Chapter 6: Luna Railer (1)

After the incident in the magic practice class, I was worried.

I wondered if submitting a blank test paper would cause any problems.

However, Professor Cromwell didn't say anything.

He briefly came to me and said, "Submit a proper one next time," before leaving.

I continued my life at the academy as usual.

I diligently attended classes during the day and reviewed lessons at night.

It was the life of an ordinary student.

The only slight difference was...

"50 coppers, please."

I would wake up early in the morning, go to the store, and buy some bread.

I placed the bread in Luna's locker.

This action didn't carry any special meaning.

I just knew how sad it was not to be able to eat when you're hungry.

When I was young, I once went to a church retreat.

I didn't go there because of any particular faith; I just wanted to have fun.

But the church made the students who came there practice fasting and prayer.

So there I was, unable to eat properly and praying every day at a place I went to have fun.

The sense of helplessness and shock I felt back then was beyond my imagination.

Luna came here to study, not to practice fasting and studying.

It didn't seem like a big problem since I wasn't doing anything wrong, just giving her perfectly good bread.

"Is it starting soon...?"

Luna's hidden story would begin soon.

If I were Evan, I would have had to gain Luna's affection earlier.

But Evan and I were different.

Initially, Rudy Astria had an advantage over Evan.

Compared to Evan, Rudy Astria lacked nothing in terms of money, ability, or status.

Even my grades were better than his at this point.

So, there was no need to do any groundwork as I would have to do if I were following Evan's story.

Luna's hidden story.

It starts when Luna receives high praise from a professor during her magic theory class presentation.

A theory that ordinary students couldn't think of.

Upon witnessing this, Professor Mcguire calls for Luna.

Knowing Luna's situation to some extent, Professor Mcguire offers to sponsor her.

The condition is to bring a similar achievement before the midterm exams.

He promises to cover all her tuition fees for three years if she can prove herself.

Luna started researching magic in the library from that point on.

As the deadline approached, Luna's anxiety grew.

In her desperation, Luna eventually took out her precious grimoire.

The grimoire contained a wealth of information, but among the content, there was also dark magic.

Luna unwittingly chose one of the spells in the grimoire to cast, which happened to be dark magic.

Unaware that it was dark magic, Luna cast the spell.

Dark magic possessed immense destructive power but caused mental corruption when the casting failed.

As Luna's mind became corrupted, her mana went out of control and destroyed the library, leading to her punishment.

If Evan were to intervene in this story, he would stop Luna from going berserk.

Since Luna didn't possess such great power, Evan could easily stop her.

With Evan's intervention, the incident would be resolved without much damage to the library, and Luna wouldn't face punishment, continuing her normal life at the academy.

Of course, this would result in Professor Mcguire's proposal failing...

However, I plan to prevent this problem from happening at all.

Professor Mcguire's proposal event occurs a few days after Luna's presentation.

Before that, I will make Luna an offer.

I'll support her tuition fees.

After all, I have more than enough money to cover her tuition.

My goal isn't Luna.

Whether Luna goes with Evan or not is none of my concern.

My goal is the grimoire.

The grimoire Luna possesses is the record of the Royal Wizard Levian's life-long research.

For some reason, Levian met Luna before his death and passed the grimoire onto her.

That grimoire is a treasure.

A treasure beyond comparison to mere gold.

I'm powerful now.

But if you ask whether I can maintain this strength, the answer is "no."

It's challenging for someone like me, who's barely a genius, to keep up with their growth.

To maintain my strength, I must seize opportunities like these.

Opportunities unrelated to Evan.

Even if the event of Luna destroying the library doesn't happen, it won't affect the story.

If Evan doesn't pay attention to Luna, it's merely an event that gets recorded in the event log.

"Everything is going smoothly."

I've been paying attention to other aspects as well.

I've been keeping an eye on Evan's actions from time to time.

Evan was fully engrossed in his studies.

He didn't seem concerned about Luna and focused on studying.

He hadn't made contact with any other characters yet, so there was nothing else to worry about.

After attending all my classes, I headed to the cafeteria alone.

Eating alone had become a familiar feeling.

"Hi there!"

A red-haired girl holding a lunch tray approached me.

"Can I sit here?"

Judging by her green scarf, she seemed to be a second-year student.

Who is she, and why is she approaching me?

I rummaged through my thoughts.

Red hair... second year...

"Sure, have a seat."

This girl was the top second-year student and student council president...

"My name is Astina Persia."

She introduced herself with a smile.

Astina had investigated Rudy Astria.

A second son overshadowed by his outstanding elder brother... but calling him that would be too much of an understatement.

It was all too easy to hear about the unfortunate incidents that had occurred within the Astria family.

This was his problem.

Usually, it was difficult to find any bad rumors about the children of high-ranking families.

Their families would try to hide any such gossip.

However, Rudy Astria was an exception.

The rumor that he was a child abandoned by the Astria family seemed to be true.

The rumors about him at the academy weren't good either.

His brief speech during the entrance ceremony.

Many of the noble children said it had diminished the authority of the nobility.

They criticized him, saying it was an attitude only befitting commoners.

Moreover, his attitude during Professor Mcguire's class was enough to make everyone feel a sense of aversion.

