Chapter 138: Chapter 136 – With Mille and Katy

Translator: Kell | Editor: Weasalopes

With Mille and Katy

When Hikaru woke up, he found himself covered in a blanket. Too much sleep made his head feel heavy. The dim, blue sky outside suggested not a lot of time had passed since daybreak.

「I overslept.」

Having his head stroked by Lavia, he fell asleep right away and woke up the next day. He was starving. He rose from the bed, and the chilly air in the room made him shiver a bit. Winter was fast approaching.

「I wonder where Lavia went.」

Hikaru got out of bed and donned a robe from the closet. As he left the bedroom, Lavia returned.

「Good morning, Hikaru.」

「Good morning. Did you go outside?」

「Yeah. I figured you’d be up soon.」

Steam rose from the bag she was carrying. She bought food—deep-fried bread and cheese, and bean soup in a pitcher. Serve those with bacon from the magic fridge and they had perfectly good breakfast.

「Thanks. I was just starving.」

「You’re welcome...」

「What’s wrong?」

She looked glum.「Paula had been the one making breakfast. But buying is better than me cooking.」

「Ah...」

Hikaru didn’t really cook either. While Lavia was picky, she couldn’t really make the effort to cook—quite the complicated girl.

There was a market nearby and there were plenty of food stands. Nothing wrong with buying food just after dawn, but it certainly felt dull.

Once they finished breakfast, Hikaru cleaned himself. After grooming himself, he left their place together with Lavia.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

They were headed to the academy. Once winter came, classes were cancelled. However, the institution was still open, so people could still continue their research or hole up in the library.

Hikaru discussed the trip to Zubura once more with Lavia over breakfast. She didn’t really have any problems with it, so Hikaru decided to prepare for the trip after talking to some people.

Lavia said there was a book she needed to finish reading so she headed to the library, and Hikaru made his way to Building C just in case.

This place does have the atmosphere of a real school or a university...

One of the reasons why Hikaru decided to study here was because he missed actually going to school a little.

I didn’t really do things that a normal student would, though.

He got into an argument during enrollment, his instructor Professor Mille was a drunkard, he helped create the student alliance, and refined his Stealth.

If there was anything he actually learned, it was body movement useful for his Stealth. For Hikaru who had no prior knowledge about martial arts, Mille was a blessing. He absorbed information like a sponge drew water, and further developed his already broken Stealth.

Stealth is my lifeline so I have to improve on it more.

Right now the late Unken—at this point, Hikaru didn’t know he was dead—would’ve been exasperated, asking him how far was he going to take it. But Hikaru thought there was still much more to his Skill. There should still be things he could learn here in the academy.

Hikaru squinted as he arrived in Building C, a refurbished tool shed. The door was open, and the smell of alcohol drifted from within. By Hikaru’s feet were a pair of boots. Pants lay on the floor up ahead, and then a cardigan, and...

「Dead drunk again...」

Mille, who only had a shirt on, snored as she slept. Hikaru picked up two bean-sized stones and hurled them into the Professor’s nose. She quickly got up.

「Ugh! Th-This feels familiar...!」

「You’re awake.」

Mille stared at Hikaru who stood at the door.

「What happened to our agreement, Professor? I told you to stop drinking too much. I believe the limit was three glasses. Also you’ll catch a cold if you sleep without clothes on in this weather—」

「H-Hikaru? Is that you?」

She stood up, staggering. Hikaru thought she was acting strange.

「Hikaruuuuuuuuu!」

「Wha?!」

Mille leaped towards Hikaru, practically tackling him. Caught off-guard, he couldn’t dodge it, and was knocked down.

「Huh? Uh, Professor?」

「You’re alive! I’m sho glad you’re okay!」

「Of course I am.」

「I-I haven’t heard from you ever since you went to Borderzard. P-People said you might be dead...」

「What?!」

Mille was a mess; she reeked of booze and her make-up had come off, but he couldn’t get her off of him. She was apparently worried about him.

The Four Stars had told Claude and the others about Hikaru’s well-being. But Claude, together with Luka, headed to Jarazack, with Professor Mikhail as their bodyguard. Silvester and Catherine went back to their respective homes. Only Mille was left clueless.

