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Chapter 7 - Laying the Foundation (3)

The lab was in such disarray that the word "chaos" didn\'t quite do it justice.

The smell of unknown chemicals and alchemical tools filled the air, unpleasantly assaulting my nostrils.

"Do you know what a stigma is?"

Professor Jade asked abruptly as he sat on what could barely be called a chair (it was more like a lump of mouldy leather).

I looked around the lab, searching for a place to sit, but quickly gave up and responded.

"It\'s the blessing granted by the Seven Gods, isn\'t it?"

"...Blessing, you say?"

He chuckled.

Professor Jade laughed, his shoulders shaking, as if he found something incredibly amusing.

"And what about a blessing?"

"It\'s a special ability that manifests in only a very few who have awakened their stigma."

"What do you think is the most significant feature of a blessing?"

The most significant feature of a blessing...

This question wasn\'t difficult to answer. After all, it was something that had been deeply understood over the past several hundred, maybe even thousands of years.

"Once manifested, it cannot be removed by any means."

"Oh?"

Professor Jade\'s eyes glimmered with interest.

"That\'s an unusual answer."

"In what way?"

"Most people would say that the most significant feature of a blessing is its uniqueness. Unlike stigmata, a blessing manifests differently in each person."

"..."

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

Indeed, as Professor Jade mentioned, most people would likely point out the uniqueness of blessings as their most significant characteristic. After all, not many people would go to great lengths to remove a blessing once they\'ve obtained it.

"Well, in any case, you\'re right that once a blessing is manifested, it neither changes nor disappears."

Professor Jade continued his explanation in a low voice, arms crossed.

The crazed look of a man who had once drooled and laughed maniacally when I first met him was gone, replaced by a rather calm demeanor.

\'This isn\'t like him.\'

The Professor Jade I remembered was eccentric, bizarre, and seemed broken in some way.

Why was he suddenly so composed?

"Now, let\'s get back to the topic of stigmata."

He tapped his wrinkled fingers against his left chest.

"On average, a stigma awakens around the age of 10, though it can manifest as early as age 3 or as late as 18."

This was common knowledge.

"There\'s some variability in which of the Seven Gods\' stigmata you awaken, but it\'s generally inherited from your parents, most often the same stigma they have."

"Isn\'t that something we learn in our first-year general studies?"

Why was he explaining such basic information in such a long-winded manner?

"A trait passed down through genetics... A phenomenon that manifests within a specific age range. And once it manifests, it never disappears. Doesn\'t that remind you of something?"

"Not sure what you\'re getting at."

Shaking my head, I answered, and Professor Jade spoke again with a serious expression.

"Baldness."

Excuse me?

"In other words, logically speaking, all heroes who awaken a stigma experience something similar to baldness."

"What...?"

What nonsense was he spouting now?

"Why? Isn\'t that a fitting analogy?"

"I\'m not sure if it\'s a fitting analogy, but it\'s certainly one that would get you punched if people from the Holy Kingdom heard it."

If I told Iris what Professor Jade had just said, she would probably have smacked him on the head with a Bible while smiling sweetly.

"Really?"

Professor Jade shrugged his shoulders and continued with a nonchalant expression.

"So, you\'re not from the Holy Kingdom, since I\'m still in one piece."

He gazed at me with calm eyes.

"You\'re also not from the Empire, where belief in the Seven Gods runs deep, despite our countries\' differences."

That left only one possibility.

About five hundred years ago.

A country founded by "outsiders" who came from another world during the Demon War.

A nation where belief in the Seven Gods is relatively weak and where "freedom" is the highest national ideal on the surface.

"You\'re from the Republic."

"..."

So all that nonsense was just to figure out where I was from?

"It would\'ve been simpler if you\'d just asked where I\'m from."

"The mouth is always ready to tell lies, isn\'t it?"

As expected.

This was indeed the eccentric professor I knew.

"By the way, what would you have done if I were from the Holy Kingdom?"

"I would have kicked you out immediately. I don\'t want to get involved with those Holy Kingdom folks."

I suppose that makes sense.

From the perspective of the Holy Kingdom, which worships the Seven Gods, Professor Jade\'s research into artificially influencing stigmata would be close to blasphemy.

"There are rumors that the Holy Kingdom pressures the school every year to stop all research on stigmata."

Looking at the state of this lab, it was clear that the pressure from the Holy Kingdom wasn\'t just a rumor.

The only reason Professor Jade hadn\'t been expelled from the school, despite the yearly pressure from the Holy Kingdom, was one thing.

He was a descendant of Julius Bastian, one of the five legendary heroes who sealed the Demon King and was known as the "Great Sage."

"So, you want to participate in the research on potions that affect stigmata?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, but that\'s going to be difficult."

"Is it because I\'m from the warrior faculty? If that\'s the case, you don\'t need to worry..."

"No, that\'s not the reason."

"Then why is it difficult?"

"The reason is simple."

Professor Jade gave his characteristic eccentric smile and continued.

