Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Freedom
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I opened my eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
Did I lose consciousness?
I furrowed my brow, recalling my last memory.
"You crazy bastard..."
I'd fired the anti-gravity bullet without even securing a safe distance.
It was a miracle I was alive.
I tried to sit up abruptly, but the pain wracking my body forced me back down.
Now that I looked, bandages were wrapped tightly around me. They were damp, so someone must have applied a healing potion.
...No infection, I hope? Do I need antibiotics?
No, more importantly.
"Where is this place?"
Where the hell was I?
"My lab."
A reply came to my mumble.
A familiar voice. I turned, and a woman with crimson eyes stared straight at me.
Ah, got it.
This was Professor Cecil's lab.
Achievement Unlocked!
Visited all labs of the professors I've met!
At this point, there had to be something to it. I was inexplicably tangled up with all these labs.
I let out a sigh and spoke.
"...So my grade is locked at C+?"
It was ridiculous to ask about my score right after waking up, but it was the only thing on my mind.
"I don't change grades easily."
"I see."
A+ was out of reach anyway due to attendance, but bombing the final exam soured my mood even more.
"One question for you."
"Oh, I have something to ask too."
"Yeah? You first."
"Is your way of speaking different from lectures?"
I definitely remembered. Professor Cecil didn't talk like this in class.
"...I talk like that in crowds. It's a habit. I used to be a knight order vice-captain."
That made sense.
"My turn now."
Professor Cecil asked.
"Why are you so obsessed with grades?"
It was a weird question. Wasn't it normal for an academy student to want good grades?
"Good grades are nice, right?"
A brief silence fell.
What? That look?
"Weeeelllll..."
Professor Cecil's expression dragged out the word, as if she'd spotted something bizarre.
Was I the weird one?
"I've done all the basic treatment. Can't do much about the torn muscles, so head to the infirmary later."
"Got it."
"Oh, and your grade's A+. That's final."
"Pardon?"
"Handled your attendance too. Professor Pelliana told me, so no worries."
I blanked out for a moment.
Everything worked out?
For a second, Professor Cecil's face seemed to glow.
Professor. I forget everything. Thank you!
"What, why aren't you going?"
But there was one problem.
"Um, well..."
"What?"
"I can't move my body."
It hurt too much.
Unable to return alone, I ended up piggybacked by Professor Cecil to the infirmary.
Meriel Gardner was on edge.
The reason went without saying: Rain Ortiz.
She was someone who wanted to pull Rain into the magic world.
However.
"Isn't a whole month without even a chance to meet too much?!"
Rain had suddenly vanished.
That month's gap shattered all of Meriel's plans.
"I was going to spark his interest in magic..."
The plan she'd cooked up for midterms, dubbed "The Irresistible Offer."
Promise of top grades, help with doctoral studies, temptation with all sorts of fun magic...!
"Aaaah..."
Thud.
Meriel slumped face-first onto her lab desk.
No, wasn't it normal for a guy in his twenties to go crazy for magic?
Like making lightning strike from the sky.
Or flying freely through the heavens!!
So why was he fiddling with machines?
Bam!
This time, she slammed the desk hard.
"Ow ow ow..."
It hurt.
She heard her assistant stifle a laugh.
For a moment, she considered dumping all the exam grading on him, but let it slide.
It was embarrassing, after all.
"..."
Maybe a walk.
Meriel ignored the stack of papers on the right side of her desk and headed outside.
The somewhat warmer air greeted her.
Summer was coming soon. Bad news for her, who hated the heat.
As she walked, she spotted various students.
Ones studying hard for exams at the library.
Ones ignoring exams to goof off.
And Rain Ortiz, being carried on someone's back.
"Huh?"
Rain Ortiz?
Meriel whipped her gaze around.
Rain, wrapped head to toe in bandages, heading somewhere piggybacked by Professor Cecil. It didn't look good.
Injured?
No.
Before that.
Even connecting with Professor Cecil?
...From the Knight Department?
Anxiety gnawed at her.
What if Rain had knightly talent too?
What if he enjoyed swinging a sword?
"Oh, no!"
Her goal of making him her assistant was already abandoned. He wasn't the type to be anyone's assistant.
But pulling him into the magic world was different. If Rain lent his power to magic studies, they could achieve tremendous progress.
This wasn't speculation or wishful thinking.
It was certainty.
Meriel immediately followed them.
"No way, why are they so fast?!"
And she lost them.
Professor Cecil was tiny but insanely fast.
Running like that with someone on her back? Knights were something else...
"..."
Should she try once more?
Meriel began calculating a space jump spell.
"Argh, damn it."
Failed.
Couldn't chase without knowing the destination.
Should she give up?
"...No way."
She needed to know what was up with those two.
Knowing wouldn't change much, but per her philosophy, knowing beat ignorance.
Calculation, flight magic.
Calculation, telescope magic.
Professor Meriel soared into the sky, scouring the academy.
"Found them."
Professor Cecil had sharp ears. Getting too close was risky.
Calculation, eavesdropping magic.
Target, infirmary.
"Ah, I can hear."
《Heading out now?》
《Thank you for bringing me.》
Rain was indeed injured.
《No one else gets this banged up from a final exam but you.》
《Is that a compliment?》
Final exam?
Oh, right.
Today was the Knight Department's exam.
"..."
Was she overreacting?
Professor Cecil had just taken care of the injured Rain—nothing to steal away?
Thinking about it, Rain hated physical stuff.
The worry was flawed from the premise.
"What's wrong with me lately..."
She wasn't like this before.
She felt impatient overall.
Snooping on conversations like some creep—she'd become a total mess.
Professor Meriel scratched her head furiously and tried to dispel the magic.
《Take care of the treatment... Oh, wait.》
《Anything else?》
That moment.
《What're your plans after break?》
《Research with Professor Rachel for a month.》
Meriel gleaned one piece of info.
《Then back home.》
A new plan dawned.
"Student Rain really likes his father..."
Home visit.
This time, target Baron Ortiz.
Meriel grinned slyly and returned to her lab.
What?
Why the sudden chill?
Is a window open or something...
I got proper treatment at the infirmary.
What Professor Cecil did was truly just "basic" first aid—the battlefield emergency kind...
"Professor Cecil has a rough side to her."
Said Jeff, the resident priest at the infirmary.
"But she's soft-hearted, so she must've been shocked when you got hurt, Rain."
"Pardon?"
I recalled the final exam.
Didn't seem like it.
"Most students who come here got beaten by Professor Cecil."
Even less so.
"She always carries them here, so doesn't that show she cares in her own way?"
I swallowed what I wanted to say.
"You don't buy it?"
Busted.
"Honestly, no."
I held no grudge against Professor Cecil.
I used to, but the A+ fixed that.
That said, I didn't particularly like her either.
I disliked her teaching methods.
"Professor Cecil's just clumsy."
Jeff's eyes grew distant.
"She treats students roughly because it's the only way she knows."
"Is that so."
"She's ex-knight, but originally a soldier."
That was unexpected.
A soldier, huh...
So that's why she drills students like that?
My doubts eased a bit.
"Thanks for the talk."
"Oh, held you too long? You're good to go."
I stood up.
Healing magic was the best. No fatigue—my body felt light.
"See you."
"Take care~ Don't come back. See you next semester."
Ah.
Semester's ending soon, huh.
I left the infirmary.
Gazing at the evening sunset draping the sky, I indulged in shallow sentiment.
And smiled.
Just endure one month with Professor Rachel as promised.
After that, freedom.
Hooray!!
[ ... ]
Rain rejoiced, blissfully unaware.