Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Top Seat
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My vision went black.
- Whoosh.
Something enormous… an invisible hand grabbed me by the collar.
The sensation of my entire body being lifted up.
A floating feeling close to zero gravity.
And soon…
“Gasp.”
“Ugh?”
“Urk… Is it over?”
“…….”
When my vision cleared again, I was standing in the middle of a familiar building.
The grand auditorium.
The place where the final evaluation had begun.
And the place that signaled the end of the final evaluation, announcing that I had survived to the very end.
I stood there as a survivor.
“…Meow?”
“…….”
I turned my head.
There was a suspiciously cheerful cat—the very culprit who had gotten caught by Carnel and led her right to me—grinning innocently.
[Hi, Neru?]
“…Meow. Good to see you.”
[Really glad to see you.]
I’d missed her.
Our cat.
Truly, sincerely missed her.
…Why, you ask?
Because the cat who had dragged Carnel into it, then ditched me and bolted for her life, was now right in front of my eyes.
Yank!
I grabbed Neru’s tail without hesitation.
“NyaAaAaack!!”
Neru’s screams fell on deaf ears.
I just impassively yanked on her tail, stretching it out long.
“Sorry, meow! I didn’t know you were hiding there… Nya!!”
[If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have run away.]
“That was… instinct, meow! Survival instinct! Cat instinct!!”
Neru flailed with all her might, but I didn’t let go.
Her ears twitched wildly, but I ignored them.
‘Feels oddly satisfying.’
Yanking a cat’s tail seemed to have a subtle stress-relieving effect.
“Ah… Can you hear me? Can’t hear?”
Then Veronica climbed onto the stage of the grand auditorium, holding a microphone-shaped magic tool.
Her voice echoed through the hall.
“Wow… A lot survived this time.”
I glanced around.
About thirty students remained in the auditorium.
…It didn’t seem like many, but apparently it was a lot in Veronica’s eyes.
“So… Now do you get it? How to survive?”
The theme of this evaluation was survival.
Not winning fights, but staying alive.
“Fight back, stay put, run away pathetically—as long as you survive.”
“…….”
“If you die, it’s all meaningless?”
She was right.
If you die, nothing’s left.
No matter how grand the ideals, the lofty authority, the piles of gold coins… it all ends there.
But… I had a more pressing issue right now.
“Eeeeng…….”
Right next to me, the president sprawled on the floor, off to dreamland.
‘How long is she going to sleep?’
Of course, this was my doing.
I had stroked the edge of the mask and told her, “Sleep.”
But I hadn’t expected it to last this long.
…I was flustered too.
“Well then, good work.”
Veronica left, and students began filing out of the auditorium one by one.
After some deliberation, I made a decision.
Carrying Carnel on my back was out, and using mana was too exhausting.
Only one option left.
I pulled a spare blanket from my inventory.
I carefully draped it over Carnel’s face, straightened the edges neatly, then quietly slipped away.
***
“You’re back, human.”
Returning to the dorm, I heard a voice that wasn’t exactly welcoming, just familiar.
As expected.
Inside the tank, the loach was flapping its mouth.
“Hand over food, quick.”
No check-ins, no commentary—just requesting her meal right on cue.
I sighed inwardly and rummaged through the kitchen cabinet.
Not tuna this time—I pulled out a can stuffed with fruit.
- Thunk.
I set the can next to the tank, and the loach smoothly scaled the tank wall without a splash, landing on the desk.
Pat-pat.
The Loach dexterously lifted the can with its fins.
And then… nom-nom-chomp.
The whole can.
…Yeah.
Not the fruit inside, but the can itself.
Must be because she’s a dragon—truly she has unique tastes.
I quietly opened a can for myself and leaned back against the bed.
And then…
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【All Calamities Under Heaven】
All disasters under the sky kneel before you.
: 【Fragment of Wrath】
: 【■■■ ■■】
: 【■■■ ■■】
: 【■■■ ■■】
: 【■■■ ■■】
: 【■■■ ■■】
: 【■■■ ■■】
You, who embrace that fragment,
are already a ‘king’ even if you do not call yourself one.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘…….’
I peered once more into that deeply unsettling trait.
No matter how many times I looked, it only grew more ominous.
It was clearly beyond normal.
‘None of my traits are normal… but this one’s on another level.’
At worst, mine involved coughing blood or losing speech…
‘So, I’m the king of calamities?’
According to the description.
All disasters under heaven kneel before me, and I am a king without claiming the title.
‘It’s impossible not to think about it.’
Maybe someday, I’d become a calamity myself.
It wasn’t a laughing matter, but it felt plausibly ominous.
Calamities… are made, after all.
And I’d felt that bone-deep through the 「Space Mage」.
