Episode 126. Living Together (1)

“So….”

Professor Lucas’s office.

In the heavy atmosphere, Professor Lucas, who had been quietly listening with his chin resting on the table, slowly opened his mouth.

“During your recent external schedule with Professor Elisha, a magical tool you coincidentally acquired suddenly malfunctioned and exploded?”

“…….”

“Is this guy telling the truth, senior?”

Professor Lucas’s gaze turned to Professor Elisha, who was sitting next to me.

Professor Elisha extinguished the cigarette she was holding in the ashtray and nodded.

“Yes. I confirmed it myself.”

“Hmm….”

Professor Lucas narrowed his eyes with a suspicious expression.

But only for a moment.

Receiving Professor Elisha’s gaze that said, ‘What, you have a problem with that?’, Professor Lucas let out a deep sigh.

“Candidate Dale.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Bringing unauthorized magical tools from outside is a clear violation of school rules. Are you aware of that?”

“I am aware….”

“Wait.”

Professor Elisha interrupted me.

“I instructed Candidate Dale to bring the magical tool. So this is my responsibility….”

“Senior.”

Professor Lucas continued in a low voice.

“I understand your intention to defend Candidate Dale, but if you are involved in this matter, the problem becomes even more serious.”

A candidate smuggling unauthorized magical tools versus a professor smuggling them.

There was no need to compare which would cause a bigger scandal.

I shook my head at Professor Elisha and spoke up.

“Professor Elisha has nothing to do with this. Smuggling the magical tool into the school was entirely my decision.”

“…Candidate Dale.”

In fact, just attributing this incident to the ‘magical tool’ was already more than enough defense for her.

“Sigh.”

Professor Lucas let out a deep sigh and held his forehead.

“Candidate Dale.”

“Yes.”

“This is a case where you could really be expelled without any room for argument.”

“…….”

At the word ‘expulsion’ from Professor Lucas, my shoulders twitched.

“However.”

Professor Lucas picked up a few documents on the table and continued.

“First, there were no casualties.”

Looking at the documents in his hand, Professor Lucas continued.

“And Candidate Dale actively acted to extinguish the fire after it broke out.”

Of course, it was Senior Sophia’s magic that actually put out the fire, but it was true that I had tried to use water magic to extinguish it before that.

“Finally, after reviewing the petitions written by the candidates and holding an internal meeting with the professors, we decided not to expel you.”

“…Petitions?”

“Yes.”

Professor Lucas waved the documents in his hand.

“Candidate Iris, Candidate Yuren, Candidate Berald, Camila, Juliet, and Candidate Albert all wrote petitions for you.”

“…….”

“The Saint of the Holy Kingdom, the descendant of the Sun’s Sword, the bloodline of the Ryu family, the next sword of the Holy Kingdom, the young master of one of the Republic’s wealthiest families, and the son of the ‘Hoover’ family, which operates the largest information guild in the Empire… No, when I list it out like this, it’s really crazy. When did you become so well-connected?”

Professor Lucas looked at me with a bewildered expression, holding the documents.

‘They all wrote petitions for me as soon as they heard the news.’

I felt a deep sense of gratitude welling up in my chest and clenched my fists.

Anyway.

This way, the worst-case scenario was avoided.

“Ah, and one more.”

Professor Lucas pulled out one document and handed it to me.

“Candidate Sophia Evergreen also wrote a petition for you.”

“…Senior Sophia?”

I made a surprised expression at the unexpected name.

On the day of the incident, Senior Sophia, who had glared at me with cold eyes and said, ‘This is your doing, right?’, had actually written a petition for me.

“Yes. By the way, Dale, when did you get so close to the ‘Red Calamity’?”

“…Red Calamity?”

“Candidate Sophia Evergreen.”

“…….”

Wait, Senior Sophia’s nickname during her candidate days was Red Calamity?

“Candidate Sophia is known for being cold to other candidates… Anyway, you’re quite something.”

Professor Lucas shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“…Ahem.”

I swallowed hard, holding the petition Senior Sophia had written.

If it were my past life, maybe.

But now, we weren’t close enough for her to write something like this for me.

‘Far from being close, she used to tell me to get lost as soon as she saw me.’

I continued to ponder why she wrote the petition, but no answer came.

