CHAPTER 22 – GROUP PROJECT (1)

July 3, 2022 — 1 Comment

For Stella Academy’s high school students, it was mandatory to complete several hours of voluntary service.

There were some typical ways to fill this volunteer time, such as helping daily at the magic post office or street cleaning, but many students did not like them. 

That was probably because it was much more comfortable and helpful to their career to join a ‘club’ as a volunteer activity.

For the aristocrats, the main purpose of the clubs was ‘social gatherings’, and for the common people, ‘service hours’ became the main purpose.

The ‘Skalben Club’, where the nobles of the Skalben Empire gathered, could be considered one focused on social gatherings.

This club, one of Stella’s most elite, was customarily headed by the highest-ranking student regardless of age, so it was no wonder the club leadership was handed over to Prince Jeremy Skalben, even though he was a freshman.

Verazane Eisel, a second-year girl who once served as the club’s head, waited politely, bowing down to Crown Prince Jeremy.

Behind her were fifty students in the same position.

A boy was sitting on an expensive sofa, worth tens of millions of credits, in the middle of a space of about 100 pyeong, which made one wonder if it was just a club room used by students. 

Jeremy Skalben.

He stared blankly at the five-colored chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Just looking at Jeremy’s smiling side profile had the effect of making her heart warm and peaceful.

“It’s cheap.”

But the words that came out of his mouth didn’t allow her heart to warm.

“Sorry. We will change it soon.”

“Yes, thank you. Please.”

Jeremy’s smile turned the girls’ cheeks bright red, but Verazane was sweating profusely.

‘…Not good.’

Verazane knelt in front of Jeremy, staring at the boy trembling before the prince.

That boy, Morso Dorden, was the heir to the well-known Dorden family, but in this place he was a nobody. If she had to compare him to anything, it would be the dust in the corner.

“Raise your head. I don’t understand.  Why are you so terrified?”

Morso slowly raised his head in response to the Crown Prince’s words. Jeremy maintained his cheerful demeanor.

“Yes, yes…”

“Yes. I’d like to hear your justifications, so could you explain it to me?”

In response, Verazane hurried out. “That’s, actually……” 

“Verazane?”

“…yes?”

“I don’t think I ever asked you to explain. Why are you speaking?”

“Sor, sorry!”

She clenched her lips and stepped back. She then said a prayer to herself.

‘Please don’t let that stupid Morso talk nonsense!’

Whether or not he was aware of Verazane’s inner feelings, what came out of Morso’s mouth was gibberish.

The story was brief. It wasn’t much of a story. However, it was enough to chill the hall.

In fact, he wasn’t in good shape. If he did it again, he would get it right. He was distracted.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.

Jeremy, who had been smiling while holding his chin, opened his mouth.

“So, in conclusion, you were defeated in a practice match by a half-mage who can’t even use defensive skills? And to make it worse, he’s a student who uses a vulgar weapon called ‘sword’.”

“It was not a match. It was a mock exercise…”

Oops. The moment an excuse came out of Morso’s mouth, Verazane closed her eyes tightly.

Crack!!

Immediately after, a sound similar to something breaking rang out in the middle of the club room.

‘Uh…?’

For a brief moment, Morso had the impression that the world had vanished. He couldn’t understand the situation for a long time. Then, somehow, he confirmed that all of the other students, except for himself, were stuck on the walls.

‘I fell, right? But when?’

As he rolled his eyeballs, Jeremy, who was close to him, pushed his head against the floor.

“Why?”

Jeremy asked. Morso couldn’t understand the meaning of those words.

Drrrrrrrrrrr!! The sound of something breaking tickled his ears. Actually, the ears were tickled. No, it hurt. Terribly.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Belatedly, Morso realized that his cheek was being ripped against the wall.

“Why?” <T/N: He really sounds like a psychopath>

Tuwoong!! Jeremy grabbed Morso by the hair and smashed him into an iron locker.

“Why?” once. – twice. Three, five, ten times, blood dripped from his head, but Morso could not pass out. 

“Why did you lose?”

He wanted to answer. He was wrong, he was sorry, he couldn’t. Jeremy opened the locker door, slammed his head there, and slammed the door shut.

“Why did you do that? Why do you embarrass me by using the name Skalben? Do you hate me?”

Bang! 

Bang! 

Bang!

Blood splattered and his eyes were swollen, but he didn’t die since he was a wizard.

“I’ve been so nice to you. You’re my loyal subject. Right?”

“Ugh… Ugh…”

“Yes? What?”

As Morso struggled to open his mouth, Jeremy brought his ear closer. 

“Sor… Sorr…”

“Yes. Keep talking.”

“M… mom, save my life… save…”

“No. That’s not it.”

Jeremy gave him a look of incomprehension.

