Chapter 283
Chapter 283
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 283
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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From the early hours of the morning, the lecture hall was already buzzing with the energetic chatter of students whose primary focus seemed to be anything but the upcoming test.
Most of the topics of conversation were remarkably similar, centering around the dramatic events of the previous day.
"Did you hear what happened to Louis after he was taken away?"
"I heard he was severely disciplined yesterday and sent straight back to the student dorms in disgrace."
"Yeah, it makes sense... he completely bombed the prelim exam, and given his reputation, the embarrassment must have been absolutely crushing for him."
And there I was, sitting in my usual spot at the very back of the lecture hall, one hand covering my mouth while my arm propped up my face as I stared blankly at the front of the room.
The surrounding chatter didn't reach my ears at all, as I was currently preoccupied with something far more significant than Louis's social downfall.
But even as I tried to tune out the ambient noise, one specific voice sent a sharp jolt through my nerves, making me react almost instantly.
"Did you actually manage to study hard for today's session?"
"Ah... you're already here, Luna."
I replied somewhat curtly, and Luna tilted her head in confusion after taking her seat beside me.
"Is something wrong? You look more distracted than usual."
"Ah... no, it's nothing important."
"You didn't stay up all night pulling another one of those insane study marathons, did you?"
No matter how crucial the affinity exams were considered by the rest of the school, there was absolutely no reason for me to cram for a written test I already had the answers to.
I forced a reassuring smile and shook my head slowly.
"Nah, I just got a bit lost in my own thoughts this morning. Did you manage to sleep well last night?"
"W-Why on earth are you asking me that so suddenly!?"
Luna instinctively leaned back, her voice sounding startled and a bit defensive.
While the entire hall didn't notice, several nearby students began to cast curious glances our way because of her sharp reaction.
(...I always suspect it, but those two are really getting suspiciously close lately, aren't they?)
(They sit together on the terrace almost every day after class. It definitely doesn't look like a normal friendship.)
I ignored the growing whispers and spoke while trying to maintain as much privacy as possible.
"No reason, I was just checking to see if you were in peak condition for the test."
"I... I slept perfectly well, thank you."
Luna haughtily turned her head away and began her final preparations for the exam with a frantic energy.
‘Did she actually spend the night masturbating to my image? Why else would she be this sensitive about a simple question?’
Even if she was the love of my life, I had to admit that sometimes her behavioral shifts were completely incomprehensible to me.
I decided to leave Luna to her prep and sank back into the depths of my own mind.
‘Isn't there some way to get ahead of the next phase?’
‘But if the info gets delayed much longer...’
I had managed to figure out the general format of what the practical exam would look like.
The real problem, however, was that I didn't know the exact nature of the questions or the specific magical requirements.
It sounded absurd, but while the format was known, the key problems remained a mystery.
The dean had supposedly created the practical exam himself and kept the details locked away only in his own head, planning to announce it to the faculty only on the very morning of the exam.
That commitment from the firm had come along with an additional 500,000 Enel—intended to be used to put out any immediate fires. Combined with my existing balance, I now had 1 million Enel at my disposal.
‘Since there is nothing I can realistically do until the prompt is revealed, I should at least try to study the fundamental attribute theories a bit more.’
I had already done a significant amount of studying, but given the stakes, a little more preparation couldn't hurt.
The practical exam was scheduled to last for a total of five days. With it running continuously over that period, I figured there would be at least some leeway for me to react.
Even if I couldn't solve the initial problems, Zodiac might be able to provide the necessary solutions in real-time.
As I was deep in thought about the practicals, a group of teaching assistants and professors began filing into the lecture hall to start the session.
I looked Surprised and glanced toward Luna beside me.
She was staring back at me with the exact same expression of genuine shock.
Amid the students scrambling to their assigned seats, one specific absence stood out with startling clarity.
‘Louis... is actually not here today?’
I wondered if yesterday's public fiasco had resulted in a disqualification from the entire exam week.
I was just starting to inwardly cheer at the prospect of his total failure when the room began to stir, and Armonia sent me an urgent message.
‘Huh? If that isn't the headline, then what is? Isn't our primary goal to crush Louis?’
‘Wait, why on earth is this guy here again... this shouldn't be his job.’
A man entered the lecture hall wearing a humble, unassuming smile, looking entirely calm and composed despite the chaotic energy of the students.
He appeared to be barely in his early thirties, yet he carried himself with the heavy gait and effortless poise of someone much, much older. He stepped onto the podium and began to speak.
"Heh heh, hello everyone. I am Ludwig Rippenstein, and I will be personally in charge of proctoring this specific lecture hall today."
..
..
Just like with yesterday's exam, the proctors insisted on reshuffling everyone's seats before allowing the test to begin. Still, the dean calmly explained the logistics, echoing the sentiments of the senior professor from the previous day.
