episode_0049

The hair-loss agent prepared for the plan was a liquid, not very effective, but quickly evaporated.

It could be an excuse to cancel the festival, but at the same time, it shouldn’t cause too much damage due to the hair loss agent. So I chose something that was a little less effective, and it would be easier to deal with.

If it had spread widely in the air, it would have all been blown away by the wind in just two days.

At this point, when they were all concentrated inside the building, the effect was weak and it had no meaning.

“Ugh, the view… … .”

“Chloe student. I know you know this, but I have a few things to warn you about. First of all, fire magic is prohibited. ”

“Is it because of the risk of explosion?”

“That’s true, but as you know, magic barriers don’t block out all air, right?”

Right now, they are holding out by magically blocking doors and windows.

What if you use something like fire magic inside to further vaporize the hair-loss agent that’s still in liquid form or floating in the air? What if that causes the hair-loss agent to leak out of the building?

Something like a quick turnaround is a piece of cake.

“If possible, please use magic that focuses on shock and cutting. Also, please do not damage the lab walls arbitrarily due to the risk of secondary collapse.”

“Uh… … .”

“Lastly, when you use magic, please tell me first and then use it. A magic student like Chloe can detect the signs of magic and hide it, but I am a first-class.”

“, I will keep that in mind.”

what.

Aren’t you a 5th-grade wizard? How come you don’t know this?

When I looked at Chloe with a slightly questioning look, she smiled awkwardly.

“Actually, this is my first time experiencing something like this… … I feel reassured because the Finance Director is here.”

“… … Ah.”

Right. Normally, students don’t go into a collapsing building to inspect the damage or make estimates, right?

I was so used to going into these collapsed buildings every day.

Even though he is a colleague from the original and a disciple of the great wizard, he is still just a student.

“Does the Minister of Finance have a lot of experience like this?”

“I guess so. I usually go in with the test administrator or security guards, so this is my first time going in with a student.”

“Hey, is this your first time?”

“Yes… … … Chloe student?”

“Yes!?”

“Why are you twisting your body like that?”

“This is not my will… … !! Oh, no. I’m sorry. I won’t do that… … … .”

“This is the building where an explosion and spill just occurred. Don’t let your guard down.”

There is no danger as I am accompanied by Chloe, a 5th-grade magician, the chairman is outside, and the defensive magic cast by the dean and professors is stacked.

Still, if there were any further collapses here, the repair costs would be even higher. I urged Chloe to be careful, and walked into the hallway of the lab that was smoky due to the hair loss agent.

“Cough, cough. It’s hard to breathe.”

“It certainly seems like a significant amount.”

At this point, it’s impossible to distinguish between visions? The medicine must have been green, because it’s filled with green vapor.

That’s not a big problem though.

Swish.

“Hey, Finance Minister!? What are you doing… … ?”

“Chloe, please also take a prone position. We will continue forward like this.”

Ah, this is called a ‘prone posture’. It’s a gesture to avoid toxic gases at a fire scene.

Hair loss agent vapors are not toxic to life, but they are toxic to hair and can make breathing difficult.

There is a method called purification magic, but even if you purify the steam in front of your eyes, it will just fill up again right away. Purification magic itself was synonymous with inefficient magic to begin with.

Still, thanks to the protective magic wrapped around my entire body, my elbows probably wouldn’t get scratched.

“Didn’t you learn it in the Academy theory class? Please do it quickly.”

“Yes… … … .”

Above all, this is not my own knowledge. Of course, it is common sense in this world that you should lower your body when a fire breaks out.

But the current situation is so unique… … and the pose is a bit awkward. Chloe is still a sensitive school girl and she’s wearing a skirt, so that’s a bonus.

Odd. Odd.

As you advance in a prone position, there is no room for conversation, and you just focus on moving your arms and legs.

I occasionally looked back to see if I was following along properly, and every time I did, Chloe would make an expression like, “Is this the right thing?” and nothing else.

