Chapter 22
"Then, that concludes the lesson."
Even though I suddenly found myself taking on the role of a lecturer, I managed to finish the class without any issues.
My experience as a professor back on Earth helped a lot, and before I knew it, I got so immersed in talking about mana control that I ended up giving a rather passionate lecture.
"Professor! Good job!"
"Class rep professor. That was an insightful lesson."
"I think it’d be fine if you kept teaching instead."
To be honest, I had some doubts while conducting the lecture.
Mana materialization is an inefficient and unnecessary process, but this world's magical engineering is entirely built upon it.
So, most of the students here were already accustomed to mana materialization.
Getting them to abandon what they had been practicing and showing them a new path had me quite concerned.
'But they adapted surprisingly well.'
[Master, your level is so high that you might not have realized it, but this is Class A of the Imperial Academy. Only the best talents in the Empire are gathered here.]
Well, even though they seemed like a bunch of oddball weirdos, they were still the top scorers in the Empire's most prestigious academy.
"You worked hard."
"Yeah, it was a bit exhausting."
"Your lecture was quite substantial, Professor Raniel."
As I returned to my seat, El and that black-haired guy greeted me.
"Was the lesson worth listening to?"
"It's a new theory, so it’s still a bit hard to grasp, but I can tell it’s far superior to the previous one."
"It was a good class. I haven’t fully applied it yet, though."
Even El and the black-haired guy gave positive feedback.
Surprisingly, the black-haired guy was already making attempts at mana control.
I expected El to be the first to get into it, but this was unexpected.
'Definitely a promising slave candidate.'
As we spent some time chatting, the break ended.
The following classes passed without any major issues.
Most of the material was familiar, but I still gained some new insights and perspectives I hadn’t considered before.
I had a quick lunch at the school cafeteria, and the afternoon classes also went by smoothly.
Before I knew it, the school day was over, and the sun was beginning to set.
"Raniel, you're heading back to the dorms too, right?"
"No, I need to submit the attendance list that the homeroom teacher asked for earlier."
"Oh, that thing for the Clishe family? Got it, see you later then!"
Linia, El, and the black-haired guy wished me luck and headed back to the dorms.
I tucked the attendance list inside my coat and made my way toward the faculty building.
But then—
“Ha… Hah…”
Professors passing by recoiled in surprise at the sight of me.
‘What’s with them?’
[After analyzing the surrounding conversations, it seems there’s a rumor spreading that Master told Professor Dairon:
"To think someone with such pitiful knowledge dares stand on the podium… It’s so ridiculous I can’t even bring myself to speak. Rather than spouting such laughable nonsense, why don’t you embrace your shame and jump out the window?"
—which led Professor Dairon to throw himself out of the window.]
‘…What?’
[Of course, you didn’t actually say that, but since he did end up jumping out the window after your remarks, the rumor isn’t entirely inaccurate.]
‘No, how did it get twisted into that?! I never said anything like that!’
How much did the story have to get distorted for it to turn into this?!
—Is that the guy who threw a professor out just because he thought he was incompetent?
—What a demon.
—Just look at that face. He totally looks like a villain.
Here’s the English translation of your text:
---
"They said he was fine in other professors’ classes."
"Who knows? If something doesn’t sit well with him, who knows what he’ll do next?"
As soon as they were a bit farther away, the professors who had flinched at the sight of me began whispering among themselves, spouting nonsense.
I could feel my anger boiling inside, but I knew that trying to explain myself would only make things worse. So, I decided to ignore them and move on.
Eventually, I arrived at my homeroom professor’s office and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
As I stepped inside, I was met with a room filled to the brim with various experimental tools and equipment—just as one would expect from a professor in the Department of Magical Engineering.
At the far end of the room, my homeroom professor greeted me with a bright smile.
"Oh, you're here, Professor Executioner."
"Wait, is that supposed to be my nickname?"
