Chapter 28
“Lloyd, this crazy guy.”
Since I had cleared the Ascenta Dungeon with Lloyd, she should know better than I do what this means.
The expensive necklace I earned from clearing the world’s most dangerous dungeon hung around my neck. From Davién’s point of view, who thought I was the villainess Ibeliana, this must have been maddening.
She frowned as if she’d seen something she couldn’t bear, then gave up and spoke again.
“Shall we start? Come over and sit.”
Hesitating, I sat in the chair in front of the table she pointed to.
As I approached, she clenched her fists tightly, making a cracking sound.
Was she remembering Ibeliana when she looked at me?
Seeing Davién’s flexing arm muscles made me nervous again.
Those were the same arms that smashed walls with Lloyd yesterday. One hit from those hands, and an ordinary person like me would be dead.
I must not mess up.
Trying to calm my trembling body, I looked at the books Davién handed me.
Titles like “History of Helderios”, “Genealogy of the Empire”, and other historical books I had studied back at the orphanage caught my eye. Then there were familiar subjects like “Basic Mathematics” and “Understanding Literature”. But there were also books I didn’t understand at all, like “On Measuring Paths and Limits According to Ruinaca Theory.”
Davién carefully showed me the books, then brought out a stack of papers and placed them in front of me.
“Before class, I need to see what you can do. Solve this. I’ll give you an hour.”
Looking at the stack, it seemed like at least 50 pages. One hour wasn’t nearly enough.
The papers were covered with so many words…
‘If you’re a genius magician, you should be able to handle this.’
There was no way she’d hand me a test full of such obscure, difficult problems unless she expected me to solve them quickly.
Under Davién’s fierce gaze, I picked up a pen and started the first problem.
Calculate the adjustment value for the outer-ring mana generated inside the Fireball and its energy control measurement.
What? What… is this?
The first question already confused me. I read it several times but couldn’t tell if it was even in the Empire’s language.
Well, when in doubt on a subjective test, there are three numbers you can pick: 0, -1, 1. I chose 1.
Next…
Discuss the secondary variable positions according to the Limercano school and the resulting paradox.
What nonsense is this?
Third… fourth…
The more problems I looked at, the more stunned I became.
What is this? Out of dozens of pages of problems, I didn’t understand a single one.
I spent the full hour staring at the baffling problems, then handed the paper to Davién. Her face hardened as she looked at my answers.
“How can you not have a single solution? And you didn’t just write the answers as guesses, did you?”
She gripped her pen tightly and drew lines through the problems I had marked.
“Wrong.”
Ugh… I got a zero.
“Are you joking? You don’t know even the basics?”
Davién stormed out of the room, clearly furious.
Really… I didn’t know a thing!
Even though I was in the body of a genius magician, I had lived as a commoner for over ten years. My knowledge was limited compared to the reincarnated protagonist who had been trained intensively.
But that was a separate issue.
While I was sulking over Davién’s scolding, she returned, slamming another stack of papers on the table.
“Try these.”
Thankfully, these were full of questions I could actually answer. It seemed she had lowered the difficulty. I relaxed and started working on them.
“Finish these in 30 minutes.”
Even with familiar problems, there were over 100 questions. How was I supposed to do this in half an hour?
I shot Davién a resentful look, but seeing her blazing eyes, I lowered my head and got to work.
After a while…
“Time’s up.”
She snatched the unfinished paper and began grading.
The first page was all correct.
I was proud for a moment, thinking, This body really is a genius. But then the mistakes started piling up on the following pages. Rain after rain of wrong answers.
Davién sighed, running a hand over her forehead, then glared at me.
“Are you doing this on purpose to annoy me? Or do you really not know? Is this your score?”
At the top of the page, it read 23/100.
How did I even pass the healer exam? I was shocked at my terrible first score in this body. Seeing my expression, Davién sighed again and shook her head.
“You win. Your acting is perfect. If you keep pretending like this, fine. I’ll play along.”
She lifted the heavy books and left.
A short while later, she returned with books illustrated for children.
“Basic Knowledge Made Easy for Children”
Wait… am I at a child’s level now?
I had once been considered gifted at the orphanage and temple!
My anger rose, but when I looked at Davién, her sharp, intense gaze froze me in place.
S-So scary!
I lowered my head and said,
“I’ll… study hard!”
And thus, the hell of studying began.
A week passed. In the Emerald Room on the second floor of the Helderios mansion, the lights burned past midnight as usual.
Bang! Davién slammed her fist on the desk. She tried to control her strength, but her power was so great the desk shook.
“Wrong! Are you brainless? You should have applied the Sisnia Theory for this problem!”
Kae flinched at her shouting and started to whimper.
“I applied the Sisnia Theory…”
‘Ibeliana isn’t doing this on purpose, right?’
Kae’s “stupid act” had succeeded from early evening. Davién remembered her study skills from the past week and realized:
Yes, this girl is definitely not Ibeliana.
Even after being taught once, she didn’t know this simple theory.
Ibeliana would never let herself be called an idiot like this so many times.
Davién looked at Kae, whose beautiful eyes were wet with tears. She seemed to be taking care not to harm a small creature.
She can’t be Ibeliana.
Just yesterday, while teaching, a servant spilled tea because of Kae’s “wrong solution” and Davién’s shout. If this were Ibeliana, the servant would have been seriously harmed.
Yet Kae endured everything calmly.
Yes, Lloyd was right. She is not Ibeliana.
Davién erased Ibeliana’s name from her mind.
A new worry formed instead.
She’s completely foolish. She hasn’t mastered advanced Sisnia theory after a week. With that brain, she’s supposed to become the Helderios mistress? What a couple—silly Lloyd and this foolish wife.
Despite starting from basic children’s knowledge, Kae had a surprisingly sharp mind compared to ordinary people. But because this was Davién’s first time teaching someone, she unfairly compared Kae to the genius Ibeliana.
Seeing Kae crying, Davién sighed and closed the book.
“Class is over for today. Rest.”
But Kae’s tears didn’t stop.
“Why are you crying?”
Davién had only seen enemies cry before. And when enemies cried? She would cut their necks.
But this girl was no enemy. Davién didn’t know how to comfort her.
“Sniff… Davi…én… you taught me, but I don’t know… it’s frustrating.”
Ah… she was upset because Davién called her brainless. Monsters even have brains.
Feeling guilty, Davién tried to reassure her.
“It’s okay. Being a little dumb doesn’t matter. We got one rich fool, Lloyd. Even idiots can live well if they have money.”
As soon as she said that, Kae cried even louder.
‘Is this not working?’
Her crying intensified, and Kae’s nose began to bleed.
This translation keeps all names, places, actions, and dialogue intact, while making it smooth, clear, and easy to read in English novel style.
