Chapter 59: The Freya Ducal House
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: The Freya Ducal House
After finishing my conversation with the Emperor, I returned to the dormitory and flopped onto my bed.
Lying there, I repeatedly tossed a small, bead-like object into the air and caught it. I wondered how others would react if they saw this. The thing I was playing with like a common ball was an elixir—and not just any elixir, but a top-tier one that was nearly impossible to obtain, no matter how much money you threw at it.
The Emperor certainly has deep pockets.
‘I should probably take this tomorrow morning.’
I tucked the elixir away into my Pocket Dimension. I wanted to just swallow it and go to sleep right then, but the effects were better if I let it sit in the Pocket Dimension to stabilize first, so I held back.
"Though there’s one more reason I can’t sleep yet."
Even though I was exhausted, there was another reason I couldn't drift off.
"Well then~ since I have some time left, shall we check if it’s safe and sound?"
After stowing the elixir, I pulled out an ordinary-looking box.
"Oh, right. I forgot to wash my hands."
I went to the bathroom and spent five minutes scrubbing my hands before opening the box with trembling fingers.
Creeeak.
"Whoa... it’s blinding!"
The sizable box was overflowing with gold coins. With this much money, I could probably buy a mansion in the capital. I had received this from the Emperor, along with the elixir, as a reward for dealing with the Necromancer.
"Hehehehe."
A laugh escaped my lips just by looking at the gold. With this, I could finally put the plan I’d been ruminating on into motion.
"To catch up to those people with my mediocre talent, I need to spend at least this much as a baseline."
I never thought I lacked talent entirely. However, I also never thought my talent was on par with the students in the Special Class. The talent of those kids was monstrous. Even with the same amount of effort as anyone else, they grew several times faster. The only reason I was currently outpacing them was because of the mask’s power.
"…But once they 'Awaken,' they’ll catch up in no time."
Awakening.
It was a phenomenon that only the Special Class students experienced in Croaka. With just a tiny spark and a bit of creativity, the Special Class students would awaken. The difference in their stats before and after Awakening was like night and day. One second. In just one single second, they would become several times stronger—it was a broken system.
Someone once said that a true genius must be able to drive others to despair through talent alone.
"But I won't fall into despair over something like that."
Even if the only thing I had over them was my face, I felt neither jealousy nor despair toward their talent. In the first place, if I had that kind of talent on top of this face, God would have made a serious mistake.
"Hmm. Then again, looking at my face, it feels like God might have made a mistake anyway."
If God were trying to balance the scales because of my looks, He should have at least made me terminally ill or something.
Perhaps because I was thinking about their talent, sleep fled from me, and thoughts of how to become even stronger dominated my mind.
"Ah, right. I had this. I was so annoyed just looking at it that I almost forgot."
I pulled a thick book out of my Pocket Dimension. It was the skill book for Shadow Step.
[Pretend to go right while going left, yet you must also exist on the right.]
That was the only sentence originally written in the book. However, thanks to the Emperor, I realized that the text changed depending on one's proficiency. I flipped the book open. As expected, new sentences had appeared.
With this much text, surely it would be detailed?
[Move like a shadow.]
[Exist in front of your opponent, beside them, behind them, and beneath them.]
[You are the shadow.]
Thud.
I slammed the book shut and shoved it back into my Pocket Dimension. What a load of crap. I had opened the book to clear my head, but now I felt more lightheaded than before.
"Sigh…………"
Letting out a deep breath, I pulled the book out of my Pocket Dimension once more.
"I don't have anything else to do until then anyway... might as well read it."
While I was staring at the skill book without understanding a word of it—
Trrrr— Trrrr— Ring— Ring— Trrrr.
A sound came from the communication device on my desk. This was the reason I had stayed awake despite wanting to sleep. I checked to see who was calling. As expected, it was Yerika.
After that incident where I thought it was Yerika but the Emperor answered, it had become a habit to check the caller ID. As soon as I picked up, Yerika blurted out something that would have made the Emperor faint if he’d heard it.
[Mr. Clown, did you feel very lonely spending the night all by yourself without me yesterday?]
We had only missed one day of talking, yet I wasn't used to it.
"Yesterday, when I couldn't talk to you, Yerika, felt like hell to me. To be honest, I missed your voice so much last night that I even considered infiltrating the Imperial Palace."
