After Professor Radbisin’s “Aether Attribute Enhancement” lecture ended and I finished lunch, I attended the “Understanding and Criticism of Literature” lecture in the afternoon.
Since the protagonist of another novel had stubbornly matched his entire schedule with mine, I ended up taking that class with him, though there were no scenes worth describing.
‘Professor Radbisin said he would come up with a training method by next week, but he also mentioned that he needed to study the theory of magnetic fields himself.’
For that reason, Reysir headed to the library alone, even though there was a fair amount of spare time between lunch and the start of the lecture, and after the afternoon lecture before dinner. Instead of pestering me to play or suggesting we train together, he went to study.
I asked him to return Hoe-ak-bang on my behalf…
‘This means that my organization of the foreshadowing and settings, as well as Yor’s transcription work, were all finished as of yesterday!’
During the time I secured before and after dinner, I trained alone in the Private Training Hall.
Around 10:00 PM, I returned to my room, washed up, and set a goal to write one chapter’s worth of a webnovel before going to sleep.
However, there were three problems with this plan.
First, since I was using a mechanical typewriter instead of a word processor on a computer, I couldn’t know the exact character count. Fortunately, this issue was resolved more easily than expected because the paper sizes in this novel’s world were the same as in reality.
‘When I used to write one chapter, the amount displayed on the word processor screen was about seven or eight pages. So, writing roughly six pages should do it.’
Second, I used to rely heavily on websites that allowed for dictionary searches when writing—to find confusing words, synonyms, or antonyms. But here, there was no such thing as an electronic dictionary, let alone a website.
I worried that I would have to spend time flipping through a paper dictionary, but there was no need for that. My baby dragon was a genius.
‘Every time I asked a question, he would write the word I needed on the whiteboard and show it to me.’
Finally, the third problem was the real issue.
Even with the [Character Analysis] skill, which included the Mental Acceleration effect, I thought I could write a chapter if I concentrated for about two hours, but I wasn’t even close.
The skill activated when I contemplated a character’s actions, but it didn’t help when I was devising the development of the plot. Moreover, because I hadn’t written for the past six months and hadn’t consumed any new content, my skills had dropped significantly.
‘But the dawn lecture starts at 5:00 AM, which means I have to wake up at 4:00 AM to perform my morning routine, right?’
If I reduced my sleep to less than four hours, my body wouldn’t be able to handle it. In the end, from the very first day of restarting the writing of Hoe-ak-bang, I had to go to bed without finishing the intended amount.
After waking up at dawn and finishing my preparations to go out, I stayed at my desk to try and write even a little bit more. Because of that, I arrived at the Small Lecture Hall just as the clock struck the hour…
“You’re a bit late today. I thought you’d come early to warm up like yesterday.”
Reysir spoke with a hint of disappointment. I could understand his feelings completely.
‘Princess Fjodra must have arrived early today as well.’
He already found her uncomfortable, and after the “energy bar incident” in chapter 190, he must have felt even more awkward. I wondered if the two of them had spent a suffocatingly awkward time together before the other students arrived.
Perhaps, in the meantime, Fjodra had clumsily tried to build a rapport and ended up stacking more dislike points.
‘All that effort I put into trying to peel away the prejudice against her in chapter 176 was for nothing…!’
To prevent the relationship between the two from spiraling to the worst, it seemed I should just come out early tomorrow.
I reached that conclusion and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“Isn’t today’s dawn lecture Basic Physical Training? Warming up should be included in the lecture time anyway, so there’s no need to come out early.”
“Ah, that’s true. Then I’ll only come early on days when a Martial Arts Lecture is scheduled.”
Fortunately, instead of suspiciously prying to see if I was hiding something, Reysir took my words at face value.
For a moment, the question ‘How did I end up considering this a relief?’ crossed my mind, but I decided to let it go.
“More importantly, are you not giving it to me today?”
“What?”
“The energy bar you gave me yesterday.”
When I held out my palm and made the demand, Reysir’s expression shifted into a shape that was hard to define. He looked troubled yet happy, and at a glance, he even seemed a bit bashful.
“Are you sure…? It’s just a cheap one from the store…”
“I’m sure I told you that you don’t need to worry about that. Not only did it not taste bad to me… but having taken the Basic Physical Training lecture last semester, I know this isn’t the kind of training intensity you can endure on an empty stomach.”
What I was doing right now was practically no different from extortion. I was acting as if I had left the energy bar in his care with such an arrogant attitude.
Yet, the other person replied with a thick-looking expression.
“……Thank you.”
“Isn’t it a bit strange to say thank you while giving away your own things?”
“No, it’s not strange at all.”
Reysir spoke with a very firm attitude and watched me bite into the energy bar with a satisfied gaze.
And then, there were those who approached him…
“Reysir? Why didn’t you give me one if you had something like that?”
“You two ate alone again?! I know how to eat energy bars too. This is clearly discrimination…!”
“If you have an extra, could I have one as well? Ah! I don’t mean for free; I’ll pay you back later.”
