activa-t Chapter 8: Slaying?
Chapter 8: Slaying?
"That's right, Ms. Ruth," Lucius said slowly, waiting for her to finish speaking.
"I am Lucius Anderson, the remaining student in Professor Marcus's research group."
I already know about Professor Marcus's situation...
"Professor Marcus?" Ruth exclaimed in surprise upon hearing the name. She took off her crescent-shaped glasses and placed them next to the pen holder on the table, then looked up at Lucius intently.
Her expression shifted from professional indifference to genuine concern within seconds:
"Lucius, is it? Poor kid, no one would have thought Marcus would do something like that."
She sighed, shook her head, and unconsciously twirled the pin holding the silver school badge.
"We were all fooled by him. When he was transferred from the Royal College of Eloron, he was polite, knowledgeable, and had a comprehensive plan for the future development of the History Department at East York University."
Who would have thought that such an outstanding scholar would…
She didn't finish her sentence and sighed again.
This time, the sigh contained more regret for having misjudged the situation.
"As for your situation..." Ruth put her glasses back on and looked down at a stack of documents on the table.
Finally, a piece of official paper with the East York University watermark was pulled out.
She glanced at the contents, then looked up at Lucius with genuine apology on her face.
"Lucius, I regret to inform you." Her tone slowed considerably, no longer the rapid-fire she had used to dismiss the student who had filed the appeal.
"Marcus's affair was discovered too late. I mean... before he came to light, no one at the school had found any trace of him engaging in, uh, illegal activities."
By the time the police intervened and the body was discovered, it was already late June.
She turned the document around for Lucius to see. The paper was facing him.
That was a "Notice of Application Deadline for Bachelor of Arts Degree in Summer Semester".
At the top is the gold-embossed emblem of East York University, in the middle are the terms and conditions, and at the bottom line in bold font is written:
Summer semester short paper submission deadline: Monday, July 1st, 7 PM.
Today is Thursday, June 27th.
Ruth's voice came from behind the pages, carrying a gentle, objective statement:
"There are only 5 days left until the paper submission deadline, which is actually only 3 working days plus 1 weekend, and the academic affairs office window is not open on weekends."
She placed the document back on the table, crossed her arms on top of the pile of documents, and continued:
"You should know the school's rules better than I do. Short papers must be reviewed and approved by the supervisor before they can be submitted to the degree committee for defense."
A thesis without the supervisor's signature will not be accepted by the degree committee at all; it doesn't even qualify for discussion at the meeting.
"Marcus is your mentor." There was an undisguised helplessness in her voice as she said this.
"And now he's not only missing, but also a suspect in the murder of a student. His teaching qualification will definitely be urgently revoked by the academic affairs committee before next Monday, but that's not good news for you."
Even if the school revokes his/her supervisor qualification and immediately assigns you a new supervisor, the new supervisor cannot possibly review your thesis within four days.
There's simply not enough time; no responsible professor would sign off on a paper they don't understand.
"So..." She sighed, rubbing the red marks left on the sides of her nose by the frames of her glasses with her thumbs, and kindly offered advice:
"Or... how about retaking the course? I can help you apply for a waiver of part of the tuition and fees for the retake course... that should save you about a third."
Lucius was completely numb.
He stood there, staring at the deadline on the official document; if he couldn't finish the short paper, he would have to retake it.
Reconstruction will cost money.
He needs to pay the registration fee, tuition, and retake course fees for the next semester.
He silently calculated that even if some tuition and fees could be waived, the remaining amount would still be about 2 gold pounds and 16 shillings.
He only had 3 shillings left in his pocket, not even enough to pay next week's rent, which was 4 shillings per week.
The chain reaction of a broken economic chain unfolded clearly in his mind:
Unable to pay rent → Leo Harrison takes away the room → No address, unable to be hired by any employer → Unable to find work → Becomes homeless → Freezes to death in winter.
Hiss... Lucius gasped. Was he really going to be killed like this?
Less than a day after transmigrating, he didn't die from the corruption of the secret teachings or from the sacrifices of the esoteric cultists, but he was destined to die in the social strangulation.
No, no, no, he thought of Felix's invitation.
"The weekly wage for handling occult cases must be quite high, right? The weekly wage for an ordinary police officer is around 20 shillings, so Felix and his team's weekly wage can't be lower than that."
He quickly calculated in his mind, but the problem was that Felix hadn't mentioned salary or benefits at all.
That guy was so focused on talking about ideals, talent, and importance that he missed the most crucial information.
"Oh no, how could I have forgotten to ask the most important thing!" Lucius thought to himself with regret.
He has already made up his mind.
He decided to accept the job now, without waiting until Sunday, as long as the offer was no less than 20 shillings per week.
No, even if it's only 15 shillings, as long as he can get an advance on his first month's salary to pay the rent, he'll do it.
With that thought, Lucius bowed slightly and took his leave of Ms. Ruth:
"Thank you for your time, Ms. Ruth. I will consider it carefully."
He turned and walked towards the door, his hand just touching the doorknob, when Ruth's voice suddenly came from behind him:
"Lucius, wait a minute, I think there's another way."
Lucius turned around and loosened his hand from the doorknob.
Ruth stood up from her seat and paced slowly behind her desk with her arms crossed. Her brow furrowed slightly before relaxing.
She looked at Lucius, and finally uttered a name:
Have you ever heard of Professor Anthony Thorne?
"Professor Anthony Thorne?"
Lucius was deeply impressed by the name, as would any history student.
He is the Dean of the School of History, a member of the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge, and the highest authority in the study of the Fourth Age history of the Kingdom of Horn.
Three years ago, in the "Tudor royal origin controversy" that swept across the academic world of the entire Western Continent, he debated with five professors from three countries for four days and four nights on the stage of the Royal Society of Elon, and finally overturned the "Plantago Orthodox Jurisprudence" that had been popular for half a century.
The manuscript of that debate was later compiled into a book and now lies in the most prominent new book display case in the East York University Library.
Under his influence, the history department at East York University became a highly prestigious program throughout the Kingdom of Horn.
Students who graduate from here, even if they only attended one of Professor Anthony's classes, can add a line to their resume saying "Studied under Anthony Thorne".
The original owner had applied to be a member of this professor's research group during the second semester of his sophomore year.
He spent three days preparing his application materials, attaching his excellent transcripts for all his courses during his freshman and sophomore years, and also wrote a respectfully worded personal statement.
He waited for two whole weeks.
The rejection letter was delivered to him one afternoon.
It consisted of only three short lines, written on the college's standard template letterhead, and signed by Professor Anthony's assistant.
The note read: "Thank you for your interest in our research group. After review by your supervisor, it is determined that your foundation in classical Chinese is insufficient to undertake the research work of the group. We wish you success in your studies."
He eventually had to settle for second best and joined Marcus's research group, where he learned an ancient language, namely lexicon.