I Am Just An Ordinary Clown Of The Academy

✦  Chapter 22 – Meal (1)  ✦

「Translator – Creator」

𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝

I regained consciousness two hours later, having been thoroughly thrashed by Professor Elysia. And how did I know it had been two hours, you ask?

“Hm. Waking up right as class ends, are you doing this on purpose?”

Professor Elysia kindly explained it to me herself. She must have known that I really had just woken up. Despite this, her comment was likely her way of joking.

“On purpose? How could you say such a thing, Professor?”

Rising to my feet, I looked around.

The classroom, which had been a mess when I passed out, was now neatly organized. 

Thanks to the artifact’s effect, the classroom itself was so clean that it looked brand new, with the scattered desks all tidied up: the broken desks had been removed, leaving only enough desks for the special class students.

“The other students have already woken up and are sitting at their desks, waiting for you. You should also get to your seat quickly.”

As Professor Elysia had said, all the students were seated except for me. Well, ‘seated’ might be a generous term — they looked more like they were slumped over, completely drained.

“Are you sure they’re conscious? They don’t look very alert,” I remarked.

The students who had seemed so sharp and alert at the start had now lost all vitality; they even trembled whenever Professor Elysia spoke.

“Good afternoon, everyone! It’s lunchtime, so let’s all enjoy our lunch break and regain our strength!” I said cheerfully, trying to lift the mood, but my classmates just stared at me with those same lifeless eyes.

The only one who reacted to my greeting was Professor Elysia. 

“It’s not lunchtime yet.”

“I thought lunch break started after morning classes,” I said, confused.

“There’s still about an hour left until lunchtime.”

Upon hearing that they still had an hour until lunch, the students began to tremble again. The thought of Professor Elysia potentially suggesting another round of ‘sparring’ was enough to fill them with dread.

“So you have that one hour to rest.”

“““Phew.”””

As soon as she mentioned rest, all the students sighed in relief.

“I have one last thing to say before I leave, so everyone, please pay attention.”

At her words, the slumped students straightened up and focused on her.

“Probably no first-year student can defeat you in a one-on-one fight. But that doesn’t mean you’re strong,” Professor Elysia proclaimed. No one dared to disagree. Everyone might have thought of themselves as strong, but no one here had managed to even touch a hair on Professor Elysia’s head.

“You all have special talents, but you’re still young and have weaknesses and bad habits,” she continued. The students flinched as if her words hit too close to home, recalling the advice they’d received during their fights with her. “So, you’ll continue to fight me for a year. During our battles, I’ll point out the weaknesses you don’t even realize you have.”

Fighting every day until we passed out? Yeah, that’s what she was suggesting.

“If anyone doesn’t want to fight, doesn’t care to know their weaknesses, and is content with mediocre strength, raise your hand. I’ll make sure you’re transferred to another class.”

Not a single hand went up.

Professor Elysia surveyed the room, a satisfied smile gracing her lips before she finally dismissed us.

The moment she left, everyone slumped back onto their desks, utterly spent.

I walked over to an empty desk to sit and rest. Since there were as many desks as there were students, my seat was predetermined.

As I settled in, I decided to break the ice with Clara, who was slumped over to my left.

“Hello, Clara!”

“…Yes,” she mumbled, not even bothering to look up.

She clearly wanted to ignore me, but knew I wouldn’t give up that easily.

Her black hair scattered over the desk as she lay slumped, exhausted. Her half-closed red eyes made her look even more enchanting.

“When did Professor get to you?” I asked.

Too tired to even half-open her eyes, she answered with her eyes fully closed, “Not long after she got to you.”

Clara was slumped over her desk, looking seemingly unaffected; however, her posture accentuated her thighs and the parts of her body pressed against the desk, naturally drawing my gaze to her form.

I was relieved to have my mask; without it, Clara might have smashed my head with a staff.

“Well then, rest easy,” I said. Hiding behind my mask, I felt too guilty to keep staring at her, so I had to move away. I knew I couldn’t tear my eyes off her otherwise.

My first stop was to the shaman who had cursed Professor Elysia earlier while listening to my words.

“I should have raised my hand when she asked. What’s the point of me being here? Everyone here is amazing except for me. I don’t belong in this class. No, I shouldn’t even exist in this world,” the shaman muttered, caught in a spiral of self-deprecation.

Worried that we might lose a valuable talent, I grabbed the shaman’s shoulder.

“What a depressing thing to say!” I exclaimed. The shaman gasped, their mouth wide open, too stunned to respond. Did they just faint?

“Uh?”

Thankfully, they hadn’t fainted.

“Your curse even affected the Professor. Take pride in your skills! Understood?”

“Yes? Yes!” The shaman shouted back. Embarrassed by their outburst, they quickly fled the classroom. 

If it was really because they were embarrassed, I should probably hide away from the world too. With the shaman outside, I naturally moved towards Lucas.

“Lucas, you seem troubled. It’s a shame to see such a handsome face marred by worry.”

“Haha,” Lucas chuckled briefly. But worry still lingered on his face.

“Loki, do you think I’m being arrogant, relying solely on the spear?”

‘There’s nothing more I can advise about your spear technique. But why don’t you use that power?’ Was he troubled because of what Professor Elysia had said?

“Lucas, I don’t know what kind of ‘power’ the Professor was talking about, but I have a way for you to avoid her criticism even if you only use your spear!”

Lucas’s head shot up, a flicker of hope in his eyes… mixed with a healthy dose of skepticism.

“How?”

“Simple. Defeat her using only your spear! If you can do that, I doubt even Professor Elysia will have anything to say!”

Lucas burst into genuine laughter. This time, all traces of worry had vanished.

“Hahaha!”

“So, did my amazing advice help?” I asked, smugly.

“It did. Thanks, Loki,” he grinned.

Satisfied, I decided to approach the student who seemed to have taken Professor Elysia’s lesson the hardest — Sepia.

“Sepia, why the gloomy face? You’ll scare away all the good luck!”

She glanced at me for a second, then quickly averted her gaze, staring at the floor.

“Even you fought bravely against Professor Elysia. I couldn’t do a thing,” she mumbled.

She was clearly still deeply affected by her Spirits’ refusal to obey. Though, in her defense, facing a Dragon would make any spirit think twice. If it had been anyone else, they would have listened to her. But I couldn’t tell her that Professor Elysia was a dragon.

“Argh!”

Sepia let out a frustrated groan, tugging on her beautiful pink hair until it was a tangled mess.

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, her wind spirit appeared and gently began to comb through the knots. The other elemental spirits hovered around, looking equally concerned and helpless.

Sepia pretended not to notice them.

It looked like it was time for me to unleash my 77th special skill — the art of reconciliation.

I carefully scooped up the water spirit and brought it close to my face. “Sepia, don’t be angry,” I said in a soothing voice.

Next, I picked up the earth spirit and said in a deep, gruff voice, “It’s my fault.”

I switched to the wind spirit, mimicking its playful tone. “I’m sorry!”

Finally, I grabbed the fire spirit and blurted out, “It was my mistake!”

That was right, my friends. My 77th special skill — ventriloquism! (For those wondering, my first special skill is my devilishly good looks.)

“Pfft!” Sepia giggled, breaking into a radiant smile. The spirits all swarmed her, eager for affection.

As she lovingly nuzzled them, she turned to me. “Hey, Loki,” she said, “want to have lunch with me?” 

If I didn’t already have plans, I would have accepted without a second thought.

But before I could politely decline, Kuran’s voice boomed across the room.

“Loki, some woman is here to see you!”

— End of Chapter —

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