“You are my loyal subject. If you are a true loyalist, shouldn’t you be willing put your life on the line before risking the sin of humiliating your master? That’s how I learned it. So why don’t you?”

Then, he stopped.

Jeremy stopped the rough handling. Then he suddenly knelt down and hugged Morso.

“Sorry. I was too harsh. It’s my fault.”

“Ah… uh…”

“I’m sorry I hurt you. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Morso’s tears, runny nose, and blood soaked his clothes but Jeremy didn’t even care and patted him on the back.

“You are not a loyal subject. You are my ‘friend’. I shouldn’t have done that…”

At those words, Morso opened his eyes in the midst of terrible pain.

Friend. It was a word that should never come out of Prince Jeremy’s mouth. That fact was known to everyone present, so he had no choice but to lower his gaze with a complex face.

Not a loyal subject, but a friend.

That meant that the Dorden family was expelled from the politics of Skalben for good.

‘Just like this?’ The question may arise. But such a question was meaningless.

The royal family of Skalben often enslaved the chef’s family and then expelled them because the breakfast menu was not tasty.

“Ah, ah, ah… ah…!”

“It must hurt a lot. What about… Verazane? You are sweet, take good care of my friend. If anything goes wrong, my heart will hurt a lot.”

” …Yes. All right.”

“Please.”

Jeremy carefully laid Morso down on the floor. Some were creeped out to see how the prince delicately touched Morso as if he were handling a jewel, but they did not show it.

Verazane supported Morso and helped him stand upright. If a healing wizard’s magic was used, he would recover quickly, but…

‘…the Dorden family is done for.’ That fact made her confused. Verazane glanced at Prince Jeremy. What is he thinking now?

Anger against Morso? No, he must have already forgotten that.

Rather, he must be thinking of a particularly prominent commoner called Baek Yu-seol.

Verazane felt sorry for that guy. Despite hearing rumors about this commoner’s talent, it was safe to say that the life of this wizard who piqued Jeremy’s interest was over.

After the demonstration of Baek Yu-seol’s defense technique, two rumors spread throughout the school.

The first, of course, was a rumor about Baek Yu-seol’s ‘knighthood’.

“What kind of knighthood is he pursuing in a magic school? Isn’t he just an attention seeker?” 

“Anyway, he’s really unique.”

And the second was a rumor about the ‘radiance’ attribute of Fuleim.

“Did you hear? She uses the radiance attribute that only the wizards of the Holy Church of the Holy Kingdom, chosen by the angels, could use.”

“Did she say that she was born with it, not acquired it?”

“Then you’re saying she’s an angel?”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t have wings.”

Fuleim was born with attributes that normal humans cannot use and attracted a lot of attention within the magic academy.

As she received the attention, she neither liked nor disliked it. But the rumor about Baek Yu-seol bothered her right now.

‘Oh, what the hell is he?’

The matter made her really restless. However, there was no way to find out his identity.

‘Anyway, I’m sure he’s someone who knows the original.’

If so, what was his purpose?

“Come on, focus!”

Fuleim raised her head. Alchemy professor Maizen Tyren had just clapped to gather the students’ attention.

“Alchemy is a science that developed after combining various elements to make gold. Of course, producing synthetic gold is really complicated, so we are not trying it right now.”

Fuleim had only enrolled in the subjects most of the main characters were taking. Since alchemy was a subject that only Eisel took, she wasn’t too interested in it.

However, Professor Maizen Tyren was destined to become a ‘black demon’ later. As such, she had no choice but to take Alchemy class to prevent it or to stop him.

“The great inventions of alchemy are ‘Aishranium’, the lightest and hardest thing in the world, and ‘Mirror Elixir’, the substance that heals any wounds. You must make one potion each in practice class from today. That way, in the future, you’ll be able to make something like a mirror elixir, right?”

Alchemy practice was notorious for its complexity. It required accurate measurement that couldn’t be wrong even by 1 cubic centimeter, extreme timing that didn’t allow for even a second of error, and temperature control that couldn’t jump even by even one degree.

It wouldn’t be that difficult in the first year, but because of such arduous experiments, the unpopularity of alchemy had become notorious.

“Well, today, let’s take the time to make the ‘Tyren Fatigue Relief Potion’ that I developed. First, add a spoonful of Airel fairy’s honey to powdered green tea leaves…”

The long-awaited practice.

To be honest, it wasn’t too difficult for Fuleim. Because if you did what you were told, you’d be fine in alchemy class.

‘Ugh… this is so annoying.’

Fuleim frowned and took off her protective glasses.

Pug poo poo poo poo poo poo. She had good with dexterity and concentration, so she quickly succeeded in making the ‘Tiren Fatigue Recovery Potion’ as instructed by Maizen Tyren.

“Oh, that’s great. Well done.”

“Thank you.”

At Maizen’s praise, Fuleim forced a smile on her face.

