I'm Quitting the Academy
I'm Quitting the Academy
I Quit the Academy.
It's been 20 years since I reincarnated into a romance fantasy world.
- Give me back my money, you con artist.
These days, all the letters I receive are just this kind of content.
The most promising magic genius on the continent.
The future sage who will devour the academy.
His name is Liberio von Solanium. Commonly called Rii.
Back when I, a modern 21st-century person, reincarnated, that's definitely what everyone said.
But now, three years later, I'm being treated as an unprecedented fraud and con artist, suffering under countless slanders.
The reason is simple.
Because over the past three years, I haven't produced any visible results.
The noble patrons in this romance fantasy wanted magic that would make money and bring honor right away.
You know, the kind they can brag about in social circles—"Look, I sponsored this magic! It can grow tea leaves into a pink color!"
Utterly useless things that are only good as gossip.
Why would I research garbage like that?
Don't they have any pride as magic scholars?
But the magic I've been researching is completely different.
To put it simply, it's a magic that improves the efficiency of magic itself. And this is absolutely insane.
The efficiency of every single magic in existence increases.
Once the research reaches a certain trajectory, the improvement magic even improves its own efficiency.
It becomes an infinite loop—how can I hold back from that?
I'm telling you, this is bound to work!
I tried explaining it. I tried persuading them. I asked them to wait. I did everything I could.
But these romance fantasy people wanted immediate results.
"Other mages are already producing results!"
"Do you even know how much Lady Valois looks down on me? She's already finished her magic demonstration!"
Yeah. I admit it.
I'm sorry it took a little long to deliver results.
No matter how much you're thinking about long-term investment, you'd still get shaken.
Especially from the perspective of those who are older.
That's when another letter caught my eye.
Rustle-.
"You deceived me. You cheated us all!"
I crumpled the letter and tossed it into the trash.
Actually, I'm not sorry at all.
Did I lie and say I needed sponsorship? Did I threaten them with a knife?
They chose to invest on their own, so why blame me?
I've had enough.
"I'm not doing it."
I quit.
This isn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. I'm exhausted too.
Reasons to quit?
Aside from this, there are plenty.
That lovey-dovey nonsense at the academy.
The crown prince who ignores research funding and budget issues, using inspections as an excuse to flirt with the female lead whenever he gets a chance.
The princess who just likes magic.
The sub-couple: the great mage female professor and her student!
It makes my skin crawl, that's what it does.
"I'm going to drop out of the academy."
I've already submitted a thesis containing the core ideas.
I don't know. Maybe someone will recognize it later if fate allows.
Scritch. Scratch.
Right then and there, I started writing my academy withdrawal application.
I tried to keep it as quiet as possible, but there's one person I can't hide it from.
"Ju-in-nim."
The dedicated maid who had been serving me until now faced me with a completely serious expression.
Dressed in a neat maid uniform.
As someone of northern tribal blood, her skin was pale and her eyes were cold.
After hearing my story, her icy blue gaze turned even colder.
"What did you just say, Ju-in-nim?"
"I said I'm not doing it. I'm dropping out of the academy."
Miroa Avis didn't say much.
"I wield a sword."
It must be that unique northern sense of humor.
I've spent years with Miroa at the academy, so I know.
She often throws out extreme jokes like this.
Of course, at first, it's hard to tell the difference.
With her always-serious face and expressionless demeanor, people sometimes mistake her jokes for sincerity.
But this time was different.
"Miroa? That's a joke, right?"
"I have never once swung a sword as a joke."
She looked ready to actually stop me, even by drawing her sword.
After coming to this world, I learned that being a maid isn't for just anyone.
They serve as personal secretaries and bodyguards—you can't just pick up a random fool off the street.
They're definitely not in a position to just grovel.
But this is too much.
"Threatening your employer with a weapon should be considered clear disloyalty, don't you think?"
"If I hit you with the fist holding that sword, what would happen to Ju-in-nim?"
"I'd probably be in a better state than I am now."
Once I decided to quit the academy, things started to become visible.
I checked the mirror—I looked terrible.
My once-bright green eyes had gone as dull as deep-sea fish.
