Chapter 498
Chapter 498
Elsa went to house number 2 and pressed the bell.
Soon a maid appeared and let the guest inside.
The girl found the pear-headed old man on a chair in the living room playing the game "Plumber". Stone shuddered at the sight of her usually peppy and energetic teacher: bags under reddened eyes, pale skin, dirty, disheveled hair. She had the impression that he hadn't slept for a month.
«Master, you've been overzealous playing plumber! Take care of yourself!» – Elsa exclaimed with concern, however, apparently, she was not heard.
«Haha, I found a shortcut! I found the passage to the eighth world, ah-ha-ha! This is genius! It's brilliant, ah-ha-ha!» – Julius rejoiced like a child.
The behavior of the master immediately spoiled the mood of the blonde. With just one formation, Dick bought the soul of the famous teacher. He valued the young man so highly that he did not even hold a grudge against him for the incident with narcotic gas.
Finally, the old man noticed the guest: «Oh, Elsa, how did you get here?!»
«I came two minutes ago…»
Master Julius smiled guiltily: «I'm sorry I didn't pay attention. I immersed myself in this game with all my heart. Did you want to talk about something, my favorite student?»
«Master… Tell me, will I be able to surpass Dick as a formacist?»
The smile slowly faded from the old man's face. He hesitated and picked up the words for an absurdly long time.
Elsa immediately understood everything, doomedly lowered her head and closed her eyelids.
«Don't be upset, Elsa. Dick just… He's not of this world, you know? I'm not sure that even a first-rank formacist will be able to compete with him…»
Such big words from someone whom Stone considered her idol all this time hit her in the heart. She came to hear words of support from the master in order to motivate herself to work further, but in the end she only made it worse.
It just so happened that Elsa was always the best at everything. Everything was so easy for her that she stopped trying for real a long time ago, but because of Dick, the girl had been working so hard for a whole month that anyone else would have gone crazy. However, she did not feel the progress she wanted, so her will to win began to wane.
«You must understand that there will always be a person who is better than you in some way. Besides, didn't you notice that nature compensated his mind with looks and strength?»
«Yes, indeed…» – Elsa agreed listlessly.
The conversation turned out to be short, but it pushed the girl to some thoughts. She returned home and flopped wearily into a chair, surrounded by mountains of books on formacy and alchemy. She thought: {Nature endowed Dick with a great mind, but does this mean that I will not be able to overcome him? No! If he's so smart, then I just need to learn everything he knows from him, and then everything will be easy!}
Stone has just decided to step over her pride for the sake of the result. Yes, she will have to learn from her opponent, but does it matter if she eventually surpasses him? Let him mock her as much as he wants, but she will be the last to laugh.
…
«I'm sorry, but I'm not so reckless as to send assassins to the order. To attack the school owned by the government, that is, the Russells… There is nothing more stupid. Now, when everyone knows he's under the headmaster's protection, only a madman would dare to act.»
«But father, you must help your son take revenge!» – insisted Rose Valentine.
«The very fact that you hate a man in a pig's body is already humiliating…» – Monty shook his head. – «But I understand you perfectly. You lost a million points… You ran naked after your girlfriend… You disgraced yourself in front of everyone… In general, you have to organize a covert murder yourself, with someone else's hands. It will be a valuable lesson for you.»
«In that case, I need your connections, resources, and an explosive formation.»
«No problem. Ask for anything, son.» – Monty smiled warmly.
When Rose left, the patriarch rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance: {Damn, I knew I should have given the bastard to Horace! Now he can't even be fired from the department, because he is under the protection of the head… The son of a bitch is already getting on my nerves.}
…
During the two-week break, Kyon, in addition to regular classes with Stephanie, visited the masters of alchemy and formacy and offered them his deepest apologies. Julius, who was passionate about the game, practically did not worry about the gas incident, but Feng was deeply offended because his beloved bees suffered.
To atone for his guilt, Lovr gave the man one pill of demonic medicine and hinted about who was hiding behind the pseudonym of "The Legendary Lord of the Cauldron", explaining that he used the lousy alchemy kit on purpose in order not to impersonate. That was enough.
After the two-week break, Kyon continued his lectures. Despite the gas incident, his lectures were still wildly popular. The students only sometimes muttered curses and insulting jokes to themselves, but did not voice their indignation aloud.
