I Need the True Ending to Graduate - Chapter 22

Out of all the newspapers I’d ever read in my life, this was the one I read the most diligently, yet there was nothing particularly useful in it.

Aside from the sensational article about Karl Evenhart, which drew people’s attention with its provocative headlines, the rest were ordinary pieces.

Articles about which Academy graduates had recently won major awards in the academic field, who had entered the Imperial Magic Research Institute, or which building with leakage issues had been repaired—the sort of content one would commonly find in a school paper.

The only article that caught my interest at all was the one about Evan Bell’s magic shop thriving in business.

[Evan Bell’s Magic Shop Booming Every Day… Annual Profit Reaches a Whopping 100 Million Gold?!]

The headline was just as sensational as Karl Evenhart’s, but the content was extremely flimsy.

It merely stated that, contrary to initial concerns when the shop first opened last year, it had never once run at a loss and had been consistently successful.

I looked for the reasoning behind their estimate of 100 million in annual profits, but it lacked both persuasiveness and credibility. The number felt heavily inflated.

Moreover, the tone was subtly resentful, as if begrudging Evan Bell’s success in business.

It went on to suggest that, since he was a commoner who normally could not enter the Academy, there must be some bigger picture behind his joining hands with the Academy’s operations committee to become the first to run a business inside the Academy. It concluded by saying the Academy needed to be wary of being swallowed up by Evan Bell’s capital.

‘This is clearly a hit piece.’

His business within the Academy was going unexpectedly well, and the store was drawing plenty of customers, which must have rubbed people the wrong way.

Judging from the claim that he had joined hands with the operations committee, it seemed some sort of deal had been made between them. Still, no matter how much of a cut they took from him, it couldn’t compare to the Academy running the business itself and keeping all the profit.

‘If they think of all the customers spending money at Evan Bell’s shop as their own lost customers, then it makes sense they’d be jealous.’

But in my experience, whenever a landlord kicked out a thriving business to take over themselves, I had almost never seen them succeed.

It was only possible for Evan Bell because he had the eye for business; every venture he started succeeded.

And of course, there was that shrimp tomato pasta.

“That was really delicious.”

I licked my lips, recalling the exquisite taste of the tomato pasta he had treated me to for free last time.

Anyone capable of making pasta that good would succeed anywhere. And there was no way the Academy could ever recreate that flavor.

‘Ah, now I suddenly want to go eat it again.’

Unlike back then, when I had only twenty gold to my name, I now had five million. More than enough to buy myself pasta.

‘Should I go to Bell Restaurant for dinner tonight?’

Just as I was thinking that, my eyes caught the small caption written beneath the photo of neatly plated tomato pasta in the article.

Bell Restaurant’s main menu: Shrimp Tomato Pasta. Price: 15,000 gold.

“……?”

I was so dumbfounded I had to look again.

But no matter how many times I read it, the newspaper clearly stated that the tomato pasta cost 15,000 gold.

The job posting I had seen before listed the hourly wage as 1,500 gold…

“Did they sprinkle gold dust on it? Why is the price like this?”

You’d have to work ten full hours just to afford a single plate of pasta.

And I had eaten that pasta, served by Evan Bell himself, without paying a single coin.

The absurdity of it made me burst into hollow laughter again and again.

‘Even when I first saw the place, I thought it wasn’t somewhere for someone with only twenty gold to their name, but I never expected it to be this expensive…’

The moment I learned the price, my appetite vanished, along with my motivation to go back.

I firmly resolved not to go anywhere today and to spend the rest of my time reading the books I had borrowed from the library.

***

More than a week had passed since the semester began, yet my life was nothing but peaceful. Compared to the tension and repeated threats of expulsion that had loomed before the semester, my current days felt so uneventful it was like a dream.

During that time, I stopped by the library every day. There were many books I needed to read, and since I couldn’t focus at all while at the dorm, I had to go out if I wanted to manage even a single line.

And always, at my side, was Ruad Rochef.

How he managed to know when I was going to the library, I had no idea, but every time I went to the library to read a book, I ran into him.

Just like before, Ruad Rochef ignored the many other open seats and sat right next to me, reading his book with that delinquent-like posture and face of his.

