Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Chapter 63
EP18 - The Christmas Bell Rings Over the Snow-Covered Ruins (8)
"Ihik hik hik!"”
Of the 48 hours, about 9 hours of the first day. Until the end of Day 1.
I ended up just being teased by Chief Galua.
“Uhe hihi hik!”
Because Gray couldn’t concentrate at all.
He kept failing until the very end.
Clang!
The [Illusion Magic] that didn't reach the answer at all shattered.
The Student uniform, reduced to the point of bursting, swelled and sank with his breathing.
Gray slumped down, bleeding from his nose.
“Haa, haa….”
Why can't He concentrate?
He could win if He just concentrated like usual.
* * *
“…….”
ATP in the muscles is needed to move the muscles.
Mental energy is also consumed to move Mana.
That is [Willpower].
Therefore, people who excessively use Superpowers and Magic for a long time experience depletion of Willpower.
Intense feelings of helplessness and exhaustion.
The feeling that you can't do anything anymore, that you don't want to do anything.
So the feeling of [Overload] is similar to depression.
“…….”
Gray was lying face down in [Fantasy Land].
Only a few fragments thrown out by chance filled part of the huge 'branch'.
So most of the points earned were not answers that Gray had diligently solved.
“…….”
Because He couldn't concentrate.
In fact, Gray hadn't been able to concentrate since He tried to spread his wings in the Hidden Dragon Hall backyard before the exam.
He had started to doubt it at some point.
That the wings weren't his doing, that intense doubt.
In his hazy senses, He had the feeling that the wings had bloomed at the end of his outstretched hand.
But He had no specific memories. Like an empty book on a library shelf. That fact tormented Gray.
What if it wasn't me? Then what about the praise I received from those around me…?
The Professors and Students all thought I did it and praised me? What about the support money delivered by the department like a peddler? What about the Assassination Daily monthly cover model schedule?
But what tormented Gray even more was his disappointment in himself.
It was a falling Airship. There were other people besides him. He thought He had saved them.
Later, when He received thanks from the captain, He pretended to be playful and nonchalant, saying, 'Ahat! Clumsy captain♡ Can't even make a soft landing♡'.
But inside, He was incredibly happy.
Gray thought it was a great achievement in his life. It was the first time He had saved someone. It was the first time He had done something worthwhile in his life.
But what if it was all done by someone else?
Then, what about me?
'What did I do……?'
He tried to spread his wings to reduce that gap, but all He could do was spread them 10 meters, let alone 20 meters.
After that, all the praise and favor directed at him began to feel like annoyance.
Because the wings wouldn't be his doing.
It would be someone else, not himself, who had bet his childhood and the family's Sustain all on [Illusion Magic].
As a result, He lost concentration. The first day ended with a score that He himself thought was miserable.
'...241 points, huh. How many points did the others get…?'
He wiped the blood from his nose because He was ashamed to show others. He left the [Magic Forest], which had been the exam venue, with weak steps.
Elise was visible. With a group of Students.
Well, she took the class together, didn't she?
He was too tired to say hello, so He tried to pass by.
“Elise. I heard you got 500 points?”
He heard unbelievable words.
How many points?
“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
“Wow, you're really amazing! I guess geniuses are different?”
“500 points? I barely got 90 points. How did you do it?”
“Really? I dug around the roots really hard. Pababak.”
“Pababak?”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh. Pababak.”
Then Elise bent down and made a pababak motion with her hands.
Gray, who was watching, suddenly felt annoyed.
Because it didn't make sense.
“…What's with the 500 points?”
He impulsively spoke.
Elise waved her hand.
“Oh? Hi Gray.”
“Hey. What's with the 500 points….”
“Huh? 500 points. Exactly 510 points? Did I do well?”
Then her friends whispered. 'Right, Gray's from a famous Illusion Magic family, right?' 'Then He must have gotten even higher, right?' Those words irritated Gray.
Because He was low.
“Hey….”
“Huh?”
“Come over here for a second….”
So He called her aside and asked. If she really got 500 points.
“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
“No, really, don't lie….”
“I'm not lying?”
“Ah, come on, really…. Logically…. How could you get 500 points? Do you think that makes sense…?”
“Whyyy?”
Elise tilted her head and smiled brightly.
“Hmm, ah. Gray must have gotten higher. Right?”
“…….”
“How many points did you get? If I got 500 points, Gray must have gotten around 1,000 points, right? Because you're good at [Illusion Magic].”
