“… … Finance Minister? Why is the room so dark? Why are your fists clenched so hard?”

“Nothing. By the way, Mr. Chairman, what’s going on? If it’s the final report on the festival, I think it was just uploaded. ”

“Ahem! Well, even if it’s the final report, it’s something you already know. Including that, I’ve finished all the work.”

The chairman came in without knocking and without any manners, and slowly approached me with a cold expression that did not match his age.

What is it? I feel a strange sense of pressure.

“Well, the festival ends on the second day, right?”

“Students who are prepared to lose their hair will enjoy it more.”

“There’s no way there’s a student like that. Anyway, um.”

The chairman may be done with his work, but I still have some more to say, so if you have anything to say, please say it quickly.

Or maybe not?

“You keep twisting your body. Are you doing any gift trading again?”

“That can’t be true! That’s not what I wanted to say… … .”

Then what is it?

But since he’s my boss and I have to work, is it right to ask him to leave or should I just tell him to get lost?

Maybe it was because I stayed up all night for the third day, but my head didn’t seem to be working well.

Anyway, I was about to tell him to leave me alone since I had to work overtime for two more days until the festival.

“Hey, Minister of Finance!”

“Oh, that’s surprising. Why are you doing that?”

“Hey, do you want to go to the festival with me!?”

……hmm?

I think I heard this a month ago.

What more than that?

“Chairman, just because it’s a festival doesn’t mean we can play like students. Rather, we’ll be busier. What───”

“If it’s work, I’ve done it!”

“… … … Yes?”

“I took care of about half of the work assigned to the finance director, and the rest was appropriately assigned to other departments!”

“… … … .”

therefore.

Are you saying that you secretly gave your work to other faculty and staff, little by little?

Chairman, is she a newbie?

“At least I can get off work today! Of course I’ll have to work on the day of the festival too… …Considering the usual speed of the finance manager’s work, I’ll probably have time around dinnertime.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t hear a single word of gossip. All that was left in my mind was that I could leave work today.

So you’re saying you can sleep? Not in short bursts of 10 or 20 minutes, but in deep sleep for more than 3 hours?

Chairman, is she a newbie? Didn’t you think about this earlier?

“Well, if you give me some time… … … .”

“Let’s go.”

“Minister of Finance… … !!”

“It’s okay if you have time.”

It’s not something I should say, as someone who tried to get rid of festivals, but if I wasn’t working, I would enjoy the festivals to the fullest.

It was a festival I hadn’t been able to properly enjoy during my three years at the academy. It was ironic that I was only able to properly attend it for the first time after becoming a faculty member.

“Really? You’re not joking, are you? You’re serious!?”

“Did you see me lying?”

“… … too much.”

“Then not this time.”

“Anyway, I promised!”

Why are you so happy about going to a festival for just a little while?

… … But if you think about it, that makes sense.

‘Because there’s no one else the chairman can be comfortable with besides me.’

The chairman is someone who has watched dozens of festivals over the past few decades. If he wanted to, he could go around alone and hide his identity.

But isn’t it much more fun to go to a festival with others rather than alone?

In that sense, there is no one who can go to festivals with the chairman. The only one who has time is the head of the academic affairs department, who treats the chairman like a god, and the other department head-level faculty members have a hard time with the chairman.

As he has the image of being an iron man and a dictator, it goes without saying that the chairman cannot appear comfortable in front of them.

Because I was the only one who could talk and walk around with such ease.

‘I was so busy last year that I couldn’t even think about having a festival.’

Perhaps this year will be the ‘first’ festival that the Chairman will truly enjoy.

Thinking about it that way, I suddenly felt sorry. How old is the chairman?

He immediately put his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes seemed to turn red.

“It’s okay, Chairman. Can’t we just have fun from now on?”

“Minister of Finance… … ? Why are you suddenly raising your hand?”

“I understand everything. Let’s definitely go see the festival.”

“Uh… … ?”

How would the chairman feel about having to ask a young kid who was more than six times his age to go to the festival? It would be like asking a three or four year old child to go with me.

