We Had Sex, but We're Still Childhood Friends (2)

“Aaaaaaah!!! P-Professor!!! Just this once!!!... Please, just check it once!!! Please?!! Save meeeee!!!!!”

A shabby tracksuit, thick glasses, greasy braided hair, and a mountain of research papers.

Chloe Lobelia, looking every inch the typical graduate student, desperately chased after her professor.

“I told you, I’m busy because the semester has started. I’m a supervising professor now, too. What did you do during the break? Bring me your paper during the semester.”

Grind─ Crunch─

After hearing her professor, Chloe ground her teeth silently.

If it weren't for the law, she'd really kill that professor.

‘What did you do during the break?!!!!!’

Hadn't she helped with the professor's personal research right in front of them all day long?!

‘Even without pay!!!!!’

Unpaid? Fine, then.

A graduate student helping with a professor's personal research without pay was commonplace, even if it wasn't exactly acceptable.

Still...

After working that hard, she thought the professor would at least put her name somewhere on the paper.

Of course, she hadn't expected to be a co-first author—she would have been happy with second author.

But that damned professor had simply acted as if nothing had happened.

It was frustrating and unfair, but what could she do?

Here, Chloe was the absolute 'underling.'

“Respected Professooor!!! Pleaseee!!!! If I fail my thesis review again this time, I really will have to die!!!!! Please!!! Pleeeeease!!! Save me just this once!!!! Please? Professooor... Should I really die?? Please?? Should I open the window and jump out right now???”

“Haa... Seriously... I told you to prepare in advance. Tsk. Leave it there. I’ll look at it when I have time.”

“Aaaah!!!! Yes!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! You’re truly the only one I have, Professor!! I respect you!!! May you live forever!!!”

“...What a fuss. Enough. Make sure you prepare next week’s lecture materials properly.”

“Yes!!! I’ll prepare them perfectly!!! Then I’ll be taking my leave!!!!”

Bowing at the waist to a full ninety degrees, Chloe backed away and closed the door.

─Click

The moment the door closed, she twisted her face into a scowl and flipped both middle fingers at it.

“Haa... That fucking bastard...”

Click, swish─!

As the door opened, Chloe hid her hands and smiled brightly as though nothing had happened.

“What can I do for you!!!! My esteemed Professor!!!!”

“Oh, Chloe. Sorry, but I’m out of coffee. If you have time, could you go buy some?”

“Yes, yes!!! Of course!!! The usual vanilla latte, double shot, whipped cream, and extra java chips, right!!!”

“You know it well. Here, buy yourself one with the change.”

“Yes!!! Thank you!!!”

Chloe clenched the 10,000 Eris her professor had placed in her hand.

“Seriously... what a fucking bastard... They won't even drink the academy café's coffee.”

She was already busy to death, and now she had to go all the way to the shopping district to fetch coffee.

“Haa...”

With her hands in her pockets, Chloe trudged toward the shopping district and let out a deep sigh.

Why had her life become so hopelessly tangled?

No, she knew exactly why.

It was because she had gotten the only A+ in Magic Tool Crafting during the second semester of her fourth year.

‘Student Chloe. You scored 39 on the midterm and 40 on the final, nearly a perfect score.’

‘Ah! Thank you for the high evaluation!’

‘So, I’d like to have a meal with you sometime to thank you for attending my lectures so diligently and talk things over... Are you free this Thursday or Friday?’

‘Yes, Professor! Of course! Would Thursday work?’

‘Good. Then come to my office at twelve on Thursday.’

She should have found some excuse and refused.

Back then, Chloe had naively expected nothing more than a meal, and had signed the graduate-school enrollment papers after being fooled by her professor's claim that she had talent and could definitely finish her doctorate within five years.

The result?

Eight years later, here she was.

Chloe was still in graduate school.

“I should have escaped back then...”

As memories of every chance she had had to escape surfaced one after another, Chloe buried her face in her hands.

Three years after entering graduate school, Chloe finally earned her master's degree and thought,

‘Graduate school is insane.’

Although it had taken her a year longer than her professor's promise of a two-year master's, she had finally earned the degree. It was time to be free again.

‘Chloe, there are people who breeze through doctorates, but no one breezes through a master's, you know? You struggled just a tiny bit during your master's, but that means you'll finish your doctorate even faster. Wouldn't it be a shame to waste everything you've built up? Are you really going to stop here?’

....At least, that was what she thought until she heard those words.

‘Ah!.. Ugh!... Sob!.. Even so.’

‘I forgot to mention this, but the moment you earn your doctorate, I’ll recommend you for an assistant professorship. Then you can work as a full professor at the Holy Academy before you turn thirty. Well, if you still don’t like that, I suppose it can’t be helped...’

