“Master……”
“Stop it. I won’t reduce the time I spend as Jay.”
I turned away from Belly’s watery eyes and began reading the novel with Glutton. Whoever was trying to stop me, I had no intention of stopping. Because I couldn’t ignore my own identity. This was the only way I could survive.
* * *
Late at night. During a time submerged in silence, one of Connubium’s students was hiding their body like a thief and moving stealthily. He, who was an ordinary Connubium student during the day, was a noble’s child from Garan Kingdom.
He was heading toward a hideout. Even in this prison that seemed solid, gaps were bound to exist, and the group in the place he was going were those who had cleverly dug into those gaps.
“I too…… will live like a human.”
The student quietly muttered as if sobbing. He covered his mouth, startled by his own voice, but soon let out a sigh of relief inwardly upon knowing there was no one around. The moment a professor caught him, his situation would become miserable in an instant.
Even if others didn’t know, I knew that student’s emotions clearly as if placed on the palm of my hand. He wouldn’t be able to stand being traded like a doll to others.
Just then, a red butterfly flew toward the student. That butterfly, which looked like flames at a glance, fluttered and bewitched him. The student immediately tried to blindly chase after that butterfly.
I didn’t give him that chance and suddenly appeared in front of that student.
“Huh?”
The student who muttered like a fool belatedly covered his mouth again. Perhaps from fear, he dripped cold sweat from his entire body. He seemed to mistake me for a professor.
The student’s frail legs trembled like an aspen tree. Even though the appearance of wearing a black robe was easy to mistake for a ghost rather than a professor, this student seemed to fear the existence of professors more than something like ghosts.
When I did nothing and just stared down, the student nervously looked up.
“Hik……!”
The student, whose eyes met mine directly, swallowed the scream that tried to burst out. In the quiet corridor, the sound of cold sweat dripping and teeth chattering as they met echoed. But contrary to his fear, I had no intention of causing him any harm.
I spoke to him while creating intimidation.
“Obtain the Holy Grail.”
The voice, cold as if ice was sweeping through, was detached and rigid. The student before my eyes seemed to have lessened his fear somewhat at the fact that I spoke human words. However, as if he didn’t understand the sudden words, he slowly asked back.
“Holy…… Grail?”
“If you stay like this, you’re no different from livestock to be sold off.”
I stabbed his lungs with the cold reality. In fact, his position was worse than livestock. What would he think seeing humans of the same species as himself living happily? It was certain to be unfortunate and miserable.
Most livestock were abused and lived shorter than their original lives. However, this student before my eyes would live long as a human unless he died sick. An immense unhappiness was piled up layer upon layer before him.
He overcame his fear with anger arising from frustration and glared at me.
“If you want to win, obtain it.”
“……”
But even that fierce glare at me was only for that brief moment. When I took a step closer, the student couldn’t budge from the intimidation. It was the limit of a weak human. I whispered quietly in his ear.
“Make those who shoved you into the mire into losers.”
The quiet voice as if whispering to Master would be seductive, having erased the intimidation. Although I didn’t want to do this to an existence other than Master, giving a carrot after the stick was an essential procedure.
The student, as if lost in a trance, couldn’t come to his senses until I left. I hid my body in the shadows and watched over him. I had to confirm until the end how he would act.
‘Belly, all matters must be finished thoroughly. Even when killing someone, thinking carelessly “they must be dead, right?” and leaving them behind, then they’re actually alive and you face the hammer of revenge. That happens more often than you think.’
My master spoke of everything in metaphors of novels, but it was always correct. My only precept that I wouldn’t lose against. No scripture in the world was greater to me than his teachings.
The student came to his senses after a moment and began running frantically. The words he muttered while running noisily made me satisfied. The corners of my mouth twisted strangely in euphoria.
“I have to hurry and tell them quickly. Surely that…… the Holy Grail will help us!”
The professor who would have stopped him was subdued in my hands. The spark that would soon become a great fire headed toward his destination beyond the corridor like that. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
* * *
Connubium also had holidays. Even though it was a school that oppressed students, students needed regular holidays. Because whips worked better when used together with regular carrots. Moreover, the school didn’t only have students. The professors were also human, so they needed rest.
