#Chapter 59
—
“What’s this… another situation now?”
Muttering to himself, Arthur laughed.
In the meantime, a blond handsome man strode into the classroom.
Leon Madrid shouted in a rough voice.
“Nice to meet you, juniors—! I’m Leon Madrid! Your senior who’s five years ahead of you!”
“…”
“But due to unavoidable circumstances, I’ve repeated a grade five times, and as of today, I’ll be taking classes with you! Don’t worry, I won’t act like some overbearing old man just because I’m older, hahaha!”
At his hearty laughter, the students blinked.
Professor Chizzy was no exception.
“…”
In that awkward atmosphere, the elderly professor let out a deep sigh.
“If by chance… Student Leon does anything strange, or forces you to speak politely to him, or something of that sort happens… please report it to me immediately. I’ll take prompt action…”
Startled, Leon cried out.
“No, Professor Chizzy! That action doesn’t mean giving me a failing grade, right? Because that would make this my sixth failure already!”
“It doesn’t have to be just six times… it could become ten, Student Leon. So please… conduct yourself properly as befits a student of Arcane University.”
“Even though I may look like this now, I was once the student council president of Arcane University! Isn’t it too much to lecture me about conduct?”
With a kindly smile, he asked this, and Professor Chizzy sighed again.
“That’s… why it’s all the more regrettable. A student who was even student council president…”
His words trailed off as he waved his hand.
Leon turned his gaze, scanning the classroom, and then suddenly stopped.
“Haha!”
Laughing, Leon ambled over and plopped down next to Arthur.
The watching students widened their eyes and whispered.
“He sat next to Arthur Bayern?”
“The delinquent prince and… the mute noble?”
“What kind of pairing is that supposed to be?”
Meanwhile, Leon, seated beside Arthur, lowered his head and whispered.
“I told you, didn’t I? This is our destiny.”
At those words, Arthur clicked his tongue.
“Click. I should have killed you back then.”
“What was that? Killed me?”
“I never said that.”
“You did! I definitely heard it!”
As Leon retorted, Arthur tilted his head slightly.
At that exact moment, a piece of chalk flew and struck Leon squarely on the forehead.
“Ugh!”
As Leon staggered from the impact, Professor Chizzy’s cold voice cut through.
“Do not… chatter during class, Student Leon.”
“…”
“And you beside him, Student Arthur… don’t encourage him either.”
With that, Professor Chizzy resumed the lecture.
As Leon rubbed his reddened forehead and straightened up, a small note fluttered down in front of him.
\[If you speak to me one more time, I really will kill you, Your Highness. Do you understand what I mean?]
Leon blinked as he read the contents of the note.
Then he turned his head to the side.
“…”
There sat Arthur, wearing the utmost serious expression, intently listening to Professor Chizzy.
From his face and demeanor, a deep thirst for knowledge radiated.
‘At night, a back-alley mercenary. By day, a diligent student?’
Leon’s lips curled upward.
‘Truly unique. I’m glad I returned to school.’
With that thought, Leon too focused on the lecture.
Time passed, and as the class neared its end, Professor Chizzy unexpectedly announced dismissal earlier than usual.
The students, puzzled—since he always filled the full class time—watched as he pulled out a document.
“A new… assignment.”
“…”
“It’s a group project… where you’ll test the theses you submitted through experiments. The research results will be recorded and filmed through the recording orbs I’ve distributed… and two weeks from now in class, we’ll have time to verify them.”
The students gaped in shock.
‘We barely finished the last assignment, and now another one?’
‘And a group project on top of that?’
‘Ha… insane. This is gonna kill me.’
But none voiced their complaints.
After a month of his classes, they all understood such complaints would never work on Professor Chizzy.
So instead, they cast uneasy glances at one another, hoping to be grouped with capable partners.
At that moment, Professor Chizzy raised another document and declared:
“No need… to worry about choosing groups.”
“…!”
“I have already… formed suitable teams based on your theses. So work together… coordinate well… and achieve good results.”
And with that, he began announcing the group assignments.