My glossy black hair was now brittle and dry, and my skin was the same.
The premature grays that ran in the family had suddenly increased, turning into white streaks.
"I've finished all my research. I'm not just taking the sponsorship money and running away irresponsibly."
"Then couldn't you stay here and rest? There's a system called leave of absence."
Of course, Miroa is right.
I could take a leave of absence.
The academy is a place with some flexibility.
When you finish a grueling research life, they give you a small support fund for your leave.
Usually, people submit a leave request and enjoy a healing life in the imperial capital.
But I'm different.
The research is definitely done.
I've properly included the core ideas in my thesis, and if someone follows it, implementing the magic is somewhat possible.
The problem is that no one will recognize it.
Not a single person in the academy or the whole academic society.
"Since it's research that no one will recognize anyway, staying at the academy will only get me criticized."
"But it might still work out."
"If they were going to recognize it, they would have done so by now. I even moonlighted as a magic tutor to cover research expenses."
A moment of silence passed.
"You know I'm not throwing a tantrum because I don't want to work, right?"
"I know well how hard Ju-in-nim has worked. But..."
Realizing my resolve was firm, Miroa finally stepped back.
"Even so, can't you just not go?"
"No."
"I think Ju-in-nim's research might be reevaluated someday."
"There's no need to stay at the academy until that someday. Constantly getting berated by sponsors."
I've truly reached my limit.
No amount of persuasion will work.
I passed by Miroa and pulled out the large suitcase I had left in the corner of the room.
Clothes scattered everywhere in the room.
I folded them decently and packed them into the suitcase one by one.
I couldn't take all the books, so I planned to pick just a few.
Research materials? Well...
Thinking about it, I got angry.
I raised my fingertip and gathered magic.
Burning paper with a simple spark was easy.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a fire-element spell but a document destruction magic.
Someone developed it long ago to destroy evidence of treason—it works in an instant.
"Ju-in-nim?!"
Hwareuk-.
The ink on the materials was instantly engulfed in ashes.
What remained were several blank sheets of paper.
As I flipped through each one, confirming the erased content, Miroa's face turned as if she had lost her country.
"Ah. How could this be."
Was this the feeling of the northern tribal warriors when they were subjugated in the empire's early history?
Her eyes were shaking.
"I know Ju-in-nim was hurt during that long time. But this, this is too much even for Ju-in-nim yourself! This is..."
"They were just worthless trial and error anyway. The completed content is all in the thesis, so it doesn't matter."
I didn't really want to burn my precious research.
I'm just annoyed at the time wasted.
Finally, I put the signed withdrawal letter into an envelope, melted some wax, and stamped it with a seal.
"I'm going to submit this, so Miroa, pack my luggage."
"No. That won't do."
Finally, Miroa revealed her true nature.
Far from her usual expressionless demeanor or the harsh force of the north.
"Ju-in-nim's magic is not wrong!"
Miroa started blocking me wildly, her eyes brimming with tears.
"If it's not wrong, then why are you running away! Don't go! Ju-in-nim must not lose!"
"Hey. Move aside."
"I can't. I won't move! I won't take a single step back until Ju-in-nim stays here and gains recognition!"
Seriously, why is this woman so strong?
Well, it runs in the family, so of course she's strong!
"I've told everyone! That Ju-in-nim is a complete magic genius! That soon, even the Central Magic Tower will come to recruit you! Even if others don't acknowledge Ju-in-nim, I believe in you! So don't run away! Prove them wrong!"
What does that have to do with me?
Isn't it Miroa's fault for blindly believing in someone like me?
At first, she blocked the entrance to the dormitory. When that didn't work, she grabbed my ankle and started sobbing.
"Ju-in-nim, please."
She's whining so much!
"I said let go..."
I'm sick of it all!
I don't want to stay at the academy!
"What are you going to do by blindly believing in someone like me?"
"Yes. I'll blindly believe in you! I said I believe in Ju-in-nim—what are you going to do about it?!"
It escalated into a physical struggle.
We ended up rolling on the floor, wrestling—noise issues aside, I kept ending up pinned underneath.
Really, why is she so strong.
"Huff. Hah."
