Chapter 23: Fertilizer for the Flowerbed

The thesis competition was an important gateway for commoner students at the academy, often referred to as the “stepping stone” to becoming an aide.

This meant that talented students from all over the country poured their hearts and souls into the competition. Conversely, for noble students, it was a fruitless endeavor where the best they could hope for was breaking even.

Why would noble students, whose futures were already guaranteed, bother to slave over a thesis like commoners? Moreover, even if they worked themselves to the bone, there was little chance they would surpass the far more numerous commoner students to win an award.

Yet, it was Dien who had opened the curtains on this competition. Not a seventh-year student, but a young master who had only just enrolled.

“Why go through the trouble…?”

Helena believed that Dien simply did not understand the significance of participating in the competition. She was certain he was making a foolish decision to enter just for the sake of the experience.

“I have a good topic in mind. I believe the thesis I’m writing will be of great help to the Kingdom of Delos.”

“Hmm… Your intentions are noble, Young Master, but… still…”

The Noble Academy had too much to lose for him to participate with such vague ambitions. Helena racked her brain for an excuse to stop him, but nothing came to mind. Ultimately, participation in the competition was a matter of personal freedom.

“If I could just have the forms and copies of previous winning entries, I will write and submit it on my own.”

When Helena continued to trail off, Dien spoke up again.

“By yourself? Are you not going to find teammates?”

The administrative thesis competition allowed for teams of up to three people.

“Yes. I plan to write it alone.”

However, writing it solo was not against the rules.

“Hah.”

She let out a sigh from the bottom of her heart. He was only saying this because he viewed the competition so lightly.

“There is no specific format. The copies of previous winning entries are in the drawer, so I will get them for you…”

Eventually, she gave up on trying to persuade him.

Looking at that firm, upright expression of his, it seemed that only someone like Headmaster Hasman, rather than herself, would be able to convince him otherwise.

Dien soon received the copies of the previous winners.

‘At this level… winning shouldn’t be a problem.’

Dien quickly scanned the papers. They were certainly excellent papers, but they didn’t stir any deep admiration.

To be honest, compared to the thesis Dien had envisioned, the level of the academy students’ work was far inferior. It was only natural. How could academy students compete with the contract laws of his previous life, which had been designed by dozens of experts and revised dozens of times?

In Dien’s view, there was not even a shred of a possibility that his thesis would lower the prestige of the Noble Academy or bring shame to the nobility.

“Thank you.”

As Dien stood up with a light bow, Helena hurriedly called out to stop him.

“Young Master! Just in case, I wanted to say…”

But Dien cut her off, as if he already knew what she was going to say.

“Professor, please do not worry. I will not resort to plagiarism.”

“!”

Struck by Dien’s blunt words, Helena quickly shut her mouth.

“Thank you. Well then…”

Helena could only stare blankly at Dien as he departed.

After he left the laboratory, Helena bit her nails and fell into deep thought before finally coming to a decision.

“I can’t let this slide…”

Headmaster Hasman valued the prestige of the Noble Academy more than anyone else. While participation was free, if Dien was taking the competition too lightly, then his perspective had to be corrected—even if it meant going through Hasman.

Having organized her thoughts, Helena rushed out of the lab and headed for the Headmaster’s office.

—

Upon returning home, Dien immediately began drafting his thesis.

He planned to state in the introduction that the reason for writing the paper was the loopholes in the kingdom’s contract laws, and then proceed by detailing ways to patch those flaws. Since he had been reading contract law several times a day until only a few months ago, writing the thesis presented no great difficulty.

If there was anything weighing on his mind, it was how to condense the lengthy contract laws into ten pages and how to persuade those who might look unfavorably upon a new system.

A month ago, Dien had analyzed how the Kandebara Merchant Group was able to win the kingdom’s business contracts. He had found the reason surprisingly easily.

‘It’s because of the absolute power of the Eponoi Elders.’

Dien, who had been spinning his pen, stopped for a moment and looked out the window at the rocky mountain.

The steep, cone-shaped mountain. That peak, which claimed to be the staff of Delos, was the Eponoi mountain, and the Eponoi Elders at its summit governed the affairs of Delos.

In a way, that structure was the primary culprit behind the kingdom’s weak contract laws. Since the Eponoi Elders selected all the merchant groups for large-scale projects led by the kingdom, Kandebara was able to bribe them and secure contracts.

The authority of the Eponoi Elders was limitless. They created policies and even personally handed down judgments on major incidents.

In truth, even if scholars recognized the value of this thesis, it would never be turned into policy unless the Eponoi Elders relinquished their authority.

But despite knowing all this, Dien decided to do his best from his current position.

—Estimated Price Preparation and Bidding.

Dien’s hand moved smoothly without stopping, and before he knew it, ten sheets of paper were filled with dense handwriting.

Dien stretched, feeling a sense of pride.

‘Ugh… It’s finished.’

Something that three academy students would labor over for ten days, Dien had completed in just three hours.

‘I like it.’

He was satisfied with the paper he had written. Now he just had to show it to Helena.

