Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Academy Visit (1)
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The academy was located in a separate district just a bit removed from the capital.
The distance wasn't far. Thirty minutes by carriage.
Due to policy, all students were required to live in the dorms, but it was close enough for commuting if you had a home in the capital.
Of course, that was limited to the wealthy elite who could afford a carriage every day.
The academy we arrived at with the four of them looked just like a university campus.
There was a main gate, and beyond it lay lawns and buildings. Inside, students, professors, and general staff were working or studying.
The one most deeply impressed was Cynthia.
"This is the academy...!"
The academy's student body was mostly nobles, with commoner admits making up only about 30%.
But from a commoner's perspective, there were few opportunities for social advancement like the academy.
Graduates from the swordsmanship department could join a knight order, while magic department grads had all sorts of doors open to them.
Even general studies opened paths to high-ranking business positions, lawyers or priests and other professionals, high civil service jobs, and more.
Or they could catch the eye of a noble from the opposite sex and end up married. It was the oldest, most difficult yet simplest path to climbing the social ladder.
Cynthia muttered blankly.
"I thought I'd never have any connection to a place like this in my lifetime."
No. She actually had more ties to this place than anyone.
"Thanks to Teacher, I finally get to see the academy."
No. If anything, it was because of me that her path to the academy had grown farther away.
My chest stung.
Especially since if Cynthia awakened as a saintess, she'd be treated on par with a first-generation noble.
In the original story, there were plenty of satisfying scenes where nobles sneered, "Oh, a commoner? Pfft!" only to grovel, "S-Saintess?! I was wrong!!"
By contrast... among this group, there was one who originally had no connection to the academy at all.
"Arthur? Why are you staring at me so intently all of a sudden?"
At least I'd succeeded in quickly correcting Tiona's rude way of speaking to commoners.
Her class consciousness hadn't vanished entirely—I'd just banned it from her mouth for now—but if I hadn't managed even that much, bringing her here would've been impossible.
She would've ended up playing the villain in those satisfying scenes, risking her original fate as a third-rate villainess dropout.
"Just... you seem a bit admirable, miss."
"Ehehe? Praising me out of nowhere—you think that'll make me happy? Hehehehe?"
Tiona's cheeks puffed out happily. Even her vertical rolls bounced merrily.
The cross-dressing Diana asked.
"But, uh, fuck, what are we even doing at the academy?"
"Dian, throwing in curses whenever doesn't make you more manly. It just makes you unlikable."
"R-Really?"
"Your standing posture too... just stand naturally. No matter what pose you strike, Dian, it never looks natural anyway."
"...What does that mean?"
Oops.
I half-tuned out Dian's usual chatter about her chest this and her hips that as I thought to myself.
'But it's about time I got their enrollment requirements in order...'
Like any school, the academy had fixed admission schedules and deadlines.
It wasn't urgent yet, but could I really afford to let time drag on indefinitely like this?
The thought made me a little anxious.
"Dian, have you given any thought to enrolling in the academy?"
"...Me?"
Diana pointed at herself, her lips twisting downward at both ends.
If her face were an emoticon, it'd be something like ㅎ︿ㅎ.
"Actually, I used to think about entering the academy back in the day..."
Of course. In the original story, that's where Cynthia first met Lea and Diana—inside the academy.
"Eh, now I'm not so sure."
"...I see."
These two were tricky.
The reason I could push Tiona so hard was that I'd been hired as her home tutor by her father the duke, and granted authority over her education.
Cynthia, judging by her attitude, would happily go if she could.
I could probably squeeze Tiona in somehow too.
But Lea and Diana? If they flat-out refused, I had no real way to force them.
I couldn't just one day hold a knife to their throats and bark, "Swear you'll enter the academy! Study, or die!!"
Sure, if it was absolutely essential to save the world, I might have to resort to coercive violence like that—but if possible, I wanted to guide them toward enrolling voluntarily.
"..."
Suddenly, everything felt blocked.
