Chương 30: Book 2 Chapter 11: Do you Think I'm stupid???

The first thing Jim did after his meeting with the lich was go to his dorm and scream into a pillow. After a relaxing one hour or so of the aforementioned activity he eventually washed his face for no real reason in his water basin and sat down against the wall, letting the back of his head smack against it as hard as he could to combat his headache. Calamity, allies, memories, time loops, the whole situation was too idiotic for his advanced intelligence to comprehend.

The question still remained, how exactly had he received the time loop brand instead of the intended recipient? The headmaster, had he realised Jim's suitability as the savior of the kingdom and had simply done so without asking when he crashed the ritual after defeating that dragon? It made sense since, if Jim had been asked about his willingness, he would have refused, preferring to keep to himself so as to not be beset on all sides by supplicants and yes-men.

For a kingdom to develop its strength, it needed to learn to create a strong collective, not rely on a singular statistical aberration of talent and wit. But then, if the headmaster had made this choice, why had he then killed Jim in his first loop? Because Jim had revealed himself as a prophet instead of the recipient of the brand? Still, Jim had to keep the brand to himself lest he sink in the deluge of people trying to control him somehow. The lich was right.

It was best to realise his full potential, as unfortunate as the need for such was, and then meet others from a position of strength. He would have to try his hardest to get access to two elective slots again, something he'd avoided in the past due to the low requirements set for graduation. Well, he guessed that now he had more than just graduation to worry about. One semester of attending classes and vowing others with his brilliance while testing for potential allies…

It sounded relaxing in comparison to the chaos of recent events. As for the allies… Jim paused, mind wandering to the private investigator from the last loop. The man seemed easy to manipulate and knew his place. Dangle an opportunity to save people in front of him and he'd jump like a dog without even asking how high. Should he visit him again, disclose the information he'd gained and have him continue gathering clues? It seemed the best use for a detective like that. If the man continued performing…

adequately, Jim could bless him with the opportunity of memory transmission. Were there any other potential allies he could think of? He paused as he drew a blank. His usual go-to method of simply paying people for stuff wouldn't work here since the danger was too great for anyone smart to really bother with, and gold couldn't be carried back in time anyway.

He could technically promise a part of his vast fortune to a group of mercenaries when the situation was resolved, but he was loath to part with anything on such a final basis. Lebowski? Jim grimaced at the reminder that all this time, it had been him responsible for the theft of his coin pouch. Every time he tried to trust the bastard, he was betrayed. No, currently the only candidate was the detective, at least the man had proven he could do things with the information given.

His fingers tapped together as he crafted his masterplan. Today and tomorrow, the library. Then the electives. Then personal instruction from the lich. He would have to keep an eye open for potential servants while he was at it, but there weren't many particularly talented people present at the academy. Other than himself, of course. -/- It was as he left for the library that he stumbled upon his girthy acquaintance drinking wine on his lonesome on the steps of the park next to the dorms.

"Jimmy!" the boy shouted with a wave and a series of violent hiccups common to seasoned alcoholics.

"Lebowski," Jim said coldly with narrowed eyes, stopping in his tracks.

"What's up with that face, woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" the boy asked cheerfully, apparently not getting the message.

"Did you know?" Jim asked forcefully, gripping his cloak to cover himself more tightly in the fabric.

"You know I don't know a lot of things!" Lebowski exclaimed jokingly.

"You dared someone to steal the belonging of another student on the ship, they tried to go for my coin pouch," Jim explained frostily. A puzzled look flashed across Lebowski's face, then he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Would you believe me if I said I hardly remember anything from that night? I think I gave a dare to that Katniss chick which she used as an excuse to ditch me right before I found out what she was hiding under that cloak." Jim sighed and palmed his face.

"A crime of affect is still a crime, do you have any idea how much time I lost on that coin pouch?" he asked.

"A few minutes?" Lebowski asked in a confused tone of voice before waving him off.

"What if I just pay you back?"

"I'm not interested in your money!" Jim exclaimed.

"For now…" Money was useless to him in his current situation.

"What I want is your apology." Lebowski defensively raised his hands in his air.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry if I did that, must've gotten carried away in the heat of the, uh, moment."

"Hmpph." Jim shook his head, not feeling satisfied at all.

"I'm going to the library!" he shouted angrily before turning around and storming off.

"... Why?" He heard Lebowski say from behind him, but didn't bother explaining. There was no point in explaining the thought process of a dragon to a pig. -/- An hour later Jim was deeply engrossed in a large tome which primarily regurgitated the theory section taught in the first semester of the academy. It was just as he was about to turn to page two that he was, of course, interrupted in his efforts.

"You're studying?" the blue-haired Dew asked with a confused tone of voice as she came up to his table.

"I'm trying to study!" Jim corrected her angrily, voice raising an octave from all the frustration boiling away in his body. Dew narrowed her eyes and put a finger to her mouth to shush him.

"What's up with you suddenly, you used to be too lazy to even raise your voice, let alone pick up a book," she critiqued.

"You think I have a fucking choice?" Jim muttered, still angry.

"I'm screwed to hell if I don't get two elective slots. Heavens know what the vow will punish me with," he said, before clamping his mouth shut with a hand as his eyes widened.

"Vow?" Waterflower asked with a frown, a tinge of concern suddenly appearing in her eyes.

"Your parents went so far after seeing your horrible results last semester? A magical vow? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard." She stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder with a look of pity in her eyes.

