Chapter 71 (1/2)

The counseling room was silent. Sylvia seemed to be crying but made no sound, and I just watched.

Her teacup was left untouched, and the ice inside it had melted. The angle of the sunlight streaming in from the window gradually slanted.

“I don’t like people who cry.”

“I’m not crying.”

At that moment, Sylvia raised her head. Her eyes were moist, but as she said, she didn’t cry.

“Your compliment moved me.”

“…”

“Professor Deculein is famous for not praising anyone.”

There was no change in her voice while making such excuses. I pulled out a handkerchief.

“But I was praised.”

“Wipe it.”

“….”

She grabbed the handkerchief with both her hands. Her eyes were as clear as jewels that glistened in the water.

Soon after that, our 20 minutes of consultation time was over.

“I’ll go now.”

She glanced at the clock and stood up.

She folded the handkerchief and put it in her pocket, and after greeting me politely, she left the counseling room.

Watching her small back, I said, “Take today’s advice into consideration.”

Sylvia stood tall.

She turned around, nodded her head, and left.

─Goodbye~

Allen’s voice came from outside. The office door opened and closed.

“… Is she underestimating herself?”

Sylvia was a self-luminous wizard.

She was enough of a genius to be qualified for a full-time professor position within the year, so it was clearly a waste of time for her to spend time under another professor. Be it me or any other professor in the world.

Epherene was different, however. Since she fits perfectly with the magic I studied, she could grow further under me.

“Professor!”

Just in time, Allen poked his head out of the door of the consulting room.

“Debutante Epherene will be coming in 10 minutes! Take a break for now!”

*

Epherene was always in a blue robe that symbolized her debutante rank and had on a large backpack she bought for 30 Elnes.

For her, the most important criterion in any situation was cost-effectiveness, and from a distance, she looked like she was carrying a large brick, but it was so heavy today that she wobbled with every step she walked.

A cat doll that hung under her bag tickled the robe’s back.

“Gosh, my shoulder…”

When she got to the elevator, she laid it down on the floor to rest her body for a bit.

Ding—

However, the elevator quickly reached the first floor, and what she stumbled upon while picking up her bag startled her.

Sylvia was there.

There was nothing strange since she was a debutante too, but the problem was the atmosphere.

“…”

Sylvia stared intently at her, her depressing anger piercing through her. Her narrowed gaze seemed to be screaming, ‘how dare you?’

Epherene hesitated. “What? What’s wrong with you this time?”

“…”

Although she was waiting for ‘that line’ inside.

“Nepotism.”

Sylvia grumbled as she passed by.

“… That’s bothersome. What’s with ‘nepotism’ now?”

‘If you’re going to say something, say it right. Otherwise, you’re just leaving a bad feeling for the both of us.’

Epherene’s fortune this week wasn’t great at all, but why was she acting like that?

‘Should I try a new tarot shop?’

Pressing the button to the 77th floor, Epherene looked in the mirror and said, “Arrogant Epherene,” to relieve her discomfort.

Ding—

She arrived at Deculein’s office.

“Debutante Epherene. Come on in~”

“Yeah.”

She followed Assistant Professor Allen into the counseling room.

“…?”

However, Head Professor Deculein was standing upright as if meditating with his eyes closed. Epherene just stared at him blankly.

He was too far and seemingly covered in a thorny aura for her to wake him up.

“Professor! Debutante Epherene is here.”

The assistant professor’s words made him open his eyes.

Deculein looked up at Epherene and gestured.

“Sit down.”

“Okay.”

Epherene opened her backpack as soon as she sat down, then she spoke bravely. “I know today’s career counseling, but I would like to inquire about the Solda promotion exam.”

“Solda.”

“Yes.”

She pulled out a bunch of papers from inside her bag. She, like Sylvia, made several preparations to take the Solda exam as soon as the first semester was over.

“These are the documents that prove that I have participated diligently in the departments’ classes.”

In fact, this was already her eighth attempt.

She initially went to the young professors, but their letters of recommendation were of little effect, and tenured professors like Relin despised her.

She only heard hurtful words and was kicked out.

“Here, my club also revealed the foreshadowing of the attack on the ‘Baron of the Ashes,’ along

Deculein looked at her indifferently.

Epherene was as energetic as a child in an oratory contest. Since her opponent was more difficult to deal with than any other professor, she thrilled herself up as her own way of getting rid of her anxiety and tension.

“My grades are all A+ based on the midterm exam, but if I keep it until the end of the final exam…” As she spoke, she constantly pulled out papers. The materials prepared by Epherene piled up on his desk one by one, forming a mountain.

