Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
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“Just like this...”
Luna was calmly and meticulously sketching out a complex magic circle, the likes of which she had never even attempted to draw before in her academic career. It was a grand and intricate formation encompassing both wind and water attributes, requiring a level of precision that few first-years could hope to achieve. Of course, given her current level of mana and raw magical power, the circle couldn't actually be activated in a physical sense, but that didn't matter for the purposes of the exam. All she had to do was successfully capture the natural flow of mana swirling around the room, interpret its hidden patterns, and reproduce the corresponding magic circle on the board.
As Luna inscribed the final, delicate rune into the densely packed circle filled with geometric shapes and ancient symbols, she murmured softly to herself.
“Done... right?”
It was at that exact moment that the room began to react.
Whoosh...
The magic circle Luna had drawn on the chalkboard suddenly began to swirl with a brilliant blend of vibrant green and deep blue light, filling the entire room with a soft glow before it gradually started to fade away.
“...It really is beautiful.”
The mana particles floating in the air, resembling a swarm of lovely glowing fireflies, began to vanish starting from the furthest edges of the room, drawing inward toward Luna until they finally disappeared completely into the ether. Once the mana dispersal process had finished, a short, metallic scraping sound echoed from the door, signifying the end of her ordeal.
Clack.
“Haa... finally... it's over.”
It had taken her three full days of intense concentration to reach this point. She had struggled significantly with the last problem—she hadn't managed to solve the final part until the previous day, so she'd decided to sleep on it and barely cracked the logic in the early morning hours. Luna felt a massive wave of accomplishment surging through her, a feeling even greater than when she'd finished the written portion of the exam. While good grades always mattered to her, this was the first time she'd ever felt this specific kind of personal fulfillment, making her want to cheer out loud in the empty room.
But that sense of euphoria was destined to be short-lived.
“Ah! Suho!”
Luna suddenly remembered Seong Suho, who she assumed must still be struggling with his own problems in the room next door. She had asked the professor for a special favor regarding him before the exam started, but even so, Luna often found herself losing focus during her breaks as she thought about his potential difficulties. If anything, her worry only made her want to finish her own practical faster so she could check on his well-being. The response that came from the proctor the moment she stepped out to inquire was straightforward and professional.
“That student had no major issues even on the first day. There is no need for you to worry. And good work on your own completion.”
“Ah... thank you. Is he still inside the room right now...?”
“I am afraid I cannot disclose that specific information to you.”
“Ah... I understand. I apologize.”
Luna looked a bit downcast for a fleeting moment, but on the other hand, she felt a profound sense of relief. At least, judging by the professor's reassuring words, there were no serious health problems or accidents. Even with that worry eased, as she walked down the long, silent hall, Luna found she couldn't tear her eyes away from Seong Suho's closed door. And just like that, the thread of her gaze—which had seemed unbreakable—was finally forced to snap as she rounded the corner toward the exit.
...No way. If the professor said he was fine, maybe Suho actually managed to come out even before I did?
With that hopeful and exciting thought, Luna left the tower. To her, Seong Suho was the kind of remarkable man who always seemed to be one step ahead, extending a hand from a position of strength to help her up. The expectation that he was already out there waiting for her began to bubble up in her chest.
The vast school grounds were currently basking in brilliant, golden sunlight. Not a single soul wandered the campus at this hour, making it feel as if this entire magnificent space called Schutra belonged solely to her, with every tree and stone centered on her own journey. She hurried across the golden carpet woven by the sun toward their usual meeting spot. Luna flung open the heavy terrace doors and scanned the surroundings with anticipation.
But...
“...He's not here.”
No sign of anyone entered her vision. She slowly looked around the area, searching every shadow, but in the end, she couldn't find any trace of Seong Suho.
“...Should I stay and wait?”
On the off chance that he was just running late, she sat in her usual chair and prepared to wait for him. She knew deep down that it might be a futile wait with no clear end in sight, yet she closed her eyes and sat there anyway, letting the sun warm her skin.
..
..
“Hngh... what time is it?”
“If you're that tired, you should really go and sleep properly in the dorms. Why on earth are you crashing out here in the open?”
