Guiding the Male Lead out of His Trauma - Chapter 25.1
The female lead has no need for the male lead
While Acteon’s second awakening—now officially classified as a rampage—was being contained, the entire day slipped by in the blink of an eye.
After I managed to stabilize him, I finally stepped outside, into a world I’d thought I’d never see again, only to realize it was already just past midnight.
But even after leaving the main building, I wasn’t granted the honor of collapsing straight onto my dormitory bed. Instead, I was dragged with him to the Garden of Oaths, where we had to undergo a rank assessment.
‘I’m so, so tired.’
In theory, as a B-Class, even if I attempted guiding an S-Class Transcendent, it would be impossible to fully stabilize Acteon’s mana. At best, I could buy some time until someone of a higher rank arrived.
And yet, not only did I succeed where even the late Professor Hession had failed, but—
‘…I’ve never even heard of someone’s rank changing after they’d already had their second awakening.’
A change I never wanted had occurred.
And it just so happened to be at the very top, the highest rank the entire country treats like high nobility: S-Class.
Recalling everything that happened in the early hours of the morning, I wanted to clutch my head and scream, but I barely managed to swallow the cry that rose to my throat. Every part of me ached, as if I’d been beaten all over or subjected to some backbreaking labor.
If only this were my bed in the dorm, I could at least groan quietly to myself.
But this was the mana management room, attached to the Garden of Oaths, and there were far too many eyes watching me.
“Now I finally understand why you acted the way you did, Cadet Ortis.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you suddenly showed up and insisted we hurry up with the installation of the control stones.”
Just as I was about to undergo a detailed examination, the researcher from yesterday spoke to me.
“If you were just a B-Class, it would’ve been impossible to sense the signs of a second awakening. But if you were S-Class, it all makes sense.”
Having said what she wanted, she simply ushered me inside.
Just thinking about yesterday’s events was giving me a headache.
“So… what happens next?”
The manifestation of an S-Class Transcendent—a rarity among rarities—sent shockwaves throughout the academy.
And with that person being Acteon of House Brondearn, the students would have even more to gossip about.
Even the researchers here were the same.
“As expected of a Brondearn.”
“Are they running some sort of top-secret experiment over there? Trying to artificially create high-ranking Transcendents or something?”
From admiration to utterly baseless rumors, wild talk never stopped all day.
‘Well, the latter isn’t totally unreasonable. Everyone here grows up exposed to high-level mana from a young age, after all.’
But in the end, the hottest topic of all always came back to me.
She was hiding her real rank.
She’s the product of some secret research.
It’s because of a high compatibility rate, or maybe she’s a mutant…
The absurd gossip about me kept spreading.
‘Well, I guess all the rumors are a small price to pay for surviving…’
Since there were no recorded cases like this, the headmaster, professors, and researchers decided to keep me confined in the Garden of Oaths for now.
Who knows how long I’ll be stuck here.
‘Ugh, this is so annoying…’
The way everyone stared at me like I was some rare artifact was seriously unpleasant.
“Cadet Ortis, were you hiding your rank?”
It’s obvious what would happen to my life if I ever got caught, so of course not.
To clear up this misunderstanding, I started by offering an answer the researchers would easily accept.
“Everyone who’s connected knows I passed out while guiding Acteon during his first awakening. Even the family’s pharmacist wrote a report about it.”
“Oh, right, that’s true.”
Someone quickly agreed, as if they’d already checked with the administration.
Should government employees be this loose-lipped? At this rate, they’ll leak state secrets to enemy nations in real time.
I wanted to make a snide comment, but I needed information too.
“It’s not impossible to suspect I was hiding my rank… It’s just not a very believable theory. But to say that, in such a short span of time, I was subjected to some secret research and became its result… That’s just too much of a leap, don’t you think?”
Luckily, my relatively calm rebuttal worked.
“Ahem, right. Whoever started that nonsense should stop spreading rumors and focus on cleaning up this mess.”
The group clustered around me cleared their throats and scattered.
Anyway, only after going through various formalities, like a physical checkup and mana assessment, was I finally allowed to leave.
Lastly, I even had to place my hand on a giant mana stone with a spindly core and undergo a guiding test. By then, I was completely drained.
Leaving behind the gloomy people and the bleak mana management room, I was finally greeted by sunlight.
‘What a nightmare way to start the semester.’
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
