Chapter 59
Chapter 59
59th Episode
EP18 - Christmas Bells Ring Over the Snowy Ruins (4)
┃ Relationship Stat Increased: Balmung [35] (▲21)
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × 21
I checked the logs as I descended the mountain. The numbers weren't bad, and I was quite pleased.
No, more than I thought. Because the number landed perfectly on 00.
< Star Fragments Held: 300 >
I felt a mental thrill.
One, two, three… I had diligently collected them like a mouse gathering grains of rice, and now I had 300.
From 200 to 250, you can learn an 8th level Superpower. Which meant I could learn one too.
Currently, I was being praised as a strongman here and there, and I actually possessed some degree of power in certain special situations. However, my fundamental weakness hadn't improved much.
If I learned a [Combat Type] Superpower or distributed the 300 Star Fragments evenly across my stats, I could gain a considerable amount of combat power.
'But it's still too early.'
I had to look far ahead.
For the long term.
An 8th level Superpower would ultimately become quite helpless in the face of a 9th level Superpower of the same type.
Let's take an example.
I would lose a 1:1 fistfight against every Illusion Magic Professor at this academy.
Conversely, if we were to engage in 'illusionary combat,' even if all of them attacked me at once, I could overwhelmingly crush them.
That was the difference between 8 and 9.
So, I decided to save up Star Fragments a little longer for the time being.
'I should get back to making exam questions.'
Around that time, when I arrived at the lab, a letter had arrived.
It was a thank-you note for becoming a VIP at the Hiaka capital's central auction house, along with the amount of money from the sold items.
+++
▷ Auction Item Sales Proceeds
-
14,939,006 Hica
+++
It was the proceeds from selling the stolen goods I obtained after killing the Kreutz Shadow Unit members who tried to kill Forte last time.
The total amount from selling 12 Rare equipment and 5 Heroic equipment, after deducting the commission, was a whopping 15 million Hica.
This was the same amount of money a Student would get for killing a Professor.
'I've become rich overnight.'
The only item I didn't sell was a [LegendⅠ] grade accessory, to be exact, a ring.
I sent it to the capital's religious order.
It came back attached to the second letter.
+++
▷ Ring "Mountain Echo" Curse Removal Complete.
-
Cost: 552,000 Hica
+++
After transferring the money to the attached account.
I picked up the ring and checked it.
Fortunately, they didn't do anything like swapping it out with an Assassination Studies Professor's item, which would be like having two heads on my neck.
The ring was, on the surface, an ordinary gold ring with a cyan gemstone embedded in it. The important thing was its performance.
I was lucky.
Because it was a ring I desperately needed.
＊ Mountain Echo [LegendⅠ]
The ring's option was Mana [Amplification].
All Mana elements that passed through this ring had their power of manifestation increased. The value was about 4.3%. And that was a truly enormous value.
In this world.
'Mana' was.
A very independent resource.
It was slightly different from other games.
1. The only way to recover Mana is 'time.'
In fact, there were very special conditions or situations, but generally, there was no way to use them. That's why there were no Mana Potions. So, Assassins were a system that detonated a barrage in a short time and then discharged.
2. There were almost no means to assist Mana itself.
For example, concepts such as Mana [Amplification], [Sustain], [Transformation], [Condensation], etc. It was possible for the caster to do it alone. But obtaining equipment that helped was like picking stars from the sky.
That 'star in the sky' was exactly this "Mountain Echo."
I immediately put it on my hand.
< Overall Combat Power: 159,036 → 165,837 (▲6,801) >
Good.
An accessory with nearly 7,000 combat power.
It was a top-tier [LegendⅠ].
Okay, so that's all for the money and equipment.
Now it's time to make the final exam questions again.
After that, I secluded myself for nearly ten days, dedicating myself to research and creation.
I delved into 『World Fabrication』 to an ultra-high degree, and I had to step into a higher level of [Illusion Magic] than any [Illusion Magic] I had ever done.
Until now, [Illusion Magic] was just a tool for me. Like a flint or scissors. If I needed something, I would cut it out with scissors. If I needed something, I would create it with [Illusion Magic].
But this exam question couldn't be like that.