"Hah. Hah..."
We were in the middle of a ten-minute struggle when—
[Tok. Tok.]
A sound of something hard and sharp tapping the glass.
Had someone broken into the dorm room to complain about the noise?
And then they'd witness this scene.
The cliché development of a man and woman rolling around and being misunderstood?
Even in a fantasy world, these clichés exist.
It's a time-honored trope, still very much active, and it often appears in novels.
"Huh?"
"Hic. Uh, uuh?"
The atmosphere grew awkward for a moment.
Both Miroa and I stopped moving and looked toward the sound.
Luckily, the visitor wasn't human.
.
[Tok. Tok. Tok.]
It was a bird.
At the dormitory window where I had drawn the curtains earlier.
'That's a messenger pigeon.'
A spirit pigeon carrying a letter was tapping the window with its beak.
"Move aside for a sec."
Rustle.
I pushed Miroa aside, took the letter, carefully opened the envelope, and unfolded the paper inside.
The characteristic smell of old paper.
[To my beloved grandson, Rii.]
The sender was surprisingly my deceased grandfather.
Why suddenly Grandfather?
Was he still alive?
Had the funeral I attended as a child been some grand charade?
If so, everyone at the cathedral was crying hard.
Various questions arose, but that wasn't important.
[The fact that you are reading this letter means you have likely reached a point of unbearable exhaustion, worn down by the harsh life at the academy and the pressure of a magical society that only demands money-making magic, right?]
'Oh.'
Reading the letter, it accurately saw through my current situation.
And one more thing.
The content and sentences felt strangely familiar.
Had I seen this somewhere before?
Not in this fantasy world, but in my previous life.
On the tip of my tongue.
Frowning, I continued reading.
[Actually, I have a small estate hidden away from the family's eyes. A very beautiful and peaceful village. An old cottage and vast land there are my true legacy.]
'Eh?'
[I hope you find your own true meaning of life there, soothing your weary heart.]
'Eh? Eh?'
[P.S. I have enclosed what you need inside the envelope.]
A protagonist exhausted by a harsh society.
A letter from his grandfather that arrives one day.
And inheriting an old farm in a rural village.
'That's that masterpiece healing game, isn't it.'
Living in the countryside peacefully.
The kind of game where you lose track of time playing it.
A shiver ran down my spine at the memory of my past life.
If so, could it be that this world, which I thought was just a plain fantasy reincarnation...
"Ju-in-nim. Why such an expression?"
"No. Just a moment."
I examined the envelope more closely.
Rustle.
Sure enough, inside the envelope were a seal stamp and a single gold coin.
The stamp was magically treated and was sufficient to prove land ownership.
"Miroa."
"Yes, Ju-in-nim."
"Do you remember the promise we made a while ago?"
After a moment's hesitation, Miroa nodded.
"I have somewhere to go urgently, so let's leave right away."
And so, I immediately boarded a carriage heading to the rural village.
After several days on a bumpy carriage.
The dreary scenery of the imperial capital was gone, and in its place, fresh air and a green, lush countryside road unfolded before me.
Thump!
The destination was drawing near.
A peaceful village came into view in the distance.
Just as the clear, refreshing air filled my lungs—
Pop!
With a cheerful sound effect, a translucent blue system window appeared in front of my eyes.
I read the sentences appearing on the window one by one.
[You have arrived at the forgotten land of peace, 'Solanium Basin'!]
[Sooth your weary body and mind and begin a slow life in harmony with nature!]
[Current Status]
Health: 15/100
Status: Fatigue Accumulation, Burnout
Achievements: , <Novice Farmer>
[Tutorial quest has been generated!]
▶ Quest: A New Beginning
▶ Content: Your grandfather's farm is overrun with weeds. Pull the weeds to prepare the fields for cultivation.
▶ Objective: Visit grandfather's farm (Not Achieved), Obtain a hoe from the shed (Not Achieved), Pull weeds (0/15)
▶ Reward: 15 Parsnip Seeds, Farming Experience +10
"......"
It had been 20 years since I arrived in this world, and I finally saw a status window.
"Heh."
I immediately burst into a hollow laugh.