These four.
That is.
White Mage → Silicone breast developer
Blue Swordswoman → Unemployed layabout youth
Black Saintess → Coward
Red Witch → Tiona
"..."
What the...
What the hell had my years in this reincarnated life amounted to?
Maybe I should've just stayed home helping Mom and Dad with the farm?
Carefully, oh so carefully, avoiding not just butterfly effects but even rice pest outbreaks?
What if, over these past twenty-odd years, I'd contributed more to dooming the world than saving it?
What if, after the Outer Gods devoured this world later, they listed "Destruction's Top Contributor #1: Arthur Jarvis"—like that one vegetarian general who unwittingly aided Joseon's independence?
'I'm going mad...'
Unconsciously rubbing my brow, Tiona hopped beside me.
"Arthur, so what are we doing now?"
"What, not Artie?"
Cynthia reacted. That voice, and the nickname for Arthur?
"Ellen... Huh?"
It wasn't Eleonora, the elf who'd committed the atrocity of devouring a whole cake last time.
But she was an elf, no doubt. Her beauty and those distinctive pointed ears gave it away.
And she just looked similar.
"Ellen? Ah, you must've met my big sis?"
The female elf took a final puff of her mana cigarette, then extended her hand for a shake.
"I'm her little sister."
"N-Nice to meet you! I'm Cynthia."
"Polite manners. My name is."
Cynthia tensed up.
"Granola."
"Ah, Granola-nim!"
"No 'nim.' Just Granola-ssi. If you're a student, then Professor Granola."
Arthur cleared his throat beside her.
"This guy's at it again."
"Again?"
"Artie always reacts weird whenever he hears my name."
"No, it's just your imagination."
"Really?"
Granola drew closer to him.
"What pops into your head when you hear my name? Purely the sound, unrelated to me as a person."
Granola, full professor in the academy's magic department—her two irises glowed different colors.
Red for truth-detection magic.
And yellow for...
"You know what happens if you lie, right?"
"...It goes well with morning sunlight?"
"...Not a lie."
Granola nodded, satisfied, and straightened up.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? Not off taming a dragon, rooting out a cabal of heretics, or saving a whole province from disaster while playing the hero?"
"Hero, what hero... These four here want to enroll in the academy. It's a motivational campus visit."
"These four. Their aspirations?"
"Swordsmanship, magic, magic, general."
Granola gave the four a once-over, lingering especially on Tiona and Diana, the magic hopefuls.
"Hmm... They've got some decent talent."
She patted my shoulder.
"Artie, you're something else, huh? Where'd you dig up these gems?"
"They were around."
"?"
I couldn't bring myself to say I'd half-ruined them myself. Except for Tiona.
"I've got class now, so I gotta go. You sticking around all day?"
"Not sure."
"Stay till evening, then. We'll meet back here around dusk. I'll treat you and your kids to something tasty."
"My kids."
"What's wrong with that? Kids from Artie would be cute anyway."
"...Granola."
The beautiful elf smiled.
"Guess I'm getting on in years. Long nights make me all sentimental for no reason. Seeing an old friend hits especially nice."
"...Granola."
"What?"
"Lately... have kids started seeming cute to you or anything?"
Granola's hand froze in mid-air as she reached for a new mana cigarette.
"What? Kids have always been cute."
"Granola."
"..."
"How old are you this year?"
"...Thirty-five."
"At 35—"
"No."
"..."
"No. Don't say weird shit."
"Eleonora started around your age."
"No!"
She backed away unsteadily.
"Granola, if you wanna keep working as academy staff, you should start taking anti-ovulation pills ASAP—"
"No!! You annoying little shit, get over here!"
"Guards!!"
Granola lunged at me and launched into a grapple with strength unimaginable from her slender arms.
"Haa, haa...! Artie, you...! You've been so damn fuckable since the first time I saw you...!! Get over here!! I'm gonna fuck you senseless!! Hnnngh!!"
"Guards!!!!!"