Chapter 53
I am, fundamentally, a Reincarnator. A case of someone living an ordinary life who coincidentally became aware of their past life.
I was an office worker who found joy in reading web novels, but I am also a resident who has lived in this world.
Thus, I still held a sense of respect. I harbored my own admiration and awe for that proud dragon, a being straight out of myths, the great dragon who founded and protected this Empire.
A perception ingrained since childhood. It's certainly not an easy thing to change.
It's certainly not easy, but the Progenitor Dragon managed it.
A patheticness beyond measure. A regrettable nature that far surpassed the common sense of an ordinary person.
Is the Progenitor Dragon's meddling *also* the most extreme? I thought, and then I pointed out the disgraceful behavior this lizard had displayed.
“So, you're saying you were so surprised by my suddenly grabbing your hand that you didn't even realize what was happening?”
It was for a reason that I assumed Sion had understood the situation. Taking complete Mana Control is practically the same as holding someone's life in your hands.
It was unthinkable that someone like the Progenitor Dragon wouldn't have noticed it; that was the judgment ingrained in my mind.
“Oh, that's unfair! Wasn't that Force Majeure?!”
The Progenitor Dragon retorted, asking if it wasn't possible to be surprised like that.
She seemed to be seriously arguing that it was partly my fault for grabbing her hand, but there's a limit to sophistry.
“You weren't surprised; you looked expectant. If you hadn't suddenly closed your eyes, blocking your vision, and pouted your lips, you might have grasped the seriousness of the situation.”
Why on earth did you do such a thing? When I reproached the Progenitor Dragon, she was speechless.
She looked around, flustered. Her eyes darted about, desperately searching for an excuse.
“Just in case, I'm telling you: don't try to claim your lips were swollen due to a food allergy. Wouldn't that be unfair to the chef who worked so hard?”
The food served clearly showed great effort. Unlike me, the chef didn't know the Progenitor Dragon's true nature. He must have put his all into serving someone he admired.
The chef kept glancing over. With the sudden commotion, he looked worried, as if wondering if there was something wrong with his food.
There was no need to needlessly hurt someone. I added that comment to the Progenitor Dragon, but perhaps it was a bit too much.
“Hmph, what do you take me for?! Even I wouldn't frame someone else!”
The Progenitor Dragon bristled. She was, uncharacteristically, speaking common sense.
It seemed Sion wasn't *that* disgraceful after all...
“I was going to claim that you, having been afflicted by an illusion, were seeing things, that you were caught by a Succubus and had a *lewd dream* to your taste, and I was going to push that narrative!”
So I thought. But before my re-evaluation was even complete, Sion brazenly revealed her plan right in front of me.
Naturally, my face was filled with bewilderment. Soon, beads of cold sweat trickled down Sion's neck.
In her haste, she had blurted out a self-incriminating statement. The Progenitor Dragon, seemingly realizing this, tried desperately to smooth over the situation, but it was impossible.
“...I'm asking just in case. Were you planning to frame me like that and make me out to be a pervert? That *I* was the one harboring perverse desires for you, and not *you*, Progenitor Dragon?”
My gaze was filled with reproach and condemnation.
Her eyes darted with embarrassment. Her white clothes, soaked with sweat, even became somewhat translucent.
The damp lizard ultimately chose flight.
She was in denial of reality to protect her own sanity. She even spread her wings and bolted out...
She was only to return. She had no choice but to return.
No matter what, she'd be worried about me. To prepare for any potential attacks, she had to accompany me all the way to the Academy, which had an Intruder Prevention Barrier.
A situation where she had made a disgraceful escape, only to return of her own accord.
The Progenitor Dragon, flushed to the point where she was indistinguishable from an apple, couldn't even meet my eyes out of shame.
There was no way I would miss such a good opportunity.
“Shall we hold hands on the way to the Academy? You seem to really like holding hands.”
I teased the pathetic lizard for a long time.
The Stock Manipulation was originally a plan to cause an Affection Decrease. While it deviated a bit from the original plan, I still succeeded in teasing her thoroughly and lowering her affection.
It could be considered my monumental first victory.
---
Back in my Lodging, I fell into deep thought.
