Chapter 72. < 31. A Handsome Man's Suffering >
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"Pleased to meet you. My name is Irene Curtis. I'm 34 years old."
"I'm Lumian Callad. You look much younger than that. I thought you were in your 20s......"
"Hahaha. I should be the one trying to make a good impression, yet I'm receiving compliments instead."
"Please speak comfortably, since you're a professor......"
"Hmm, you're not going to hold a grudge against Rodizia just because I dropped formalities right away, right?"
"What are you saying......"
"Then I'll speak comfortably, Lumian-kun."
Irene Curtis immediately switched to informal speech.
She seemed to have a refreshingly straightforward personality by nature.
However, it wasn't just her personality that was refreshingly open.
Her chest, deeply exposed by a V-neck, was fully revealed before Lumian's eyes.
It kept pulling his gaze downward.
He pinched his thigh hard to maintain eye contact during their conversation. That's when Irene Curtis continued speaking.
"Since the Zenas Kingdom already came by, you probably know what I'm going to say?"
"So you knew about that too. Yes, probably...... to recruit me into the knight order......"
"Correct. Honestly, it feels strange for me to say this, but I'm not expecting much. Even Zenas, the strongest nation, got rejected, so what chance do we have?"
"......."
"But...... I still couldn't just not try at all. So I was dispatched. To spend a long time, putting in effort to lure you over."
"Haha......"
"If I seduce you, will you come over?"
She smiled provocatively.
Lumian wore a troubled expression.
No matter how beautiful the female professor before him was, and no matter how weak he was to beautiful women's words, he couldn't do that.
Whether it was Zenas or Rodizia, life would obviously be rigid compared to the Academy.
Lumian expressed his refusal politely.
"I'm sorry, but I have no complaints about my current life......"
"Hmm...... Still, let me tell you what benefits you'd get if you accept the offer. You'll at least listen, right? It would hurt my feelings if you reject without even hearing me out."
Lumian remained silent. Taking this as affirmation, Irene continued her explanation in a cheerful tone.
She seemed to have thought about it considerably, as there were several points differentiating them from Zenas.
However, none of it was enough to interest Lumian.
He voiced his refusal again.
"I'm sorry. I like Tarazan."
"As expected...... Sigh, alright. But just in case, I'll keep trying to seduce you whenever I get the chance. This is my job after all."
"That's......"
"Ah! Of course, I won't pressure you to the point of discomfort. We can't have you having bad relations with Rodizia."
Irene smiled brightly and took a sip of her tea.
Lumian also felt thirsty.
As he drank his tea, she spoke again.
"Actually, as I mentioned earlier, I knew persuasion would be difficult."
"Is that so."
"Yeah. But even if I can't bring you to our side, I at least want to maintain a good relationship. That's only natural, right? You're a future Sword Master, possibly even a future greatest knight, so I need to make a good impression beforehand."
"That's too generous an evaluation......"
"Come on. What's a person who reached Sword Expert at 15 doing being so modest? Anyway, that's why we want to form a long-term friendly relationship with Lumian-kun. So we'd like to provide various forms of support through the Rodizia Scholarship Foundation......"
Irene began explaining again.
Beyond basic financial support, she promised various forms of assistance including political support. Lumian said it was burdensome, but Irene waved her hand saying it wasn't necessary.
"There's no need to feel indebted. Just accept it as simple goodwill. What we want from Lumian Callad is just a bit of favorable impression. That's enough."
"Hmm......."
Lumian fell into thought.
Though she said that, Irene must have known that the recipient couldn't help but feel burdened.
But Lumian decided not to worry about it.
'Let them do as they please.'
If he were truly a 15-year-old boy, he would have been swayed back and forth, but he had experience working in the Zenas Royal Palace for a long time.
He could certainly handle it brazenly without getting into trouble.
'It's hard to do that if your skills are ambiguous, but with overwhelming power, it's not difficult.'
"I understand. I won't forget Rodizia's kindness."
"Haha, good! That's a relief. Now I have something to report confidently to my superiors!"
Irene slightly shifted in her seat.
Her chest moved accordingly. Lumian's gaze unconsciously followed before he forced himself to feign indifference.
