Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Dream of Academic Improvement (2)
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The sound of turning pages, sips of coffee, the occasional cough.
The faint scent of musty paper and ink wafting through the air was truly the fragrance of intellect.
In this place, gathered only the most reliable representatives of human scholarship, the study bugs of Kingswell Royal Academy threw themselves into their academics with fervor today as well.
The grand Royal Academic Library.
A holy site for perverted nerds who derived pleasure from torturing their own brains.
A place that held little connection to me.
"I really can't get used to this."
"You haven't even started studying yet, and you're already reacting like that...?"
Layla shook her head with a slightly weary expression.
What could I do? It was the truth.
I had no grand ambitions when it came to studying.
"Layla, have you ever used the library before?"
"Of course."
"Oh..."
Studying quietly in the dorm, or coming to the library to dispense free coffee and study.
If you wanted to focus in a quiet spot alone, the dorms were overwhelmingly better.
But with endless reference books lined up for consultation during study sessions, a fair number of students made use of the Royal Academic Library too.
'Layla's one of those cafe-study tribe folks, huh.'
Of course, it was a bit different from studying at a cafe.
The coffee here was free, to begin with.
"The perks are nice."
"There's a reason for the steep tuition."
As Layla and I sipped coffee near the library entrance, Charlotte approached with a small cup in hand.
Steaming hot milk.
Charlotte seemed to dislike coffee.
"Let's get going."
"Yeah. It's going to be tight to pass the pop quiz by next week."
We quietly traversed the solemn library.
Heading to the circulation desk, my eyes met hazel ones that had sensed our presence amid her reading.
"You vanished for days after joining, and now you finally show up. Leonard, junior. Were you really planning not to come until club activity day?"
"...Sorry, senior."
Abel Hayes, second-year Alchemy Department B-Class, president of "Let's Read Books" and librarian of the Royal Academic Library.
She'd barely managed to join five minutes before deadline.
"Here for Vincent?"
"No. We're here to study today."
"Hmm... So you ignore club activities but show up to study."
"That's..."
Maybe a bit too brazen.
Considering how dramatically she'd joined, she hadn't shown her face at all.
I'd just planned to wait until Wednesday club day.
"Hehe. Just kidding."
Abel senior curved her half-lidded eyes into a fluffy smile, then handed something over.
"Here. Candy. Recharge your sugar and study."
"Ah, thank you."
I peeled off the wrapper and popped it straight into my mouth.
Sweet candy with a rich hazelnut flavor.
Layla and Charlotte each took one too, their expressions melting into relaxation.
Abel senior, chin propped lazily as she watched, spoke up.
"Preservation archives and classical literature sections are closed today, so be careful when using them. Scholars are there debating. Don't poke the sensitive ones."
"Got it."
"Use the materials cleanly. Go on in."
After a light nod to the beaming Abel senior, we gathered at an empty spot.
Charlotte sat next to me, and Layla furrowed her brows briefly.
"Let's study. First, what are the problem areas?"
She soon sat across from us, switching into teacher mode.
"Let's check the quizzes first. Give me both your papers."
"Uh, um..."
As expected.
I'd brought them just in case, but showing them was honestly embarrassing.
Charlotte felt the same; our eyes met simultaneously.
"Hurry."
Under Layla's urging, we pulled out the quizzes, and she snatched ours away.
"...Huh."
Her face went blank the moment she saw them.
Layla cross-checked our quizzes incredulously, scoring them over and over against the problems and answers.
"...Is something wrong here? 10 points and 25 points...? Scores like this don't happen at Kingswell."
"Garbage crispy..."
"That's a bit harsh. Apologize to Charlotte."
"No, you're the worst one, Leonard."
The 10-point quiz flapped roughly before my eyes.
"How do you get a 10 out of 100? This... this is impossible."
"I thought so too, but turns out there's no limit to what effort can't achieve."
"If you put in effort, shouldn't you have done better?"
"I put effort elsewhere."
"Want a hit?"
Sighs burst out like stabs.
Layla clutched her head, alternating glances at the two quizzes.
Her violet eyes turned to us, filled with the troubled dilemma of 'How do I turn these monkeys into humans?'
"This pop quiz... it's the exact same one from the Magic Department."
"Common subject."
"Even so, the same quiz circulating other departments means... it's purely to gauge skill."
"For reference, how'd you do?"
"Perfect score, obviously. Why ask?"
Damn.
Is she mocking me as a blockhead?
"It was super easy... Why'd you miss number 3? If you solved number 2, you couldn't miss it."
"Ah, 2 was a guess. Lucky."
"... "
Layla clamped her mouth shut, glaring at me.
'Whoa.'
Don't draw your wand.
