Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Caramel's Workshop
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“Hi?”
What.
Why is she here.
“Why are you pretending to sleep?”
Veronica asks, her eyes sparkling.
…I get chills and reflexively sit up.
[What's going on, Dean?]
“Huh? I came to check if you're still alive.”
Wow… the Dean is way better than Serros.
One person drops by to torment their sick friend out of boredom, while another comes out of worry.
The Dean really is the best.
“So why were you pretending to sleep?”
But our Dean… is pretty persistent.
[I wasn't pretending.]
“Really?”
[Yes.]
“Hmm… really?”
Veronica stares right at me.
That same disbelieving look.
I nod as confidently as I can from behind the mask.
[Really.]
“…That's weird.”
Veronica rests her chin in her hand and tilts her head.
She fiddles with the blanket as she mutters.
“You were breathing so strangely… it felt kinda fake….”
[I must be a natural.]
“You're even cracking jokes?”
[I was really asleep.]
“I see… in that case….”
Tuck.
Veronica pulls the blanket back up to my shoulders.
“Keep sleeping.”
[Huh?]
“Sleep, I said.”
[But why'd you come?]
“I told you, I was worried about you.”
Is that for real?
That Veronica? The greedy one who's super obsessive?
[You expect me to believe that?]
“You… know your eyes look weird right now, yeah?”
[No they don't.]
“What's do you mean no?”
[The Dean coming because she's worried about me… I'm just touched.]
“You're totally mocking me.”
[I know you too well… that's why it's even harder to believe.]
“Yeah. You've got a real talent for saying the shittiest things.”
Even as she says it, Veronica smirks.
Then she floats up into the air and lies there.
“So? Any progress with magic?”
[No.]
“…None at all?”
[Yes.]
“Why?”
[That's what I'm wondering too.]
“Wanna die?”
[No.]
Veronica glares at me.
No words are said… but her eyes feel like they're dumping a bucket of curses.
“Oh, right—how'd you catch the Blood Hound?”
Then she shifts her gaze to the ceiling and speaks up.
“The student council president's main strength is magic too… and your Word of Command is magic-based, so it'd be tough against a Blood Hound.”
[I sacrificed this one body of mine—]
“Charlotte? Nah, she was far away, right? Then… Serros? Lev?”
[I really was sick—]
“Hmm… but they all seem unlikely.”
Then she looks back at me.
“Hmm…?”
Whoosh.
Veronica leans right in close.
“Sniff sniff….”
…And sniffs right up against me.
‘…Huh?’
“Hmm… something subtle.”
[What're you doing all of a sudden, Dean?]
This is sexual harassment.
“It's like… a dragon scent or something?”
[That's your scent, De—]
“Shut your trap.”
[Yes ma'am.]
She tells me to shut up, but my mouth was already shut, so I just set the pen down.
Veronica presses her nose into my nape.
“Hmm… it's a super ambiguous scent.”
[What kind?]
“Hmm… dragon, but not-dragon?”
…Yeah, ambiguous for real.
Dragon but not dragon—what even is that.
“So who caught the Blood Hound?”
No… she changed the subject herself and looped right back.
[Klaus.]
“…Klaus?”
Huh, the Dean knows Klaus too?
“The F Class kid?”
[Yes.]
She does know.
But then why am I the top student.
I swallow my resentment.
“Hmm… you tell me.”
[What?]
“In your eyes, does that Klaus kid have enough talent for S Class?”
What's this now.
‘Obviously… wait.’
Klaus's talent right now is the same ‘lowest’ as mine.
But… Klaus's talent grows.
Even that absolute talent value—he draws an upward curve.
“That kid's talent is so… ambiguous.”
Exactly.
Klaus's talent climbs from rock bottom all the way to the heavens.
It looks minor at a glance, but in the end, it'll surpass everything.
‘…So that's why I ended up top.’
At enrollment, that growth wouldn't have shown yet.
So only I stood out, and that's how I became the top seat.
Which means…
[I guarantee Klaus.]
Gotta etch Klaus firmly into Veronica's mind.
“…You're saying that much?”
[Yes.]
So come on, you greedy Dean.
Please obsess over Klaus instead of me.
***
I head back to the dorm.
‘Hmm.’
With the mystery candy from Veronica in hand.
I gaze down quietly at the candy clutched in my fist.
‘What even is this.’
Fluffy and soft—the texture alone is suspicious.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Heavenly Cloud】
Grade: Heroic (Epic)
A mysterious candy refined from clouds high in the sky.
: Consuming it raises your chosen stat by 1.
Fluffy… and super tasty!
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Oh.’
I can raise any stat I want—not suspicious at all for a gift from Veronica.
‘Pretty normal, huh?’
No need to agonize over it anymore.
‘Nom.’
I pop the candy straight into my mouth.
[Select a stat!]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[Adel]
Stats
: Stamina: 12 (D)
: Strength: 2 (F)
: Intelligence: 27 (B)
: Mentality: 30 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Which one, hmm.’
