"Lazy" and "Hardworking"

"Lazy" and "Hardworking"

Chaldea, Luo Zhen's room.

"Senior..."

At that moment, Mashu stood beside the bed, watching Luo Zhen sitting on it with a worried look.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

Luo Zhen paid no attention to any of this. He remained seated on the bed, his fingers moving nimbly.

Upon closer inspection, Luo Zhen had placed a laptop on his thighs and was sitting cross-legged, rapidly working the keyboard as he played a game.

His eyes were fixed just as intently on the screen. He did not look at Mashu at all.

Seeing him like this, Mashu hesitated before speaking.

"Director seems to be genuinely angry this time. Not only did she suspend all the Simulated Battles, she also locked herself in her room and hasn't come out again. Everyone's really worried about what might happen next."

That was the current situation.

Luo Zhen only replied with one word.

"Oh."

After responding so casually, Luo Zhen seemed to lose interest in the matter and continued playing his game.

If this had happened in the past, Mashu would have seriously voiced her objections to Luo Zhen being careless about important matters and indulging in games.

But this time, not only did she refrain from doing so, she kept hesitating, as though taking Luo Zhen's feelings into consideration.

"Senior." Mashu could only say, "Why don't you go apologize to the director?"

That was the only solution Mashu could think of.

Unfortunately...

"Do you think that's possible?" Luo Zhen's hands never stopped moving. While rapidly working the keyboard, he said, "Even if I do nothing, that woman gets angry at the drop of a hat. If I go apologize, I'll only make her even more furious. There won't be any other result."

"N-No, that's not true." Mashu urged him somewhat uncertainly, "Even if she is the director, as long as you apologize properly..."

"All right, stop." Luo Zhen replied coldly, "I was only telling the truth. I didn't do anything wrong, and I passed the Simulated Battle. She has no reason to complain. As for how that woman feels, that has nothing to do with me."

At that, Mashu no longer knew what to do.

Just then, the room's automatic door opened, and someone walked in.

"Doctor."

Seeing the person who entered, Mashu immediately called out and cast him a pleading look.

"You've worked hard, Mashu." Roman patted Mashu on the shoulder and said, "You only just finished the Simulated Battle, so you must be exhausted. You should go back and rest first."

"But..." Mashu still wanted to say something, but Roman stopped her with his gaze.

"You know what this kid's like." Roman shook his head. "Let me talk to him. After all, I'm his big brother."

Mashu looked at Roman, then at Luo Zhen, who was still playing his game. After a moment, she nodded.

"Then I'll go back to my room first." Mashu said this to Luo Zhen: "Don't play for too long, Senior. I'll come call you when it's time for dinner."

Only after leaving him these words did Mashu depart the room, looking back every few steps, and let the automatic door close behind her.

The room instantly fell silent again. Only the rapid tapping of the keyboard and the game's background music rang out rhythmically.

Only then did Roman look at Luo Zhen and speak with a sigh.

"You..."

He did not even have time to finish before the words died in his throat.

"If you're here to lecture me, I'll have to respectfully decline."

Luo Zhen expressed this without hesitation.

What he said was as follows.

"There are plenty of people in Chaldea who want to complain about me." Luo Zhen said, "I'm a lazy and unserious person anyway, so just let me relax and play some games."

Luo Zhen's words drew another sigh from Roman.

Then Roman said this.

"You're clearly the hardest-working Magus in Chaldea. Those words really aren't convincing at all."

—"Hardworking."

That adjective, when heard by anyone other than Mashu, would invariably draw derision.

Of all words, that one had absolutely nothing to do with Luo Zhen.

Anyone in Chaldea would surely think so, right?

In the eyes of others, Luo Zhen was merely a foolish person who possessed extraordinary talent in magecraft yet wasted his time on meaningless games and entertainment, living a careless, aimless life every day.

But Roman alone knew that Luo Zhen actually worked harder than any other Magus in Chaldea.

"Every day, you start training your magecraft the moment your magical energy recovers, and keep training until you've exhausted it completely. What do you mean, relaxing?"

Roman exposed this fact helplessly.

Indeed.

Luo Zhen worked painstakingly at honing his magecraft almost every day, continuing until his magical energy was completely depleted.

If not for that, how could Luo Zhen, who had only learned magecraft for three years, summon a Mid-Level Familiar? How could he perfectly control thousands upon thousands of Familiars simultaneously?

All of this was the result of his hard work.

Others could only see Luo Zhen wasting time playing games.

But how could they know that whenever Luo Zhen played games, it was because he had exhausted his magical energy and could no longer continue training his magecraft, leaving him with no choice but to wait for it to recover?

"The reason your physical abilities are so poor is also related to this, isn't it?"

Roman continued.

Magical energy was a force produced when Magi used their Magic Circuits to convert their own life force.

Every day, Luo Zhen not only exhausted his magical energy training magecraft, he also converted his life force without pause to restore it. Naturally, the result was excessive depletion of his vitality.

That was why Luo Zhen's body was so poor that it was even weaker than some girls who could barely lift a finger.

Of course, Luo Zhen's overly excellent Magic Circuits were another reason.

In the world of magecraft, it was not unusual for problems with one's Magic Circuits to cause physical issues.

Magic Circuits were pseudo-nerves originating from the soul, organs used to convert magical energy. Once something went wrong with them and the body was affected, that was perfectly normal.

Because Luo Zhen's Magic Circuits were too exceptional, his magical energy circulated too frequently and rapidly, placing an excessive burden on his body.

In other words, unless Luo Zhen abandoned magecraft and gave up becoming a Magus, his body would remain this weak. Even if he did not fall ill often, he was still destined to have a frail constitution.

"That's why, back then, you..."

When those words slipped involuntarily from Roman's mouth, Luo Zhen, who had been playing his game the whole time, finally spoke and interrupted him.

"Could you stop being as annoying as that woman, big brother?"

Luo Zhen spoke with extreme displeasure.