Overall, the guy felt comfortable and safe. It's not even about the demonic medicine, but about the headmaster's intercession. No one would dare to act because of the all-seeing eye of his powerful patron.
Three days later, an unexpected thing happened: Elsa came to the lecture!
Masters Feng and Julius were not surprised by her appearance, after all, they repeatedly recommended the girl to enroll in Dick's classes, but the students reacted with fervor: «Lady Elsa, will you really let him teach you?!» … «It can't be! Did you recognize his superiority?!» … «I thought you would never come to Dick's lectures because of your pride!»
Timothy, who has been attending lectures for a long time, jumped up in surprise at the sight of the blonde beauty.
Elsa ignored everyone and sat down on a chair with an ice mask on her face.
Kyon greeted the students and met the blonde with a sarcastic grin: «Oh, Elsa Stone, how did you get here? I thought you'd never show up for my classes!»
«Don't overthink. I'm here to surpass you in the near future.»
«Commendable self-confidence!» – Kyon nodded mockingly.
«To defeat the enemy – you have to think like the enemy.»
«In this case, this expression is not suitable. First of all, I am not your enemy, but your rival. And right now I am your teacher. Secondly, trying to copy my way of thinking, you will stay in my shadow all your life. I suggest you settle down. And don't try to do something beyond your capabilities, otherwise you'll break yourself.» – sarcastically advised Kyon at the end.
The pencil in Elsa's hand broke in half, and the dagger-sharp gaze glared into the face of the unbearable interlocutor.
The students held their breath. Dick is so fearless! Only a madman would dare to talk so boldly with Lady Elsa, the future wife of Rose.
«Well, let's get started!» – Lovr clapped his hands.
It's been three hours.
Elsa was discouraged. She was struck by Dick's deep knowledge in the field of formacy and alchemy. Now she began to better understand how huge the gap between them was. The way of presenting information through images was even more surprising.
During the lecture on alchemy, Kyon looked up from the blackboard and did something unexpected – for the first time he asked a student: «Elsa Stone, please answer the question: is it possible to make medicine consisting of darkness and light?»
«As far as I know, no.» – the girl answered immediately.
«Have you heard anything about the medicine of "oblivion"?»
«Of course, I have. And why do you ask?» – Stone frowned.
«Because the medicine of "oblivion" includes an ingredient called "green caterpillar". It is a hybrid of a black and white caterpillar of the harpy species. The black caterpillar is the ingredient of darkness in its purest form, and the white caterpillar is the ingredient of light. The green caterpillar is barren, but it combines darkness and light. It is used in the medicine of oblivion, which erases people's memory of recent events. So you were wrong.»
«But… But…» – Elsa could not continue. It was a trick question! The caterpillar is the product of the natural fusion of darkness and light in nature, whereas the alchemist does not have the opportunity to combine them in the course of his work. – «But you asked if it was possible to combine the ingredients of darkness and light during making!»
«I repeat my question verbatim: is it possible to make medicine, consisting of darkness and light. The spatial attribute is the fruit of darkness and light. That is, any spatial ingredient is the answer to my question. You were wrong.»
Elsa burned Dick with an indignant look and turned away sharply. He had caught her, made her look like a fool.
The students groaned in amazement: Dick is the devil in the flesh, since he mocks the beautiful Elsa in such a vile way! Any of them would have fallen into a similar trap.
{You dare to mock her because you're under the protection of the headmaster?!} – Timothy was angry. He was sick of such upstarts who dare to be impertinent as soon as they feel inviolable.
«Come on, don't be offended. Let me ask a simpler question: is it possible to make any medicine in a pair with another person? Or even with several people at once.» – Lovr continued his impromptu test with teaching impartiality.
Stone had already opened her mouth to answer this common truth for every alchemist, but suddenly changed her mind: {Again, a trick question! Well, no, I won't fall for it a second time!} – the lady decided and briefly shook her head. – «I suppose it is possible, but I do not know the exact answer.»
Kyon raised an eyebrow in disbelief: «Are you really an alchemist of almost the third rank?!» – then he added with a venomous grin. – «I'm sorry, it just seemed to me that even a novice alchemist knows that two or more people cannot participate in the making of the same medicine! The incompatibility of the frequency of energy oscillations nullifies any attempts. I had no idea that you didn't even know the basics! How so?! What a shame!»
Elsa's eyes widened and her face turned red like a tomato. She immediately wanted to sink into the ground.
