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Chapter 15
Late afternoon, as the sunset began beyond the horizon.
Click-! Click-! Click-! Click-!
Urgent high heel sounds continued echoing through Professor Sanculotte’s research lab.
This was because Senior Teaching Assistant Chipness was pacing back and forth inside the research lab.
“……”
Chipness irritably bit her nails as she circled around the table.
The scene she had witnessed in the artifact warehouse kept replaying in her mind.
Pierre’s expression that she had seen in the artifact warehouse.
That eerie smile wouldn’t leave her head.
She had instinctively run away at the time…… but thinking about it now, it was truly humiliating.
Click-! Click-! Click-! Click-!
Chipness, who had been moving nervously, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“How dare he look at me, a senior teaching assistant, like that? What’s he going to do about it if he looks at me that way?”
If she left things like this, not only Pierre but even Hermione would look down on her and start climbing over her.
She needed to properly crush them down to their very roots.
‘I need to take some special measures. Preferably without getting my own hands dirty……’
Just as Chipness was about to rack her brains.
……Creak!
The research lab door opened and Professor Sanculotte strode into the research lab.
“Were you here?”
Chipness was startled but quickly forced a smile.
“Oh, you’re here, Professor. You’re early today?”
“……Please make me a cup of coffee.”
Professor Sanculotte let out a small sigh and pressed his temples firmly.
The dark circles under his eyes stood out even more due to his pure white clerical robes.
Chipness quickly poured coffee and handed it to Professor Sanculotte.
“Professor, you’ve worked hard~. Was it another faculty meeting today? Was it about final exam preparation?”
“As I’ve said before, I cannot reveal anything related to exams.”
She had asked hoping to get some crumbs of information, but Professor Sanculotte firmly drew the line.
“Ah…… I didn’t mean to ask with that intention…… But you’re absolutely right! Exams should be fair and impartial!”
Professor Sanculotte slowly closed his eyes and sipped his coffee.
Then Chipness quickly changed her expression and rolled her eyes.
‘Tch, what an inflexible old-fashioned bore. Teaching assistants from other departments say their professors at least hint at the exam scope.’
Professor Sanculotte, with his thorough and fair personality.
He even prohibited teaching assistants from entering the research lab from a week before exams.
Then, Professor Sanculotte slowly opened his mouth.
“Chipness, have you seen the Black Cord recently?”
“Huh? The black…… which one?”
“The Black Cord. No matter how much I search the old magic artifact warehouse, I can’t find it.”
“Ah~ oh, that? It’s not there? Sorry~ I actually sent the new teaching assistants to organize the artifact warehouse right now. They must have gotten confused and put it in the wrong place. Oh dear. But it should be somewhere in the warehouse, so I’ll find it for you.”
Listening to the story, Professor Sanculotte slowly turned to look at Chipness.
“……Are you saying you allowed the new teaching assistants to enter the artifact warehouse? Just the two of them without supervision?”
A cold atmosphere instantly enveloped the research lab.
Noticing this, Chipness smiled awkwardly and tried to brush it off casually.
“Huh? Ah, yes. Ahaha. Since they’ll learn Artifactology in their fourth year, I thought I’d have them study in advance.”
But Professor Sanculotte continued with a stern expression.
“The artifact warehouse contains things that even professors don’t know the true nature of. The reason only senior teaching assistants are allowed entry is to prevent accidents. Chipness, you weren’t unaware of this fact, were you?”
“I’m, I’m sorry…… I thought it might help the kids a little……”
“I understand your sentiment, but new teaching assistants are forbidden from entering the artifact warehouse. Make sure this never happens again. If anything happens there, I will hold you, as the senior teaching assistant, strictly responsible.”
“Yes! Of, of course! I’ll quickly find it and put it back. I’ll make sure the new teaching assistants never even go near the artifact warehouse!”
“Good, understood. Make sure to find the Black Cord by tomorrow.”
At Professor Sanculotte’s cold voice, Chipness nodded frantically in surprise.
