Chapter 20. 10. I Think I'm a Genius (2)
The interior of Professor Karen's office was neat and tidy.
Just the necessary furniture, neatly organized documents, and a spotlessly clean floor.
In that clean space, Professor Karen quietly gazed at Lumian.
Even though he hadn't drawn up his aura, a subtle pressure emanated from his body.
An ordinary cadet would have broken out in a cold sweat under this atmosphere. A student in the humanities rather than a knight cadet would have found even breathing difficult.
However, Lumian was different.
He was extremely calm and composed.
Professor Karen was surprised once again at his demeanor.
'Come to think of it, he didn't sweat much either. While facing Theoro Shutt Garm, at that.'
It was a continuous stream of surprises. But Karen didn't show it and maintained an even more solemn expression.
His eyes grew sharper, and the pressure intensified. Revealing the full presence of a veteran knight, he spoke to Lumian.
"I'll ask you directly. What happened during the break?"
"..."
Lumian didn't answer immediately.
Regardless of Karen's serious expression, he comfortably reached out to pick up his cup and leisurely took a sip of water.
After that, he spoke clearly and precisely.
"I trained."
"...Explain in more detail."
"I trained hard, so hard that blood came from my hands and I vomited blood from my mouth. As a result, my skills improved."
"...Is that supposed to be an answer?"
Karen's presence grew even stronger.
Now it looked like he was about to fight a cadet. He thought this insolent cadet was making a fool of him.
'It makes no sense to achieve this much growth in such a short time!'
It was an extremely reasonable thought.
Building strong physical condition in just a few months was very difficult, and developing swordsmanship skills to overwhelm Theoro was nearly impossible.
Aura? That went without saying.
Even if his own soul entered Lumian's body and devoted itself to aura cultivation for a year, it couldn't show that much growth.
Ultimately, this meant the kid had been deceiving everyone about his level for an entire year.
Uuuuung
Professor Karen drew up his aura.
This wouldn't do. To extract the truth from this kid, stronger pressure was needed.
Just as he thought this and was about to open his mouth while looking at Lumian with intense eyes—
Words flowed from Lumian's mouth half a beat faster.
"I am not deceiving you, Professor. I'm saying this just in case, but I've never hidden my skills before either. I really swung my sword and built my aura with all my might until the semester started, no, even after the semester began. And so it ended up like this."
"...You expect me to believe that?"
"It's true. How could I have hidden my skills for a year while evading the professors' eyes? Even if I could hide it, why would I? There's no reason at all."
"..."
Professor Karen fell silent after hearing Lumian's words.
Honestly, he couldn't think of any counterargument. As Lumian said, no matter how outstanding the kid was, he couldn't have deceived the eyes of a formal knight like himself.
'True, it doesn't make sense that his dim-witted appearance from last year was an act. The Lumian back then... was definitely the Academy's worst failure student. I can vouch for that.'
Damn, then what on earth is this?
Confusion spread across Professor Karen's face.
He hadn't been hiding his skills.
But the skills Lumian just demonstrated were not normal. This child's rate of development was tremendous enough that it couldn't be explained by spirit medicines, instruction from masters, or harsh training.
At that moment, a remark slipped from Lumian's mouth.
An extremely leisurely tone, to the point where it felt slightly annoying.
"This might sound a bit presumptuous, but..."
"...?"
"I think... I might be a genius."
"..."
Professor Karen looked at Lumian with an absurd expression.
He was so dumbfounded that no words came out.
Lumian, who had glanced at his reaction, continued speaking.
"Honestly, I don't believe it myself either. I didn't want to learn swordsmanship or anything, and I thought I had no talent so I didn't work hard all year... But then I thought I couldn't live like this anymore, so I changed my mind and started training, and at some point, it ended up like this. Really."
"..."
"Actually, I think I had talent for the sword."
It was a brazen lie that seemed to pierce the sky.
But Lumian had no hesitation whatsoever.
He couldn't exactly say 'I'm actually Ryan Fromhart, a imperial knight of Zenas, and when I died and woke up, I found myself in the body of a boy I don't know. Fortunately, he's well-endowed down there too, so I'm planning to enjoy my second life.'
And making excuses about hiding his skills all along or getting stronger from spirit medicines didn't feel right either. That was actually an even less realistic story.
He thought it was better to say he belatedly realized his absurd talent.
No, actually, even this was a hastily thought-up excuse.
