Interlude. And Off to a New Place...?
"Shinu! Have you completely lost your mind?"
"You said I could use any means necessary."
"That doesn't mean you use a professor as bait!"
"And you even threw me in there as bait too!"
"Hey, Gold-trash. You and your professor were pretty in sync, huh?"
"Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!!"
As soon as the exam ended, Professor Park Miran and Kim Yuna came to their senses and immediately started protesting to me. They didn't seem too pleased about being used as mealworm substitutes. I'd awakened their yuri identities, so they really should have been thanking me, but it was unexpected. The two of them screamed at the top of their lungs, hurling curses at me and threatening to disadvantage me on the exam results.
But.
To cut to the chase, it had zero impact on the exam results. Because there hadn't been a single violation. The fact that we'd taken down high-difficulty monsters in a relatively short time earned us high marks, and our team proudly received a perfect score. Kim Yuna wasn't happy about getting a perfect score too, but I just considered it compensation for lending me the whip and let it slide.
[But weren't the professors the ones grading? How did you get a perfect score?]
"The final scoring is done by AI."
As expected, AlphaGo-nim was right. When the age of AlphaGo arrives, I'll offer a can of WD-40 as a bribe.
Just then, Elsia finished her exam and joined up with us.
"Husband! Thanks to you, I did great on the test!"
"Out of nowhere?"
"We used a professor too!"
Elsia's explanation went like this. The professor had entered the testing area, crawled into a corner, and fallen asleep, so they restrained his limbs and tossed him to the monsters as bait. While the monsters' attacks were focused on the professor, the team members took them down one by one. They received high marks for clearing the test as quickly as possible without any casualties among the team.
At that moment, Hye-ji pointed at the exam footage being broadcast through the drone.
"Shinu, look at that."
There, another team was openly using a professor. The students grabbed the professor by the ankles and swung him around to smash the monsters, and the intense impact made the monsters explode on contact. Naturally, this team also received high scores. The reason given was "appropriate use of weaponry." Once teams using professors started scoring higher than those that didn't, the students' reluctance vanished, and everyone began actively utilizing professors.
Watching the scene, an overwhelming emotion surged up inside me.
"Shinu, isn't this just beautiful?"
"E-everyone... really!!"
"Confucius has done it!"
"Husband! What a magnificent sight!"
This is what a proper academy looks like!
[You've already enlightened the students!]
Everyone had finally realized it. A renaissance had come to this academy. Today was the day of the academy's enlightenment. After all, professors aren't even human. If we're just using tools like tools, what's the problem?
Later, this incident led to new rules being added that prohibited using professors as tools during exams. But it wasn't applied immediately, so for now, countless professors were repeatedly shredded during every test.
We left the ongoing final exams behind and hurriedly moved somewhere else. My test had ended ages ago anyway. And this was something that could only be done right now.
"Shinu, where are we?"
"Young master, it sounds like I can hear the cries of the dead from somewhere."
"Husband, this place is way too creepy."
"......Hey, no matter what, this is still a place where people live and work."
We had taken advantage of the professors being distracted by the final exams to sneak over to the research building. The grad students who had been staring with dead eyes inside the research building suddenly lit up the moment they saw me. Looking around at their faces, it seemed the PhD candidates weren't around. Good.
"The Messiah has come!"
"Kim Shinu is a god! The Kim Shinu Law is invincible!"
"Oh Lord..."
"He is a god!"
"It's been a while, everyone."
I gave a simple greeting and got straight to the point.
"Probably around next year, you'll be legally recognized as people, so please wait just a little longer."
"Understood. We believe it will happen soon."
"And after you're recognized as people, if I contact you, I'd like to ask for your help just once at that time."
"Of course."
The grad students kept bowing repeatedly, expressing their gratitude. Meanwhile, the rest of our group was wandering in and out of the professors' offices.
"Kids, don't these papers look like they were just begging to be burned?"
"...Hye-ji, if you do that, the grad students will suffer trying to restore them."
"Husband! There are so many fancy snacks and chocolates here, can we take a few?"
"Everyone! If you get caught taking those in your pockets, it'll be a huge problem!"
One grad student who looked like a newbie hurriedly stopped Elsia. The reason was that the professors would be returning soon, so there wasn't much time to grab stuff.
"Then if we put them in our stomachs, there won't be a problem, right?"
"......Pardon?"
"You heard her! Everyone, stuff as much as you can!"
"Got it."
"Yes! Husband!"
"......This one does not think that is proper."
"Then let's eat everything except Jeong Ayeon."
"But an occasional deviation isn't so bad."
In the end, we reached an agreement to stuff the professors' snacks into our mouths as much as possible. And we ate every last one. The MVP was obviously Elsia.
We were patting our swollen bellies and about to leave the research building when the grad students came out to see us off.
"The finals will be ending soon, so we'll head out right away."
"Understood. Until next time, Messiah."
"Ah, and one more thing."
Right before leaving, I turned back to the grad students.
"No matter what, calling me Messiah or a god and putting me on a pedestal like this is a bit burdensome."
"We're sorry. We were just so happy that..."
"Instead."