Professor Sanculotte, returning to his expressionless face, soon left the research lab.
Chipness let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew, that was almost a big disaster. Why is he looking for an artifact he’s never bothered to find before, today of all days? How annoying, tch.”
Then.
Creak-.
The research lab door opened wide again.
Naturally, Chipness looked over in surprise.
What entered the research lab wasn’t Professor Sanculotte, but Hermione and Pierre.
Hermione, who spotted Chipness, opened her mouth with a pale face.
“Se, Senior Teaching Assistant, we’ve finished organizing the artifact warehouse.”
“You’re done? Really? Are you sure?”
“Huh? Yes…… We’ve finished all the parts you instructed……”
“Ha, I’m completely dumbfounded. Hey, the professor just came and left! He was very~ upset saying the Black Cord wasn’t in the artifact warehouse? What’s that about, then?”
“Huh? But that was definitely in its place until this morning……”
At that moment.
Smack-!
A sharp sound suddenly rang out.
Hermione clutched her stinging cheek.
Watching this, Chipness irritably shook her hand.
“Damn, my hand hurts. What, do lowly people have thick cheek skin too? Hey, hey.”
“Yes, yes?”
“It’s not there. When did I ask if it was there earlier? It’s not there now, now! The professor says it’s not there!”
“……”
At the continuing sharp scolding, Hermione hung her head low.
Surely just an hour or two ago, the Black Cord had been in its place.
Hermione herself had organized it directly, so there was no mistake.
But if she told this fact, she would be accused of talking back and a whip would come flying.
Watching Hermione silently hang her head, Chipness clicked her tongue irritably.
“Tch, you always have to add a word or two to earn a beating. ‘I’m sorry,’ is that one phrase so difficult? Hey, and you came here right after finishing cleaning, right? You weren’t here when the professor left.”
“We…… finished organizing and went to the student cafeteria to eat……”
“Eat? What did you do well enough to deserve food? When you lost an artifact? If it were me? I would have checked over and over again, feeling sorry for doing such a shitty job. The senior teaching assistant is here starving while working, but you two didn’t do your work properly and went off together to eat?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s done by being sorry? Oh my, you’re sorry. Should I forgive you then, is that what I should do? Huh?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“Enough. Let’s stop talking. Go. Hurry up and go clean up the mess you made.”
“……Yes?”
At that moment, a whip flew at Hermione’s waist.
Crack-!
Along with the sharp snapping sound, Chipness’s voice grew louder.
“Now you’re deaf too!? Hurry up and go work!”
“Ugh- Yes, yes!”
As Hermione hurriedly tried to leave the research lab, Chipness suddenly shouted.
“Hey, wait! Before you go, bring me the grade sheet the professor mentioned the day before yesterday.”
“Huh? But the professor said yesterday that he didn’t need it……”
“Who’s the professor now when the professor isn’t here? If I tell you to bring it, just bring it, why so many words? If the professor says he doesn’t need it, does that document get sucked into some subspace never to be found again? Or maybe you need more beatings?”
“No, no. I’ll find it right away.”
Hermione skillfully found the sheet from the mountain of piled documents.
“Here it is, the grade sheet.”
But Chipness, as if she had been waiting, knocked away the sheet Hermione handed her.
Flutter- Flutter-.
The document fell helplessly to the floor.
Chipness stepped on the fallen document and mocked.
“Mm, mmm. I understand why the professor said he didn’t need it. Clean it up again.”
“……”
“What’s with that expression? Why, angry? You’re going to get hit?”
“……No.”
“Then hurry up and get lost. Don’t dawdle around like a slug.”
Watching Hermione pick up the documents, Chipness let out a snide laugh.
‘Now I feel a bit better. That’s what you get for coming in at a time like this. Clueless bitch.’
Eventually, Chipness headed toward the research lab exit and said.
