Chapter 84
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Guardianship Proposal
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Radia swept a complicated gaze over the documents I held out to her.
A sigh escaped her lips, which rarely parted easily.
“…So this was the main reason you came to see me, Professor.”
I didn’t respond and took a sip of coffee instead.
A dense aroma, bitter yet compressed, brushed past my nose.
While I swallowed the coffee past my throat, Radia was organizing her thoughts as well, so I smoothly moved on to the next topic without answering.
“But I still have my biological parents, and I’m not a minor. Even knowing you don’t have bad intentions, Professor, it’s still… for me, the adopted daughter of the Drake family, to become the ward of a professor from another house…”
“Religions have this concept of godparents, don’t they?”
“…I thought you were a thorough atheist, Professor.”
I paused for a moment.
First time hearing that?
But I could accept it quickly.
‘Well, with that personality, she wouldn’t associate with people who tell her to pray nonstop without any gain.’
Even now, how many shameless types wore the guise of believers, offering baptisms while sucking people dry like fleas.
I set my coffee cup down on the saucer and picked up the conversation leisurely.
“God doesn’t exist. However, it’s a fact that there are people who believe in this fictional entity called God. And most of them will overlook minor procedural issues if you bring up religious reasons.”
“That’s the kind of statement that would shock a devout cleric.”
“Gods exist because humans need them. In myths, sure, they say gods are real, but…”
I picked up the coffee cup I had slowly set down.
A thin wisp of steam drifted into my view.
I inhaled the aroma through the steam, pressing my lips to the heated rim.
And calmly continued.
“Who has actually confirmed their existence? If needed, you can just pull something vague and use it.”
Radia had plenty to say but couldn’t find the words, so she swallowed her words up to her chin and let out a rough sigh.
“…Haa, so we just have to go along with what you say, Professor?”
“You could see it that way. What I promise you is protection of your personal safety and, if things go wrong, that I’ll stand as your guarantor for your status. I’ll step in more if needed, but…”
I looked at Radia.
“…That doesn’t seem particularly necessary for you. I’d probably offer support to other students like Elin, Arion, or Isel.”
“You’ve thought it through. What financial troubles could I possibly have?”
It was just that the Pisvolt Ducal Family was one of the top noble houses owning a grand duchy; other ducal houses weren’t overshadowed in prestige.
“But is that okay? You’ve been giving Elin a hard time, and if you tell her to fill out the paperwork, she won’t listen.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll do it.”
Radia let out an exclamation at my confident words.
“As expected, Professor, you had a plan all alo—”
“Because you’ll work hard to make it happen.”
Radia’s expression soured rapidly.
I could clearly see the whole process, reconfirming just how much a face could crumple.
“No way! You drop this on me right before leaving!? Give me back my expectations!”
“Elin will realize she needs my help once she calms down. Please handle it.”
“Professor!”
After some back-and-forth bickering, Radia caught her breath.
“Whew… Fine. Really. I’ll talk to Elin. So what are you planning to do now, Professor?”
“The princess is coming, so I should meet her.”
“I see. I’ll have to meet her eventually too, so if you’re seeing her, I’ll catch you near the princess.”
“If our timings match, that’s probably how it’ll go.”
Radia found it a bit unfamiliar that I was summoning the princess without any formal channels from the engineering department, but she quickly accepted once she remembered my position.
“You forget sometimes when we chat casually, but you’re a really high-ranking person, Professor.”
I’d heard that from Charlotte onward—God knows how many times.
“I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding, but I’m the second highest after the emperor.”
I laid it out casually.
‘That just means they’re comfortable around me.’
Probably in a good way.
Maybe.
As our conversation wound down, I intentionally glanced out the window, taking in the gloomy weather.
Even with all the candles lit in Radia’s ducal annex, the overcast sky made it feel subtly dim unavoidably.
Radia caught on to my intent and nodded.
“You’re leaving, then.”
“Time to go.”
“Elin had a lot she wanted to say to you. Shame.”
“Time will sort that out.”
As I stood, I subtly directed her gaze to the desk frame.
The now-useless note, and beside it, the golden rose ornament standing tall.
It might look unimpressive for a ducal house, but it was a symbol of authority in its own right.
‘The Holy See’s Golden Rose Medal.’
As one of the Holy See’s highest honors, it might seem ordinary to a layperson, but it held special meaning for the faithful.
It proved the bearer had rendered extraordinary service to the Holy See.
Mentioning godparents for religious reasons was partly because of this.
Students who received the Golden Rose Medal certainly wouldn’t have their church wardship applications rejected.
It would leave a record that the Holy See had discovered and awarded these protagonists for their outstanding performance against demons.
This wasn’t bad for the protagonists either.
They could fully leverage the Holy Church’s status, and there was the half-saintess still hidden deep by the Holy See, not yet publicly announced.
She was one of the protagonists too.
I needed to create a connection and get her to join the party quickly.
“You noticed. Embarrassing. We didn’t do much to deserve it.”
Radia gave an awkward smile.
