Bench of a Lazy Genius
Sion's daily routine was simple.
He woke up at roughly the same time as his roommate Jeden.
Attended lectures, had lunch, or had lunch and then attended lectures.
During all of that, he quietly managed his connections.
Lectures ended by six at the latest, so dinner and he was done by seven at the latest.
After that, he did about two hours of personal training and it was around nine o'clock.
A completely ordinary schedule, one that most of the martial arts department students probably followed.
But Sion was... special.
Because he was a reincarnated person who had played the game version of this world.
Reincarnated people alone had a special routine.
Namely...
"Huhuhu, it was definitely the girls' dormitory B-wing, right?"
**Hidden Piece.**
A hidden item or secret in the game that he was the first to snatch up faster than anyone else.
Of course, snatching up every single hidden piece was impossible.
The kind that only other people could get.
The kind that couldn't be obtained under the rules.
The kind that was useless even if obtained.
The kind he couldn't remember, or that he didn't know about at all.
In fact, he probably missed more than he found.
But who was he?
The guy who achieved 100% completion?
He had cleared the achievement of obtaining every hidden piece, and for some reason his memories were crystal clear — he knew exactly where all of them were located.
This time, he was looking for the same kind.
The item that matched the **Tactical Receiver** he carried in his pocket — the **Apprentice's Earpiece**.
In the game, the Tactical Receiver was the item that let Jeden wear it, while the Apprentice's Earpiece was given to Cecil.
It allowed communication over distance even without a phone, one of the most basic items that carried the party through the early, phone-scarce days.
Yesterday he had found the Tactical Receiver in the boys' dormitory B-wing.
Today he was going to pick up the idol's earpiece from the girls' dormitory...
"...?"
It wasn't there.
The apprentice's earpiece was nowhere to be seen.
Suspicious, he looked around, but it was the right place.
The third tree from the saplings planted behind the dormitory.
The hollow of the trunk where the earpiece should have been... was empty.
Only two squirrels were curled up, asleep.
"...Huhu."
For now, leave it like this.
It was so cute he could take a few photos and go.
*Click, click.*
Oh, it came out really well.
Especially the one in the front — because of the sound it made, even in the photo you could see it twitching its nose.
No, that wasn't the important part.
Sion simply went back to his dorm, flopped onto the bed.
The Tactical Receiver was still tucked in his pocket.
Where had the earpiece gone?
Maybe the academy had already disposed of it.
This wasn't a game. This was reality.
The chance that the Tactical Receiver, designed so only a user could obtain it, would be mistaken for someone else's lost item?
It seemed plausible.
Or maybe the squirrels had just dropped it.
Too hard to eat, and putting it in the nest would make them restless.
Ah, right.
Maybe someone had picked it up.
Of course, finding a pink earpiece in a tree hollow wouldn't look natural...
'Hold on.'
Picked it up.
That might actually be the most reasonable explanation.
Not by pure chance.
If someone had deliberately taken the earpiece before he could, because they had a clear purpose...
Purpose...
In other words, they had snatched up a hidden piece.
"..."
His blood suddenly ran cold.
He was a reincarnated person.
Having one was already weird.
Having two should be even weirder.
So.
If there really was someone else like him...
"Huh."
He had to know their purpose.
If it had nothing to do with the kind of wholesome romance novels some uncle liked to read...
"...Might have to take care of it."
Sion pressed the Tactical Receiver to his ear and held down the side button for about two seconds.
With a *jiiiing*, the device activated.
- Haha. As expected, you were there, you other guy.
A strange woman's voice flowed through the earpiece.
A low, lazy laugh and a languid tone echoed in his ear.
"...?"
Sion didn't say a word, but the way he listened to that voice felt the same as always — yet somewhere, it felt strangely gloomy.
***
Victor Owl handed Gwen to her and told her to use the searcher.
It didn't take long for Gwen to understand what he meant.
"How do I handle the borrowing and returning process?"
"Scan the barcode... um... take a picture of your student ID... then press this..."
"Ah, got it."
Thanks to Victor's quick explanations, Sion knew exactly what the job involved.
Borrowing and returning books, sorting according to the catalog, and miscellaneous tasks like cleaning.
It seemed the academy had given him easy work because he was a first-year.
So.
He knew what to do, but how exactly did you do it?
That's where Gwen came in handy.
The lazy senior who couldn't even shield himself couldn't be bothered to hand over the handover.
Too much trouble.
But he would answer simple questions.
For example, how to handle borrowing and returning.
...For a moment Sion wondered what he was doing, but he moved on.
Thinking about Victor's tired dark circles made it easier.
"Do you have the book classification chart? And do you know how to borrow and return?"
"Yeah. It was pretty loose before."
Since they had hired students and they were first-years, they had been given the simplest tasks.
"For now, there's nothing to do."
