episode_0071

“When does the mission start?” “What exactly should we do?” When I asked Professor Alicia a question, the other students, sensing their chance, also asked what they were curious about.

“The mission starts tomorrow. And the specifics will also be revealed tomorrow.” The students showed surprise at the news that the mission would begin tomorrow. Even I was surprised. I never imagined it would start so quickly.

“Since the mission starts tomorrow, just rest comfortably this morning.” Professor Alicia said, “So,” “Loki, you go back to your seat too.”

Having secretly approached Professor Alicia, I dispelled my illusion and revealed myself. “Oh, I’ve been caught.” When I suddenly appeared, the students looked at the desk where I had been sitting. The clone I had created there was vanishing. The students stared at me as if dumbfounded. Tch. I could have succeeded today.

“Then what should we do until lunchtime?” After I returned to my seat, Lucas asked Professor Alicia a question. The other students, also curious, looked at Professor Alicia.

Normally, they would collectively spar with Professor Alicia until an hour before lunchtime. Then, for the remaining hour, they would talk or sit and rest. But today, since they weren’t sparring with Professor Alicia, they had about four hours of free time.

“Just rest. You can read a book. You can chat. You can go to the training grounds and train, or go to the dormitory and sleep. Just don’t cause any trouble.” Lucas, who had asked the question, wore a dumbfounded expression at the incredibly free teaching style. However, he didn’t voice any complaints. He knew that if he expressed any dissatisfaction, he would have to spar with Professor Alicia. Of course, everyone had grown stronger by sparring with Professor Alicia, but… ‘That’s that, but difficult is still difficult.’

Confirming there were no more questions, Professor Alicia walked out of the classroom. “Loki, follow me for a moment.” Professor Alicia said, looking at me before leaving the classroom.

“Hogu, did you mess up again?” “Sepia-ssi, anyone would think I go around causing trouble.” I said that and followed Professor Alicia out of the classroom.

Professor Alicia’s office was in the basement, just like the special class’s, but its location was on the exact opposite side. “Should I carry your attendance book for you?” “Why would you want to carry this?” “Just curious, and also a chance to earn some points.” Professor Alicia let out a chuckle at my words and handed me the attendance book.

“Can I open this once?” “It doesn’t matter if you look. It’s just blank pages anyway.” Hearing Professor Alicia’s words, I opened the attendance book, and indeed, there was nothing but blank pages.

“Then why are you carrying it?” “Idra said that if you’re a professor, you must carry an attendance book.” Professor Alicia said with a serious expression. Neither Professor Idra, who ordered this, nor Professor Alicia, who followed the order, seemed to be in their right mind.

Professor Alicia opened the office door and entered first, and I followed her in. “By the way, why did you call me?” “How many elixirs have you consumed recently?” It was a sudden question, but I figured there must be a reason, so I recalled how many elixirs I had taken.

Two top-grade elixirs received from the Emperor, one high-grade elixir from Professor Idra. And this morning, I consumed a top-grade elixir received from Duke Freya. Looking at it this way, I’ve consumed quite a lot in a short amount of time.

“I’ve consumed three top-grade elixirs and one high-grade elixir.” “You’ve consumed a lot.” Even after hearing “three top-grade elixirs,” Professor Alicia didn’t show any surprise. Well, in Professor Alicia’s lair, there must be mountains of things far better than that.

“Loki, don’t consume any elixirs for a while.” “May I ask why?” I had no elixirs left anyway, but I was curious about the reason, so I asked.

“You know that you shouldn’t keep consuming the same elixir, right?” Of course, I knew that much. Consuming the same elixir repeatedly not only reduces its effectiveness but also has adverse effects on the body.

“But all the elixirs I consumed were different.” There wasn’t a single identical elixir among the ones I had taken.

“I can tell that much just by a glance. But did you consume those elixirs without doing ‘anything’ to them?” I didn’t do nothing. I enhanced the elixirs with my subspace before consuming them.

“Uh… I did enhance the elixirs using a special method before consuming them.” “What exactly is this special method?” Professor Idra told me not to talk about the subspace that can enhance objects placed inside it, but it should be fine to tell Professor Alicia. I explained to Professor Alicia about the myth-grade subspace I possessed.