“Hyah!”
Luna jolted awake with a startled cry and turned quickly toward the source of the voice beside her. Even through her bleary, sleep-filled vision, she recognized the owner immediately by the familiar cadence of his voice.
“S-Suho... you're here!”
“How did the exam go for you?”
“Ah... right...”
Only then did Luna fully grasp the situation and sit back down beside him, gazing at him with curiosity.
“No, wait. I don't even need to ask. Of course you aced it, or you wouldn't be sitting here looking so relaxed.”
“...And what about you?”
“Well, I...”
Seong Suho simply shrugged his shoulders and muttered a non-committal answer.
“I did my best. That's all anyone can do.”
“...I did my best too.”
Luna leaned her head on his shoulder again, and from then on, the two of them carefully avoided any further talk of the grueling exam, choosing to chat about ordinary, peaceful things instead.
..
..
Time passed in a blur of relaxation, Saturday arrived, and the spring semester exams officially concluded for everyone. While the first-years' practicals had wrapped up around lunchtime, it took until the late evening for all the upper grades to finally finish their sessions. After the exams were declared over, the entire student body of Schutra gathered in the grand auditorium to listen to the dean's concluding speech.
“You have all worked incredibly hard over these past two weeks, and I am proud of your dedication.”
The dean officially declared the semester's evaluations over and began the formal ceremony to cap them off.
“As we do every year, we will now announce the top scorers in the written exams, the practicals, and the overall rankings for each grade level.”
As the dean started calling the names from the third-year class downward, Luna swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. And in her mind's eye, the images of two men appeared one after another.
...Please, Suho.
She tried not to even let the thought surface, but her heart was filled with the desperate wish that Seong Suho would win the bet. Her heart screamed that it would be significantly harder for her to watch her beloved be humiliated than to see her childhood friend lose a wager. Besides, she knew that if Suho won, he would just receive the treatment he deserved. But if Louis won, she knew she wouldn't be able to just laugh it off.
The Seong Suho she was watching currently seemed to be ignoring the dean entirely, staring down at his own palm with a strangely pensive and troubled expression.
...He's been acting like that for a while now. Did he really manage to get himself hurt somewhere inside that room?
Ever since they had met on the terrace after the practical, he'd been intently studying his palm with that same troubled look. When she had asked him out of genuine worry, his response was always the same curt sentence.
(It's nothing, Luna. Don't worry about it.)
(...)
From his gruff and dismissive tone, Luna had intuited right away: ‘He'll tell me the truth later, when he's ready.’
As Luna continued to fret over him, the top scorers for the third- and second-year classes were announced, and the ceremony finally moved to the first-years. The dean raised his voice to announce the written exam top scorer.
“The first-year written exam top scorer is... Hm? One moment, please...”
“...?”
In the middle of the announcement, the dean suddenly trailed off and stared blankly at the paper in his hand as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. As a heavy silence fell over the auditorium and the senior professors began whispering urgently among themselves, the dean finally addressed the students again.
“Haha... my sincere apologies. Let me call it properly this time. Luna... Luna Staatfeldt.”
“Ah...”
The instant her name was called, Luna's gaze flicked toward Seong Suho without even thinking. It felt completely absurd to her. They had checked every single answer together on the terrace; they had submitted identical responses, so in her mind, their rankings should have matched perfectly. But amid her bewilderment, one logical certainty flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning.
‘The sub-attribute exam!’
Seong Suho's sub-attribute was brain affinity. That was the only exam they couldn't compare answers for, and she had assumed he'd aced it just like the others, so she hadn't worried. Wearing a distraught and confused expression, Luna slowly approached the dean on the stage. Seong Suho offered her a small, congratulatory smile as she passed, while Louis...
“...”
Louis simply smirked bitterly at Seong Suho from his seat. To him, the result meant it was already over. Luna couldn't help but think the same thing. She wondered if maybe Louis had bombed the written part too—but her mind was too scattered to reach that conclusion. Distraught, she stood before the dean and accepted her certificate.
“...Good work, Student Luna.”