“Well, anyway. For those reasons, your punishment has been decided as a one-week ‘suspension’ until the summer vacation.”

“…Does that even mean anything?”

Since it’s the final evaluation period, there are no classes anyway, so what difference does it make to be suspended?

“Hmm. Well… Does it really mean nothing?”

Professor Lucas trailed off with a meaningful expression.

Wondering why he made that expression, I soon moved on to another topic.

“By the way, were any candidates injured this time?”

“Oh? So you’re worried after all?”

“It’s my fault, after all.”

Regardless of the reason.

I couldn’t deny that I was the cause of this fire incident.

“Well, fortunately, no candidates were injured. Though some candidates lost their belongings in the fire.”

“Can I personally compensate those candidates?”

“That’s up to you… But the school has already provided compensation funds.”

“I still want to compensate them as much as possible. And of course, I’ll apologize in person.”

It was my fault, and I didn’t want to just let it slide without any apology.

Professor Lucas looked at me with interest and crossed his arms.

“But do you have the gold to compensate them?”

“Well… That should be fine.”

I did manage to salvage some byproducts from the Behemoth’s corpse this time.

Of course, since it was so badly crushed that its shape was barely recognizable, there wasn’t a single intact horn, hide, or tooth.

But still, it was a byproduct from a twelfth-grade monster.

If sold through Professor Elisha, I could make quite a bit of money.

‘If only a magic stone had come from the Behemoth, I could have made even more.’

What can you do?

Magic stones aren’t something you can easily obtain.

Especially from higher-grade monsters.

‘Ah, and I should also repay the money I borrowed from Juliet this time.’

Although I treated her a bit harshly due to memories of being bullied and mocked as a ‘doormat’ by Juliet in my past life.

But the Juliet of my past life and the current Juliet are almost like different people.

‘People change, so I can’t treat her the same as before.’

Of course, Juliet herself asked me to treat her as usual, but I couldn’t bring myself to be as harsh as before.

‘I thought Yuren was the only one I could call a friend in my life.’

I swallowed a bitter laugh and shook my head.

“By the way, have you found a place to stay?”

“A place to stay?”

“Yes. Summer vacation is in a week, but you can’t sleep on the streets until then.”

“Ah.”

I hadn’t thought about accommodation after causing such a big incident.

“Other candidates have been provided temporary accommodations by the school… But if you go there, the atmosphere might be a bit…”

“…I see.”

If the person who burned down the dormitory entered the temporary accommodations, I would definitely receive sharp glares from all sides.

“Ahem. Then there’s no other way.”

Professor Elisha, who had been quietly listening next to me, cleared her throat and glanced at me.

“I’ll take care of Candidate Dale for a while….”

“Professor dormitories are off-limits to candidates, senior.”

“Tch.”

Professor Elisha clicked her tongue and bit into a cigarette.

Professor Lucas seemed to have a good idea and snapped his fingers.

“Ah, by the way, you’re close with Candidate Yuren, right?”

“Huh?”

“How about staying with Candidate Yuren for a week? Dormitory Building A has spacious rooms.”

“…….”

Live with Yuren for a week?

“Uh… That’s….”

“You’re both guys, so what’s the problem?”

“No… It’s just that….”

We’re not both guys.

I forced down the words that were about to spill out and frantically racked my brain.

“Ahem. Yuren is a noble’s son, right? So he doesn’t really like being around others.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When we went on a ruin exploration before, he slept alone in a personal tent.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Lucas, who had been nodding with his arms crossed, turned on his Hero Watch.

“Well, I’ll ask him directly.”

“Go ahead.”

Yuren… No, Yurina would definitely politely refuse.

‘Even if it’s just a week, it’s still living together in the same room.’

Even if it’s just a week, living together is still living together.

From sleeping to showering and using the bathroom, there were too many potential issues.

“Ah, Candidate Yuren? It’s Professor Lucas. Actually… Ah, yes. So… Oh? I see. Alright. I’ll hang up now.”

Professor Lucas, who had finished the call with Yurina on his Hero Watch, turned to me.

“He says it’s fine.”

“Huh?”

“No, not just fine, he was practically cheering and saying he was happy about it.”

“…….”

And so.

My one-week cohabitation with Yurina was decided.