I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Chapter 31: Remuniration

Tuesday and Wednesday flew by in a blur of bruised ribs and burnt robes.

With the F-rank dungeon expedition looming at the end of the week, the academy completely shifted gears. Boring theory lectures were scrapped. Everything was purely practical and scenario-based. Instructors set up mock ambushes, taught basic dungeon mapping, and drilled formation tactics into the panicked first-year students.

Arthur coasted through it. With his [Ghost in the Woods] trait and triple-digit Agility, the practical stealth exercises were an absolute joke.

But before he could officially enter the dungeon, he had administrative business to handle. He needed to register his class change.

The academy offered heavy subsidies for active combat classes. Vanguards got free armor repairs, mages got discounted mana potions, and archers got a weekly stipend for arrows. But as an ’Unawakened Scout,’ Arthur was entitled to absolutely nothing.

And since Professor Elena Moon was his homeroom teacher, she was the gatekeeper to the academy’s wallet.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Arthur stood in front of the heavy mahogany door of the Archmage’s private office. He knocked twice.

"Enter."

Arthur opened the door and stepped inside.

The office was immaculate, smelling faintly of lavender and old parchment. Professor Elena was sitting behind a massive oak desk, grading a stack of tactical exams. She looked up.

When she saw it was Arthur, her breath audibly hitched.

A faint, immediate flush touched the tips of her pointed Elven ears. She quickly cleared her throat, forcing her posture completely straight, projecting her cold, aristocratic facade.

"Cadet Vance," Elena said, her voice perfectly even. "What brings you here? If you are having difficulties finding a group for the expedition, that is entirely on you. The academy does not intervene in student networking."

"I’m not here for a handout, Professor," Arthur said, closing the door behind him and walking up to the desk. "I’ll find a group by Friday."

Elena raised an elegant golden eyebrow. "Oh? Then to what do I owe the pleasure?"

As she spoke, she subtly shifted her weight in her high-backed leather chair.

She was wearing a strict, high-collared black academic dress today. From the waist up, she looked like a saint. But as she shifted, she casually, deliberately uncrossed her legs under the desk.

The modesty panel of the desk was completely open. Arthur had a perfect, unobstructed view.

The slit of her black skirt fell open, revealing her pale, flawless thighs. And right where her thighs met, she was wearing a pair of incredibly thin, sheer black lace panties.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. The movement didn’t show cleavage, but it purposefully pushed the heavy, undeniable weight of her chest against the tight fabric of her bodice.

Arthur didn’t politely avert his gaze. He looked right at her lap. He took his time admiring the sheer black lace, his eyes slowly tracing the curve of her bare thighs before dragging his gaze up to her chest, and finally meeting her golden eyes.

His stare was heavy, unapologetic, and completely dripping with heat.

Elena’s pupils dilated. A shiver visibly ran down her spine. The burning, predatory weight of his stare gave her an intense, sickeningly sweet sense of satisfaction. Yes, she thought, her thighs subtly squeezing together. That’s the look.

"I’m here to report my awakening, Professor," Arthur stated calmly, leaning against the edge of her desk.

Elena’s amusement vanished. Her professional Archmage persona slammed back into the driver’s seat.

"Awakening?" Elena repeated, her golden eyes widening in genuine shock. She leaned further over the desk, the teasing completely forgotten. "How? Don’t tell me this is related to you being dragged unconscious into Matron Beatrice’s ward by the border guards."

"It is," Arthur nodded.

"Explain. Now."

Arthur had spent the last two days formulating the perfect, untraceable lie.

"I went out to the Whispering Woods to hunt on the weekend," Arthur started, keeping his tone perfectly casual. "I was tracking a shadow wolf, but I had a rather fortuitous encounter. I fell down a sinkhole into some hidden, underground ruin."

He mixed the truth with total fiction, making it impossible for the academy to investigate.

"It was a nightmare," Arthur continued, shaking his head. "Packed with traps, mutated creepers, and poison darts. I almost died three different times. That’s where I got the caustic poison on my arm."

Elena was hanging onto his every word, her hands clasped tightly on the desk. "How did you survive?"

"Raw luck and running for my life," Arthur lied smoothly. "But when I finally managed to trigger the exit door, there was a pedestal in the final room. The clear reward made all the poison and broken bones worth it."

"What was it?" Elena asked, her voice dropping into a hushed, curious tone.

"An Awakening Rune." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Elena stared at him. She blinked once. Twice.

"A Class Rune," Elena repeated slowly.

"Yes. It changed my class from Scout to Archer. I need to update my file so I can get the weekly arrow remuneration," Arthur explained, completely hiding the Unique ’Phantom Sniper’ title. A standard Archer class would explain his bow skills without drawing the attention of the royal court.

Elena leaned back in her chair, pressing her fingers against her temples.

"Let me get this straight," Elena muttered, staring at the ceiling. "A trash-tier, unawakened scout goes into a forest that elite hunters have scoured for decades. He falls down a random hole, stumbles into a hidden labyrinth, survives purely on luck, and just happens to find an incredibly rare, million-credit Awakening Rune sitting at the end?"

She looked back down at him, her lips curving into a perfectly dry, sarcastic smile.

"It sounds like you’re the protagonist of some cheap fantasy novel, Vance."

Arthur violently choked on his own spit.

"Hack—cough!"

He aggressively thumped his chest, his eyes watering as he tried to clear his airway. The sheer, pinpoint accuracy of her meta-comment completely bypassed his triple-digit Perception and hit him right in the soul.

"Are you alright?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow at his sudden, violent coughing fit.

"I’m—cough—I’m fine," Arthur wheezed, waving his hand defensively. "Just... swallowed down the wrong pipe. I don’t know what kind of novels you read, Professor."

"Clearly none as ridiculous as your weekend," Elena sighed, shaking her head. She pulled a glowing crystal tablet from her drawer. "Stand still. I need to verify your mana signature to authorize the class change. Show me your primary weapon."

Elena placed her hand over the crystal tablet. A soft blue light washed over Arthur, scanning his core.

Arthur was not troubled by the thought of his unique class being exposed, as these crystals could only detect mana pathways. Unless he explicitly revealed, mana pathways would be slightly different but similar to any other archer class.

"Mana pathways verified. Class recognized: Archer," Elena read off the tablet. She tapped a few runes on the screen. "Your file is updated, Cadet. You will receive a standard stipend of five hundred credits a week for ammunition, effective immediately."

"Much appreciated, Professor," Arthur smiled, slinging the bow back over his shoulder.

He turned to leave, grabbing the brass handle of the office door.

"Vance."

Arthur paused, glancing over his shoulder.

Elena was still sitting at her desk. The professional Archmage facade was slipping again. She casually crossed her legs under the desk, letting her black skirt ride high up her pale thigh. She looked at him, her golden eyes heavy with that familiar, demanding heat.

"Do try to find a group that won’t get you killed on Friday," Elena murmured softly. "It would be a terrible shame if you died... right when you were finally becoming interesting."

Arthur’s lips curled into a dark, utterly arrogant smirk.

"Don’t worry, Professor," Arthur replied, his eyes dropping to her exposed thigh one last time. "I have a lot of things left to do at this academy. Dying isn’t on the schedule."