Anyway, I opened up so many doors and paths and went in.

“The entrance to the underground lab is over there… … but it’s already serious.”

“Oh my god.”

The entrance to the underground laboratory that I had seen in the blueprints was visible, but inside the wide open basement door, green steam was rising.

Every time I opened the door on my way here, steam would burst out like an explosion, and it was all coming from there.

With that much steam, it’s the same whether you go crawling or standing up. I gestured to Chloe, who seemed at a loss for words.

“Chloe, let’s get right into it.”

“Chief of Finance? Look at that steam! It’s all hair loss medicine! I can’t even see in front of me… !!”

“We came here to get inside. The entire above-ground lab is filled with steam, so you probably guessed it already, right?”

“That may be true… …But still… … … .”

It is certainly a visual that is a bit burdensome to enter. Even if you cast purification magic and defensive magic, it is even more so because you are essentially entering the vapor of a hair loss agent.

That’s why I never got annoyed or anything with Chloe for hesitating.

To begin with, Chloe is just a student. She’s not a professor or a staff member, so it’s amazing that she volunteered to come here.

Isn’t this something that salaried workers should do?

“Chloe, you can just wait here.”

“Yes… … ?”

“First, I will go into the underground lab and assess the situation. Then, if I think I need Chloe’s assistance, I will call you back. What do you think?”

“… … … … .”

Thinking back, it’s a shame that there wasn’t a single bald person among the professors. When I looked at the budget planning meeting, there were quite a few bald professors in the magic field, but it couldn’t be helped since only a few professors who were nearby when the lab exploded gathered.

Anyway, the ones I should be irritated with are the professors who were hiding outside. I should use this incident as an excuse to increase the salary of magic professors.

I don’t have any lofty mission or sense of responsibility as a faculty member, but I do have basic professional ethics.

No matter how strong she is, Chloe is still a student, and I am the head of the finance department.

It is our job to manage, operate, guard and run the Academy, not the students.

I’m not special. This is common sense that any faculty member should have.

Of course, if I said it literally, Chloe would probably object and say she would follow along.

“Isn’t it inefficient for both of us to go in first? I’ll go in first and see, and if it’s possible to solve it, I’ll solve it. If we need a wizard, we can call Chloe student then.”

“… … Minister of Finance.”

“Then, please wait.”

I made up a reasonable excuse and reason for the story. Something could happen to me when Chloe isn’t around, but it won’t happen as long as the chairman is outside.

After checking the communication tools I brought with me, I immediately enter the underground laboratory.

Phew!

My vision was obscured by green vapor. Maybe it was because I knew it was a hair-loss agent, but I was more concerned about my hair than about my breathing.

However, the compensation and penalty fees are more frightening than the hair.

… … I checked the hair here and there just in case, and there was nothing missing. Magic is divine and invincible, really.

I barely made my way down the stairs, unable to see even an inch ahead, while thinking about the floor plan of the underground laboratory.

The culprit behind this incident was quickly revealed.

‘That’s it.’

At first glance, it looks like a complex magical tool has exploded and been completely destroyed.

I remember because I personally paid for Circe’s research expenses. I think it was a component analyzer or something.

What happened when they put a hair loss agent in here and analyzed its ingredients? There was broken debris scattered all over the underground laboratory.

So it was more questionable.

‘Why on earth did it explode?’

Testing hair loss-causing agents? It was originally part of the research for hair loss medication development. This plan was simply to deliberately order a lot of hair loss-causing agents that were also used in the original research.

Even though she had not yet recovered from her downgrade, Circe was still a genius and a seasoned magician. It was hard to imagine that she would make a mistake while operating such a device.

‘Did you get distracted while you were studying?’

Even though she’s a bitch who’s been eating up the academy as usual, she’s still a researcher and a professor. She must have known that she shouldn’t have idle thoughts while operating these magical tools, so why?

