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University Lecture
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Bathroom. Bathroom, bathroom. Where the hell is the bathroom? I need to go so bad...
This is proof that I'm not Deculein.
Even if some of Deculein's personality has rubbed off on me, it's only a fraction. The rest is still me, Kim Woojin, and this lower abdominal pain is the result of the mental stress I've unknowingly built up.
Gurgle, gurgle...
This physiological phenomenon, known only to me, is tormenting.
Still, on the outside, I'm pulling off a perfect model walk.
Searching for the bathroom urgently but not desperately, I suddenly came face-to-face with her.
At the far end of the hall, in the straight corridor, a woman staring at me.
"...".
I kept walking. She stood still.
Our distance naturally closed, and I stopped first when we were within arm's reach.
"It's been a while."
She bowed her head first.
She was a beautiful woman.
Her white, silky hair and clear, ice-like transparent eyes reminded me of that moment I'd seen on the monitor someday—drenched in blood.
──Out of the sixteen deaths of Deculein that I'd confirmed,
eight were connected to her.
"...It's been a while."
Her name was Julie, the fiancée of this body.
And in the future, a named character who would reach the pinnacle of knighthood.
"Have you been well?"
Julie asked. It was a question with no answer for me.
I looked at Julie without a hint of expression. A servant would have backed away unable to withstand the gaze, but Julie simply waited patiently.
With no choice, I replied thus.
"Who knows."
It was the best I could do, yet Julie's brow twitched.
She took a deep breath and said,
"Do you remember the promise we made a week ago?"
I stood still, meeting her eyes. At the bottom of those deep, beautiful irises, a fiery hostility flickered.
"You broke that promise."
"...".
It was a promise I didn't even know about.
I nodded and tried to pass by. I needed to shit.
Julie took a step to the side, blocking my path.
"Are you thinking of running away?"
I was trying to run away. I needed to shit.
In a situation where I knew nothing, anything I said would only make it worse.
"Again, like this?"
But this woman wouldn't let me escape. She glared at me with a face as cold as an awl.
In this situation, my best option was the worst.
"...What promise did we make?"
I truly didn't know, so I asked, but goosebumps rose on the back of my neck. Julie's anger made my skin crawl.
It itched. My back burned. I wanted to scratch, but this noble body wouldn't tolerate such lowly behavior.
Instead, I awkwardly added,
"I'm asking. It seems I've forgotten after suffering a fever for a while."
"Ha."
A hollow resignation close to despair floated across the woman's face.
It was a sigh worse than anger.
"...Damn it. You really are just that, after all."
A chilling, icy tone directed at her fiancé.
Contempt mixed with sorrow and resignation.
"Go."
She stepped aside, and I brushed past her shoulder. Even as I walked away, the back of my head still itched.
Leaving the corridor, I entered the VIP bathroom. I glanced around warily in case someone came, confirmed no one was there, and finally relieved myself.
"I thought I was gonna die from the itching and the urgency..."
I scratched my back and neck while emptying my bowels.
Having to mind my position and situation even when scratching—truly an exhausting personality.
No wonder he doesn't live long and dies.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Even after sending Deculein away, Julie stood there for a long while. The boiling rage and fury inside her burned like crimson flames, showing no sign of subsiding.
She had barely suppressed it by force, but then, as if on cue, another equally prickly figure appeared.
It was the university chairman.
"Oh my."
A young mage of Ether rank wearing a pointed hat. Though considered a prime candidate for archmage, just below the eternal 'Eternal' rank, her personality made her the worst among Julie's connections.
Spotting Julie, she dramatically covered her mouth with both hands.
"No way! Aren't you Professor Deculein's wife?!"
"...".
She already knew words like "We're not married yet" wouldn't work on this woman. So Julie simply nodded.
"His lecture from outside was great~ As expected of the top professor, his explanations were spot on—I thought that so many times! If only I could learn that lecturing skill~"
"I know. I watched it too."
She tried to cut it short, but the chairman latched on.
"What? You watched? Was it moral support? Finally, are things getting better between you two?"
"...".
Moral support? Nothing so romantic.
Julie had come today to see with her own eyes whether Deculein would keep the promise he'd made with her.
She had clearly told him:
If you uphold your honor, Deculein—if you confess your lies and deceptions to everyone and beg forgiveness,
she would stand with him even if the world crumbled.
This wasn't about the family's face from a broken engagement or maintaining noble decorum.
It was solely the conviction of one knight, transcending all worldly concerns...
That was truly all it was.
You must have agreed.
"Why the long face~? Today's lecture was impressive."
Grind. Julie ground her teeth at the innocently sarcastic remark.
Deculein had, in the end, broken his promise to her right up to the last moment.
An achievement stolen and plundered from others, not his own ability. He hadn't repented the evil deeds and corruption behind it.
A man without even the courage for that—now she truly had to give up.
He would live eternally pitiable, trapped in the web of lies and deceptions he'd fabricated...
"...Whatever. Today's no fun. Well, take care! I'm off!"
The chairman pouted and left.
Julie still stood rooted to the marble floor. At her feet, a mire of twisted emotions seemed to swallow her.
