Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 57
>Chapter Title: 18. Not a Curse
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Evelyn's guidance.
The outcome might seem straightforward, but the effort I poured into it was anything but small.
*Yeah, you worked hard.*
How many nights of undercover work had it taken?
Not only did I track down the list of names, but I also captured footage of every single rendezvous between Divay and the buyers in separate recording orbs.
It was thanks to this relentless effort of mine that I nailed the suspicions in just one day!
Of course, when I handed it over to Assistant Professor Yorbi, I edited out all the footage involving Evelyn.
Actually, it wasn't much editing.
I'd recorded everything separately in different orbs just in case.
Anyway, the following week flew by in a flash.
The professors slowed down their lectures to give the exhausted academy students a break after exams, and the students unwound into their daily routines.
And so the weekend arrived.
"Friend!"
"Aster."
I was sitting on the dorm lobby sofa when I spotted two boys coming down the stairs and stood up.
It was Damian and Chenbi.
"You made it? Let's go. I got the outing passes."
"Let's head out!"
I stepped out of the academy with them.
The reason we gathered on the weekend... well, we hung out together all the time anyway, but today's reason was a bit special.
What was it?
[Damian Model Student Project]
To announce its success and claim the reward!
"You look awfully happy, Chenbi."
"H-Haha! I've always been happy, though?"
"Hmm."
I eyed Chenbi's unusually bright face, then burst out laughing with a puff.
Chenbi scratched his head, looking sheepish.
He knew it too.
How awful his face had looked during exam period.
*At the end, he barely looked human.*
Dark circles down to his cheeks.
Chenbi had put on a little weight after the Trial Gate thanks to elixirs from friends, but in just a month, he was half the man.
Purion was the same, of course.
No, Purion, who had less resistance to Damian, had it even worse.
But people are amazing.
*He looked like a wreck until yesterday...*
To recover so much in a single day.
*Well, he did pour his soul into it.*
Even after exams ended, his expression wouldn't relax.
At a glance, the two seemed more worried about Damian's scores than their own.
And in fact, they probably were.
- Hey! The rankings are up on the board!
Just yesterday after class.
The exam rankings posted in the lecture hall lobby.
Chenbi and Purion jumped up faster than anyone and scanned the list.
Not for their own scores...
*But for Damian's.*
While the guy himself bounced innocently behind them, the two had fire in their eyes.
But then.
- Ah, aaaaaah...!
- N-No way?
The two screamed.
Yes.
Damian's initial ranking was...
[18. Damian von Blandoga]
18th place.
Not 17th, not 19th—exactly 18th.
I wonder what they felt in that moment.
*Who knows.*
But one thing was clear: their wails echoed lowly through the lobby, intimidating even the other students coming to check scores.
However, there was a twist.
- Hey! That's not it! Look higher! There's Dminnen or whatever!
A clerical error?
A misprinted score sheet.
It included students who had been expelled, when it shouldn't have.
When the administrator came and reposted it...
[16. Damian]
Exactly the 16th place we'd aimed for.
Of course, Chenbi and Purion's roars shaking the lobby afterward goes without saying.
No, not just roars.
I thought they were parading like triumphant generals.
So proud and stately.
Of course, it wasn't all good effects.
"Aster."
"Yeah."
"What if I have a knack for teaching? After graduating academy—maybe even from the advanced class—I could aim for assistant professor?"
"Shut up."
Oops.
My true thoughts slipped out.
"......?"
I flashed a friendly smile at the baffled Chenbi.
"You know that assistant prof was involved this time, right?"
"......Yeah, I do."
"Know why he did it? He was broke. Flat broke. Sold academy exam questions for cash."
"......Ah."
Chenbi's face stiffened for some reason.
I pressed on.
"Chenbi, look. How long do you think it takes for an assistant prof to become a full professor?"
"Uh...... I heard 3-4 years."
I scowled at the innocent question.
"Who said that?"
"......Professor Parun."