Hailga, Liolikin, and Vigdis all held out their palms to Reysir.
Then, Reysir gave an awkward laugh and placed an energy bar in each of their hands.
“Sorry. It just… slipped my mind. I bought them to share with you all anyway, so you don’t have to pay.”
“Isn’t this the kind of thing that’s hard to forget?”
“Hahaha… If the freshmen want some too, feel free to come and get one. That goes for Lady Risi as well.”
Exposing Fjodra’s misdeeds in her presence was out of the question. Reysir didn’t answer the question his childhood friend posed, instead dodging the topic with awkward laughter.
Hailga looked even more suspicious at Reysir’s behavior but couldn’t press him further. The professor arrived as soon as the freshmen and Risi received their energy bars from Reysir.
“Nice to meet you, Awakened Special Class. This is our second meeting. However, since there are students who are seeing me for the first time, I will briefly introduce myself again. I am Banahilda Baezr, and I possess the [Super Regeneration] ability.”
At Banahilda’s appearance, I… no, all of us felt a sense of doubt. According to the contents written in the syllabus, she wasn’t the one supposed to lead the Basic Physical Training lecture.
It was definitely supposed to be handled by the professor who was in charge of that class last semester.
Since his Aether Core had been damaged in an unfortunate accident when he was young, he couldn’t be held responsible for not stepping forward when monsters appeared. And while he hadn’t faced blatant criticism like Skadi, he had been subtly ignored and marginalized by the combat-oriented professors, leading to the conclusion that he was innocent in the workplace bullying matter.
‘So, I thought this person was also a character designed by Senna, like Professor Radbisin. I assumed he was someone who couldn’t be used in the pre-remake version because the original protagonist dropped out…’
Was he just a background character with a tragic past? Or did the original author think about using him this time, only to change their mind halfway?
While I couldn’t find the answer to those questions, Banahilda provided the justification within this world.
“Originally, another professor was supposed to be in charge of the Basic Physical Training hours, but there’s nothing better than a Martial Arts Lecture for safely experiencing a duel, right? So, the opinion was raised that it would be better for those who are new to Martial Arts this semester to spend thirty minutes of the time allocated for Basic Physical Training to learn the basic movements of Martial Arts. As a result, I have become responsible for all of your dawn training.”
This was a statement where one couldn’t help but feel the original author’s greed to push the protagonist into the Demonic Realm as quickly as possible.
‘By the way, an opinion was raised…’
Perhaps the original author used that expression without much thought. However, in the world within this novel, it couldn’t be dismissed as “just anything.”
Banahilda’s statement becomes something based on an actual event. If she had brought it up herself, she wouldn’t have expressed it as “an opinion was raised.”
The only classes for the Awakened Special Class we have taken so far are Martial Arts and the understanding of Aether attributes—just those two. And Professor Radbisin, who is in charge of the latter, is a novice when it comes to combat.
‘If I think about it through the process of elimination, the only person who could have voiced an opinion is Fjodra…?’
While I was coming up with such a bleak deduction in my head, a rather heartwarming scene unfolded before my eyes.
“That aside, what is everyone eating?”
“It’s an energy bar. Would you like one, Professor?”
“……Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
With a deeply moved expression, Banahilda accepted the energy bar Reysir handed her with both hands, as if it were something precious.
Judging by her past settings, I wondered if she was remembering her own child, who had died just as they were starting to walk, handing her a snack with tiny, fern-like hands.
‘But if you don’t know that story, doesn’t she just look like a strange person…?’
Sure enough, Reysir’s expression was colored with awkwardness, and the other students were also showing expressions that hinted at a bizarre impression.
Only two people reacted differently.
Princess Fjodra, who naturally knew about Banahilda’s family history as an official of the Academy, was looking at the professor with a pitying gaze.
And Pret, whose hobby and specialty was information gathering, locked eyes with me while observing the students’ reactions.
‘Well, since I’m a member of a Dukedom, it wouldn’t be strange if I seemed to know Banahilda’s story!’
Pret let out a silent “Oh!” of admiration with his expression and mouth shape, and I needlessly frowned and turned my head away.
It was then that Fjodra gathered her emotions and spoke to the original protagonist.
“It is unacceptable to leave a common student to handle supplies at his own expense. From tomorrow, a patissier hired by this lady will begin work and provide energy bars, so you no longer need to buy them from the store.”
I won’t bother describing how Reysir’s expression changed upon hearing that statement. If you are my readers, you should be able to predict it well enough.
Still, I will at least describe that a look of flustered confusion appeared on Fjodra’s face.
“……Ah! Make sure to charge the costs you spent on purchasing the energy bars to this lady.”
“No, that’s fine. I didn’t ‘supply’ rations; I just bought snacks to share with my classmates.”
“Uuum, if you say so…………”
Fjodra probably said those things in an attempt to soothe the other person, who had suddenly become upset.
But since Reysir had locked the latch on his heart even more tightly with his polite tone, a look of dejection flickered across Fjodra’s face.
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