Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Chairman's Resolve
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Clip-clop, clip-clop.
The road to Asion Academy was just as pleasant as last time.
Unlike ordinary carriages, the jolts were minimized.
With this level of comfort, the horses must have received proper training.
"Ooooh! So this is a carriage...!"
Thompson, too, was amazed by the ride and kept letting out exclamations.
"The seats are spacious, the ride is smooth... As expected, Asion Academy is on another level even with their carriages!"
"Ah, so you've ridden other carriages before?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course not. Why would I waste money when I've got two perfectly good legs?"
"......"
But why did he have to say it like that?
What he just said sounded like something from someone who'd ridden carriages dozens of times.
'Well, it is true that this carriage is wider than most.'
Even sitting side by side with Thompson, who was twice the size of an average person, there was still room left—proof enough of its spaciousness.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
How much would a carriage like this cost?
'I have no idea... but it must be well over thousands of gold coins.'
That conclusion naturally shifted my thoughts to the academy chairman who had so generously given it to me.
'Asion Gail.'
A magic genius who reached the 8th circle at the young age of thirty, the creator of body transformation magic.
And the current chairman of Asion Academy, the pinnacle of magical education.
That was all the information I had on Asion Gail.
Right after forming a party with Barundel, I'd dug through old newspapers and found it easily, but I couldn't be sure how accurate it was.
Whether in my old world or this one, public information wasn't something to take at face value.
Anyway.
'Such a big shot is after me?'
Asion Gail had gone so far as to shower me with gifts just to get me to enroll in the academy.
There had to be a solid reason for his actions.
'......Talent recruitment, he said.'
Talent recruitment.
That was his answer when I asked why he was going to such lengths to enroll me.
A surprisingly simple reason.
Of course, I couldn't take it at face value.
But.
"What if it's true?"
What exactly had he seen in me?
Potential as a fellow genius?
My incredible mana recovery speed?
Or maybe, when I first manifested the Sword of Light, my [Essence of Light] had been exposed.
Even though I'd attempted the fusion in a blinded space, it was ultimately created under Asion Gail's guidance.
I couldn't rule out the possibility that he had ways to monitor that space.
My thoughts had reached that point when.
"What's true, Number One?"
Thompson, who had been gazing out the window, suddenly asked.
'Ah.'
I'd accidentally voiced my inner thoughts.
There was no real reason to hide it, so I decided to just come clean.
"I was thinking about why the Asion Academy chairman wants me to enroll there. He said it was for talent recruitment..."
I was about to continue when.
"What? What did you just say?"
Thompson's eyes went wide as he interrupted.
"You're enrolling where?"
"Asion Academy."
"Number One, you're going to be a student there...?"
"Ah, yeah."
Come to think of it, I'd only mentioned receiving the carriage—I hadn't told him I'd actually enrolled.
No wonder Thompson was shocked.
"How...? How the hell did you get in?"
"It was kind of like being scouted."
"Then why haven't you been attending? Was it... vacation or something?"
"Nah, the chairman told me I could come whenever I felt like it. If it weren't for that special treatment, I probably wouldn't have enrolled."
"Ah...... Special treatment. I see how it is. Heh, heheheh..."
Thompson laughed awkwardly.
He was trying to hide it, but he didn't look too happy.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah...... Did I not manage my expression well? Sorry if it bothered you. No bad intentions."
"I don't mind at all, so just tell me."
"Well, you see..."
Thompson lowered his head and spoke in a much quieter voice.
"The truth is, I was planning to stick with you all the way to the end, Number One... No matter where you went."
"And?"
"Hearing you're enrolling in Asion Academy made me think maybe I can't do that anymore... Ah, of course, I'm not saying I don't congratulate you."
"I don't get it. What does enrolling have to do with anything?"
"Anyone can see you're way more talented in magic than I am. We're both mages, but our talents are on different levels. And now with academy enrollment on top of that, the gap's only gonna widen from here, and then..."
Now I got it. What this guy was thinking.
"I'll just be dead weight?"
"Exactly. We might not be able to adventure together later. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I'm dead weight now."
Thompson drooped his head again, looking dejected.
He seemed deeply troubled by the skill gap.
"'Even now'...... Did he feel the gap during this hunt, too?'
It seemed likely from the context.
But me? Well, I'm not sure.
I'd been focused on the hunt, never really gauged how much stronger I was compared to my companions.