Fortunately, Irene didn't seem to notice.
With a more relaxed expression, she asked Lumian.
"But I really can't imagine it? How can someone become an Expert at 15? Could you show me here?"
"Uh......"
"Ah, of course, if it's burdensome, you don't have to show me. This is just personal curiosity."
Though she said that, Irene looked quite disappointed.
Seeing this, Lumian quietly picked up a teaspoon.
He decided to show her his Aura Sword.
'I already made that scene at the tavern, so what is there to hide?'
Thinking about it that way, it really didn't seem like a big deal.
Lumian raised his aura and manifested an Aura Sword on the teaspoon.
However, there was a slight mistake in the process.
He was supposed to create an incomplete Aura Sword, but unconsciously, he was drawing out a completed Aura Sword.
'Damn it!'
No matter what, that was too much.
Lumian, coming to his senses, quickly adjusted his aura.
Fortunately, he was able to stop it before the aura materialized. Lumian wiped his sweat with relief and spoke.
"Is that enough now?"
"Wow...... It's real. Ha...... The realm I reached at 26......"
Reaching it at 26 was already an impressive talent, but if he said that himself, it would seem like he was mocking her.
Lumian wore an awkward expression and withdrew his Aura Sword.
He spoke.
"Well then, if there's nothing more to discuss......"
"Huh? Why? Are you leaving?"
"Ah, yes. My friends are waiting."
"Hmm...... Alright. We'll have plenty of chances to talk in the future."
Irene showed a bright smile and offered her hand.
Lumian shook her hand and politely bid farewell.
"Thank you for the conversation."
"No, thank you. Ah, as I said earlier, Rodizia's doors are always open, so let me know if you change your mind!"
"Yes. Then, I'll take my leave."
With those words, Lumian exited the professor's office.
Irene Curtis, who watched the direction he disappeared for a moment, muttered to herself.
"He's certainly amazing, but......"
He was definitely an incredible talent.
However, perhaps because what the senior knight Linnell had told her was too extraordinary.
She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.
'Well, it was an absurd report to begin with. A 15-year-old boy drawing out an Aura Sword while drunk, and not stopping there but showing swordsmanship comparable to a veteran knight? And she said she wasn't confident she could win either?'
If that were true, Lumian would be a being that even the phrase "greatest talent in history" wouldn't suffice to describe.
Reincarnation of the Sword God? Rebirth of the Sword God?
At the very least, shouldn't he have such epithets attached?
But as far as Irene confirmed, Lumian Callad's skills weren't at that level.
'He did create an Aura Sword, but it didn't feel smooth. He was sweating too.'
Senior Linnell's report must have been exaggerated.
Perhaps she too was drunk and perceived the situation as exaggerated.
'And as for being interested in women......'
Irene slightly furrowed her brows.
She still couldn't judge that aspect.
He did keep glancing at her cleavage and gulping......
'But that much is a reaction even a virgin brat could show?'
Rather than seeming worldly and experienced, it felt somewhat cute.
She decided to reserve judgment on this matter.
'Anyway, I'm stuck here for a semester no matter what, so let's observe slowly.'
Having finished her thoughts, Irene lowered her head to look down.
She gathered her chest with both hands and smiled brightly while muttering.
"Still perky."
***
Having finished his conversation with the beautiful professor Irene Curtis, Lumian headed straight back to the training grounds. Given those guys' personalities, once they got fired up, they would surely keep training until late at night.
However, a sudden thought crossed his mind and stopped him in his tracks.
A stiffly frozen expression, wavering eyes.
In a serious state, Lumian sought out his quarters to organize his thoughts.
Sitting in a chair and thinking deeply, he muttered in a serious tone.
"The Zenas Knight Order and the Rodizia Knight Order...... have completely different environments, don't they?"
Come to think of it, that was true.
Of course, having one's freedom restricted was the same in both.
Rather, in Rodizia, he couldn't reveal his true identity, and men were socially more disadvantaged. So there might be even more inconveniences. But there was an advantage that would more than make up for all those minor drawbacks.
'The Rodizia Kingdom's knight order...... has way more women!'