"Oh my, you haven’t heard? It’s already widely known among the professors. A nickname on your very first day—must be a new record!"
Whether she was aware of my burning frustration or not, my professor simply smirked playfully.
"So, what brings you here?"
"I came to deliver the list of participants for the dungeon exploration, as you requested this morning."
"Ah, that? Just leave it over there."
Following her instructions, I placed the documents on the desk beside me and turned to leave.
"Oh, by the way, Professor Dayron Krypton has taken a leave of absence and gone off into the mountains, so you can rest easy."
"Who?"
"You know, the one you made jump off the tower."
"I didn’t do that."
Now that she mentioned it, that professor who jumped was named Dayron Krypton, wasn’t he?
I had unintentionally avenged that one-point grudge, so there was no need to remember his name any further.
"Anyway, since the Toolcrafting class is now without a professor, I’ll be counting on you for that, Class Representative."
"…What?"
"You’ll be continuing the class. I saw you in action, and you were pretty good at it."
I stared at her, baffled by what I had just heard.
"Oh, I didn’t watch on purpose. I was just keeping an eye on things since it was the first day, and I happened to see you."
"No, that’s not the issue. You’re saying I should take over the class? Is that even allowed?"
"It’s just temporary, until we find a replacement for Dayron."
"Even so…"
"Don’t worry. I’m the one approving it. If I say it’s fine, who’s going to argue?"
I stared at her for a moment.
"What? Do you find me that pretty?"
She didn’t seem to be joking.
But was it really okay for an undergraduate student to formally take over a professor’s lectures?
‘If she can make these kinds of decisions on a whim, then as expected…’
I decided to nod for now.
"I understand what you’re saying."
"Great."
"But before that, I need to confirm something."
Taking a deep breath, I continued.
"What about my salary? You’re not expecting me to teach for free, are you?"
"Uh… huh?"
"I paid a hefty tuition fee to enroll in this academy. You’re not seriously telling me to pay for my education and then teach classes for free, are you?"
At my words, my professor momentarily looked dumbfounded.
"And since I’ll be taking the podium, does that mean I’ll be officially employed as a professor? If so, will I receive the same benefits as a professor? In other words, will I be assigned a research office or have access to the faculty lounge?"
"Uh…"
"Surely you didn’t decide to have me teach without any proper procedure or preparation, just because it felt right?"
Judging by her reaction, that seemed to be exactly the case.
[She’s completely reckless.]
‘But this isn’t bad. If I play my cards right, I might be able to become a professor much sooner than expected.’
If someone who could completely ignore the academy’s rules and act on her own whim was on my side, then this wasn’t necessarily a bad situation.
You might be able to skip the usual faculty appointment process and become a full professor right away.
[Is that even possible?]
"It's like how interns sometimes get hired full-time if they perform well. You bring someone in without much thought, and if they exceed expectations, you think, ‘There’s no one else worth hiring, so why not keep them a little longer?’ Before you know it, they’ve settled into the position.
And even if that doesn’t happen, making a good impression now will be beneficial when it comes time for faculty appointments."
[Master, you have such a calculated mindset! It’s incredibly efficient and admirable!]
Having completed all my efficient calculations, I turned my attention to my advisor, who had been silent for a while.
"Professor?"
"Oh, uh?"
"You weren’t saying anything…."
"Ah, well, um… hmm…"
My advisor looked troubled, shifting his weight nervously before finally making up his mind and speaking.
"I’ll sort it out and let you know by tomorrow! For now, just proceed with your classes as planned. Got it?"
If I pushed any further here, he might get annoyed.
Having navigated countless negotiations with the Minister of Defense over budget issues, I could sense it instinctively.
"Understood."
"Good, good. Then I’ll leave the classes in your hands!"
"Yes, then I’ll take my leave…."
With my advisor seeing me off, I gave a slight nod and left the office.
---
[That was quite an unusual person.]
‘Indeed.’
But I’ll need to investigate further to determine just how influential he truly is.
