I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 842 - Side Story 115: A Week of Happiness (2)

The next morning Rene, who had almost finished her project, had a day off, and Rudger also had no classes, so he decided to rest.

Rene was happy that they could spend time together just the two of them. This time they decided not to stay at home. The weather was clear, making it perfect for a picnic.

Rene made full preparations and left the house with Rudger.

They weren't the only ones with similar thoughts. The nearby park was already filled with people who had come for picnics.

Fortunately though, thanks to leaving early, there were still spots available. Rudger and Rene found a suitable place with few people. It was a good spot with a large tree standing tall, its shade coolly covering the area below.

They laid out a mat and placed the basket they had prepared. Rudger and Rene sat with their shoulders touching, enjoying the warm breeze.

In the distance, they could see someone walking their dog. There were also noblewomen who had come to enjoy the picnic, and young people from a nearby school could be seen as well.

Among them, Rene stared intently at a young couple pushing a stroller. It was a couple smiling happily while looking at their baby.

Rene watched them and vaguely sketched a blueprint of her own future. She turned her head slightly and glanced at Rudger's profile.

The thought that in the not-so-distant future, she too might marry Rudger and have a child like that couple. As her imagination reached that point, heat rose above her neck and her face turned red.

"What's wrong? Are you hot?"

Perhaps sensing Rene's gaze, Rudger turned to her and asked, seeing her flushed face.

As soon as he finished speaking, Rudger appropriately combined ice magic and wind magic to cool Rene's heat with a cool breeze. Since Rene couldn't make excuses, she just said thank you in a small voice.

Even so, her gaze couldn't leave the couple from before. There was no way Rudger didn't notice that gaze.

Rudger also looked at the couple. The two people, who appeared to be a middle-class family, looked quite happy.

That wasn't all. Next, Rene's gaze moved to another family that had come out holding the hand of an infant.

The sight of the child tightly holding their parents' hands with their tiny hands was cute enough to make you want to pinch their cheeks.

Rene watched the scene enviously but also smiled warmly at the sight of the child.

The sound of instruments playing could be heard from elsewhere. Whether a small concert was being held or not, people walking through the park stopped for a moment to watch the performance.

In another place, there was also a painter drawing a picture of the warm park and peaceful people.

While watching so distractedly, it soon became time to get hungry.

Rene took out biscuits and sandwiches from the basket she had prepared. She had put effort into making them from the morning for this day.

Rudger and Rene ate the sandwiches and satisfied their hunger. Since they were enjoying the picnic in the shade, it was more elegant than usual.

"Ah. This is so nice."

What was left after eating, Rudger immediately put into the shadows. The basket was the same. The convenience of magic wasn't just this.

"Since we're done eating, shall we walk a bit? To digest." 

"Let's do that."

Rudger and Rene held hands and walked through the park. Wherever the two passed, the surrounding gazes were drawn.

They were a strikingly handsome couple. Rudger was a sculpture-like handsome man whose very existence attracted attention, and the now-adult Rene also resembled her mother, showing off a mysterious atmosphere and mature beauty.

At the appearance of the two who caught everyone's eyes, people unconsciously lost themselves and just watched.

However, the two receiving attention didn't pay much attention to the surrounding gazes. There had been too many similar incidents to react to each one. Having experienced it often, they had adapted, and now it had become as casual as daily life.

Of course, that didn't mean they completely ignored everything.

-Thump thump

A ball rolled in front of them. Rene bent down and picked up the ball.

A child who appeared to be the ball's owner came running over, then froze in place upon seeing the two. Because there was such a handsome and beautiful couple, beyond admiration, they unconsciously became nervous.

The child looked back and forth between Rene and the ball in her hand.

Finding the reaction of the child, who appeared to be about 7 years old, cute, Rene chuckled.

"Here. Did you come to get this?" 

"Yes." 

"How cute."

Rene handed the ball to the child. The child, who received it with a dazed look, soon came to their senses and bowed their head.

"Thank you. Pretty lady."

After saying that, the child quickly left the spot. It was because of embarrassment.

"Oh my. Did you hear? They called me a pretty lady."

Rene covered her mouth with her hand and laughed exaggeratedly, as if she had become a noblewoman. Rudger chuckled and nodded.

