Chapter 19
Chapter 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Letter Delivery and the Outbreak
-----------------------------------------------------------------
19
1
“Yawn…”
So sleepy…
I can’t stop yawning since morning.
Just in case, I wandered around the forest all last night.
It wasn’t until late dawn that I cautiously returned to the dormitory.
Thanks to that, I only got about four hours of sleep… and with first period today, I couldn’t even sleep in.
-Still, didn’t you train plenty? This body is satisfied.
Of course you’re satisfied…
I had nowhere else to go, so I trained alone in the forest with Deathwise…
-Don’t just train sporadically whenever you have time—make a proper training schedule. You’ll never master this body otherwise.
Hmm, too much hassle.
I do want to use the demon sword, but not to the point of risking my life to master it properly.
If I were going to put in that much effort, I wouldn’t even think about coasting through graduation.
-You’re a lost cause compared to Theo.
That’s harsh. You can’t do anything on your own either.
Say what you want, but I do train as much as I can without overdoing it.
I’m confident that with the demon sword, I can breeze through most problems.
The issue is that Deathwise is useless during the day.
Got something to say?
-……
His silence means I hit the nail on the head.
Anyway, I did my best, so I can hold my head high.
And so, for all my hard work training through the night, breakfast is panini.
Ciabatta stuffed with thick cheese and juicy bacon, fresh tomatoes, red onions, and arugula for balance, finished off with balsamic glaze.
I took a huge bite into the panini with my yawning mouth wide open.
As I savored the complex, harmonious flavors, Choco was munching on his own lunchbox from my shoulder.
“…Lobster for breakfast?”
What Choco held was a small lobster shell.
Lobster in the student cafeteria’s pet lunchbox, of all things.
My common sense is shaken, but… this world has always been like this.
I shouldn’t expect normalcy.
Still, I wonder what lobster tastes like.
I’ve never even had instant ramen with 0.0006% lobster content.
Hmm, next time, I’ll definitely order lobster at the cafeteria.
This is the best part.
I can casually order foods I’ve never even dreamed of before.
Soon enough, I might get used to chateaubriand, beef Wellington, truffles, and the like.
One thing’s for sure: the days of filling up on kimchi fried rice are gone forever.
“Ah, perfect timing.”
Just as I finished devouring the panini, Merrill called out.
Wearing her wide-brimmed hat as usual, she adjusted the armful of textbooks she was carrying and smoothed her disheveled hat with one hand.
How does she carry around such thick books like that?
I licked the balsamic from my fingertips and asked.
“Perfect timing? You’ve got something to say, huh.”
“Yeah, I have something to ask.”
“I was secretly hoping you’d say class is canceled today.”
“No such luck—today’s lectures are on, so suck it up and attend. More importantly, do you know where Leon Hilfenberg is?”
“Leon? No clue. Why?”
Merrill let out a small sigh.
“I have a letter to deliver to him by today. It’s from the admin office… but I have no classes overlapping with his, and our routines don’t intersect at all. Feels awkward to go hunting for him. I figured you’d know since you’re close.”
“That’s tricky…”
…
…
“Wait, what did you just say?”
“I thought you’d know since you two are close.”
“No, you think Leon and I are close…?”
“Aren’t you?”
She turns it back on me?
Now I’m at a loss for words.
“I heard you dueled, worked on assignments together? I’ve seen you two hanging out a lot, so I assumed you were friends.”
“No, well… it might look that way.”
Thinking about it objectively, I have been running into Leon a lot lately.
Can’t blame Merrill for thinking that.
“Anyway, you don’t know where he is?”
“Yeah, no idea.”
“No helping it then. I’ll just wait at the dorm entrance. Sorry for taking your time.”
“…No, if you’re going that far, give it to me.”
I held out my hand, and Merrill tilted her head in surprise.
“You sure?”
“Changed my mind—I think I’ll run into him later anyway.”
“Not even a scheduled meeting, just ‘might’? Still, thanks—you saved me.”
Merrill smiled brightly and handed over the neatly sealed letter.
2
The reason I took the letter wasn’t anything else.
After Jeist, now tailing Leon… well, “tailing” sounds off.
I just wanted to keep some distance and see if Leon was following my note’s instructions properly.
Delivering the letter is just a bonus.
Anyway, morning classes were over.
Predicting where Leon might be wasn’t easy.
The guy helps people left and right, so his movements are all over the place.
Still, it’s limited to inside the academy.
Where there’s someone in trouble, Leon inevitably shows up.
Conversely, if no one’s in distress, he doesn’t appear—so narrowing it down is possible.
