So Much for a Perfect First Day
My plan to quietly fall asleep and wrap up what had been a perfect first day didn't last long at all.
"Ahem! The new instructor—Kyle, was it?"
Just as I was drifting off into deep sleep, someone slammed a fist against my desk, the harsh sound hammering my eardrums. I forced down my irritation, lifted my gaze from behind the mask, and found the silver-haired old professor standing there—the same one who'd looked at me like a piece of garbage the moment I walked into the faculty office earlier.
With that chest covered in rows of glittering medals, he had the classic look of a veteran who liked to throw his weight around just because he'd been in the business a while.
"Yes. What do you want, old man?"
I asked while slouched in my chair like I didn't have a spine. The old professor's face flushed crimson, then purple.
"Old man? Do you even realize where you are, daring to show such insolent behavior? This is the First Faculty Office, where the academy's core professors gather! We specially recruited some mercenary who used to roll around in the gutters, and you have the nerve to wear a robe and sleep in this sacred institution? Take off that vulgar mask and straighten up this instant!"
The old professor's roar echoed through the entire room. The other professors paused their work and began watching us with sparkling, intrigued eyes.
People really do live exhausting lives. If they had time to nitpick someone else's clothes and posture, they should just focus on their own damn work. I couldn't understand why they went out of their way to stress themselves out.
I slowly sat up and scratched the back of my head.
"My spine isn't in great shape, so sitting up straight ruins my digestion. And this mask is covering a hideous scar on my face—it's for the students' sake, so don't worry about it too much. Is taking a quick nap at my own desk during free period some kind of high treason?"
My half-hearted reply made the professor's face crumple.
"This—this arrogant brat...! Who do you think you're talking back to!"
He jabbed a finger at me, looking like he might clutch his chest and collapse any second. Right then, a sharp chime rang out from the crystal orb half-buried in the corner of my desk.
It was an internal academy communication. As if the surrounding noise had been silenced, the voice coming through the orb sounded incredibly languid, yet laced with unmistakable playfulness.
The old professor, who had been shouting loud enough to shake the faculty office, froze mid-sentence. The playful smirks on the faces of the other professors watching us vanished in an instant.
That was the power of her name. Lucy di Archen—current principal of Eterna Royal Academy and the kingdom's greatest genius mage. Her authority inside these walls was absolute.
"Well then, I'll have to save the dignity lecture for after work at home. The principal is calling, so I'll be on my way. Have a good day."
I brushed past the stunned old professor, waving casually as I left the faculty office with relaxed steps. But the moment the door closed behind me, that leisurely stride grew heavy.
"Ugh, seriously. Calling me in on the very first day. What a mess."
The nagging old man in the faculty office was nothing. The real hell was only just beginning.
With the expression of someone carrying the weight of every misfortune in the world, I grumbled to myself and climbed the stairs toward the academy's top floor.
At the end of the top-floor corridor, I stood before the massive door and let out a deep sigh.
Haah...
Just opening this door and stepping inside was already giving me a headache, wondering what annoying task she'd dump on me this time.
-Knock, knock.
"It's Kyle."
"Come in."
When I opened the door and stepped inside, an overwhelmingly luxurious and spacious principal's office greeted me. Beyond the enormous wooden desk in the center of the room, a woman sat in a crimson chair with her legs crossed.
Jet-black hair and eyes as red as blood. It was my former private tutor, Lucy.
The second the door closed, I tore off the suffocating mask and tossed it onto the desk. The cool air against my bare face finally made me feel alive again.
"You called for me, Principal? You must have a lot of work for me already on my first day."
I stood at an angle and spoke bluntly. Lucy twirled the pen in her hand and let out a languid laugh.
"My, my. For someone standing so crookedly, you certainly made quite the flashy impression in your first class, didn't you? I heard you smashed apart our top freshman's massive ice magic in the most brutish way possible."
"That guy charged at me like he was going to blow up the entire training ground, so I just knocked him down in self-defense. Thanks to that, I only broke one measly wooden sword."
"Hehe, I see. But Professor Ilena's reaction was far more entertaining than a broken wooden sword. She somehow noticed you mixed in magic power and now she's practically lighting her eyes on fire to keep watch over you."
