Chapter 45
Some things in this world are better kept secret.
Prime examples would be mastering Rune Language, or understanding Runic Script. Or even just the fact that one can interpret Runes.
But in most cases, there's no need to worry too much.
Deciphering the Divine Language, every mage's ultimate dream.
Declaring that you achieved this at the mere age of 8.
The kind of revelation that would make life spectacularly complicated.
What kind of idiot would brazenly announce something like that in public?
'...This is driving me insane, seriously.'
The disaster I brought upon myself weighed heavily.
Love calls were pouring in from everywhere, but I'd rather die than accept any of them.
I didn't hide my ability to decipher Runes for nothing.
Understanding something and teaching it are completely different matters.
It was purely intuitive.
I didn't really decipher Rune Language - my eyes just happened to open to it, and I instinctively understood its patterns.
Therefore, when it comes to teaching Rune characters to others, I'm inevitably forced to use primitive methods.
Writing down and memorizing every single possible case.
It's naturally headache-inducing work since the Imperial Language lacks equivalent characters for most Runic meanings. It took a whole three months just to organize those nine characters.
Mind-numbingly tedious manual labor.
At this pace, it would be impossible to create and distribute interpretations for the tens of thousands of Rune characters.
That should have been the end of the story. But the important thing is that I consumed the Elixir of Immortality.
That thing the swordsmanship students fed me.
I thought it meaningless since I was facing an accidental death rather than natural causes, but its effects were undeniable.
'If anyone finds out I don't age....'
These love calls would transform from pleas into terrifyingly obsessive imprisonment declarations.
Because if I spent tens of thousands of years focusing on deciphering Runes, humanity could truly master magic.
Sacrifice yourself for the greater good.
Dedicate your life to fulfilling humanity's ultimate wish.
I'd be locked in a tiny room, unable to die, reduced to a machine endlessly writing Rune interpretations.
Just imagining it made my hands and feet tremble.
Fortunately it hadn't been discovered yet, but I'd completely mastered not just Runes but even the Demon's Magic System.
Ending up in this terrible academy genre world was already more than I could handle, but now bad ending routes from imprisonment to execution as a heretic have opened up.
I needed to get fired from the Academy while hiding both my consumption of the Elixir and the demons' magic system.
It was such a brutal hard mode that I felt like I was about to lose my mind.
The swordsmanship students won't go around spreading my secret, and I just need to hide the demon stuff, but even setting those aside, the first issue was the biggest problem.
Just how big of an incident would someone who can interpret Runes need to cause to get fired?
Just imagining it made my mouth turn down at the corners.
'If I drink again after witnessing this mess in real-time, then I'm not human, I'm a dog!'
I clinched my teeth and made another promise to myself.
Though I had memories of breaking the same vow and crying "woof woof" in my past life, this time I was truly serious.
Because there was someone behind me to keep me grounded.
Looking at them served as a reminder to stay vigilant.
The middle-aged stalker born from my recent mistake.
"You should head back now, it's cold out."
It was old man Merlin, who kept following me around.
We'd reached right in front of my quarters.
As I tried to go inside to calm my nerves, he was still stuck to my back, pleading.
I deliberately ignored his puppy-dog eyes sparkling with hope and closed the door right away.
But I still felt uneasy.
When your role model tells you to give up on your dreams.
It would be a lie to say it didn't leave trauma, but I knew he said it for my sake.
He spoke harshly at first to show me reality, but seeing my hurt expression made him feel guilty later, so he gave me a gold coin as compensation.
'He's still out there...'
The scene through the window.
The old man waiting desperately for me even after I told him to leave.
It's strangely distracting and makes it impossible to focus on anything else.
In the end, I had no choice but to surrender, sharing some hangover stew I'd made in a lunchbox while declaring.
"I can advise you on interpretation techniques. But absolutely do not spread any stories about taking you as my disciple or anything like that."
Old man Merlin nodded emotionally at my words.
Tears rolling down his cheeks.
The middle-aged man looked up at me with uncomfortably moist eyes and spoke:
"I distrusted your words and drove you away, yet you still consider my dignity..."
He misunderstood my request to keep quiet about it for the sake of my reputation as consideration for his dignity.
Those eyes were far too dangerous.
Eyes saying he must repay the kindness even if it means ignoring my wishes.
Having seen through several recent examples what someone with such eyes might do, I tried to stop the old man immediately, but it was impossible.
Though it's hard to tell because he's clinging so disgustingly close, this middle-aged man is a mage unmatched among humans.
Unlike me, his physical abilities were also exceptional.
How could I possibly stop someone like that?
I could only watch as the man left.
...The unfairness of this utterly horrible situation washed over me.
While I admitted my mistakes played a large part in this incident, there's a limit to how unlucky one can be.
'Why did my shirt have to disappear at exactly that timing and make me misunderstand? This is honestly just bad luck.'
I woke up and my top was gone.
It seemed reasonable to misunderstand since I couldn't find my clothes anywhere no matter how much I looked around.
If I hadn't fallen into strange delusions about exposure and such while drunk, things wouldn't have gotten so twisted.
As I was grumbling like that while diligently finishing the dishes, I turned around.
...And there were the shirt and tie I'd been searching for.
But I didn't blame myself wondering why I couldn't find them when they were right here.
"Why are YOU holding those?"
White hair and large horns.
The one who had snuck into my quarters to return the clothes was none other than the great Primordial Dragon.
Our eyes met.
An incredibly awkward silence followed.
The Primordial Dragon wore an expression full of guilt, as if she'd committed some terrible crime. But her explanation was surprisingly normal and plausible.
"Oh, d-don't misunderstand! I found you sleeping shirtless in front of your door, so I just put you to bed! I accidentally took your clothes with me and came to return them!"
So I must have passed out on the street drunk, taking off my top because I felt hot.
This was the height of disgrace.
I felt ashamed of my own impropriety in briefly harboring strange suspicions when I was the one at fault.
As I looked at Zion, wondering how I should apologize... her expression seemed odd.
Eyes that kept avoiding mine.
Feeling guilty under my steady gaze, the Primordial Dragon carefully confessed her crime.
"Well... there may have been some contact while moving you, but I had no strange intentions! I couldn't just leave you to catch a cold!"
Be they human or dragon, none can live with guilt.
Especially those of upright character.
I was giving her an accusing look.
I knew her real transgression. Misunderstanding this, Zion desperately defended herself.
"I may have fondled your chest a few times, but you were the one sleep-talking about being cold! I was just trying to share some warmth, I had no ulterior motives..."
Zion whimpered for me to believe her. But this time it was a genuine look of accusation, not a misunderstanding.
The Primordial Dragon's mind was cornered.
Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted:
"This is all your fault! Tempting me with your body growing more alluring by the day!"
But the excitement was brief and reason soon returned.
The Primordial Dragon's face turned bright red as she objectively reflected on exactly what she had done.
...It was self-destruction so spectacular it was pitiful to watch.