TPTM 29

Chapter 29

Schuls Schmidt.

Silver-gray hair. Piercing blue eyes.

The very image of the cold, intellectual type. Neatly tailored clothes with sharp lines, a monocle tucked in at his chest—all the hallmarks of a refined scholar.

“I’ll be straightforward, Miss Tulia,” Schuls Schmidt began.

“I want to make a deal.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s do it.”

“…Are you agreeing without even knowing what it is?”

“A true mentor would never demand a strange favor from a disciple. Pneuma is a true scholar, isn’t he?”

“Well said. So the rumors of you hiding away in the library weren’t false.”

“Of course not. You’ve seen my test scores, haven’t you?”

Schuls Schmidt let out a small chuckle.

Exactly. That’s why I expected him to come.

Even when playing Grainbread in Koriko, I needed Schuls Schmidt’s help to meet the Crown Prince.

‘Of course, the details in the game differ slightly from reality.’

Koriko entered the Archduke’s domain for the first time at seventeen, under the guise of a “prospective bride.” At that time, Schuls Schmidt wasn’t present in the Archduchy. But if Koriko earned the Archduke’s favor—raised his affection enough—she could miraculously gain the option to take the direct-line test.

Scoring highest on that test would catch Schuls Schmidt’s attention, prompting him to come see Koriko at the Archduchy.

Back then, he was already…

‘The Crown Prince’s mentor.’

Technically, he wasn’t the Prince’s mentor yet, but he would be.

Until then, though, I couldn’t just wait. Tulia was the younger sister of the twins—the same twins who were also Koriko’s leading men.

‘They’ll arrive at the Archduke’s birthday celebration soon.’

If I met the twins first and the Crown Prince option didn’t trigger, my quest would fail.

‘That would be game over….’

So I maxed out Schuls Schmidt’s favor points and secured him with Glory. For now, events seemed to be unfolding safely, just like in the game.

But didn’t they say there’s always a variable?

I didn’t expect him to pull out a single sheet of paper from his coat. It was an event I hadn’t even seen in Grainbread, which made me all the more flustered.

“It looks really old…”

“Yes, but it’s preserved with magic, so it’s fine.”

“Preservation magic?”

‘That’s incredibly expensive magic.’

Pneuma was roughly equivalent to a modern-day prestigious university professor. But even that salary couldn’t cover the cost of preservation magic.

No wonder his clothes looked neat yet modest—he must have spent all his salary just to preserve this single sheet of paper forever.

I took the paper in my hands.

“It’s in Ancient, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Could you read it?”

I stared at it intently. Apart from the familiar ancient words I had seen in Grainbread, I couldn’t read it perfectly.

“I probably can’t read all of it. Maybe just the first line, and even then… slowly.”

“That’s enough!”

Schuls Schmidt, uncharacteristically, seemed desperate. Urgent, even.

‘…So this is what it feels like when the cold, handsome guy is desperate?’

Surprisingly… it wasn’t bad.

Luckily, the first line was clear enough to be understood, so I read it aloud:

“To the part of me… that has… separated from my body…”

“…Excuse me?”

“That’s the first line.”

“That… can’t be. Did you misinterpret it?”

I blinked, then stared at the paper again as if willing it to reveal its secrets.

“To the part of me that has separated from my body.”

“…Yes?”

“Exactly.”

“Schuls Pneuma? Sir?”

“That… is impossible… It cannot say that…”

‘What’s wrong with him now?’

Even in Grainbread, Schuls Schmidt was unusually cold. While Koriko could charm the icy Archduke Asis Frezier, Schuls Schmidt never had a smiling illustration in any route. Just a faint, restrained smile at most. In other words, he rarely expressed emotions.

Even happier endings, like gaining a “new granddaughter,” couldn’t bring him to display much emotion. That was Schuls Schmidt.

So why is he so shaken now?

Curiosity got the better of me—especially with cheat keys in hand. I immediately opened Schuls Schmidt’s profile.

[System: Profile]
Schuls Schmidt (26 years old)

• The youngest Pneuma in history.

I skimmed through the familiar parts and focused on what I really wanted to know:

• Secrets being concealed……………………………………………………………………………(More)

I clicked “More” without hesitation. I had to know why he was so flustered and what the letter meant.

Then…

(!Warning: 200 coins required.)
(!Warning: Not enough coins to activate ‘More’.)

“What?!”

I almost shouted. My eyes went wide, but the text didn’t disappear.

‘Up until now, they provided “More” freely, and now suddenly I have to pay coins?!’

I tried repeatedly, but every time:

(!Warning: 200 coins required.)
(!Warning: Not enough coins to activate ‘More’.)

‘You miserable…’

I wanted to rip the system window in half, but I couldn’t show it in front of Schuls Schmidt. I swallowed my frustration.

“Apologies, Miss Tulia. I allowed my mind to wander in front of you.”

“No, it’s fine…”

“…You may leave now.”

I think I ground my teeth without realizing it. A heavy sigh escaped.

“So… what is this?”

I wanted to resolve the immediate mystery, but he replied unexpectedly:

“I ask that you keep this secret.”

Blinking, I said, “The only person who knows is Adele.”

“You mean Miss Adele?”

“My head maid. You saw her earlier.”

Schuls Schmidt chuckled softly.

“Yes. She seems strong and gentle.”

“Exactly. One of my blessings.”

“But in my view, Miss Tulia, once you debut in the Zodiac social circle, the crown jewel of society will surely be yours.”

‘He hasn’t realized Tulia is the troublemaker of the Frezier domain.’

I smiled lightly. That position always belonged to Koriko anyway.

“This letter was left by my father just before he passed.”

“Oh… your father?”

I hadn’t meant to raise my voice, but couldn’t help asking.

Schuls Schmidt’s refined manners and cold demeanor already suggested he was of noble birth.

‘And in the game, he really didn’t get along with his father.’

He even skipped the funeral, maintaining that calm, icy expression.

‘His father, Sir Schmidt, was portrayed as a prodigy.’

A knight with numerous achievements, fluent in ancient languages, and even held the title of Pneuma. Yet he insisted all his children become knights, and Schuls Schmidt was the only one who rebelled.

He fought his father, entered the White Tower, and became the youngest Pneuma. But because his father was so gifted, Schuls Schmidt was said to lag in ancient languages.

After severing ties with his family, Schuls Schmidt lived alone. Only Koriko became his true disciple, almost like family.

‘Grainbread roughly went like that.’

“The phrase, ‘To the part of me that has separated from my body,’ was used in antiquity for a beloved child,” Schuls Schmidt said, voice tinged with faint bitterness.

“My father would never have thought of me that way, so he must have deliberately chosen a difficult literary quote to test me.”

‘Seems about right.’

I couldn’t confirm or deny, so I just made a strange expression. Schuls Schmidt continued:

“Miss Tulia.”

“Yes?”

“My request is simple. Since you clearly have a talent for ancient languages, I ask that you decipher this letter.”

“That… Sir? It’ll take some time…”

“…By ‘take some time,’ you mean…”

“I can do it. It’ll just take a while.”

I had my stat for tear-soaked effort. To achieve an A-rank, I had to max out all my stats anyway. Once fully trained, even a single book could teach me any language perfectly—including Ancient—allowing me to speak like a native.

Schuls Schmidt’s confusion and agitation slowly faded.

“If it’s possible, that’s all I need.”

“I’ll do my best, Sir. But…”

I asked for a copy of the ancient letter and gave a perfectly harmless smile.

“Since you initiated this as a ‘deal,’ you should hear my terms now, shouldn’t you?”