"Oh, and before we officially begin the exam, I am sure some of you might be curious about the status of your classmate who usually studies in this hall, so I will address that matter briefly."
The students all stared at the dean in a state of high tension, awaiting the verdict.
"I want to assure you that the student who caused a minor disturbance yesterday will be allowed to take his exam normally today.He is currently under the personal supervision of Chief Professor Magerta in her research lab, so there is no need for further concern."
The dean chuckled softly as he finished his explanation, but his words started a fire of irritation burning deep inside me.
‘Damn it... it really would have been nice if he'd gotten screwed over for good this time.’
I had mistakenly thought that we had marooned him on a social desert island, but it turned out we'd only sent him back to the starting square of the board.
A guy with Louis's resources would roll enough dice to lap the rest of the class in no time.
And it was now clear that the dean's presence here today was directly tied to the fallout from Louis's behavior.
"Since Professor Magerta is currently occupied with her supervisory duties, I have decided to fill in for her here. Please don't feel burdened by my presence and simply do your absolute best on the exam."
The dean chuckled one last time... and then his gaze landed directly on me.
‘...This is rapidly turning into a major hassle.’
..
..
The exam began immediately after everyone was seated in their new positions.
The test paper itself posed no real issue for me, and I spent the first few minutes pretending to solve the problems while mentally checking Armonia's provided translations and answer keys.
But today, one thing was fundamentally different.
"Ho.... Hmm..."
"..."
The dean kept standing right next to my desk, leaning over to peer down at my work.
He clearly knew that I was cheating through some unconventional means, yet he watched me with an intense, curious focus, letting out deep, rhythmic hums nonstop.
‘What in the absolute hell... why can't he just leave the proctoring to the assistants at the front and stay put?’
‘I am painfully aware of that without you needing to tell me...’
I wondered if he was desperately looking for a physical excuse to bust me for cheating.
But how could he? Was it even possible for him to see my holographic screen?
No, that was impossible; Armonia's unique interface wasn't something that anyone in this world could see, regardless of how skilled a mage they were.
I knew I wouldn't fail from nerves alone, but to be absolutely safe, I forced myself to focus intensely on the act of "solving" while staying on high alert for any sudden moves from him.
And every single time I finished a difficult section...
"Oh ho... I see... Hmm..."
"..."
He watched my pen move with a level of keen interest that was deeply unsettling.
If a regular professor had done that, it would have pissed me off instantly, but his hums had this oddly soothing quality that seemed to calm the people around him in a strange way.
Still, soothing or not, the sense of intense discomfort didn't vanish for a single second.
"Oh ho..."
"..."
Right until the very end of the session, the dean spent his time peering over my shoulder, his presence a heavy weight on my back.
..
..
I slumped into my usual chair on the terrace the moment I finally reached it, letting out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
‘Whoa... I actually feel physically exhausted for the first time in ages.’
In the end, he hadn't actually pulled any weird stunts or made any accusations throughout the duration of the exam.
It felt almost as if he'd simply found a particularly fascinating specimen to observe.
Perhaps it was his subtle way of paying me back for screwing over Louis the day before.
His constant staring had inevitably dragged out the time I needed to complete the paper, as I couldn't afford to half-ass my performance with the actual problem creator watching my every move.
But now, the first major hurdle of the week was safely cleared.
After a much-needed break over Saturday and Sunday, the practical exams would finally kick off in earnest on Monday morning.
‘For now, I am officially ahead of Louis in the unofficial rankings. It really would have been great if I had managed to tank his attribute score completely yesterday, but this will have to do.’
I didn't have the final numbers yet, but I knew for a fact that he had missed the logic on that last, massive problem on the attribute exam.
Just one mistake might not seem like much, but as the primary tiebreaker for the top students, it would hit his final score hard.
In reality, the true beneficiaries of his failure would be the other top-rankers in the class, not me.
My only goal was to beat and toy with Louis's pride, but for the students actually living in this world, every single rank mattered like a butterfly effect on their futures.
‘I suppose that is the nature of the game...’
Pondering the potential scores eventually sparked one specific curiosity in my mind.
‘I wonder how Luna actually did on her papers?’
She was clearly a top-tier student in her own right, and with her natural skills and dedication, I figured she'd likely breezed through most of the questions except for maybe the last few.
Plus, since I had personally tweaked the logic of the final problem for her during our study session, I was confident she'd aced that one too.
As I was thinking that, Luna began to approach my table slowly from a distance.
‘It took me significantly longer to finish today, so the gap in our exit times is quite small.’
Luna reached me and asked her usual, predictable opening line.
"So, how exactly did the final exam go for you today?"
"Eh... I'm not really sure yet."
"...I noticed the dean was staring at you quite a bit throughout the session."
Luna sat down gracefully beside me, smoothing her skirt with a look of deep pity.
