Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Youngest Professor Kuina Rosly
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Keshan Kingdom's Sirun Ducal House's precious pearl, Asuka Sirun.
With her beautifully sharp features, distinct facial contours, and voluptuous figure, she was a bewitching woman whose popularity overflowed both in her homeland and in foreign lands.
'Wow...'
Such a woman was now fixing her shining eyes on Elric Raishion.
'Is he insane?'
As a participant in the magic class, she had just witnessed the clash between the professor and Elric up close.
Asel Hershe had effortlessly blocked the other students' ultimate moves with nothing but mana.
She had been disappointed, thinking this was the gap between professor and student.
'...How did he do that?'
But with a single spell from him, the professor had been thrown off balance. Unlike the other magics he'd simply erased with mana, he'd carefully unraveled this one—her primary attribute of lightning—like solving a puzzle.
How could anyone walking the path of magic not feel their heart race at such a sight?
'I want to talk to him...!'
Asuka clasped her hands together as she gazed at him.
But.
'C-can I even approach a guy...?!'
That's right.
Despite her overwhelming popularity in her homeland and abroad, her unique aura kept even the boldest suitors at bay, leaving her with virtually no experience talking to men outside her family.
'N-no way...!'
It was a rather serious deficiency in her ability to communicate with the opposite sex.
In short, two words summed it up.
She was shy.
'No...!'
While Asuka agonized over Elric, he finished a brief conversation with Asel and left the training grounds.
She didn't know what they talked about, but it seemed he'd be skipping the rest of class.
'Next time...!'
Next time, she had to strike up a conversation.
...She could do it, right?
After wrapping up his conversation with the somewhat deflated Asel Hershe, Elric left the training grounds and walked down the corridor.
'...It seems the students' level is too high for me to teach you personally. For now, I'll introduce you to a professor whose field overlaps with yours, and you can wrap up today's class there. Her name is Kuina Rosly, and her lab is...'
Kuina Rosly. The professor conducting dimension-related research that Elric was eager to meet.
Her name cropped up everywhere, even outside academic circles. Graduated from the academy and appointed professor right away—a genius. Already three papers published under her name. She turned the academic world upside down at every conference by descending from her inner dimension. Despite barely holding proper classes because she was always in other dimensions, she consistently ranked among the top professors.
Honestly, even if 'Elric' was a genius and this body had inherited some of that, heading to meet a real genius made his steps feel a bit heavier.
'...What if all my tricks get exposed?'
What to do? He only had one and a half months of crash-course knowledge under his belt.
But he couldn't avoid meeting her.
She might hold a clue to this bizarre situation.
"...Hoo."
Alright. Let's do this.
What big problem could arise? She didn't know just how genius 'Elric' was. Even if she admitted ignorance, it shouldn't cause issues.
Lost in such thoughts, he soon arrived at Kuina Rosly's lab.
Elric took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Knock knock-
And waited a moment.
"...?"
No response from inside. For quite a while.
"...?"
What gives? Didn't she get the message? He knocked again.
Knock knock.
"...?"
A moment later, something crashed inside with a clatter and bustle.
'Come in~!'
A cheerful voice rang out from within.
Elric opened the door and stepped inside.
"Whoa! You're that amazing freshman everyone's talking about? Nice to meet you!"
There were two unknown women; one, a student who looked bubbly at first glance, waved enthusiastically in welcome.
And then.
"H-hello, Student Elric Raishion...?"
A pale-faced woman in glasses, with disheveled long light blue hair draped down, had her hair in the other woman's hands. Dressed in a lab coat with a gloomy aura, she greeted him.
Surprisingly, even the lab coat couldn't hide her voluptuous figure. If anything, it accentuated it. Elric averted his gaze, striving for an expressionless nod.
"H-hello. I'm Elric Raishion."
"Haha! Nice to meet you! I'm Maria Sian, assisting Professor Rosly with research, managing students, and helping with classes!"
