“Haaa…”
“Um… is something wrong…?”
Jay asked cautiously, but Vinoshu let out a long sigh with an extremely tired face. There were even long, dark circles under her eyes.
Since she had only shown a perfectly neat appearance until now, Jay felt worried. Considering how Vinoshu had treated him until now, it was an innocent behavior that shouldn’t have come out.
“Haaa…”
However, Vinoshu let out another sigh while looking at Jay, who was sending her a concerned gaze.
Though it had been over a month since coming here, Jay would still be an untrustworthy person to her. Although he hadn’t caused any incidents except for the first one, in her eyes, Jay was an unreliable outsider.
Connubium was a very secretive school. The secrets Connubium held could be understood just by looking at the confidentiality agreement. The professors were all from Connubium, slaves of blue blood whose independence had been castrated. They faithfully served the school.
According to the novel, they had all been abandoned by their families. They had nowhere else to go but this school. In such a situation, they idealized the school—the only place they could stay—forgetting all the fear they felt when they first came. They rationalized all the abuse while praising themselves.
If they didn’t do that, their egos wouldn’t be maintained.
“You… will have to take on an additional student.”
Vinoshu’s words dragged on, showing how much she disliked it. She wouldn’t want to entrust a student—a precious commodity to them—to Jay, an outsider. But they were suffering from such a manpower shortage that they had hired Jay, an outsider. Even if she disliked it, there was no one else to entrust them to.
Vinoshu tried to hold back her sighs, but unable to control herself, she sighed deeply again as if the ground would cave in.
“A student?”
Jay’s appearance, asking with wide eyes, must have looked foolish. Vinoshu looked at Jay with eyes full of disdain.
“I’m telling you in advance, but you’ll have to handle them very carefully.”
Then she held out documents she had prepared in advance. The fluttering paper looked like Sayed’s death notice, so Vinoshu closed her eyes briefly. Jay found Vinoshu’s reaction curious but focused on reading the paper he received.
[Sayed Murad. 17 years old. Male. C-rank.
4th Prince of Chatis Kingdom.
Initial indoctrination work completed but possibility of rampage exists. Martial arts skills higher than known. Requires close attention. Shows violent behavior if the cloth on face is touched. Requires correction. Major observation needed.]
There was no photo or portrait, only personal information written down. Though the content written on the paper was brief, the main point was clear. Sayed Murad was dangerous.
Seeing that the school had decided on its own that he was a dangerous element, Jay couldn’t hide his puzzlement. It was because he couldn’t understand why they would entrust him with such a high-risk student.
Jay’s contract period wasn’t even long. Major observation subjects in any field required long-term management as a rule. However, according to Jay’s contract period, it was clear he would leave the school without being able to properly observe him.
Jay thought that by all accounts, he was quite lacking to take charge of this student.
“Is this a student… I should take on?”
So he looked at Vinoshu with a face that had embraced a lump of worry. Seeing that naive face, Vinoshu’s sighs came out deeply again.
“You have no choice but to take him. There are no other professors with spare capacity, and this has already been approved.”
If it were the level of other students Jay was in charge of, it would be fine, but Sayed clearly seemed like he would be more difficult. Right now, Jay had barely achieved balance in his life at this Connubium.
He was already in such a precarious state that it could break at any moment, and with the current situation that had arisen, Jay began to get a headache.
“I’ll send him to the guidance room during breakfast time.”
“…I understand.”
But worrying was pointless since it was already decided. From Jay’s position, he couldn’t refuse either. He agreed with difficulty and left Vinoshu’s room. Perhaps because of worry, the usually ordinary hallway felt even darker, and Jay shrank his body.
“*Cough cough*.”
Jay coughed lightly. Due to the side effects of Persona, his physical condition was gradually worsening. Jay, who didn’t know this, had been leaving it alone thinking it was cold symptoms. However, his physical condition was gradually worsening, so Jay now thought he needed medical treatment.
However, he was reluctant to go to the medical office because of his impression of Carl. Having seen him treat Vittorio roughly, it would be strange to want to go. First impressions, whether good or bad, were bound to last long.
“Did I overdo it a bit?”
Since getting hired at Connubium, Jay hadn’t suffered much physically. However, this school put a great mental burden on him. It seemed like doing hard labor would actually be better mentally.
