Chapter 25: Professor Zenon

“Thanks for coming, young adventurer‐kun, and all your companions. My name is Zenon. I teach here at this university.”

As the receptionist had said, we arrived at Rozy University—the most challenging university in Rozy.

I never imagined that I’d end up at a university in another world instead of enrolling in a Japanese one.

Rozy University is comprised of a cluster of five‐story buildings—a rarity in this world where skyscrapers don’t exist.

There are a total of ten buildings.

Each is designated Building One through Building Ten, and nearly every facility and piece of equipment needed for a university—classrooms, laboratories, and the like—is housed within this campus.

Being the nation’s premier institution of higher learning, it seems that a considerable amount of tax money is poured into it.

Truly, this is a place that can be said to be at the cutting edge of the world.

Then, on the top floor of Building Four—the designated location for our assignment—

When we entered Professor Zenon’s Laboratory, the sole room on the fifth floor of Building Four (formed by removing the walls between all the rooms on that level), Professor Zenon greeted us with a smile.

She even prepared tea herself and served her homemade cookies—a welcome so warm that even a guy who hates work as much as I do couldn’t help but smile.

“…You’re so small.”

“What are you saying, Segawa Ao!”

Liluria, sitting next to me, delivered a forceful elbow jab.

Oops—I just let my thoughts slip out.

Professor Zenon, seated on the sofa across from us, was incredibly small. I mean, she looked just like a kid. At an estimated age of about ten, her little frame hardly suited the title of professor.

“W-well, I’m so small… isn’t it?”

It seems Professor Zenon harbored a complex about her diminutive stature—her hand, clutching a teacup, was trembling uncontrollably.

Yeah, I totally get it. I, too, am a bit self-conscious about my short stature.

Then, looking flustered, Liluria started tapping my head—peshi-peshi—while apologizing profusely.

“S-sorry about that. This guy sometimes just loses his mind. To say such a thing about Professor Zenon—maybe he lost another screw from his head, huh? Oh ho ho ho ho.”

That was harsh. But really, she’s so tiny that it can’t be helped.

I mean, is this really Professor Zenon? It’d be more believable if she were introduced as the professor’s daughter or grandchild.

Based on the long hair flowing down to her waist, one might infer that she is a girl; if her hair were short, it might have been impossible even to determine her gender.

“Well, I’m an adult, so I’ll just laugh off words like that—things a child who hasn’t even come of age would say.”

And with a smile so forced that anyone could tell it wasn’t genuine, she let out a hollow laugh: “Ah, ahahaha!”

“Eh? You’re an adult? I was sure you were some kind of genius elementary school student who skipped grades…”

The moment those words left my mouth, a right straight punch came flying from the side and slammed into my left cheek.

“Ah, can’t you think a little before you speak…?”

Liluria muttered a complaint at me quietly so that Professor Zenon wouldn’t hear.

“Sorry. I’m not really good at socializing—after all, I aspire to be a NEET.”

And then there’s Sylha, my equal in speaking without thinking, who hasn’t uttered a single word since we entered this room.

Apparently, she remains silent because she’s highly likely to say something impolite.

Could it be that by being aware of her own nature and keeping her mouth shut, Sylha is actually better than me?

“Ahaha. Y-you’re such a kid. Your jokes are too harsh, seriously. Well, if it were me, I’d laugh off this level of insolence… oh, no—I just can’t let it slide! I’ll kill you!!”

It seems that Professor Zenon’s patience has finally run out. She stood up from the sofa and cast a spell at me.

A spear of flame appeared on my right cheek. On my left, a sword of ice. And then she thrust a long, thin sword at my eyes.

Amazing—a spell cast without incantation. And with multiple attributes.

No-incantation magic already makes controlling spells several notches more difficult, and yet she managed to perform multiple attributes at once.

Having seen Liluria struggle daily with controlling dark magic, I fully understood just how incredible that was.

And where on earth did she take that sword from? The pace of this turn of events was so swift that my eyes couldn’t keep up.

“Apologize. For insulting me.”

This is bad—she’s really pissed off.

Even I, a mere ordinary person who loves peace and harmony, sometimes end up provoking someone like this.

It’s probably because of my bad habit of blurting out whatever I’m thinking, but there’s only one way to handle these situations.

You have to apologize with all your might. Apologize, apologize, and apologize.

And then, exasperate your opponent to the point where they say, “That’s enough.” I’m sure this method is universal—it would work even in another world.

So, I’ll go with my usual plan once again.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean any harm. I’m truly sorry. I’ve always had a habit of saying unnecessary things. I’m really sorry. I swear I’ll never do something like this again. So-reee. I’d be really happy if you forgive me. Repentance—”

But my apology didn’t seem to reach the enraged Professor Zenon. She cut off my endless apologies and shouted:

“No questions asked! Die!!”

Hey! You’re the one who demanded an apology…!

I can’t believe that after telling me to apologize, you won’t listen. How much are you letting your blood boil, you childish professor!

At the moment she shouted “Die!”, the magic that had been suspended in midair was unleashed—a sword thrust attacked my brow.

Clang!

But I’ve got cheats. Not even an all-around attack like this can faze me. … Well, my heart did skip a beat, though.

I mean, wasn’t this professor really trying to kill me? Without my cheats, I’d have died instantly!

Despite that attack, Liluria and Sylha stared at me with indifferent eyes, as if I were completely unscathed.

And as for Professor Zenon…

She opened her small eyes as wide as possible, utterly astonished.

Yikes.

While Liluria and Sylha have already admitted to their cheat abilities, it would be really bad if Professor Zenon found out about mine.
She’s the kind of person who is a professor at such an incredible university. If she finds out about my cheat, she will undoubtedly start using me for human experiments. And taking advantage of the fact that I never die, she’ll probably subject me to water torture, skip my meals, lock me in a dark room for a month, and do whatever she wants.

Ugh, I absolutely don’t want any of that.

Although I might be a bit slow, I clutched the spot between my eyebrows where the sword had pierced and glared at Professor Zenon with a resentful look as I said,

“…Ouch, that hurt!”

And then, as if they had coordinated it beforehand, the three of them simultaneously delivered a retort to me.

“‘No, it’s already too late!!’”