'Not a student, but a teaching assistant.'
Makes sense—students would be in class at this hour. Elric nodded and replied.
"I see. Nice to meet you."
"Eek—such a stiff one! Whatever, that's fine! It happens! I've been under our professor for two years now!"
'What does that mean?'
What did his stiffness have to do with her two years under Kuina Rosly? Elric raised a question mark internally.
"I-I'm... Kuina Rosly. I handle fourth-year dimension/space classes... and research in that area too...?"
Kuina Rosly stammered her introduction without meeting Elric's eyes. Her pale face seemed even paler.
"Professor! When talking, you need to make eye contact!"
"That's... Student Maria's..."
"Good grief, what will you do if I leave?"
"...?"
At Maria's words, Kuina Rosly clamped her mouth shut. Elric thought, Ah.
'I get the picture.'
She was the type lost in her own world, lacking social skills. Fair enough—anyone researching this field without fixating solely on academia would be the odd one out.
'In that sense, this Maria Sian is the unusual case.'
Reminded him a bit of his previous life as Yeo Si-un. Elric suppressed his itching urge to chat animatedly with her, forcing a stiff tone instead.
"Professor Asel Hershe told me to come here during magic class. What should I do?"
"Eek—straight to business? Let's chat first! Class is almost over anyway."
Before Kuina could respond, Maria grabbed Elric's hand and pulled him. Elric stared blankly at their clasped hands.
'...A bit undignified. Though that's understandable.'
But not 'Elric.' This guy was just as socially inept and rude.
Elric flicked her hand away.
"Sorry, but I'm here to learn."
Maria pouted at his cold tone. She shot him a dirty look before reverting to her bubbly voice.
"Fine, fine. Everyone here's like that~ Chat well with the professor! I'll be in the back~"
Her words sounded a tad sulky. Maria plopped onto the sofa in the corner. Her expression...
'...Looks thrilled?'
Why? Something fun happening?
For now, Elric took a few more steps toward Kuina Rosly. The closer he got, the more she flinched.
'...What's that about?'
Oh, maybe he looked scary? His blank face did come off as chilly.
"Pleased to meet you, Professor. What do I need to learn?"
That aside, time for business. Elric cut straight to it.
"Ah... Student Elric... First... could you look over this report...?"
Kuina gingerly offered the edge of the report. Still avoiding his eyes.
"Yes."
No explanation, just hand over a report? Not great at teaching, then. Elric took it lightly and accepted the document.
'...Whoa.'
He was overwhelmed by the report she handed him.
'Elric's interests—dimensions, space, and related topics—were laid out crystal clear. The elegant handwriting and refined style made it hard to believe the same person who just stammered wrote it.
'Same person?'
Well, researchers could be like that. He'd heard similar from a few in his past life.
'Genius types usually have one screw loose somewhere. In my eyes, it's social skills.'
'Social skills?'
'Yeah. Normal people consider relationships when they speak. These folks? Nada. Their research is priority zero. They don't realize sharing opinions is like wielding a tongue-sword, slicing everyone up. Sometimes they don't even know how to mingle with people.'
'And they still succeed?'
'Results speak for themselves. They churn out papers no normal person could dream of. Mad geniuses, basically.'
Kuina Rosly seemed just like that. Elric thought so as he read the document.
'Oh...'
Coincidentally, it covered the recent dimensional interference—the exact topic Elric wanted to discuss with her.
Her opinions, dimensional changes, mana flows—every detail was meticulously documented.
No doubt about her skills, at least.
One question, though.
'Is this really for a freshman?'
What if he couldn't follow? Only someone like him could even grasp it.
"Professor, a question. This part here...?"
Fortunately, Elric had inherited 'Elric's brain.
He read and understood the report effortlessly, engaging her in discussion.
And at the feast of expert knowledge pouring from Elric's mouth...
Kuina Rosly's eyes lit up.