Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Submitting Results (2)
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Benefits of having wings.
It meant you didn't have to laboriously climb up and down stairs.
This was an even bigger advantage in a medieval fantasy academy with no elevators.
I deployed my Shadow Cloak in wing mode and arrived right in front of the evaluation room window, barely avoiding being late.
That was why I was now casually floating outside the window.
"......So you got tired of walking here and flew instead?"
Professor Emily, the tired-looking female instructor, stared at me flapping my wings outside the window and let out an incredulous chuckle.
Her face said, *What kind of guy is this?*
[The professor marvels at your lazy mode of transportation!]
[Laziness +30!]
Jackpot. Laziness was pure gold.
This performance was worth it.
Of course, the main reason was that I really didn't want to climb those stairs.
"Well, I do find commuting here every day exhausting. That would definitely be convenient."
For a fleeting moment, a hint of envy crossed the professor's face.
Lily was looking at me with eyes full of admiration too.
She must have been pretty worn out from climbing all those stairs here.
*Heh heh.*
Feeling a bit smug, I unnecessarily flapped my wings dramatically once more.
"Anyway, come on in."
Professor Emily opened the window, and I lightly flapped inside the room.
I sat down next to Lily, and after that, we exchanged brief self-introductions with Professor Emily.
I'd already seen her in the game, so I knew who she was.
"So that's the relic mentioned in the report."
The professor steepled her fingers on the desk and eyed the wing-shaped Shadow Cloak with interest.
"Yes."
"Could I take a closer look?"
I reverted it to its original cloak form and handed it over.
"Hmm...."
Professor Emily examined the Shadow Cloak meticulously.
"It's definitely not ordinary fabric. Seems like a new material never discovered before."
She nodded and asked,
"But how do you activate that transformation function from earlier?"
"Uh...."
How did it work? I had no idea.
It just happened naturally, easier than moving my own limbs.
So I answered honestly.
"It just works when I do it."
"......"
[Laziness +5!]
Professor Emily looked utterly dumbfounded by my response.
"Whatever. Fine."
She closed her eyes, focusing her mind while holding the Shadow Cloak.
*Huh? Is she testing it herself?*
I tilted my head at this development, which differed from the game.
In the game, she passed it after hearing the protagonist's explanation and seeing a demonstration of the [Shadow Passageway]....
Was it because I answered so casually?
She seemed to be checking it personally.
"......!!!"
But mere seconds later, Professor Emily's eyes snapped open.
Sweat was pouring down her face like rain.
"...Hah. Hah."
Trembling, she looked at me with wide-eyed terror.
"H-How in the world have you been handling something like this until now...?!!"
***
Professor Emily decided to investigate the relic's nature herself after hearing Jeron's absurd response.
*Ownership restriction magic, huh.*
No matter how she looked at it, this was no ordinary item.
An artifact of this caliber would naturally have intricate spells preventing unauthorized handling by anyone but the owner.
She cautiously channeled her mana into the cloak's interior.
*As expected.*
Just as she thought.
The cloak's core contained a highly sophisticated magical structure—like a firewall—blocking external intrusions.
It was interwoven like hundreds of layers of spiderwebs.
But she was a professor at Stella Academy.
With enough time and careful analysis, she figured she could breach it.
The moment she lightly probed a specific section of the firewall with her mana.
In that instant.
Her mind was dragged into an unfathomable abyss.
*...?!*
Darkness enveloped her vision.
An infinite void of nothingness stretched out before her.
And within that darkness—
She sensed the presence of some indescribably exalted being gazing down upon her.
At the same time, incomprehensible information flooded her mind like a tidal wave.
*The seventh of the seven, servant of the darkest star*
*The one who serves the one lying above the heavens, looking down upon all*
*Fear it, fear it, fear it, fear it*
*What is this...?!*
Emily felt like her head was about to explode.
[What a lowly presence you are.]
Then, an arrogant woman's voice echoed directly in her mind.
[A being less than an insect dares to test me?]
Before this supremely overwhelming presence, Emily felt her own existence was more insignificant than dust.
*...!!!*
Just hearing the voice.
No, merely perceiving its existence made her feel like she was about to be devoured.
*I-I have to escape!*
Emily instinctively tried to sever the mental connection.
But it was futile.
Her mind couldn't escape the exalted being's grasp.
*...Ah, aah.*
She was going to die.
No.
Something *worse than death*.
As Emily was overwhelmed by this unprecedented terror for the first time in her life.
The being's voice resounded once more.
[Normally, I'd rip your insolent soul to shreds for such rudeness....]
[But killing you would displease the owner... ah, no. That contractor of mine.]
[I'll let it slide this once.]
With those words, the crushing pressure suddenly vanished.
Only then could she barely return to reality.
"Hah, hah...."
Panting heavily, she yelled at Jeron, who was calmly watching her.
"H-How in the world have you been handling something like this until now...?!!"
***
I tilted my head at Professor Emily's intense reaction.
"I've just been using it fine."
"H-How exactly have you been using it?"
"Normally for travel like earlier...... Hmm. As a blanket a lot too."
"A blanket...? You've been using *that* as a blanket...?"
"The texture's nice, so I sleep well."
She stared at me in confusion.
[Laziness +100!]
*Huh?*
What was this?
Was that such a shocking display of laziness...?
The system sometimes just showered points like this.
Was it some kind of event?
Anyway, too good to pass up.
By the way, I pointed to the cloak on the desk.
"Can I take it back now?"
"N-No! It's dangerous!"
As I reached for the cloak, she cried out in alarm.
"It seems the student has no idea how dangerous this thing is...!"
She desperately tried to dissuade me.
But when I picked up the cloak, she shrieked and backed away, unable to stop me further.
*What's her deal?*
Did she sense something while checking it?
Anyway, I lifted the Shadow Cloak.
I wanted to demo the function quickly, get approval, and head back.
Ssshh.
Ker familiarly slithered inside my uniform, hiding its body.
"Alright. Shall I demonstrate the function now?"
"......"
Professor Emily just blinked rapidly.
***
*What in the world is that student...?*
Professor Emily was plunged into utter chaos.
That cursed relic that had nearly destroyed her soul moments ago.
An insanely exalted and perilous entity dwelling within—a thing no human could possibly handle.
Yet Jeron wielded it so casually.
And used it as a blanket, no less......
Emily couldn't even imagine that being allowing itself to be used as a mere blanket.
"...Sigh."
With complicated feelings, she recalled the report Lily Lowendel had submitted.
At first, she'd thought it was an exaggerated fabrication to dodge punishment.
But now, it seemed everything written there might actually be true.
*If a student handles an absurd relic like that so nonchalantly....*
Even the bizarre exploits in the report seemed mundane by comparison.
*What to do now....*
She pondered how to proceed.
Normally, she'd report it to the higher-ups immediately and have measures taken for such a hazardous relic.
But the extreme terror from earlier made her hesitate.
If that attempt provoked the entity and summoned her back to that horrific realm......
She didn't even want to think about it.
*Sh-Should I just let it be?*
It might be better for the academy—and herself—if Jeron just kept managing it.
The report said he'd been using it without issues so far anyway.
Irresponsible thinking for a professor, sure.
But honestly, she didn't want to get involved anymore.
She had enough on her plate with the work piled on her desk....
Who knew judging one small club would turn into this mess.
"Sigh...."
Professor Emily pressed her temples against the sudden wave of fatigue.
Fine.
She'd forget everything that happened today.
That weird relic, that weird student—all of it...!!
"...It's fine. That's sufficient. I'll approve your results."
In the end, she stamped the evaluation form with approval.