Skipping all that hassle.
After a few trial and error, I’m now tailing Leon.
Current location: the main building.
Maybe because I wrote in the note to keep an eye on the main building.
As for what Leon’s doing… he’s carrying half the stack of papers for some assistant, diving into the pond himself to retrieve a ring for a student who dropped it, even mediating an argument between students.
…Dude, there’s a limit to being a good Samaritan.
Isn’t helping people too much when it’s not even a rewarded side quest?
It’s unbelievable that he helps purely out of kindness, expecting no reward or reciprocation.
But people like that are probably why this twisted world keeps running smoothly.
Plus, Leon has his circumstances.
“Even accounting for all that, it’s still admirable.”
“What is?”
I startled at the naturally chiming-in voice.
It was none other than Ethan who’d sidled up beside me.
“What’re you doing lurking around here, buddy!”
“You’re the one popping out of nowhere casually.”
“Just passing by and spotted you?”
“…Then keep passing by. I’m busy right now.”
Ethan grinned and slung an arm around my shoulder.
“Busy spying on Leon from afar?”
-……
“No way… you lost to Leon in that duel and you’re plotting revenge!”
“That was ages ago…”
No, surprisingly recent.
Not even a week ago?
“No, more importantly, you’re not even in that class. How do you know?”
“A friend in the class told me. So, buddy, revenge? When?”
Ethan shook me while keeping his arm around me.
Ah, I miss the cool, taciturn Ethan I know.
“Not doing it. Too much hassle.”
I brushed him off and turned back to Leon.
But he was gone.
“Ah.”
“Slipped away in the meantime?”
“Damn, where’d that Leon go now…”
I quickly scanned around.
But Leon appeared in an unexpected place.
“Something you need?”
Like with Ethan, Leon popped up naturally behind me.
His smooth reaction freaked out both me and Ethan.
“Wh-when did you…”
“Since in front of the main building. Figured you had business since you were following.”
He knew from the start.
I mentally facepalmed, and Deathwise chimed in.
-Your tailing is so clumsy it’s worse than a three-year-old’s. Know your place?
Shut up, no need for chef-level burns, you jerk.
“Something about revenge, I heard.”
“Oh, that? Theo…”
Ethan started blabbing uselessly, so I reached out and clamped his mouth shut.
With my free hand, I pulled the letter from my pocket and handed it to Leon.
“They said it’s from the admin office for you.”
“That the errand?”
“Yeah. Supposed to deliver it by end of day.”
“Thanks.”
Leon took the letter with a faint smile.
But his smile stiffened upon seeing the sender.
“…What’s the letter about?”
“From the family.”
I probed casually, and Leon answered nonchalantly.
A letter from the Hilfenberg family, though.
No wonder he looks a bit uncomfortable—his expression says it’s definitely that person.
Anyway, that wraps up Merrill’s not-quite-request.
The letter’s contents aren’t my concern, but Leon’s next moves are.
“So, that’s why I came. Got anything else now?”
“Some business at the main building.”
Leon tucked the letter away as he replied.
Given he’d been hanging around the main building, he must’ve checked my note properly.
Good, plan’s on track.
Now I just slip away quietly.
“Then I’m off.”
I waved casually to part ways with Leon when—
“Wait.”
Suddenly, Leon closed the distance.
Then he reached out and covered my lower face with his hand.
“…What’re you doing?”
“Something I want to check.”
What’s he checking by suddenly covering someone’s jaw?
As expected, hard to understand—
Wait, covering the lower face?
That’s what I was doing last night.
Call it a mask, but it was a design that only exposed the eyes—so covering the lower half would make it similar enough.
Did this guy figure out it’s me?
Can a crisis hit this suddenly?
First, step back.
Stay cool and collected—whatever question Leon asks, parry it.
I can handle this; I’ve weathered plenty of storms in society.
Don’t underestimate the customer-service smile I honed dealing with crazy clients.
“You, last night…”
Leon started.
I focused, ready to react to his next words.
And then—BOOM!!
A massive roar and intense shockwave crushed the surroundings.
Reflexively, Leon, Ethan, and I all turned toward the explosion.
Second floor of the main building, east side—must be the magic research club.
Windows shattered all at once from the blast, flames shooting up through the broken frames.
The scene matched exactly the cutscene I remembered from Broken World.
Meaning: the relic theft incident had begun.
Faster than I expected.
But ever since I stopped the stone tablet rampage, the timeline was already messed up.
Anyway, the incident was underway.
Leon had definitely witnessed it.
All conditions met.
Go! Leon!
Million volt… no, clear the main quest and come back!