Chapter 49
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Louise's Gratitude
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After the duel between Louise and Gerwin ended.
Excluding the two of them, no one had anticipated the outcome, and Babel erupted in chaos as if a bomb had gone off.
"All the undeads' heads flew off in one hit?"
"For real. It wasn't even a full incantation—just a few short words, and the entire arena shook before their heads got sliced clean off."
"Gerwin must've just brought half-assed gear and undeads, right?"
"Half-assed? He showed up in the exact same full kit as during the last subjugation drill. Fully armored, I tell you??"
Since filming wasn't allowed inside the Martial Hall, the cadets who witnessed the duel firsthand spread tales of Louise's prowess, leaving everyone who heard stunned and skeptical.
"Gerwin's at least a B-rank hero level, right? Taking him down in one go means she's A-rank. Does that even make sense?"
"He probably got careless. They say he froze up when his undeads got wiped out."
"Could be he panicked from seeing unfamiliar magic. I heard some say it was an awakening of her unique skill."
It might've been understandable if he'd fought at full strength and lost, but he'd sent his undeads charging blindly and then just stood there dumbly until defeat.
To those who hadn't seen it, it sounded like carelessness, and even most witnesses thought the same.
But the cadets' doubts would remain forever unresolved—because the man himself, Gerwin, could no longer fight.
"Mana crystallization: 38 instances. Scattered across every corner of his body. At this level, he's effectively mana-incapable."
The blond man named Michael set Gerwin's diagnosis report on the desk with a sigh, rubbing his brow.
"The UD Group's demanding full compensation for this mess. He was pretty promising as the 25th pick, idiot or not."
"……."
"On top of that, the Martial Hall's tightening security, making stunts like this harder. Professor Charles and Dawn sent protests about missing their shot."
"……."
"Can't blame them— we supplied the gear, and now orders are delayed. Relations are getting awkward."
Not just that—Pierre, who was mentioned alongside Gerwin, and the Valmut family now faced added suspicion.
No hard evidence meant no immediate fallout, but such doubts had a way of piling up and grabbing ankles later.
By Michael's standards, it was as good as tucking tail.
"Do you grasp how massive the damage to our family is from this?"
Pierre, a sturdy-looking young man standing before him, nodded solemnly at Michael's question.
"Yes. My apologies."
"Sigh... Fine. If you've dragged things this far, you've prepared a solution. What's your plan?"
Pierre answered calmly to Michael's query.
"Louise Valente's reinstated at Babel, so I'll consult Dawn's members stationed at the Ivory Tower and wrap it up. Thinking of using the upcoming special trainee selection."
"And?"
"Lee Se-hun... I'll handle him during the subjugation drill. With a little help, I can settle it quietly on my end."
"Hmm..."
Michael pondered briefly before nodding, as if decided.
"Tell me what you need. I'll back you fully, within reason."
"Thank you..."
"But."
Michael cut Pierre off, fixing his son with cold eyes.
"Fail again, and you'd best forfeit succession rights."
"...Understood."
"Out."
Michael turned back to his papers as if that ended it. Pierre bowed slightly at the icy demeanor and quietly exited the office.
"……."
An empty hallway, devoid of people. Staring at it blankly, Pierre soon resumed walking with a stoic face.
His footsteps echoed steadily. But moments later, a grisly noise intruded.
Crunch— grind—
A chilling grind of teeth against teeth. At odds with his motionless expression, the incessant sound from his mouth gave the impression he wore a mask.
And when the grinding stopped, Pierre's mouth slowly opened.
"Lee Se-hun, was it..."
No direct proof, but anyone thinking straight could see Lee Se-hun's influence in this.
Louise's smooth downfall had reversed right after he was hospitalized at Ascus and grew close to her.
"Lee Se-hun..."
The arrogant underclassman who'd wrecked all his plans. Muttering the name, Pierre clenched his fist with sunken eyes.
Then he resumed walking, face impassive once more.
Ascus ward lobby.
Seated on an empty sofa, Lee Se-hun reread the skill description floating before him.
