CHAPTER 249: TRUE DISCIPLE (4)

0% “Whatever you want to eat, tell me.”

Despite asking gently, Leninya didn’t answer.

It seemed a bit overwhelming for her.

“Don’t think of me as your professor but a friendly senior.”

I knew that words like this would make her feel even more uncomfortable, but this was all I could say now that I was a professor.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take you to the most expensive nearby restaurant.”

It was only after threatening(?) her that Leninya finally opened her mouth.

“...shi.”

“Hm?”

“I want to eat sushi.”

Leninya reluctantly lowered her head.

Sushi, hm.

Sushi was expensive.

Especially because it had long since become a luxury food that only children of rich households could afford due to Leviathan taking over the shores and wreaking havoc, significantly impacting the catch.

Leninya seemed hesitant and unable to lighten up because she knew this as well.

“I’m sorry. If it’s too much, we can eat something else....”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

I nodded readily.

Leninya looked stunned as if she didn’t expect me to agree.

“Um, is it okay?”

“It’s fine.”

As much as I had ulterior motives, I wasn’t so poor that I couldn’t treat my fellow Golden-Eye to some fresh fish. I asked if ‘Aether’ was okay with it.

[Why aren’t you paying attention to Yufiel Vierbein?]

So she scolded, but when I gave the excuse that it was to improve her reputation at the academy, she shut up.

After unintentionally allowing Yufiel the second strike, my time in this body increased.

Besides the 6 hours of sleep, about half of the remaining 18 hours, that is, I had about 9 hours to do as I wished.

Of course, that meant I got to decide who I would eat with.

“I happen to know a famous place.”

I took Leninya to the restaurant.

TITLE『The Spring Pool』It was an on-campus sushi restaurant that was famous for its interior design made to look like the Elemental Springs located in the Elemental Realm.

“This is awesome.”

Leninya looked around the place with admiration.

“It feels like I’m inside the World Tree.”

“Have you been?”

“No, Golden-Eyeds aren’t allowed to enter.”

“I see.”

We grabbed a decent spot and looked at the menu.

While we waited for the food, I looked around at the interior once more. Everything from the texture of the wall to the brightness of the lighting was perfect.

It was really like being inside the World Tree.

It was my first time here, and probably was the same for Leninya. Leninya looked all around with fascination, then couldn’t help her exclamation at the side dishes that came out.

“I’ve never seen such luxurious dishes like this before.”

“It’s only the side dishes.”

“Have you dined here before?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know?”

“My academic advisor.”

Miss Heerlein’s face popped up in my head.

“I have a mentor who once took me to a sushi place near Tilette.”

Eating soy sauce with added lemon juice.

That was already a year ago. Time really flew.

“Here, eat.”

A sushi set including halibut, shrimp, and salmon began being served like a course meal. Each new dish that came out, I gave it to Leninya first.

I deboned the grilled fish, told her that it was good to add lemon juice to the soy sauce, pulled clams from the boiling stew and shucked them, and quickly handed her a napkin when she spilled something while eating.

While Leninya was feeling overwhelmed, she ate what was given. Her eyes glimmered everytime she cleared a plate.

“Is it good?”

“It’s good.”

The corners of Leninya’s lips lifted slightly, a rare display of emotion by Golden-Eyed standards. She was basically grinning ear to ear from happiness.

At the same time, her ears were flapping like a live fish. It was an elven expression, and that, too, seemed to be a movement of joy.

Clack.

“Miss.”

Leninya finished her plate and spoke up tentatively.

“I have a favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Can I do an undergrad internship under you?”

My throat caught as I happened to be putting a California roll into my mouth.

I hastily washed it down with soda and tried to calm my mouth that was trying to twitch upwards. Did I hear wrong just now?

“I can’t?”

“No, it’s not that you can’t.”

I was wondering when to bring it up, but Leninya suggested it first. What luck.

“I want to find other ways to pay for my tuition besides scholarships.”

Leninya was so poor that she lived in the slums.

Not just her, but most of the Golden-Eyed did. The Golden-Eyed were a marginalized group in Kaurelia. Every time the National Assembly proposed funding for them, it would fall through because of all the opposition.