Alterisha, an assistant who was following Maizen’s back, was curious and brought her face close to Fuleim’s potion. As she was trying to sneak a peek at the potion, Maizen yelled at her.

“Alterisha! What you are doing is dangerous! Can you still call yourself an alchemist?” 

“Sorry, sorry!”

The other students were startled and their eyes widened. A concentrating student accidentally spilled his potion and steam rose from his desk.

‘I think it’s you who’s dangerous.’

Since she couldn’t say it aloud, Fuleim swallowed it and looked around.

‘By the way, what about Baek Yu-seol?’

Baek Yoo-seol was a unique guy. The only main character in this class was Eisel, so Fuleim had been closely watching if he was trying to approach her with impure intentions, but he wasn’t.

“Uh-huh.”

As if he had forgotten Eisel’s presence, he was completely engrossed in alchemy… To be honest, Fuleim thought he was a pervert seeing how much he was enjoying it.

“Heh heh heh”

‘My, he must be a madman……’

Every time he added one medicinal herb and stirred it, he would laugh insidiously, and every time he did that, her fear arose.

‘Isn’t he just a pervert…?’

Fuleim turned her gaze away from her and looked at Eisel. She was doing just fine and it all looked normal.

Then, a question suddenly arose.

……Normal?’

The potion Eisel produced was a ‘Tyren Fatigue Recovery Potion’, similar to Fuleim’s own.

‘That shouldn’t be the case…’

Eisel, in the original work, accidentally obtained ‘Maela’s Magical Engineering Handwriting Note’ at an old bookstore.

There, strangely, the alchemy formula was written in detail, and by accident, Eisel, who followed the notes, made an anti-fatigue agent that was superior to Professor Maizen Tyren’s ‘Tyren Fatigue Relief Potion.’

However, the professor’s reaction was not good.

Maizen Tyren was jealous of Eisel’s abilities and, remembering that her family had been destroyed, tormented her, lowered her grades, and hurt her throughout the school year.

Thanks to that, Eisel suffered a lot of headaches. Thankfully, she had the male targets who looked after her, because otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to survive.

‘Why? Why did you make the potion normally…?’

Of course, that was fortunate. Because Eisel no longer had to be bullied. But there must be a reason for that variable.

Suddenly.

As a certain thought passed through her head, Fuleim checked Baek Yu-seol’s test bench and couldn’t help but be astonished.

‘What……?’

The high-grade anti-fatigue agent that, according to the original work, Eisel should have developed was in his lab.

…And then, the exact situation that she had read about in the novel unfolded.

“Baek Yu-seol, it appears that as you got into S-class you’re very arrogant. Who said you can change the materials you want to experiment with?”

“Yes? It’s better to do it this way.”

“What does it have to do with good results? What if something goes wrong because you use the wrong material? What would happen if there was an explosion and the students got involved!!”

“There’s no explosive substance here. Professor, do you know how to make explosive substances with green tea leaves? That’s awesome.”

“You even dare to reply so flippantly! Outrageous, Baek Yu-seol! That’s why commoners are, tsk…….”

As Fuleim remembered, the original last line was, ‘That’s why the family is extinct…’.

In the novel, Eisel’s heart began pounding harshly after hearing those crude words… Due to them, Eisel’s trauma was stimulated, which affected her for a long time.

In the novel, Eisel’s heart started pounding harshly after hearing those cruel words… Due to what the professor said, Eisel’s trauma was stimulated, which impacted her for a long time.

That whole matter, in a moment, completely disappeared from history.

‘No way…’

Baek Yu-seol knew this in advance, and in order to protect Eisel’s trauma… Did he deliberately get caught by Professor Maizen Tyren?

‘Nonsense. His future school life will be terribly difficult.’

It would be so painful and difficult that she couldn’t even imagine it. Professor Maizen Tyren had a lot of connections within Stella, so it would certainly impact other subjects as well.

He must have known but didn’t care.

‘…What the hell is that guy?’

Fuleim bowed her head with a disappointed face. Suddenly, during dungeon practice, Baek Yu-seol came to mind, she asked him about his identity and he joked, ‘I want to assist you’.

Thinking that might be true, Fuleim stood there, stunned.

Meanwhile,

‘Oh, I forgot.’ Baek Yu-seol was sighing inwardly.

“Why? Answer me!”

“Oh, I’m doing it.”

“What’s with your way of talking? I’ll call your parents right away!”

“I don’t have any parents.”

Alchemy was so much fun that Baek Yu-seol got too absorbed and completely forgot the troublesome development.

While acknowledging his own stupidity, the nagging went in one ear and out the other, and he continued reading the handwritten notes on the desk.

“You, you… if you keep that attitude…”

‘Oh, shall we make a Cola for Kimchi for tomorrow?’

In fact, no matter what Maizen did, it had nothing to do with Baek Yu-seol.

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