Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Go Ahead and Expel Me. I'll Just Drop Out.
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On her way to the damn dorms, Reina recalled what the Headmaster had said.
- Headmaster. I heard you summoned me.
- Ah, Reina. It's nothing much, but could you summon a student for me?
- Of course. Which student should I call?
- The first-year ranked 200th, student Luke, please.
Recalling the brief and simple conversation with the Headmaster, Reina thought of Luke, the first-year ranked 200th.
'He was... the student with no magic, wasn't he?'
It would be stranger for anyone at Jeomineol Academy not to know the student named Luke than for Reina, a second-year, to know him.
The first reason was that Jeomineol Academy, true to its meritocratic principles, assigned ranks to its students.
People always revered and looked up to the top and second-top students, but the world doesn't only look at first and second place.
The talented are prone to looking down on those beneath them, and moreover, the mediocre, mid-ranked students with inferiority complexes tend to focus more on tearing down those below them than looking up.
That's why Luke, ranked 200th, was the laughingstock of all grades.
He was someone you couldn't not know, even if you wanted to.
Why was only Luke ostracized when the academy went up to the third year?
Because students were expelled in droves when moving from the first to the second year, the second year was effectively filled with only those who were truly skilled.
And the second reason.
Because Luke was the first student with zero magic since Jeomineol Academy's founding.
Of course, having zero magic wasn't unusual in itself.
But for someone with zero magic to enter Jeomineol Academy, even at 200th place, was an unprecedented event since its establishment.
'He must have gotten in through theory.'
Theory was a skill, after all.
Thinking this, Reina walked down the dormitory hallway and soon found herself standing in front of Luke's door.
Wanting to bring him to the Headmaster as quickly as possible, she knocked immediately.
-*Knock, knock.*
But after the knock, no answer came.
Thinking he might not have heard, she knocked again, this time speaking as well.
-*Knock, knock.*
"Is student Luke here? This is Reina from the Student Council. I have an urgent message to deliver."
She could clearly sense someone inside the room, but once again, there was no reply.
Deciding she had done her part and that the person inside was deliberately ignoring her, Reina chose to just go in.
"I can sense you're in there, so I don't understand why you're not answering. I'm coming in."
She turned the doorknob and pushed.
As the door opened, the figure of a man came into view.
He had been there all along, just not answering.
'Why, though?'
The question arose, but it wasn't important, so she pushed it to a corner of her mind.
"So you were here. What on earth were you—"
But Reina couldn't finish her sentence, struck by the sight before her.
Because the student, presumably Luke, was facing the wall, shaking his hips and dancing.
'...A hallucination?'
The scene was so bizarre it even made her wonder if she was hallucinating.
Reina knew she wasn't the type to be easily flustered or surprised, but it was the first time in a long while she had been this bewildered.
Even though she had entered the room, Luke showed no intention of hiding his disgraceful behavior.
As if devoid of shame, Luke continued his dance, which was impossible to watch with a straight face.
The repulsive sight nearly made her gag, but she managed to suppress it and state her purpose for being there.
"Student Luke. The Headmaster has summoned you. You are to proceed to her office now."
"The Headmaster?"
Reina wanted to correct Luke on his informal title, but she deliberately chose not to.
Titles varied, and she unconsciously held the prejudice that it was to be expected from a commoner.
"Do you know why?"
"I was only asked to summon you, so I do not."
Reina replied to Luke's question with her back still turned to him.
In truth, being summoned directly by the Headmaster and not a teacher was a rare event, and given Luke's rank of 200th, she had a rough idea of the reason.
But she said nothing, thinking it would only lead to a barrage of questions.
"In any case, please get ready quickly."
Seeing that Luke had no intention of stopping his disgusting dance even while talking to her, Reina wanted to finish her task and escape as soon as possible.
***
-*Knock, knock.*
"Headmaster. I've brought student Luke as you requested."
As Reina spoke, a clear, beautiful voice came from within the Headmaster's office.
"Come in."
With the permission from inside, Luke and Reina opened the luxurious-looking door and entered the office.
"Thank you, Reina."
"It was nothing. I will take my leave now."
Having fulfilled her purpose, Reina quickly departed from Luke's presence.
"Welcome, student Luke."
Luke looked at the Headmaster who had summoned him.
