The Commendation Ceremony (2)

After class let out, I went to see Professor Lim Sol.

Rumi had dropped a not-so-subtle hint that she was heading to the club room, but we couldn't exactly spend every day doing nothing but that.

"Off to see the lady professor again?"

"Yeah. I've got research to work on."

"Huum."

Normally this would be the part where she razzed me about going to get another blowjob. Why wasn't she saying anything?

"Hello."

"Hello there. You're here to see Professor Lim Sol, right?"

"Yes."

"Just take the elevator right up~!"

My name was registered in the Magic Hall lobby now. I could come and go from Lim Sol's research lab without needing her permission every time.

I'd wondered if that might cause problems, but she'd waved it off. She never left the lab empty anyway, and even if someone stole something, they wouldn't have the first clue what they were looking at. That was how confident she was.

I rode the elevator up and stepped into her lab. No sign of her face in the research area, which meant she was probably in the office again, buried in paperwork.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Yeah~ Come in."

I eased the door open. Lim Sol was sitting in her chair, eyes fixed on a printout.

"Hello."

"Huh? Oh, it's you. I thought you were my TA."

"I told you I'd come by after class today."

"Right, right. Not like I've got anything better to do. Sit."

She still hadn't taken her eyes off the documents. What exactly did "nothing better to do" mean, then? Does she live in a completely different world from the rest of us?

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠parked myself on the office sofa, idle thoughts drifting.

Clap, clap.

Lim Sol clapped twice, and a tea set came floating over to pour the coffee.

I took a sip. Instant mix coffee, of course.

"You said you had an idea? Let's hear it."

"About that rapid-cast method I showed you last time — any progress?"

"Nope. I'm pretty sure that's tied to one of your skills. I couldn't pull it off no matter what I tried."

Lim Sol grumbled, set the printout down, and took a drink of coffee. Then, looking perfectly content, she brought a chocolate cookie to her mouth.

"This time, you should be able to do it too, Professor."

"Mmph. What is it?"

Showing her would be easier than explaining.

I used Double Casting to form a fireball in each hand. In one, I inscribed the magic circle while pouring in the will of Destruction. In the other, I just drew the circle as usual.

Both fireballs held the same amount of mana and used the same formula. One of them burned distinctly hotter.

"What is that……?"

Lim Sol had been lifting her cup to drink. She froze with her mouth still open. Her grip started to slacken, the cup tipping toward a fall, so I snatched it out of the air and set it on the table.

"Hold on. Did you figure out how to regulate your condition?"

She blinked herself back to earth and stared at me.

"Regulate my condition? What's that?"

"How do you not know what condi— oh. Right. You haven't been doing magic for very long. Even with the same mana and the same formula, a spell can come out stronger sometimes. Nobody's pinned down exactly why, but the leading theory is that it depends on how you're feeling that day."

Ah. That was the most reasonable conclusion, if the same spell occasionally produced different results. The hypothesis only existed, though, because other mages couldn't properly feel their mana.

Just as a blueprint has load-bearing structures that hold up an entire building, a magic circle has parts that are essential to the spell's manifestation and parts that merely support it. You have to pour your will into that core formula.

"The core formula…?"

I walked her through the concept I'd figured out. Lim Sol looked lost at first, but once I demonstrated the spell again while explaining, her eyes flew wide. Without a word, she started drawing a magic circle of her own.

"Whoa. Are you actually a genius? How do you even know this kind of thing?"

"They don't have this concept in Hell?"

Lim Sol was so locked in that she didn't even answer when I called her name, so I whispered quietly with Liliana instead.

"Hell uses demonic energy to begin with, so the whole structure of our magic is different from yours."

"Hmm. Maybe I should learn it sometime."

The Charm magic from last time hadn't been much help, but you never knew.

"…I've got it!!!"

Crack-crack-CRACK!

Vivid blue lightning began coursing over Lim Sol's body.

"Whoa… isn't that supposed to be a really weak spell?"

As far as I knew, that was just a cantrip that ran a faint current over your skin. So why had it turned into Pikachu's Volt Tackle?

"This— this doesn't make any sense… it really doesn't…!"

Lim Sol was so worked up she grabbed my shoulders and shook me. I was starting to get shocked. That hurt, Professor.

"This is the kind of discovery that could turn the entire field of magic on its head. Nnghhh…!"

"Please calm down, Professor."

"How am I supposed to calm down after seeing this?! Thank god. Thank god I found you before anyone else did!"

Lim Sol threw her arms around my upper body and started rubbing her chest against me in a frenzy. It was probably just her whole body shaking from sheer joy rather than a deliberate grope, but that was how it felt to me, so what was I supposed to do about it?