Unlike his behavior with the previous recipients, the dean wasn't beaming with pride; his face remained slightly stiff and unreadable.
Oh no... what if something is wrong?
Feeling the weight of his gaze, Luna quickly softened her own expression into a gentle, polite smile.
“Thank you very much, sir.”
With those words of gratitude, she took her assigned place beside the second-year representative at the back of the stage, facing out toward the students. But the dean turned his head, his face looking unusually somber as he stared at Luna for a long moment without calling the next name. The chief professor, Magta, had to approach him and whisper something urgently in his ear. The dean finally snapped out of his daze, forced a smile, and addressed the auditorium again.
“Haha... sorry about that minor delay. Now, we shall announce the first-year practical top scorer.”
This was the moment of truth. But now, first place meant absolutely nothing to Luna if Suho had failed.
...How on earth am I going to convince Louis to be lenient? He's surely going to pull something shady and humiliating on Suho now. Right... the practical top is probably Louis, isn't it? If he comes up here, I can at least try persuading him as best I can before he makes a public scene...
As those thoughts raced through her head, the dean began calling the next name.
“The top scorer for the practical flows is...”
At that exact moment, Louis, who was sitting far in the back, smoothed the folds of his expensive cloak and started to confidently stand up and move forward. Not everyone in the room knew, but at least their own classmates seemed convinced he was the winner.
But he didn't get to take another step.
“Seong Suho. Please come forward, Seong Suho.”
It wasn't just Luna and Louis who were frozen in place. Their entire class, and even some students from other years who had heard the rumors of his bottom-rank entry, looked absolutely shocked. But the man who had been called remained entirely expressionless, still staring holes into the center of his own palm. As murmurs of disbelief rose through the crowd, he finally examined his palm one last time, his face hardening into a look of grim determination, and then he began his walk toward the stage.
“Now that the interferences are gone, we can finally talk alone, can't we?”
Shit. This is bad.
As my entire body stiffened and I began to slowly back away toward the door, the dean dropped his facade of a smile and continued speaking with a chillingly calm voice.
“Judging by the look of pure panic on your face, I suppose my communication-blocking magic worked even better than I anticipated.”
“...”
That confirmed everything for me. The dean was the one behind the sudden communication blackout with the ship. I knew that with my current level of magic, I couldn't even hope to harm a single hair on his head. I couldn't even manage to pierce Louis's basic anti-magic fields yet—that was the reality of my current power level. But I still had one advantage.
I subtly gripped the pre-loaded bullet I kept in my pocket for emergencies. And at that very instant—
“I see. Magic seems to work fine for you, but words don't come as easily, do they?”
Shh, shrrk! Whoosh!
The dean conjured a magic circle at a lightning-fast speed, appearing as if he were manifesting the runes with thought alone. An immense, invisible pressure suddenly clamped down on my wrists and ankles simultaneously, effectively binding me in place.
Thud!
I lost my balance instantly and crashed onto the floor.
“Kgh! Let me go!”
“I certainly understand your need for caution, young man, but I truly just wanted a simple talk—hm?”
But the dean's words were cut off by a sudden eruption of light.
Flash!
“Gh! What is this?”
The dean, who hadn't shown even a single hint of being flustered until now, had to narrow his eyes against a sudden blaze of vibrant colors pouring down from the ceiling, clearly struggling to see. My own eyes were completely blinded by the brilliance.
Damn it! My eyes!!
Amid the blinding light and the sharp tinnitus ringing in my ears, I heard a woman's fierce shout.
“Master!”
“Lena?! Is that you!?”
But along with Lena's voice came the dean's authoritative tone once again.
“I see you had backup waiting in the wings...”
“Just hold on, Master! I'll get you out of—!”
“I'm afraid that is not happening today.”
Lena charged forward to take the initiative and free me, but the dean whipped up another magic circle at a blinding speed to bind her in the same way he had me. But Lena was not an ordinary opponent who would fall easily to simple restraints.
“Hyah!”
“...What the—!?”
