The Academy Academic Festival Begins
“…Lucian!”
Ah, it seems I had dived headfirst into yesterday’s thoughts once again.
I quickly straightened up and looked at the elf sitting in front of me.
“Ah, yes. Senior Charlotte. Did you call me?”
“Yeah. It’s the fifth time already. What were you thinking? You seem to be somewhere completely out of it.”
“It’s because there was some stuff to do over the weekend. I must have zoned out for a bit. How far did we get?”
“We were talking about how elves celebrate their birthdays, weren’t we?”
According to what Senior Charlotte continued, elves celebrate their birthdays as quietly as possible, ideally alone, unlike humans.
She said they spend the entire day in a very solemn mood, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
It was probably just tradition that had existed for a very long time, so everyone simply followed it without question.
I focused and wrote Senior Charlotte’s stories diligently into my notebook.
They seemed so minor, but those little details could end up being a huge help later.
Originally, I wasn’t trying to accomplish anything grand; my main goal was to gain big benefits from small matters.
So even those minor points had been substantial enough for me.
“Lucian. But what did you do over the weekend? You look really tired.”
“Ah, that… I met Riel and there were all sorts of things that happened.”
“You got into sword training?”
To be precise, it wasn’t sword training at all—it was something far more intimate between a man and a woman.
But since there was no need to be completely honest about that part, I simply nodded.
After all, Senior Charlotte already knew that Riel and I had been sharing swords every day.
“I heard the weekend is supposed to be a rest day.”
“Right?”
“You look tired and spaced out. You should rest on the weekend. It’s good to work hard, but resting on rest days is better.”
Senior Charlotte, who trusted my words completely and even worried about me resting, was adorable.
I felt a little guilty for having tricked such a pure elf.
Anyway, as Senior Charlotte had said, my mind was a bit hazy right now.
I had no idea how the time had flown—whether it was some distant story or something.
When I closed my eyes, I could still see that weekend with perfect clarity.
Weekends had always passed quickly for me, but this time had been even faster than the last.
Saturday afternoon vanished in the blink of an eye because of the date.
From that night until Sunday morning, time had been completely wiped out by all the activities we did.
After that, the hours had been spent sitting with Riel, talking about everything under the sun.
Not a single joke was added. It was as if only a few blinks had passed, yet two full days had slipped by.
On Monday—right this morning—while I was opening my eyes to head to lecture, the thought crossed my mind that today was actually Sunday?
“Lucian. Professor Milaze said she’d come find you this afternoon.”
“Professor Milaze is coming to see me?”
“Yeah. She told me this morning to pass that along.”
It seemed she wanted to discuss the thesis again.
Now that I thought about it, midterms were over, and the academic festival was only two weeks away.
Professor Milaze must have been pouring tremendous effort into the thesis during those two weeks.
Of all people, the paper was about the late Prime Minister Dragon Schultz—how could she not give it her all?
I had been secretly planning to inform Edwin-nim today, if only to drop a hint.
It might seem sudden, but this was Minerva Academy’s business, and surely it was fine for him to come and show his face once in a while.
If he arrived here, he would undoubtedly have a profoundly positive impact on everyone, and I could add a suitable reason for that.
Of course, the old man was likely to be displeased.
Aside from His Majesty the King, no one else could compare to his greatness.
Yet he had shown an extremely negative reaction to wielding that power, and above all, he was in his late laziness.
He must have known perfectly well what kind of troublesome things he might face if he came to the academy.
Why bother coming all the way here to be stared at by the world’s eyes in a positive light?
‘But Edwin-nim wants that troublesome man to return to the world.’
Honestly, even I would hope for the same if I were Edwin-nim.
My father, the once-in-a-lifetime legendary prime minister of Lebechia history, was still alive and active. If he threw himself into more duties, this nation’s future would shine even brighter.
If he simply shrugged it off as laziness, I would probably stuff him back into his chair until his insides burst.
If I made the proposal, I was certain Edwin-nim would evaluate it very positively.
Unlike the previous requests, it was never going to be the Cloud old man stepping into the spotlight.
Minerva Academy was the institution responsible for nurturing Lebechia’s talent, so it naturally mattered.
The Cloud old man was also famously greedy when it came to talent, just like the late king.
And the inspector responsible for that talent—the inspector of Minerva Academy—might well be secretly hoping for it.
Besides, even if the old man was lazy, no parent could truly defeat their own child.
Up until now, Edwin-nim had been the one yielding and yielding, and it had come to this.
But I was certain he would end up here following Edwin-nim’s lead.
“Senior Charlotte, you said you’re close with Professor Milaze.”
“Yeah. She’s my teacher. A wonderful person, kind to everyone. An elf who isn’t quite like a stereotypical elf.”
“That’s high praise. Has she ever mentioned anything about Dragon Schultz to you?”
“Plenty. A ton. A ton, a ton, a ton! So much!”
Senior Charlotte, who seemed to want to express something enormous, raised both arms and drew a huge circle in the air.
Even if I looked at that gesture favorably, she looked like a nine-year-old child, and I couldn’t help laughing.
