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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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In life, there comes a moment when everyone is put to the test. Lockstryn Aindarok was no different.
“Um, Lockstryn.”
The third week of the semester.
Despite the unprecedented attack, Somerbadge Academy quickly regained its stability.
Other than the six vacant seats among the freshmen and Kanin’s lecture being replaced by another, not much had changed.
Three of them were commoners to begin with, and the other three nobles just stuck together and weren’t from particularly influential families. The atmosphere had just quieted down, making the students a bit more subdued.
“What are your thoughts, uh, on this?”
And so, the name of the replacement lecture.
[Creative Thinking].
The lecture hall was also a new type, not the large one where they always had classes.
The process was simple.
Groups were assigned randomly, and a teaching assistant would distribute a recent hot topic from the magichanics world to each group.
Four students sat around a round table.
Since they were freshmen, no one expected results. The purpose of the class was to foster camaraderie while cultivating proactive thinking skills.
“We’ve all shared our thoughts…….”
But.
How am I supposed to do something like that?
“Hmm.”
Fostering camaraderie. It’s fine at this point.
Yuchsilla has already taken a hit, so it doesn’t matter if I start talking a bit with the other students from now on.
The male student who spoke to me looked as if he were the one who had sinned, so I opened my mouth in a calm voice before he could burst into tears.
However, I was someone who had only just copied the professor’s words into my notebook in the previous classes.
How could I possibly have any creativity?
“The world is a series of ironies.”
In times like these, one must put on a brave face. Let’s trust the ‘Extraordinary’ trait.
“In the age when chastity belts were in fashion, locksmiths amassed great fortunes.”
“……?”
“At the end of the war that honed the skills to kill the most people, medicine, the skill to save the most people, developed.”
“Uh, so.”
A male student who had been listening quietly from the side pushed up his glasses and spoke.
“How does that relate to managing the firepower loss of projectile-type magic……. Ah, I’m not trying to argue! I just don’t understand…….”
This guy is annoying.
Fabian? Let’s remember that name for now.
Because he’s an excellent student.
“I, I think I get it!”
Thankfully, reinforcements arrived from the opposite side.
It was a female student named Camilla, who always sat three seats away from me in the large lecture hall.
“Well, I’m not so sure about the first one…… but since I’m a fire attribute user, which suffers the most from this phenomenon. Usually, there are two main causes for firepower loss, right? Friction and the loss of the medium’s surface area.”
“Right.”
“In the past, there were many efforts to minimize the power lost to friction, but that has faded now. Focusing on the fact that the energy lost from the projectile didn’t just disappear but heated the surrounding atmosphere.”
When a fire-attribute mage pairs up with a wind-attribute mage, a synergy occurs, increasing the magic’s power.
This is called fusion magic. It’s also an important strategy for achieving high efficiency with low cost.
“Now it’s standard to combine it with wind-attribute magic… so if there’s always something to gain on the other side of what you thought was lost.”
“There must be something to gain from the loss of the medium’s surface area?”
“That makes sense.”
“So, what do you think?”
I’m glad there are so many bright kids.
To my group members who were glancing at me uncertainly, I replied with a small smile.
Yes, you guys are right. I think so too.
“Ehehehe…….”
But this is what happens when I don’t wear my hood. Most students who aren’t main characters have low mental stats.
Let’s not smile. It’ll make them grow fond of me against my will.
“This group is making fast progress.”
“Ah, Assistant Professor.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t give out scores or anything. You did well.”
The teaching assistant who had quietly approached handed out another set of papers. Three times the amount of the first one.
“What I’m handing out now are the contents discussed in the 3rd Archive of the Magichanics Society last November. [A Study on the Phenomena Derived from the Loss of a Projectile’s Medium Surface Area].”
“Was there a right answer?”
“Only for the first topic. This one, however, is a matter that is still under research. These are theses personally selected by Mage Kanin.”
When a valuable discussion about magic arises, the various branches of the Magichanics Society are the first to assess its value and decide on a location for it.
The 3rd Archive is a fairly high rank, third in line, so it was strange that a study from last November was still ongoing.
“We are seeking ways to utilize the eight complexly occurring phenomena, and while many promising suggestions have been made, the problem is that their efficiency is all similar.”