She used her raw, superhuman strength to literally snap the magical bindings around her arms and lunged at him again. For a split second, I actually thought she might win this. But beating a man who had essentially conquered an entire world—especially one who specialized in the very magic that was her fatal weakness—was no easy feat for anyone.
Shrrk! Flash! Shh!
Unlike before, the circle the dean was drawing now was far more intricate and time-consuming than the one used on me. Yet Lena still lost the exchange because...
“Kgh! I can't move!”
“Lena! No!”
The dean's half-formed circle began constricting her body even while he was still mid-drawing. It wasn't even a complete spell yet. But the very act of him drawing the runes was a form of magic itself, and soon Lena stood completely bound and helpless before him.
“M-Master! Run!”
“I must say, that is not an ordinary body you possess. You nearly had me there for a moment. Anyway, I have things I need to say to your master, so please stay quiet for a while.”
“Mmph!”
Lena was bound in powerful wind-like currents over her entire body, and then the dean even sealed her mouth shut with a wave of his hand.
“Haha... I truly just wanted a quiet chat, and now I've gone and escalated things to this level.”
“What the hell do you want from me...?”
“First of all...”
Even in the middle of this standoff, the dean hesitated for a moment before glancing at Lena and speaking to me.
“I would really like to speak with you entirely alone.”
“...”
“Can you not find a way to send your friend away quietly, just like you did before?”
“...Fine. But... the blackout field you've cast makes calling her back a bit tricky, doesn't it?”
I was certain of the situation now: Armonia had sent Lena to physically protect me instead of warping me back to the ship. The dean's magic was blocking her from initiating a recall. The now-calm dean touched his lips with a finger and offered a slow nod.
“I understand. However...”
“...?”
“You should know that I have absolutely no intent to kill you today... nor do I have any intent to let you leave this room before we have our talk.”
The dean stared straight through Lena and even the solid stone wall, sending me a deeply loaded and threatening glare. It was a clear message. If I tried any funny business or attempted to escape again, not just Lena—but Luna sitting in the room on the other side of that wall wouldn't be safe from his power.
“...I got it. I'll listen.”
“Then I will release the interference briefly so you can make your arrangements.”
Shimmer...
As the glowing yellow veil enveloping the room suddenly vanished, Armonia's panicked shout rang out in my mind with light gathering around my body.
No! Stop! Don't do it!
I said absolutely don't! Just listen to me!
Armonia grasped the underlying danger of the situation instantly and halted the warp sequence. The light gathering around me faded away, and seeing that, the dean exhaled a short breath and finally withdrew his hand.
Was that just communication blackout magic? Or something more?
This guy is using every damn trick in the book...
Armonia had only noticed something was wrong because my actions were looking 'off' on her sensors and there was no response to her comms. The dean must have thought that only basic intent was detectable, much like his own connection to Zodiac, but he had clearly missed the technical sophistication of our system. Still, the situation was far from resolved.
Even the emergency warp required precise, constantly updating coordinates to function. If you messed that up by even a fraction, you could easily end up being bisected by the spatial rift...
...Armonia. Listen to me carefully. Take Lena and get back to the ship right now.
I am not bluffing here. If I try to warp both of you now, it's really over for everyone. Just go!
Thankfully, using our lives as collateral finally convinced Armonia to back off. But Lena's fierce glare as she began to warp away made it very clear that she wasn't happy with the decision.
“Mmph!!”
“Lena, just head back and stand by for now. I'll be fine.”
“Mmmph...”
Once Lena had safely returned to the ship, the dean offered a slow nod and began drawing another, smaller circle in the air.
“Quite impressive resolve. I have always said that I truly trust those who know how to keep their promises.”
“Cut the crap and just get to the point.”
“Haha, very well then.”
As the dean finished and activated his new circle—
He's showing no hostility for now. Just wait a bit and see what he wants.
Armonia's comms cut off again after that final message. Activating the circle, the dean hardened his expression and fixed his gaze on me once more with a terrifying gravity.
“Speak your piece then.”
“...Actually, I have a request to make of you.”
“...?”
With a face that looked as though it had sunken into a grave, the dean looked me dead in the eyes and whispered.
“I am begging you... please... kill me.”