It feels like the Confucian spirit is awakening for the first time in a long time. Of course, we should respect the elderly.

It’s like a grandmother asking her grandson to go to a senior citizen’s party together. I guess I was just thinking too much about work.

Now, let’s stop counting them as gift trades… … Let’s not do that. That’s unforgivable even at my age. Since I blew two years’ worth of budget, it’s only fair that I cry for the next two years.

Anyway, whatever.

“I look forward to the festival, Chairman.”

“Yes!”

so.

Can I really leave work now… …?

*

“Is this right?”

Chloe looked up at the sky, mumbling to herself the words she had already muttered a hundred times.

This would normally be a scene you would see in a private dormitory room or training room.

It’s a little different now.

Kookookookook!!

“There! Build it that way! Tilt it a little more!”

“The space between these stalls is narrow, so it needs to be widened a bit… … … .”

“Move the materials quickly!”

“… … … … .”

A construction site filled with dust, sweaty old men, and piles of materials like logs and rocks.

Chloe was right there.

‘… … I thought I could just slowly approach him from the side since I was asked for help by the Minister of Finance.’

A month ago, my request for a festival date was rejected for a reasonable reason.

Chloe, who had thought that they would gradually become closer as they worked together, was faced with reality right away.

──Yes? Are you sure? From now on, you can go to the construction site over there.

──Me? I have to take care of some paperwork in the office. Aren’t we supposed to do it together? How do you get students to take care of internal documents at the Academy?

──Don’t worry. If you’re a Chloe student, you’ll definitely do great. You’ll get volunteer points, and even a small scholarship!

Come to think of it, the Minister of Finance only asked for help, not said, “Let’s do it together.”

Rather than sending the paperwork that anyone could do, he sent Chloe, a sorceress, to a place that needed her.

Right here on this construction site.

“Hey, Mr. Class! Move some stuff over here!”

“… … Yes, yes.”

“As expected, you’re a student at Grandis Academy!”

Move, assemble, trim, or secure heavy materials using magic.

It’s not like there weren’t any wizards among the workers in the Carpenters’ Guild, but there couldn’t be a wizard on Chloe’s level.

The only problem was that she had no experience, but that wasn’t a big deal since she worked for a month straight. Since it wasn’t about building proper buildings in the first place, but rather building and installing festival stands and temporary performance venues, Chloe was able to adapt easily.

At first, the workers who treated her with difficulty now jokingly called Chloe “Cassie.”

Of course, Chloe’s personality would not allow such a joke.

‘Hold on, hold on.’

If something happens here, it will reach the ears of the Minister of Finance.

Chloe desperately held back, even if it was just for the sake of dealing with adult Chloe.

‘Yeah, you’re holding up well.’

‘Please don’t make this any more hot!?’

‘Have you forgotten everything you learned from me?’

‘… … … That’s why I’m enduring it like this.’

Moreover, over the past month, adult Chloe has kept her promise. She promised to teach Chloe magic.

She wasn’t a genius, and her talent was nothing more than a talent itself, but the lectures given by her ‘future self’ were different.

This is the future where Chloe, who is also a gifted student, has reached level 7. Naturally, she must know the learning methods and enlightenment that are perfect for ‘Chloe Pisty’.

It’s like driving on a mountain path that no one knows about until now, and then suddenly you’re driving on a road that someone has already paved.

Following him, Chloe’s level had increased significantly in just one month.

‘If we continue like this for another year… … .’

‘It’ll probably be able to go over 6th grade. Multi-casting will also be possible.’

‘This is crazy.’

Grade 6. I thought I would have to hang on for at least 10 more years after graduating from the academy, let alone one year.

That’s a great achievement. Rather, if you can reach level 6 in about 10 years, it’s an incredibly fast speed even by the standards of the Imperial Tower.

That 6th grade is just one year away.

… … Ruth Spero came to mind again.

‘If that guy hadn’t regressed, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of reaching level 6, right?’

‘The Ruth Spero I know was a perennial last-grader. She was a fourth-grader when she graduated.’