"You know how long it took him?"
"One year...... or so I heard?"
I sighed deeply at Chenbi's answer.
Then I pointed straight at the citizens walking the streets of Hazen.
"See that?"
"What?"
"The people."
"Yeah, obviously?"
"That's you."
"......?"
Chenbi tilted his head, not getting it.
"Those ordinary folks? That's you. So what do you think Professor Parun is?"
"Hmm...... Not sure."
I pointed up at the sky without hesitation.
"See that?"
"It's dazzling."
"Yeah. That's the difference between Professor Parun and you."
"......Ah."
It might sound harsh, but the talent gap between Professor Parun and Chenbi was like heaven and earth, if a bit exaggerated.
If Chenbi was one of the ordinary people littering these streets, Parun was like the sun blazing in the sky.
A bit of hyperbole, but the essence held.
"Hey, where you going now?"
"......Macarons."
I grabbed Damian's nape as he veered toward a side street and kept walking.
Anyway.
"If you look down from up there, does that tall guy over there look any different from Damian?"
"Probably not?"
"Right. That's why Parun said 3-4 years. He wasn't talking from an ordinary person's perspective."
Taking 3-4 years is still impressive talent.
But to a genius mage, whether prodigy or average, they're both equally crude.
That's probably what he meant.
"But he's taught plenty of disciples, right? Some must've become assistant profs. Maybe that's what he meant?"
What a clueless thing to say.
"That guy's got no interest in others."
He only sees research.
Well, one thing he doesn't neglect: his duties as a professor.
His educator's responsibility, I suppose.
"Then...... I guess I'm not cut out to be a teacher."
I shook my head at the dejected Chenbi.
"You really wanna teach that badly?"
"......Feels rewarding, I guess."
"Then there's a way."
I glanced up at Hazen's street sign.
Perfect timing with my words and actions—Chenbi followed my gaze with a "Where?"
"......Not there. Sector C-23. One block further."
"Ah, got it."
I reset my direction and continued.
"How you take on disciples."
"Yeah."
"Become an archmage yourself."
"......"
"Think about it. All the active archmages? Nobles or old war mages, right?"
Chenbi nodded.
"Then you become a big-shot archmage. You think guys would wanna learn from you or not?"
"......They would?"
"They'd line up. Right?"
"......Yeah, probably."
He nodded, though he didn't quite get it.
I spoke plainly.
"Want disciples? Become an archmage. Teach them harshly like you did Damian—......no, like with Damian. Pick the untalented ones."
That alone would probably feel rewarding enough.
Or so I thought.
Naturally, of course...
*If Chenbi could actually become an archmage.*
But I believe.
*Dreams should be big.*
Even if it seems impossible now, keep running without giving up, and you'll reach the end.
If a miracle happens...
*He could climb like Dalia did.*
I imagined it.
If Chenbi became an archmage. And kept his current personality...
A what-if future that may or may not happen.
But if it did, I'd think:
*Heh, heh heh.*
How massive would the favor an archmage repay to his life savior be?
*Assistant prof?*
No way, kid.
Think about becoming the golden goose sooner—don't rot in the academy!
Not until dirt's in my eyes.
Anyway.
"We're here."
I stopped in front of a rather grand restaurant.
This was the place where the blunt, oblivious servant Ransi had invited us.
*How in the world...*
How did he know Damian hit exactly 16th?
The rankings went up, and he messaged the academy right away.
Said he'd treat us to a meal to discuss the reward.
Probably had a mole in Blandoga relaying news... no, "mole" sounds off.
Anyway, someone maintaining good ties.
"Alright, let's go in."
"Y-Yeah."
Chenbi nodded, looking a bit intimidated.
And Damian was still...
"......Macarons."
Staring back at the macaron shop we'd passed, nape still in my grip.
Seeing this, a thought struck me.
*Chenbi, maybe teaching really is your calling.*
Pulling up Damian's scores like this was worth bragging about anywhere.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that time.