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized it. Ah... I accidentally overdid it a bit.
[..............]
"Yerika?"
[......... Hic! ]
Is something wrong? I heard the sound of Yerika's hiccups through the device.
[That... uh... ah! I spilled some water, so just, just wait a m-moment!]
So she spilled water. It was five minutes later when Yerika's voice returned to the communication device.
[Phew... Mr. Clown?]
"I'm listening~"
Yerika took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress a tremor, and spoke.
[I heard you stopped by the Imperial Palace earlier.]
"His Majesty summoned me because he had something to say, so I dropped by briefly, but I didn't stay long."
[Uuu... Still, next time you come to the palace, please let me know. We've been talking constantly, but it's been quite a while since we've seen each other's faces, hasn't it?]
As Yerika said, if my memory served me right, I hadn't actually seen her in person since entering the Academy.
"If I have a moment to reach out, I definitely will."
Even if I wanted to, I rarely had the chance. I was always being dragged to the palace as if I were being kidnapped; when exactly was I supposed to call?
[Is that a promise?]
"Yes, it's a promise."
After that, I chatted with Yerika for a long while before finally falling asleep.
* * *
While most students were still asleep, I was heading to the Disciplinary Committee room for my club experience. Normally, my routine was to wake up even earlier for morning training, but so much had happened yesterday that I decided to take a break today.
"Eek!"
Hearing a strange little noise, I looked ahead. Silken platinum blonde hair, glowing sapphire blue eyes, and a face so beautiful it was hard to get used to no matter how many times I saw it. Johanna was standing in the direction I was looking.
Normally, I would have run over to greet her the moment I spotted her, but remembering what I’d said to her yesterday, I spoke cautiously.
"……Senior, shall we go together?"
Johanna nodded without a word. As we walked toward the Disciplinary Committee room, Johanna kept stealing glances at my mask. Whenever I felt her gaze and turned my head—
"Eep!"
She would let out that strange noise again and whip her head the other way. Come to think of it, she had been acting like that ever since we left the children's gravesite yesterday.
Is something the matter?
"........................."
"........................."
But neither I nor Johanna said anything as we walked. The silence was starting to get to me, and just as I was about to ask if something was wrong—
""Um............""
Our voices overlapped.
"You go first, Senior."
"That... my father said to bring you home once."
Startled by her words, I asked back.
"Me??"
Johanna nodded silently. As for 'why,' there were too many possible reasons to count. So, I asked something else.
"When?"
I needed time to mentally prepare myself. Johanna lowered her head as if embarrassed and said,
"Today."
It seemed there would be no time for mental preparation.
* * *
Even while performing my duties for the Disciplinary Committee, things remained awkward with Johanna. I couldn't even try to act natural and talk to her because my poker face shattered the moment I looked at her. The other committee members kept glancing back and forth between us with suspicious eyes.
After somehow finishing my duties, I was walking toward the Special Class.
"Pushover!"
In the middle of the Academy campus, someone came running toward me, shouting that name. There was only one person in the Academy—no, in the world—who called me by that title.
"Why didn't you show up yesterday?"
I spoke to Sepia, who was looking at me with worried eyes.
"I caught a bit of a cold yesterday. I spent the whole day sleeping in the dorm."
It was actually because of the Necromancer, but I couldn't tell Sepia that.
"Really? So you're okay now?"
"Yes! I'm perfectly healthy. I just have one small concern."
"What concern?"
I spoke playfully to Sepia, who looked quite serious.
"My concern is that my face is getting more handsome by the day."
Sepia looked at me as if I were an idiot for worrying.
"Show me your face before you say something like that."
"Ahaha, I can't just show my face to anyone."
In truth, I did have a concern other than my face.
"Shall we go together, Sepia?"
"Hmph, do whatever you want."
The girl before my eyes, Sepia, would be the first among the Special Class students to 'Awaken.' Through Sepia's Awakening, the players are shown just how incredible Awakening truly is.
And Sepia would be the first among the Special Class students to die.
* * *
On the way to the Freya estate.
Inside the carriage, I had taken off my mask and was lying down with my head on Johanna's lap. Johanna didn't look at me; she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead while stroking my hair.
How on earth did it come to this?