Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 49
>Chapter Title: Killing Twice
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The day after Ransi left.
We packed up from our temporary lodging, moved back to the original dormitory, and then held a meeting in the first-year cafeteria.
Project name: Making Damian a Model Student.
A historic project where the name alone predicted an insanely difficult challenge.
And now, we were kicking off its first meeting.
But.
'Hmm.'
I crossed my arms and quietly took in Damian and Chenbi with my eyes.
'As expected, this won't be easy.'
I had anticipated it.
Was it even plausible to attach the word "model student" to the noun "Damian"?
Of course, we didn't actually need to turn him into a model student.
'Make Damian a model student?'
If that were the case, the difficulty wouldn't be insane—it would be impossible.
No one could pull it off, and I wouldn't have accepted it either.
But.
- Enter the top 16 overall rankings.
Pulling Damian up to 16th place was easier than that. Of course, "easier" didn't mean it was a walk in the park.
Look at him now.
"This, this is just......"
Chenbi tearing at his hair in despair.
It had only been 20 minutes since the meeting started.
Damian's academic performance was objectively that despairing.
No, not just despairing.
It was hell itself!
- Damian, how far have you understood the basics of magical studies?
- What's basic magical studies?
Not knowing the subject name after a whole month was par for the course.
- Um...... Damian. Can I see your notes? Hmm...... but where's your textbook?
- No idea. I brought everything I have.
For some subjects, he didn't even have the textbook.
Of course, it wasn't all despair.
- D-Damian. Did you...... at least do the assignments the professors gave on time?
- Yeah, I did!
Damian, who claimed to have done his assignments on time.
Chenbi's face briefly lit up.
A thick stack of parchment.
If he'd done the assignments on time, at least the basics were covered.
But.
'Hmm......'
I casually flipped through the parchment on the table.
Sheets filled with unidentifiable doodles and formulas instead of magical equations.
Next to them, the words "Blood, Sweat, and Tears No. 2" were written, so it seemed he'd been drawing blueprints for Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
However, I didn't mention this fact.
'It would be killing Chenbi twice.'
Look.
He was already ripping out chunks of his hair.
If I told him this now, Chenbi would reach the realm of the pen-wielder without even holding a pen.
The first stage of the pen-wielder: the beginning of hair devastation.
How unfair would that be.
But in a way that made my consideration pointless, Damian crushed Chenbi's heart.
"Chenbi."
"......Yeah."
"Don't worry too much. I won't give up no matter what. I'll make it happen."
"Ah, aah...... aaaah......!"
Was there any more infuriating line than that!
Whose fault was this despair, yet he so calmly burned with resolve.
But Chenbi was a man of unbreakable will.
Give him even a tiny spark of hope, and he could ignite his determination.
So, I tossed him a small spark.
"Y-Yeah, right. Let's look at the assignments."
Chenbi reaching for the assignments to gauge Damian's level.
I didn't bother watching after that.
I closed my eyes tightly.
Just from the sounds, I could fully infer Chenbi's despair.
Rustle.
The sound of paper turning.
"Ah."
A short death rattle.
Not the long wail from before, but this was true agony. The sound of a person's hope vanishing.
As expected, when I slightly opened my eyes, there it was.
'Amazing.'
His complexion was the same, yet he looked ashen white like covered in ashes.
"Chenbi, if you study hard, it's possible. Don't get too down."
A spoonful of oil on the fire.
Chenbi had fully retired.
Anyway, the joking around ended there.
'Hmm.'
I crossed my arms and quietly looked at what Chenbi had summarized about Damian's level over the past 20 minutes.
Two liberal arts courses.
Four magic-related classes.
A total of six subjects.
'At least it's good that culture and history, classified as liberal arts, aren't bad.'
That made sense.
Culture and history were common knowledge territory.
Damian had been educated on them even back in the Blandoga Family.
The problem was the remaining magic-related classes......
'End times.'
End times.
No solution in sight.
Three magic-related textbooks Damian had brought.
There should have been four, but one was missing, vanished who-knows-where.
Even the ones he had were pristine, like new.
Meaning he hadn't studied even once.
"Chenbi, Damian did do his assignments on time properly, so there's hope, right?"
Of course, Chenbi probably knew this too. He just hadn't realized the extent.
And probably......
'He was banking on Damian being a genius. That talent is impressive, after all.'
But sadly, that was misplaced hope too.
There are two types of geniuses in the magic world: theory and application.
For example.
'Henji.'
That guy was a theory genius.
His actual magic skills weren't lacking, but he was specialized in exploring and understanding principles over direct application.
The other type......
'Pahren or Damian.'
The application-specialized bunch.
So.
'It's the difference between using your body and using your head.'
Of course, with magical talent, he'd pick up principles and formulas easily......
But could he do it in just a month? Hmm.
Then, it happened.
"I-I've got a good, good idea."
"What is it?!"
Chenbi suddenly jerked his head up.
Damian looked at him with shining eyes.
"Isn't the scoring for major subjects like this originally?"
Chenbi wrote it down on the parchment.
Major subjects: the four magic-related classes.
The breakdown was as follows.
[Practical: 70 points]
[Written: 20 points]
[Assignment: 10 points]
The high weight on practical exams compared to written.
This was great news for us.
Damian might suck at everything else, but he'd ace practicals.