"I guess someone like you really couldn't have come from a healthy family…" she muttered. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Fuck you!"

"Anyway, the library is closing down soon, I'm glad to see you trying though. Took you long enough. Come, I'll check out your books and you can study back in the dorms."

"Go to hell," Jim cursed quietly, but it seemed that with him slipping that he was bound with a magical vow had transformed all the disdain Waterflower held for him into pity. She simply gave him a sad look as he stormed out of the academy, revision textbook in hand. She shook her head.

"He's an idiot, but nobody deserves to get taken advantage of like that." -/- After his study session had been so rudely interrupted, Jim stashed the book he'd borrowed from the library in his room before making his way to the industry district in search of the barely competent detective he'd collaborated with last time. To his shock, after knocking on the door to the man's loft office, he received no reply. He simply stared at the flat wooden structure in confusion, unsure of how to proceed.

Was the man out, taking care of another case? Why? Jim sincerely doubted there was a case more important than the one he was bringing in the entire city. He scowled at the door, undecided if he wanted to wait or not. Eventually however, he decided that he was too important to wait for others and turned around to leave, which was at the point where he smashed into a tall figure who'd snuck up behind him and crashed his way to the ground in a jumble of limbs.

"You okay, kid?" the detective asked as he held out a hand to help Jim up. Jim for his part simply took the moment to stare at the sky, covered as it was by the ugly ring of fire runes.

"No," he answered almost instinctively while laying flat on his back.

"Schucks, what's wrong?"

"Everything, everything is wrong," Jim complained and sullenly crossed his arms.

"You want to discuss it inside? Seems like you were waiting for me," Harry proposed. Jim remained silent for a few seconds, before eventually nodding his head.

"Alright, if we have to," he muttered, forcing himself to stand up and follow the man into his office. Once inside he told the man everything once again, having for the most part the same conversation they'd had last time. The only new part was the one that made Harry cringe in his seat and awkwardly pour himself a drink.

"You sure that's what the pigeon said. That I died investigating this Alice and that she's pushing archmage territory?"

"Yes, that's what your stupid pigeon said in the vision," Jim complained.

"I swear, if you weren't confident in fighting her, why did you seek her out? I clearly told you in the vision that she was dangerous."

"I'm usually quite good in a scruff," Harry complained quietly.

"Well maybe work on that," Jim said pointedly, receiving a glower in return.

"I'll have to verify what you said, but I'm tempted to believe you just for how outlandish your story is. The calamity, the cultists, the factions. It all sounds ridiculous but strangely coherent, like a future that could actually happen."

"Have fun with that," Jim muttered, before pausing and scrunching up his face.

"If you need help poring over documents for clues, you can reach out to me," he proposed.

"I will," Harry said with a nod before a worried look hushed over his face.

"There's one part in your story that concerns me however. The fact that my adventurer friends go incommunicado. I have to go talk to them. You mentioned Quatzel as well, why?" Jim thought back, realised that he'd complained about the lich off-handedly out of sheer anger.

"He offers to teach me in the vision, something about an extraordinary talent clause," he said instead. Harry nodded slowly.

"Be careful with that one, my adventurer friends took a quest to research the remnants he left behind in Mitelos. His disciples are still wreaking havoc in the region, if you can believe it. If that's the situation 300 years after his rise, then you can imagine how dangerous the man himself is. Don't accept any deals with him, he likely only wants one thing." Jim suddenly jumped up and clenched his fists.

"You think I'm stupid, as if I'd ever make a deal with that creature! What sort of moron do you take me for!" Harry visibly calmed down at the outburst.

"Good, good, keep it that way. He's taught many students and is still stuck at the academy, one more won't hurt. Be careful, that's all I'm saying."

"I'm leaving," Jim said decisively and stood up to leave.

"I'll keep you posted," Harry said absent-mindedly, before pausing.

"Don't come back here by the way, we don't know what sort of hornets nest we're kicking open here and I don't want you getting hurt," he cautioned, but Jim was already out of the door. -/- It was on his way back home, when he thought that he would finally be able to enjoy some peace, that he was waylaid by a brown-robed figure.

"I found some information to repay you with," Katniss said, out of breath and handed him a note. Jim curiously took it, opened it only to have his vision run red as he saw the invitation to the meeting of the Black Ouroboros.

"You actually fell for this?" he asked acidically.

"All of the people at that meeting are going to get rounded up and jailed. Stop being such a fucking moron!" Katniss stared at him with wide eyes.

"W-what, wait what?" Jim tapped himself on the temple.

"Think, girl, think!"

"But, but the calamity, I thought they wanted to discuss if it's happening or not!" Katniss defended herself. Jim threw his hands up in the air in the alley in front of the dorms he'd been waylaid in.

"Of course it's happening! Did you even attend the same lessons I did? Do you not see the whole kingdom mobilizing? Do you have a brain?"

"And the tensions with Ezengerd?" Katniss asked with wide eyes.

"Empress Frykt has been talking about expansionism for a long time from what I heard." Jim scoffed.

"It's incredible how you come to the wrong conclusion on absolutely every topic you lay your grubby hands on…" he muttered.

"They're reliant on us for food, what invasion? Do you think they like starving in a ditch like dogs? I don't know what sort of hobbies you people have in Mitelos but that's generally an activity people try to avoid." He flicked his fingers with the note, causing it to burn up in flames.

"If anything you owe me another favour for having to tell you not to attend that stupid meeting, go get a job or something!" Katniss simply stared at him blankly, mouth open, as he rushed off.