“I don’t have any research funds.”

“……”

Ah, so that was the reason.

‘Looking at this lab, well… it doesn’t seem like there would be any research funds.’

I sighed deeply as I looked around the lab, which was no different from a haunted house.

Even so, to think that someone who claimed to be the descendant of the ‘Great Sage’ had fallen so low that they didn’t even have money for research.

‘The problem is, I don’t have a single penny either.’

How could an orphan candidate like me have any money?

I could only attend this school because the Republic was covering my tuition fees.

“How much research funding do you need?”

“Well. It depends on what I’m researching, but I’ll need at least 1 million gold.”

“……”

1 million gold.

That was roughly 1 billion won when converted to the old currency unit of the Republic, the ‘won.’

‘Damn it.’

I didn’t expect my plan to be stalled by something like this.

‘I could just give up on the stigma booster.’

But the problem was that Professor Jade’s value wasn’t just in inventing the stigma booster.

Jade Bastian.

True to his title as the descendant of the ‘Great Sage,’ he possessed genius intellect, sharp insight, and unparalleled development skills that others couldn’t even hope to imitate.

‘Although, for some reason, he seems a bit off.’

Considering the things he would create through his research in the future, this situation felt too frustrating.

‘If things continue like this… will it happen again?’

In my previous life, Professor Jade developed the stigma booster, leading to victory in the war against the demons, only to take his own life shortly thereafter.

The exact reason for his suicide was never revealed.

But if being stuck in a trashy lab without even research funds was one of the reasons…

‘Humanity would once again lose the descendant of the Great Sage in vain.’

It was too much of a waste to let go of both the stigma booster and Professor Jade.

“I’ll find a way to secure the research funds… somehow.”

“Heh heh heh. How do you plan to do that?”

“I’ll use any means necessary.”

With that, I turned around and walked out of the lab.

Coming out of the dingy lab into the bright sunlight felt like emerging from an underground tunnel.

“Sigh.”

How on earth was I going to gather 1 million gold?

‘There is a way, but…’

None of them were feasible for someone with the status of a candidate.

‘I can’t just drop out of school to make money.’

If I didn’t graduate, I wouldn’t receive an official hero certificate, meaning I would have to resort to illegal means to hunt demonic beasts for mana stones or collect bounties on demons.

‘Dropping out is not an option.’

Above all, my comrades from my previous life were at this school.

I couldn’t drop out if it meant reuniting with them.

“Ugh.”

As I continued pondering on my way back to the dormitory…

“Hey, mat! Where are you going?”

A voice called out from a distance.

For the record, “mat” was a derogatory nickname for me, who always maintained the lowest rank in the comprehensive evaluation every semester.

‘This voice…?’

Turning my head towards the familiar voice, I saw a blond male student grinning at me, with three female students clustered behind her.

“……”

What was that guy’s name again?

I couldn’t remember.

“Hah, look at this guy. When I call, you should run over immediately. What are you doing?”

The blond male student smirked and motioned for me to come over.

Seeing his cocky attitude suddenly brought back an old memory.

“Ah, I remember now.”

Juliet Kang.

A fellow candidate from the Republic who used to bully me occasionally.

I had completely forgotten about him since we wouldn’t meet after graduation.

‘I didn’t expect to run into him again like this.’

A chuckle escaped me at an old acquaintance\'s unexpected reunion(?).

“…Hey. I told you to come here right now, so why are you grinning like that? What? You wanna die?”

“Juliet, isn’t that the guy who’s always at the bottom of the comprehensive evaluation rankings?”

“Isn’t he an orphan? Ugh, this school is hopeless. Just because someone has a stigma, they let trash like him in…”

“I think only people with solid backgrounds, like Juliet, should be admitted to this school!”

As Juliet made a grand statement, the female students behind him squealed in delight.

“…Sigh.”

I shook my head and turned away from the ridiculous scene.

I didn’t have the time to deal with an idiot like that.

I had to find a way to gather 1 million gold as soon as possible…

“This bastard. Just because you got lucky in a non-magic duel, you think you’re hot stuff? Huh?”

Juliet approached me with a menacing expression.

“Oh, by the way, I heard you made a move on the Saintess? Tsk tsk. Know your place, ‘mat’… Well, I do understand how you feel.”

Juliet continued in a low voice with a sly smile so the girls behind him couldn’t hear.

“Our Saintess’s ‘blessing pouch’ is, well… it’s a size that no man could ignore, right?”

He snickered, making obscene gestures in front of his chest.

“……”

I froze.

My footsteps towards the dormitory came to an abrupt halt.

“Wow~ look at him, getting all angry. Ooh~ I’m so scared. What’s with the attitude? What? You wanna hit me?”

Juliet exaggeratedly pretended to be scared, shaking his body.

As I looked at him, I smiled.

‘Come to think of it…’

Another forgotten fact suddenly came to mind.

‘Juliet Kang’s family was one of the top five conglomerates in the Republic, wasn’t it?’