“So there were too many right answers.”
“Or perhaps the right answer has yet to be found? Please submit your individual opinions as a separate assignment by next week. The four of you may leave the classroom or continue your discussion.”
Thump.
I stood up from my seat as soon as the teaching assistant finished speaking.
“Good work, everyone.”
The group members looked disappointed since there weren’t many opportunities to talk with Lockstryn from this close, but what do I care?
[Creative Thinking] is a 2-hour lecture. It had only been 30 minutes since the lecture began. In other words, I had gained a surplus of 1 hour and 30 minutes.
‘I should go back and sleep.’
Actually, I had been cutting back on sleep even more lately.
Just preparing for the existing episodes was taking a toll on my body, and now I had the added pressure of having to get good grades in the midterms.
I thought I might be overdoing it a bit, but it was bearable as long as I could catch up on sleep whenever I got some free time like this.
And so, with a cheerful face, I had just left the lecture building.
“Locks.”
A familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.
It was Yuchsilla, waiting at a bench near the back entrance of the lecture building. This was the first time she had initiated a conversation with me somewhere other than the Tower of Truth.
“You’re out early.”
“Our group’s problem was solved by Her Highness Ainim the moment she saw it.”
“Sounds about right.”
Their group was different, so I didn’t know what their topic was, but Ainim would have found the answer in an instant.
She would surely solve the second problem given as an assignment with ease as well.
“What were you doing here?”
“I wasn’t really planning on doing anything…….”
“I can’t hear you well.”
Her voice was so quiet that even Lockstryn’s needlessly sharp ears could barely catch it.
“Well, Her Highness. She said that Locks would be out soon too, so I should wait here.”
“Ah, you were waiting for me.”
“……Yeees.”
“Still, what would you have done if I was late?”
“I knew you would solve it quickly, Locks.”
I only got out early because my group members were smart. I could have made her wait for a long time.
“If you’re bored, want to talk?”
Nod.
She still seems to be embarrassed about crying her eyes out in front of me, so she can’t meet my eyes properly.
Anyway, my plan to go straight back to my room and rest was shattered in an instant. It’s a shame, but one must separate public and private matters. This is a public matter.
“The garden has gotten crowded lately, too.”
“That’s because you show up there often, Locks.”
“Shall we go somewhere quiet?”
“Saying it like that makes it sound a bit dangerous…… Locks?”
And yet, she follows me without a problem. It must mean she has no one else to rely on.
“Somerbadge Academy is unnecessarily large. A lot of weeds have grown here too.”
The overgrown weeds brushed against my ankles.
Somerbadge Academy is generally praised for its beauty, but its maintenance isn’t exactly perfect. Since they often deal with nobles from various countries, they are selective even when hiring mere cleaners.
It’s impossible for there to be a large number of staff, so they can’t keep the less-frequented areas perfectly tidy.
In that respect, some say it’s even more beautiful because of how it blends with nature.
“I’ve only ever walked along the main street, so this is my first time in a place like this. There’s really no one here.”
“Here, this way.”
“Huh? That doesn’t look like a path…….”
I held out my hand to the bewildered Yuchsilla.
Off the main street, to the west, a narrow path between the Professor’s Research Building and the Agricultural Research Building.
Halfway up a set of stairs, I suddenly stepped lightly onto a low railing and got up onto a wall.
After pulling up Yuchsilla, who had grabbed my hand in surprise, I pushed forward, brushing away the cobwebs and small branches that touched my head.
‘This is so useless.’
It’s truly regrettable.
[Academy Somerbadge] doesn’t have a single one of those common hidden pieces. All the games I’ve made are like that.
An easy cheat?
A legendary hidden class?
A game-breaking item that solves everything just by eating it?
A hidden secret room that makes you ten times stronger just by entering and exiting?
Why would such bullshit exist?
“Be careful. The grass is a bit rough.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Locks……. But it feels like a place we shouldn’t be.”
Honestly, isn’t it unfair?
To easily surpass those who have worked their fingers to the bone, sweating blood, without having put in an ounce of effort themselves, and to mock the weak with ease.
That’s why my games became difficult.
I put up double and triple walls so that those cunning bastards who were used to that kind of play could never clear them.
