– Student’s Duty (1) –
When he returned to the dorm, it was already evening. He immediately washed up and shut himself in his bedroom, without even a thought of food. Behemoth was grooming himself next to a plate that had a few bird bones left on it. It seemed Nebo had already taken care of his food and water.
“Are you back from being crushed by Zebedee? Today’s dinner wasn’t bad, but eating quail filled with mushrooms without the proper wine was wretched.”
‘It looks like it would’ve been better to become a cat. Even though I’m inside a book, being a human isn’t great.’
He collapsed next to the cat and held him tight. After rubbing the animal’s belly, he became a little more relaxed, but Behemoth hissed and ran out the window.
‘Whew…’
For the first time since he came to this world, sleep wouldn’t come. Too many things had happened this afternoon.
‘Let’s organize our thoughts.’
Kleio sat at the desk in his room for the first time and took out a notebook and fountain pen.
– This place is inside a manuscript. The manuscript is being written in real-time.
– This manuscript is the -Final Manuscript- that is being revised for the ninth time.
– The original manuscript is in an unstable state, having been scratched out and written over so many times. If I use Editor’s Authority even slightly incorrectly, it will mix with the previously erased contents.
– Currently, I can’t tell what was mixed or how.
‘That’s right; there’s no reason for Editor’s Authority to be something that’s properly made. I was lucky the first time. If this mess happens each time I fail at the skill, I would be scared to touch it. Even I’m affected by it.’
Looking down at the Stigma that was revealing its presence, Kleio sighed. Arthur also seemed like he had been injured, but Kleio had been so worried that he wasn’t able to check it more closely. Stephen King had said this, ‘To write is human, to edit is divine.’ That phrase seemed wrong, having experienced it. He knew painfully well that the story’s god was its author.
‘I was too easygoing. It wasn’t a situation where I could think things out, though.’
Even before he met Arthur, he couldn’t find much of a difference between the manuscript he had read and the -Final Manuscript-. The characters and the progression of events were nearly the same. He thought that he would be able to live unrelated to the historical events that unfolded around the protagonist if he made himself an unimportant character in the narrative. Wasn’t it obvious to choose the safest route for oneself?
‘For a guy like Arthur, it’s probably great for him to become a hero on the battlefield, but I want to protect my small happiness of drinking and napping.’
But there’s probably no reason for the author to have given this much wealth and a powerful ether sensitivity to a character that wouldn’t amount to anything.
‘Exactly with what intentions did they set up the character Kleio? What are you planning, author?’
Obviously, there was no answer. Had there ever been any case where a god replied to an individual? Sighing, Kleio scratched down one more line below the other items.
– The author can’t resolve a problem that has appeared in the manuscript on their own, and, up to now, only yes or no approval is possible during the usage of this Inherent Skill.
After that, he drew a line and added two additional points.
*’s Palimpsest
*’s Promise
The name Palimpsest had come up after Editor’s Authority misfired. Like Promise, he couldn’t see the full name for Palimpsest either.
□□□□ and □□□. The ring that can connect dimensions to dimensions, and the manuscript’s original text that wrote the world. Both were related to the author, and neither seemed to be items that belonged inside this story. It was also highly likely that clues for who the author resided in those hidden parts.
‘It said that my level of intervention in the narrative was low, so Promise’s functions aren’t all open. Does that mean that I can’t even see the names because I haven’t involved myself enough in the story?’
But it felt too dangerous to enter deeper into the narrative in order to dig out the author’s identity. Truthfully, he didn’t particularly want to know either. It wasn’t as if knowing would necessarily help him.
‘Doesn’t Arthur become the king in the end, no matter how the story goes?’
They were trying to involve Kleio in the story. So even if it was hard to defy the author completely, he couldn’t just sit back and let himself be used. Jungjin had never agreed, not even once, that he would help with this manuscript’s revision. You could lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink…
‘Arthur and I’ve introduced ourselves to each other now. Though that guy is suspicious of me… I’m not the protagonist’s friend, nor his comrade in life and death or in peace and pain. I’m also not a vassal who has pledged loyalty to him. As long as I don’t get caught in one of those three positions, I won’t end on a route where I’ll suffer and die.’