But despite all that, his actions were quite ordinary.

He attended classes diligently and stayed in his room without going out.

The troublemakers she had seen would go out at night to enjoy themselves.

Of course, they didn't study, and some of them didn't even attend classes properly.

Rudy Astria's actions seemed like those of a typical model student.

"What is he up to?"

Why did he personally make people dislike him?

There was no reason to do so in the small society of the academy.

Even if he couldn't inherit his family later, that attitude was the worst if he wanted to enter politics.

Politicians would tear him apart even if he lived humbly.

Yet he intentionally created trouble for himself.

"Hmm..."

A smile formed on Astina's lips.

She thought she could understand why the strict Professor Cromwell had called him an interesting fellow.

Astina decided to meet him in person.

She thought it was difficult to judge him based on rumors alone.

Discovering that he ate alone every day, she targeted that time to approach him.

"Hello?"

An indifferent expression.

"May I sit here?"

"Yes, please have a seat."

Contrary to his arrogant reputation, he showed manners.

"I'm Astina Persia."

"I'm Rudy Astria."

Rudy introduced himself indifferently.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're the top second-year student, right?"

He knew about her.

It was expected since she was quite famous at the school.

But his attitude was intriguing.

He was polite but did not engage in any other behavior.

His short answers kept the conversation from flowing smoothly.

It felt as if he was pushing her away.

And he didn't seem like someone who had been alone all this time.

Anyone who is constantly alone would feel lonely.

When someone approached them, they would usually try to speak more.

But he was different.

"Do you know why I came here?"

"I'm not sure."

"That's because... Huh?"

Rudy suddenly stood up from his seat.

"I finished eating, so I'll be going now."

Going?

Isn't he curious?

Why did she come here?

And...

"...I haven't finished eating yet."

Comparing the empty plate in front of Rudy to Astina's, she hadn't even started eating properly, and her plate was still full.

"Then, please enjoy your meal."

"Hey... If you leave, I'll be eating alone."

Flustered, Astina stuttered.

"I eat alone every day, and it's not that bad."

Rudy coldly turned around and left the cafeteria.

"Hey... Hey!"

Astina picked up her plate and chased after Rudy.

"Astina, hello!"

"Uh... Uh, hi!"

"Hello, senior!"

"Yeah, hi."

She wanted to throw away the food on her plate and chase after him, but her friends and juniors kept talking to her.

After greeting everyone and throwing away her food, Rudy's figure had already gone into the distance.

Astina halted in her pursuit.

"...What's with him?"

All she did was stare at Rudy, who was disappearing.

This treatment was a first for her.

Born in a viscount family, she grew up without being ignored by anyone.

Even at the academy, she never let go of her top position.

People of high status, and even the academy professors, never treated her like this.

grumble-

"...I'm hungry."

Astina, like an abandoned puppy, trudged toward the snack bar.

***

"Why do I keep getting involved with weird people?"

I grumbled as I headed to the next class.

Astina Persia, the top second-year student and student council president.

The student council election was coming up, and she was expected to be elected as the president.

I didn't want to get involved with Astina.

Astina wasn't a particularly important supporting character.

All the main stories revolved around first-year students.

There was usually no reason to interact with students from other grades.

She only showed her face occasionally, just when you'd almost forget about her.

It made sense, as if someone like Astina from another grade got involved in the main story, it would be resolved too easily.

Compared to the first-year students, her abilities would be like a cheat code.

I was already worried about the story getting tangled, so I tried to minimize interactions, no matter how lonely it got.

Then, I felt someone touch my back. When I turned around, there was a petite woman with brown hair.

"Luna Railer?"

"Um... Hi?"

Luna looked awkward as well, making a strange expression.

She was shaking like a small animal in front of a predator.

"Th-this, this class!"

Luna tightly closed her eyes and pointed to the classroom in front of us.

"...This class?"

When I looked at her with a puzzled expression, she stumbled over her words, unable to continue.

Then, she shoved a book in front of me: [Imperial Politics]. It was the class I was going to attend and happened to be a class Luna was in too.

"Uh...!"

Suddenly, Luna rushed into the classroom ahead of us.

"...?"

***

Yay site is pretty much done! Ads won't be up for a while I think but everything that I wanted is here. Next would be stuff like profile pictures for comments and some loading optimizations but time to focus on some other things like this mobile video editing app I wanna try making.

Anyways, I've re-edited all of the s for all novels. I've decided to completely follow to the author's sentences and spacing. I used to simplify filler text and try to format some sentences to be more impactful or readable especially big blocks of text. But I think its better to be as close as possible to a 1:1 translation even if I think it sounds/looks better in English a certain way.

Some changes to ASS:

-daughter of the Imperial Family Spirit Chief, 'Serina Rijnsburgse' -> daughter of the Royal Head Spirit Mage, 'Serina Rinsburg'

-Professor George Mackenzie, in charge of Basic Magic Theory -> Professor George Mcguire, in charge of Basic Magic Theory

-Luna Railer of the Railer Viscount family -> Luna Railer of the Railer Baron family

I'll be doing a mass release if I get ads up this weekend to get the novels going. If not well whatever I'll probs just release em anyway

Enjoy the chappy!