"Right."
No books had been returned, so no sorting.
No computer work until someone borrowed or returned one.
Lucky for him that this was the library.
He decided to kill some time while waiting for the lecture.
He spread open the Engineering Magic I textbook he had found earlier in the morning.
Since he had to wait anyway, this was fine.
"Oh."
Cecil showed up from somewhere, carrying a thin book, and spread it out right next to him.
*What book is this?*
Curiosity made him glance sideways.
**[108 Secrets That Stimulate the Male Heart]**
"...?"
Did the academy library even have something like this?
"Oh... I see."
What did he see?
The title alone reeked of something fishy.
***
After finishing his work, Sion decided to kill time on a bench near the Flame Hall before the next lecture.
"So, you kicked it over there!"
"Oof."
"You got kicked, but why are you flinching?"
"There's something like that."
His name is Gus Link.
Guys have that kind of thing.
The main topic was Cecil's past.
It wasn't anything grand — just old stories from a long time ago.
Cecil loved talking and didn't like making Sion tell his own stories, so this flow had been created.
"So, after you got kicked, what happened?"
"What could I do? I ran. I ran until I couldn't run anymore because my chin was so sore it hurt to breathe. I was just staring straight ahead and didn't even know how far I'd gone. Back then, and now too."
The story he was telling right now was from when Cecil was still quite young.
By pure luck he had picked up a fruit bun and run into a boy with two heads — bigger than Sion's.
Of course the mood turned sour.
Fruit and buns with fruit in them had always looked like something you could only eat after passing by the decaying remains of a worm-eaten bun.
"So that piece of unbitten bun still stings my heart. Thinking about it now, it was mud-covered, fruit crushed, garbage food."
"...Want to go buy some bread?"
"Ahaha, no way. You've gained weight."
The conversation topic changed quickly.
"Ah, by the way, have you been to Alex's Patisserie?"
"I haven't been there unless with you."
"Everyone says their macarons are amazing. The croissants are crispy-crunchy but melt soft when you chew, and the filling is closer to mochi than cream, apparently."
"Macarons? First time hearing it."
"Oh... you sounded just like an old uncle just now. Watch. I'll draw it for you."
Cecil rummaged through her bag, pulled out a notebook, and started doodling something with her finger.
It was like a circle split in half, with something drawn inside.
"...Intercourse?"
"Huh?"
"No?"
"I definitely said macaron."
"...Hmm."
Is that what they call it?
For real?
"The capital people have such good taste... I need to step up."
"Don't get any funny ideas. How do you even know about intercourse?"
"Eh? You haven't seen it before?"
"What do you mean by 'see'... And animals — I mean... uh... they don't flip their bellies, right?"
"...Eh? You're right."
Now that he thought about it, yes.
Even the cat his mentor kept had put its belly on the floor.
"Is that because of their shell?"
"Actually, I think flipping over is dangerous. Alone, it's hard to get back to that position, isn't it?"
"For real?"
"From what I know."
So what was that scene I saw?
"What else? A pure, kind turtle trying to save a fallen friend."
"..."
"Hahaha, pervert."
"...No. I can't possibly be perverted. Am I rotten? No way."
No way.
That wasn't an inchworm, was it?
"W-well! Maybe I was trying to save him! But I can't be certain I didn't do anything!"
"Our conversation topic is getting weird..."
"Think about it. If you were in danger and someone saved you, wouldn't anything come to mind? Really?"
"............Eh?"
No.
My logic is correct.
I made the senior turtle eat my own meat to teach him how to live properly.
"If I were there, I'd fall head over heels... Ack!"
"S-shut up!"
Suddenly.
*Thud.*
A surprisingly strong fist slammed into his stomach.
"Oof..."
"Ah, I know. I know you know."
What do you know, you idiot?
His breath was choked.
His belly hurt this badly for the first time since Uncle Luke.
Ode had always held back her strength and avoided his belly or vital points.
She really hit hard.
"Th-the lecture time! Stand up!"
"W-wait a sec... you really hit me."
"Uh. S-sorry. But you kept making those weird noises, so!"
I don't know. It hurts. I was muttering and it was hard to hear.
Cecil kept mumbling something, then draped one of his arms over her shoulder and helped him up to the lecture hall.
Of course, she couldn't possibly climb four floors with him in that half-conscious state.
"Student Cecil and student Jeden. You're late. You look like you have a good excuse — is it related to the tardiness?"
"No. I'm sorry."
"Subtracting points is one thing, but the people who get points deducted are you all. Apologize to yourselves."
"Yes..."
In the end, he was late.
All through the lecture, his belly felt twisted and he couldn't focus at all.
He had jumped up the second he got hit by Luke.
As an assassin, he had confidence in his toughness.
But in the end, groaning the whole time, the lecture ended.
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Bench, leisurely
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