Kleio was determined. He would never get involved with Arthur. His previous life ended after only suffering; trying to live diligently again in this extra life he had been given was too much. He wasn’t ready to give up the life of being the incompetent youngest son of a rich household that he had now.
‘Though it’s a paradox that I have to put in effort in order to enjoy that lifestyle, whew.’
He drew another line and wrote what he had to do now at the bottom of the notebook.
– Avoid immediate enlistment.
– Release the halt on money withdrawals from my bank account.
‘These two will be resolved. Then, next.’
-When the halt on my account withdrawal is released, pull out the entire amount.
-Leave school. If I hold out for just two months without being caught, I’ll be expelled automatically.
-Additional: Prepare a source of funds outside of my father’s allotted allowance.
In the beginning, he couldn’t distinguish what was what in this world, but after spending some time with the sensible Nebo, he could understand the way things worked at least a little. He had found out how to rent a room, whether you need a permit to travel, etc. In a world that didn’t even have CCTVs, it wouldn’t be hard for a healthy young man to hide.
‘Let’s form a plan to secure additional funds slowly.’
Kleio fell asleep around dawn after preparing what he thought was a fairly good plan.
***
Good plan, what bullshit. Collapsed on the ground, Kleio let out a soundless scream. Following the other students, he had swung around a training sword a bit, but his arms trembled, and blisters quickly formed on his palms. He did know the basic positions from the textbook, and thinking that all the female students did it too, he had endured with all his might as he followed the class before collapsing in the end.
‘This body is too shitty…’
The Swordsmanship Basics textbook was theoretical, so he hadn’t known they were taking a practical exam as well. In the first place, he didn’t know that prospective swordsmen and mages divided classes in Year 2, but they learned an integrated curriculum in Year 1. The jeers and giggling struck the back of his head, which he was too mortified to raise. The professor moved toward the collapsed Kleio.
“There, what’s everyone staring at? Group 1 and Group 2, practice the connecting motions I showed you last week and the three times slicing position. Assistant, look after Group 2.”
Professor Rosa Fehite of the Swordsmanship Basics course was a swordmaster, a high-class swordswoman whose ether level had reached 8. The old swordswoman, who had been spending a long time in academia after stepping down from being a Royal Capital Defense Corps Knight’s Order Captain, was the type who treated the students gently.
The problem was that Kleio’s body couldn’t even endure her basic instructions.
“Oh dear, Kleio, I think you’ll have to strengthen your basic physical fitness before you can even take Swordsmanship Basics. Starting tomorrow, run two laps around the school every morning.”
Rosa, who was as tall as Professor Zebedee but looked stronger than him, easily lifted Kleio up and sat him down. Wearing a white shirt and black pants underneath light armor with boots, Rosa clearly still had a firm physique so that you couldn’t tell she was elderly unless you looked at her face. After carefully examining Kleio’s reddened and blistered hands, Rosa continued.
“I welcome that you found will to enter the course now at least, but it’s impossible for you to hold a sword this term.”
“Then the end of term evaluations…”
Stroking Kleio’s hair, who stood much shorter than her, Rosa had a hint of pity in her eyes. Even though there was an eyepatch over her left eye, her face was so expressive that it was easy to read her mind. Kleio somehow seemed to have something that inspired some sympathy in much older women.
“The Swordsmanship Basics course practical evaluates Group 1’s prospective swordsmen and Group 2’s prospective mages by different standards.”
For sure, the movements of Group 1, where Isiel and Nebo were in, looked different even to Kleio’s eyes, despite the fact that he didn’t know much about swordsmanship.
“I’ll give you a different practical assignment. You’ll receive thirty points if you can cover four laps around this military training ground within five minutes by the time of the final exams. And if you can get ten points or more on the written test, you won’t be held back.”
“Thank you…”
“The way I see it, there is no problem with your physique. If you run two laps around the school as I told you to, that much won’t be hard to do.”