The students whispered softly. One must have talent to make a complete fool of the former number one student in alchemy so clearly and eloquently.
Timothy held his breath. He stood up and growled: «How dare you call yourself a teacher if you assert yourself at the expense of the students?!»
Kyon snorted coldly: «What are you talking about? Everyone already knows that I am the best in alchemy and formacy. I don't need to stoop to this. If you want to do something to serve Stone, you can become her fan.»
«I didn't pay for the lecture to be humiliated and insulted!» – Elsa said with notes of resentment and disappointment and got up to leave with her head held high, but she was stopped by the following words of the fat man.
Kyon shook his head and clicked his tongue: «Miss Elsa, I teach not only to give my students new knowledge, but also to make them great masters in the future. I have just perfectly demonstrated how easy it is to shake all your ideas about the world, and therefore your self-confidence. This shouldn't happen. You should learn from my two questions and become even better in the future.»
The disciples looked at each other and nodded like fools who saw the truth. Dick delivered his speech with such a confident look that it's hard not to believe him. Probably, there is a deep meaning behind his words, and they are just too stupid to understand him.
And only Elsa immediately guessed that the bastard was talking complete nonsense, thus giving her the opportunity to stay at the lecture, saving her face in the eyes of the others.
Suppressing her pride, the girl sat back down, burning a hole in Dick's head with her eyes. Of course, she didn't want to leave. The decision to study with him has already been made.
{Haha, she understood everything… As expected.} – Kyon mentally noticed and continued the lecture.
After class, Timothy and the students noticed that Elsa was in no hurry to leave. They wanted to stay and find out what the girl needed from Dick, but that would be rude.
When everyone left, Elsa went up to Dick and coldly said: «We need to talk.»
«It's great, of course, but I have important things to do.» – Kyon declared with unprecedented importance and, bypassing the girl, went to the toilet.
Stone almost choked: {Important things in the toilet?!}
Time passed, and with every minute the blonde felt more and more stupid. She's been standing here for 15 minutes and waiting for the fat man to come out of the toilet. Well, what a fool?! Why was she putting herself in such a humiliating position because of Dick? By the way, his name suits him.
Elsa was about to leave – pride was beginning to choke her – but at that moment the fat man had just left the place of his important affairs.
«Oh, are you still here? I told you I'm busy.»
«We need to talk!»
«What if I refuse?» – Kyon crossed his arms over his chest.
Elsa hesitated, clenched her teeth, and kindly asked: «Please…»
«Some other time.» – Lovr shook his head emphatically.
«Are you completely insolent?! You poisoned me and my boyfriend with narcotic gas, stole my ideas with classes, even made me look like a fool in front of students just because you wanted to, and now you refuse to just talk to me?!»
The problem was that Kyon still didn't know what secret Stone was hiding. It's possible that she has some kind of ability that allows her to find out the truth, which is why he avoided long conversations with her by any means.
«To begin with, I do not have to apologize for the fact that the administration of the order installed defective ventilation. The headmaster has taken responsibility, so don't blame me. As for lecturing, firstly, I did not steal it, but borrowed it. And secondly, nothing personal, just business. I earn money the way I can.» – Kyon said matter-of-factly and went to the exit with the guard.
«You… You can't say that!» – Elsa was indignant, following him.
«As you can see, I can.» – Lovr calmly retorted.
This time the girl was not met by the fans, because she came to the lecture secretly. If they saw their favorite chasing the fat man, they would burn with jealousy.
{He doesn't agree! And what should I do?!} – Elsa could not stoop to threats. Yes, once, at the first meeting, she scared him, but then circumstances forced her to do it.
More and more students began to notice that the girl follows the fat man and persuades him to do something, while he ignores her and irritably waves her off.
At some point, a huge bald creature with a bunch of octopus tentacles sticking out of its mouth got in the way of three people – a tentaculipede. Judging by the angry growl and cruel look directed at Dick, it was clear why it was here.
It was easy to understand from the aura and build of the beast that it would surely defeat even the royal phaser at the middle stage.
The guard trembled in fear and murmured: «S-sir, he is too strong for me! I can't protect you no matter how much I want to! Run now!» – but it is quite obvious that the fat man will not run away, even if he wants to.
Kyon warily assumed a more stern look and shifted his gaze to the girl.
Elsa smiled broadly at the opportunity: «Let's make a deal!»