And I spoke to the grad students in a low voice.
"Next time we meet, call me Führer."
".......H, Heil!!!!"
When I closed the door and left. One of the grad students who had been staring blankly at me shed tears and quietly murmured.
"Mein Führer..."
"Husband! You said you didn't have any plans for this break, right!"
"Why?"
"There's a place we should go together this time!"
"Where?"
On the way back from the research building to the dorms, Elsia tightly held my hand and said.
"The Great Forest!"
".......Out of nowhere?"
[This feels ominous.]
"Ugh, yeah, it does."
The Great Forest. The homeland of the elves, where countless elves reside. And at the same time, the location of the World Tree.
"Can't we just not go?"
"The thing is, I was told I absolutely have to bring you this time!"
"Who said that?"
Then Elsia smiled even brighter than before and said.
"The World Tree wants to see you, husband!"
"......Why?"
I was a 100% pure human. By birth, I had zero connection to elves, and the only elf I was even close to was Elsia. But suddenly the World Tree was calling me? Something felt extremely suspicious.
Then Hye-ji, who had been listening beside us, jumped into the conversation.
"Canf, does it have to be just you and Shinu going?"
"Um... not necessarily."
"Then I want to go too."
Elsia lowered her head and muttered.
"......This completely changes things."
"Elsia?"
Elsia, hearing me, looked at me with longing eyes. There was something desperate in her gaze.
"......Husband, what do you want to do?"
From the atmosphere, it seemed she had wanted to go alone with me. I didn't know the exact reason. Still, I thought going alone would be dangerous. The Great Forest was the elves' home ground. As the away team, we had no idea what kind of situation we might end up in.
[Don't you have quite a lot of karma too?]
"Why is that my karma? Those pointy-eared bastards are the ones who did stupid shit."
"For the sake of minimal safety, let's bring Hye-ji along."
"......Sigh... okay."
"Young master? Perhaps this one..."
Jeong Ayeon subtly gave me a look, as if hoping to be included too. It seemed her pride kept her from saying it outright, but there was no protagonist here who would care about that.
"You? Is it necessary? You're going to the Martial Artists Guild anyway. Go work hard. See you later."
"Stop right there, young master! Take this one with you too!"
Jeong Ayeon had thrown her pride completely out the window.
"What about your guild attendance?"
"They said if there is a special reason, they would accept not showing up at the guild."
"Really? The only reason you seem to have is to show up at the guild."
"Please take this one with you too! I am so sick of polishing statues!"
While the youngest member showed no signs of joining, only Jeong Ayeon was continuously exploited at the Martial Artists Guild. Tired of the endless joints and scolding, Jeong Ayeon was making one last desperate attempt to avoid going to work.
I smiled wickedly at Jeong Ayeon and said.
"Beg like a dog."
"W-what are you saying!"
"Beg like a dog and say it. 'Please take this lowly slave with you.'"
"Ugh..."
Jeong Ayeon knelt down, trembling as she spoke.
"Lowly..."
"Say it properly. 'Please take this lowly slave with you.'"
"L-lowly...!"
"Hurry up and say it, you pointy-eared bastard."
"You crazy bastard!!!! Go die!!!"
"Ah, fuck."
[......I knew it would turn out like this.]
Jeong Ayeon's patience had reached its limit. She summoned her creatures and charged at me. The summoned creatures bound my limbs and bit me, while at the same time Jeong Ayeon was punching me in the stomach. I had no choice but to get beaten helplessly. I hadn't expected this situation at all.
In the end, after five minutes of dramatic negotiation, we decided to bring Jeong Ayeon along too.
The day we departed for the Great Forest. We gathered early in the morning in front of the gate. Unlike me and Hye-ji, who still couldn't shake off our drowsiness, Elsia and the escort elf looked perfectly fine.
"Actually, we stayed up all night!"
Looking closely, both Elsia and the escort elf had bloodshot, swollen eyes. As for Jeong Ayeon, she had arrived first and was waiting for us. Her bright, sparkling eyes made it clear just how much she hated going to the guild.
At that moment, Hye-ji called out to Elsia.
"Hey, Canf. Go tell them the Great Forest coordinates."
"Yes! I'll go say it and come back!"
Elsia went to the gate staff and gave them the Great Forest coordinates before returning. The look in Elsia's eyes as she came back after giving the coordinates seemed somehow off, but I figured it was just because she was tired.
Before long, the gate activated. Watching it, Elsia grabbed my sleeve.
"Husband! Let's go quickly!"
Soon after, Elsia pulled me by the sleeve toward the gate. Hye-ji followed while holding my other sleeve, and Jeong Ayeon hurriedly chased after us. Finally, the escort elf walked leisurely into the gate.
And so we arrived at the Great Forest.....
What the fuck.
[......Where the hell are we?]
............It wasn't.
When you say Great Forest, it should be overflowing with grass and trees to match the name. However, the place we had come out of the gate was the interior of a massive building that contained only white. The elegant decorations subtly suggested that this was no ordinary place.
Not just me, but the rest of the party was also confused by the situation. Before we could even process our confusion, a threatening voice came from behind us.
「Who the hell are you?」