There were various ways to spend holidays. Many people spent holidays with friends or colleagues. But professors tended to spend time alone rather than gathering in twos and threes.
Jay also usually took walks in the garden alone when he had free time. But today, he was thinking of reading books in the library. In fact, it was strange that he hadn’t thought of the library until now.
He hummed unconsciously in excitement and walked quickly. Since it was an old school, he expected there would be rare books, so his steps were light as could be.
“……Haa.”
A dense forest of books. His happiness at there being plenty of things to enjoy was brief. Almost all the books in the library were outside Jay’s tastes. <The Virtuous Woman>, <Taming Ignorance>, <The End of That Scoundrel>, <The Abyss of Disobedience>, etc……. They were things written with biased themes.
<Taming Ignorance> was about making a headstrong woman obedient, and <The End of That Scoundrel> literally dealt with the miserable end of a noble’s child who had lived like a scoundrel. <The Abyss of Disobedience> was about a prince who wasn’t satisfied with his position and tried to usurp the throne, then met a miserable result.
That’s right. Though the detailed contents were different, the themes were all the same. Be satisfied with your place. Behave modestly. Be grateful for your position.
Jay felt nauseous at the suffocatingly forceful hand. The grip that squeezed the students from everywhere was chilling. Even the library, which should be nourishment for knowledge, had transformed into a tool for obedience.
Jay covered his face with his hands and rushed out of the library. It was because he had an especially hard time enduring the disgust today. My body was gradually weakening, and Jay’s mind was wearing down.
“Ugh…… I’m depressed……”
In the end, Jay crouched down in a corner of the library and muttered gloomily. Since he had high expectations for classical books, his disappointment was also great.
Chung discovered Jay drooping like a jellyfish swaying sluggishly. It wasn’t a planned meeting. Chung stared at Jay, who hadn’t discovered her, and smiled radiantly. Her eyes, unlike her beautiful smile, flashed like a beast that had found prey.
A moment later, when eyes met with Jay, Chung walked over leisurely as if waiting for this.
“Professor, hello.”
“Ah, Jin…… Are you spending your holiday well?”
He couldn’t show his gloomy, drooping appearance to his student. Although he was a contract professor, there was still dignity he had to maintain.
But even though he tried to straighten his hunched posture and smile, one could see at a glance that he had no energy. Though Jay had decent acting ability, it was because accumulated fatigue burst out and he couldn’t display his talent.
Chung smiled slightly as if knowing nothing at Jay’s question and nodded. Her appearance like a freshly bloomed, modest flower didn’t match with Connubium’s dampness. However, looking at that appearance, Jay felt an inexplicable fatigue and decided to leave.
“I see. Then, I’ll be go—”
“Professor, won’t you share tea and refreshments with me?”
“Tea and refreshments?”
To Jay, it was a proposal that felt out of the blue. Jin Chung was the student with the most distance from Jay. To him, Chung was a student who felt perfect. Of course, she was perfect too.
A-grade was the finest finished product that Connubium could create. Ivan and Vittorio had each exposed their fragile parts to Jay. Though it was sharing they hadn’t wanted, sharing weaknesses had narrowed the distance between them.
On the other hand, Chung had not a single gap. Chung, who showed not a single pain, was the student Jay inwardly found most difficult. But Jay couldn’t refuse that request, which might possibly be a rescue request.
“Yes. Very good tea came from my home country. I’d like to enjoy it together with you, Professor.”
“I’m fine with it. I was bored since I had nothing to do today.”
Hearing those words, Chung showed a smile bright as sunshine and led the way. Jay followed behind.
“This way. Everything is already prepared.”
Though it was an unplanned meeting, making it seem prepared was Chung’s ability. Because it was important to prepare a place for conversation in advance to seize the initiative. If it was territory under her purview, it was easier to control than someone else’s territory.
“You already prepared? What were you going to do if I said I wouldn’t go?”
Jay said with slight surprise, smiling mischievously. But not even a crack appeared in Chung’s smile as she covered her mouth and laughed.
“Well, of course I’d promise for next time. What I’ve already prepared can be shared with my schoolmates.”