At first, I worried that he might have been hurt when I rejected his invitation to lunch, so I carefully studied his expression, but no matter how I looked, he seemed fine.

Even when I tried striking up a bit of conversation, there was no hint of sulking or pouting.

It had simply become something of the past.

Since Ruad Rochef was so unaffected, I couldn’t very well bring it up again to apologize, and so I acted as if nothing had happened, just as he did.

Spending so much time together naturally made me a little closer with him. I even grew used to his rather thuggish impression.

Though plenty of awkwardness still lingered, I could now talk to him more casually, like a friend.

So once again, I was spending a weekday morning in the library together with Ruad Rochef.

I lifted my gaze from the bookcase and closed my eyes for a moment. Sitting for so long and staring at books had made my eyes ache with fatigue.

The impatience of needing to quickly learn the basics of the magic I was trying to research also weighed on me.

But if anyone had to write a thesis using a flawless research proposal that had earned the professor’s high praise, based on transcripts that shone with straight A+ grades, they would feel just as I did.

In other words, I was afraid of becoming the biggest blemish on Lucia’s shining record.

And yet, the fact that I couldn’t concentrate at home and could only read properly when I came out here was so typical of me that it left me speechless.

‘Can’t the game system just write the thesis for me instead?’

Since this was a game world, I even thought that if I prayed, I might receive some kind of response. So one night, I set a glass of water before me and prayed.

But no response ever came.

‘I can’t tell when the system will help me and when it won’t. If I only knew that much, I wouldn’t have to struggle like this.’

Grumbling inwardly, I continued poring over the research texts more diligently than anyone.

Whatever the case, I had to return to where my real thesis was waiting.

‘I don’t want to struggle here too, anxious and stressed about whether I’ll graduate or not.’

Because of these many reasons all coming together, I was now living a life of an unexpectedly diligent graduate student. Even now.

“…Lucy. Are you very tired?”

Ruad, seeing me sitting with my eyes closed, asked cautiously.

When I opened my eyes, through the bluish haze I saw Ruad’s face, looking at me with concern.

“No, I’m fine. Not that tired, just a little sleepy.”

“Then take a nap. If you sleep for a bit, I’ll wake you up later.”

His suggestion was tempting. I took out my pocket watch to check the time.

10:30.

If I took a short nap, read a bit more, then ate lunch before going to Bell Restaurant, the timing would be perfect.

I put the watch back in my pocket and answered, “All right. I’ll sleep for just a little. Wake me in thirty minutes.”

“Got it. Don’t worry, I’ll wake you on time.”

Ruad smiled brightly and motioned for me to hurry and lie down.

Pressed by his insistence, I set my book aside and lay down with my arms as a pillow.

As darkness quickly filled my vision, fatigue I hadn’t noticed before swept over me, and my eyes began to droop.

Of course, with Ruad sitting right next to me, I was a little conscious of it, but not enough to fight off sleep. Maybe it was because he had been hovering around me like a puppy all this time, and I had grown used to his presence.

Just as I was drifting off, a soft fragrance of roses filled my nose, followed by the weight and warmth of fabric settling across my back and shoulders.

‘What is this?’

Startled, I instinctively lifted my head. My hand reached up to touch the cloth draped over me.

It was large, but the texture and feel were familiar. The design was no different from what I was wearing.

‘Don’t tell me… he just took off his jacket and covered me with it?’

It was the first time in my life I had experienced such a thing, so I was startled and confused, but it didn’t feel bad.

…Being wrapped in Ruad’s jacket gave me a strange sense of security. It smelled nice, and the warmth of his body lingered.

When I suddenly sat up, Ruad stared at me wide-eyed. Of course, without his jacket, he was now wearing only a white shirt.

“What’s wrong? Ah, did I wake you by covering you with my jacket?”

“No, that’s not it…”

I fiddled with the jacket he had draped over me, trailing off.

It was true that I had woken up because of it, but it wasn’t in the bad way he was worried about.

While I was searching for the right words to explain how I felt, Ruad looked restless.

“Sorry if I woke you, Lucy. I just wanted you to be warm while you slept…”

“Thank you for covering me with your jacket, Ruad.”

And I gave him a small smile.