SWNOVELXO Chapter 196: Two Madman (3)
As Adlet and Frederick's absurdly sounding conversation echoed across the entire courtyard, a thick fog of confusion descended upon the gathered students.
Their Eyebrows climbed to hairlines, and expressions twisted into a synchronized chorus of-
What in the world are we hearing?
It felt less like a teacher-student dialogue and more like a rehearsal for an unhinged stage play.
Was this seriously how a teacher was supposed to speak to his student?
OR
Was that how a student answered a Teacher?
Because, unless this was some bizarre Academy-approved psychological test, something had gone terribly off-script.
Frederick being a Teacher, in anger—mentioned killing the student by throwing him off the building like he did few moments ago.
And Adlet, rather than recoiling or showing any visible signs of alarm, responded by confidently declaring he would prove his invincibility… by killing himself.
With a straight face, no less.
It was the kind of exchange that didn't belong in a prestigious magic academy. Or any sane institution, really.
Valencia stood stiffly near the rear of the courtyard.
'What kind of confidence…' Valencia thought, her lips twitching somewhere between awe and disbelief. 'No. Only a lunatic would casually talk about jumping off the Academy like that.'
She stared at the third-year student sprawled on the packed earth. his legs bent in directions that seemed to define human anatomy and then at the shoe mark on his legs.
If Frederick hadn't stepped in to shield him with magic, there was no doubt in anyone's mind—the fall from the fourth floor would've done far more than just shatter a pair of legs.
The student would've ended up as a blood paste on the Academy Dormitory.
And now, somehow, a junior was talking about jumping off the Academy himself.
The Academy's Island reached so high into the sky that they seemed to pierce the clouds themselves.
Falling from such heights wasn't just fatal—it was annihilating. Bodies didn't just break.
They disappeared, obliterated from the impact of the fall.
Even if someone possessed some kind of supernatural ability, who in their right mind would willingly test it in such a reckless, suicidal way?
It was beyond foolish.
It was sheer lunacy.
'I see why Frederick's laughing even though the Student is arguing with him', thought Valencia as she glanced towards Adlet.
Only a madman can keep pace with another madman.
'Crazy. Completely insane. Off-the-charts bonkers' thought Roan, his face frozen in an expression that hovered between horror and reluctant admiration.
Deep in his mind, he mentally adjusted Adlet's already towering level of insanity, placing it in a category well beyond normal comprehension.
'Does having a supernatural power automatically make your that kind of a lunatic?' he wondered while remembering how Flakey acted.
In Roan's mind, Adlet insanity had reached such a point where he might even stand his ground if the Emperor himself showed up—he'd probably look down on him while spewing those beautiful curses of his mouth.
'Now I really want to know just what is Mr. Special Supernatural Power,' thought Gideon, eyes narrowing as he watched Adlet with intrigue.
His lips twitched, fighting between a scowl and a grin, as if the mystery alone was starting to bother him more than the attitude.
'Just let him jump off. That bastard will surely know his place after he falls on his head,' thought Alina, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.
She didn't even try to hide her disdain.
In her mind, the fall wouldn't just break his body—it would break that unbearable arrogance too. 'Let him die once. That should fix the ego.'
Meanwhile, Althea wasn't paying attention to the drama or the potential fatality. Her mind was busy chasing magical formulas.
'How did Adlet set a Trap Magic with such accuracy even after it had such high chance of failure?' she wondered, her brows furrowed in deep concentration.
If she could figure out the reasons as to how Adlet could set a trap that even after having such high chance of failure still succeeded, she was sure she could take the understanding of Trap Magic to the next level.
Frederick, still watching Adlet closely, saw something odd—no fear.
Instead, curiosity flickered in the boy's eyes.
An eagerness that didn't belong on someone about to throw themselves off a building.
'This brat truly wants to jump off the Academy', he thought, somewhere between amusement and disbelief.
Ashok wasn't lying either.
When he said he wanted to jump, he meant it.
Not out of recklessness—but to explore.
To push.
He wanted to test the limits of the Gravity Trait and what was a greater way to jump of a piece of land above the layers of clouds.
'Fall damage?' The very idea made him smirk. That kind of concept doesn't exist in his dictionary once he started to use Gravity. Negative.