"The child has good eyes."

At Rudger's wit, Rene let out a giggle.

"We've walked through the whole park, where should we go next?" 

"Come to think of it, I heard there's an exhibition at the magic exhibition hall in the capital, what do you think? Are you interested?" 

"Don't you usually have to get tickets in advance for those things?"

At those words, Rene pointed at herself with her thumb.

"Who am I? I'm a magic researcher affiliated with the Empire. Even without a separate ticket, I have free access there." 

"Hmm. Then shall we go take a look? Come to think of it, I haven't visited since I went there long ago." 

"You mean during the field trip? Now that you mention it, I do miss it."

Rene and Rudger held hands.

"Since it came up, let's go right away."

The distance from Leathervelk to the capital is considerable. However, it was a completely meaningless statement for Rene and Rudger. For them, distance was nothing more than numbers of coordinates.

Rudger and Rene's figures disappeared with light. Some people watching them from afar opened their eyes wide as if they had seen ghosts at the sight of the two disappearing like a mirage.

Rudger and Rene immediately arrived at the capital. The place where the exhibition was being held was naturally the Crystal Palace.

Perhaps because of the magic exhibition, people were crowding the entrance from the start. At this rate, even with tickets, they would have to wait in line for quite a long time.

However, Rene didn't care. Her words weren't lies—when she approached the Crystal Palace staff and informed them she was affiliated with the magic research institute, they let her in right away.

It was a moment when what should have taken at least 3 hours of waiting ended in 3 minutes.

"Hehe. How about that? I was right, wasn't I?" 

"Being an imperial civil servant is definitely good." 

"Not just a civil servant. Someone of my level receives special treatment. If I had to classify it, should I be called a high-ranking civil servant?"

"If we couldn't get in, I was wondering if we should sneak in secretly." 

"Wait a minute. That's actually a crime, you know? The Crystal Palace has tons of magic-related alerts, so it could be dangerous." 

"I'm saying this because I'm confident I won't get caught."

Rene sighed as if dumbfounded and glared at Rudger.

"Really. What would you have done without me?"

But she couldn't really blame him. Rudger's past had quite a colorful record, didn't it? Rene also knew that fact. She had heard everything when she started dating Rudger.

How shocked she had been then. It was enough to actually feel what it meant for one's soul to leave their body.

Even though she had vaguely known, it was still to that degree. So occasionally, she would be newly surprised by the behavior Rudger showed.

"You need to develop a more law-abiding spirit." 

"Is this even something that requires a law-abiding spirit?" 

"Of course! How is sneaking in without a ticket and without waiting in line not illegal!" 

"Hmm. I'm not stealing anything?" 

"Oh my."

Rene smacked her forehead. This man who was once Arsène Lupin thought that as long as he didn't steal precious collections from museums, just entering wasn't a crime.

"This won't do. Since I don't know what you might do, stick right next to me." 

"I was planning to do that even if you didn't say so." 

"Anyway!"

Rene grabbed Rudger's arm and led him. Even as she said that, it was clear she herself was also enjoying it.

Rudger followed behind with a faint smile at Rene's appearance. At least for a week. He planned to let her do as she wished. It was the best he could do for Rene.

"Oh. Look here. It's a new invention." 

"Quite an interesting artifact. The operating method isn't bad. Is the problem that it lacks efficiency?" 

"They say this is a work submitted by a recent Theon graduate, impressive. It doesn't seem bad. Ah! Look over there. There's also work from the Dream School."

Elsewhere, an artifact produced by the Dream School could be seen. It was a golden magic lamp, and they said that stroking it would absorb drowsiness.

"Wow. It would be really nice to use that whenever I'm tired in the morning." 

"Is it utilizing dream energy? However, there must be a limit to the amount that can be stored."

Sure enough, another function listed was to release the stored drowsiness.

"It would be really good to use when you can't fall asleep at night." 

"It looks incredibly useful."

As expected of the Dream School's items. Similar artifacts were lined up in other places as well. It seemed they had been allocated a separate area.

"It's impressive indeed. It seems Julia's recent hard work paid off." 

"You mean Julia Plumhart?" 

