Guest Professor (End)

In the faculty conference room of Academy Zion, with three hours remaining until the entrance exam, every person involved had gathered in one place.

"Then. Before the re-examination, let us hold one last meeting. Those who have something to say, please raise your hands."

The first to raise his hand and speak was K-Charles de Lumière, Head of the Swordsmanship Department. His question was brief.

"Are we really going through with this?"

He spoke with a veneer of politeness, but everyone seated there understood at once.

Ah. He's genuinely furious.

When the silence held, Charles continued.

"Lady Vivian is certainly a hero — but she is also a criminal who destroyed an aspiring knight's aura heart. And now she's to be a guest professor for the entrance exam?"

K-Charles de Lumière was an aura user on the cusp of becoming a Sword Master. He was also, of everyone in that room, the professor who cared most sincerely for his students. To a man like that, Vivian was nothing more than the criminal he had just named.

He declared it without a shred of hesitation.

"We need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to change the exam. Even now."

It was not his opinion alone. The majority of the professors had opposed her appointment for reasons of their own.

"She already destroyed one student's aura heart — you think she won't smash someone else's?"

"The fact that she can't be restrained is a problem too. Even if every examiner — no, even if every powerhouse in the Empire piled on at once, they couldn't stop her!"

"Tsk. If application rates drop, tuition drops with them. Our salaries aren't getting cut, are they?"

Just as the whispering was spreading like wildfire—

"That is quite enough."

A handsome man with a grave expression opened his mouth. The Head of the Magic Department: Bright, the White Sage. He swept a fallen lock of hair aside and looked over the ones who had been muttering.

"Why the hell are you all talking shit about our Lady Vivian? Want a taste of White Flash, you—"

"Haa……."

Grab.

"Mmph, mmphmmph! Mmmph!"

Thanks to Charles stretching out a hand in time, any further gaffes were prevented. Holding Bright firmly in place, he turned toward the head of the table.

"In any case, Headmaster. As you can see, the majority of the faculty oppose Lady Vivian's appointment. I earnestly request that you withdraw it, even at this hour."

Every gaze in the room swung that way.

One of the Five Heroes of the Marcia Empire. Master Leopold Lionheart. Until Vivian had recently shown herself again, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he had been the last remaining hero still standing.

At last, he opened his mouth.

"Back in my day."

He had uttered only those few words, and yet every faculty member in the room let out a sigh.

"When the people upstairs told you to jump, you just figured there must be a reason for it… and you accepted it. But you lot — the moment anything happens, you foam at the mouth going this won't work, that won't work…. If you'd all been born in my era, you'd have gotten the living daylights beaten out of you."

A sermon that stretched on in a single breath. Everyone either zoned out as if they were long accustomed to it, or struck up idle chatter with the professor in the next seat.

And so, one hour later.

"Anyway, I told that kid Evan back then. Be careful. You're so upright you look like you'd snap in a breeze. But the boy glared at me and said, Master Leopold. You talk too much. But how can I help it? How am I supposed to keep quiet when I can see it so clearly? And look. Just as I said, Evan snapped and went into hiding — and I, talkative and wise, am still a living legend."

……And so, another hour later.

"Anyway, there's no need to worry about Vivian. I met her in person and spoke with her, and I learned there were circumstances. And that student has fully recovered as well. Ah! I simply cannot leave out the story of my younger days here. Everyone, listen. I too was once like that student."

"Oh, for fuuuuck's sake."

The moment he finally closed his mouth was roughly forty minutes before the entrance exam.

"I only listened for twenty minutes and my brain's burning so red-hot it's about to explode. Is this some kind of mental magic?"

"Don't tell me that was aimed at me."

"Vivian says to tell you that."

"When did I—"

"She says to tell you that, too."

The black-haired student who had entered alongside the guest professor bowed his head toward those assembled.

"I'm Eugene."

A brief self-introduction. But that alone was enough.

"Th-that's the boy who was injured?"

"They said his aura heart was destroyed!"

"So the Headmaster was telling the truth?!"

He was the very party involved in that incident — the one that had made so many professors sit with their own consciences. And so they were puzzled. Why had the victim walked in holding the perpetrator's hand?

The silence lasted only a moment.

"No — how can he be standing there with the one who did it…!"

"Th-that's right! Even if he's recovered…!"

"First we isolate him from Lady Vivian…!!"

A few professors who cared for their students put hands to their weapons and rose from their seats. If she had destroyed his aura heart and was now dragging him around as a servant—

Even if it costs me my life, I will have words with that tyrant.

A few of them locked eyes, nodded to one another, and were about to move—

"Mmph, mmph!!"

"Oh, crap!!"

"Vi-Vi, Lady Vivian!!!"

Bright, who had been pinned in Charles's grip, used even magic to move like a flash of light.

"I-i-if it wouldn't be too much of an imposition, might I be permitted to hold your hand just once!!"

The faculty thought, as one:

We're about to lose a capable professor.

A tyrant who would tear you apart for being annoying and crush you to death for not suiting her fancy. That was Vivian.

But the next moment—

"Can I hit him?"

"That guy's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your fan. Just let him hold your hand once."

"Rip it off?"

"Shake his hand."

"Tsk."

Vivian took the outstretched hand.

