Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Laziness and the Mage (2)
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Just like that, we arrived at the first basement level of Linea Hall.
This place, which had been turned into a total mess by the magic golem (and my magic), was finally starting to regain its original form.
By the time summer break ended, the construction might be finished.
At that moment, a short grunt—hup, ha-—echoed from somewhere.
I turned my head and noticed the lights were on in the indoor training hall set up in the basement.
Drawn by curiosity, I peeked inside.
"...Huh?"
A very familiar person was swinging a wooden sword inside.
None other than Gaius senior.
"Wh-what?!"
The words slipped out before I knew it.
Gaius senior stopped mid-swing and whipped his head around.
"...What the? Oh, it's you, Lunaris."
Senior smirked and walked over to me.
"What's with that look? You seem like you've seen an undead."
"..."
"Anyway, as you can see, I'm fine. No need to worry about me..."
"You promised to make me a midnight snack!"
"...Huh?"
"Why are you pretending not to know?"
You said you'd make me food if I sparred with you!
I glared at him with wide eyes, and Gaius senior let out an exasperated laugh—ha-.
Senior wiped the sweat from his neck with the towel draped over it and said,
"Haha. Fine, I'll make it now. Any particular menu you want?"
I answered without a second's hesitation.
"Meat, no question."
*
The kitchen, entered with permission from the on-duty maid.
"Here, eat up."
What Gaius senior confidently placed before me was none other than a sandwich.
"..."
I alternated glances between the plate and senior's face.
"I... thought you said you were good at cooking."
"Not something to brag about, but yeah, I'm decent."
"A sandwich isn't cooking; it's assembly."
I mean, come on, it really is.
Just stack ingredients between bread and call it a day.
I could do that much.
As I openly showed my disappointment, Gaius senior smirked and jerked his chin.
"Try it first before you complain. The bread, fillings—everything's homemade."
"...Wait, really?"
"The bread's freshly baked, and I cured the ham inside myself. The sauce is a secret recipe I picked up from my restaurant gig."
Suddenly, the sandwich looked different.
Baking his own bread and even doing charcuterie?
Maybe this guy has more talent for cooking than swordsmanship.
"This is way more serious than I expected."
"I started cooking to eat and survive, but it turns out it suits me surprisingly well."
Indeed, the kitchen prowess follows his knife skills.
"Well then, bon appétit."
I set aside the top bread covering the sandwich.
Then I grabbed a fork and rummaged through the insides.
Lettuce, out.
Red cabbage, gone.
Tomato, removed.
Pickle, isolated.
Onion, you're out too.
"..."
Gaius senior, who had been watching with arms crossed across from me, started twitching his brow.
"...Why are you picking out all the veggies?"
"I'm removing stuff I can't eat. What's the problem?"
"Don't be picky. That's why you're so short."
"Senior, you know what?"
I shoved the sorted plate to the corner and declared firmly.
"The world divides into things you can eat and things you can't. We call them 'meat' and 'vegetables' respectively."
"...Isn't bread basically made from grains too?"
"Come on, senior. Don't say silly things."
I clicked my tongue at the clueless sword fanatic.
"Bread, noodles, rice—they're exceptions. They're like air."
"Air...?"
"Yeah. You absorb them as naturally as breathing, so they don't count separately."
Gaius senior gaped, speechless at my flawless logic.
Soon, he shook his head.
"Fine... just eat it and enjoy."
I took a big bite out of the veggie-free sandwich—now just bread, sauce, ham, and cheese.
Crunch crunch. The more I chewed, the richer the ham's flavor swirled in my mouth.
"The meat seems saltier than expected."
"...That salty?"
"But paired with the bread, the balance isn't bad. The sauce is sweet, so the salty-sweet combo works perfectly..."
This might be oddly addictive.
"It's delicious. You really made this yourself?"
"...If you want, I can show you me baking next time."
"Then egg tarts next time, please."
I demolished the first sandwich in no time and picked up the second.
Of course, I picked out all the veggies this time too.
"Spar with me once more, and I'll make them as many times as you want."
"Ah, that's a bit annoying."
I waved him off in refusal.
"Do you know how much trouble I was in yesterday morning? Alarms blaring out of nowhere, professors chasing me down..."
I almost got dragged to the disciplinary committee again and turned into a fallen maid.
"You know it was less hassle because of me, right?"
Gaius senior chuckled and handed me a glass of water.
"I actively defended you during the inquiry, saying it was just sparring, not an incident. That's why you could sleep soundly without interruptions till now."