In fact, Dien knew exactly what she was worried about. Therefore, he intended to show her his thesis tomorrow and discuss whether to participate or not.

He never had any intention of entering the competition unilaterally in the first place.

‘That’s refreshing.’

He opened the window to cool his head in the cold breeze.

Dien was already looking forward to seeing what kind of reaction Helena would have after reading his thesis.

The next morning, a letter from Persian Cherbil arrived at the House of Portran.

Reading the letter, Dien let out a chuckle.

He could see that Persian was trying hard to hide his excitement, but Dien could clearly picture the man’s smiling face. And there was something else in the letter that made Dien smile.

‘A one-week vacation!’

Discovering the sentence at the end of the letter telling him to rest at home during Persian’s long business trip, Dien cheered inwardly and quickly made his way to the academy.

Whether in his past life or this one, a vacation was always sweet.

As Dien walked across the academy campus, he spotted Helena and Headmaster Hasman standing in the center of the grounds. In his hand, along with Persian’s letter, was the thesis he had written.

“Good morning, Headmaster.”

Since it was his first time seeing Hasman since his enrollment, Dien greeted him in a loud voice.

“Lord Dien, follow me.”

Unlike Dien’s welcoming expression, Hasman’s face as he looked at Dien was incredibly fierce.

Helena stood by, appearing at a loss due to his cold attitude.

“Yes!”

However, Dien was not intimidated by the chilling tone. Instead, he looked at Helena and nodded as if to say everything was fine. Dien had a rough idea of why the man was so on edge.

Hasman roughly threw open the door to the Headmaster’s office and entered, followed by Helena and Dien.

“Sit.”

The friendly appearance he had shown on the day of enrollment was nowhere to be found. His current demeanor was the polar opposite of that first impression. Once Dien was seated, Hasman spoke immediately.

“Lord Dien.”

“Yes, Headmaster!”

“You say you’re going to participate in the thesis competition? And alone at that?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Helena, sitting beside him, winced at the sound of his voice, which was so low it made her skin crawl.

“Do you know the meaning of the thesis competition?”

“It is a venue for academy students to compete and compare their skills and insights.”

“Aha! That is not all!”

Hasman’s voice rose upon hearing Dien’s answer.

“The thesis competition is not some light contest where participation itself is meaningful! Do you not consider the prestige of the Noble Academy and the reputation of its students?”

Hasman spoke as if it were a foregone conclusion that Dien’s thesis would be rejected. Dien was taken aback by the high volume. He hadn’t expected the man to be this sharp about his participation.

“I have never thought lightly of the thesis competition. However, seeing your reaction, Headmaster, it seems I did not consider its significance deeply enough.”

Dien nodded slightly and continued.

“I have no intention of being stubborn to the point of worrying others. If you and Professor Helena do not permit it, I will not participate. However, before that…”

Dien placed the thesis he was holding onto the table.

“I entreat you, Headmaster and Professor, to read the thesis I have written.”

“You wrote a thesis for the competition in a single day? And alone? Ha… You really are something!”

Hasman frowned as if there were nothing even worth looking at. Just as Helena had said, Dien must have viewed the competition as a joke if he had written the paper in a single day. Along with Hasman, Helena’s expression was also quite distorted.

“I shall take my leave now. It is time for class. I will not mention the thesis competition again.”

Dien stood up and bowed politely to Hasman. After he left, Hasman and Helena stared at the thesis Dien had left behind in silence.

“You read it!”

Hasman, still agitated, handed Dien’s thesis to Helena. At his command, Helena took the papers.

“The Kingdom’s Contract Law: Inducing Fair Market Competition.”

A strange light flashed in Helena’s eyes as she read the topic. The title was plausible. She began to read the paper at a rapid pace.

“Head… master!”

Before long, her heart began to race violently.

“He-Headmaster! You… you must read this!”

“What?”

Intrigued by Helena’s unusual reaction, Hasman opened his eyes. At her request, he also took Dien’s thesis.

How much time had passed? Hasman was reading Dien’s thesis for the third time. And the more he read, the greater the shock to his heart grew.

“In my opinion… it’s feasible… no, I can only describe this as revolutionary… What do you think, Headmaster?”

When Hasman stood up, Helena stared at him with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

“Hah.”

Hasman let out a deep sigh from his soul. He slowly walked toward the window and looked outside.

“This was a flowerbed created to make flowers bloom, but the fertilizer is so poor… How can I be this ashamed…?”

He whispered softly to himself and hung his head.

“Headmaster.”

“Helena… would even I have been able to write a thesis like this?”

Helena looked at him with pity.

Helena, who had inwardly looked down on Dien, felt the same as the Headmaster. To think they had treated a student capable of writing such a magnificent thesis so coldly.

“We… must submit this, right?”

“Submitting something like this is the only way to bolster the spirit of the Noble Academy. And… I must personally go to Lord Dien and apologize. I cannot show any more of such shameful behavior…”

“Yes. Me as well…”

Helena nodded in response to Hasman’s words.