'It's not like I did anything wrong in the first place, so what are you gonna do about it?'
Believe it if you want, don't if you don't want to.
Lumian put on a bold expression as if to prove his point.
Professor Karen gazed quietly into those eyes.
"..."
"..."
After about 30 seconds of this staring contest, Karen issued a dismissal.
"You may leave now."
"Yes."
Lumian stood up and bowed his head.
Even after he left the room, Professor Karen continued thinking in silence for a while.
After about 10 minutes.
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
"Hehe, hehehe..."
The laughter wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop it.
Both the insolent Lumian saying what he had to say, and himself for believing Lumian's words, were so ridiculous he couldn't bear it.
'Says he thinks he's a genius? Himself? Well, it's not unreasonable. If he achieved that much growth in such a short time, he can certainly use the word genius.'
"Two geniuses have already appeared in just the first year."
Still with the smile not fading from his face, Professor Karen murmured to himself.
He thought this semester was going to be much more interesting than the last one.
***
'Did that go well? I don't know.'
Lumian shook his head as he came out of the professor's office.
It was a problem without an answer anyway, and he didn't want to think about it anymore. Unlike his past life, in this life he wanted to live joyfully and comfortably without complicated thoughts.
Lumian hummed as he exited the building where the professor's office was located.
There was one person waiting for him.
"Did you wait for me?"
"Yeah."
"Would've been better if a woman was waiting, though."
"You speak well at times like this. But in front of women, you really..."
"Sorry. Let's not talk about that time. So why did you wait? Something to ask?"
Lumian said while looking at Theoro.
He thought there might be questions since they had just finished a sparring match. Or perhaps he came because of the aura handling techniques he taught him over the weekend.
But that wasn't the case.
Theoro revealed his reason for coming.
"No. I've already received a lot of help. This time, it's my turn to help."
"Huh? Help? What kind..."
"Today, wasn't bad."
"Ah, well that..."
Lumian made an awkward expression.
Of course, it was a decent day. He still couldn't forget the surprised expressions of the female students he saw before following Professor Karen.
But to create that situation, Lumian had ruthlessly crushed Theoro. Hearing such words from the person himself felt very strange.
However, Theoro didn't seem to mind this at all.
He continued to lead the conversation.
"Of course, even if you keep going like this, the reactions around you will change tremendously. No, they've already changed tremendously. Even guys who had no interest in you are all talking about you now."
"Really? Haha..."
"But if possible, rather than just being strong, I think it'd be good to have a decent concept to go along with it."
"Concept?"
"Yeah. Concept. I'm saying let's create an attractive point that'll be popular with women."
"Oh... I never thought about that at all..."
Lumian looked at Theoro with an expression of great realization.
He was definitely right.
Rather than just being strong indiscriminately, having a solid concept that highlights those strengths would work better with women.
One character already came to mind. Lumian's eyes sparkled as he spoke to Theoro.
"Like a bad boy? Style? Would something like that work?"
"..."
"Rough personality, secretly cold to women and treats them roughly, but has good skills. Aren't there quite a few women who have a romantic fantasy about that kind of thing?"
"...Did you read some strange novel or something?"
"What, is that not good?"
Lumian asked with a dejected expression. Theoro answered with a deep sigh.
"It's not that it's completely unrealistic, but... hmm..."
"Then isn't it fine? What's the problem?"
"That... first, you have to be really handsome. That's the basic requirement."
"..."
"No, I don't mean you're ugly... you're good enough too. But to pull off that concept, it's a bit... hmm. And your face has a gentle and kind feel, so that strong image doesn't suit you."
Theoro soothed Lumian's feelings with clumsy consideration, and Lumian tried to forget the recent conversation with a sour expression.
He asked again.
"Then, what image suits me? Is there anything good?"
"You... hmm... I think the model student style is right for you."
"Model student?"
"Yeah. Not just any model student, but one with good skills, diligent, and instead of only caring about himself, he considers and looks after others too. A warm kind of model student."
"A warm kind of model student?"
"Yeah. The warmth is the important part."
Theoro emphasized the word 'warm.'
Hearing this, Lumian stroked his chin with a contemplative expression.
Then, with a skeptical face, he said to Theoro.
"Would such a boring style work? Wouldn't it be better to go with the bad boy direction after all?"
"..."
Theoro shook his head.
Lumian was someone who exceeded his imagination in both swordsmanship and romance.