Why is that, when no one has forcibly inserted random thoughts or ideas into it?

Anyway, there’s no answer to worrying about here. I approached the shadow lying near the exploded component analyzer.

Of course, it was Professor Circe.

‘Did you faint?’

match!

‘I fainted.’

Even though I slapped his cheek lightly with my own motive, he didn’t wake up. It hadn’t even been five minutes since the accident, so it seemed like he had passed out from the shock of the explosion.

Given Circe’s personality, if she had blown it up on purpose, she probably wouldn’t have fainted or anything. Was this really a mistake?

As I roughly supported Circe, a clump of her hair fell out… … … It seemed like a mistake. Hmm.

The problem is more with the component analyzer.

‘Looking at the size, it looks like it contains all the hair loss-causing agents.’

The heat from the explosion and probably some other magical action I don’t know about is causing the hair loss agent inside to constantly vaporize.

Of course, it was something I, a first-class person, couldn’t handle on my own.

‘I have to tell Chloe to come down.’

Didn’t I say earlier that this kind of thing should be done by the faculty and staff? I’ve already done my best.

First, I came down and proved that even in the vapor of a hair loss agent, it was okay to use defensive magic, and I saved Circe and figured out the cause of the incident.

Now all that remains is to resolve the cause, but this is impossible for me, a first-class faculty member and such.

The moment I came to a conclusion and was about to call Chloe without hesitation.

“… … Adam.”

“Chloe, did you follow me right away?”

“… … … Yes.”

Chloe appeared with perfect timing, cutting through the green vapor. For some reason, she seemed to be glaring sharply at Circe, who I was supporting.

The atmosphere and tone of voice seem a little different than before. Didn’t you just call me Adam instead of the Finance Director?

Of course, solving this was a priority rather than asking about that again, so I pointed straight to the component analyzer.

“Please do that.”

“… … Leave it to me.”

[Jade Chain]

Oh, Jade Chain. I know that magic too.

Since I could only choose one of Beatrice and Chloe as my companion, I asked around in the strategy community and everyone said to choose Chloe. So I chose Beatrice.

Of course I thought it was a lie to tease newbies. Looking back, I see that there were a lot of people who advised me to bring Chloe as a companion because of that [Ok-sae-Bop-bak].

So, it’s probably a magic where chains rise from the ground and bind you.

But why don’t we just capture the component analyzer and seal it entirely?──

Crunch.

“Huh?”

Clink clink clink clink clink!!

What is it?

Wasn’t this originally a magic that would produce five or six chains? Why are dozens of chains forming a net that wraps around the component analyzer to the point where it’s completely invisible?

Even that thing ‘captured’ a vapor that originally had no form. Shouldn’t you be at least level 7 to interfere with concepts with magic?

“Chloe student?”

“… … … Huh?”

“That’s… …not true.”

Well, it’s good to be good. After all, I’ve only read about magic in books, but Chloe, the magician herself, must know a lot about it.

Above all, the idea that Chloe was a 7th-grade was ridiculous. She was actually a 7th-grade, but was hiding her power as a 5th-grade? Given her personality, Chloe would have already turned the Imperial Tower upside down without even needing to come to Grandis Academy.

Perhaps it was a specially strengthened magic or a scroll from the great wizard’s master.

Whatever the process, the cause was stopped and Circe was saved.

Everything is resolved… …but.

“Now these vapors are the problem.”

“Should I get rid of it with purification magic…? ”

“Isn’t it because it’s impossible to remove all of this with purification magic that the professors just built a barrier outside?”

This is because the purification magic itself is extremely inefficient. To purify all the steam that fills this large research building, it would take a great wizard, no joke. It’s not a matter of the wizard’s skill or rank, but of the amount of magical power.

And why bother purifying it?

“We’ve saved Professor Circe, and we’ve figured out the cause and taken action, so now it’s time to take the easy way out.”

