Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Forgot
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“Hey, do I look stiff to you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Headmistress?”
“Do I look stiff? Internally... or externally.”
“Yeah, you seem emotionally dried up and twisted... pretty stiff.”
Veronica scowled and turned her head away.
And at the end of that turned gaze...
There was Karnel, sipping her tea with elegant poise, like some novel’s heroine.
“President.”
“Yes?”
Sweep—
Veronica’s eyes scanned Karnel from top to bottom, then bottom to top.
Her gaze paused briefly at the shoulders, then stopped at the chest.
“Yeah... you must feel nice and soft.”
“??”
“Youth is the best.”
“Uh... I’m not sure what you mean.”
Karnel tilted her head, mulling over Veronica’s words.
Just as always, she responded earnestly to nonsense that defied interpretation.
“......”
And for once, disgust flickered across Delphine’s face.
She shot Veronica a cold glare, conveying her feelings.
“No need to pay it any mind, Miss Karnel.”
“??”
“Don’t let that old hag’s drivel get to you.”
Sweep—
Veronica’s eyes turned back to Delphine.
Even through her blank expression, the vibe was palpable.
The term “old hag” must have hit harder than expected.
“That’s too much.”
“So you’re saying it wasn’t drivel?”
“......Nothing.”
Pout.
Veronica mumbled with pursed lips.
“You guys are no fun. No fun at all.”
Sexual harassment isn’t supposed to be fun by default.
But this dragon had no concept of “normal.”
“What the hell, this jerk again.”
[What?]
“If you’re awake, say something. You scared me.”
[You’re not even human, and you weren’t scared.]
“True.”
[?]
A bizarre situation where the one who asked the question ended up more confused.
It was the kind of conversation that made you want to go right back to sleep.
“This bastard just lies there while I’m talking.”
Scribble scribble.
Still lying on my back staring at the ceiling, I moved my pen across the whiteboard.
Then I raised my arm to show Veronica.
[I’m the patient here.]
“So?”
Pout.
I set the whiteboard down on my legs.
No need to respond to that “so.”
I just blinked, shut my ears, and started counting the ceiling patterns one by one.
“Hm.”
It had been a while since I last saw this hospital ceiling.
I remembered waking up here once before.
“Tsk...”
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth, and my throat was parched.
My whole body throbbed, so the backlash must have been severe.
“At least I’m alive.”
How many times had I used 【Word Spirit】 in one day?
...And consecutively, no less.
As my senses returned, what hit first wasn’t relief at being alive, but my bone-dry throat and crushing fatigue.
[How long was I out?]
“Since you passed out?”
[Yeah.]
“Hm... about 23 hours and 19 minutes.”
She gave such precise details.
Didn’t need to be that exact.
But...
[A whole day?]
“Yeah.”
I’d just blinked once...
And a day was gone.
[What a bitch.]
“Such a shame.”
She said “shame”...
But Veronica didn’t look remotely sorry.
If anything, she seemed utterly at ease. Was that my imagination?
“Nom.”
Veronica popped a candy into her mouth casually...
Crunch.
And bit down on it.
“Alright, rest up till today, then figure it out yourself tomorrow.”
With that, she sauntered out of the room.
Chewing her candy and waving lightly, her back didn’t look like an evil dragon’s...
But a kind one’s.
And following her out...
“Well, now the nuisance is gone. Shall we review, Miss Adel?”
As the kind dragon left, the evil professor Delphine took her place.
......Fine, Veronica and Karnel aside, why was this woman here?
Slide.
Delphine quietly pulled a chair closer to my bedside.
And soon.
Whirr.
She activated a device, projecting a small hologram.
The footage in midair showed my duel with Delphine playing out perfectly.
“The start was excellent. I planned to end it in one go, but you saw through it nicely.”
Slide.
As she spoke, Karnel, who’d been sipping tea elegantly, silently stood, strode over, and plopped down on my bed.
“Should’ve banned artifacts after all.”
There was a hint of regret in Delphine’s tone, but no real resentment.
I’d have thrown a fit, but... professors gonna professor.
“Hm...”
The next scene...
Was me being hoisted up by Delphine and fireman’s-carried.
“......”
I averted my eyes for no reason.
Nothing weird about it, but... embarrassing to watch.
“You tend to put too much faith in information, Miss Adel.”
[Then what do I do?]
I scribbled on the whiteboard, packing in my frustration.
She’d only sniped magic from afar, never closing in...
But when she did, she lifted and tossed me like it was nothing.
A mage with that kind of strength? Total cheat.