Jay decided to ignore his deteriorated body again and postpone going to the medical office. It was because the cough only came out occasionally and though his body was heavy in the morning, it wasn’t to the point where he had to lie down all day.
However, contrary to Jay’s thoughts, even while walking, coughs occasionally popped out, so his gait naturally slowed. At this rate, my body might not be able to endure Persona for long.
Time passed and the children gathered in the guidance room one after another. Jay carefully listened to the lengthy reports that had now become routine and checked them in his notebook. Since the reports were finished, it was time to eat, but Jay postponed the schedule for a moment. It was to explain that a new student was coming.
“Today… a new student will be coming to this class.”
“A new student, you say?”
Chung asked in a puzzled voice. Her face held the same gentle smile as usual, so outwardly she seemed to welcome the newcomer, but what was inside was clearly different from what was visible. Unlike her pure flower-like appearance, she was quite cunning.
Jay observed the students’ reactions. What he was most worried about was the students’ agitation upon hearing the news.
Chung had a perfectly drawn smile, whatever thoughts she was having inside. She showed no agitation whatsoever. Ivan seemed to have no great interest in the new person, as his gaze was directed at the small window.
On the other hand, Vittorio’s pupils were subtly shaking, as if he was nervous. But Jay didn’t notice such Vittorio and sighed inwardly while speaking.
“Yes. They’ll be coming soon…”
*Knock knock*. As if waiting, someone knocked on the door. The moment Jay had hoped wouldn’t come had arrived.
“Yes.”
When Jay answered, the door opened and Sayed entered along with a professor whose name he didn’t know. Behind them, a slave was carrying a desk and chair. Jay was surprised to see Sayed. Since there was nothing in the documents to know his appearance, he hadn’t known that the student who had lunged at him and been beaten by the professors was Sayed.
Jay was inwardly relieved to confirm that outwardly there were no noticeable injuries. He had been worried that he might have been seriously hurt by the excessive violence at that time, so it was fortunate. The turban wrapping his face was also cleanly laundered.
Now he was no longer a D-rank student confined in the basement, but an ordinary C-rank student, so they couldn’t show flaws to the outside. The wounds must have all been treated with something like potions. The things given after submission must certainly be sweet to the students.
“I’m transferring the student.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The professor sent Jay a displeased look. The distrust toward Jay reached him pricklingly.
But so what. This was already approved by Vinoshu’s side. If they had such complaints, they should go directly to Vinoshu and protest.
The professor didn’t hide their annoyed gaze until the end and left the classroom. The slave bowed their head and quietly placed the desk and chair in one corner of the classroom to make Sayed’s seat.
Sayed stood quietly next to Jay watching all of this. The violent behavior was completely gone, making him seem like a different person.
“Then… shall we do introductions?”
“Sayed Murad, Chatis.”
Sayed, who stated his name in a low voice, ended his brief self-introduction. Jay nodded and gestured toward the empty seat. In fact, he wanted to hear a longer self-introduction, but it would be Jay who would be in trouble if he needlessly stirred things up and sparks flew.
Sayed went and sat in the chair with quiet steps. His docile appearance made what he had read in the documents seem meaningless. Jay felt uneasy somewhere, but thought it was ten times better than causing a disturbance.
The joining of the new student, Sayed, ended much more smoothly than he had worried. Since introductions were finished, it was now time to eat. Jay had the meals brought in once all the students were seated.
As usual, breakfast came into the guidance room, and Jay began serving. And when Jay checked Sayed’s portion, his face hardened stiffly.
“…Isn’t something wrong?”
So surprised was he that Jay asked the slave, whom he normally wouldn’t speak to. That voice was cold as ice. It seemed he was being sensitive because of the previous matter regarding Vittorio as well.
“There is nothing wrong with the meal.”
The slave who bowed their head politely had no reason to lie. Jay looked at Sayed’s meal again with a pale face.
Stone-hard black bread and milk. The milk at least looked fresh, but… that was all. The stone-like hard dried bread seemed like it would be dry and crumbly no matter how much it was soaked in milk. No matter how many times he checked, compared to the others, it was clearly an inadequate meal.
“Sayed Murad.”
When Jay called him, he walked forward without hesitation and took the tray without any change in expression. He showed no sense that something was wrong with this miserable meal. And for good reason—he had suffered all kinds of abuse in the basement. They certainly wouldn’t have given him proper food.
However, to Jay, who didn’t know this fact, the current situation was only bewildering.
