Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Avatar (1)
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Midterms.
One of the most important exams in academic evaluations—and the biggest event to boot.
Every student, every professor. Even the royal family. With this being the first major exam since the Hero Academy's founding, it'll draw far more attention than anything before.
The academy wants stricter, more precise evaluations to properly select true heroes.
Whether the current Roel measures up to those standards... well, that's still anyone's guess.
"I'll inform you of the midterm schedule."
Cigarette walked into the classroom and got right to it, no preamble.
"The date is exactly two weeks from now. The exam will span five days total, one per grade, with one written test and two practical ones planned."
Two weeks from now.
A perfect grace period for me.
Not too rushed, but not dragging on either.
I could just show up at an opportune moment.
"What concept should I go with?"
A random guy popping up out of nowhere would feel off.
Maybe cook up some plausible backstory... Hm. Uh...
But do I even need to bother?
This was just a quick borrow of the avatar's body, after all.
I could recall it anytime, and it'd snap right back to my 'inner space' without a trace.
Even if I went on a rampage all over the kingdom, there'd be no way to track me down.
Call it consequence-free indulgence.
"Now I get why it's so pricey."
Though, realistically, I'm the only one who could make full use of it anyway.
"The written exam will be based on lecture content so far. If you weren't paying attention, good luck solving it. Especially Cadet Laila... Oh?"
A dubious tone.
Cigarette's gaze locked onto Laila.
Curious about the unfamiliar reaction, I shifted my viewpoint to check her out too.
"Oh, what's this now?"
Shockingly, Laila was wide awake.
No trace of drowsiness, no sign of reluctance.
She actually looked ready to pay attention in class.
"...You're awake today. Good. I hope you keep that attitude going forward."
Cigarette masked her surprise and gave Laila a compliment.
Honestly, I was shocked too. I'd figured she'd be facedown snoring through midterms or whatever.
Something must've changed in her mindset.
If the academy's resident slacker was actually putting in effort, I had to admit... I was a little intrigued.
"Moving on. As I mentioned, the practical exams come in two flavors. One is individual..."
Cigarette breezed through the schedule details.
Roel focused intently, jotting it all down.
I'd been planning to poke her into action with some roleplay or whatever, but it didn't seem necessary now.
"..."
I gave her a rough rundown of what I'd heard.
My faith in Roel evaporated in an instant, replaced by creeping worry.
Could this girl really pull it off?
"That's the rundown. Now, let's get to the lecture."
Cigarette launched into her signature lecture.
It came off like she was just skimming the book and spitting out words, but somehow it all clicked.
Even for an otherworlder like me, it felt like real 'learning'—never boring.
About two hours ticked by.
Cigarette snapped her book shut, and the cadets started packing up to leave.
"Normally, we'd have afternoon training next, but... it's midterm season, so I'm shifting the schedule. From today until midterms wrap up, afternoons are all free training."
A flat declaration.
It bordered on audacious, but by now, no cadet batted an eye at Cigarette's methods.
Her teaching chops had been proven over the past month.
The cadets had adapted, plain and simple.
"Got questions during training? Come find me. It's a hassle, but I'll check you properly. Dismissed."
With that, Cigarette exited the classroom.
The once-quiet room erupted into chatter.
"Sera, wanna train together later? Laila too!"