"Layla. Know this? For someone to take first, someone has to take last."
"What?"
"Mathematically, not everyone can score high. Tests regress to the mean."
"... "
"You aced it. I bombed. Together, we're average. So you shine as first thanks to me."
"What nonsense is that?!"
Layla finally snapped, drawing immediate glares from around the library.
Realizing too late, she flushed and sat back down in a fluster.
"Calm down. Take a slow sip of coffee."
"Hoo... Do I look calm right now?"
"No need to get so mad."
"My fiancé's a hopeless idiot. Who'd be happy?"
I looked at Layla in surprise without thinking.
She still saw me as her fiancé.
Of course, she'd come to the dorm last time and said she'd put off the breakup.
But I hadn't done anything special for her since, so I worried she'd notify me of the split again.
"W-what? Why stare like that?"
"No, just... thanks."
"Hmph...! If you're grateful, pay me back later."
One thank-you and her anger melted; Layla might be an easy opponent.
Anyway, after reviewing the quizzes repeatedly, Layla set them down with a conclusion.
"Basic knowledge is lacking. No foundation."
"Kugh..."
The dreaded no-base declaration.
Charlotte clutched her chest in agony and flopped onto the desk.
"Charlotte. Don't fake it to avoid studying."
"...Tch."
Ignoring Charlotte clicking her tongue and sitting up, I asked Layla,
"So, any methods?"
"For someone without basics to cram 40 points higher? One way."
"What's that?"
Layla rummaged in her bag, pulling out notebooks, pens, and a train of references.
'Not heavy?'
How does she carry all that daily?
Finishing emptying her bag, Layla flipped through a notebook, then shoved it before us and Charlotte.
Neat handwriting densely summarized efforts visible.
"Memorize this by tonight."
"...Joking?"
"Not joking."
Her confident attitude left me speechless.
'Screwed...'
What? Lacking basics?
Just memorize then.
"What are you doing? Both of you. Memorize now."
They say ancient Spartans were educated under whippings.
"I'll quiz you right after, so don't miss any. No leaving till you pass today."
Layla was truly Spartan.
As the sun dipped low, Amelia Hill quietly exited Golden Dormitory and strolled the academy grounds.
She'd come out sword-belted as if intent on something, but had no clear destination.
It had simply become habit—from her third regression onward—to wander at night to sort her tangled thoughts.
The twilight academy grounds held an inexpressible magic.
After her first failure, how desperately she'd longed for this peace in the particularly long, arduous second life.
Through five regressions, the world always hurtled to ruin, and even as the hero, Amelia couldn't avert doom. In tough times, she'd yearned for academy days.
Maybe that's why she wandered aimlessly.
Lately, a new worry absent in prior loops shook her too.
'Leonard Percival Blackmere...'
Walking the path, Amelia suddenly recalled the name.
The recent culprit troubling her.
In past loops, he'd steadfastly played the villain against her, yet now he was nowhere to be seen.
Watching from afar, she even wondered if it was the same Leonard.
Right after enrollment, he'd matched her memories perfectly.
Yet three weeks later, why this total change?
Maybe this was his true self.
The thought brought strong revulsion.
But she couldn't ignore him completely.
What scheme was he hiding?
'The Blackmere Family... or approach via his fiancée?'
Lost in thought, she realized she'd reached a familiar spot and halted.
Towering stairs ahead.
The path to Wisteria Dormitory.
Puzzled how she'd arrived, as she lingered—
Someone approached from ahead.
A staggering gait, and beside it, a smaller presence keeping pace.
Emerging: Leonard, slumped and walking, with the girl lately shadowing him.
'Name was... Charlotte Taylor?'
Seeing Leonard again, Amelia raised her guard.
But he glanced at her, then passed without a second look, heading for the stairs.
"Wait."
Instinctively, Amelia grabbed his wrist.
Leonard stopped, gazing at her steadily.
"Business?"
"Where've you been wandering so late?"
"...None of yours."
"You...! Answer! What were you doing till now?!"
"If I tell you."
Suddenly, his fatigued eyes fixed on her.
"Will you believe me?"
"... "
"Yeah. You won't."
Self-mocking smile. Weary eyes. Slightly tousled hair.
Snap.
Leonard shook off her hand and walked away with Charlotte.
Amelia stared blankly.
Her limp hand clenched at empty air.
Those eyes, as if certain she'd dismiss his words, resembled sediment from emotions worn down by long torment.
"...Blackmere."
Leonard Percival Blackmere, always blocking the world-saving Amelia's path.
And Leonard Percival Blackmere, slowly eroded by blame and avoidance.
'Which are you really?'
Amelia felt a sharp pang in her chest.
Her mind burned.
As if she'd grown curious about something she shouldn't.