Chapter 100

Although I caused quite the ruckus during the midterms, it didn’t exactly blow back on me directly.

The Attack Rights Restriction was initiated by the professors first, so there’s no one to hold accountable, and even if it did affect me, I wouldn’t care.

I was worried that Rize, who shared both living and dining spaces with me, might scold me, but she didn’t. Instead, she praised me for making Chaos happy.

In fact, my faith jumped up quite a bit just from the midterms. Last time I checked, my faith was a whopping 34.

Regardless of which background you choose in the Soul World, faith is mostly fixed at 10, making it quite a challenge to raise.

Yet here I am, sitting at a level over 30, which is pretty high.

‘But the twist is, there’s no real use for it.’

Originally, when faith rises, the effects differ for each sect.

Gulrak’s attack abilities, topped by Lightning, naturally get a boost, while Gaia sees improvements in healing and defensive capabilities.

But Chaos is a bit different. The more your faith increases, the less likely you are to get messed with by Chaos.

Normally, he might unleash chaos on you, but in a pinch, he does the job right, which makes things a bit murky.

Still, having high stats isn’t a bad deal. With Rize around, I can just take it slow.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah. It’s good.”

“Thank goodness. You really seem to love chocolate.”

For now, let’s indulge in the delicious desserts first. I eagerly scooped up some rich chocolate ice cream.

Since Kara said I could eat to my heart’s content in exchange for the exam, today was going to be a feast.

You might think I should be cautious, but oddly enough, being overly cautious makes Kara uncomfortable.

She tends to gripe that if I’m careful even in the Soul World, our relationship would end up awkward.

Considering her boisterous yet generous personality, it’s definitely better to eat freely.

“I feel like you’ll get diabetes if you keep this up… don’t let her go too wild.”

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of us enjoying the meal. Kara seemed a bit guilty so she even treated Grace.

I had intended to invite Lee Yeon-joo too, but she politely declined. Apparently, she has some personal things to attend to.

Soon, a key figure from the Hwan Empire would be starting school, so she must be quite busy.

“Diabetes, right? It’s the symptoms caused by eating too many sweets that leads to all sorts of diseases.”

“Yeah. You seem well-informed.”

“It used to be common as a regional ailment just in our country until a few years ago. Since the Tartar was founded, all sorts of sweet foods have spread everywhere, right?”

“Oh, you’re right about that.”

Tartar is inspired by ancient Egypt, so its food culture is similar.

In the Middle East of Earth, desserts are so sweet they’ll make your teeth ache, and Tartar is famous for having equally sweet treats.

It’s a great way to replenish calories in the sweltering heat, and they’re nutritious too, so they were widely supplied to the military. That’s what I’ve heard at least.

“Did you know chocolate was invented in our country?”

“No way? That’s news to me. But aren’t the ingredients for chocolate sourced from other regions?”

“It turns out they can be grown here as well.”

Everything is made sweet. You can think of that as a hallmark of Tartar’s culinary culture.

With that, you can see why we’d have a surplus of diabetics, but miraculously, hardly anyone is diabetic.

While our pancreas are exceptionally strong, the medicine is also advanced enough for regulation.

Of course, once you get diabetes, managing it becomes a must. No matter how fantastical the world, some things just can’t be cured.

“Ugh…”

Maybe it was because I had been shoveling down ice cream non-stop? My head was pounding while listening to Kara explain.

As I clutched my forehead and groaned, Kara chuckled and said,

“Slow down. Just today, this unnie will treat you.”

“Unnie? Is Sivar around our age too?”

As Kara referred to herself as “unnie,” Grace’s eyes widened in surprise.

Kara often showcases a reliable older sister vibe, so it felt completely normal. In fact, she’s about two years older than the other students.

Considering my actual age, I’m similar, but she exudes such a dependable aura that I just let it slide.

“Well? I don’t really know. But considering just her face, maybe she’s similar to you guys?”

“Hmm…”

Grace stared intently at my face after hearing Kara’s words. Her sharp gaze seemed to scrutinize every feature.

I mirrored her gaze back. Realizing it was a bit awkward, she turned her head slightly, her face flushed.

Then, Grace cleared her throat and replied positively to Kara’s statement.

“I suppose that’s possible. When you first arrived, they said you had a long beard, so I thought you were older.”

“A beard on that face… sounds bizarre. But it might look cute.”

With that “cute” comment, Kara patted my head. This sort of skinship has become quite natural now.

Seeing us, Grace gave a somewhat perplexed expression, as if she felt something shifting.

Indeed, such familiarity between guys and girls isn’t common. It’s at a level where you’d have to be quite close.

“Kara seems really close with Sivar.”

“Really? I wouldn’t know.”

“Mm!”

She was about to pinch my cheeks now, so I whined a bit.

Petting my head while eating is fine, but please, let’s skip the cheek pinching.

Kara seemed to understand my thoughts and refrained from pinching my cheeks, opting to pat my head a few more times instead.

“We can’t help but be close anyway. No one approaches me, and even if I try, everyone avoids me. But he? Somehow, we became friends without even trying.”

“……”

“You don’t have to make that face. I know how much my country has hurt yours. I’m not that shameless.”

Seemingly reading Grace’s apologetic expression, Kara waved her hands dismissively to offer comfort.