"Huh... yeah, when you put it that way."
That's true, but.
"More importantly, senior, why are you such a wimp?"
"What?"
"You said you had tough endurance, but dropping after one hit? Come on."
Senior let out a hollow laugh at my grumbling.
"But I got right back up, didn't I? Though that's thanks to you holding back."
"You still passed out, well-done grilled to a crisp."
"...Honestly, if it were anyone else, that would've been at least a serious injury. You got lucky it was me and it ended with just fainting."
He patted his forearm, saying they'd have hauled us straight to the disciplinary committee otherwise.
His endurance is decent for a student, sure.
Though I'm a student too, anyway.
"Wha— I wouldn't have used that much magic if it weren't for you, Gaius senior."
"You really don't hold back on words."
"Got any more sandwiches?"
"..."
Gaius senior stared at the plate piled high with just veggies.
"I could make more, but... aren't you overeating? Where does all that food go in your tiny body?"
He tilted his head curiously but stood up anyway, pulling down a hunk of meat hanging from the kitchen ceiling.
Perfectly aged pork hind leg—looks mouthwateringly good.
Slurp. Just looking at it makes my mouth water.
Gaius senior began slicing the meat thin with expert knife work.
"The more I think about it, the more impressive it gets."
Senior stacked the meat mountain-high on bread as he spoke.
"I can't wrap my head around how you reached that level at your age."
"Wha— gotta admit, talent plays a part."
And that's because I'm Lunaris Evermoon, that kind of character.
The canon cheat character.
But Gaius senior seemed to think differently.
"Haha. How many talented people do you think I've seen? And among Elterion Academy students, has there ever been one without talent?"
Of course, Lunaris, your talent is on another freakish level, I won't deny that—
Adding that, senior gazed at me steadily and continued in a serious tone.
"But there are realms talent alone can't reach."
"..."
"The titles with 'greatest,' 'first,' 'youngest'—anything with that 'best' prefix. You can't grab those just by being born with it."
Senior grinned and handed me the meat-bomb sandwich.
"Even you, on the verge of youngest Archmage, must've put in bloody effort without realizing it."
That's why you're there, he hyped me up.
I just fiddled blankly with the sandwich.
...Effort? From me?
Thinking about it, I've actually been pretty busy.
Making a mockery of my vow while burning the Imperial Mage Corps recommendation letter.
'Come to think of it, I'm pretty contradictory.'
I used "getting lazy" as an excuse to study magic harder than anyone.
I came all the way to this annoying academy, claiming submission to fate called "main story."
Here, I've been living student life diligently(?) enough to snag top of my year.
Far from putting off today's work till tomorrow.
I bustle about in advance to avoid tomorrow's hassle.
For the absurd reason of not wanting future trouble.
I even dove headfirst into the original story's events on my own two feet.
Why did I do all that?
If I truly wanted to be lazy, I could've just lain in bed breathing.
'A habit ingrained in my body...'
A memory from my past life flashed by.
Maybe the shut-in habits linger.
'No, that's not the issue.'
I took a bite of the sandwich.
Savory ham and nutty bread filled my mouth.
Delicious. Makes me feel good.
...Yeah, that's it. I just want these little happinesses.
That's the laziness I seek.
Simply doing nothing isn't laziness.
That's not even living.
The life I want isn't that corpse-like existence.
Sleep sprawled out whenever I want, eat whatever I crave to my heart's content.
Feel that dopamine rush too.
And above all, grab my own happy ending for everyone, free from the original's unfair plot.
Yeah, I'm greedy.
Very greedy.
But like the original protagonist.
Or my past self.
I don't want to suffer pointlessly under the name of "effort."
Then the answer is one.
'Efficiency.'
Isn't laziness ultimately the most efficient action?
Achieving desired results with minimal effort.
Compress, skip, leapfrog the process.
Harvest only the sweet fruits.
That's the true sloth I should pursue.
And.
'The means is magic.'
A starburst flashed in my mind.
Right... magic isn't just mimicking natural phenomena—it's defying them.
But I've been using magic inefficiently all this time.
Drawing formulas, linking circuits, etching magic circles by hand...
Stupidly, faithfully following nature's laws, trudging through the "process."
'I was such an idiot.'
All my past struggles boil down to not grasping true laziness.
Living inefficiently, casting inefficiently.
For me, magic is.
The embodiment of sloth.
Suuu—
Suddenly, my mind cleared sharply.
Centered on my body.
The flow of mana began to subtly shift.