Even if the one struggling, unable to learn a simple 2-star magic spell because he’s blocked by that wall, is me right now.
I don’t regret it.
“We’re here.”
So the only knowledge I have is the kind that’s completely useless unless it’s a time like this.
“Wow…….”
Pushing through the shaded gap, a vast, open view of a blue-green wheat field comes into sight.
[A vast wheat field. Without any splendidly bloomed flowers, it was just a wheat field with green shoots swaying gently.]
Beauty is hidden in every corner of Somerbadge Academy.
Appreciation is subjective.
Some might pick the magnificent cherry blossoms of the main street as the best, and the tea tables in the sun-drenched lawn garden are no less beautiful.
And this place is my second favorite, after the evening view from the tower.
The weather was just right, too.
[But sometimes, on a day when the wind blows strong, it’s even better if it’s a little chilly and the sky is overcast.
Wheat has flowers too. There are flowers that bloom shyly, settling on the tips of the unripe ears like the first snow.
It looks like a very vast and mysterious magic carpet, and watching them sway in unison with the wind. It feels like if I got on it, it would whisk me away somewhere.]
“It’s a bit of a shame there are no chairs.”
Finding a reasonably flat spot, I took off my robe jacket and spread it out, then sat down on the weeds next to it. There aren’t any bugs, right?
Yuchsilla stared blankly at the wheat field for a while, then gently knelt down on the robe I had laid out.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Right?”
Actually, I thought it wouldn’t mean much. Since Lockstryn’s face is right next to her.
Still, seeing her unable to take her eyes off the wheat field for a long time made it worthwhile to bring her here. What should I say at a time like this…….
I don’t know. It’ll work out somehow.
I have level 10 charm, after all. No matter what I say, she’ll probably burst into a smile.
“When I was young, whenever my relatives gathered, they all called me the rice cake glutton.”
“At the Aindarok family?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s right.”
Of course, I’m talking about myself, not the Aindarok family.
Rice is cultivated in this world too, but the unimproved varieties are harder to mill than wheat and don’t taste as good. It’s only grown on a small scale in regions where wheat doesn’t grow well.
So even if there is rice cake, it’s a commoner’s food. It wouldn’t be easy to find it in the great noble houses of Yuchsilla or Aindarok.
“Pfft, why a rice cake glutton of all things?”
“Because they said I loved rice cakes so much. But I actually liked snacks or candy much more, you know?”
“Well, I’m sure everyone does. So what happened?”
“In a way, it was a mistake.”
I said, looking down at the wheat field.
It was literally a memory from a long time ago. Everyone has one or two of those. Nearly 20 years have passed, but for some reason, the memory is vivid.
“My grandmother gave me a rice cake, so I just ate it, and then they praised me, saying, ‘This one eats rice cakes so well, he’ll be a great general,’ so I couldn’t really say no.”
“Mhmm, I think I know what you mean.”
“And then, whenever my relatives saw me, they’d make a fuss about how I like rice cakes, unlike other kids these days. They even brought rice cakes as a gift when we met after a long time. My goodness.”
I even remember the name. Myeongga Alley Rice Cake House.
The worst was the siru-tteok, which was full of red beans but not very sweet and just made my throat dry.
“The Aindarok family was more interesting than I thought.”
“Don’t even mention it. At night, I secretly took all the accumulated rice cakes and threw them in the river. I got caught and got a huge scolding from my father. For throwing away a gift like that. I cried because it was so unfair.”
“What? Locks, you cried?”
“Don’t I cry? I was a kid. I cried my heart out. Saying it was tasteless. That I don’t like rice cakes. And then I got scolded even more.”
“What did he scold you for?”
My father was a strict man.
Come to think of it, even after I turned twenty and moved out to live on my own, I barely had any deep conversations with my father.
At that time, he sat me down in front of the sofa and said,
“How am I supposed to know what you don’t say?”
If you don’t say it, they won’t know.
By that point, the story had enough substance to be cobbled together somewhat plausibly.
“It definitely felt like my life, but in reality, I was living up to everyone’s expectations. Parents, teachers, friends, everyone.”
I entered the business administration department.
It’s even more so at prestigious universities. The guys around me were too diligent.
There was never an empty seat in the library, and not a single person was dozing off in that spacious lecture hall.
