Chapter 6
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 006
Chapter Title: Recognizing the Chitin Insect
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After finishing the meal, I stared blankly at Isel who had returned.
Charlotte seemed to be running a bit late, saying she would bring post-meal coffee.
She was probably being considerate, creating time for the two of us to talk.
Isel was on the spacious leather sofa prepared for guests, nibbling away at the tea snacks.
The situation of being left alone together was awfully awkward, so she stared blankly back at me.
Even eating the snacks felt like an extension of this burdensome awkwardness.
Still, from the fact that she had even brought tea, it seemed she ate well despite the burden being secondary.
Pop.
The sound of tearing open another individually wrapped cookie packet rang out.
Beside her, empty packets were already piled up high.
“…Um, Professor?”
“What is it? Speak.”
“You’ve been staring at me this whole time…….”
I nodded as if to say I knew.
Yes, I was staring piercingly at Isel right now.
If someone else saw, they would say you shouldn’t stare at a girl like that, but what I saw wasn’t a woman.
It was a chitinous insect.
For that hideous ‘thing,’ what did distinguishing male from female matter?
If it had been anyone else, they would have smashed it dead on sight, no questions asked.
Distinguishing wasn’t even possible in the first place.
I had no desire to look that closely.
“Anyway, your hair color—is it gray?”
“Ah… Yes. As you can see?”
Her tone suggested why ask something so obvious, but I didn’t know.
Instead, satisfied with drawing out the correct answer, I nodded vigorously.
“Um, Pro… fessor?”
Sensing something strange, Isel began pondering an escape, but I was already lost in a sense of pride.
I had no spare capacity for conversation.
The reason I could confirm this impression—seeing everything as chitinous insects—was that Isel’s chitin shell had a gray tint.
I still couldn’t make out facial expressions or features, but I could distinguish people by color like this.
That was how my broad categorization proceeded, unable to discern precise appearances……
“Professor!”
When I opened my eyes, the cockroa… no, Isel was right in front of me.
I hadn’t even noticed her approach, lost in my own thoughts.
She slammed the desk where I sat, cheeks flushed red as her eyes darted every which way.
If it bothered her that much, why had she boldly stuck around in the first place?
“Um… Well, ahem. Staring at a lady like that is a little… embarrassing, or maybe shy? Anyway, it’s kinda weird!”
“Is that so.”
“Yes!”
Lady… At that word, I let out a thick hum, as if partially agreeing.
Just as Isel breathed a sigh of relief, assuming I understood, and turned to head back to her seat.
I asked.
“How are you so certain of your own gender?”
At my question, all of Isel’s movements froze.
Her head turned with a creaking, mechanical sound.
Staring at me, her pupils brimmed with the question of what nonsense this was.
Scratch that about not being able to read emotions without facial expressions.
People had excellent nonverbal means to convey feelings.
The tiny eyes of the cockroa… no, the chitinous insect darted round and round.
As a potential new authority on the budding field of [Insect Emotionology], I took note of Isel’s nonverbal cues.
But noting them was one thing—this question belonged to an entirely different realm.
“It’s exactly as I said. Most species can distinguish male from female, no? But even a god would only know through others, making male-female just one arbitrary benchmark set by outsiders. Not your own standard.”
“…….”
“In that vein, what elements enable you to perceive yourself as female? That’s the origin of my question. Care to explain?”
I thoroughly ignored the nonverbal expression roughly translating to ‘No idea, but the professor sure is one massive weirdo.’
This was a gravely serious matter.
As things stood, I could only distinguish men from women by voice.
If the other person stayed silent, how was I supposed to tell genders apart!
Even the ‘chitin exoskeleton distinction by hair color’ method had clear limitations.
There could be a pink-haired… thus pink-shelled man.
Just in case, but one mustn’t view the world through colored lenses.
“Um… For starters, doesn’t a woman’s voice sound thinner than a man’s?”