[Awakening Dream] 『C』
A self-hypnosis that forcibly awakens a clouded mind.
Activates reflexively when mental pollution reaches a certain level. However, effects weaken over prolonged duration.
• Forcibly awakens the mind.
• Repeated activations in short succession weaken the effect.
'Mental type, huh...'
Even top heroes could fall pathetically to mental attacks, regardless of rank. A solid skill.
But beyond utility, its very existence unnerved Lee Se-hun.
'No matter how I look at it, something's off...'
Theories abounded on skill acquisition and formation, but one universal truth: innate talent or foundation in that field. To gain a mental skill, one needed at least minimal aptitude for it.
'But pre-regression, I'd never acquired anything like this.'
Some might say latent talent emerged—great. But for a regressor like him, it grated.
'If it's just hidden talent I overlooked...'
But if it was brand-new aptitude, what caused it? Could all this be...
[Awakening Dream has activated.]
Whoosh—!
His mind sharpened instantly, like dousing with ice water.
Realizing his deepening thoughts had snapped away, Lee Se-hun widened his eyes and glanced down at himself.
'I see. So it works like this.'
Forcibly awakens if thoughts turn perilously negative. More intuitive than expected— a material sprang to mind.
'Hm. Could work for Dream Tusk if done right...'
As design blueprints for gear aiding hazy pre-regression memories filled gaps.
"Hey."
Louise emerged from the adjacent hall, approaching Lee Se-hun.
"What're you doing here?"
She asked, arms crossed. He looked up calmly.
"Sitting."
"...You think I don't see that? Geez..."
Grumbling in annoyance, Louise plopped onto the sofa one seat away.
Side by side, with a gap between. Passersby eyed the oddly intimate-yet-distant vibe, but they ignored it and talked.
"Discharge done?"
"As if. Tests all week."
Professor An Seung-wan had demanded a full week's intensive exams in exchange for approving her discharge and return to school.
Securing a mana crystallization recovery case was part, but mainly to check for relapses or re-injury.
"True doctor."
"Yeah. He's helped a ton these past six months."
Memories surfacing, Louise gazed blankly at the lobby. Steadying her breath, she spoke lowly.
"Met Professor Charles yesterday."
Her mentor who'd aided her, yet tried rendering her mana-incapable via mana erosion device— a Dawn operative.
Lee Se-hun probed at the contact.
"What'd he say?"
"What else? Come back to Elemental Studies, do well. Said he'd pull strings at Ivory Tower for a second-year special slot."
An offer to make others' eyes pop, but Louise scowled unpleasantly, muttering.
"Should've ripped his throat out..."
"Rejected flat?"
She nodded at Lee Se-hun's question.
"Said transferring to Martial Magic's tough from Elemental. He bought the reason."
Word magic strayed far from theory-heavy standard spells, offering her little benefit.
So she'd chosen Martial Magic, which taught combat application over pure magic— and used that to rebuff Charles.
"Good call. Like I said, don't tip your hand yet."
"Don't worry. Gritted my teeth through it."
Lee Se-hun had advised playing ignorant of Charles— and Dawn behind him.
A single erosion device was flimsy pretext; they'd clip it easily. And rash enmity against such dangerous foes was suicide.
'They'd terrorize Babel if needed.'
The "Watchers"— lunatics studying the Six Great Demon Gods to reshape them. Dawn within were fanatic spell-worshippers, radical in creed and deed. Utterly perilous.
Given her grudge, they'd need wiping eventually. But not yet.
"Don't get cocky. Like before— you won due to stacked factors."
Her revenge mental image honed obsessively half-year, amplified by Varg tuned for word magic.
Louise's unique word magic differing from norms; Gerwin's control-only undead spec. Green combat response from lack of practice. Perfect storm of exploits.
Against a sharp, battle-hardened peer of Gerwin's spec? Current Louise wouldn't stand a chance.
"Think I'm a kid? Strutting over that."
"You are."
"Brat younger than me can shove... Anyway, chill."
Rubbing her right hand's faint scar, Louise wryly smiled.