‘...Sob!... Hnnngh!.....I-I’ll try just a little longer.....’

‘Good. You made the right choice. Just trust me. I’ll make sure you earn your doctorate within three years. Now, to your professorship! Cheers!’

Three years after that, one day.

‘Huh?... Professor?... Why?... It’s a lie, right?’

[Goodbye, everyone~ I’m casting off every shackle and chain in this world and setting off to find my happiness~]

The professor who had talked her into graduate school had left that sort of letter behind, married a man sixteen years younger, and left the academy.

‘Haha... My life is over.’

Chloe had been fooled again, but she couldn't quit graduate school either.

If she ran away now, the prodigy who had entered the Holy Academy at eighteen and graduated at twenty-one would become an idiot who had spent eight years earning a single master's degree.

Her pride simply couldn't forgive that.

‘I’ll get it.... No matter what... I’ll earn my doctorate by any means necessary..’

In the end, Chloe chose to attach herself to another professor and somehow obtain her doctorate.

“One vanilla latte, double shot, with whipped cream and extra java chips, and one iced Americano, please.”

“Yes, that’ll be 11,000 Eris.”

“....?”

Vanilla latte, double shot, whipped cream, and extra java chips: 7,500 Eris

Iced Americano: 3,500 Eris

When had the coffee prices gone up again...

The 10,000 Eris her professor had given her wasn't enough to buy even the cheapest coffee after paying for theirs.

“Haa... Here.”

She let out a sigh as she shakily paid an additional 1,000 Eris.

“Ah, seriously! How long are you going to sit there? Get up already!!”

“...I already stood up.”

“What? What the fuck are you talking about!! You’re sitting there!!”

“No, sorry, but I can’t get up just yet. I’ll sit for one more minute...”

“Ah, seriously!! If you keep this up, do you want to shop for another thirty minutes?”

While waiting for the coffee, Chloe's mood grew even more depressed when she saw a pair of blond academy students—whether siblings or a couple, she couldn't tell—chatting happily with each other.

“Must be nice...”

If I could go back to my days as an academy student, could I enjoy myself like that too?

Suddenly, the sight of her own haggard reflection in the window made her chest ache terribly.

‘Ah, seriously... I can’t take it anymore. I was going to hold out until my thesis was approved.... But tonight, I’m doing it.’

Chloe clenched her fist tightly, her eyes gleaming.

***

“Heh-heh-heh.”

A pure-white suit clung tightly to her body, clearly outlining her voluptuous figure, while a magnificent cape fluttered behind her.

A custom magic tool that could freely shift between the forms of a whip and a staff.

And, of course, her trademark fox mask.

The granddaughter of the legendary phantom thief Ninetails, and the current phantom thief Ninetails III.

Chloe Lobelia smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

“Yes! This is it! Ninetails! This is my true self! My graduate-student appearance is nothing more than a disguise to fool people, isn’t it? Don’t worry about it so much!”

She had been too busy writing her dissertation lately to engage in any phantom-thief activities, but her true nature was still that of a phantom thief.

....Probably.

“Phew, then... shall I have a little fun?”

After taking a proof photo with some of her spoils faintly visible behind her, Chloe posted it with the picture.

[I swear on Grandma's honor, I'm Phantom Thief Ninetails III—ask me anything. Deleting this post in 15 minutes][0]

***

“Of all times...”

After barely finishing shopping with Eveline, I returned home exhausted and opened the gallery to get off, only to find....

[I swear on Grandma's honor, I'm Phantom Thief Ninetails III—ask me anything. Deleting this post in 15 minutes][55]

A post that looked far too interesting caught my eye.

“...How am I supposed to resist this?”

It even said it would be deleted in fifteen minutes. There was no way a man could resist something like this.

Thinking I’d look at just this one thing and then masturbate, I clicked on the post.

[Poster: ㅇㅇ(39.919)]

[I swear on Grandma's honor, I'm Phantom Thief Ninetails III—ask me anything. Deleting this post in 15 minutes][58]

(A shot of someone sitting with their legs crossed, wearing a white suit and hiding their face behind a fox mask.JPG)

Ask me anything.

BabyNepmi■ : Wah? BabyNepmi wants to know if this anon is really a phantom thief! Wah!!

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : Do you seriously think so?ㅋㅋ Why would a phantom thief browse the gallery? They’re obviously a lunatic who thinks they’re a phantom thiefㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴFlameSandwich■ : No, look at the memo for this IP—it’s real. I thought she’d left the gallery because she hadn’t shown up lately, but she’s back again.