“I’m going to eat and come back, so until then you two cut the sheet music for the Sacred Songs assignment and bring towels from the laundry to the professor’s lounge. You know how to do it, right?”
“One by one, separately. With a grateful heart.”
The tasks Chipness assigned were always unreasonable ones.
Even cutting paper had to be done one sheet at a time separately, and fetching things also had to be done one item at a time separately.
It was clear harassment, but in this research lab, Chipness’s word was law.
There was no choice but to silently comply.
Before leaving the research lab, Chipness added one last comment.
“If you get caught slacking off like last time, you know what happens, right? Well then, work hard.”
Click-.
Chipness’s footsteps gradually faded away.
Only then did Hermione let out the breath she had been holding and collapsed.
Teardrops hung around her eyes, ready to fall at any moment.
“……”
Ever since becoming a teaching assistant, she always felt like she was in hell.
No matter how hard she worked, only violence and humiliation followed.
Being called out at all hours and skipping meals was routine, and she often stayed awake at night due to anxiety. The bruises all over her body made even lying down in bed every night an ordeal.
A series of days that couldn’t be called human life.
‘Should I give up everything?’
Eventually, tears streamed down Hermione’s cheeks.
At that moment.
Rustle- Rustle- Rustle- Rustle-.
A quiet sound began echoing from one corner of the research lab.
It was the sound of Robespierre cutting sheet music one by one.
Watching this, Hermione soon wiped her eyes and murmured.
“Pierre……”
His silent dedication to his work felt as solid as a pillar.
If Pierre hadn’t been with her, she would never have been able to endure and would have given up long ago.
Eventually, Hermione spoke in a deliberately cheerful voice.
“Pierre, share some with me. Let’s do it together!”
Then Robespierre quietly handed part of the sheet music bundle to Hermione.
Hermione rubbed her eyes and began cutting the sheet music one by one.
Rustle- Rustle- Rustle- Rustle- Rustle- Rustle-.
In the silent research lab, only the clear sound of cutting sheet music echoed.
This time alone together was Hermione’s only time of peace.
Her frozen heart gradually melted and a smile naturally flowed out.
Then Hermione was startled and quickly lowered her head.
She was worried her flushed face might be discovered.
‘Ugh, why am I acting like this? This is, well…… Right! The “suspension bridge effect” I heard about in psychology class! Like on a shaking bridge, mistaking feelings of attraction toward someone you’ve shared a crisis with…… Anyway! It must be something like that! Yeah, definitely!’
Rustlerustlerustlerustlerustlerustlerustlerustle-.
Hermione kept nodding and began cutting sheet music at a frightening speed.
Meanwhile, Robespierre just cut sheet music consistently and precisely with an expressionless face.
After a while, somewhat calmed down, Hermione slowly opened her mouth.
“Pierre, thank you.”
“……”
“If you hadn’t been here…… I probably never could have endured it alone. Thank you. I mean it.”
Hermione scratched her cheek embarrassedly and laughed.
Then she continued with a worried expression.
“By the way, I never thought the evil practice of ‘hazing’ actually existed. I thought it was just school ghost stories……”
At that moment, Robespierre, who had been silent until now, spoke for the first time.
“This can’t be called hazing.”
“……Huh?”
Hermione blinked her large eyes and tilted her head.
Robespierre continued slowly, still keeping his gaze fixed on the sheet music.
“Because nothing was burned.”
“What do you mean?”
“……”
Robespierre didn’t answer.
He just silently continued cutting sheet music.
Late evening, when forest owls began waking up one by one.
A shadow stealthily snuck into the artifact warehouse.
“No one’s here, right? Good……”
The identity was Chipness Alma.
The senior teaching assistant under Professor Sanculotte.
Soon, Chipness began secretly examining various parts of the artifact warehouse like a cockroach.
“Crazy kids…… they’re so damn competent. They organized all this in half a day?”
The dimly visible artifact warehouse looked completely different from the morning.
The artifacts that had been scattered everywhere were now neatly organized by name and year, placed orderly on the shelves.