She thrashed around like that for a while, slapping the sofa and the table, before she finally settled down and sank back into the cushions.

"Haaah… that was so good."

"I did well, right?"

"Well doesn't even begin to cover it! This is a world-class discovery! You're going to leave your name in the history of magical academia!"

She looked genuinely, unreservedly happy saying it. What was it about magic that could make someone this ecstatic?

"Haaah, you really are a genius. No, genius isn't even the word. I just… I don't know."

"So? How was this idea?"

"Hm? Obviously it was incredi… ble……"

The end of Lim Sol's sentence stretched out like a rubber band.

She and I were still bound by a contract, faint as it had become. I helped with her research; in return, she did certain things for me.

"So, uh. I've been looking for an elixir that'd actually be worth giving you, but there's just nothing on the market."

"That's sudden."

Look at her changing the subject.

"N-no, it's true! I still remember what I owe you, and I… I'm just not good with words, so… what am I even saying right now. Ugh…"

Acting cute to throw me off was a decent idea, at least.

"A-anyway… I'll settle it all at once, so just wait for me, okay…?"

Her face had gone bright red as she said it. She'd gotten used to giving blowjobs, but progressing past that was embarrassing?

Seeing her like this — more flustered than when she had me in her mouth like it was nothing — made her look cute all over again. I could feel something stirring, but…

"I wasn't planning on doing anything right now anyway."

"O-oh. Yeah?"

As much as I enjoyed sex, I didn't have the bandwidth at the moment. The commendation ceremony was tomorrow morning, and the day after that was dungeon field training. After seeing the state Rumi had been in yesterday, the more heroines I seduced, the more my lower half was going to be in demand. I couldn't afford to sink too much of my time into Lim Sol when she wasn't even a heroine.

That didn't mean I was going to stop having sex with her. We'd get to it once things loosened up a little.

"But once this research is done, you're going to make good on it. Properly. Understood?"

"Ahem! Got it. I never lie when magic is involved. Don't worry."

She fanned her flushed face with one hand, trying to hide the embarrassment, and a smile slipped out of me.

"That said — even if we settle the principal later, I should at least collect the interest."

"Huh? Ah… yeah."

Lim Sol slowly set her robe on the floor, then reached for my pants with a familiar ease.

"You'd be the first person in history to take talent like that and use it to chase women. You should check whether you've got an incubus somewhere in the family tree."

"Shut up."

After collecting my interest from Lim Sol in the form of a blowjob, I left the Magic Hall and headed for the dorms.

"I'm being serious."

"Fine. I'll look into it later. I promise."

I could walk the path to the dorms with my eyes closed by now. Compared to those first days after I'd dropped into this world, flailing around like an idiot, this was enormous progress.

"Come to think of it, what's a commendation ceremony?"

"Ah… they're just giving me a reward for doing a good job. That's all."

"What did you do that was so good they want to give you a prize?"

"I caught a demon, you moron. Things would've gone south fast if I hadn't been there."

If I'd reported Felix before he went after Lucy, I probably would have gotten a small token of appreciation and that would have been it. I had the distinct feeling I'd inflated the whole incident on purpose just to land a bigger prize.

Not that my conscience bothered me. So what? These things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happen. If they had a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠problem with it, they should've found him themselves. Incompetent academy bastards.

While I was thinking about it, I pulled up Everyday and searched for anything on the commendation ceremony. I'd been told to come to the Dean's office by nine tomorrow morning, but if the Dean were just calling Lucy and me in for a quiet little award, they wouldn't be using a word like "ceremony."

I scrolled through the recommended posts, and sure enough, there was a thread about it.

"Okay, why is this ceremony so huge?"

The Grand Auditorium? The same place they'd used for the entrance ceremony?

Ding—

That was when a message finally landed on my smartwatch.

At first I'd figured it would be a small in-class pat on the back, maybe a certificate. Then they'd started calling it a commendation ceremony. How had it ballooned into this?

The next morning.

I picked out the cleanest clothes I had and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left the dorm. Since it was a commendation ceremony, I even tried to do something with my hair — but after a lifetime of being a total loner, I didn't have a clue. I just combed it to the side and called it done.

"Hey! I'm coming with you!"

"Hurry up. I've been waiting."

Lucy was coming along, obviously. She'd gotten her own message telling her to be at the Dean's office by nine. If they were going to do it this way, they should have just called us together from the start. Typical unnecessary hassle.

"Ooh, you dressed up a little for the ceremony too, huh? How do I look? Not bad?"

She looked the same as always. Ah — she wasn't wearing her cardigan. That alone made her look much prettier. School uniforms really were unbeatable.

"You look way prettier than usual. And your cadet uniform's looking sharp."