“Easy way?”

“Here, we use the name of the chairman.”

Click.

I just took out my communication tool. Now, all I have to do is call the chairman and say, ‘Do it.’

If the chairman has the power, he can not only blow away the steam but completely annihilate it.

Now that I’ve confirmed that it’s okay to blow it, I just need to say one word───

“No.”

“… … Chloe student?”

“You don’t have to contact me… …that’s okay.”

Chloe grabbed my wrist as I tried to contact her.

He glared at the magic tool with cold, sunken eyes, then took a deep breath.

“Leave it to me… … … ”

“Yes?”

But even so, Chloe isn’t really a level 7, and it’s impossible for her to purify all the hair loss agents in this building.

In this case, it would be better to call a church, why on earth…

[purification]

“… … Huh?”

[Purification][Purification][Purification]

[Purification][Purification][Purification][Purification][Purification]

Phew!!

A bright light surged out from around Chloe. It was a wave of light created not by one, but by dozens of [Purification] spells.

Purification magic is a magic that is extremely inefficient, even to a non-magician like me.

[Glow] A magic that wizards must learn along with magic, but cannot actually use well.

But why do we use this so much?

‘Even if I use up all my magical power, I won’t be able to purify even half of it?’

As if to mock my thoughts.

Chloe’s body was overflowing with magical power that even I, a first-class person, could sense.

Even after using purification magic dozens of times, there are still dozens more left to use.

It was an incredibly vast amount of magical power that was hard to believe a 5th grader possessed.

[purification]

“Hoo… … Hoo… … … .”

” and.”

How many minutes had passed like that? In just five minutes, the vapors of the hair-loss agent that had filled the basement had long since been purified and disappeared.

Only Chloe and I, who looked extremely exhausted, and Circe, whose hair was still falling out, remained.

Even the [Ok-sae-po-bak] that was used in the first ingredient analyzer was still there.

“Student Chloe, what the heck is this… … ?”

“… … … … .”

Are you a 5th grader? Are you really a 7th grader and just breathing heavily?

If it was going to be like this, then there was no need to come into the lab, right?

‘… … That’s right. I had to seal the component analyzer.’

If not, no matter how much Chloe purified herself, she would have continued to spit out steam.

Anyway, no matter how you look at it, Chloe has become much stronger than she was in .

‘Well, it’s too late now.’

To begin with, it’s somewhat surprising that the main character wasn’t a perennial last-place student, but entered school in 6th place.

The main character is also a 6th level, so Chloe could be stronger than before.

Anyway, I was about to approach Chloe because I had accomplished something great.

“… … … help.”

“Yes?”

“Chairman… … I think it was more helpful… … than you? ”

The chairman suddenly appears here?

Well, whatever.

“Of course. After all, she’s Chloe!”

“… … … So.”

“Student?”

“Please rely on me in the future too… ”

“… … student.”

oh my god.

So, are you saying that now, advanced personnel, who may be grade 6 or 7, rather than grade 5, are volunteering to become a labor force?

Let’s keep quiet here because if you ask if it’s free, you can withdraw it.

‘By the way.’

As expected, magic is amazing.

I think I’m used to it now, but every time I see this sight, I just sigh at my incompetence.

If it had been 3rd class, or even 2nd class, it would have been much better than it is now.

When I think about how I, a so-called adult, am receiving help from Chloe and Beatrice… … … I should say I feel a little ashamed of myself.

In , where each individual’s power is clear, the part about being ranked 1st was quite painful.

‘Do I really need strength?’

Should I really look for a Dark Sword? The strategy community said it was Tier 1 in terms of performance.

First, I supported Chloe, who was about to collapse. It seemed like she was on the verge of fainting, as if the dozens of [Purification] spells from earlier were definitely a burden.

“Thank you for your hard work, Chloe.”

“… … … Adam.”

No, that’s right.

Why are you calling me by my name…?