As she mentioned, Tartar did plunder surrounding nations before and just after its founding.

Because of this, nothing good can be said. Especially since Hector garnered the title “King of Destruction,” the biases are only natural.

“Looking back now, I realize I was a problem too. Even if I apologize, if the victim doesn’t accept it, that’s not an apology; it’s coercion.”

“Coercion…”

“Yeah. Coercion. So, I’m prepared to take on the image of a barbarian. I heard Frozen was originally composed of barbarians too, right? Tartar will eventually improve over time.”

In less than a month, it seems there’s been a great deal of change in her perspective. I never saw anything like this in the Soul World.

What could have triggered such a transformation in her? I stopped scraping the ice cream and looked at Kara.

Her green eyes were glimmering with moisture. In the way she looked at me, I sensed a hint of remorse.

What on earth caused her to feel that way? There wasn’t really any situation she should feel regretful about.

“And… I realized that humans are really fickle. While I secretly criticized civilized folk, I found I was no different.”

As Kara said this, she gently caressed my face. I silently gazed back, savoring her soft touch.

Her green eyes sparkled like jewels. Typically, she has a laid-back image, but seeing this side of her feels refreshing.

“Well, enough of this trivial talk. Don’t you have any more questions? Feel free to ask anything while you’ve got the chance.”

As the atmosphere turned awkward, Kara quickly shifted the topic back to her usual hearty self.

Grace seemed to catch on too, quickly diving into her own thoughts to come up with a different question.

There might be plenty of inquiries to make, but a moment’s pause to avoid falling into traps is needed.

“Kara.”

“Yeah? Do you have something to say to me?”

“I want more ice cream.”

Regardless of anything, I just wanted more ice cream.

As I held out my empty bowl and made my request, Kara looked at me with an incredulous expression.

She then gave a little chuckle before saying in a slightly stern voice,

“Not now. Eat slowly.”

“Why?”

Is it because I ate too much? To be fair, I had definitely overdone it.

Seeing me shrink a bit at her words, Kara grinned and continued,

“Otherwise, you’ll get sick of it fast. You should try other flavors too.”

“Other flavors?”

“Not just chocolate. Maybe strawberry or vanilla or something. Let’s see…”

Kara checked the menu, looking for anything suitable. Since it was a café, there were plenty of sweet treats available.

Then, she seemed to find something and pointed at it, expressing her surprise.

“Mint chocolate? What’s that? I’ve never seen it before.”

“……”

I stiffened. Ah, so there are also boundary-pushing foods here.

“That one’s super divisive. It might not suit Sivar’s palate.”

“Well, he seems to enjoy just about anything, so it might be different.”

“Is that so? I think it’s fine, so you should give it a try.”

For the first time that day, I left food uneaten.

“Why does this not taste good? That’s strange. Yum.”

“……”

I can’t even fathom how you enjoy that.

*****

“……Then I’ll take my leave, Dean.”

“Very well. Please be more cautious next time.”

Creeeak- Clunk-

Delphoi offered a polite farewell to Rod and quietly shut the door.

Even with the door closed, Delphoi didn’t walk away immediately; he stood for a while in front of the door silently.

His fists trembled, and he bit his lip so hard it felt like it might split open.

“Damn it!”

Delphoi muttered curses under his breath as he made his way away from the door.

He headed toward his research room, replaying the words Rod had just brought up.

[To have exercised so much authority in the Academy, which stands on the principles of Justice and Fairness… If this becomes known, I worry for your reputation.]

[Where are you from? Oh, is it from that magical tower? Is the principal from there…?]

[If these actions are discovered further, there will be no forgiveness. Sivar is officially a student now.]

He had sort of anticipated it, yet he still got hit with a barrage of insults. He could truly feel what it was like to be verbally thrashed.

The issue was that he couldn’t rebut even a word against Rod’s critique. Because the fact of overstepping authority was undeniably true.

But he hadn’t expected Rod himself to get involved. He was supposed to be a bulwark to maintain neutrality.

That bulwark stepping in meant his reputation was in severe jeopardy.

“Damn barbarian bastard…!”

The memory still clear. With a stoic face, he had snapped his wrist in frustration.

The incident had led to an embarrassing tumble, so it was impossible not to be angry.

But what could he do? Sivar was now receiving not just Rod’s guidance but even assistance from the Saint.

Politically, there was no way to brush it aside. And on top of that, he couldn’t make the exams overly difficult. Doing so might actually lead to his expulsion.

“These damn fools…!”

Everyone felt like they were treating him like dirt. Starting from that wild one, Grace who decided to change the supervising professor just because she didn’t like him, and now Rod.

With the barbarians and Rod, who knows what might happen if he crossed those lines? It was certain that not only reputation but even his life could be on the line.

On the other hand, Grace didn’t carry the same weight. While her family was bothersome, that could actually become a weakness against her.

He was itching to vent this anger somewhere. And the easiest target was Grace.

“Yes. I’ll start with her. Things will unravel from there.”

Grace and Sivar seemed pretty tight. That should make tying the two together a breeze.

For now, it was all about starting slow, one step at a time. Delphoi wore a sly smile.

“I need to hurry to the research room.”

Time was running out.

“Now, even praying is pointless.”

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