Attending the funeral. Killing the Ghoul. Facing Balmung. Watching countless Students and Professors leave. I constantly pondered what the Students needed.
While talking with the faculty Professors, they said that there should be hope for the Students and the academy. I also agreed. That's why I agreed to attribute the Airship incident in the faculty to Gray's credit and the proposal to feature her in the Assassination Daily.
This exam question was also the same. As a selfish person, I was dedicating myself to something that didn't make money for the first time. But I certainly knew that there were things in the world that could never be understood by thinking only in numbers… I definitely knew that when I was 10 years old.
Before being a Professor, I am a teacher.
It means someone who was born and lived earlier.
If there was something I learned from despairing first.
If that was how to have hope.
I was willing to share it.
⋮
< 『World Fabrication』 Proficiency: 89.12% (▲0.01%) >
< 『World Fabrication』 Proficiency: 89.45% (▲0.01%) >
< 『World Fabrication』 Proficiency: 89.89% (▲0.01%) >
⋮
After a week of research and composition.
The final exam question was finally completed.
"...Is it complete?"
The result was just 'one sheet of paper.'
However, it was paper that cost a total of 10 million Hica in materials, filled with dense Illusion Magic formulas, Magic circle circuits, and symbols.
But I didn't know if this was really a flawlessly completed question. Since it was a form of [Illusion Magic] that didn't exist in this world, there were experimental aspects of my own.
I thought it would work.
Whether it would actually work was another story.
We know that it is common for writers to be embarrassed in front of everyone, even though they were excited to write when they released their work.
Someone might find a loophole. Isn't scholarship developed through such criticism? So, I decided to send it to other Illusion Magic Professors and ask them to proofread it. But I only knew one Illusion Magic Professor.
"Hello."
-
Hiacapo? What brings you to me?
"Could I ask for your help with proofreading?"
-
Proofreading?
I sent the question paper to neutral Senior Professor Collider.
As a copy.
At the same time, I added one word.
"Please do it within five days."
Because it was the final exam.
* * *
'What a sight. That bastard…'
Neutral Illusion Magic Senior Professor Collider.
He was a man who had dedicated his life to [Illusion Magic].
He first felt the charm of [Illusion Magic] about 40 years ago. When he was 7 years old.
At that time, there was something called 'Illusion Show' in the capital Hiakium, and there were people who showed Illusion Magic performances like a circus. The young Collider was mesmerized by the beautiful scenery.
After that, he began to learn Illusion Magic in earnest, achieved excellent grades at Hiaka Academy, and was selected as a scholarship student. He went to study at the Imperial Academy 'Haten Graz,' and there he was taught by 'Elder Professor Abraxas,' the greatest Illusion Magic Assassin of all time. (For about 3 days…….)
Thus, he was currently able to handle two 8th level Illusion Magic. And his name was on more than 40 papers as the first author.
So, he was fundamentally different from the mediocre Professors who had crawled in here looking only at money. He was an elite.
That elite was now feeling complicated.
'Dante, that guy is asking me to proofread…?'
The fact that Professor Dante Hiacapo had a deep understanding of [Illusion Magic] was now a publicly known fact among the Professors.
It was different from the vague fantasies that the Students had. Having watched from the side, Collider realized that Professor Dante's level was unpleasantly high.
That's right. It was unpleasant. The reason why it was unpleasant was because it couldn't be grasped.
Things that can't be judged are unpleasant. Because the imagination that it is unknown how large it will be inflates itself.
'Of course! It's lower than this Collider…!'
From what I could see, his output seemed to be quite impressive, but wasn't the essence of [Illusion Magic] subtlety? In that respect, the elite was confident in his superiority.
While he was harboring such internal competitiveness. That guy sent him a question paper. Asking him to proofread it.
"...Tch."
Collider opened the paper envelope and took out the question paper.
He decided to take a look.
A question paper made by a Professor with no roots.
With very! Very!! Strict standards!!!
It means I'll take a look at it once.
But.
"...What. Is this just one sheet?"
He said it was a final exam question paper?
But it was just one sheet.
Just one question.
"What the…"
Look at this. Look at the pretentious look.
Does he think he's a chief Professor or something?
