novelraw Chapter 778: That Day Will Come
Chapter 778: That Day Will Come
Lu Li barely managed to return to Claire University.
After the news that Yenard Matthews was an impostor caused an uproar, people's attention turned back to Lu Li.
A huge crowd had gathered at the main gate; even the back entrance was blocked.
Only a few knew about the substitution plan. The rest had only scraps of information and, fancying themselves experts on the truth, concluded that the false Yenard Matthews had tried to slander Lu Li, but failed and was exposed himself.
Whatever the case, the name of Midnight's missing elder, Yenard Matthews, continued to be mentioned, but now only with regret and bitterness.
A squad of knights arrived and helped resolve the problem. From now on, they were to ensure Lu Li's safety until he left Midnight.
Dean Rolens greeted Lu Li with excessive zeal, almost like an old servant.
Back in his room, Prusius King whispered the truth to Lu Li: while Lu Li was being slandered, Rolens had nearly kicked him out along with several other "scoundrels." Only Professor Nuno Alexandrovich had stopped them.
Prusius, fortunately, hadn't been in any danger, but he had been kept in his room for two days without food or water. Only after Lu Li's return did Dean Rolens release Prusius, prepare a lavish meal for him, and inquire about his desires in exchange for his silence.
However, this creature—clearly no longer human, but a being of another kind—was not, unlike many of his kin, unscrupulous, greedy, or deceitful. He had retained many worthy qualities, such as honesty.“And where is Miss Katerina?” Prusius asked.
“She got what she wanted and will no longer be traveling with me,” Lu Li replied.
Noticing how Prusius's tail drooped, he added, “If you want to stay, I’ll figure something out.”
Prusius wagged his tail as if hesitating, but ultimately shook his head. “I want to follow you, Mr. Lu Li! Who knows, maybe when you become a legend again, I’ll be mentioned in the tales too!”
Lu Li dampened Prusius’s enthusiasm. “A legend is something unique.”
When an ant bites a person, it’s an accident; far more often, they are simply crushed.
The proof is that in the twenty-four years of the Age of Anomalies, not a single new personal legend has emerged.
Prusius was still hesitant, wanting to follow Lu Li. Lu Li said nothing. He wasn't leaving until the day after tomorrow, which gave Prusius plenty of time to think it over.
Lu Li summoned Dean Rolens and asked where Professor Nuno Alexandrovich was.
Rolens was visibly nervous, as if afraid of being exposed:
“Nuno... he’s in the hospital...”
“Does this have something to do with you?” Lu Li frowned.
“No... of course not... It’s his curse... His curse is progressing, perhaps...” Rolens faltered, swallowing the end of his sentence.
“Take me to him.”
Lu Li and Rolens set off for the hospital to visit Professor Nuno Alexandrovich.
Rolens lingered before getting into the carriage, and by the time they arrived at the hospital with their knight escort, Lu Li understood what he had been doing.
A huge crowd of onlookers and reporters had gathered in front of the hospital.
Rolens made no secret of the fact that he was using Lu Li for his own purposes.
But Lu Li sensed desperation in it.
He was running a university with only a handful of students...
The university barely existed, and if not for its connection to the Great Tree, it would have vanished long ago.
It was hard to blame the old man for resorting to any means necessary to preserve knowledge.
People shouted Lu Li’s name and title, some even falling prostrate as if before a deity.
Unfortunately, this deity did not answer the prayers of his followers.
Under the protection of the knights, Lu Li entered the hospital. Enduring the curious stares of staff and patients, he reached Professor Nuno Alexandrovich's ward.
Professor Sesar was standing in the corridor, watching the commotion outside.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Sesar said, though it sounded more like a rebuke aimed at Rolens.
“He won’t last much longer. He’s unconscious right now,” Sesar continued.
“You’ve come at a bad time. The doctor is inside.”
It seemed Lu Li was not destined to see Professor Nuno one last time.
“If he wakes up, tell him Mr. Lu Li came to visit,” Rolens requested, then hurried after Lu Li under Sesar’s contemptuous gaze.
The carriage set off, and the noise of the crowd gradually faded, leaving only the clatter of hooves. Suddenly, Lu Li spoke calmly:
“Prepare a lecture for me this afternoon. Just one.”
“What? But... isn’t this too...” Rolens was stunned; he wasn’t prepared.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the Great Tree. The day after, I leave.”
“Then at two in the afternoon...” Rolens replied, his heart heavy.
He had three hours. That should be enough time to prepare.
...
Lu Li paid no more attention to Rolens’s actions. Closer to two o'clock, Professor Daisy Schmidt knocked on his door, and Lu Li followed him to a lecture hall on the first floor.
Daisy Schmidt stopped at the entrance, watching as Lu Li went in.
Lu Li surveyed the several dozen people in the lecture hall. Among them were aristocrats, reporters, heretics, and only one student from Claire University.
Outside the window, the Great Tree towered, its misty radiance filtering into the quiet lecture hall.
Lu Li began to speak calmly.
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a lecture. It’s just a story. A story about the rise and fall of the exorcists.”
Lu Li unhurriedly recounted the history of the exorcists.
About how the Exorcist Association split into three organizations in the Modern Era, and then, due to immense losses and the growing activity of anomalies, united once more.
“I don’t know what happened while I was imprisoned underground, but I do know that they never abandoned their beliefs and principles,” Lu Li’s calm voice carried through the lecture hall.
“The proof is this: there are no more exorcists.”
They are all dead.
After a short pause, Lu Li looked at his “students.”
“You may ask questions.”
The first to stand was the only real student. “Tell me, is there any point to what they teach us at Claire University?”
“I haven’t been to the Great Tree yet, so I can’t answer that,” Lu Li said, looking at the young man.
“But no knowledge is useless. It all depends on when you need it.”
“Mr. Lu Li, tell us, which faction will you join: the city’s or the aristocracy’s?” a man with a notepad and pen stood up.
Lu Li ignored him.
Another young aristocrat, stirred by Lu Li's story, rose to his feet. “Mr. Lu Li, will you restore the exorcists to their former glory? Will you create the exorcist organization anew?”
Lu Li lowered his eyes.
“Perhaps that day will come.”
After he finds Anna.