Even when I thought I had done enough, they talked about the job crisis, managed their grades tightly, and built up extracurricular activity records.
It wasn’t until around the time I graduated that I realized.
“I’m not living my own life.”
It wasn’t fun.
What will I do when I earn money? Drive a nice car, live in a good house, eat delicious food, and travel occasionally when I have the time.
—That kind of thing
It wasn’t my dream.
“From then on, I think I just did whatever I wanted. I cut off all the meaningless relationships and shut myself in at home.”
I started studying.
At twenty-five, I opened a programming book for the first time. The head I thought had hardened managed to work. It was enjoyable even when I cut back on sleep. Graphics, sound, scenario… the things I could do increased.
Fortunately, the world was a good place.
Engines and tools were standardized, so there was nothing you couldn’t do if you had the will.
After a year, one or two small, completed works came out. I couldn’t make money with them, so I made do with tutoring and part-time jobs in my spare time.
After about three years, I produced a result that I was satisfied with myself. At some point, I was being recognized by those around me. I earned enough to live on without doing other work.
Somehow, I also met a good person.
“Ah, have I been talking too much about myself?”
“……No.”
When I sneakily turned my head, sure enough, Yuchsilla was looking at me, not the wheat field.
I wonder if she even properly heard what I said. Would it have mattered if I had been reciting the Hunminjeongeum?
“No one would tell such stories to others.”
“Because we’re friends.”
“Even if we’re friends.”
“Well, it’s embarrassing, so I don’t go around talking about it carelessly. Hwaaam.”
A yawn escaped me without me realizing. It was indeed difficult to hide my fatigue.
“I must have taken up too much of your time.”
“I was the one who brought you here. It’s fine. Do you have something urgent to do?”
“It’s not that.”
Yuchsilla’s gaze turns back to the distant wheat field. The clouds have cleared, and the day has brightened. If the sunlight is too bright, the white flowers are hard to see.
Autumn is good for that.
“It’s pretty here in autumn too.”
Hmm, now that I said it, it feels like a mistake.
It’s too obvious that a wheat field is pretty in autumn, and the Yuchsilla lands are fertile and vast. She must be sick and tired of such scenery.
Clichés are no fun……
“Then, take me here again in autumn.”
Ah, but I was Lockstryn. It doesn’t matter.
“Anytime is fine.”
“You can’t look at things like this too often.”
“Isn’t it better to see it every day?”
“Anyway, promise me first.”
“What’s the big deal? Alright.”
I spoke as if it were nothing, but my heart ached.
“I’ll tell you my story then.”
Because I know I won’t be able to keep this promise.
“Why not just tell me now?”
“I have too many thoughts right now, I feel like I might say something embarrassing. I want to prepare myself before I speak.”
“That’s cheap.”
The wind has died down, and the rigidly standing wheat field isn’t very interesting. I flopped down on my back. The weeds that had grown about a hand’s breadth tickled my cheek.
Should I close my eyes for just 10 minutes? That should be okay…….
Thump. A sound came from beside me.
“Bugs might come out.”
“I’m not really scared of things like that.”
“And you’ll get dirt on you.”
“Locks.”
I brushed the dirt from Yuchsilla’s hair. Lockstryn is handsome no matter how much dirt gets on him, anyway.
It doesn’t matter who sees, so there’s no need to care about my appearance, but you’re not the same… I was about to say.
She wasn’t asking in the first place.
“So this is what you were looking at.”
Yuchsilla was looking up.
“Uh… right.”
When I belatedly opened my eyes, it had its own charm. Thankfully, there were no bugs.
The complete opposite of the wide-open wheat field, the leaves covering the space above our heads were only visible up to a short distance.
“It’s not very interesting.”
“Hehe, it’s better than sitting around with kids with fierce eyes, drinking bitter tea.”
Lying side by side on the dirt, Yuchsilla suddenly turned her head towards me and smiled brightly.
“Much. More fun.”
Her long eyelashes.
Her dirt-streaked crimson hair.
Her bright yellow eyes were like spring flowers.
Her clear smile with nothing to hide.
She looked so pretty that a smile escaped me unconsciously.
What’s this, she only has level 3 charm.
……Is it a bug?
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