Chapter 236
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Episode 60 - Fallen leaves [2]
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Lumina let out a sigh internally; on the outside, the heart within her body was pounding rapidly.
’T-that was close... really close.’
If, after mentioning how Clementine had developed romantic feelings for Adel, Lumina was certain that the next person he mentioned would be none other than herself.
If he ever brought that up, she would rather kill herself the instant she got the chance.
However, luck was on her side. Adel had stopped her at just the right moment.
In any case, after the Q&A session came to an end.
Adel pressed the tip of his finger against Lumina’s forehead, and soon, the Mind Control faded away.
Lumina’s consciousness returned to her body, and she could finally feel it again, but...
"C-could you remove the seal on my Mana?"
Her Mana was sealed; only Adel, who had used his own Mana to seal it, could remove the seal.
Sealing someone else’s Mana in less than a second was truly complicated.
That meant his Mana manipulation was extraordinary, reaching monstrous levels.
Even it would take Lumina at least two or three seconds to seal someone else’s Mana before it could do anything.
Thus, although she could remove the seal herself, it would take far too long.
She looked at Adel, hoping he would remove the seal on her Mana, but...
"...No, I won’t."
".....!"
Lumina looked at Adel with an imaginary exclamation mark above her head.
"Why not?"
Adel crossed his arms and flashed a smile.
"You could think of it as punishment for not answering my questions when I asked you on the airship."
During the final week of exams, Adel had tried to question Lumina; however, she had deliberately pretended not to know anything.
And, in the end, she had tried to avoid Adel.
"....."
Internally, Lumina pouted, thinking of Adel as if he were the bad guy; externally, her expression became slightly dejected.
"T-that isn’t fair..."
Adel tilted his head and asked.
"Mhm, you said something."
"....."
’I know you heard me, fool.’
Even so, Lumina needed her Mana, so she tried to insist.
"I really need my Mana."
"....."
Adel maintained his carefree smile and said.
"I’ll remove the seal when the Atlas Seminar is over."
"..."
Lumina’s expression turned pale.
After the Atlas Seminar, that would take nearly eight hours, or perhaps even longer.
Regardless of whether the number of people increased or they took longer to present their theses.
She looked at Adel suspiciously.
"You don’t trust me, even though you forced me to talk."
Adel tilted his head and asked curiously.
"Now that I think about it, you’re speaking very casually right now. It’s quite different from how you normally speak."
"....!?"
Upon realizing this, Lumina blinked for a second before controlling her expression and emotions.
Perhaps because Adel now knew so much, or perhaps too much, about her and the relationship they had shared during her previous regression.
She hadn’t noticed it, but she had adopted the same personality she used when speaking with Adel during her previous regression.
In any case...
"...T-that’s not important. I asked whether you trust me, or why you won’t remove the seal."
Faced with her persistent question, Adel only smiled even more. Then, he leaned toward her, and Lumina took a step back.
But suddenly, her body froze. The Gravity around her brought every movement of her body to a halt.
"I never said I don’t trust you. I said it’s punishment for not answering my questions when I asked you nicely, and besides..."
He leaned back, but suddenly raised his right hand and gently patted her head.
"....."
Lumina’s mind froze instantly, and to make matters even worse, the next words Adel said were...
"...You’re also someone I care about and someone special to me."
The reason was simpler than it seemed.
’If I died in the future, that means Lumina managed to survive the day of her death.’
In other words, she could have continued living and eventually escaped the cycle of regressions.
But instead, she had probably killed herself and returned to the past just to change Adel’s future.
And for that reason...
’...She’s also someone I care about and someone special to me.’
***
The Atlas Seminar was something like a gathering.
In front of me was a large podium where, at the moment, people from all over the continent were presenting their theses.
The hall was enormous; there were thousands of spectators scattered throughout, nodding or shaking their heads.
Others asked question after question.
Others simply wanted to humiliate and heckle anyone who stepped onto the podium to present the work of their lives.
Honestly, this place was filled with jealous, arrogant people, or people who simply loved watching others make fools of themselves.
’Aah, places like this are such a pain.’
If it weren’t for the reward given after winning the competition among the attendants, there was no way I would have come here. Most likely, many of the people present would try to humiliate me once I stepped onto that podium.
’And to make matters worse, if one of them finds out that I’m a user of the Dark Attribute, things will only get worse.’
My emotions were constantly suppressed because of the Without Emotions Trait; however, that didn’t mean I had no emotions.
And naturally, accumulating too many emotions would cause some of them to show through.
’If they piss me off too much, or if I can’t stand their pointless criticism anymore...’
No one in this place will be able to stop me.
In any case, my primary objective was the assassins coming to kill Professor Ashly.
According to my memories, the organization behind these assassins was known as "Fallen Leaves".
It was an assassin organization that operated across every continent and, theoretically, was comparable to the Five Greats.
The Five Greats were the five villain organizations led by a Class 10 villain.
’There were thirty-two assassins in total according to my memories.’
There were six leaders, and they were the strongest among them.
The strongest of these assassins, however, were on par with a Seven-Star Awakened.
The Atlas Seminar didn’t have anyone particularly skilled in combat; there were only the guards and the personal guards of each guest.
’I can easily handle three.’
I slightly turned my head. Sitting right beside me was Lumina, silently watching the podium.
’And Lumina can handle three of them as well.’
In any case, my priority was Professor Ashly’s safety, while the safety of everyone else...
’... I don’t care if they die.’
Most of the people present had more than enough reasons to die.
Because many of them weren’t good people at all.
And besides, the most important and influential people here had truly powerful personal guards.
Meanwhile, one person after another stepped onto the podium and began their speeches, presentations, and Q&A sessions.
There were three judges who gave the final decision on whether a thesis would receive funding, be published, accepted, and used globally.
Five hours had passed in a row, and finally, it was Professor Ashly’s turn.
She quickly began by explaining the topic she was going to address, and, as expected...
The Mages immediately protested.
"It’s impossible to use two-verse magic."
"No one has ever been able to create two-verse magic. This is simply outrageous!"
"This is slander. Lying about something no one has ever been able to accomplish!"
And so on, the Mages continued shouting.
Without being fazed, the professor ignored them and explained her thesis.
Finally, it was time to show the results of her thesis.
Thus, Professor Ashly recited two verses of Seven-Star magic.
The magic was a support spell designed to prevent any damage to the surroundings, so after demonstrating the two-verse magic...
...The Mages who had been shouting at her moments ago immediately shut their mouths.
’I don’t even understand why they start shouting when the other person hasn’t even finished, much less shown an example.’
I shook my head inwardly. Mages were, after all, the most arrogant and annoying people.
Finally, several minutes of silence followed.
Professor Ashly had presented pages containing clear examples of other types of magic from different branches.
And after several minutes, the three judges gave their unanimous approval.
That meant the study on two-verse magic would finally spread across the entire continent.
Clap! Clap!
The entire Atlas Seminar applauded after Professor Ashly’s thesis was approved.
The noise soon died down, and they announced the competition among the attendants.
Then, a man appeared and presented the prize for first place. Furthermore, regardless of how many attendants each guest had, everyone would receive the same prize, preventing a single person from taking the entire reward.
Thus, the competition among the attendants began in full force.
It started with attendants no one knew and slowly moved on to attendants whom many of those present recognized.
’Anyway, then, where are those bastards?’
At that moment, I extended my senses, covering the entire Atlas Seminar.
And the instant I did, I could sense thirty-two abnormally powerful Mana signatures, every single one of them possessing the same Attribute.
’Dark Attribute, huh.’
A smile appeared on my face.
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