Although apartheid was abolished, people’s perceptions hadn’t caught up with the times. Kaurelia was still confused, and students like Leninya getting into Iliad was like asking for the moon.

While that kind of disadvantage could be overcome with talent and ability, all that met them was subtle contempt and expensive tuition.

“Please, Miss.”

Leninya spoke, squeezing her cup.

“I don’t think I can keep paying 30 000 ellans every semester. I’ve been receiving scholarships until now, but I don’t know what’ll happen in the future. So.......”

30 000 ellans was about 40 million won. Of course, this was excluding dorm fees.

Come to think of it, everyone else besides Leninya came from well-to-do families. Yufiel and Rike were High Elves, and even the other normal elves, while lacking in family history, were still children of solid households who were studying here.

And what about the guys from Tilette? Lotte was the daughter of Count Saliere, and I read from Rosemary’s letter that Freyr and Vermel were being supported by Duke Hasfeldt.

So basically, everyone besides Leninya wasn’t as worried about tuition.

“Will an undergrad internship be enough? You’ll only get 4000 ellans a month at most.”

“Th-that much?”

Leninya’s eyes grew into saucers.

“My lab has quite a bit of money.”

Actually, there was more to lose than gain from a theorist standpoint.

Even so, I had gold that was brought over from the Demon Castle so by exchanging that, there’d be enough money to live comfortably for several years. And giving a pinch of that to Leninya wasn’t going to make a difference.

“Finish eating first.”

I smiled at Leninya who was looking at me dazedly.

There was a groan inside. ‘Aether’ seemed unhappy with my actions.

[You need to give attention to Yufiel Vierbein in order to access the World Tree.]

That’s your problem.

[I told you that I wouldn’t interact with the students in any way outside of teaching them.]

How could a person live with only simple purposes?

If it was me when I first came here, I wouldn’t have looked at Leninya twice. But humans changed over time. Just as cells get replaced every two years, thoughts change along with purpose when stimulated by experience.

And seeing this girl, I found another purpose.

Even if ‘I’ lost my mind tomorrow and destroyed the world, I would take Leninya under my wing.

“Is it really okay?”

“We’ll talk more about the pay later. For now, eat, eat.”

“Thank you.”

Leninya smiled and finished the rest of the sushi.

**Yufiel’s supplementary lessons happened five times a week. It was because if it went more than that, there’d be no time to research and develop Dark Day.

And since my desk had been destroyed with a shotgun, I couldn’t teach Yufiel in my private lab.

“Can I teach you at your dorm?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

After a friendly agreement, I set foot inside Yufiel’s dorm room.

“Come in.”

There was only one bed and desk.

“Do you live alone?”

“Yes.”

A one-person dorm.

And it was large, too, about 26 m2. Like this, it was hard to tell if I came into a dorm or hotel room.

From what I knew, you had to pay 3000 ellans a month to stay in a room like this which was the equivalent of 4 million won.

“You didn’t think about a double or quad room?”

“I prefer being alone.”

Indeed. Looking around, I could tell why she wanted to be alone.

Replicas of scrolls were lining the shaman’s wall. It was like being in a shaman’s house.

“Did you draw all of this?”

“I did.”

Yufiel replied proudly.

“That’s quite the talent.”

“You’re being kind.”

“And there’s a few Flares, too.”

“Ah, that’s.......”

Before I knew it, my eyes were on the largest magic paper.

An integrated circuit using actual transistors that she had gotten from somewhere. The wires and boards that were densely laid out like the nerve cells in a brain were glimmering brilliantly in the room light.

Although it wasn’t perfect, it was still an impressive degree of completion.

“You etched this logic circuit over here wrong.”

Humming, I pointed out the mistakes one by one. It was really a mindless behavior that flowed like water.

“This part is out of symmetry.”

I talked about symmetry and conservation of law in today’s class.

So I decided to proceed with an extra lesson so that Yufiel would have an easier time with the assignment. Yufiel did her best to follow my lesson, and didn’t forget to ask every time she had a question.

“But how do you know so much about Flare, Miss?”