“So that’s how it was.” Professor Alicia showed a momentary look of surprise upon hearing about the subspace, but immediately explained what the problem was.

“Perhaps by enhancing the elixirs with that unique subspace, they’ve come to possess similar properties.” “Then what should I do?” “Excuse me for a moment.” Professor Alicia poured mana into my body.

“This should do it.” “…That’s it?” “That’s it. Now go and rest.” “…Thank you. Goodbye.” Professor Alicia casually waved her hand towards me as I greeted her and left. I knew it, but dragons really are an overpowered race.

‘What should I do?’ Stepping out of the office, I debated whether to go back to the dormitory and sleep until lunchtime, or spend time talking with the special class students.

* * *

Usually, during the time remaining after sparring with Professor Alicia, students would either quickly go to eat or chat for a bit before heading for their meal. Entering the classroom, I walked towards Lucas, who was saying something to Kuran.

“What are you talking about?” “I was telling Kuran about Phantom Thief Cardinal.” “Earlier, when Professor Alicia asked people to raise their hands, Kuran-ssi raised his hand, didn’t he?”

Professor Alicia had asked those who knew about Phantom Thief Cardinal to raise their hands earlier, and all the students had raised their hands. “He knows about him, but he was curious if he only knew the name. So I was explaining in detail.” “Loki! Why don’t you listen in with us?”

There was probably no one here who knew as much about Phantom Thief Cardinal as I did. “I know Phantom Thief Cardinal well enough, so I’m fine.” “Well then, keep up the good work,” I said, then approached Clara, who was reading a book alone.

The classroom was bustling, but Clara’s red eyes were fixed on her book with intense concentration. “Clara-ssi, what are you planning to do for four hours?” “Why should I tell you that?” “If you don’t tell me, I’ll keep talking to you from beside you, is that okay?”

“Haa…” Clara sighed once and then looked at me as she spoke. Her red eyes held a feeling of annoyance, but if she truly disliked it, she would have told me not to talk to her in the first place.

“I’ll finish reading this, then go to the library. Is that good enough?” “Now that you mention it, I’ve never been to the library. What’s the library like?” “It’s just a normal library.” “Maybe I should go to the library once too?”

Clara, upon hearing my words, looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, ‘You?’ “You know you have to be quiet in the library, right?” “What do you take me for! Of course, I know that much. Though I’m not confident I can keep it.”

After that, I continued to chat briefly with Clara. At first, she only answered while looking at her book, but later, she closed her book and conversed with me. Having finished my conversation with Clara, my steps turned towards Sepia, who was getting ready to leave.

“Sepia-ssi, where are you going?” “The spirits have been sensing something strange nearby since a while ago, so I’m going to check it out.” Oh. Is she getting it now? This wasn’t a problem I could particularly help with.

“By the way, why did the professor call you earlier?” “She said the attendance book was heavy and asked me to carry it for her.” “Ugh… Alright, I’ll be back then.” “Please be careful.” “It’s just inside the academy, what’s there to be careful about?” “There’s no harm in being careful.”

After Sepia also left the classroom with her spirits. This time, Lucas approached me. “Kuran-ssi, Ren-ssi, and Frederic-ssi disappeared in the meantime, didn’t they?” Ren is the name of the muscular priest.

“Ren and Kuran took Frederic to go exercise.” I pictured Frederic being dragged off to exercise by Ren and Kuran. Perhaps because they taught him well, Frederic’s posture, which was always hunched, had improved a little.

‘I have nothing else to do now, so maybe I should just go to the dormitory and take a nap.’ Just then, Lucas made me a suggestion. “Loki, if you have nothing to do, do you want to roam around the academy with me?” Honestly, it wasn’t a very appealing offer, but an interesting idea popped into my head.

“Oh? So you mean we should comfortably eat snacks and watch while other students diligently attend their classes?” “I didn’t say it like *that*…” “While others are listening to the professor’s lecture with sleepy eyes, we just laugh at them and show them our freedom, right?” “Hmph…”

Originally, I had planned to sleep in the dormitory to see if I’d have nightmares… “That’s not bad. Let’s go right now.” “…Okay.” This seems more fun.