Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 41
>Chapter Title: The Senior is a Senior
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My first meeting with the senior was an utter disaster, but by the time our conversation wrapped up, that initial encounter hardly mattered anymore.
He was a mage who suited the title of "senior" perfectly.
- The library is a pretty meaningful plan. Leave the top floor empty. I'll fill one whole wall with bookshelves.
Not only did he offer to help with my junior's plans,
- Artifacts for building a magical realm are dangerous. But they're too useful to just destroy. Spatial severance will definitely help with the tower you're planning to build.
he even gave advice on practical uses for the artifact I hadn't considered in detail.
I agreed completely.
Spatial severance.
It was a magic even the academy professors couldn't breach, something rare in the world, and it would surely prove useful for defending the tower in the future.
The problem was that I knew nothing about magitech...
- Go see Professor Pellina. I'll put in a word for you. That kid's trustworthy.
He readily offered to introduce me to Professor Pellina first.
And that promise wasn't limited to just the artifact.
Professor Pellina likely had some preconceptions about me, good or bad, and this was tantamount to saying he'd clear them up.
That wasn't all.
- I can see you're pretty skilled at handling mana. You should learn Mana Prison. I'll teach you when I have time later.
He offered to pass on his own technique, Mana Prison, without hesitation.
- Chenbi... Got it. I'll keep an eye on him. If he doesn't meet my standards, there's nothing I can do, but if he does, I'll take him under my wing.
He even granted my near-plea of a request.
He wasn't just some cranky old man.
His thoughtfulness was more meticulous than that of most normal people with sound minds, and the sharpness in his eyes burned as fiercely as any madness.
We exchanged all sorts of other stories too, gaining plenty from each other, but there were too many back-and-forths to list them all.
Still, in my mind, the greatest gain was my connection with the senior himself.
Not because of his social authority, his power as a mage, or anything he held—just the man himself.
That alone was a massive harvest.
Anyway.
- Well then, head in.
- Yes, Principal. After you.
When we parted, we weren't fellow seniors and juniors with hearts aligned; we wore the masks of principal and student once more as we exchanged farewells.
The next morning after my meeting with the senior.
Thud thud thud!
The sound of pounding on the door echoed through my room.
“Ugh.”
I lifted my heavy eyelids at the sudden noise and stretched my groggy body.
Then came a booming voice.
“Friend! Wake up! It's morning!”
It was Damian.
Ever since the Chamber of Trials had closed its curtains,
this had been our daily routine without fail—every morning.
I'd been holed up in my room for a week, devouring the Crimson Flame secret manual, but Damian knocked on my door every single day.
Today, though, it wasn't just Damian—Chenbi's voice came too.
“D-Damian. Aster might still be sleeping, and if you knock like that...”
“It's fine! Just wake him up!”
...Yeah, if someone's asleep, you wake them up. That's right, but...
“Uh, um... Aster's not feeling well. Waking him like this might...”
Exactly.
I'd holed up in my room using poor health as an excuse to others, so that was the normal reaction.
But.
“No! He's not sick! I know!”
...Sharp kid.
Damian's insight into magic was astonishing.
He might not know my exact achievements, but he'd probably gauged my capabilities to some degree.
‘Of course, he doesn't know I took down Friezen...’
By normal standards, no one would think I'd come out unscathed from the golems.
That's why he'd been pounding on my door like it might break every day.
“Whew.”
I wanted more sleep, but I dragged myself out of bed anyway.
By the time I got back to my room after talking with the senior, my sleep had been woefully short.
Sure, missing a day or two of sleep wouldn't tire my body, but mental fatigue was another story.
The conversation with the senior had been pretty draining for me too.
Anyway.
“Wait. I'll wash up and be out soon.”
I called out through the door and headed to the shower.
“See? He's up!”
“...Yeah, he is.”
If there was one downside to coming to the academy, it was Damian's transformation.
He stayed up late at night and woke up early in the morning.
Objectively, a positive change—but not for me.
He knocked on my door every morning.
He'd done it back in the old dorm [Room 807] too, and if my roommate hadn't been Pola, I might've felt bad about it.
Sure, Pola glared daggers...
‘But he couldn't say shit because of what he owes me.’
He should be grateful I didn't sing at midnight.
If I really tried, I could blast dozens of explosion spells while belting out a tune.
In a way, Pola might've been the biggest beneficiary of conquering the Chamber of Trials.
With me moving to the temp dorm for the affected students, his mornings got a lot more peaceful.
After a quick shower, I used magic to evaporate the water from my body.
I didn't use fire mana.
‘Might scald myself.’
My head could go up in flames otherwise.
I had to control the mana precisely to evaporate just the water, and fire mana was still too tricky for that.
