The Mob Character Who Woke Up!-Chapter 52: The boy is retarded!

The boy had messy white hair that stuck up in random directions, dark circles under his crimson eyes that suggested chronic sleep deprivation, and a backpack that looked empty but somehow felt heavy with mysterious intent. He was wearing a uniform that was clearly unironed and covered in wrinkles.

The boy was smiling.

It wasn’t a mocking smile. It wasn’t a cruel smile meant to hurt.

It was a goofy, slightly awkward smile. The kind of smile that belonged to a guy who had just committed tax fraud and somehow gotten away with it.

Kaizen raised one hand cheerfully, like he was about to volunteer for extra homework instead of ruining a man’s life.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "Is this where I sign up for the greatest stream in the entire universe called Axiomancy?"

Mr. Finch’s brain shut down.

Not metaphorically.

It fully powered off, unplugged itself, and refused to reboot.

For a solid three seconds, he simply stared at Kaizen with an empty expression, his mouth opening and closing slowly like a fish that had been violently removed from its natural habitat. His glasses slid halfway down his nose, but he did not notice.

’Okay, he’s retarded.’

"You..." Finch croaked, his voice cracking under the sheer weight of disbelief. "You want to... you want to sign up?"

"Yes," Kaizen replied immediately, nodding with confidence.

"For Axiomancy?" Finch asked again, as if repeating it might magically change the answer.

"Yes."

"The... math one?"

"Yep."

Finch blinked.

"...Why?"

That was not sarcasm. That was not mockery. That was the pure, raw cry of a man who had spent years watching students run screaming from his classroom.

Who in the world willingly chose Axiomancy? Who woke up one morning and decided, yes, today I shall suffer? And yet here stood this boy, nodding his head enthusiastically like a chicken that had just been fed.

"Because..." Kaizen began, then paused dramatically as if searching for the right words. "I want to..."

Finch’s eyes began to water.

His hands trembled as they tightened around the strap of his worn-out bag, knuckles turning white.

"You’re not joking? This isn’t some cruel prank? You’re not going to start laughing and walk away in five seconds like the others?"

Kaizen shook his head slowly and solemnly.

"I’m serious. I need Axiomancy."

That was it.

Finch’s face collapsed like a poorly constructed sandcastle hit by a tidal wave of emotion.

The dam burst.

He did not cry elegantly. There were no single, poetic tears sliding down his cheeks. He ugly-cried, right there on the empty stage, shoulders shaking violently as years of academic neglect poured out of him.

His glasses fogged up instantly, his nose began running uncontrollably, and he made small, broken sounds that suggested this was the happiest moment of his entire career.

"THANK YOU!" Finch sobbed while fumbling desperately for the enrollment form in his bag. "THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!"

His hands were shaking so badly he dropped the form twice.

"I’m Finch! Marcus Finch! I’m the assistant to Professor Mortimer! He’s going to be so happy! We’re going to have an actual student! A real one!"

He shoved the paper at Kaizen with both hands.

"Please! Please sign here! Before you change your mind!"

Kaizen took the crumpled form. He looked at the desperate assistant. He looked at the tears streaming down the man’s face.

Then he pulled out a pen and signed his name clearly.

Kaizen Renji Asahina.

Department: Axiomancy.

Finch grabbed the paper like it was the Holy Grail. He pressed it to his chest. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"I’m going to frame this," he whispered with absolute reverence. "I’m going to show the Professor. He’s going to be so proud."

Kaizen watched him.

’Man, I just wanted the vector control. I didn’t expect to make someone cry tears of joy.’

"Welcome," Finch said, his voice thick with emotion as he tried to compose himself, "to the Department of Axiomancy. We’re going to change your life."

"I believe you."

And for the first time since arriving in this cursed world, he actually meant it.

...

The paperwork was officially signed in ink.

Mr. Finch held the enrollment form with trembling hands that wouldn’t stop shaking, staring at it like it was a winning lottery ticket he was terrified might spontaneously combust if he breathed wrong.

"Follow me!" Finch chirped enthusiastically, his voice cracking an entire octave higher than normal in his excitement. "To the Scholastic Core!"

They walked through the sprawling Academy grounds together. The Scholastic Core was the absolute heart of the beast, a massive district of gleaming white marble buildings, floating mana crystals that hummed with power, and architectural ego so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Dominating the skyline were the legendary Six Elemental Towers.

They pierced the clouds like giant, magical middle fingers pointed directly at all other buildings in the entire city.

The Fire Tower was literally on fire twenty-four hours a day. Eternal flames licked hungrily at the stone structure, probably raising the local temperature by a solid ten degrees and making every summer unbearable.

The Ice Tower was constructed entirely of unmelting permafrost that shimmered beautifully in the sunlight, sending rainbow refractions across the campus.

The Lightning Tower crackled constantly with so much accumulated static electricity that Kaizen’s hair was already standing straight up from a mile away like he’d been electrocuted.

The Water Tower flowed and shifted like liquid architecture, cool and peaceful to look at with waterfalls cascading down its sides.

The Earth Tower looked like someone had taken an ancient medieval castle with its spiraling turrets and just embedded it directly into the ground.

They were magnificent structures. They were undeniable symbols of absolute power and prestige.

And there was one more.. but it was nothing note worthy to say the least.

Kaizen walked beside Mr. Finch, doing his absolute best to ignore the not-so-subtle whispers of the other students passing by.

"Look," a noble girl whispered while covering her mouth with a perfectly manicured hand that sparkled with expensive cosmetic magic. "That’s the guy who actually signed up for the Drunkard’s class."

"Axiomancy? Isn’t that literally just for people who failed basic wand-waving in elementary school?"

"Poor guy. He’s F-Rank. He probably thinks Mana is a type of sandwich."

Kaizen didn’t care about their opinions. He had a D-Rank Pan hidden in his bag and a partnership with a black market fence who could get him anything. Their shallow pity meant absolutely nothing to him.

He looked up at the towering structures.

’Okay, basic logic time.’

Kaizen reasoned while walking.

’There are six main elemental branches. Axiomancy is considered a Foundation magic that underlies all the others. So, basic logic dictates that one of these impressive sky-scrapers must be ours.’

He adjusted his backpack straps.

Probably that unrefined looking one... Like, of course, that must be it.. Maybe it needs a fresh paint job. Maybe it leans slightly to the left from age. But it’s definitely still a proper tower.

"Mr. Finch," Kaizen asked as they walked past a fountain. "Why exactly is the reputation so terrible? Is the Professor really that genuinely unhinged?"

Finch let out a long, suffering sigh. He adjusted his thick glasses, which were currently completely fogged up from stress and nervous sweating.

"People talk," Finch said defensively, his voice taking on a protective edge. "They spread rumors and gossip. They say Axiomancy is dead because the Professor is eccentric and unreliable. But that is a complete lie! A prejudice born purely of mediocrity and small minds that cannot comprehend true genius!"

Mr Finch stopped walking suddenly and spun around dramatically to face Kaizen directly.

"Kaizen. Do you know the name of the most decorated, most feared Monster Hunter Group in the entire history of the Republic of Peace Alliance?"

Kaizen opened his mouth to say honestly "No, I don’t."

But a word jumped out of his throat before he could consciously stop it. Like a reflex coded into his muscles.

"The Vector Legion."