The knight order Lumian could enter was the Red Rose Knight Order, which received the best treatment in Rodizia.
For reference, the gender ratio of that knight order was 9 to 1. Women were 9, men were 1.
That meant his colleagues would be women, his seniors would be women, and the juniors who would join later would also be women.
It was certain he would be spending his days in a flower garden!
'Plus their appearances would be excellent too...... Even just Irene Curtis was quite a beauty. It's Rodizia after all!'
Lumian quietly closed his eyes.
And he spread the wings of his delusion.
Himself with talent incomparable to other hollow male knights.
He'd even become more handsome than before. He also had the secret weapon of aura imagery.
Eventually, beautiful knights would fall for his charm and approach him one by one. One, two, three.......
'Finally, all the women in the knight order would fight to claim me......'
"Hehe, hehehe."
Laughter spilled out naturally.
Lumian wore a lecherous expression like a 50-year-old man wandering a red-light district, continuing his indecent thoughts.
But that too was brief.
Remembering what he had told his parents, Lumian wore a devastated expression.
'Damn, how do I take back what I said?'
He had told them less than a month ago that he had a beloved girlfriend at the Academy, and that because of her, he couldn't leave for Zenas.
But if he suddenly said "I'm going to Rodizia, Father!" what kind of reaction would his parents have?
'They'd call me a crazy bastard.'
Even he thought he was crazy.
Theoro and his other friends also weighed on his mind.
Though not as much as the Sword King or Morgan from his past life, his friends in this life were also precious to him.
Thinking about drifting apart from them made his heart ache a littl—
'What heart ache! My love life is more important! Friends can be met anytime if I set my mind to it!'
Letters would work! They could come visit me!
Ultimately, the important thing was persuading his parents.
Unless he was willing to risk cutting ties, he had to come up with a plausible excuse.
'Should I say we broke up?'
And then say he wanted to leave for another country to forget the pain?
That didn't sound bad.
If he said he wanted to leave after saying they were inseparable and then broke up quickly, they'd be dumbfounded, but he couldn't find a better excuse than this.
However, that thought was brutally shattered by a counter-argument that arose moments later.
'Damn it, then it would make more sense to go to Zenas, not Rodizia!'
Logically, that was true.
Zenas still welcomed Lumian's enlistment, so ultimately, Lumian was in a position to choose between the two nations.
Yet he chooses Rodizia?
Why?
'Is there a reason? Other than women? A reason my parents would accept?"
"Mmmmm...... ughhhhhh......"
Lumian clutched his head with both hands and groaned in agony.
It was too difficult.
He wanted to severely beat his past self who had made such absurd excuses. He was sincere about that.
'What should I do? What should I do?'
Ultimately, Lumian didn't sleep a single wink that night.
It wasn't just that one day either.
His agony continued for several days. Naturally, his training suffered as well.
Theoro and the trio, worried about Lumian, asked how he was doing, but he couldn't reveal his inner thoughts. It felt a bit trashy.
In the end, he had to spend the remaining break with a pent-up heart. During that time, Lumian's atmosphere became as gloomy and lonely as falling autumn leaves.
And finally, the second semester began.
***
"Sigh, break is over too."
A female student from the Magic Department's first year sighed deeply as she walked through the Academy.
She hadn't visited her family home during the break. Instead, she spent exciting days with friends she'd gotten close to during the semester.
Now facing the prospect of attending classes and studying those tedious magic formulas again, she had no energy.
Her shoulders naturally slumped.
"Huh?"
Just then, a man passed before her eyes.
Quite handsome, yet somehow appearing fragile and sorrowful.
The moment she saw him, tears formed in her eyes without her realizing it.
'Does he have some kind of story?'
She wanted to know.
She wanted to grab his hand as he passed by. She wanted to listen to his worries and embrace his sadness in her arms.
Her delusions grew increasingly intense.
What snapped her out of it was her purple-haired classmate she'd befriended during the first semester.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah!"
"What is it. Were you looking at that person?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah...... Is he someone you know?"
Hearing the female student's words, her friend wore a dumbfounded expression.
She tapped the shoulder of the dazed female student and said.
"That's Lumian Callad. The joint winner of the first semester's sword tournament."