“First team: Arthur Bayern…”
—
—
Professor Chizzy’s declaration marked the beginning of the group project.
Thus, after class ended, Arthur met with his groupmates at a nearby café to discuss.
But his expression was far from pleased.
Because his teammates turned out to be none other than Leon Madrid and Yenika Hazel.
‘This is troublesome… I have to research with these bundles of problems?’
One was a thief who had stolen the secrets of the imperial family.
The other, the head of a cult-like group of fanatics.
In every way, utterly unsuitable teammates.
‘But it’s already decided, so there’s no avoiding it…’
In this situation, he alone—the only normal one—had to stay sharply focused.
Otherwise, his hard-earned A-grade would vanish.
As Arthur resolved himself, Leon greeted Yenika.
“To think I’d get to meet the famed daughter of the Hazel conglomerate! A pleasure!”
Expressionless, Yenika replied.
“The honor is mine. To be able to greet a descendant of the great imperial family.”
“Isn’t that too stiff? We’re about to be working on a group project together, you know?”
A question full of laughter.
But Yenika gave no response.
Leon, flustered by her coldness, glanced at Arthur.
‘Is she always like this?’
To his silent question, Arthur just shrugged.
Then Yenika stood up.
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll be leaving first. Divide the workload as you see fit and inform me…”
But Arthur suddenly grabbed her hand.
Startled, Yenika’s eyes widened—only for Arthur to warn her with a serious look.
“Yenika, what are you doing? You need to discuss this with us too.”
“…Excuse me?”
“The presentation’s in just two weeks, and you want to just decide workloads and be done with it?”
Yenika fell silent.
‘Arthur Bayern… is actually saying something reasonable?’
Then Arthur grinned slyly and threw a mischievous question.
“Don’t tell me, Yenika… you were planning to dump everything on us and still take the credit?”
Yenika’s face twisted.
“What nonsense…! You think I’d stoop to something like that?”
At that, Leon muttered gravely.
“You should care…”
“…?”
“Professor Chizzy’s projects… basically decide your entire final grade. In other words, if you don’t score here, you fail. Like me.”
Yenika’s shoulders flinched.
Beside her, Arthur nodded fervently.
“Absolutely can’t happen. Failing is not an option. That’s why we need to pool ideas now and decide what to present.”
“Exactly! I don’t want to fail again either! This is my sixth time taking Professor Chizzy’s lecture—it’s killing me!”
With newfound camaraderie, Arthur and Leon clasped hands.
Yenika stared at them, dumbfounded.
‘Seriously… all this fuss over failing…’
She shook her head, trying to leave. For her, who had a true purpose in entering Arcane University, whether she failed or not didn’t matter.
But strangely, her body wouldn’t move.
When she turned, Arthur was still holding her hand.
“Yenika, you’ll participate, right?”
“….”
“You already got the lowest grade on the last project. If you don’t properly join this time either, you might really fail.”
With a sigh, Yenika retorted.
“And what if I do? Can’t I just take the lowest grade?”
“Sure, you can. But think carefully. ‘Yenika Hazel failed’—do you think that rumor would benefit you in any way?”
Yenika flinched.
Arthur smirked.
“For example, Car—”
“Enough.”
Shuddering, Yenika cut him off, not even bothering to hide her flushed face.
“Alright, I get it. Enough already. I understand.”
Hearing the answer he wanted, Arthur nodded at once.
Then he proposed, almost eagerly:
“Let’s meet every other day like this, research and investigate our parts. Then, five days before the presentation, we start the experiments. How’s that? Sounds pretty solid, right?”
Still sulking, Yenika objected.
“Isn’t that too often? Once a week should be enough…”
Leon interrupted.
“Take it from someone experienced—meeting once a week won’t ever get you a good grade from Professor Chizzy.”
“…Why not?”
“Because you have to record your experiments with the recording orb. He cares a lot about how often you show up, how much effort you put in, things like that.”
Yenika fell silent, her discomfort plain to see. Leon chuckled.
“…What are you laughing at, Your Highness?”
“Hmm? Oh, nothing… just that it’s amusing to see a beauty like you troubled.”
