Chapter 38: Are you mocking my intelligence?
’’It hurts.’’ Carl grimaced and opened his eyes, just to see the wooden ceiling.
But... what? He shouldn’t be lying in this room at this time.
Groggy, Carl slowly raised himself up, leaning against the head of the treatment bed.
He glanced around in confusion and then looked down at his current state—some bandages wrapped around his abdomen, chest, and other places.
He could feel a dull pain numbing under the bandages.
’’What happened?’’
’’Huh? Did you lose some memories? I suppose there was some damage to your head.’’
Nearby, Earl spoke up.
He was sitting on a chair, peeling an apple. Of course, his sister was here too, still sneaking glances at Carl from behind Earl.
Carl lightly pressed his temple and sighed.
’’Seems like I already lost.’’
At that moment, all his memories of the duel with his sibling came flooding back. As soon as the duel began, she had immediately swung a dragon punch at him, and it was clear he had passed out after then.
’’What a boring duel. I didn’t even see her move.’’
Carl smiled.
’’But, luckily, she didn’t kill me.’’
It was an acceptable outcome for Carl. At least, their relationship had eased a bit. Of course, all thanks to Hanely’s accidental impact.
Hanely had created the perfect chance for Carl to improve his relationship with his sister. Huh... that’s something.
Hanely probably thought he was the smart one, standing in the shadows to take advantage—but in the end, Carl was the truly smart one.
Carl had completely exploited Hanely’s whole plan. Now, he guessed Hanely must be furious at everything Carl had done.
Hanely had lost the leverage he had over Ceillia—her weakness that he could have controlled.
Did Carl have a bit of fear that Hanley would expel him?
Not at all.
Hanely had already publicly appointed Carl as a member of the student council. Even if Carl’s position was just for show, he couldn’t be dismissed without reason—Hanley must have at least some proper justification for his actions, otherwise, nothing would happen.
The student council, though mostly a playground for teenagers, was formally a structure of the academy, where everyone acted seriously.
If Hanely kicked Carl out of the student council, his standing in the academy would be shaken. In time, someone else in the academy would certainly replace Hanely.
’’Everything is going well.’’ Carl nodded in satisfaction while chewing a slice of apple. He turned to Earl and asked,
’’So, was there anything special while I was sleeping?’’
Earl blinked a couple of times before answering.
’’A lot! Do you want to hear some?’’
Carl let out a deep breath and shook his head lightly.
’’No! I suppose it’s just some breaking news about me.’’
And yes, Carl’s thought was correct. The news of his defeat had spread throughout the academy. As one person fell, another was lifted—that was just how news worked.
Everyone praised Ceillia and looked down on Carl.
’’Good for Ceillia. I don’t need some cheap admiration from everyone to live.’’
Earl pinched Staler’s cheek and said,
’’My sister has a prophecy for you.’’
Carl’s eyes glowed at that.
Earl continued,
’’You will be surrounded by tons of monsters.’’
Carl froze for a moment before letting out a sigh and scratching the back of his head.
"Is that all?"
Earl nodded quietly.
Carl rubbed his chin, thinking about everything that might happen to him.
Tons of monsters would surround him from all directions, which meant he would go in the dungeon. But he would never choose a tactical approach like that—he was just too weak for it.
What’s more, Carl had a useful slave... no, a helpful partner. Carl could lie on some soft grass somewhere in the dungeon while his undead fire dragons went on a rampage against the monsters.
Still, he thought, if in some cases tons of monsters did appear and surround him, there was always the chance of some unpredictable incident happening.
"If it’s just a rank F dungeon, I don’t care. But if it’s a Rank E dungeon, that’s a big problem."
Carl shrugged his shoulders.
"Let it be."
Then he got out of bed.
"Thanks for your information, Earl... And..."
Carl paused for a while, glancing at Slater. He wanted to say something to her, but it was hard to act like that when there was always some penalty waiting for him.
"Hahaha, never mind... Just teach me some of your sword techniques next time."
Carl scratched his head.
"Okay, Send my gratitude to your sister."
Earl just looked at Carl with strange eyes, then turned to his sister, who was standing behind him and didn’t dare look at Carl—though he knew she wanted to.
Carl cleared his throat, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"Alright then, goodbye."
After a short farewell, Carl left and took some healing potions to recover from his wounds. He headed straight for the student council.
He wanted to see Hanley’s expression. He guessed that face would probably twist the moment he saw Carl.
And more than that, Carl was apartly sure Slater’s prophecy would involve Hanley. No—100% it would.
Carl stepped down the stairs and glanced out the castle windows, his eyes piercing the office room across the way.
"Let’s see what you can do to me, smart boy."
Before long, Carl arrived at the office door and pushed it open lightly.
"Carl. How dare you still set foot in here?" Hanley glared at him with cold eyes. If not bound by his position of student council , it seemed like he would’ve lunged at Carl and torn him to pieces.
Carl tried to keep his gentle face, but when he saw Hanley’s dark expression, he couldn’t help but let out a grin.
"Sorry, my bad. I’ve been in the treatment bed for a few days. Now I’m back to my job."
Carl walked slowly into the office, occasionally glancing at Alger and Marsh, who were sitting on the sofa bench. They looked back at him with unfriendly eyes—especially Marsh, who glared and ground his teeth in fury, but did nothing more.
"He seems to know his place, big pig," Carl muttered.
Hanley narrowed his eyes.
"I said: why are you still here? This place isn’t meant for you."
Carl smiled, walked up to Hanley’s desk, and picked up a pile of papers.
"Are you mocking my intelligence? Or are you just making fun of your own? You, of all people, should know best."