I opened the door...
“Long time no see!”
“A-Aster... you okay?”
The two greeted me.
Damian, as cheerful as ever, and Chenbi, who looked... what was it?
‘Chenbi, this guy's put on some weight?’
His face was full of worry, but his cheeks were plump, and his skin was incredibly smooth.
No way he'd gained that much in a week...
Did he notice my stare?
Chenbi gave an awkward smile.
“H-Haha. Uh, friends gave me some elixirs. And I kinda... gained weight.”
“Friends?”
I eyed Chenbi suspiciously.
Chenbi was the one who'd approached me because he had no friends.
And now, in just a week, he'd made friends? Friends who gave him elixirs?
“Anyway, you feeling better? You looked really bad...”
“Just tired. But... friends?”
Chenbi scratched his head sheepishly at my question.
“Well, actually... Uh, let's talk downstairs? Got a lot to tell you.”
“Let's go! I'm hungry!”
Something told me Chenbi had been through a lot in that week.
I headed with them to the cafeteria in the basement of the temp dorm.
* * *
After breakfast, we moved to the cafeteria in the temp dorm.
On the short walk there,
“Chenbi! Where you going? Wanna do some magic training later?”
“Y-Yeah. Should be free by evening.”
“Cool. I'll let the others know.”
“Chenbi, good morning! Mom's coming later—wanna come with? Clear your schedule.”
“Y-Yeah.”
Not a ton, but a few students spotted Chenbi and greeted him warmly.
Damian wasn't an exception.
Though his reactions were worlds apart from Chenbi's.
“Damian, Dad's coming later—wanna join?”
“Nah! Gonna play today!”
“Damian, thanks so much for the Chamber of Trials...”
“Yeah! Thanks to you too!”
A number of students you couldn't even compare to Chenbi's approached him, and he replied without really listening.
Yet none of them seemed annoyed.
Watching that, a thought struck me.
‘Was it a week or a month?’
You know that fairy tale trope?
Stranded in the mountains, meets a sage, trains for years, comes back to find decades have passed.
The scene before me was that level of upheaval.
A month at the academy.
Back then, it was just the three of us.
No one approached us, and we didn't approach anyone.
Anyway, we arrived at the cafeteria, taking in the unfamiliar sights.
Its interior put the first-year cafeteria to shame.
As expected of guest quarters for academy VIPs—it lived up to the name.
“Your drinks, sir.”
Soon after, the server brought our order, and Chenbi spoke up awkwardly from his seat.
“Thanks first off, Aster.”
“...?”
Ignoring Damian slurping his parfait, Chenbi cleared his throat gravely.
“Thanks for saving me in the Chamber of Trials, and for the bracelet info... It helped me make friends.”
After we parted.
Unlike my expectation that he'd be busy recovering, Chenbi had wandered the Chamber of Trials, sharing the bracelet info I'd given him.
He didn't know why himself, but he'd gone around telling the kids that the bracelets were golem trackers—take them off, and you'd survive.
“The elixirs were their thank-you gifts too, and... thanks to you, my family's situation improved. Their parents said they'd help.”
Of course, they weren't top-tier elixirs.
Low-grade ones you could buy with money, not expensive.
But to Chenbi, who'd never dreamed of them, it was huge.
‘...So that's how it went.’
I nodded along to Chenbi's story.
But.
“Doesn't seem like you owe me thanks.”
“Huh?”
“I didn't tell you to do it, and you dragged your sick ass around to do it. This change? You made it happen.”
It was all Chenbi's own luck.
If he hadn't been selfless, if he'd just focused on himself like I thought, this luck wouldn't have come.
In a way, it was courageous.
When I saved him, Chenbi had been more terrified than anyone—terrified beyond comparison.
A bit more calm, a bit more clear-headed, and he might've escaped without my help.
But in that pinched mental state, even rational judgment was impossible.
‘Doing that anyway? Not just anyone could.’
Some might call it stupid.
It worked out now, but guys who live like that rarely die peacefully.
And.
The reason more students greeted Damian was similar.
‘...Tied down golems with plant magic?’
I glanced at Damian, who'd finished one parfait and ordered another.
If he'd mastered wood mana, maybe, but I'd heard he hadn't even settled on an attribute yet.
Even I couldn't help but be impressed.
Anyway.
I swapped stories with them about the past week.
Mostly Chenbi talking with Damian chiming in, or Damian talking with Chenbi elaborating.
Chenbi had gotten pretty good at Damian-speak too.
We were peacefully passing the morning like that.
When an uninvited guest approached our table.
“Aster, spare a moment.”
Irritated eyes.
Dark circles heavy under them.
It was Professor Pellina.