Even as I did so, Senior Charlotte kept speaking with the most serious expression on her face.
“She said human but not quite human. What does that mean, Lucian? She said human but not human?”
“It probably means that by human standards, she accomplished things that were simply impossible.”
“She’s amazing. She’s always complaining that there aren’t any men like that in our family.”
“…You really are a true fan of that old man.”
“True fan? What do you mean?”
“I mean, like, you like the person a lot. That kind of thing.”
“Then are you Riel’s true fan, Lucian? Or is Riel your true fan?”
Senior Charlotte, who continued to use words with perfect precision, was adorable.
I recalled an old ancestor’s advice that children shouldn’t speak carelessly in front of others.
While remembering that, I decided to try saying the exact thing I had wanted to say to Senior Charlotte.
“What if the late Prime Minister Dragon Schultz appeared in front of Professor Milaze?”
“Her teacher would probably be so excited she couldn’t contain herself. But that human would soon be in trouble.”
“Why?”
Professor Milaze doesn’t tolerate unanswered questions. She keeps asking until she gets every answer she wants. Probably all day? No, three days and nights? She’d latch on like that.”
“….”
Hearing that story made me wonder if summoning the old man had been a wise idea.
When I had summoned him, I had said, “There is absolutely no trouble,” but if three days and nights of questioning followed…
I even considered having Edwin-nim come alone and act as a kind of proxy.
But the Cloud old man had already been on standby for a possible visit.
If I came back after “mission failed!” and everyone just accepted it without a fuss, that would be the end of it.
For now, I finished my conversation with Senior Charlotte and headed to Professor Milaze’s research room.
I entered carefully, mindful of not knocking over or stepping on books the way I had last time.
“Come in, Lucian.”
Professor Milaze, who couldn’t raise her head because she was buried in writing the thesis, appeared.
The sound of her pen moving swiftly—schwshsch—filled the room as she worked nonstop.
At the same time, she marked every single book she had around her.
I knew the thesis work was in its final stage, but I hadn’t realized it would be this intense.
“…You really look extremely busy.”
“We’re only two weeks away from the academic festival. There are still many incomplete parts. Honestly, I’m worried whether I can finish the thesis before the festival.”
“You don’t have to worry if you can’t finish it. That person can grasp the whole picture from just parts.”
“That’s true, but the evaluation that he’s just an elf professor without any ability in front of the late Prime Minister Dragon Schultz is something I never want to receive.”
Actually, Professor Milaze had already proven her abilities to become an academy professor.
In particular, she was the first person to undergo the Cloud old man’s naturalization method.
How could there be any chance that a person with no talent at all in Lebechia would be chosen as the first subject?
Of course, it was done considering Professor Milaze’s academic achievements.
“Sit down, Lucian. Standing makes me dizzy.”
Professor Milaze spoke in that tone, then suddenly launched into the reason for her curiosity.
She said that since the man was such a straight-talking type with his own circumstances, it was only natural.
After looking into it as much as possible, there was no reason he had to step down and disappear entirely.
The question that troubled her the most was why he had vanished so cleanly from Lebechia without leaving a trace, even though he hadn’t committed any major crime.
Even his contacts had gone unanswered.
Of course, I knew that was not any other reason—it was simply extreme laziness.
According to Edwin-nim, even the late king couldn’t contact him properly.
Naturally, no one else would be able to reach out either.
But from Professor Milaze’s perspective, who didn’t know that, she must have wondered if there was something else going on.
Although he had shown a somewhat detached side, that didn’t mean she couldn’t tell what was important and what wasn’t. It was just too sad that he had left without saying goodbye.
“I’m afraid I can only explain it that way, Professor.”
“Exactly? You can only know from the person involved. I’m sorry, Lucian.”
“No, thanks to you, I’ve been thinking in a different direction. Thank you.”
I had wanted to say it bluntly—“That old man finds everything troublesome”—but Professor Milaze was a true fan of Dragon Schultz.
If I told her the late prime minister had actually quit because he was lazy in front of her, would she believe it?
I myself wouldn’t have believed it and would have cut him off with, “That’s nonsense.”
“How are you getting along with Charlotte?”
“Yes. She has been a great help to me. Hearing about the elves, and…”
“I heard about the midterm. She said she used magic. There was definitely some accident involved.”
“Humph…”
From what I heard about the situation, it seemed that part was also thanks to Charlotte’s help.
“Yes. She gave me directions I had never thought of before. Thanks to her, I was able to reach places I never could have.”
“As always. Changing your way of thinking opens up new paths. But congratulations on your win this time—the top student in the entire first-year Literature Division. Your exam in my class was of course perfect.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
Schwshschsch.
Even while chatting with me about unrelated topics, Professor Milaze’s pen never stopped moving.
I thought that if she were so distracted, she might make a typo, but seeing her continue to write without pause, I realized she was extremely busy.
That was why I wanted to bring the old man to the academic festival even more.
When that unflappable professor met the person she worshipped as her idol, I was dying to know what kind of reaction she would show.
[Charlotte: He really does look exhausted from the weekend... but he seems to be back to normal now. Still, I should have a talk with him later.]