'But he's not just going to remind us of this obvious fact......'
What countermeasure would he come up with?
I watched Chenbi with some expectation, and then his mouth opened.
"First, it's obvious Damian has to nail the practicals."
"Right."
"But written is the problem, right?"
Chenbi's eyes sparkled.
"Let's think backwards. Does Damian really need to raise his scores? Or......"
"......?"
And when the next words came, I realized Chenbi wasn't right in the head.
"What if we drag down other kids' practical scores? Or their written scores? Either way."
"......"
"Then, if Damian just aces practicals, he could climb up, right?"
Definitely not right in the head.
And one more thing.
'Even half on written, how would 16th be possible......'
Of course, half wasn't easy.
Five essay questions. Solve magical quizzes from the problems logically.
Still, with Damian's magical talent and brains, maybe possible.
'This bastard......'
He clearly didn't see Damian as a learning-capable organism.
"Sigh."
But it was all karma Damian had built up, so I couldn't say much.
I started pondering on my end.
'In the end, the straightforward way.'
It wasn't that I couldn't study; when I did, I was pretty good.
Magical studies?
'Piece of cake.'
Not as deep as the professors, but way beyond undergrad level.
I'd already read a third of the magical studies book Henji gave me.
I could teach if I wanted......
"Chenbi, you look exhausted."
"Ah, aah......"
"If it's too hard, take a break. But I believe you can do it!"
I lacked confidence.
'Can I hold back from hitting him?'
He got away with it because it was someone else; if he did it to me, I'd smack him.
'What to do.'
Time was short.
Then, it happened.
"Excuse me."
"......?"
A boy cautiously approaching our table.
He'd been sitting at the next table over, and his face looked familiar.
"Purio?"
"......It's Purion, Aster."
"Right, Purion. I said it right."
Same M3 class. Purion, a collateral of the Dinai Family.
At his appearance, Chenbi with dead eyes and Damian both turned their heads slightly.
"I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I overheard roughly. Seems like you're helping Damian study."
"So?"
I gave Purion a slight glare.
'Wanting to get beat up?'
I hoped so.
It had been a while since I beat up any bloodline guys, and I missed the feel.
Honestly, Purion was one of the faces I'd been eyeing to punch for a while.
That lofty attitude. The unconcealable confidence subtly showing on his face.
What to call it. Among prestigious family guys, especially punchable face.
'Finally, today?'
I looked at Purion with inner expectation, but his words were surprisingly unexpected.
"Maybe I can help."
"You'll get beaten if you say that?"
"......? What? I mean I can help with Damian's studies."
"......You?"
I tilted my head.
"......What's with that look?"
What else.
'The look for a punchable idiot collateral bloodline.'
Since he was at the academy, probably promising in Dinai Family.
But judging by vibe and face, same type as Henji's...... nameless idiot little brother.
Baseless deep distrust.
'But usually, it doesn't miss.'
However.
"Hmm, I didn't want to show this much."
Purion casually went back to his seat and showed the stack of parchments on his table.
Chenbi reacted first.
"Th-That's......"
"As expected, Chenbi. I knew a diligent guy like you would recognize it. This is......"
"......The legendary past exam collection!"
"Right. Past academy exams from the last 10 years. And that's not all."
He soon showed another bundle of documents.
"Th-That's......!"
Purion nodded contentedly.
"Exactly."
It pissed me off somehow, but I barely soothed my itching fist.
Even when punching, you gotta know what he's saying first, right?
But.
Regrettably, I didn't punch Purion.
What he showed next was that shocking to me too.
"This is......"
"Exams made by Professor Jeira. And data compiling topics Professor Jeira is currently researching. She tends to ask a lot about research-related stuff."
"......And that?"
"Professor Parun's exam collection. He focuses on the textbook, so not much reference value...... but look at this. Notes I took circling M1, M2, M3 classes, extracting parts the professor emphasized."
Purion went on listing his materials boastfully.
Seeing that.
I had to admit it.
"Purion, you're really......"
"Admitting it now? That I can help."
"A natural pushover...... no, a model classmate."
"......? Natural model classmate? What?"
If Purion wasn't a natural pushover, who was?
'Yeah, you're the best at it.'
Go ahead. My honorary pushover.
But I didn't end up assigning my honorary pushover.
"There's a condition."
"You trash."
Almost had it.
"......What?"
"No. Say it first."
I looked at Purion with cold eyes.
Ready to beat him if he spouted nonsense.
"Where there's giving, there's receiving. I'll help Damian study. In return, Aster, you......"
"Me?"
"Help with the inter-personal combat after midterms."
Hmm.
Inter-personal combat.
It was the finale of first-year first semester.
If midterms tested theory understanding and basics, inter-personal combat checked practical application.
Like the final exam replacing basic class first-years'.
"Preparing for inter-personal combat already......?"
At Chenbi's question, Purion nodded.
"Preparation is always better early."
"Sure, why not."
I nodded readily.
Better than randomly beating Damian, to freely beat Purion.
Did he sense my chilling gaze?
"W-Wait. Not helping my inter-personal combat. The one you help is someone else."
"Someone else?"
"Yeah. Got time? I'll guide you."
At that, I glanced at Chenbi and Damian.
Chenbi nodded, saying let's follow for now. Damian packed his stuff.
"Alright, then."
We quickly cleared the table and followed behind Purion.