‘And…’
As far as I knew, there was only one calamity bearing the keyword ‘king.’
Just one in this world.
「The Silent King」 Laplace.
‘…Wait, I’m Laplace?’
It was absurd.
But… I had no grounds to deny it outright.
I didn’t even know ‘my’ past.
I didn’t know his face, or even ‘my’ own.
‘Wait… Come to think of it…’
…The fish who traveled with Laplace was right beside me now.
‘Levi.’
“Nom nom… Hm? What, human.”
‘Do I look like Laplace to you?’
“Did you eat something poisonous, human? Even bullshit has its limits.”
One question, and I got a sharp retort.
…Was it that ridiculous?
“The conditions don’t even match in the first place, human.”
‘Conditions?’
“My master is female.”
‘Ah.’
“Yeah. If you were a woman, human… well, I wouldn’t mind serving you as master—”
‘Not interested.’
“Hmph.”
Was Laplace a woman?
I rummaged through my memories.
The image of Laplace I’d seen as a graphic blob on the monitor…
‘…What was it?’
Man? Woman?
All I remembered was a hood and a mask.
It's body wrapped head to toe in clothes—there was no way to tell gender or even race.
“And my master isn’t trash like you.”
‘I’m not trash.’
“Hand on heart, think again, human.”
Hand on heart, I still wasn’t trash.
‘Laplace vanished a thousand years ago, to begin with…’
If I were really Laplace, surviving unscathed for a thousand years didn’t add up.
I was human, and humans don’t live that long.
‘…I’m human, right?’
…This damn trait was spawning endless doubts.
“By the way…”
The loach finished its can clean, wiping its mouth with a fin.
It paused, then flapped its mouth.
‘What?’
“My memories… feel off somehow.”
‘Your memories?’
“…Nothing. Human.”
‘What is it.’
Why keep making me uneasy?
Dragging it out like that just made me worry more.
‘…Whatever.’
The more I thought, the less I knew.
Best to ignore it, as usual.
I cleared the cans and flopped onto the bed.
Pulled the blanket up to my chin and called the mikkurebi.
‘Levi.’
“What now, human.”
‘Turn off the light.’
“…….”
The Loach glared at me with its dead-fish eyes instead of answering.
A pitiful look.
Then it huffed, waddled to the wall…
Click.
It flipped the switch, the magic light on the ceiling went out, and the room plunged into darkness.
***
“You’re not late for once? That was close—you were seconds from being out. One more minute, and bye-bye.”
[Dean.]
“What.”
[I just saw something weird.]
“What.”
[Right as I was about to enter the classroom, someone was locking the back door.]
“…Really?”
I barely made it to the S Class room.
What I saw… was someone frantically locking the back door.
“Who does that? What a jerk.”
[I agree, Dean.]
Good thing I came through the front.
Back door, and I’d have been late flat-out.
Time was that tight.
“Go sit down already.”
[I can’t just let this slide, Dean.]
“It’s fine. Go sit.”
[I’m not fine with it.]
“Oh? Wanna keep not being fine?”
Veronica clenched and unclenched her fist.
I slunk sadly to the very back row and sat.
“Alright, everyone’s here… Grades come out at lunch. Eat and head to the central lobby.”
“Dean! Question!”
Then Serros shot up his hand.
“What.”
“If our rank drops, do we get different dorms?”
“Yeah. But S Class has separate dorms.”
“Oh, right? Sorry, Dean!”
More than that, Serros must’ve tanked his grades hard.
Not “if it goes up,” but “if it drops” first.
What the hell had he been up to?
“Anyway… I’m out.”
Veronica waved halfheartedly and vanished.
Then I… attended class as usual, scarfed lunch, killed time in the clubroom, and suddenly remembered.
‘Oh, grades.’
Heading to the first-floor central lobby, a massive grade sheet projected by a magic tool floated on the wall.
Students swarmed, hunting for names—groans and cheers mixing everywhere.
“Grrraaah!! My top seat dreams…!!”
“Pfft… Second Seat, er, no—now it’s Third place, right?”
“You little shit…!!”
“Gahk…!!!’
Laphia von Ayrin, formerly Second Seat, had dropped to Third Place, and Charlotte had boldly claimed it.
I slowly looked up.
The top of the leaderboard, the names there.
1. 【Top Seat】: Adel
2. 【Second Seat】: Charlotte von Iris
3. : Laphia von Ayrin
“Top Seat” was plastered right next to my name.
‘Top Seat, huh…’
Not like the name tag I lucked into at orientation.
One achieved purely through my own power.
A blood-soaked day of endurance.
Not empty promises of “doing my best,” but a day of true all-out effort.
All those pieces piled up, finally bearing fruit.