Can he really bypass the academic regulations and appoint me as a professor? Or is he just someone the department can’t afford to let go despite his eccentricities?
"Raniel! Are you done?"
As I stepped out of the office, Linia, El, and the black-haired guy were waiting for me.
"What is it?"
I didn’t recall making any plans with them.
It made sense for El and the black-haired guy to be here, but did Linia come straight from her martial arts lecture?
"What do you mean? It’s the first day at the academy, of course, we should explore the place with friends! I even sent an email to your tablet. Didn’t you see it?"
At Linia’s words, I pulled out my tablet and checked my inbox.
There was indeed an email.
It must have arrived while I had my notifications muted during my conversation with the professor.
But sightseeing?
This isn’t a tourist destination. You can figure out what’s here just by looking at the guidebook. Is this really necessary?
"Why bother? Did you come here to have fun?"
"That’s a cold thing to say! The Imperial Academy is a place people actually pay to tour!"
"He’s right. I wouldn’t call it a tourist spot, but there are quite a few sights worth seeing."
With Linia leading the charge, El joined in to back her up.
Their personalities were completely opposite, yet they seemed to get along strangely well.
I shifted my gaze past the two of them and looked at the black-haired guy.
He seemed just as uninterested as I was.
With a two-against-two split, I had a chance to opt out.
Just as I was about to send him a look, the black-haired guy spoke first.
"Oh, I have a part-time job, so I’ll be leaving now."
And just like that, he effortlessly escaped on his own.
So this is why they say never to take in a black-haired beast!
[Master, were you black-haired in your past life?]
‘That was then, this is now!’
"Part-time job? Is he struggling financially?"
"His family can’t support him…."
"That must be tough."
"As a fellow worker, I support him!"
Linia, why are you acting like a laborer?!
You’re attending the academy with my money, you don’t do any actual maid work, and yet you still get paid!
Compared to the black-haired guy, who’s heading off to work right now, Linia’s working conditions are practically paradise.
No, if you're not working, the word "labor" itself is a contradiction.
"Then, have fun, you three. See you later."
"Take care."
"To the hardworking youth, fighting! Let's all hang in there!"
The black-haired guy left the group.
After that, all eyes naturally turned to me.
"I have a research project on the 17-fold division and fusion of planaria, so I'll be—"
"Yes, yes, we heard you. You can do that later."
I tried to slip away, but Linia, who knew me too well, caught me.
"Alright then, where should we go first?"
"Since each department's building has a different design, why don’t we start by checking those out?"
Then the two of them started planning the schedule on their own.
Linia was always like this, so I let it slide, but El—who's usually timid—was oddly proactive in times like these.
"Then let's go to the Martial Arts Department building!"
"What about my opinion?"
"You're just going to say it's a hassle to walk around and suggest hiding somewhere, right?"
As expected, Linia knew me too well.
Rather than wandering around for no reason, I'd rather lock myself in a room and focus on my research!
"Alright, let's go!"
Without regard for my wishes, Linia dragged me onto the tram.
---
"This is my first time riding the tram."
As soon as we got on, Linia looked around in admiration.
Huh? That sounded strange.
"Didn't you take the tram when you came from the Martial Engineering Department to the Martial Arts Department earlier?"
"I ran to get here faster!"
I see. You ran.
And running was faster than the tram.
Once again, I found myself in awe of the martial artists.
"Then why are you taking the tram now?"
"If I were alone, I would've run, obviously!"
I see. So martial artists have no need for trams.
I decided not to think too deeply about it.
I thought I'd adjusted to this world pretty well, but I still couldn't understand those martial artists at all.
How does their body even work? How does their physical durability reach the point where they can deflect bullets? How can they run faster than a tram?
[If we're talking mechanisms, my body is also—]
'You're perfectly scientific.'
[No, what I mean is—]
'Scientific.'
As I pondered the nature of science and the unscientific, we arrived at the station for the Martial Arts Department building.