“They usually give those to institutions or holy sites, so for a commoner like me to receive it—did you pull some strings, Professor?”
“…I did use some influence hoping for compensation, but the Holy See and I aren’t that close. It’s probably just some petty scheme to trip up promising talents.”
“Ehehe…”
Radia’s gaze, which had been glaring hotly at the Golden Rose Medal moments ago, turned sly.
“On the other hand, the one I really pulled strings for is this.”
The martial merit medal, carefully displayed. Not first-class grand merit, but second-class.
‘There’s no explicit rule saying only knights or soldiers can receive medals.’
Status is status, merit is separate—this merit-first empire lived up to its name.
“This medal comes with honorary nobility. It might not mean much to you, who’s secured a ducal title…”
“But it’d mean a lot to Arion or Elin. Turning commoners into nobles.”
Honorary nobility had no real noble privileges—just an honorary title.
Usually below the five ranks of duke, marquis, count, viscount, baron—say, under baron.
Of course, without strict hierarchy in these honorary ranks, a count might not yield to a marquis, and there were even counts matching dukes.
That said, honorary titles didn’t reach actual baronies or higher.
I brushed my lower chin.
Counts matching dukes.
‘There was one such house in the empire, I think…’
A monstrous count family of founding merits.
The Court Count responsible for the emperor’s meals and lodging, handling bureaucracy including administration as the emperor’s proxy.
Even becoming an Elector Count selecting the emperor—what kind of count was that?
It just popped into my head; nothing important, so I looked away.
“I hope this serves as my own compensation.”
“…I’ll pass it on to Elin too.”
I nodded in response and took the coat from the maid.
“I’ve had a carriage prepared. Looks like rain, and reporters are swarming everywhere to cover you, Professor.”
“Thanks for the consideration.”
I pulled my bowler hat low and stepped out.
Radia stared at my departing back, then quietly expressed her gratitude as if she had to say it.
“Thanks for the note. Thanks to you, Professor, I realized what it means to pull myself together.”
“…Good that you figured it out now. Keep striving like that.”
“Before you go, can I ask one thing?”
I paused mid-step.
Radia’s sharp gaze pierced my back.
“Did you predict everything, Professor? That things would turn out like this.”
I’d heard something similar from Isel during the field trip disaster, but hearing I’d predicted it always felt heavy.
“…What, you think I knew something?”
It all started from coincidences and wrapped up well.
Only the Lord’s eyes see the future.
With that, I vanished quickly.
Stay longer, and Radia might toss some awkward question my way.
Radia watched Aiden the professor’s retreating back.
“…The Lord’s eyes, is it?”
Radia shook her head with a wry chuckle.
“What a contradiction. Saying God doesn’t exist, yet only the Lord’s eyes see the future.”
Radia was somewhat accepting Elin’s speculations.
Elin’s initial guesses upon first seeing Aiden.
‘The professor researched runes in secret during his seclusion after reaching master.’
‘The rumors of genius fallen and suspicions were all a strategy to blind people to the timing. So no one knows he’s studying runes!’
‘Yes, now I’m convinced. The professor wields pure aura. He must be well-versed in runes. Far more than a student like me.’
‘Come to think of it, yeah.’
When Elin went to see Professor Aiden and Elize, what Elize said to the professor.
‘—Turn the wheel of fate. O last remnant of knowledge.’
Radia’s eyes cooled sharply.
“Elin didn’t say outright that the professor uses runes, but you can infer it.”
Turning the wheel of fate, the last remnant of knowledge.
Elin’s baffling ‘Radon’ providence she couldn’t grasp—even there, Aiden knew more about Elize than she, the contractor, did.
Plus the providence itself.
Even without knowing the exact meaning, if it specified ‘knowledge’…
“…The professor might know the future.”
Even the existence of God, perhaps.
Yet denying God’s existence—maybe that God wasn’t benevolent to humans, or unworthy of being called one.
But one thing was certain…
“The professor knew everything.”
That’s why he told Isel not to go before the field trip disaster, the magic tower incident, the magic beast being the botany professor, this time Prezel’s note and the tunnel with heretical mages invading.
And not just that.
‘Isel’s sword, Elin’s artifact.’
All too useful—without them, who knows what would’ve happened.
Even if circumstantial, with suspicions this solid, it had to be fact.
“It’s not that the professor is bad. It’s just…”
She didn’t like him shouldering the burden of that ‘knowledge’ alone.
‘This is just to confirm.’
Radia muttered to empty air like a complaint.
“Anyone wanna investigate Professor Aiden for me? I’m curious.”
Saying that, she glanced at the servant, then leaned back into the chair expertly.
The other maids might not notice, but only Radia sensed the presence hidden among them move.
The Drake family’s shadows—blindly loyal only to the heir.
Normally the family head’s authority, but for Radia, it was something she’d ‘received.’
She remembered begging for capable shadow kids as gifts.
No use at the academy, but…
“With heretical mages to investigate, no time to be picky.”
Radia’s eyes gleamed intensely.