“Also, in the tower—”

“Enough.” Deculein, who had been listening quietly, interrupted her.

Epherene sat tall in her seat.

“Take them with you.”

“…”

Epherene’s expression hardened. She bit her lower lip slightly, but she spoke again without showing it.

“I also checked all the provisions of the Solda test. If you read it—”

“I don’t need to.”

“… Ah.”

The breath that flowed from Epherene’s teeth was a bit rough.

But it wasn’t surprising. She kind of expected it.

“Yes.”

Epherene put the papers back into her backpack.

As he watched her, Deculein spoke.

“If you keep your grades this high throughout the final exams, you’ll be given the Solda qualification.”

“… What?”

Epherene’s eyes widened. Her face looked as innocent as a child’s.

“If you’re in third overall place, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t give you a professor recommendation.”

The meaning of those words was clear.

‘If you do well at the finals, I’ll be the one recommending you to take the Solda exam myself.’

“Oh, okay. Thank you. I’ll try my best.”

Epherene scratched the back of her neck.

“…If I pass the exam, I’ll apply under you.” Perhaps out of embarrassment, those words then poured out of her lips.

Deculein answered indifferently. “I won’t stop you. The suffering is yours to take.”

“Got it.” Epherene smiled inwardly.

‘You’d be getting a tiger cub. Will you be able to stay calm like that in a year or two? I will soon overtake you…’

Epherene recognized Deculein as a ‘genius of hard work’ that day on the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth, but her defiant demeanor was still there.

“Then, I’ll be going.”

As she was about to leave…

“Wait.”

Her whole body stiffened at his words, feeling the pressure brought forth by Deculein’s natural characteristics.

At times like this, she often wondered if he found out what she was thinking or if she had done something wrong.

“You haven’t used the check yet.”

“…”

Startled, she creaked her head over her shoulder and asked, “If I don’t use it, will you take it away?”

“No. It wasn’t something I gave. It was a reward I gave on behalf of the tower.”

“Oh… Actually, I don’t have something I want yet, so I want to use it when I really need it in the future. Like insurance.”

Deculein nodded silently. Meaning she was free to leave, and Epherene left the counselor’s office after her hesitant nod.

“Take care, debutante Epherene~”

“Ah yes. You too, assistant professor.” She said goodbye to Allen, exited the room, and closed the office door behind her.

After that, she leaned against the wall for a moment, letting out a deep sigh.

“Sigh… It’s really weird.”

The air in Deculein’s vicinity itself felt different.

Just by being in his presence, a unique pressure seemed to weigh down on her shoulders. One minute with him felt like 10 minutes, and the mental and physical fatigue she gained was just in an entirely different league.

Even now, her heart refused to stop beating so profusely.

“I don’t even know what he’s thinking.”

He obviously extorted her father’s achievements, and he committed suicide as a disgraced wizard with the title, ’30-year-old Solda.’

During their retreat at Hadekain, she asked the culprit about it directly, but Deculein neither confirmed nor denied anything.

It would’ve been cool if he had firmly denied it.

“Is it all up to me?”

Still, Deculein, at least in this tower, was the most indifferent professor when it came to her identity.

He was fair even to her despite declaring that she would reveal everything.

“Let’s just study…”

Epherene put the brick bag back on and walked.

* * *

… Leaders, politicians, and entrepreneurs from different countries on the continent often said that there were no dreams in the Ashes. No hope. No life. All that remained in there were ashes.

Arlos knew that was bullshit.

There was life in the Ashes. There was hope. It wasn’t a good environment to raise children, but there were kids there anyway.

But that didn’t mean she had any fondness for it.

She had huge ambitions. However, success was a story of a distant dimension for an orphan from a remote kingdom like her. That was a barrier that Arlos knew she couldn’t overcome, so she chose the next best option she had: the Ashes.

Since she was the continent’s unofficial top puppeteer, she managed to scatter her puppets all over the empire.

Her dolls were connected to her soul and acted as a living person, but none of them resembled Arlos’s actual appearance.

Modeling them after her would only bring unnecessary complications.

Her beauty would only cause insignificant flies to tangle up with her plans, after all.

“Welcome.”

However, today, Arlos visited the [Black Kline Hotel] in the flesh after so long.

The Black Kline was a recently built prime-class hotel. Its accommodation was one of the most expensive out there, but it was more than satisfying to Arlos, who had many errors in her daily life.

“I made a reservation.”