Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 54
>Chapter Title: My Ear is Itchy
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The academy, now fully in the throes of exam season, was buzzing with activity.
“The library’s A-wing is completely full?”
“Yeah. I got there at 7 a.m. to line up, and it cut off right in front of me.”
The student heading to the library asked, and the one coming back replied with a face like he’d just chewed shit.
“Ugh, then nowhere else has seats either?”
“Pretty much.”
Why did the library, so spacious at all other times, get this packed only during exams?
It had to be because even the martial arts meatheads, who’d never cracked a book before, were swarming in.
And why were their stamina levels so ridiculously high?
Even if you headed out at 5 a.m. to line up, the martial arts students were already there ahead of you.
Some of them even brought camping sleeping bags and camped out in front of the library, eating and sleeping there!
At that point, it looked less like studying and more like securing a library seat was the goal.
The host and guest had completely swapped places.
Faced with this reality, some nameless academy student let out a deep sigh.
“Guess I have to hit the cafeteria again.”
“Forget it, just go to the classroom. I heard the cafeteria’s already packed too.”
“Ugh…… but the TAs are in the classrooms, and I hate that.”
The nameless student sighed deeply again and trudged off toward the classroom.
Amid all this, with every student grinding away at their studies,
Damian’s situation wasn’t much different.
In the first-year student cafeteria.
Damian, Chenbi, and Puryon—the unlikely trio—had somehow snagged a table and were deep into their study session.
Scratch, scratch.
Pens scraped across paper.
Rustle.
Sheets of paper brushed against each other, creating a soft noise.
It was impossible to tell if this was the cafeteria or the library.
A truly alien scene, and the most out-of-place figure among them was Damian.
“…….”
Eyes wide open, Damian scrutinized the mock exam problems.
His mouth firmly shut, his gaze meticulously scanned the text on the page.
If not for the movement of his eyes, he looked like a statue frozen in place!
How much time passed like that?
“Done!”
After holding his breath for what felt like forever, Damian’s mouth burst open like he was exhaling it all at once.
For a moment, the eyes of the cafeteria students focused on him, but since it wasn’t the library, no one said a word.
“Here, let me see. Chenbi, you grade this section.”
“Got it.”
Puryon and Chenbi smoothly split the two-page exam and began grading.
And when the grading wrapped up.
“…….”
“…….”
Chenbi looked up at Puryon.
Puryon looked back at Chenbi.
Somehow, their gazes were filled with a melancholic sorrow, while only Damian remained blissfully innocent.
Chenbi spoke first.
“Puryon, how’s the part you graded? The section I did…… all correct.”
“The part I did…….”
Chenbi swallowed hard.
When Puryon’s mouth finally opened, Chenbi clenched his fists tightly.
“……same here.”
“Hmm!”
An ambiguous sound, neither a groan nor a swallow.
Then, interlocking his fingers and squeezing hard, he muttered to himself.
“All correct? I got them all right?”
“Yeah, all correct.”
Even in that moment, his reflexive response carried a hint of emotion.
“…….”
Puryon glanced up at the sky with a faint smile at the sight.
But hey, these were just basic problems.
‘Nothing too hard.’
The actual academy exams would be way tougher.
Still, there was a reason Chenbi was overjoyed without shouting it out.
And it wasn’t just Chenbi—Puryon himself was barely holding back a cheer, if not for a shred of pride.
‘It was truly…… a hellish week.’
The week had flown by so fast that calling it “hell” didn’t even feel exaggerated.
The humiliations and trials in between?
Every single day, every moment, had been a meditation on the meaning of “endurance.”
- Why?
- How come?
- But think about it. If you do it this way……
Why why why why why why why!
That damn why!
Why this, why that.
Why not just accept it and solve the problem? The questions kept chaining endlessly, spilling out without end.
Truly……
‘A time that couldn’t be endured without blood, sweat, and tears.’
It had tested the limits of their patience, forcing them to walk a tightrope between responsibility and the desire to slack off.
What was “basic” to others was “extreme” to him and Chenbi.
“…….”
“…….”
Nod.
Puryon suddenly nodded at Chenbi, their eyes meeting.
A budding sense of camaraderie.
It was growth forged from the souls of him and Chenbi.
But.
This satisfaction was short-lived.
‘That…….’
Puryon ground his teeth thinking of someone.
And who was that someone?
The culprit who had dragged him into this pit of evil: Aster.
‘I’m fulfilling my duty like this…… and just what the hell are you doing?’
The past week.
Aster had been fairly diligent in tutoring Dalia.
After classes, in his spare time, he’d check over Dalia’s magic.
He didn’t know the exact details since neither Aster nor Dalia had spelled it out, but at least he’d done the bare minimum.
It was weekdays, after all.
Puryon figured that was enough.
But yesterday, he’d heard from Dalia……
- Tomorrow, I have to do it alone.