'I wonder what it feels like to truly fly', thought Ashok.
A gentle breeze brushed his face as he stood near the balcony edge.
In his previous life, he had never even stepped onto an airplane.
Why would he?
He'd had no desire to leave the four walls of his home, no curiosity about what lay beyond his town, his state, or some far-off continent.
But now, everything had changed.
The very thought of drifting freely through clouds, of the wind rushing past him in a headlong dive, sent a ripple of exhilaration through his body.
It wasn't fear he felt—it was anticipation.
A wild, unshackled joy stirred in his chest, and the idea of being strapped into an airplane seat seemed laughable.
That wasn't flying.
That was confinement in disguise.
But this… this was freedom.
Ashok even imagined the sky whispering to him.
'I wonder… will jumping off the Academy feel like skydiving?' he mused, his heart beginning to race as he looked toward Frederick.
His eyes gleamed with barely-contained energy, waiting—no, craving—the moment Frederick would say those words: "Go on, let me see what you can do."
"Hahaha!" Frederick suddenly threw his head back and laughed under Adlet's steady gaze.
His voice rang through the courtyard like thunder. "As expected, you're even more of a madman than your sister."
Frederick had skimmed through Adlet's Admission Form and instantly recognized the Eastern Duchy family name—Cindergarde.
That name alone conjured a vivid memory of the family's eldest daughter, a student known throughout the Academy for her wild and reckless nature.
'A complete mad dog', Frederick thought, a chill running down his spine as the memory unfolded in his mind.
He recalled her reckless tales of plunging into molten lava, claiming she would swim through rivers of searing fire just to sharpen her Fire Affinity.
The sheer madness of it was almost unimaginable—the idea of diving headfirst into a glowing, roiling sea of molten rock, where the air shimmered with unbearable heat and the ground itself seemed to breathe fire.
During the Dungeon Survival Test, the Academy's instructors had been pushed to the brink of hysteria, barely managing to save her life when she leapt into the very heart of an active volcano.
The memory of her nearly succumbing to the blistering flames, her flesh melting as if she were made of wax, was etched into Frederick's mind.
Despite the Cindergarde family's exceptional resistance and deep affinity for fire, the lava was an unforgiving force of nature.
No matter how strong the bloodline, how deeply the elemental power ran through their veins, in the end, their bodies were still fragile human vessels.
'Though I wonder if she's really able to swim in lava now', Frederick mused quietly.
After all, that girl was one of the Nine Stars of this generation, just like Mia—her rival— one of the youngest Teachers of the Academy.
'And now, once again, here comes another crazy brat.' The thought only strengthened his belief that returning to teaching had been the right choice.
Shaking off his reverie, Frederick glanced at Adlet, only to find the boy's earlier curiosity had vanished completely.
Instead, Adlet's eyes held that familiar, unsettling look—the kind that made Frederick feel as if he were being silently dismissed and looked down upon.
"I don't know what you're talking about, old man," Adlet said, his voice flat and unemotional. "I have no sister. I have no family. I am an orphan."
Frederick's expression slightly faltered as he heard Adlet's calm words.
For a brief moment, his gaze wavered, the weight of the boy's statement settling in.
Only then did he remember the Admission Form clearly noted Self-Exile.
He didn't know what had happened within the Cindergarde family, nor was it his place to intervene.
But what truly surprised him was that he sensed no falsehood in Adlet's claim of being an orphan.
'Just What kind of life did he live after taking Self-Exile, that even being an orphan had become a genuine truth for him?' Frederick wondered quietly.
Ashok's words were a complete truth—after all, how could it be otherwise?
The only family Ashok had known in his previous life was gone long ago, meaning he truly was an orphan.
And as for forming any new familial feelings for the Cindergardes in this life, simply because he was now in Adlet's body—it was a different matter altogether.
Even the thought felt like an insult, stirring a deep sense of disgust within him. He had only one family—and they were gone.
Though he inhabited Adlet's body, his mind was still Ashok's. And he would continue living as an orphan, refusing to accept anyone else as family.
'T-That bastard… what did he just say? Orphan? How dare he call himself an orphan!' Alina seethed, her fists clenched tightly as anger radiated from her like heat.