Kleio nodded sullenly. Measuring with his eyes, the circumference of the military training ground seemed to be about 250m, which meant four laps would be 1000m. Giving points for a 1000m sprint in a swordsmanship class seemed to be very generous. He sat on a bench and sipped the water the teaching assistant gave him for the rest of his class time. Even though he received the professor’s considerate treatment, Kleio’s contorted expression didn’t relax. The passing score for the practical exam was 80 points, and it was 20 points for the written exam. Even if he ran the 1000m and got high marks for the written exam, that was only 50 points.
‘The four basic courses are Swordsmanship Basics, Magic Basics, History, and Classics. Combining the four courses, that’s a total of 400 points. They said that you’re put in the same rankings if you have the same combined points.’
During the weekend, he had read the written course textbooks all one time each. He had summarized them as he read, so even though it was unfamiliar, it wasn’t particularly difficult to understand, and so he had been relieved. But now that it was determined that he would get the lowest score in the swordsmanship course, he had to change tactics, given that he had talked big to ‘father.’ He couldn’t settle for being average in the remaining three courses; he had to excel.
‘I need some cutting-edge study method.’
.
.
.
“The mystical cat of academics and arts, Master Moth, I beg you for guidance.”
“Hmph, I will no longer be taken in by your words. This cat knows all of the curricula taught for a century at this school, but I have absolutely no intention of giving you any free service.”
He had gone to the right person. It was obvious that the cat who had lived for a hundred years at this school would know more than any student. Behemoth always acted haughtily, but he was also truly capable. The problem was that after the incident of drinking that damned Budigala wine by himself, he kept sulking. It didn’t take long to think of a plan. Kleio called a carriage for hire and rushed to visit downtown, getting off at the biggest liquor store. When he brought out the name Asel, the owner became rather friendly… but he was told that the Bishop’s Tower wine from 1875 was a vintage that couldn’t be obtained right away. He heard that they had only one from 1879, so he decided to at least settle for that.
Before visiting the liquor store, he visited the bank again to check just in case, but there really was a halt on withdrawal. The only money he had was the remainder of the 1000 dinar he had withdrawn. Two-thirds of that money in his hands had gone towards one bottle of alcohol. Kleio crumpled the bag holding the alcohol bottle with a gloomy expression.
‘This is crazy. Six hundred dinars for one bottle of alcohol… no. I’ll lose more money if I focus on saving this small amount.’
Behemoth, who had been taking a nap, flew around the room in excitement when Kleio showed him the bottle of alcohol.
Meeooooow–
He quickly popped the cork and poured out about a third of the bottle into a dish. The cat rushed over.
“Ahh, even though it’s not as great as 1875, 1879 is also fine. The summer that year was hot, you see. This fragrance, ohhh.”
As time passed, red wine started to develop. It was obvious that it was good alcohol, clearly worth the price. There was a fragrance of blackberries and roses filling the room. Kleio asked if it was okay if he drank one glass himself but was brusquely rejected. The gold in Behemoth’s eyes deepened in proportion to the alcohol decreasing. Its fur also seemed to sparkle more.
‘This alcoholic cat…’
Finally, the bottle was emptied. Grabbing the empty bottle with its front paws and licking the opening with regret, only then did the cat turn to look at Kleio.
“Alright, now I feel like doing some mentoring. But why are you trying to study?”
Kleio explained the things that had happened between him and his’ father.’ He also didn’t forget to emphasize that if his account stayed frozen, he wouldn’t be able to buy any more alcohol for him. The tail of the cat, who had been savoring the alcohol it had just drunk, frizzed out and his fur bristled.
“No! That cannot happen!”
“But if I happen to get within the 20th rank, Moth, I’ll definitely buy the Bishop’s Tower from 1875 that you’ve sung so many praises about and offer it to you. That is… if I get my savings back.”
“Let’s start right away. Which course is tomorrow’s class?”
“Magic Basics.”
The cat, burning with more motivation than even Kleio himself, went up onto the desk and sat down.
“This cat will definitely bring your grades up to be impressively high. Look forward to it.”
