Selene Tenebris
**Line 1:** `CHAPTER_TITLE: The Distracted Professor`
**Line 2:**
Serena Tenebris was a dark elf from the Black Root clan, famous for her martial prowess among her kin. She had participated in the war against the Demon King's army, wielding her exceptional magical skills and sharp intellect to save countless lives and help save the entire continent. Her half-sister Lilina and she had a good relationship, but it had been decades since she had stopped contacting the clan. She had done nothing wrong or foolish, yet the orthodox elves who spent their entire lives under the World Tree could never truly understand those who longed for the outside world. Light-hearted as they were, both Serena and Lilina had left the village without much thought. Time passed, and she was hired as a professor at the Academy—teaching students rather than the bloody, flesh-splattering battles of war. At first, naturally, she had doubts about whether she could actually teach. She had learned things herself, but she had never taught anyone before. It was embarrassing, but she had even faked being her sister Lilina to conduct a class as a test. Of course, that was quite some time ago now, and she was no longer the foolish elf she used to be.
The daily routine of Academy professor Serena Tenebris was perfectly ordinary and extremely simple: research and lectures. When there were no classes, she either conducted her own research or assisted the students studying under her. Like the Academy's principal, she had already reached the rank of Archmage, yet magic was a boundless field of study, and anyone who looked a little higher could never stop chasing higher knowledge. In fact, it was astonishing and incredible to her that the Academy's principal—someone who had lived as a human for hundreds of years—stood on exactly the same line as she, a long-lived elf, did. The sight of short-lived humans burning their lives with intense, fleeting passion was rather impressive to her. She could understand it after all, since even her own kin were occasionally captivated by humans. Of course, she did not harbor any envy toward the principal. It was simply a reason to grow even further.
As usual, she rose early in the morning, skimmed through the prepared lecture materials, checked her notes, and headed toward the lecture hall where her class was scheduled. Among the students at the Academy, her lectures were said to be difficult but not impossible to follow. It was supposed to help, but surprisingly, it was also useful once you entered the dungeons. Complex, yet she explained it in an easy-to-understand way. With that evaluation, she was considered to be teaching a reasonably good class. Well, since she received pretty much the same evaluation every year, Serena did not particularly mind. After all, she considered a lecture successful if she could convey at least half the material.
The subject she taught was Understanding Monsters I. Of course, she did not only teach this one subject, but the courses she mainly taught were filled with information about monsters rather than magic. It was easy for her. She had simply to explain the weaknesses, habits, and innate abilities of the enemies she had encountered during her time clashing with the Demon King's army. Since there were still monsters roaming the continent, her subject had steady demand. And today, while normally proceeding with the class, she was discreetly glancing sideways, as if she could not notice it, but her eyes remained fixed on one spot.
The name... was definitely Serena, right? The student sitting beside her was the daughter of the wealthy Vinette family. At some point, she had started wearing an unusual-looking mask, which had caught Serena's attention more. Wondering if it was a special magic device, she had scanned it with magic and found that it purified poison and air. Recalling that she had met adventurers using similar tools, she decided not to worry too much. But watching the two of them huddled so closely, she could not help but feel suspicious. After all, the Serena sitting next to Eloise was clearly the student who had been harassed at the Academy. Of course, Serena knew about it herself. She was placed in a position where information flowed naturally even without trying.
It was a well-known fact that Serena, accused of stealing the duke's daughter's underwear, was being harassed by her peers. And that Eloise Vinette was nothing more than an extension of Chloe's arm was also something Serena knew. But the way they were so intimately close was almost as if... 'Were they actually getting along?' Even more surprising, Eloise was not the one approaching first. It was Serena, the victim, who was the one moving in first. Serena knew in her heart that she was not as righteous as the hero in fairy tales. Of course, the hero's righteousness was still somewhat idealized, but... anyway, she did not feel much guilt when wiping out trash. She simply was not the kind of person who could kill a good being without blinking. She was just an ordinary elf with normal values. And to such a Serena, the one suspected of stealing a noblewoman's underwear could not be viewed favorably. Sometimes people valued honor more than life itself.
If Serena had disturbed the class, she would have been expelled without mercy. But Serena's usual policy was to quickly remove students who disturbed her lectures, without hesitation. She did not lower grades or threaten with scores—that was troublesome. After all, students who came to the Academy only to disturb the class could not possibly have good grades anyway. So, in truth, it was not just Serena who got kicked out; any student who disturbed the class was sent out the door. In any case, Serena's unusual atmosphere had distracted her for a moment, but she simply glanced sideways before continuing the lecture. Perhaps they had talked about something she did not know. Or perhaps they had made up. Whatever the case, it seemed they were no longer disturbing the class. With that thought, she began the lecture.
Eh... "Therefore, this monster absorbs the opponent's bodily fluids..." Hah... Serena's sensitive ears, sharper than a normal person's, twitched at the sound. She tried to stop the lecture and look at the source of the noise, but—Hya... the sound came again, and with just her eyes, she glanced toward the direction where the sound had spread. The source of the sound was, as expected, Eloise and Serena. They were even closer than before, now completely ignoring the lecture as they stared at each other. No, more precisely, both were looking at the blackboard, but the way they were twitching suggested they were not paying attention at all.
'What the hell are they doing?' Originally, she would have stopped the class and kicked them out, but because their relationship had changed so much, Serena's curiosity was piqued for a moment. She subtly turned her body and started writing the lecture content on the blackboard while secretly chanting the subject under her breath. Then, her gaze, fixed on the blackboard, suddenly became hazy, and in an instant she could scan the entire classroom. It was a magic different from spreading mana to explore her surroundings: her own invention called 'Rising Gaze'. In simple terms, it was a magic that momentarily turned one's first-person view into a third-person perspective. Of course, not everyone could use it—this was something Serena had developed.
While maintaining this widened view, Serena continued the lecture. It was high-level technique, but not something impossible for her. With the expanded vision, she captured the scene of Eloise and Serena. The sight that entered her eyes was quite shocking. "Shh. Be quiet." "Hah..." With a sly smile, Serena was touching Eloise's breasts while Eloise simply moaned without displeasure, as if not hating it. 'W-what is this...' The moment she understood the scene, Serena's magic cut off. It was clear her concentration had broken, but she held the chalk tightly in her hand and finished the sentence as best as she could. While pretending not to notice as much as possible, she continued explaining monsters and the lecture, but the scene she had just seen kept swirling in her head, and her gaze could not help but drift toward the seats where they were sitting. When she had not noticed, she had thought they were simply not paying attention, but now that she realized, her suspicious actions kept coming into view.
'...They're crazy. Completely insane.' Of course, even if Serena had no male experience, she knew what that behavior meant to some extent. And she also knew that it was not normal for same-sex individuals to do that. Swallowing hard, Serena kept thinking in her mind about how she should handle this situation, but she could not find a clear solution.
"Today's lecture will end here..." As the class dragged on, the time had already run out. As if hypnotized by something, Serena's eyes went toward the seat where Serena was sitting. Serena, joyfully putting her finger into her mouth, met her gaze. Serena, who had once trembled with anxiety and guarded her surroundings like a student, now faced eyes as deep as the abyss and the black ones. She swallowed another mouthful of saliva and spoke carefully.
"Serena student. Please follow me for a moment after class." Perhaps it was fortunate that Serena looked momentarily flustered before nodding her head.