Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Academy - [3]
As we walked down the corridor after leaving the dean's office, Serika kept stealing glances at me from the corner of her eye.
Her gaze was... a mix of suspicion and doubt, I suppose?
A disrespectful look to give her brother.
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"That answer earlier. 'The pine tree in front of the courtyard.'"
Serika's face was etched with question marks.
"What the heck does that even mean? Finding the origin of magic in nature? Or abandoning worldly desires and returning to nature? Or maybe... imitating the resilient life force of a pine tree?"
Serika was coming up with all sorts of philosophical interpretations on her own, which just confirmed that simple is best.
You've gotta have a thick skull like me to live easy.
"No real meaning. It's like saying, 'Wanna grab some food?'"
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"I just said what I saw. There was a pine tree outside the window."
"...???"
Serika stopped in her tracks and her mouth fell open. I could practically see the gears grinding in her head.
"Then why was the dean so moved?"
"Probably nothing special."
"No way... that can't be."
"It really was. No meaning at all... not even worth calling it meaningless."
Serika stared at me with a look demanding an explanation.
Hmm... how do I put this? Let's just answer without overthinking.
"People always see and hear what they want to. Especially someone who's devoted their life to pursuing truth. Toss them something, and they'll slap a profound meaning on it themselves."
"...So you're saying?"
"Throw them some pretentious nonsense with zero meaning, and they'll interpret it on their own."
"You're saying 'the pine tree in front of the courtyard' was that? It had no meaning?"
"Nah, not exactly. What I meant was to set aside metaphysical interpretations and see the immediate reality."
Serika blinked. Then just asked back.
"So it wasn't meaningless."
"The meaning was in having the conversation itself."
I kept talking as we walked down the corridor.
"That's... a trait of old folks, I guess?"
Probably the same in any era. Say there's a grandpa who lived through the Korean War.
If you asked him to talk about it, he'd go on nonstop.
That's it. Old people can't help reminiscing about the past.
Good memories or bad, doesn't matter.
"The thing about guys like that is they're starved for the past. They've got lifetimes of experience and knowledge we can't touch, but no one to listen. Everyone's too intimidated by 'Great Mage' this and that."
I fiddled with the pendant.
"So even if you toss them something meaningless, they filter it through their life experiences and interpret it. Tie it to their own glory days. Look at earlier—the pine tree comes up, and suddenly it's orc blacksmiths and whatever."
"Yeah, now that you mention it."
"And the most important part? You listened."
Thinking back gave me chills again.
"During those two hours of the same story, I noticed little changes if I paid attention. The orc hammer started at five tons, ended at ten. The elf fling went from holding hands to kissing."
Serika nodded in agreement.
"Catch those subtle shifts and play along—that's the key. 'Whoa, ten tons?' and they get all excited and ramble more. My conclusion: even great mages are just lonely old men."
Put simply, I just buttered him up good.
21st-century flattery is powerful stuff.
"Anyway."
I suddenly took notice of the pendant I'd been fiddling with.
A heavy, worn chunk of metal.
Rough design etched with the passage of time, but the authority it carried was no light thing.
"This looks surprisingly crude. Doesn't feel like anything special..."
I held it up and turned it this way and that.
No fancy magic circles or gems—just seemed carved from plain iron.
That's how it looked to me. Wonder if Serika saw it differently?
"Serika. You sense anything here? Massive mana or unique wavelength?"
Serika stared hard at the pendant, concentrating. Mana seemed to swirl in her eyes.
"Hmm. Nope... nothing."
She shook her head.
"Feels like it might be high-level magic hiding it. Maybe the dean sealed the mana on purpose. Same difference? Anyway, to me, it's just ordinary metal."
"Yeah? Can't see it, huh..."
A random thought hit me. Or maybe not so random—pretty logical, actually.
If even Serika, next Tower Lord candidate, can't sense it, most mages would be fooled too?
"Then flip it around... wouldn't this be easy to fake?"
"What?"
Serika froze.
"If you can't sense it, normals sure as hell can't tell. Slap a forged seal on a similar hunk of metal, and people'd go, 'Whoa! The dean's pendant!'"
"Oppa, you're insane?!"
Serika clapped a hand over my mouth in horror.
"Forging the dean's stuff? If caught, it's not expulsion—mana'll rip your bones from flesh!"
"Just spitballing. I'd never actually do it."
But seriously, make something similar and no one'd know.
And I doubt I'm the only one thinking that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days later, I got to meet Rozina.
(For the record, I had Serika set it up for me.)
She looked as elegant and refined as ever.
Her eyes lit up the moment she saw me.
"Aiman! Have you been well?"
"Yes. And you?"
Rozina led me and Serika to a quiet cafe.
No other customers—the whole place rented out.
Still paranoid, Serika scanned the entire cafe.
"You said you had something to ask me."
"Of course."
"And to meet in a place like this with no one around... must be something delicate."
"Exactly. I felt Lady Rozina could be trusted."
"Oh my, thank you. Lord Aiman 'Baron.'"
That 'Baron' had a teasing lilt, and Serika, sitting beside me, looked uncomfortable.
"Getting awfully familiar, aren't you, Lady Rozina."
"Weren't we supposed to get close from now on? Serika. We even agreed to drop formalities..."
"That was just while accepting your apology. I've reconsidered."
Serika had said she'd accept Rozina's apology. Guess they bonded over drinks then.
I pulled the dean's pendant from my pocket and showed it to Rozina.
"Lady. Could you take a look at this?"
"Oh... this is?"
Rozina's eyes widened.
"Isn't this the dean's pendant?"
"Yes. He gave it to me."
"My goodness..."
Rozina couldn't close her mouth, then gave me a puzzled look.
"But why show it to me? Boasting?"
"...Not that."
Was she always this playful? The thought crossed my mind.
"I thought Lady Rozina could judge it accurately. This pendant... no, actually, I can't gauge my own value, so I wanted your help."
I asked seriously. Rozina pondered, then answered.
"Your fame soared from the imperial concert. His Majesty granted you a title himself. And now the dean's recognition with this pendant."
She hesitated on the next words.
"Put those two together... I might have to serve you as my real 'master' now? Even the Bellua family couldn't treat you lightly anymore."
That level, huh... made me truly realize my position.
Bellua is a baron's house. So effectively, viscount status?
Hard to feel it viscerally...
"Lady Rozina."
"Yes? Miss Serika."
Suddenly, Serika and Rozina started a staring contest.
No idea why.
They spoke politely with honorifics and sweet tones, but it was creepy as hell.
And their conversation's conclusion was downright weird.
"...So, to sum up, you want me to play piano for one of you two."
"Of course, Lord Aiman 'Baron.'"
"Right, Oppa."
I shouldn't say this, but I wish both would just vanish from here.