Still, I read the question little by little.
"……."
Collider, who was reading the question paper, began to tilt his head.
"...What is this?"
Thinking he might have seen something wrong, he read it again from the beginning. He took out his Mana magnifying glass and put it on his eyes.
But even if he read it again slowly, the only thing that still occupied his mind was a question mark.
"...What kind of question is this??"
The exam content itself was not difficult.
There was an initial 'framework.'
Adding flesh to the framework was the content of the exam.
Of course, both the framework and the flesh were [Illusion Magic].
There were strict criteria for adding it.
Points were awarded according to the criteria.
"So, so…. Roughly, it feels like this…."
Crack-!
Lightning flashed from Collider's fingertips.
『 Dream Embrace 』
In an instant, Mana gathered in the air.
There were always 'plaster statues' in the research labs of Illusion Magic Professors.
Collider added a stylish perm-haired man's face, a mustache, and a hat to the [Illusion Magic], and put a cigar in his mouth.
"If you do this, the mustache is 3 points, the hat is 4 points, and the cigar is 7 points."
Dante's exam question was like this.
I roughly understood the outline.
The problem was.
The space required for the exam question up to this point was only 3 lines.
But on one large question paper page, there were exactly 45 lines of circuits and formulas written.
Collider couldn't figure out the use of the remaining 42 lines.
Did Dante write unnecessary space because he was stupid? That wasn't the case either.
"...This guy, he's good at [Illusion Magic]…."
If he had asked a normal teaching assistant to do it. The above 3 lines would have been 30 lines.
He had amazingly compressed it and ingeniously crossed it to reduce it to 3 lines.
When I saw it up to this point, I was honestly impressed. Because it was more delicate than I imagined.
But.
As he approached the bottom 42 lines, Collider couldn't help but feel great confusion.
'What the hell……, is this…?'
Expansion? Spreading out? Increasing the duration? No…. It's right, but it doesn't seem right.
'It doesn't feel like it's used as such a simple concept….'
I was confused.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't understand the overall concept.
'I roughly understand the parts, but….'
That guy, it wasn't like he created something mysterious that didn't exist in the world at all. It was right that everything already existed.
'The 14th line is just a modified form of the Parheron equation. The 24th line quotes Gitian matrix number 3. The Magic circle is a modified version of Hegal's inequality…….'
The problem was mixing it all up.
To put it in perspective, wasn't this crazy bastard bringing chocolate cookies, pickled radish, grilled beef, and smooth pebbles from somewhere and putting them in a blender and grinding them up?
'……No, this is driving me crazy? Why is Gitian matrix number 3 coming out here?!'
Dante asked for proofreading, but how could I proofread it if I didn't know anything?
But I couldn't figure it out!
"……."
In the end, he didn't completely understand the identity of the 42 lines all day long.
"……."
3 a.m. A research lab with one candle lit. Collider put a cigarette in his mouth in frustration.
"……."
Then suddenly, something flashed through his mind. It was a conversation he had with Professor Dante over the phone.
-
Hello.
"Hiacapo? What brings you to this old man?"
-
Great Professor Collider. Could I ask for some help with proofreading?
"Proofreading? Hmph. I'll listen to what it is!"
At the end of this conversation, that guy had requested it.
And he set a date.
-
Please do it within five days.
At the time, Collider scoffed.
"Five days? Why would proofreading a final exam question like that take five days? A day or two would be enough!"
-
Since this is a question about unfamiliar implementation, the formulas are quite difficult, so it won't be easy.
"That's unpleasant. Are you doubting my abilities now?"
-
That's not it.
"I'm kidding! This guy is scared! Well, don't worry about it. I can proofread that kind of question with my eyes closed!"
-
…With your eyes closed?
Oh dear.
-
…As expected of an 'elite Senior Professor.' I feel reassured.
-
I'll trust you and wait.
Oh dear. Damn it!
Collider had a blank expression.
Why did he make such a bluff?
A day or two. One of those days had already passed!
"Uh……."
12 years of Professor life at Hiaka Academy.
I had never felt this screwed.
"……………………………………………………."
As an elite Senior Professor.
It was the crisis of a lifetime.