Chapter 85

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 85

Chapter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Title: Bombshell Thesis Announcement

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"What... what the hell? Is that you?"

I was utterly flustered after seeing Elrim's tears.

It was a pitiful expression utterly unimaginable for her usual image.

She had stormed off from me earlier, snapping like she was pissed at the end.

Yet here she was, sobbing pathetically like a child who'd lost her mother.

"S-stop... hic... I'm not crying, you loser!"

"What are you talking about? Anyone can see you're bawling your eyes out. You bitch and run off, and now you're crying alone? Why are you limping like that?"

"N-none of your business, you damn loser!"

Elrim whipped around and started limping away again.

Damn it, that little... Should I just assassinate her?

But I shook off the thought, remembering SubsidyRiceEater's comment from earlier.

Either way, Elrim wasn't being honest right now.

As the bigger person, I'd hold back. She probably didn't mean it anyway.

"Hey, Elrim. Let's team up."

She froze.

"Wh-what...?"

"I was waiting to tell you I wanted to team up, you loser."

Honestly, getting rejected like that and then offering first hurt my pride.

But what was the point of a pissing contest with a kid?

I was the mature adult here, so I'd let it slide.

I could team with others, but SubsidyRiceEater's words stuck with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me.

Hisenna would probably want to look after Elrim too.

"L-lies. You're just messing with me, you evil loser!"

"For real. Chayuri's teaming with my senior, so I was gonna say the three of us—me, you, and Hisenna—should do it."

"Huh...?"

Elrim stared blankly.

She clearly didn't hate the idea of teaming up.

"Just so you know, this isn't 'Chayuri bailed, so whatever, let's team.' It just worked out naturally. I don't wanna team with anyone else anyway."

"You said the princess and student council president offered."

"Teaming with seniors didn't feel right. Can't shine and get good scores like that."

Teaming with seniors would definitely yield better results than first-years alone.

But after thinking it over, I didn't see the need.

With them, I wouldn't get to contribute.

I'd felt it during the taboo mage incident—without my own power, I'm nothing.

In the end, I had to grow myself. Relying on others meant I'd achieve zilch and lose something again.

Subjugation festivals continued yearly, regardless of grade.

Building experience with first-years now was better.

Plus, teaming with the princess or president would draw unwanted attention.

I'd asked the gallery folks, and as always, they said start from the basics.

No freeloading—climb from the bottom.

Some idiots joked about why not the princess or prez, but whatever.

"St-still, you really..."

"One more word, and I'm seriously going to the seniors."

"U-ugh..."

"Anyway, that's the plan. I'll tell Hisenna tomorrow and apply."

"You told me before Hisenna?"

"Yeah~"

I waved casually and turned away.

Elrim squealed behind me, but I didn't stop walking.

Soon her voice faded, and glancing back, she was heading to the girls' dorm.

She was still limping a bit.

But unlike her dejected shuffle earlier, now I caught glimpses of Elrim's signature bouncy gait amid the limp.

Before settling into meditation back at the dorm,

I flopped onto my bed and posted on the gallery.

I'd talked to Elrim like SubsidyRiceEater suggested.

Now it was time to hear about that research he mentioned.

I usually ignored the tough theses that popped up on the gallery.

Gallery mages' papers and magic debates were always about 10th or 11th-order ultra-high magic,

or super advanced theory way beyond a first-year cadet like me who bombed the written exam.

But SubsidyRiceEater said this was seriously important to me too.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

So he'd explain it simply, at least.

SubsidyRiceEater dipped from the gallery briefly.

Moments later, he posted.

It was research on the bracelet's blue beads.

You know, the twelve blue ones supposedly tied to dimensional magic.

From what I'd heard before, dimensional magic was uncharted territory even for gallery mages,

and the blue magic's true nature was a mystery.

Blue beads linked to gallery magic?

Gallery magic connected dimensions, so maybe dimensional ties.

I tried reading SubsidyRiceEater's thesis file.

But it was gibberish.

Like undergrads reading prof papers—no, like elementary kids.

All I could do was wait for gallery folks to dumb it down.

And spam baby cries in comments.

"What the..."

Some time passed.

I dumped crap comments nonstop, but zero reactions.

Not even other comments anywhere.

The whole gallery was frozen, not just this post.

No replies, no new posts.

Just SubsidyRiceEater's post views climbing.

Views skyrocketed, but no bump to frontpage.

No one hit recommend.

Meaning: Every gallery mage was reading his thesis.

Forgetting to even recommend, glued to it.

Felt like I was alone in the world.

My crap posts got views but no replies—like posting to a private gallery.

I closed the app.

They'd explain when done.

I cultivated through the night, shaking off fatigue.

A few hours till morning.

Gallery still iced over.

"They say no gallery time means reading books..."

I left the dorm early and hit the library.

Usually gallery scrolling kicked off the day, but mages were still buried in the thesis.

Lecture time left, so I borrowed a book.

Beast compendium.

To ID KimChur's species.

Gallery knew everything, but not my dimension's beasts by heart.

Furrylike said check my world's compendium myself.

He probably knew at a glance, but said handling familiars wasn't just info.

Researching your own kid builds love for it—go find out.

Others agreed, spilled nothing.

So I borrowed the compendium and headed to class.

Quiet lecture hall, class not started, sparse cadets.

I flipped open the compendium.

"Hmm... here it is."

Flipping pages, found a pic matching adult KimChur.

"Species name..."

Academic name: [Jet-Black Sloth].

Shockingly, no grade classification in the beast ranking system.

"Due to exceptional mental disruption, manipulation, interference abilities, few properly observed specimens..."

Specialty: mental control.

So potent, hard to capture/observe/study.

No combat power data sans mental stuff.

Ecology suggests strong fighter, but ungraded due to lack of research.

Danger level: Treat as 1st grade caution.

But rare individuals, low numbers, solitary—unlikely encounters, no worry.

"Impressive beast..."

KimChur was something else. King of its rare kind, even.

Why'd it stick to me? No clue.

Compendium called [Jet-Black Sloth] ultra-rare, under-researched.

More flips showed other rare understudies like it.

KimChur's kitten size blurred distinctions.

Kid phase looked cat-like.

Now it screamed sloth vibes.

Still no big gains.

Tsking, closing it—last line caught my eye.

"Difficult to study, but low-pop species fiercely protect mates. Target breeding season for research..."

Few numbers, so cherishes small family?

Memo: Aim there for study.

Furrylike's words flashed.

...Nah.

*Ding-*

Gallery notifications erupted, dam burst.

Mages' replies exploded.

How intense was that thesis?

Fired up for my three-line summary, I logged in.

But the thesis, per their takes,

was monumental—way beyond three lines.