Stamina or strength would be most useful…
‘Strength, maybe?’
But… is going from 2 to 3 gonna change much?
I'd still barely be able to lift 【Leviathan】 properly.
‘Should I just go with stamina?’
If I boost stamina I can use 【Word of Command】 more times.
‘Hmm….’
Yeah. Stamina it is.
[Stat ‘Stamina’ has increased by 1.]
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
[Adel]
Stats
: Stamina: 13 (D)
: Strength: 2 (F)
: Intelligence: 27 (B)
: Mentality: 30 (A)
: Mana: ■ ()
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Crunch.
‘Tasty.’
It can't even compare to that 【Caramel's Herb】 from before.
‘Oh, right.’
Time to go see Caramel soon.
Better work on her favorability ahead of time.
She might be getting picked on by some jerks right now.
‘I'll head over tomorrow.’
Thinking that, I open the wardrobe to grab a tuna can.
‘Ah.’
Ever since Carnel raided all my canned goods, this one's the only one left—in my hand.
I let out a sigh and head to my usual room.
“Why're you so late, human?”
The loach in the tank greets me.
“Feed me already, human.”
But food comes before greetings with this loach.
[Only one can left.]
“What?”
The loach's eyes go wide.
Shock hits before the hunger, apparently.
[Too bad—we could've shared it.]
I pop open the tuna can with a clink and grab a spoon.
Then super slowly, I scoop up one bite and pop it in my mouth.
Chewing with exaggerated crunches.
“Th-this…!!”
The loach starts racing around the tank like crazy.
The water sloshes, its small slippery body spinning in circles.
[So good.]
And then.
- Swoosh.
A tentacle of water shoots from the tank and snatches the tuna can right out of my hand.
‘…??’
Crunch.
“Nom… yeah, definitely tasty, human.”
The loach clutches the tuna can in both fins and chomps down on the whole thing—tin and all.
With super crunchy bites.
‘…….’
Seeing it devour the entire can, tin included… I have no choice but to concede defeat.
***
- Thud.
I press the wall, and a brick sinks in as a portal opens.
A barrage of colorful light beams straight into my eyes.
‘Lemme see….’
I step into the gray zone.
Truth be told, I should be at the cradle by now, but…
Veronica gave me the week off, so I've got time to kill.
‘Jackpot.’
I walk along with a grin tugging at my lips.
Today's goal: Caramel's Workshop.
Somewhere out in the outer district for sure.
‘I remember it tucked away in a corner….’
So I start checking from the outskirts of the gray zone, one spot at a time.
“Hey, ain'tcha payin' up?”
…A place where running into anything wouldn't be weird.
“Ya gotta pay, right? Or ya die, got it?”
The gray zone looks peaceful on the surface, but it bares its shady underbelly anytime.
The shady side of the sunny spots… or the sunny side of the shady spots?
‘Ends up shady either way.’
Scenes like that remind me of the gray zone's true nature.
‘…Is Caramel dealing with something like that right now?’
Given her personality, she probably started the trouble herself.
‘Ah, this it?’
After wandering while lost in thought, a familiar building comes into view.
Abnormal at first glance.
Its walls are plastered with unknown symbols, and the window frames dangle with crazy decorations.
“Uhhehe… this is good stuff?”
“Ugh… Mom's here….”
“Ah… oh God.”
Hmm… nope.
Wrong place.
The vibe's similar in madness, but Caramel's workshop wasn't a space that broke people like that.
…Probably.
‘Ah, here it is.’
A few more steps.
This time, for sure.
「Caramel Workshop☆ Sponsors Big☆Wel☆Come☆」
It was a flashy, chaotic signboard.
Stars everywhere—it's hard to tell if it's welcoming or threatening.
But one thing's certain…
‘…Yeah, this is the place.’
That uniquely Caramel aesthetic—nothing remotely normal anywhere.
And beneath the sign, some small print catches my eye.
「Explosions are a totally normal occurrence. No complaints accepted~☆」
At this point, I'm the weird one for expecting anything normal.
I blame myself as I reach for the doorknob.
- Bang!
…At least it's not an explosion.
Sounds like a table got wrecked bad.
“You crazy bitch! Sellin' this garbage for money?”
“Garbage?!”
“You're chargin' money for crap that shouldn't even be sold?! Because of you, now…!!”
Hmm… sounds like someone is raging.
I peek through the door crack—it's a middle-aged guy clutching a colorful potion, face beet red.
He's bellowing, spittle flying everywhere.
“Your potion made my Excalibur go limp!!”
And with that, he dramatically thrusts both hands toward his crotch for emphasis.
“Eh… seems less like a potion issue and more like your junk's defective….”
“Wh-what… grrr… ugh….”
I won't repeat the rest.
I lean against the wall and wait like nothing's happening.
…Please, no explosions.