Of course, it was true my magic skills had been skyrocketing lately.
Thanks to the [Prodigy of Magic] trait.
- Magic learning speed increases by 300%.
Anything magic-related, I pick up even brand-new spells quickly, and the more I use them, the better I get day by day.
With effects like that, it was entirely possible for Thompson to already feel the gap.
And it wasn't just Thompson.
My other companions might be having the same worries.
They just hadn't said anything.
'Yeah, I need to take some measures to close the growth gap.'
Right now, the difference wasn't that big, so no major issue.
But looking ahead? Totally different story.
As Thompson said, everyone has different talents and growth rates.
Unless my companions awakened mythic traits like mine, the gap would only keep widening.
And mythic traits aren't something you get through effort alone.
You need luck. Like when I coincidentally faced Baal and evolved my [Essence of Light].
Of course, the trait's innate potential has to be there too, and who knows when or how that luck will strike.
Therefore—.
"Just trust me, big guy."
The best we could do right now was one thing.
***
A warm afternoon sun shone down.
"Mm, nice, very nice."
Chairman Asion Gail was basking in the sunlight, leisurely enjoying tea time.
Then.
Bang!
"Chairman!"
Someone shattered that leisure.
Asion Gail scowled and turned his chair.
"Who is it? Barging in without manners like this?"
As expected of an academy chairman, just revealing his displeasure sent out an aura of heavy dignity.
But.
"Enough with the weird act already, please!"
"......Urgh."
Dignity didn't always work.
What mattered was the image you'd built up over time.
And that image could crumble in an instant, no matter how carefully cultivated.
Just like Asion Gail's now.
"I've been too lenient with discipline. I should've realized sooner that too much comfort isn't always good. Back in the old days, surely..."
"That's not the point right now!"
Thud.
Asion Gail set down his coffee cup with a dissatisfied face as his secretary cut him off again.
"......What the hell is it? Why the fuss?"
He'd hear it out first, and if it was nothing, he'd unveil his hidden side for the first time in a while.
The form from his youth that earned him the moniker 'Lion of Glory.'
'That should change your attitude a bit. You rude bastard with less manners than a rat's shit.'
However.
"Yoo Han just arrived at the academy."
"What?"
Those thoughts vanished the moment he heard.
"Who came?"
"The student you've been hounding every day, sir. Yoo Han."
Crash! Splatter.
At those words, Asion Gail shot up from his seat.
He stood too hastily and knocked the desk, spilling coffee, but he didn't notice a thing.
"Where? Tell me the exact location!"
"He's touring the lecture halls right now with some outsider."
Without a word, Asion Gail bolted out of the chairman's office.
The man who always acted composed to maintain authority ran like a starving beast.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
His large build made even his footsteps boom.
There seemed to be anger in his stride.
No, there was anger.
'......Daring to say you'd enroll and then not show your face?'
The night Yoo Han enrolled at the academy.
Asion Gail couldn't sleep a wink.
His mind was filled with thoughts of what to teach him.
From unraveling knotted mana circuits to advanced mana theory, body transformation magic, methods to boost concentration via the subconscious, and more.
So many ideas, he eventually decided:
Teach him everything he could handle, without holding back.
But then.
-Ah...... He didn't come? Well, that's fine. Let me know when he shows up, even if late.
One day passed.
-What? Not today either...? Must have a packed schedule.
Two days.
-......Did something happen?
Three days, and still.
No sign of Yoo Han at the academy.
By the time a week had passed.
Asion Gail reached a firm conclusion.
'I got backstabbed.'
The guy had taken all the gifts and betrayed him.
What else could explain not showing up once in over a week?
And this wasn't just any academy.
Asion Academy—the dream of every mage, the top magical institution in Asteron!
To get in and then go silent...
'He never intended to enroll in the first place.'
That hypothesis solidified.
Grit!
Asion Gail's jaw clenched, teeth grinding audibly.
'There he is.'
Whatever changed his mind, the thief had come on his own two feet.
Asion Gail resolved himself.
As chairman of Asion Academy, he'd make him pay dearly for the theft.
But—.
"You know him, right? Asion Gail, the chairman. And this is Thompson, a new student enrolling today. Say hi."
"W-What? Number One, I'm enrolling here? How...?"
"The chairman will handle it. He told me before to let him know if I needed anything. Said he'd grant it all. Right, Chairman?"
"......"
Asion Gail was speechless at the brazen attitude.