An nameless tavern in Hazen's back alleys.
"Uhaha! Drink up, drink!"
"What're you doing, punk! Down it in one go!"
In a space packed with drunks despite the midday hour, a man in a black robe sat shrouded in shadow.
He sipped cheap beer with his face fully hidden when the door creaked open.
Kiiiiiik.
Amid the rusty hinge screech.
A chilling aura swept the tavern.
The rowdy drunks fell silent right then.
"......"
"......"
Drunks froze mid-motion, heads turning.
Their eyes were a mess beyond reason, but the instant they saw the man entering, instinct beyond reason screamed.
How to describe it.
Dangerous.
He wore human shape, but felt like something not human.
The man's appearance was ordinary at first glance.
A mildly likable face.
Average height, nothing standout.
The only difference from normals: skin pale beyond white, like a corpse.
Footsteps echoed into the now deathly quiet tavern.
Kiiiik, step.
Kiiiik, step.
The pale man simply walked, all eyes following.
The suffocating tension broke soon after.
"You're here."
"Still fond of dumps, I see."
"You're one to talk. You who burrows underground."
The robed figure greeted the pale man.
Utterly casual attitude, but everyone watching thought one thing.
Run.
"L-Let's, let's go."
"Y-Yeah."
The tavern emptied in a flash. Even the owner fled, and the robed man clicked his tongue.
"Solion, you advertise it. 'I'm a forbidden magic mage.'"
"Cut the crap."
Solion brushed off the taunt easily.
Normally they'd bicker more, but not now.
"Belloc, I need your help."
"Help?"
Belloc's eyes widened at Solion's unexpected words.
But soon he narrowed them at Solion.
"Hmm, you asking me for help. Intriguing... but damn. What to do? I've already got a request from the society."
Solion asking for help—personalistic as he was—meant it was risky or big game.
Very tempting.
But he was already in Hazen on society's cooperation request...
So he feigned dilemma, and Solion smirked incredulously.
"If it's about infiltrating the academy, don't bullshit me. Then why're you here?"
"Academy security's tightened up lately."
"Ridiculous. Isn't it your laziness that's tightened?"
"Well, fair point."
Belloc readily admitted his sloth.
No matter how tight academy security, he could've infiltrated.
Solion knew that too.
"Fine, whatever. Listen up. This is my personal request—and a society cooperation ask."
"Oho. Society cooperation?"
Belloc's eyebrow twitched.
The society ran on individualism.
When it sought collective orders or cooperation, two cases.
One.
When demon realms were involved.
Like this academy case.
That idiot mage Prezen lost an artifact that might birth a demon realm and croaked or whatever.
*Probably useless junk anyway. What demon realm could a half-baked anti-mage make?*
So he'd been killing time.
The other was...
"An ancient ruin's been found."
Ancient legacy.
To anti-mages, "ancient ruins" or "legacy" differed from what normal mages meant.
Ancient curses.
Or...
Remnants of the ancients too profane to name.
"Which one?"
"......If I knew, would I need you? Means we've already found the site."
"Fair."
Belloc specialized in tracking, scouting, infiltration.
If ruin location was known, no need for him.
"So, you have a rough idea where?"
"Of course."
Solion nodded.
Belloc was half out of his seat.
"Where?"
Solion answered the casual question.
"......Hamerun Great Forest."
"Huh."
Belloc exhaled in surprise.
"Gonna be a bitch, huh."
He shook his head like it was a hard road ahead.
Yet he didn't turn away, and Solion silently followed.
"Oh, you know?"
"What."
"Heard there's an old war mage there. Big shot, apparently."
"What? Some old war mage holed up in a great forest? Shit, we might actually die. Heh heh."
He sounded scared, but Belloc's face said otherwise.
Eyes of a predator spotting prey.
*Well...... won't be boring.*
Like a hunter's gaze.
Collecting necks of great mages was one of Belloc's hobbies, after all.