GVRS 10

Chapter : 10

“…So Tom and his gang are really going to get expelled?”

When I asked in a daze, Liz nodded vigorously.

“That’s right!”

“It was a match where the loser had to withdraw from school in the first place. Nepenthes interfered halfway through, but we had already won the fight anyway.”

Eris calmly added the explanation. Honestly, I doubt those guys would have accepted the duel result so cleanly.

‘Wait, wasn’t I the one who was supposed to withdraw? Why are those guys…’

Give me back my withdrawal.

“Of course, there’s also the fact that they nearly injured several noble children, including the only daughter of Count Camelot.”

Yeah, that’s probably the bigger reason.

“They tried to pick a fight with you using Flamel’s status somehow, but since too many noble families were involved, they decided to quietly wrap things up with withdrawal instead.”

Apparently Tom’s family and the others had also bowed their heads to avoid as much responsibility as possible.

“Luckily, it was judged not as a private duel but as one-sided bullying and legitimate self-defense, so we avoided penalty points.”

At a time like this, Liz is worried about penalty points? She’s really hard to understand.

“…And this.”

“Hm?”

Something the size of a pinky nail was placed on my palm.

What is this?

When I looked at Liz in confusion, she returned a look as if she couldn’t believe I didn’t know.

“It’s a Giant Nepenthes seed.”

“Ah~ This is it?”

“Yeah. I must have grabbed it without realizing while we were escaping.”

Then why give it to me?

“Give it to Professor Bijul. I heard he was really heartbroken after losing Nepenthes. If you bring this to him, he probably won’t hold a grudge against you.”

Ah, I see.

So basically a bribe for the professor.

“Giant Nepenthes are smart enough to recognize their owner. If you want, you could raise it yourself.”

How would I raise that thing?
Didn’t it eat 100 kilograms of pork a day?

“I-I was going to give it myself, but I’m specially letting you do it. Be grateful!”

She spoke gruffly out of embarrassment.

I placed the seed on the table beside me and replied,

“Thanks.”

Clack.

Just then, someone suddenly opened the hospital room door.

“HAHAHA! Glad to see you’re awake, Russell!”

“Professor Duke.”

“Well, you see… because of student privacy, I’d like to talk with him alone. Would you mind stepping out for a moment?”

“Yes, Professor!”

Liz sprang up from her seat.

Flamel silently left the room, and Eris gave me a quick “take care of yourself” before leaving as well.

Finally, it was just Duke and me.

“…Ahem. I really owe you an apology.”

He dragged a chair from the corner and sat down.

“You just recovered from the werewolf incident, and then something like this happens again…”

To be fair, this one happened because we entered a restricted area ourselves.

“We’re currently investigating the exact circumstances, and the monsters will be moved to facilities with higher security levels so nothing like this happens again.”

“I see.”

“The response committee is in session right now, so Professor Bijul couldn’t come. Since this almost turned into a terrible accident, the parents’ association filed a formal complaint.”

Makes sense.
Honestly, it’s strange things stayed this quiet until now.

“Anyway, about your arm—we poured every emergency potion into it. It should return to normal in about two weeks.”

Now that he mentioned it, my right arm had been completely crushed while supporting two people’s weight.

But looking now, with just a few bandages wrapped around it, it didn’t seem that different from before.

Magic is amazing.

“Other students have already given their testimony, except for you since you needed absolute rest… But I heard you and Tom used to be close friends?”

“Probably.”

“If you had problems with school life, you could’ve talked to the professors.”

Then Duke added with a laugh,

“Of course, talking wouldn’t necessarily solve anything. Hahaha!”

And this guy is a professor…

Still, since the topic came up, I might as well say it now.

“I was actually going to mention something. After everything that happened… and with all the stress… I think I’d like to withdraw from school.”

“Hm? Withdraw?”

Duke’s eyes widened.

“There hasn’t been a single withdrawal from this Magic Tower for almost 300 years. Haha! I guess someone like Blair could even consider withdrawing.”

Three hundred years?

There were no withdrawals for that long?

“Oh, were those magic tools you took as compensation for the werewolf incident meant to help with that?”

“…What do you mean?”

Isn’t withdrawing just… withdrawing?

Was there something I didn’t know?

“Huh? You have to pay a massive compensation fee if you withdraw. Didn’t they explain that beforehand?”

“……”

“You eat, sleep, and study here for free until graduation. And the equipment you use is incredibly expensive! Do you know how much a single potion practice costs?”

“……”

“All of it is funded by the state. So if you withdraw, you have to repay everything you used.”

He calculated briefly.

“Let’s see… even roughly… wow. That won’t be cheap.”

I’m doomed.

I immediately abandoned the idea of withdrawal.

I already suffered enough with student loans in my previous world.

“Well, I suppose your family will handle it somehow? Hahaha!”

As if.

“Sigh…”

The Blair family must be fairly wealthy, judging by the name.

But they clearly had zero interest in educating their second son.

Because during the werewolf incident—and this one too—

I almost died multiple times, yet not even a single message asking if I was okay came from them.

“Alright then, we’ll proceed with your withdrawal paperwork after you’re discharged—”

“Actually, I think being an alchemist is my true calling. I’ll devote myself to it.”

“Hahaha! Good decision! There’s no better profession than alchemy in times like these!”