"Yes. She's been working hard in various ways to broaden awareness of the Dream School. The artifacts exhibited here are probably traces of that effort."

The important thing was that the items they had finally produced should receive good reviews. Fortunately, that seemed to be an unnecessary worry. The Dream School's items related to sleep were, when you think about it, necessary for everyone regardless of age or gender.

Sound sleep is important to everyone. There's no one who doesn't sleep. Just getting a sound sleep can make the next day completely different.

Especially the corner where ordinary people could purchase items had incredible enthusiasm. Pillows and blankets made by the Dream School that enable sound sleep. They even offered discounts if you bought them as a set. They were selling like hotcakes, to the point where you could see the inventory decreasing in an instant.

"Should we buy those too?"

For Rene, who loved her morning sleep, it seemed quite tempting. Rudger was also stroking his chin in thought when—

"What? Rene. Why are you here?"

They coincidentally ran into Julia Plumhart. Julia's eyes widened upon seeing Rene, then became even more surprised when she saw Rudger. However, she soon seemed to understand and nodded with a peculiar smile.

"Huh, what? Julia? You were here too?" 

"Of course. It's an exhibition held at the Crystal Palace. The Dream School is participating, so it would be troublesome if I were absent. Actually, more than that, it's largely because that damn Franz oppa dumped work on me."

Julia ground her teeth as if getting angry just thinking about it.

"But what brought you here?" 

"I just came because there was an exhibition." 

"Aha. On a date?"

At Julia's pointed question, Rene let out a loose smile with a "hehe."

"Sheesh. Honey is just dripping, dripping honey. While someone who's a friend is busy to death." 

"I, I've been super busy recently too, you know? This is a holiday I barely got." 

"I'm joking. I know too. There's been a lot of talk lately, right? I heard there's been progress in research recently? Congratulations." 

"Hehe. It's just, thanks to all the other researchers working hard." "More than that, is there anything you're going to look at here?"

Rene hesitated for a moment at Julia's words. Then Rudger stepped in instead.

"She's been showing a lot of interest in the Dream School's artifacts." 

"Really? Is that true?"

Rene moved urgently to try to cover Rudger's mouth, but Rudger pulled his head back and avoided Rene's hand.

"She has a lot of morning drowsiness, you see. She needs artifacts that drive away drowsiness. Ah, and also tools needed for sound sleep." 

"Wh-when did I say that! Julia! It's not like that! It's just something he's saying!" 

"Aha. I see."

Julia nodded as if she understood. Julia cut off Rene, who was turning red and desperately trying to make excuses, with a laugh.

"Rene. Do you think I don't know you? Even when you were staying in the dormitory, you were really drowsy in the mornings." 

"Wh-what? It showed?" 

"Even if you tried to hide it, who am I? I'm a Dreamwalker. I'm more sensitive to energy related to sleep than anyone. When you emit dream energy like that every morning, how could I not know?" 

"If, if you knew that, why didn't you say anything!" 

"You didn't ask."

Rene wanted to hide in a mouse hole if one existed. She never knew that her friend had known about this embarrassing side of her for so long.

"Still, well, we ran into each other by chance, but it's good you came. Wait a moment."

Julia, who left for a moment, soon returned with packaged items and handed them to Rene. Rene received them with a bewildered face.

"What's this?" 

"A souvenir for visiting. You can accept it. Ah, you don't need to feel burdened. We have plenty of inventory left anyway." 

"Uh, okay. Thanks."

Rene nodded with a dazed face. Rudger patted Rene's shoulder and said,

"That's fortunate, Rene. Now you don't need to act cute from the morning."

Rene glared at Rudger. She pouted her lips sulkily then turned her head sharply.

"Whatever!"

Rene immediately disappeared, teleporting with light. Rudger and Julia looked at that sight with dazed faces for a moment, then burst into laughter at the same time.

Just as Rudger was about to chase after Rene, Julia grabbed him.

"Teacher." 

"What is it, Julia?"

Julia looked straight at Rudger and said,

"If you make Rene cry, I won't let it slide." 

"......" 

"Well, it doesn't look like that will happen though. I'm glad she looks happy. Well then, take care. Give my regards to Rene."