Annoyance surged.
“Why are you lying?”
“Huh? I'm not lying-”
“Why are you lying to me? We're not friends of just a day or two.”
“…Huh?”
“Or how else could you be better than me….”
“……??”
Gray bit his lower lip.
“Seriously, don't bullshit me. I'm getting pissed.”
“I'm telling the truth?”
He bit his lower lip. He suddenly got angry. He grabbed her by the collar, but Gray was small and Elise was big in every way, so it looked a bit strange.
He shook her, but He was too weak to do it properly. So his own body moved. It looked very strange.
“Ahaha. What are you doing? You're weak. You must be tired.”
His annoyance suddenly started to grow here, because Elise didn't seem to have experienced [Overload] even after scoring 510 points. But it didn't end there.
“Why are you so cute today? Uung~”
Elise suddenly hugged him. She even rubbed her warm cheek against his forehead.
The warmth that touched his forehead was the heat to lower the body temperature raised due to the release of Mana.
Gray sensed it.
Elise wasn't lying.
“…….”
He was the cripple.
“…Let go.”
“Huh?”
“Let go. Please…. …Get lost.”
He pushed her away and turned his body.
Self-loathing began to erupt.
“Gray…? What's wrong? Or, maybe, was the exam not good today?”
“Don't come. I'm serious. If you come, I'll die…. I'll break up with you and leave the Hidden Dragon Society….”
“???”
He desperately ran away from the painful place.
Then, for some reason.
“It's okay, Gray. You can do well tomorrow~”
Elise said something like this.
“You can do it!”
What is she saying. How annoying. That's what He thought at first.
Her voice echoed in his head.
You can do it.
In an instant, as if an electric current flowed, something brushed through Gray's head.
Blurred vision. Stiff arms. A slumped body. The adult's voice that He heard, wrapping around his shoulder from within his left arm, which was blocking the blood pouring out.
- Try again. Just one more time.
- …I can't.
- You can. You can do it. You can do it.
- …….
- Let's do it one last time.
…And?
He looked for a book on the bookshelf.
One page was empty.
What next?
What did that adult say next?
After desperately searching, there was a fallen page.
- This Professor will help you.
His gray eyes widened.
* * *
The Day 1 exam roughly came to an end. About 30 of us, including [Illusion Magic]-related Professors and teaching assistants, returned to the lodging near the Magic Forest.
Chief Galua put away his laughter after the situation ended and comforted the Professors. In fact, we both knew that the pride fight just now was a kind of joke.
It wasn't the atmosphere for that.
I thought about the 'one-month research' that Chief Galua was taking me on. In fact, He was someone who had given up on research. As many as 15 years ago.
This was because the Level 9 Magic 『Land Regeneration』, which He had exclusively researched and directed to create in the past, killed tens of thousands of innocent people during the Second Assassination War.
Originally, 『Land Regeneration』 was a Magic that breathed life into the land. Its original use was to restore the land's fertility in an instant by returning useless organic matter such as food waste evenly to the soil as nutrients over an area of tens to hundreds of square kilometers.
A great Magic that would save countless people from famine and starvation. Despite the stigma of being a plagiarism offender at one time, it was a great study that would put him on the list of star magicians and Nobel Prize candidates.
But it was leaked by Kreutz and corrupted by a mad magician.
With a single Magic cast, over 30,000 residents in one large territory were all eaten by the earth, shattered, and decomposed.
A Magic created to save people ended up massacring them.
Hiaka Kingdom citizens, too.
Greatly frustrated, Galua declared that He would give up Magic research and secluded himself for a long time.
Why would Galua, who had been like that, try to get back into research? I think it must be because of 「Rebellion and Collapse」. Because the rebel Chief Professor Gloomy is Galua's top disciple, and He killed another disciple.
In other words, we were more serious about this situation than anyone else.
“Hik hik hik! Professor Dante! I'm here!”
“…….”
Hmm. Or not?
“Have you heard the rumor? Our Parhan still has 441 points, isn't that something? I'm disappointed that it's lower than I thought. How many points did your Gray get? What? 241!? Oh my, that's terrible~!”
“…….”
The Day 2 exam started, but there was a problem. Gray didn't come to the exam venue. And the old man had been replenishing energy in his mouth all night.