"Right? I kicked the tone up a notch for the ceremony. Leave it to a guy who actually takes care of himself to notice~."

"Mm. Yeah, something like that. Let's get going!"

"Okay!"

Tone up? Is that like a weight-up?

"So why'd they even call us in? Think we got picked as Outstanding Cadets?"

"We'll find out when we get there."

She didn't even know why she was going to a commendation ceremony. She'd figure it out naturally once we reached the Dean's office, so I kept the award a secret, looking forward to the look on her face.

We made small talk the rest of the way and arrived at the academy's administration building. The Dean's office sat at the very top.

We flashed our student IDs in the lobby, rode up, and found a handful of students already waiting outside the door. Most of the faces were new, but two of them I knew.

"Junior! What are you doing here!"

"Hello, President."

Mun Su-rin. She was the most outstanding talent in the third year, so of course she'd been selected as an Outstanding Cadet. It had been a while since I'd seen that pretty chest and those hip lines of hers, and I was glad for the view. Two years older than the other cadet heroines, and her figure had the maturity to match.

"Oh… you changed your glasses."

I made a point of mentioning what the status window had flagged. The old, unfashionable horn-rims were gone. She was wearing a pair of round frames instead.

"You noticed? I've been wanting to change up my look a little, so I switched them out."

She smiled and pushed the frames up with one finger, and for some reason the gesture came off as sexy.

"But what are you doing here, junior? I thought Elise was the first-year Outstanding Cadet."

"They're giving me a reward for catching that demon a while back."

"Ahhh…! That's great! Use this chance to get your face out there. All the guild VIPs are going to be here for the ceremony honoring the fallen hunters and the ones receiving awards."

Wow. I'd caught one demon and I was getting a seat at that table? No — my award was actually higher than Outstanding Cadet. Maybe I really was a big deal.

"Haha… that's a little intimidating. Good luck to you too, President. And if anything's giving you trouble, you know who to call, right?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. You'll be the first person I contact."

With that, Mun Su-rin stepped away. She didn't look comfortable holding a conversation in a place this crowded.

Still, her affection had gone up by three since I'd visited her in the infirmary. Leave it to the auto-grinding heroine to raise her own affection without me lifting a finger. For a proper conquest, though, I needed that stalker to push a little harder — and to take his time doing it. I needed a gap I could slip into.

There was still one more person I should say hello to.

I walked over to Elise, who was staring at her smartwatch, blonde hair catching the light as it shifted.

"Hey."

"Yeah. It's been a while, Lee Hoyeon."

Elise pulled her eyes off the watch she'd been studying so intently and looked at me. It really had been a while. I saw her face every day in class, of course, but it felt like that — we'd barely exchanged a word, so it registered as a reunion.

Last time we'd crossed paths was during the publicity department activity… ah, and then at the theory exam results, when I'd stolen first place and she'd glared daggers at me. Was she over that?

I watched her quietly. She tilted her head back at me, and thankfully she didn't seem to be dwelling on it.

"Yeah. I heard you're this year's first-year Outstanding Cadet. Congrats."

"You too. Catching a demon is a bigger deal than being Outstanding Cadet, isn't it?"

Did she just not pay attention to the rumors flying around the academy? Mun Su-rin believed me because she liked me, but Elise was the suspicious type. I'd have expected her to question it at least once.

Elise… so she was still hung up on first place.

Well, if she wasn't going to be suspicious, that worked out fine for me. Moving on.

"I just got lucky. Thanks."

"Yeah. Do well at the ceremony."

She really had to tack a "yeah" onto every sentence, didn't she? A woman of vanishingly few words.

Elise ended the conversation there and went right back to staring at her smartwatch. Was she watching a lecture or something? If she didn't want to talk, there wasn't much I could do about it.

I walked back over to Lucy.

"…You know a lot of people, huh?"

Lucy was frowning, her brow knit in a look that was unmistakably unhappy. When she wore it that plainly on her face, I couldn't exactly miss it. She was sulking.

"Huh? Yeah. I just haven't seen them in a long time. I see you every day, but those two only turn up now and then, so I figured I should at least say hello. Right?"

"…Yeah. I guess so."

"O-oh, that reminds me — you haven't made those cookies again, have you? They were really good."

"Reeeally? Well, if you put it that way, I can make them again! I make them all the time, you know! In a very ladylike way!"

So she'd been self-conscious about coming across as feminine. Just looking at that massive chest of hers, she had femininity to spare — not that I could exactly come out and say so.

Fortunately, her mood seemed to have lifted. The tradeoff was that I'd have to swallow poison tomorrow.

Creeeak—

That was when the door to the Dean's office opened.