Chapter 201: Everyone has their own Quirks |
Morale Support: Scherzo
Patreon: https://patreon.com/ScherzoTranslations
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“How was dinner yesterday?”
The next day, it wasn’t until lunchtime that Igor approached Reiner and continued inquiring about the gossip.
“It’s hard to describe…”
Reiner looked at the stewed lamb in his bowl and recalled the terror of being dominated by the Stanlyan red cabbage soup yesterday.
“While the taste of other dishes was good, one of them was too horrifying. Honestly, seeing the sun today is a miracle for me.”
He exaggerated, leaving Igor wide-eyed.
Igor explained, dipping a piece of bread into the gravy on his plate and putting it in his mouth.
“When this committee was just established, we were invited to their house as guests by Lord Percival. At that time, his wife also made a new dish. Oh, it was unforgettable! There was a moment when I even thought there was a powerful curse placed in that dish!”
He said, his face showing a horrified expression, as if everything from the past was vivid.
“However, Lord Percival really dotes on his wife. Even if the dish is terrifying, he will eat it all without leaving a drop. As for their daughter, it seems she inherited her mother’s strong taste buds and doesn’t care about those strange flavors.”
Hearing Igor’s explanation, Reiner suddenly realized why yesterday’s scene made him feel like his taste buds were malfunctioning. Among the four people present, Reiner was the only normal one!
“Lord Percival comes from an ordinary magical family, and it seems his academic performance in school was only above average. Marrying Miss Lisa, the daughter of the Vice Principal of the Astar Advanced Magic Academy, was indeed lucky. It seems during that time, Lord Percival’s magic power continued to improve, eventually reaching today’s level.”
Igor muttered with some envy. He was still single so far, not to mention a wife, he doesn’t even have a girlfriend. Igor often self-deprecates as a lonely old dog, but Reiner didn’t tell him that most stray dogs eventually find mates. [1]
“He did mention yesterday that Mrs. Lisa’s father is a professor at the school. I didn’t expect him to be the Vice Principal.”
Reiner took a bite of the extremely tender stewed lamb. The meat had no hint of a gamey taste; the flavor of the spices permeated every inch of the meat, providing a rich culinary experience.
“Although I say I envy them, deep down, I’m really envious.”
Igor sighed. At this time, their somewhat hunched colleague Savros came to the dining hall, but instead of getting food, he took out a somewhat dull square iron box from his pocket.
Seeing him open the box, Reiner saw several dried pieces of bread and seemingly tasteless stewed meat inside. However, Savros picked up a piece of bread and seemed to enjoy it.
Even though there was free food in the dining hall, he still insisted on eating what he brought?
Noticing Reiner’s confusion, Igor followed his gaze and also saw Savros’s peculiar behavior.
“Oh, him, he’s always been like this.”
Igor whispered. At this point, Igor once again demonstrated his superior gossiping abilities.
“Savros is not very familiar with us. He is quite independent. It’s said that he was once one of the editors of an academic journal, but due to poor relations with colleagues, he was constantly marginalized. Joining the Thesis Review Committee this time might be his escape from the past environment.”
“You know that too…”
Reiner wiped off a cold sweat. Where did Igor get his gossip from?
“He seems to be working on his own research project. You’ve seen the one made with many cards. I don’t understand what it is, but it seems useless.”
Igor added, then took the last piece of bread in his hand and slowly savored it.
Reiner glanced at Savros, who was eating his self-brought food expressionlessly, and didn’t ask further.
He just felt that the people in this Thesis Review Committee were indeed a bit strange.
…
In the following two days, Reiner continued to work according to the normal schedule. His tasks were simple, as Lord Percival described – consolidating the review comments of various committee members. Reiner was very skilled, and he could finish a day’s work in just one morning.
According to Igor, after completing the work, the remaining time could be freely arranged, as long as there were people in the manor at any time.
Reiner naturally used the time to study. There was a library in the manor, and although the number of books was not as large as a formal library, there were books on various magic factions. It was a perfect reference for Reiner.
He had already inscribed the second-level magic, Flame Burst, into his Mind Lake. Meanwhile, after multiple attempts, the construction of the third-level spell was also becoming proficient. As long as he found the right time, he could try to inscribe a third-level spell into his Mind Lake and touch the threshold of a low-level mage.
However, the choice of this spell troubled Reiner.
Originally, he could continue upgrading Flame Burst to the third level. If he remembered correctly, there was a Pluto’s Flame Burst in the third level, an improved version of the standard Flame Burst in the second level. It optimized the casting efficiency and increased the destructive power. If everything went as expected, Reiner would probably choose to inscribe this spell and upgrade from an explosion to an even more powerful explosion.
But after reading some books on combat, Reiner changed his mind.
Spells inscribed in the Mind Lake could be released instantly without chanting or preparation time. Taking the second-level Flame Burst as an example, if it were not inscribed in the Mind Lake, the shortest record for casting this spell from scratch is 5.68 seconds. This was set by the legendary mage Carl David when he was in the seventh level. However, if it was inscribed in the Mind Lake, the time from activation to release would not exceed one second. In the ever-changing battlefield, this difference was significant.
If Reiner continued to inscribe Flame Burst, then he would have only one quickly-releasable spell. From various perspectives, this was not advantageous. At least, Reiner needed to add other offensive means.
Previously, Reiner thought that he might not fight anytime soon, but after the blood-red wedding of the Albione family, Reiner had a faint premonition that he might face a challenge in the near future. Although he had used astrological spells to predict, due to the overwhelming feedback from the world that Reiner had received, the future was still shrouded in mist.
Reiner had never believed in fate, but in this world filled with mysterious forces, it was better to be cautious. Therefore, after thinking it over, Reiner made a bold decision.
Relying on his abundant magical power and his mastery of spell models, Reiner read various materials and decided to create a third-level attack spell exclusive to him and inscribe it in his Mind Lake.
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T/N:
[1] In China, males without a girlfriend are often described as “single dogs”.
Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s been hectic the past week and this upcoming week. I owe one update.