Silky white hair that seemed capable of becoming anything.
Shimmering eyes that looked like sapphires had been set in them.
A delicate face and features that made her look like she was in her 20s despite being over 30.
And a glamorous figure that her face couldn't overshadow.
This was Lucia Merigold, the Headmaster of Jeomineol Academy.
'Wow, she's fucking beautiful. Is this the standard for another world...?'
Seeing a character he had only read about in person, he couldn't help but stare.
Especially for a shut-in who'd never had any luck with women.
"Student Luke?"
Snapping out of his daze, Luke heard her call his name.
"Yes?"
"Do you have any idea why I might have called you here?"
Lucia asked with a serious expression, her hands neatly placed on the desk.
'No, why are you asking me that?'
She was the one who called me, and now she's asking if I know why.
It's like when your mom calls you over and asks, 'Do you know why I called you?' and even though she hasn't said anything, you feel guilty and confess everything you can think of.
Is this one of those situations?
But I have nothing to confess this time.
The protagonist wouldn't know even if he were the one possessed, so how am I, possessing an extra, supposed to know what he did wrong?
Don't tell me the character Luke did something incredibly stupid right before I possessed him?
"Hehe. I'm not here to scold you, so you don't have to be so nervous."
Luke wasn't nervous at all, but of course, Lucia had no way of knowing that.
'What do I have to be nervous about?'
Suppose Luke did mess up and I was summoned to be reprimanded.
Then it would make sense to be nervous.
But that was Luke's doing, not mine, right?
If she says anything, I don't know anyway, so I can just play dumb.
"However, it's not an unimportant matter. Student Luke, I'm about to tell you the reason for this summons, so please don't be alarmed by what I say."
Lucia's expression turned serious once more.
"Student Luke, you are expelled."
Expulsion.
For the students who had put in all sorts of effort to enter this meritocratic academy, it was a word more shocking than any other.
"Ah, is that so?"
However, Lucia couldn't help but be taken aback by Luke's nonchalant expression and indifferent reply.
Is he in so much shock that he can't even react?
That was the best explanation Lucia could come up with.
"Um... Student Luke. Don't worry. I called you here to prevent that from happening."
Lucia's heart ached every year seeing students get expelled.
To think of all the effort students put in to enter the empire's top academy.
Years of hard work, vanishing in a single moment.
To prevent that, Lucia had tried various methods to help many students, but many were still expelled nonetheless.
Even if she wanted to do something with her authority as Headmaster, doing whatever she pleased would be an abuse of power.
So, she helped students through reasonable means like this.
'Just like in the novel.'
The Lucia in the novel was someone who cherished her students, something you wouldn't expect from the headmaster of a meritocratic school.
Even if that student was a bottom-feeder like Luke, ranked 200th.
She wasn't a heroine, but Lucia Merigold played a significant role in the story.
When I read the novel, I wondered why she wasn't a heroine.
'That aside.'
I've been isekai'd into an academy story, so I was willing to attend if I had to, but now that they're talking about expulsion...
'Even better!'
What is an academy?
Isn't it a school?
Who would want to go to school again after being sick of it in their past life?
I don't need to be punished with studying, wearing the prisoner's uniform called a school uniform, locked in the prison cell called a classroom, in the penitentiary called an academy, for the crime of being a student!
"I'm about to tell you how to avoid expulsion, so listen care—"
"I'll drop out."
"...Pardon?"
Lucia's face went blank at Luke's response.
"What... what did you just say...?"
"I said I'm dropping out."
Is she hard of hearing at such a young age?
How pitiful.
That's what Luke thought, but the reality was completely different.
'He's... dropping out?'
Of course, Lucia respected her students' wishes, so if he wanted to drop out, she couldn't argue.
But, for Luke, who had no magic, to have been able to enter the academy, it must have meant he put in that much effort.
She was just bewildered that he would quit so easily; it was completely unexpected.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you enter the academy?"
He worked so hard to get in; surely he must have had some goal.
And now he must have achieved that goal, which is why he decided to drop out.
Once he dropped out, he would no longer be her student, but she still wanted to help if there was anything she could do.
As Headmaster, this was one of the few things she could do for her students.
After her question, Luke opened his mouth a moment later.
"Dunno."