"AAAAH……!!!! Aaah, ah. AAAAH!!!!! GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

Everyone startled at the scream — but then,

"I'm so happy I could dieeeeee!!!!! Ugh, uugh……."

Thud.

Faced with the look of genuine, unadulterated bliss on Bright's face as he collapsed, they had no choice but to discard even the slightest remaining doubt.

"Well done."

"……Just keep your promise."

"I'll teach you one more character later."

At the sight of Eugene seemingly holding Vivian's reins, Eldora Florence, Director of the Flora Foundation, asked with a startled expression.

"Just what in the world are you…!!"

"Ah, right."

Spreading his right hand, Eugene carefully activated his own aura heart.

"I won, didn't I? One request, within the bounds of what's possible. You haven't forgotten, I trust?"

"Of course I remember that — but this is hardly the time for that!"

It wasn't only Eldora who was thrown. Tyrant Vivian's meek demeanor. The way he handled aura on par with A-rank without the slightest strain, despite an aura heart that had supposedly been destroyed.

"What is this…"

"Lady Vivian is being meek…?"

"His aura heart was definitely…"

Everyone who had been furious at Vivian's appointment stared at Eugene with their mouths hanging open. He paid them no mind, passed them by, and approached the Headmaster. Then he bowed at the waist.

What a slippery old coot.

I never thought he'd pull a stunt like that.

The moment Vivian led me in, Leopold's telepathy slid into my mind.

Even as he babbled on out loud, he had already decided, with perfect precision, what he meant to tell me. In the end, the core of it was this:

To summarize:

Because of internal spies, he contracted with Vivian and invited her in as a teacher.

But the opposition had been severe.

That's why he summoned me — the core reason for that opposition — to flip public opinion.

I had to admire it, in more ways than one. He'd told Vivian to bring me, so she had no choice but to bring me.

And I can't refuse Leopold either, not when joining the Dawn Society is the goal.

Even if I had refused, it wouldn't have mattered.

Either way, I've proven I'm in one piece, so the opposition would have died down on its own.

Whatever choice I made in that room, the Headmaster didn't lose a thing.

"Heh heh. Raise your head."

As if he too knew exactly how good he was, he slipped into the act without a hitch.

"So. How is your body?"

A little punchable, sure — but Leopold was the central pillar of the good guys either way.

And if Vivian comes in as a teacher, Rania will be safer too.

I decided to play along. For now.

Before that, though — just a second.

I committed the faces of the sour-looking faculty to memory, then answered Leopold's question.

"Yes. My master treated me."

"Hoh. Vivian treated you, you say?"

"Of course. I was told it was a test to take me as a disciple — and that she intended to restore me regardless of the result."

I looked at Vivian with a smile, and—

"When did I—"

Apparently she hadn't heard a word of that.

Grab.

I stretched out a hand and covered her mouth at once, filling in the social awareness she'd traded away for that overwhelming talent.

"Hahaha! To always protect the students! How reassuring that must be, Headmaster!"

"Heh heh heh! Of course! What could be more reassuring than an old comrade!"

Thanks to the slippery old coot jumping in without missing a beat, the majority of the faculty softened.

"Seeing her stay still even with her mouth covered like that, I suppose he really is her disciple."

"So she didn't harm the student — she did it for selection."

"I do wonder why she'd do that at Zion of all places… but she is a free-spirited person, so."

"Well. Even so, she's not the type to raid Zion and cripple a student."

She absolutely is that type, though.

Suppressing a somehow growing sense of injustice, I lifted my gaze a fraction.

"Heh heh. It seems everyone's been persuaded."

I moved only my lips, aiming the question at Leopold, who was smiling with deep satisfaction.

Leopold nodded and answered.

It was a nauseating note that seemed to well up from genuine conviction rather than his old-fogey act. He hadn't told me a thing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and had tried to move me like a chess piece. And using me — me, whose body had actually been wrecked — without so much as a word of consultation was infuriating, but—

What choice do I have.

This was a fantasy world. Following the words of the strong wasn't even wrong. I had no option but to nod.

"Then, Headmaster, I'll take my leave for the Rank Assessment Exam."

"Yes! Go on."

"Thank you. Ah — I'll be counting on you to run the exam smoothly, Scarecrow Maker."

"Don't call me that."

"Scare-mom."

"I said don't."

Anyway. Having finished my greetings, I left Vivian behind on her own and walked toward the exam grounds.

"Well then!"

Shall I teach the Headmaster one fact he's been overlooking!

Right after the exam began.

"If they say jump, you jump. So why do you keep talking back."

Thwack, thwaack! Thwaack! Thwaaaack!!

"Ugh, aaagh! Uugh! W-wait a second!!"

Evan, caught in Eugene's grip, was taking a beating. And even as those hands swung without rest, the gaze behind them was fixed on only one place: the Headmaster.

"Get over here. We need to talk — why the hell are you using me without a word, you bastard!!!!!"

"No, when did I—"

"Huh? Still talking back?"

Eugene's true feelings toward the observing Headmaster—

"You wanna die!!? Huh?! You wanna actually try dying for real!?!"

"Ack! What did I even do!!"

"That's it. This bastard's seniors — all of you get out here toooo!!!"

—rang through the entire exam grounds.