Aster had business outside the academy and had to step out.
This was unacceptable.
Puryon had woken up early, secured a cafeteria seat himself, and prepared to devote the entire weekend to Damian.
What? Blow off the weekend?
‘That bastard’s got what that keeps him so busy!’
Black-White Slums brat.
Not a slur.
After challenging Aster over the “one-strike kill” thing and getting beaten senseless, his prejudices shattered.
Oh, status doesn’t matter.
Status is an illusion; fists are right in front of you.
The expansion of thought brought by violence.
Anyway.
The Black-White Slums brat had no family.
From what he’d heard, his only connections were the Blandoga family and people he’d met at the academy.
And even those boiled down to Chenbi and Damian.
So what business could he possibly have?
‘He’s definitely slacking off……!’
Puryon ground his teeth to the gums and forcibly swallowed his resentment.
The memory of getting thoroughly thrashed was so vivid, his body still shivered……
‘I’ll get you later, you damn bastard!’
It was a fair deal.
He’d sold himself for two macarons and was fulfilling his duty—how dare that guy?!
Of course, he couldn’t say it to his face, but the resentment was unavoidable.
“Phew.”
Puryon steadied his mind with a sigh and looked at Damian.
“Then…… let’s try the next problem.”
He handed over a pre-prepared problem.
“Yeah!”
Had he gotten into studying?
Damian nodded with a bright face.
Silence settled over the three once more.
Damian buried his nose in the problem sheet, while Puryon and Chenbi reorganized the concepts to teach him.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
On the rooftop of a building in the heart of the city of Hazen.
Tap.
A boy in dark nightwear landed lightly.
‘……What?’
His ear itched.
It itched so much he paused his pursuit, stood still, and scratched it.
‘Someone badmouthing me?’
This wasn’t just a casual thing.
It had to be someone pouring their full hatred into meticulously cursing him.
And who? Obvious.
Far off, the academy’s spire jutting sharply into the sky.
‘That Puryon prick…….’
Definitely him.
He’d lived a life far more shameful than one that could face the heavens without regret, but no one else would curse him like this.
Well, not exactly accurate.
He just wanted to beat the guy up and needed an excuse.
Anyway.
“Hmm.”
Aster turned his gaze from the academy to the street below.
Hazen’s citizens bustling about as usual.
Cutting through them was a young doll-like figure.
It was Dibey.
Dibey walked with a thick envelope of documents clutched tightly to his chest, looking extremely uneasy.
‘Well, can’t blame him.’
Aster recalled the handover between Dibey and the seller just moments ago.
Once they confirmed each other’s faces, Dibey received the item from the seller.
The seller was a TA from the academy’s basic class.
And the item was……
The academy exam papers.
So how could he not be tense?
From Dibey’s perspective, it must feel like he was carrying a bomb in his arms.
The sight was so pitiful……
‘Makes me want to smack him.’
Hateful guys look hateful no matter what—even in pity, he wanted to punch him, damn it.
But Aster suppressed the impulse.
‘Not yet. Yeah, not yet.’
The past week.
He’d thought about it a lot.
How to deal with Dibey. No, further—how to handle Evelyn.
Countless ideas flashed through his mind.
But none stuck.
‘I’d love to burn down a few Goldrin branches, trash their 310 gold……’
But what would be the point?
It wouldn’t be fun…… no, not fun, but he wanted them to repent for their wrongs.
Swinging violence around wouldn’t make them reflect; they’d just feel unfairly beaten.
‘And above all…….’
Tap.
As Dibey vanished from sight, Aster immediately kicked off.
His body soared high then landed lightly again.
With Dibey back in view, Aster continued his thoughts.
‘There have to be buyers lined up.’
Exams were less than a month away.
Find buyers in that time? No way.
If it were him, he’d have lined up buyers in advance before procuring the goods.
So, those guys needed uprooting too.
That’s why he was on this boring tail.
Yawning lazily from the tedium, Aster kept his eyes on Dibey.
‘And while I’m at it…….’
Aster glanced at the crystal orb in his hand.
A fist-sized orb reflecting the sunlight.
‘……grab some leverage.’
It was a video-recording artifact.
He could cause chaos anytime, but chances to snag dirt on Goldrin’s golden boy were rare.
He’d already recorded the entire meeting between Dibey and the contact.
Anyway.
“……Hmm. There?”
After leaping a few more buildings, Dibey stopped in front of one.
In the heart of Hazen’s heart……
‘A restaurant?’
A high-end place even most nobles couldn’t afford.
The ‘G’ mark by the sign suggested it was Goldrin-owned.
As Aster pieced it together,
A middle-aged man emerged from the restaurant to greet Dibey.
They exchanged a few words, and the man led Dibey inside.
‘Alright, time to go.’
Impeccable conduct, wide circle of friends, stellar grades—Evelyn de Planche, the model student with a glowing reputation.
Time to face the real him.