Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Ciel Ifrit (4)
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[Outrageously slothful behavior!]
[Sloth +100!]
'So sweet.'
The moment I submitted the assignment that Ciel had done in my place to the professor.
A system window popped up in front of me as if it had been waiting.
But why the modifier in front of slothful behavior?
Outrageous? That's a bit harsh.
Tsk, or maybe in the sloth industry, it's high praise?
Anyway, I managed to rack up a huge amount of Sloth in one go.
By the way, using Ciel to submit the assignment by proxy.
It was something I'd never even thought of once at Stella Academia.
'Even I think it's pretty rotten.'
The saying about the one who steals a needle ends up stealing an ox fit perfectly.
I hired bus drivers in the dungeon, and now I've stooped to using proxies...!
I'd deserve to be called a disgrace to gamers.
But what can I do? Getting rotten is how I get stronger with my trait.
At that moment.
"You, how in the world did you...!"
The professor shouted at me.
His face was utterly shocked.
Sure enough, the magic circle Ciel had drawn must have been impressive even in the professor's eyes.
It was exactly like the reaction of the judge who tasted the legendary scorched rice soup in that famous cooking manga.
However.
"This idea completely overturns established theories! What principle did you have in mind to connect this part? Did you perhaps apply the inverse phase conversion law from the Keniz school?"
Suddenly, the professor started bombarding me with questions, nonstop, spewing scholastic and specialized terminology.
'...What the hell is he saying?'
Of course, I couldn't understand a single word.
Right as I was pondering what excuse to make.
[Warning! Diligent behavior detected!]
'Oh no.'
The system reacted immediately.
A one-on-one academic debate with the professor?
It seemed to be protesting that this was too diligent, way too diligent.
[Sloth -1!]
'Eeeek!!!'
It didn't stop at a warning; my Sloth actually started dropping.
Emergency, emergency, super emergency!
"Especially in the process of redirecting the mana flow, what were you thinking drawing this auxiliary line diagonally...?"
"...I wasn't thinking anything."
Professor, shut... no, please be quiet!
In this unprecedented crisis, I had no choice but to interrupt him with whatever words came to mind.
The professor's excited face flushed with confusion.
"...? You weren't thinking anything?"
"Yes."
"...What? Th-then?"
I fell silent for a moment,
then gazed into the distance with the expression of a great sage who had mastered all knowledge.
"I didn't think. I simply drew as my hand led me."
Jeron's Secret Technique, Chapter 3.
Spewing bullshit that sounds profound...!
"......"
Silence flowed.
The professor froze with a puzzled look on his face after hearing my words.
Now's the time.
I didn't miss the opening and leisurely returned to my seat.
***
I didn't think.
I simply drew as my hand led me.
Professor Benjamin stared blankly at Jeron's back as he returned to his seat.
'What does that...'
The bombshell Jeron had dropped.
He pondered it.
A magic circle.
It was the most intricate and logical discipline in the world.
Hundreds, thousands of characters and geometric formulas had to mesh together without a single error to finally be complete.
Benjamin had devoted his entire life to delving into those laws and theories.
Yet.
'I didn't think.'
Wasn't that an insult to scholarship?
At first, anger welled up at the thought.
But...
What was this perfect product laid out before his eyes?
It was an ideal magic circle that he questioned whether he could reach even after devoting his whole life.
At that moment.
An old anecdote about a great sculptor that Benjamin had read long ago flashed through his mind.
'How did you sculpt such a perfect angel statue?'
To the people's question, he had reportedly answered:
'I didn't sculpt it. I merely freed the angel trapped inside the stone.'
Back then, he'd thought it was just the typical bravado of an artist.
But now, after hearing Jeron's words, he realized.
'Have I... been too captivated by so many things?'
Established theories, proven principles, established laws...
He had always been trapped in rigid thinking.
He had seen magic circles merely as complex problems and desperately sought solutions.
But Jeron, that student, was different.
To him, a magic circle wasn't homework to solve.
He didn't think.
He didn't analyze or calculate.