“Right. Anything else?”
She seemed to grope the air with her hands in explanation, but each time our eyes met, she lost all her words and fell silent.
“…There are breasts. The waist curves inward, and… during growth, the hips widen…….”
I shook my head.
Explanations like that wouldn’t do.
For me, who saw nothing but cockroa… no, chitinous insects, they offered zero help.
“Uh… then that’s…”
Her voice grew gradually watery before dropping to a mumble.
Just as I sensed something off, the door flew open.
Charlotte grabbed a sofa cushion and hurled it straight at my face.
“Hey!! You bastard! What the hell are you making her do!?”
“Ch-Charlotteeee.”
Every cushion in sight came flying.
I used the first one as a shield to block the rest and hurriedly began explaining.
“That’s not it, Charlotte. I was taking an academic approach, questioning exactly what one’s gender identity consists of.”
“Yeah, right.”
It didn’t land at all.
So unjust……
Half in a daze, I listened to the complaints and scoldings.
Then, at last, a practical question flew my way.
It came after Charlotte had vented every ounce of her frustration at me.
“So, what subject are you planning to lecture on, Professor?”
“Are you officially joining my lab?”
“The paperwork’s set up that way. Normally, it’d be from grad students, but… Charlotte insisted on getting someone first, so here I am, the maid, as the lab’s undergrad intern.”
I let the trailing ‘really need to get an actual person first’ slide past my ears.
After encountering Elin, I had solidified my sense of self.
Now, even if they treated me like I wasn’t human, I was undeniably one, come what may.
‘Still, just to be sure.’
“Do I look like a cockroach to you?”
“Huh? Cock… what?”
Isel tilted her head, as if questioning whether she’d heard right.
Unlike her, Charlotte read the implication in my words and recoiled in utter disgust.
“No, Isel. It’s fine. Don’t mind it. Let 80% of what that guy says slide right off.”
“Ah… Okay.”
She might not get it, but she accepted, nodding vigorously.
The conversation seemed like it would drag on, so I held back on rebutting, but this treatment was over the top.
“…As for the lecture topic. Since it’s the Knight Department, I’ll need to tailor it accordingly.”
Aiden had indeed served as a professor, but the settings didn’t specify what he taught.
What was it again—cut for kanji shortage or something.
‘A half-baked setting bible that only lacks details when you need them.’
Cursing inwardly, I blinked.
In the end, the lecture topic was up to me.
“Isel, produce some Aura.”
“Aura? Sure.”
It was a feasible request, given the practice sword at her waist.
Charlotte watched from the side, on guard against a repeat performance.
Honestly, I wished she’d leave.
Mana flowed through the bladeless practice sword.
It blended smoothly—impeccably so, in fact.
But that was it.
Feeling distinctly underwhelmed, I shook my head.
“That’s just thinly coating the sword in mana, isn’t it? I said Aura, Isel.”
“Imbuing Aura with attributes is something only Aura Experts can do, and I’m not there yet…….”
At those words, I fixed her with a gaze of pure, genuine puzzlement.
“Shouldn’t someone your age have awakened Aura long ago? When I was your age, I had already…….”
“That’s what’s normal. Don’t hold students to your standards.”
Charlotte cut in, unable to listen any longer.
“They might fall short of your lofty standards, but Isel’s top of her second-year class and pulls scholarships every year—a model student. Once more: don’t shoehorn students into your personal benchmarks.”
To her half-warning tone, I gave a nod of acknowledgment.
“Not quite the level I expected.”
Isel’s shoulders slumped like wilting grass, but this time Charlotte stayed out of it.
She merely shot a displeased glance—that was all.
‘Assumed the level matched because protagonists get written so easily, but apparently not.’
On reflection, protagonists came slathered in perks.
Even setting my standards aside, they shouldn’t be measured against protagonists either.
Still, wasn’t there such a thing as an appropriate baseline?
Feigning deep thought before opening my eyes.