"Anyway... I suppose we should get to checking our answers together."
"Phew... yeah, sure, why not."
Luna and I both specialized in the wind attribute, so we were taking the exact same exam. We immediately started comparing our logic and final results.
Meanwhile, Louis Brandt Rup finally finished solving the very last question on his paper, stood up from his seat, and headed toward Professor Magerta's desk.
Before he could even manage to open his mouth to speak, she looked up at him with a critical eye.
"Don't even think about telling me that your stomach has started hurting again today."
"Urgh... N-No, Professor. I am simply finished with my test."
"Good. Hand it over then so I can begin the review."
Professor Magerta took the thick stack of papers, placed it firmly on her desk, and offered a dismissive nod.
"Well done. You are officially free to go for the day."
"...Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
Louis, his heart still seething with the intense humiliation of being sequestered in a lab, turned to open the door and make his exit.
However, he found a beaming man already standing right outside the threshold.
The man had strikingly white hair and was slightly shorter than Louis himself, yet he radiated an aura of immense, suffocating pressure that filled the entire hallway.
Louis had only ever felt this kind of presence once before in his life—when he was granted an audience with the king.
Not even his own parents' most severe scoldings could compare to the weight of this man's attention.
It was hard for Louis to truly believe that this man was barely in his early thirties; the aura of ancient power he gave off was simply overwhelming. He offered Louis a broad, genuine smile.
"Heh heh... so, tell me, how exactly was the exam experience for you today?"
"Ha ha... it was perfectly fine, sir."
Louis had spent his entire life respecting the dean as a legendary figure...
but the more actual magic he learned, the more a strange, unbidden hostility toward the man began to brew in his heart.
He couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for the feeling. His best guess was that the dean's supreme status made his own prestigious family roots feel insignificant by comparison.
‘...I promise that I will find a way to crush you someday.’
A wave of pure, irrational loathing flooded through him for a second, until the dean finally broke the growing silence between them.
"By the way, I am quite interested—what exactly is your name, young man?"
"I am Louis... Louis Brandt Rup."
His mood lifted significantly at the question; he stated his name with all the pride of his noble upbringing.
Even while hating the guy, he realized that getting the direct attention of a grand mage was something that felt remarkably good, but that feeling was destined to be brief.
"Brandt Rup... I must say, that certainly sounds like quite an aristocratic name."
"Yes, I am a proud member of the nobility."
"Oh ho? And where exactly is your family's territory located?"
The dean, who was usually notoriously indifferent to student names or backgrounds, seemed to have piqued his own interest.
Professor Magerta watched the interaction curiously from behind her desk.
Regardless of the audience, Louis felt his face flush a beet-red color before he could barely force out the words.
"I am from the Brandt Rup Duchy situated within the Levin Kingdom... I am Louis Brandt Rup, the primary heir."
Never once in his entire life had Louis seen eyes that treated his ancient and powerful house like a piece of common roadside trash... until today.
‘How dare he... how dare he pretend not to know our house? He knows damn well who we are!’
Louis immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion, thoroughly convinced that the dean was intentionally mocking his status to humble him.
But the dean's gentle smile suddenly turned into one of pure, condescending pity.
"Ah, the Levin Kingdom..."
"...?"
"I haven't heard that specific name in what feels like ages. Let me think... was it two... perhaps three hundred years ago?"
"..."
Veins began to bulge in Louis's eyes as he glared at the man with a silent fury; the dean only offered a polite nod in return.
"I truly enjoyed our little chat today. I hope your practical exam next week goes just as smoothly for you."
"...Yes, sir. Thank you."
Louis stormed out of the lab wing with a demonic scowl etched onto his face.
The dean watched his retreating figure for a long moment, his eyes carefully tracking his movements.
Someone eventually addressed him from inside the room.
"Dean, what exactly brings you here so suddenly? The official exam time is still ongoing at the hall..."
"Ah... I suppose I simply trust the students and my proctors to handle themselves properly."
"Oh dear... you really are a character..."
Magerta chuckled wryly at his response, shaking her head in amusement.
But even as she laughed, the dean began scanning the room with a sharp focus and flicked his hand lightly in the air.
"...?"
With a level of fluid grace that was impossible to follow, he conjured a massive, glowing magic circle instantly.
‘What kind of spell is that? Is that a high-level brain attribute manifestation?’
He activated the circle before Magerta could even begin to grasp its purpose.
Piang...
A sudden, sharp space ripple halted her laugh mid-breath; she could only stare at him in a state of shock.
"...Dean? What just happened?"
"Oh, it was nothing at all. Anyway, the real reason I've come to see you today..."
He offered another Broad, unsettling smile as he sat down in one of the lab's swivel chairs and spoke.
"I have a few things I need to say regarding the upcoming format of the practical exam."