‘Regression… … It’s amazing.’

If learning from your future self is this much, what would it be like if your future self returned to the past?

Chloe Pisty, who is currently at the end of the 7th rank, is currently attending the Academy. At that level, it is not the Academy that is the problem, but the Imperial Tower that will be turned upside down.

To be honest, aside from her master, the Archmage, it was safe to say that there was no wizard stronger than adult Chloe in the Magic Tower.

‘Rather than that, are you not going to tell me in the end?’

‘what?’

‘That happened in the future. Even if you’re the Treasury Secretary, you seem to be quite close with Ruth Spero.’

‘… … If you know, then you know each other.’

‘What on earth happened?’

According to adult Chloe, she was beheaded by the Dark Sword. It was Ruth Spero’s doing.

Just hearing that, you might wonder if Ruth Spero suddenly went crazy and killed her, or if she had a good reason to do so, if they had a grudge against each other, or if it was an accident.

Also, why did you like the Finance Minister so much? You had been hanging out together for several years, so why didn’t you go back to the Tower and hang out with the Finance Minister? What was the reason you hung out together in the first place?

Chloe was curious about all of that.

‘I already told you. I could tell you everything, but it wouldn’t be good for you.’

‘… … … … .’

‘You and I are the same Chloe Pistigo, with only a few differences. We didn’t have a proper regression like that kid, but rather met through tricks and coincidences. Naturally, there were bound to be problems.’

‘Are you saying that my mind is being eaten up by that problem?’

‘To be exact, it’s assimilation. I keep emphasizing it, but think about it endlessly. You and I are clearly the same, but in the end, we’re different beings.’

‘eww.’

In the end, adult Chloe and Chloe are essentially the same being. In the first place, it is impossible for them to exist as different mental bodies.

When I saw adult Chloe’s ugly appearance, I thought that she was different from me, but if I really don’t continue to think that way, adult Chloe and Chloe will become one.

The problem is that there are two ‘me’s’ in the same time zone. Adult Chloe noticed this within a month and warned Chloe.

We need to think of ‘adult Chloe’ and ‘present Chloe’ as separate entities, and we shouldn’t ask about the future any more.

Even if it is the future, it is ultimately the future that adult Chloe experienced. The more Chloe learns about it, the closer she becomes to adult Chloe mentally.

And then eventually.

‘You’re losing your mind to me. You’re too immature right now.’

‘I’m getting annoyed for no reason.’

‘Even if that happens, there is a gap between the body and the mind, so I will disappear soon as well. In the end, only your body, now an idiot, will remain.’

‘It’s horrible.’

‘If you don’t like it, don’t ask any more and just train. The higher your level, the harder it will be for you to assimilate when I tell you about the future.’

‘… … I know.’

The conclusion is simple. Just like adult Chloe, the current Chloe needs to go beyond level 6, and reach level 7, and even level 8, just to reach the end.

But is that easy to say? Of the countless people on the continent, only a very small number have reached rank 7, let alone rank 8.

Above all else.

‘But how can you change the future if you don’t know about it?’

‘I’m not asking for much. At least the future I experienced shouldn’t be repeated exactly.’

‘Hey, you want me to stop the chairman and the finance director from dating?’

‘That’s the goal, for now. But I don’t know how the future will unfold.’

‘That’s why I asked you to tell me about the future so I could do better. My head hurts.’

Chloe sighed, still using her magic to trim the material with one hand.

Now, this level of multitasking is familiar. You have to get used to doing multiple tasks or thinking at the same time to reach the realm of multi-casting.

Chloe was fiddling with the materials while talking to the adult Chloe in her head.

“… … … Huh?”

I turned my head towards the female student running hurriedly somewhere next to the construction site.

I’m just an ordinary, ordinary school girl. Why is that?

‘what?’

From that female student.

There was a very slight but strange magic hovering around.

like.

‘Like a dark sword?’

‘Yeah, that’s it!’

That day, Ruth Spero, disguised as a villain, was holding.

… … The magical power of that ominous sword.