“Best to start with Aura basics.”
Isel’s eyes went wide at my words.
Charlotte knitted her brows, asking in a tone laced with doubt if that was okay.
A hint of concern in her expression.
“You’re allowed to teach that? Isn’t it your secret technique?”
“Secret technique?”
At my echo, Charlotte looked utterly at a loss, her face screaming if I was serious.
‘Secret technique, huh…….’
“Isn’t it just fundamentals?”
How could you call yourself a swordsman without it?
No different from a mage who can’t reassemble spell formulas.
In mage terms, it was like being eternally shackled to the default activation of a spell.
A mage incapable of altering even a single attribute.
‘Half-baked—no, worse. The real dregs among mages. Hard to even call them mages.’
Thus, a swordsman unable to imbue Aura with even one property wasn’t a swordsman.
At least, that was the in-story commentary.
As I shook my head insisting otherwise, the two fell utterly silent, like bees stung on the lips.
“Lecture direction is set. So, Isel—as you say, most undergrads can’t use Aura?”
“…Some third- and fourth-year seniors can.”
“Meaning most can’t.”
“…….”
I clicked my tongue.
Navigating the academy storyline dragging these kids along—obvious they’d just hold the protagonists back.
That wouldn’t do.
Absolutely not.
‘That was the frustrating part.’
Every raid event, wails erupting everywhere.
Having to let even beatable enemies slip away—that frustration!
I set a solemn, determined atmosphere.
‘Frustration… must eliminate.’
The less they dragged ankles, the more freely protagonists could crush foes.
Then I could relax and keep my professorship indefinitely.
Killing two birds with one stone.
“Expected great things from the Imperial University, but what a total letdown. Did I end up at some branch campus provincial college instead?”
As their silence stretched, I declared definitively.
Somewhat forcefully, brooking no argument.
“We’ll start from Aura Cultivation Method. Moving on: mana-based physical enhancement. For subcategories, degree of organic body utilization via mana sounds good.”
With policy settled, I spent the time hashing out details with Isel.
Charlotte shot me a look of genuine worry for Isel before excusing herself from the lab on some errand.
Back in the now-quiet lab, swallowing silence, Isel—who had been cleaning here and there—suddenly piped up with a question that had occurred to her.
“But Professor. Why’d you tear the curtain? And what’s with these Mana Residues?”
The curtain-tearing could be brushed off vaguely, but……
‘Mana Residue?’
My eyes narrowed instinctively.
“What’s that?”
“Huh? You don’t know Mana Residue? It’s what’s automatically left behind after using mana…….”
“Why’s it left behind? Just use it efficiently and cleanly from the start.”
Isel stared at me with dawning realization in her eyes, like ‘Ah…’
“Professor, you’re such a genius you might not realize, but most people leave Mana Residue after using mana. That’s how they inspect crime scenes and such.”
My face gradually stiffened.
“Mana Residue—so what do you sense from this Mana Residue?”
“Hmm… Not totally sure, but it feels ominous, like fire. Purer feel than the flames Magic Department kids use, though?”
Of course.
It was flame manifested through runes.
If Pure Magic Theory defined rune usage as the purest state of elemental magic, then rune-based magic was the most supreme and pure form in existence.
Nothing could compare in purity.
Suspicion snowballed until my pupils trembled.
“…Isel, by any chance, is there Mana Residue on my clothes too?”
“Yeah, some lingers. Been playing with fire or something? Haha.”
She said it as a joke, but catching my serious expression, Isel looked at me with dawning ‘No way.’
“For real…? You’re kidding, right?”
But I had no capacity left to respond.
Isel had called it pure.
If even a Knight Department student with scant magic knowledge said that, then someone far more skilled—with high spirit affinity to boot.
In other words, one of the protagonists: Elin.
‘Recognizing the rune Mana Residue lingering on my coat……’
I shook my head furiously.
No way.
…It had to not be.