"After that fiasco nearly gutted my throat— think I'll repeat?"
They'd baited her, true. But she'd fallen due to her own hubris amid peak arrogance.
Seeing her bitter self-mockery, Lee Se-hun pondered, then nodded.
"Fair. Same mistake after that? Your own fault."
"...Psycho."
Normally, such topics flustered folks. But he always bulldozed in like he'd waited.
Louise shook her head at his "what?" gaze, facing the lobby again.
"……."
The familiar ward, grown routine over half a year.
Memorizing every detail as if never returning, she slowly spoke.
"When I first got admitted. Thought I'd be expelled soon."
"……."
"Burned with revenge... but deep down, you know it's no easy feat."
Even Professor An, rehab field's top authority, had shaken his head at mana crystallization. She'd ignored it, but knew her state clearly.
Yet clung to Ascus not purely from grand revenge obsession.
"Quitting scared me more."
Gazing at her hand scar, she smiled bitterly.
"Non-hero me— what could I do? Could worthless me avenge on them? That bleak future terrified me. Hid here."
Aware treatment failure meant eventual pathetic expulsion from Babel, yet no alternatives— so she stayed.
Rehab experiments here made razor-thin possibility feel real.
"Looking back, so stupid. Deeming it pointless, yet too scared to imagine else— wasted time."
"……."
"But... uh..."
Struggling to articulate, mouth opening-closing. Lee Se-hun waited silently, no rush.
Thoughts gathered, she continued slowly.
"Thanks to you, I got excuses."
"Excuses?"
"Like, endured that hell to master word magic... topple Gerwin easily..."
Glancing at Lee Se-hun, she murmured softly.
"...Met you here."
Had she known and endured? Self-praise-worthy. But meeting him was pure miracle. Hence, "excuses."
He'd given meaning to her otherwise meaningless time.
"So... what I mean is..."
How to wrap this ramble?
Thoughts jumbled from rambling, she recalled Lee Se-hun's traits.
Zero consideration, selfish, crabby. Yet always guided her right in dead ends. Her benefactor.
'...Duh. Easy.'
The natural conclusion made her smirk inwardly.
And she voiced her sincere thanks.
"Thanks for the help."
[Target 'Louise Valente's Bond Level has risen to Lv. 2.]
[Bond Level rise establishes a relationship. Your relationship with target 'Louise Valente' is 'Guidance.']
[Relationship: Guidance]
Guiding others profoundly shapes their future, demanding grave responsibility.
Not easy to lead right, but shouldering it faithfully forges an unbreakable bond.
• Bond Stones generate each time you guide the target rightly.
• Bond maturation accelerates in guidance scenarios.
• Current generated Bond Stones: None.
The alert before him. Scanning it, Lee Se-hun looked surprised.
'She can think like this?'
The Mad Dog judged all by her own metric.
Success? Her credit. Failure? Others' fault.
Partly self-hypnosis to maintain word magic power, but she half-believed it seriously.
'No one but herself trustworthy.'
But this Mad Dog—no, Louise Valente— had learned trust.
Whether better than pre-regression? Unknown. Lee Se-hun opted not to dwell.
'Up to me now.'
Musing on distant futures, he met Louise's sidelong glance.
"Saying thanks sure was a hassle."
"...Expecting heartfelt reply from a punk like you makes me the idiot."
Sighing deeply, Louise checked the lobby clock and stood.
"I'm out."
"Wait."
Stopping her toward the hospital, Lee Se-hun pointed to the black choker at her neck.
"Give that back. It's trashed anyway— I'll recycle for a new one."
The black choker, Varg, had lost all function post-Gerwin fight.
Fragile projection alloy base, overwhelmed by her word magic's power.
'Gotta use proper materials next.'
Not easy to source, but auction winnings covered it. Worst case, fetch personally.
"This?"
"Yeah. You don't need..."
"Nah."
"...Huh?"
At the unexpected rebuff, Lee Se-hun blinked. Louise stroked her choker.
Cool, yet oddly warm. That awkward, possessive texture made her grin.
"Mine now."
She turned briskly and strode away.