“What should we do? That's a 200-point difference. No, really, what should we do, Professor? There are still more than 24 hours left in the exam, but already 20 days of your life are in my hands. Our Parhan is getting a better sense of it, but Gray isn't even coming? At this rate, the difference will keep widening, right? 10 points per day, so like 500 points, 1,000 points, 2,000 points, 5,000……. But how many days does Professor Dante have left in his teaching career? What if you're still an assistant Professor when you retire!”
“But you know what? I was honestly surprised yesterday. Gray's quite skilled, isn't He? I didn't think an assassin would achieve as many as 241 points…. Ah, I'm sorry. This is by no means a derogatory remark about assassins. I swear to the fair and strict star "Peeping Star│ㅅㅇ)!" But Gray is indeed an assassin. Is this the Magic called 『Stealth』 that I've only heard rumors about? Hik hik hik!”
“Oh. Gray's here now. He didn't have to come….”
“Huh? What's this? It seems Student Gray has given up on the exam? What's He doing suddenly collapsing?”
“Hehe…. I guess He gave up.”
“…Okay. I understand your disappointment. But don't think too badly of it. If you do research with me, you can teach me how to be a Professor. It's not that you're a lacking Professor, but can't you see from our Parhan what a better teaching method is? You're young and bright, so if you work hard in the future, you'll be able to teach Students well too… Ah, but how many days do you have left in your teaching career?”
“By the way, let me tell you in advance that I'm the type who never sends my assistant Professors home. When you come next time, bring a toothbrush, toothpaste set, and a set of underwear. Why one set? You have to wash it every day and use it! How dare an assistant Professor try to do research comfortably! Do you think Magic research is easy?! When I was an assistant Professor, I couldn't even poop within the allotted time, so I had to hold it in until the next day! But as a person of character, I always have a diaper pad in your dormitory……”
If there was cement, I would have put it in my ears. This old man had a natural talent for turning people's stomachs. And He talked an awful lot.
In the meantime, I couldn't figure out what Gray was doing. Why was He lying on the floor and changing his posture like that? For 20 minutes already.
For this reason, just when my mind was about to go out.
“Ah….”
Gray exclaimed as if He had found something.
His posture was strange. He was kneeling, holding a stick made of [Illusion Magic] with one arm.
【 Gray: 'I found it….' 】
What is it. Wasn't it enough that He couldn't concentrate?
What the hell is He doing now…….
【 Gray: '…Let's concentrate, concentrate….' 】
Soon, my eyes widened. Gray cast [Illusion Magic] and began to [Petrification] his arm.
Only then did I fully realize Gray's posture. It was the exact posture He had been in when He fell from the Airship. Holding onto the vertical metal pillar on the deck Wall and lying on the floor.
Gray was now recreating the moment when I approached her and spread my wings together.
【 Gray: 'Concentrate….' 】
Trembling breath. Holding the vertical pillar. Closing his eyes.
Finally, Gray cast [Illusion Magic].
Hwaaa ─── !
In an instant, a huge Mana burst out like a storm.
At the same time, an enormous number of wood fragments began to form in the air.
In the empty white space of Fantasy Land, the many wood fragments that Gray had embroidered one by one―
In the form of a huge branch, from the heartwood in the center to the crown, sapwood, cambium, sieve tube, and bark.
It begins to be created and rise. In a form that clearly and perfectly approximates the answer.
'Ah.'
I admired inwardly. It was a very excellent Illusion Magic. I didn't know why He had done Petrification, but one thing was certain: Gray seemed to have come to his senses overnight.
I quickly turned my gaze. What's the ranking?
───
27. Gray 241
⋮
23. Gray 275
⋮
17. Gray 311
⋮
13. Gray 349
───
Yes! I clenched my fist tightly. The score was rising like crazy. At a truly unbelievable speed.
“Huh? Uh-oh? Uh-oh oh oh!?”
At the same time, a scream was heard from the side. It was the scream of the mad old magician. He was also watching Gray's Fantasy Land like me.
“Huh!? What! No, how could that guy suddenly-!?”
What music in this world could be sweeter than this?
I smiled brightly and turned to look at him.
“Are you curious? I can tell you.”
“…Ah, it's, it's okay….”
“No. I refuse to refuse. But did someone put a chair next to me for someone to sit on? I guess I can sit next to someone too.”
“…….”
His expression hardened like a corpse. I slyly chased after the old man who was avoiding me. Even carrying the folding chair He had brought.
That's right. Fucking finally. It was my turn now.
Attacking the old.