He simply followed the path visible to his eyes and drew as his hand led him.
Just like that great artist who saw the angel in the stone...!
'Is that it...!'
Benjamin trembled.
The prison of outdated notions that had confined him for decades was shattering to pieces.
Thought, concepts, theories.
Hadn't all of it been shackles hindering him from seeing the essence of the magic circle?
If so.
What should he do?
'Without thinking, as the hand leads...!'
Jeron's words might have been advice.
Advice to pursue a more intuitive, freer approach unbound by rules.
As his thoughts reached that point, a hollow laugh escaped Benjamin.
'Heh heh, to gain such profound enlightenment from a mere 1st Year student...'
Jeron Airgia.
Benjamin had no choice but to completely revise his evaluation of him.
'The enlightenment you gave me won't be in vain.'
And so, Jeron's momentary improvisation became the turning point that entirely changed the research direction of one academy professor.
From a theory-centered diligent approach.
To a more intuitive, lazier one that valued intuition.
Though Jeron himself had no idea.
***
[Sloth +200!]
"...?"
Huh? What's this now.
I returned to my seat, and another message window popped up in front of me.
A message saying I'd gained 200 Sloth points.
Suddenly?
No, getting free points is nice, but... why?
'Maybe because of that line I spouted earlier?'
What did I say?
I didn't think.
I simply drew as my hand led me.
Something like that?
Hmm... it was kinda slothful, but that much?
Scratch scratch.
I scratched my head and just accepted it roughly.
Hey, good things are good.
Just then, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
Professor Benjamin was still standing at the lectern with a dazed expression.
The students glanced at him curiously while buzzing and leaving the classroom.
For some reason, it felt like a class where I'd gained a ton.
I'd gotten Ciel's rare favorability response, and piled up a huge amount of Sloth.
100 from slacking off during class, 100 from proxy assignment submission, 200 from that chat with the professor earlier.
Total of 400.
Ah, minus 1, so 399. Whatever, minor stuff.
"Jeron, that was fun today─. Let's play again next time─."
Then Ciel stretched with a satisfied look and said to me.
It had been fun for me too, and thanks to her, I'd earned Sloth and gotten the assignment for free, so I'd profited big.
But that didn't mean I could let her keep skipping class on her own whims forever.
As I said, if she got expelled, my plans would go awry.
'I need to persuade her.'
But how?
Saying something model student-like such as "You can't skip class" wouldn't get through to Ciel.
Plus, giving such a diligent lecture risked losing Sloth.
'Then...'
How about this method.
I kept my expression as blank as possible and tossed her just the plain fact.
"Ciel."
"Yeah─?"
"Like I said earlier, if you keep skipping class like today, you'll get expelled."
I didn't add useless extras like "you shouldn't do that."
I merely reminded her of the academy rules.
I calculated her next reaction in my head.
'With her personality, expulsion itself won't bother her at all. But...'
As I predicted, she reacted to a completely different point.
"Ehh─."
She pouted her lips.
"If I get expelled, I can't play with Jeron anymore─?"
'She took the bait.'
I smirked inwardly with triumph.
"Probably? I'll be here the whole time."
I shrugged lightly.
"Hmm─."
Ciel propped her chin and started pondering seriously for a moment.
Soon after, she nodded as if she'd reached a conclusion.
"Got it. I won't skip class anymore, so you have to play with me next time too─. Every day─."
"...Not every day, but I'll play with you often."
Mission success!
As expected, the system showed no reaction.
Now that I somewhat understood how the system worked, I could cleverly circumvent the rules like this.
Satisfied, I stood from my seat.
"Alright, class is over, so let's go."
"Yeah─."
Ciel also stood, following behind me.
We left the classroom side by side and walked the academy corridors.
Then we spotted someone we knew well.
"Artel. Class over for you too?"
It was Artel.
Hearing my voice, she turned around.
"...Ah! Jeron."
She raised her hand slightly in her usual greeting, then suddenly froze.
She looked at Ciel beside me.
With a blank expression.
"Who's this?"
Her first words.