Duke patted my shoulder with hands like pot lids.

Ow.

“And even aside from the compensation fee, I’d personally advise against withdrawing.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, graduates of the Magic Tower are prime targets for the Revolutionary Army. Those guys want as many alchemists as possible. Someone like you who leaves the Tower’s protection would be perfect prey.”

Right.

Those bastards existed.

‘The Revolutionary Army… a crazy extremist group that believes alchemists are superior to ordinary humans and should rule them—and they don’t hesitate to use terrorism.’

Extremists cause trouble in every world.

Trouble after trouble.

Withdrawal really wasn’t an option anyway.

“Of course, unless your family protects you well…”

Duke stroked his chin and smiled.

“Anyway, if you think of any compensation you want later, just let me know!”

“I’ll… think about it.”

This incident seemed bigger than the werewolf one.

So I should squeeze out as much compensation as possible.

“I slipped out of the committee meeting for a moment. I didn’t even want to be the freshman advisor in the first place! Anyway, take care, Russell!”

“Yes sir.”

I bowed slightly.

“HAHAHA!”

He laughed loudly and disappeared.

When he left, the others who had been waiting outside peeked back into the room.

“He’s always so loud.”

Eris muttered with an awkward smile.

“Annoying.”

Flamel added bluntly.

“Sigh… That parents’ association Professor Duke mentioned earlier? That’s definitely my father.”

Liz frowned.

“I told him everyone who enters the Magic Tower is prepared to risk their lives to become the best alchemist. But he never listens.”

Wait—this place required that kind of determination?

I suddenly wanted to withdraw again.

“Seriously. He’s way too overprotective!”

Isn’t that normal?

From my modern perspective, his reaction seems perfectly reasonable.

Maybe safety negligence is part of the fantasy world too.

“My siblings are probably there too… You know how they are.”

Eris added shyly.

“What about the Blair family?”

The topic naturally shifted to me.

It had already been three days since I was admitted to the hospital ward.

Today was the first day visitors were allowed, and discharge was being discussed.

So they probably assumed my family had already sorted things out.

“Me? Well… um…”

I had no idea.

I didn’t know what kind of relationship the original Russell Blair had with his family either.

So I awkwardly changed the subject.

“And about this incident… it was originally just between me and Tom. Sorry for dragging you guys into it.”

“Why would you apologize?! Those guys were the bad ones!”

Liz suddenly jumped up angrily.

I froze at the unexpectedly intense reaction.

Eris quickly calmed her.

“Liz, you’re scaring Russell. But… I also think Russell doesn’t need to apologize. I did hear he caused some problems in the past…”

She glanced at Flamel—the supposed victim.

“…But at least in this incident, it wasn’t Russell’s fault.”

The atmosphere softened instantly.

Right.

This is a school growth story after all. Warm friendship moments are part of the package.

Naturally, everyone looked at Flamel.

It was his turn.

When he felt the gazes, Flamel’s eyebrow twitched once before he said a single line.

“Idiot.”

“?”

“Pathetic.”

“??”

Yeah.

My expectations were clearly misplaced.

Flamel’s terrible personality was famous even in the original novel.

— “If you’ve got something to say, say it properly! What are you, a romance novel male lead?! Are you the male lead?!”

I suddenly remembered Cha-jun yelling while clutching his phone.

Back then I wondered why he was so dramatic…

Seeing my mood turn cold, Eris chuckled softly.

“Flamel really isn’t honest.”

Does it take that much patience to qualify as a female protagonist candidate?

She’s practically Buddha.

Soon after, I was discharged with only a rough bandage wrapped around my arm.

Back in my dorm room, I immediately took out a notebook.

「How to Avoid Death Flags」

① Withdraw from school

I drew a thick line through number one.

Yeah… this option is impossible.

‘Money is a problem. And the Revolutionary Army too.’

It would be better to stay in the Magic Tower and avoid death flags as much as possible.

② Stay away from the protagonists

③ Become close friends with the protagonists

Two possibilities remained.

But number three had a serious problem.

‘In this novel, minor characters had terrible survival rates.’

Anyone who wasn’t part of the main protagonist quartet died constantly.

Some died to trigger the protagonist’s awakening.

Some died to demonstrate how strong the enemy was.

‘It’s all because the author was lazy…’

There were plenty of ways to create tension!

Why start by killing random characters?!

But blaming the author now wouldn’t change anything.

So I crossed out option three as well.

Only one method remained.

‘Live quietly as an extra.’

Yes.

Just remain one of the countless extras.

If I don’t get involved with the protagonists, I won’t get dragged into their incidents.

‘And endure.’

According to my guess, there’s only one chance for me to return to my original world.

‘Flamel is normally the hidden-strength protagonist, but in the original story he went berserk once.’

— “Flamel loses his sanity and goes on a rampage, and wow, the author’s writing was insane. The sky twists, the sun and moon appear together, disasters everywhere. Just imagining it gives me chills!”

My younger sibling had been so dramatic about it that I remembered.

Back then it was annoying.

Now…

Thanks, Cha-jun.

‘The description clearly said space and time twisted. And considering Flamel’s contracted spirit, it wouldn’t even contradict the setting.’

Good.

No matter how I think about it, that’s the only way back.

‘I’ll survive quietly as an extra… and return home!’