“…You have some suspicious hobbies.”
“Oh, I have plenty more. Want to hear a few?”
Yenika clicked her tongue.
‘This man’s not normal either… I should have realized the moment he sat next to Arthur Bayern.’
She turned her gaze away.
But then a sudden thought crossed her mind.
‘Wait. These two… did they already know each other? Why is the prince approaching Arthur Bayern?’
Leon Madrid.
The imperial family’s infamous delinquent prince.
His debauchery was well-known to Yenika—drink, women, endless scandals.
That’s why it was strange.
No matter how she looked at it, Leon Madrid and Arthur Bayern didn’t seem like they’d get along. Yet here they were, acting as though they had some familiarity.
As that suspicion crossed her mind, Arthur suddenly stood and declared, tapping the table.
“Alright, it’ll be tough, but let’s work together and all avoid failing! Now, first, which thesis should we…”
—
—
Centered around Arthur, the three of them debated and negotiated for quite some time.
What research topic to pursue, how to divide the workload.
At last, after much discussion, things were finally settled.
Yenika sighed and stood.
“Oh? You’re leaving, Yenika?”
“Yes. We’re not starting the project today, are we?”
“Well, that’s true. But didn’t you say you had something to tell me?”
Yenika narrowed her eyes at Arthur.
“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I don’t feel like talking to you, Young Master.”
Arthur nodded without hesitation.
“Alright then, go.”
She turned sharply and walked out.
Leon, who had been watching with keen interest, leaned in with a gleam in his eye.
“So you’re quite the ladies’ man, huh?”
“…Ladies’ man?”
“Last time it was the daughter of House Leverkusen, and today it’s the Hazel heiress? Not bad at all, for someone who doesn’t look the type.”
With a sly smile, he said this. Arthur clicked his tongue.
“Your Highness, you’re really something else.”
“…Huh?”
“How can you only think in that direction whenever a woman’s involved? Especially Yenika and me—where on earth do we look like a couple?”
Scolded, Leon blinked.
“N-no, not exactly… but the atmosphere didn’t seem that bad?”
“You really can’t read the room. Yenika and I—we don’t get along.”
“…Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Leon scratched his head.
‘That wasn’t good chemistry? That aloof girl looked completely caught off guard… And her expressions when she looked at me versus at Arthur were different. Isn’t that at least a sign of potential?’
As he mulled it over, Arthur stood.
Leon snapped out of his thoughts.
“Leaving already?”
“Yes, I’ve got another class coming up.”
“Really? Then spare me five minutes—do you have some time?”
“Nope.”
“Aw, come on, don’t pretend you’re that busy.”
At Leon’s joking persistence, Arthur’s brows knit together.
“Your Highness, I think you’re mistaken, so let me make it clear.”
“…?”
“Even if we’re on the same team, I haven’t forgiven you.”
Leon was caught off guard.
“What? Just now we were getting along so well!”
“That’s that, and this is this.”
“….”
“So stop acting like we’re close. I’d rather keep my distance from you.”
Leon sighed.
“Harsh words… then how about this? Let me make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Yes… I think it might interest you.”
With that, Leon rummaged in his coat and revealed something.
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“…That’s?”
“A high-grade Essence Pill.”
“…!”
“You of all people would recognize the value of this, wouldn’t you?”
Arthur blinked at the question.
‘Of course I would. Mr. Tacen broke through his wall after consuming one of these.’
Intermediate Essence Pills could still be bought with money.
But from high-grade upward, money alone couldn’t buy them.
Even with connections and influence, acquiring one was nearly impossible.
Yet here Leon was, casually pulling out what could only be a high-grade Essence Pill.
‘Judging by the mana emanating from it… it’s genuine. But why?’
Frowning, Arthur muttered.
“…Suspicious, Your Highness. You’ve got some hidden agenda, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“….”
“But it’s nothing too difficult. In fact, you might even find it fun.”
Arthur tilted his head.
Leon’s lips curled into a grin as he whispered in a low voice:
“Khan Madrid… help me kill that man. What do you say, Arthur Bayern?”
—