His Yukline and
her Phairden.
Someone's words echoed in her ears.
──Deculein, who shone as a mage, and Julie, with her innate knightly talent. If the bloodlines of these two proud houses united, it would be an unequivocally beneficial match both genetically and politically.
But at some point, both families learned Deculein's magical talent was utterly mediocre.
He'd deceived the world as a 'genius in formula interpretation' to become a professor... but after a certain incident, even his vaunted theoretical achievements dried up.
If the families had no ties to central politics or were lesser branches, one side would have raged.
But they were both prestigious houses, so they hushed it.
As long as neither stepped forward to reject the other, the engagement wouldn't break, and even if it did, Deculein's falsehoods wouldn't be exposed.
Thus, Julie believed Deculein had to correct himself.
Yet today, with actions firmer than anything, he shattered their promise and rejected her.
Then now, she had to say it herself.
The end of this wretched engagement.
...Inevitably, the end of their relationship approached.
"Are you alright?"
From behind her, her adjutant, standing like a shadow, spoke lowly.
The man with jet-black hair hanging heavily—Veron.
Without turning, Julie shook her head.
"I'm fine. The lecture time is soon. Let's go."
She walked. Behind her slender back, numerous knights followed.
The direct bloodline of the Phairden house, called the pinnacle of knighthood and a holy ground. Julie, hailed as a role model for young knights, had a lecture scheduled today.
Unlike Deculein's mere words, it was a 'real lecture' where she demonstrated personally, clashing swords...
...Among the knights following her, one stopped abruptly. Through his long, dangling black hair, his red eyes flashed.
That gaze slowly turned back, glaring at the departing Deculein. Cold, contained killing intent stretched toward the bastard's nape.
...Julie's knight, Veron, thought.
Today, he had found the answer to the endless anguish and torment he couldn't resolve.
It was judgment in his hands, for his lord.
Something only he could do.
...Kill him.
That wretched, filthy man.
By severing his neck and dismembering him.
To make my lord happy...
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the campus cafeteria, Ifrin poked at her innocent omelet rice and sighed.
"...Sigh."
Truth be told, she had tried to screw Deculein over at the lecture hall.
His boasted 'formula interpretation ability' was pure hype, originally his father's talent, so asking him to interpret a new formula without tricks would fluster him for sure.
Of course, there was the risk of getting on Deculein's bad side... but she backfired instead.
Who knew not giving her name would make him call her a rude idiot. Tough opponent indeed.
"I thought I was gonna die of embarrassment..."
The snickers and bursts of laughter still rang fresh in her ears, but there was some gain.
"Pfft. Talking about illusion series like that."
Ifrin smirked.
He must've panicked from lack of experience, right?
Illusion magic? Why illusion of all things, just spouting nonsense.
Illusion magic is a notoriously difficult series. To deceive human perception and senses, it requires an insane amount of mana—terrible cost-performance. That's why most illusion spells need a 'medium.'
But an illusion without a medium?
"What a moron, proving he's a moron."
She muttered smugly when—
"Ifrin! Ifrin!"
A loud voice and footsteps approached calling her. She looked over.
Classmates from last week's freshman mage OT.
"We figured it out thanks to you!"
"...Huh? Figured what out? What's that about?"
Ifrin just blinked. A classmate slapped her shoulder and shouted.
"The magic formula at the dorm gate last night!"
Last night, an unidentified formula etched in red slime at the mage dorm gate.
No records in academia, so initially panic about 'demon work—', but now freshmen were scrambling 'to interpret it for credits—'. Competition by series even.
"...What? I didn't do anything?"
"Come on, you did. You asked Professor Deculein."
"...Huh?"
Ifrin was baffled.
I was trying to screw him, not ask? What the hell?
"Whoa, jackpot. We were too scared to ask that professor. You're gutsy."
"Wait, no, hold on. That magic... was really a barrier?"
Ifrin was flustered.
Does that mean Deculein was right?
"Yeah. Assumed it was a barrier and reconstructed the formula—perfect match. Wow~ Isn't Professor Deculein something? How'd he nail illusion without a medium."
Ifrin's jaw slowly dropped, nearly hitting the table. Only gasping breaths escaped her wide-open mouth.
"Thanks, Ifrin. We're submitting a report—putting your name on it too."
"Uh? No need... but yeah, sure. Put it on."
"Okay!"
They grinned and shuffled off.
Ifrin stared blankly at their backs.
Nice people. Could've kept quiet but shared the credit...
But the situation itself wasn't nice.
Just boosted Deculein's rep for nothing.
"L-Lucky guess? Pointed and hit?"
Denying reality, Ifrin pulled a paper from her backpack.
A lecture syllabus from the tower, soon to start classes, by a certain professor.
Imperial University Tower Lecture Syllabus
Understanding Elemental Attribute Magic
Grade: Advanced (5 credits)
Instructor:Deculein von Grahan Yukline
"...".
Deculein's class.
Not her element, but no reason not to take it. Elements are the foundation of all magic anyway, and as the saying goes, 'know thyself, know your enemy, a hundred battles, no danger.'
"Just you wait..."
Ifrin growled at the syllabus.