“Information shouldn’t be viewed from one angle. You have to look at it from multiple perspectives to grasp its true meaning.”
Smack.
No argument there.
Trust the info... but don’t get trapped by it.
My body getting fireman’s-carried was proof enough.
[Next.]
How long are we gonna loop this fireman’s carry?
Can we move on already?
“Hm... Understood.”
Flick.
Delphine flicked to the next scene.
Soon, a storm raged on screen as 【Illusory Dream】 split me into dozens, filling the battlefield and surrounding Delphine.
“Ooh... multiple Adels...?”
Karnel licked her lips for some reason.
No clue why that made her hungry, but it felt weird.
“Good idea. But it lacked substance.”
[?]
“Finding the real you among all those Miss Adels... near impossible.”
[Right.]
Come to think of it...
Out of all those “me’s,” Delphine had zeroed in on the real one like a ghost.
“My trigger, that is...”
Snap.
Delphine snapped her fingers.
“The answer’s right there in that action.”
[??]
“Only one fake reacted to that trigger.”
[Ah.]
Slide.
I turned to the hologram.
The moment Delphine snapped...
The illusions stayed put, but the real me reacted.
“Ugh...”
And after that, it was straightforward.
Delphine cast magic without giving me a chance to dodge.
She bound my feet with unavoidable spells...
Then unleashed her unique magic, 「Supernova」.
“But here’s the thing...”
Next scene.
Delphine spoke with a hint of grievance.
Her eyes went to the screen—behind me, to the pitch-black shadow casually leaking off Bahamut.
“Even I can’t handle a Spirit King that easily.”
“Wow......”
Karnel admired Bahamut.
Delphine shook her head at Karnel.
“I wanted a one-on-one. But suddenly it felt like I was left alone on a battlefield.”
[Too bad.]
“Really.”
The footage sped by, pausing...
At the moment I was about to unleash my unique magic.
“This part threw me off... Who’d think it was fake.”
The illusion from 【Illusory Dream】.
Delphine mistook my clone for the real thing, and that decided the match.
The rest played out as it ended.
Light exploded, Delphine’s form vanished.
“And...”
[?]
“Emotions weaken people.”
“Fear stiffens the body, anger clouds judgment, sadness breeds hesitation.”
[Out of nowhere?]
“Inferiority holds all three.”
[.]
Delphine rose slowly.
She quietly pushed her chair back in, adding...
“Reason must prevail for a simple reason: it turns emotions from burdens into tools.”
“......”
“Shaken resolve becomes a pillar, shattered beliefs a canvas for new purpose.”
Slide.
Delphine bent down, picking up a candy wrapper from the floor.
The one the evil dragon Veronica had carelessly dropped.
“Weakness... is the root of strength. And strength... blooms from weakness in the end.”
Click—
Grabbing the door handle, Delphine turned back one last time.
“Don’t deny your emotions. Don’t suppress them either.”
[??]
“Only those who master their emotions can truly grow strong.”
[Uh?]
I couldn’t hide my bafflement, tilting my head with the whiteboard in hand.
But Delphine crossed the threshold anyway...
“You’ll understand someday.”
Click—
...And vanished gracefully.
“...What was that?”
A brief silence.
Karnel, sitting on my bed with arms crossed, blurted it out.
She didn’t get what just happened either.
[Middle school syndrome, probably.]
She was well past twenty...
But they say it doesn’t care about age. Was this an outbreak?
Karnel made a V-sign with her fingers, rested her chin on it, and eyed me.
“More importantly, that fireman’s carry... real?”
[Fake.]
“Real?”
[Nope.]
“......”
No idea why she was obsessed with that scene.
Embarrassing for me, entertaining for everyone else.
Flick flick.
Karnel manipulated the device, looping the fireman’s carry.
She gasped and chuckled to herself each time.
“Kinda cute!”
[What is?]
“Like a cat.”
[Where?]
“Right here.”
Frozen frame.
The instant before my wrist was grabbed and I was flipped.
“See? Totally...”
Play.
Then pause again.
“Ooh... perfect rotation.”
“......”
“But you went limp too easy.”
I raised the whiteboard.
No more talk on this topic.
[Why are you here anyway, President?]
“Does that mean I shouldn’t be here!?”
[No;]
How did it turn into that...
I was just genuinely curious.
Karnel blinked, then nodded.
“Hm... that’s right!”
Thrust!
She jabbed the air emphatically with her finger.
“Uh...... I forgot!”
[?]
...Yeah.
She said so.
“......”
“Hm? Hey?”
I silently pulled the blanket over my head.