Mille only knew that Hikaru made his way to Borderzard to solve the monster problem in Un el Portan. Waves of monsters surged towards the town, and the Adventurers Guild called for reinforcement. One would think it wasn’t something a lone student from the academy could handle. And a few professors seemed to have stirred things up. They talked about how the adventurers in Borderzard were wiped out, loud enough so Mille could hear them. The principal warned them not to spread unreliable information, however.

「Oh... Sounds like they’re having fun spreading fake news.」

Names were added to Hikaru’s list of people he’d need to teach a lesson one day. He pushed Mille away and raised his body up.

「B-But I really thought you were dead...」

「As you can see, I’m alive and kicking. Have more faith in me.」

「But...」

「You should wash your face. It’s a mess. I’ll go get some water.」

Hikaru handed the professor a handkerchief. He didn’t expect her to be that worried about him. Though he showed up during lectures, he knew it was more him doing whatever he pleased. He even thought maybe she didn’t like him.

She’s not really that bad. She just has to stop drinking. I have to watch out so she doesn’t drown in alcohol one day, Hikaru thought as he was trying to get up on his feet.

「What do we have here?」A voice came from the door.「I thought my comrade had returned so I wanted to check. But I didn’t expect you to be going at it with a professor.」

Someone saw them both down on the floor. Hikaru turned slowly turned his head around like a robot needing oil and saw the magic item researcher Katy smiling.

「Don’t say anything to Lavia.」Hikaru warned.

「Forget that. I want to further my research on holy mana.」

Apparently, she just wanted his help.

「I’m actually thinking of going to Zubura.」

「Oh.」

「What? You’re going to Zubura?」Mille asked.

They were at the campus cafeteria. Mille’s clothes had wrinkles on them, but she looked refreshed after washing her face. She was drinking coffee to sober up.

「Yeah. I planned on going there at some point anyway.」

「I see. Well, classes are off for a while. I’m going home to Jarazack too after I make something up for my yearly report.」

Put effort into it! Hikaru wanted to yell at her, but he knew there was really no reason to. Mille was beyond saving at this point. Hearing Zubura seemed to have piqued Katy’s interest.

「Wait, are you going to see the ruins?」

「I think so.」

「I’m coming with you!」

Katy half-rose to her feet, breathing heavily through her nose. Her chair toppled over with a bang, drawing the eyes of the few people in the cafeteria.

The professor had passionate fans in her laboratory, and since she was famous in the academy, she tended to draw attention. They were lucky the cafeteria was practically empty this early in the morning.

「You’re not going to say no, are you?!」Katy asked.

「I had a hunch you were going to say that.」

「Hehehe. You’re awfully meek.」

「You helped me, after all. The bullets did a great job.」

「Oh, nice!」

Hikaru handed the bullets from the revolver to Katy. They needed to be repaired after he fired them—bullets packed with Lavia’s strongest spell. Without them, he probably wouldn’t have managed to kill the Earth Dragon subspecies unscathed.

「I have spare bullets. I’ll give them to you later.」

「Thank you.」

「When are you leaving? Today? Tomorrow?」

「You sound hasty. Shouldn’t you be getting ready first or finish some things up?」

「I hole up in my lab all year round. I can finalize my yearly report later.」

Mille was staring at him with scornful eyes.

「What is it, Professor?」

「Hikaru.」

「Yes?」

「I’m going as well.」

「Pardon?」

「I’m going to Zubura too! I’ve always wanted to go there!」

「What?」

「What’s with the blank expression?! Why are you close with Professor Katy?! So you’re okay with any older pretty lady?!」

「Did you include yourself in that category?」

「Don’t ask me with a straight face! It’s embarrassing!」

It appeared that Mille was mad Hikaru and Katy had a secret.

「Aren’t you going back home?」Hikaru said.「You should let your parents see you’re doing fine.」

「It kinda pisses me off when you say something sensible.」

「I’m a man of common sense.」

「I completely disagree with that statement.」

「I already have people going with me. I don’t want to bring any more pains in the neck. Please take a hint.」

「Why are you treating me like a pain in the neck?!

For a while, Mille went on grumbling, but Hikaru firmly refused. As for Katy, he couldn’t say no. He promised to help her with her research on holy mana, and they might find something related to it in the ruins.

And so the day of their departure arrived.