ㄴNeverGetAnA■ : I know too, and they really are one. Look at what’s visible behind them in the proof shot. They’re all things the phantom thief stole.

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Ah, that got caught in the shotㅋㅋ I wasn’t trying to show it... But yeah, I really am one ㅇㅇ

IOnlySayNiceThings■ : What’s your species? You seem pretty skilled, so are you an elf after all?

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Elf?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It’s a secret, but I’m definitely not an elf.

ㄴIOnlySayNiceThings■ : ? Why are you laughing? Are elves funny?

ㅇㅇ(74.812) : For real, even if you claim to be legit, some fucking thief is acting all high and mightyㅋㅋ Get a job you can be proud of in front of other peopleㅋㅋ

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Yeah~ Sorry, but being a phantom thief is my side gig. I have another main job ^^

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : Side gig, my assㅋㅋ Sure you doㅋㅋ You can’t even prove itㅋㅋ

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Do you think a phantom thief would prove their occupation just because you asked? And even if I were unemployed, I could live off selling just that one thing for the rest of my life ^^ Do you have a job, at least?

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : Yeah~ Not everyone in the world makes money by stealing like you do~ Sorry, but my annual revenue exceeds 15 billion Erisㅋ

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 15 billion Erisㅋㅋㅋㅋ Sigh, it’s pathetic watching you make up lies just to one-up me ^^

ㄴ CosmicDirtSpoon■ : Hmm... But it’s gross annual sales, not net profit. Is 15 billion Eris in annual revenue really that impressive?? (Genuinely asking)

ㄴ ChildhoodFriendRape■ : Admin, if you’re watching, please ban this guy. His humblebragging is seriously fucking obnoxious.

VirginExaminer■ : Hmm... 0.6 virgin.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(100.401) : But, Appraiser bro, you’re either a virgin or not a virgin. What the hell is a 0.6 virgin?

ㄴ ILikePeasants■ : You don’t know the mind-spirit-body virginity theory? One of the three must not be a virgin.

ㄴ VirginExaminer■ : ㄴㄴ Virgins are so hard to find these days that I leave out the ‘spirit’ part. If the mind and body are still virgins, they pass.

ㄴ ILikePeasants■ : You gave her a lot of leeway... Then why is she a 0.6 virgin?

ㄴ VirginExaminer■ : She is a virgin, but she’s a little spoiled, so she’s a 0.6. She won’t be edible for much longer.

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Sorry, but... I am a virgin, and I’m young too. Comments like this are kind of uncomfortable ^^

CosmicDirtSpoon■ : So what are you planning to steal next?

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : How could I tell you that...? I’ll just let you know it’s something incredibly amazing.

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : ㅋㅋㅋ I could say that too. I’m telling you, they’re a liar.

ㄴCosmicDirtSpoon■ : Okay... But you only rob the rich. Aren’t you going to steal Red Rose’s stuff?

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Red Rose is a bit much;; It’s not that I can’t steal from them, but their guards are seriously insane for money. They throw themselves at you without holding back, so someone could get seriously hurt if I tried.

ㄴ CosmicDirtSpoon■ : Hmm, so even a phantom thief can’t handle Red Rose?

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : It’s not that I can’t. I could do it if I really wanted to... I just don’t want anyone getting hurt^^ I’m a phantom thief, not a robber.

ㅇㅇ(74.812) : ㅋㅋ So the conclusion is that you’re a washed-up phantom thief? You haven’t stolen anything lately, either, have you?

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : My main job has been keeping me busy lately, so I’m taking a break ^^

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : So what the hell is that main jobㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Sigh, you’re impossible to talk to, and you keep picking fights from an anonymous account, so I’m blocking you ^^

ㄴㅇㅇ(74.812) : Breaking news) Self-proclaimed phantom thief has nothing left to say, so they say ‘block’ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴNeverGetAnA■ : Phantom Thief, that IP is notorious for trolling, so just block him and don’t pay attention.

ㄴㅇㅇ(39.919) : Yes, thanks ^^ I already blocked him.

The phantom thief whose exploits were described so stylishly in the newspapers had a personality like this...

I always felt this way, but people were far too different online from how they were in real life.

“...If they’d come with a registered username, I could at least have found out their name.”

I had no intention of reporting them even if I learned their name, but it would have been rather fun to be the only person who knew the name of the phantom thief whose identity the imperial family and nobles of every sort were scrambling to uncover.

“Well, they’re an anonymous user, so it can’t be helped.”

Just as I was about to spend some happy time alone with Miss Yuris...

“Wait... I can find out who they are, can’t I?”

-You can ‘conditionally’ check the real name of an anonymous user who posted on the gallery!

The administrator privileges I had forgotten about suddenly came back to me.