Lucy rested her chin on her hand and stared at me with great interest. I roughly ruffled my hair and let out a heavy sigh.
"She did give me a pretty terrifying warning right behind my back earlier. The whole 'magic-using swordsman' concept was a bad idea from the start. Wouldn't it be better for both our mental health if you just fired me now, before I get dragged into even more annoying situations?"
I seized the moment to make my request, but Lucy simply snorted lightly and slid a stack of documents across the desk toward me.
"Unfortunately, firing you isn't an option. Instead, I'll give you a chance to legally slack off while avoiding Professor Ilena's sharp gaze. Why don't you take a look?"
There was no way such sweet-sounding words could come from this woman's mouth without a catch.
"Chance, my ass... This reeks of dirty work from a mile away."
With a bad feeling in my gut, I picked up the documents and scanned them. The moment I flipped the first page, my brows furrowed deeply.
"Freshman monster subjugation practice? The location is the Forest of Darkness... And why is only my name listed as the lead supervisor? Where the hell is Professor Ilena's name?"
The Forest of Darkness referred to the vast woodland northwest of the academy. The entire forest was covered in thick black fog, which was apparently how it earned its name.
"Professor Ilena is busy for the next few days maintaining and repairing the barrier around the academy. So taking our proud little S-Class chicks on a nice stroll through the Forest of Darkness is entirely your responsibility, Professor Kyle."
"Have you lost your mind? You want me to look after those high-nosed noble young lords and ladies who were raised in greenhouses all by myself? I'm not some nanny changing diapers! If anything goes wrong, won't I be the one taking all the blame?"
Even as I protested in disbelief, Lucy didn't bat an eye. She simply smiled with her eyes in a gentle curve.
"Oh come on, monsters of that level are perfectly manageable with your skills, aren't they? Just secretly help from the back so the kids don't get hurt. If you handle this one job safely, even those old fossils in the faculty office won't be able to ignore you anymore. Sounds like a pretty attractive offer, doesn't it?"
Her words flowed like a clear stream. This was nothing but outright tyranny—using the excuse of a manpower shortage to shove me straight into the jaws of danger.
"Seriously. What kind of academy does something like this?"
When I grumbled with genuine annoyance, Lucy let out a small laugh and waved her hand dismissively, issuing her order to leave.
"You know better than anyone what price you'd pay for breaking the contract, so that's enough complaining. If you understand, go get your luggage ready. The lives of our precious students are all in your hands, so go get some proper rest for today."
It was obvious that arguing further would only make my mouth and head hurt. I snatched the mask I'd left on the desk and turned around.
"Yes, yes. I'll do as the great principal commands. Where else would a slave like me go but to obey?"
The moment I slammed the principal's office door shut and stepped into the corridor, I pressed the stifling mask back onto my face.
Solo supervisor for a monster forest expedition on my very first day of appointment. I'd tried to avoid Ilena's suspicion and ended up caught in an even larger, more annoying trap.
"Damn it."
I stuffed the crumpled plan into my pocket and glared resentfully at the sunset sky outside the corridor window. For a brief moment, I seriously considered calling in sick tomorrow and taking a sick leave.
With heavy, trudging steps, I returned to the temporary faculty lodging the academy had assigned me.
The moment I opened the door, what greeted me was a cramped single room with dust balls rolling across the floor. For the kingdom's greatest academy, they sure gave their specially recruited instructor a moldy old room like this. I couldn't help but admire Lucy's petty nature all over again.
"Haah..."
Without even bothering to take off my stuffy robe, I threw myself onto the old bed. The unpleasant creaking sound seemed to perfectly represent my miserable situation.
I stared blankly at the ceiling, then pulled the crumpled practice plan from my pocket once more.
The Forest of Darkness. Just the name sounded ominous and sketchy as hell. The monsters swarming the place were bad enough, but the ones that would really wear away at my lifespan were the twenty completely uncontrollable students—far worse than any monster.
Ugh. Just thinking about it already made my stomach acid rise.
"I really hope I wake up tomorrow morning and all of this turns out to be a goddamn dream."
I carelessly draped the plan over my face and closed my heavy eyes, as if trying to escape this cruel reality.