Of course, it wasn't about what that voice I heard earlier was. If you think about it, isn't it obvious?
If it were a Demonic Act. If someone were trying to attack me, I can confidently say it won't work anymore.
She won't reveal this disgraceful incident. She won't playfully tease me over one mistake.
In exchange for her silence, the Progenitor Dragon gave me something.
The complete blocking of all Mental Attacks. An artifact whose value couldn't even be calculated.
In Game Fantasy terms, it was a situation where I had easily acquired S-rank abilities. No matter how powerful the assailant who then attacked me was, there was no need to worry.
...Though the identity of the voice bothered me, it wasn't a problem that thinking about would solve anyway.
Therefore, the reason I was pondering now was the same as always.
How do I escape this damned Demonic Realm? The longer I stay here, the more suspicious and ominous things happen, so how can I run away?
In other words, I was devising a plan to get fired.
I closed my eyes as if meditating, then opened them again.
It was barely a fleeting moment, less than 10 seconds. It was impossible to come up with a brilliant and elaborate plan to get fired in such a short time, but that was fine.
Such a complicated plan wasn't necessary.
*Now that I think about it, every time I've gone to extreme lengths, it's often backfired.*
They are openly discriminating against students. They are sabotaging training I myself proposed. They are openly tormenting students, embezzling Academy funds, and even committing crimes like Stock Manipulation.
I'd tried to cause outrageous incidents that should have gotten me fired immediately, but for some reason, all the results were unfavorable.
In other words, I have terribly bad luck. So, I shouldn't try to stir anything up.
*Therefore, this time, I will deliberately do nothing.*
Achieve dismissal by doing nothing.
With this, there'll be no room for the plan to go wrong.
I smiled contentedly and pulled out a coupon.
I had called the Fox Tribe Masseur during Swordsmanship Class. She had given me the 30% massage discount coupon.
The day had finally come to use it.
In other words... today was a self-declared holiday.
Let's abandon my duties as I please and have some fun. I'll heal to my heart's content at the Fluffy Club!
I hummed a tune and set off.
---
The A-Class Classroom.
*Inside, the tick-tock of a clock echoed.*
Not 3 seconds. Not even 3 minutes. Not even 30 minutes.
It had been a full 3 hours. The Professor has not arrived for 3 hours now.
It was the first day of the Academy's Midterm Exam. Today, a Class-specific Evaluation was supposed to be conducted by the Professor in Charge.
No matter how long they waited, the Professor showed no sign of coming.
There must be some unavoidable circumstance. Enduring that thought had reached its limit. Finally, someone took the initiative to go look for the Professor... and returned.
However, the Student couldn't bring the Professor back. The Female Student brought back only one strange note.
\[I'm not in the mood to work today, so I'm taking a break.\]
“Th-this was stuck on the Faculty Lodging door! ...It's not a lie! Why would I lie about this?!”
It was an utterly absurd situation. Everyone suspected the Female Student was playing a prank. But surprisingly, the memo was indeed left by the Professor.
The handwriting and even the mana traces all matched.
Naturally, everyone's faces were tinged with bewilderment. They were people who prided themselves on knowing Professor Rian better than anyone. They were certain he wouldn't do something so irresponsible.
However, here was the undeniable evidence: evidence that Professor Rian himself had committed such an irresponsible act.
The situation was throwing everyone into confusion.
Could the Professor really have acted on a whim? Abandoned the exam and gone off to rest?
It was while the Students were having such irreverent thoughts.
“Everyone, can you truly call yourselves A-Class Students, personally tutored by Professor Rian, after this?”
The Second Imperial Princess of the Empire was Silvia Leonhardt. Everyone's gaze focused on her words.
She didn't usually prefer to be the center of attention. But in this case, given the circumstances, she had no choice.
“Do you still not know Professor Rian that well?”
There was a limit to how foolish everyone could be.
Professor Rian does not abandon his duties.
That is an Eternal Truth. Even if the world crumbles, that fact will remain unshaken.
“There's only one possibility to consider.”
He didn't take an unauthorized holiday.
He didn't abandon us. He is still fulfilling his responsibilities.
It's just that we, the humble ones, haven't realized it yet.
So, in other words...
“The exam has already begun.”