Hermione and Pierre. They were sharp kids you couldn’t believe were freshmen.
Especially Hermione was an exceptionally excellent talent.
She showed much more skilled work handling than Chipness, who had been doing teaching assistant work for several years.
“Tch, annoying bitch.”
Chipness bit her lower lip with an expression mixed with inferiority and defeat.
‘……Should I just use her for life?’
Chipness chuckled and let out a snicker.
Brainwash Hermione throughout the semester, then bring her to her family upon graduation to exploit her day and night.
Since she was a commoner with no backing, she could easily be made into a slave if she set her mind to it.
It would be a cornerstone for reviving the Alma family, so wouldn’t it be the most glorious thing for a poor commoner girl?
Eventually, Chipness stopped in front of the old magic artifact warehouse.
The door to the old magic artifact warehouse was slightly open.
“What, they didn’t even lock up properly? Wow~ and they went home after that~? Wow~ the world has become so nice, really.”
They probably forgot to lock up in their rush to organize.
It would have been a big problem if the professor had discovered it, but for Chipness it was actually a good thing.
Not only could she enter secretly, but she also had grounds to torment Hermione later.
Chipness hummed a tune and entered the old magic artifact warehouse.
The old magic artifact warehouse was also perfectly organized.
After looking around once, Chipness soon placed something she took from her bosom onto a shelf.
Thunk-.
A dirty-looking black cord.
It was exactly that artifact Professor Sanculotte had been looking for, the ‘Black Cord.’
Chipness muttered with a bright smile across her face.
“Phew- I almost got in trouble trying to torment the newbies. Why did Professor Sanculotte have to look for this of all things? How annoying……”
She had secretly taken it this morning under the pretext of them losing something to torment them.
But since the professor had gotten involved, there was no need to hide it and make things bigger.
She would quietly put it back, then tell Professor Sanculotte that she had found what the first-years had lost, and that would be the end of it.
Plus, she could use that as grounds to torment Hermione, so it was truly killing two birds with one stone.
“Stupid bitch. I’ll make sure you learn exactly how scary hazing can be.”
Then.
Rustle-.
Suddenly, the presence of someone was heard from a corner of the warehouse.
Soon a familiar face slowly walked out from beyond the darkness.
What appeared before her was Pierre.
“You, what are you! What are you doing here at this hour? Are, are you crazy!?”
Chipness was so flustered she stammered.
‘How long has he been there? Did he see everything? Damn, damn……’
If the fact that she had stolen the Black Cord reached Professor Sanculotte’s ears, it would become a very troublesome situation.
Chipness swallowed dry saliva and looked at Pierre.
But something caught her attention.
It was the large buckets Pierre held one in each hand.
At that moment, Pierre threw the buckets down onto the floor.
Clang-! Thud-! Splash-!
The liquid in the buckets thoroughly soaked the floor.
Chipness was horrified and raised her voice.
“What are you doing! Don’t you know moisture is strictly forbidden in the artifact warehouse? Hurry up and wipe that water…… Huh!? What’s this? What’s this smell……?”
Something was seriously wrong.
And in a very bad way.
What was in the buckets wasn’t water.
A fishy and pungent stench. And even a sticky viscosity.
Soon, Chipness turned pale and shouted.
“Oil!? What are you doing!”
But Pierre paid no attention and struck a match against the wall.
Then.
Hiss-!
A small spark rose from Pierre’s fingertips.
A small flame burning beautifully.
Following that light, Robespierre’s face became visible.
Eyes black as darkness.
The dry, emotionless gaze contained within them.
Meanwhile, on his lips was that damp and creepy smile he had shown during the day.
He was going to do something.
Something very, very bad……!
Thinking this, Chipness frantically rushed toward Pierre.
“No, don’t! Stop!”
But the match was thrown.
The match falling to the floor, spinning in circles.
In that brief moment, a low voice flowed from Pierre’s mouth.
“……This is ‘hazing.'”
