Blatant Favoritism
As Lyle stood there in a daze, the students began murmuring among themselves.
“What the hell…? Why is he only giving Kael special treatment like that?”
“Professor Lucia did the same thing earlier, and so did Principal Albert. Now even Professor Broad? Just what has Kael Aberwin done?”
The classroom stirred with unease. Professor Broad paid the atmosphere no mind, turning back to the blackboard and continuing his lecture.
“Right, let’s proceed. When the circulation of mana becomes twisted, the resulting error leads to a reflux phenomenon. Should that occur…”
Kael took diligent notes, keeping pace with the lesson. He knew he possessed no talent for magic, yet after thirty-three long years of study, he might at least reach the level of an ordinary mage.
Beside him, Ring whispered in a small voice.
“Lord Kael, could you tell me why the professors are treating you so… specially?”
At her cautious question, Kael gave a soft chuckle and took her hand. Ring’s cheeks flushed faintly, but she did not pull away. Having rescued her and her sister from the Cad gang and continued to look after them, it seemed her favorability toward him had risen considerably.
“It’s a secret for now, but I’ll tell you later.”
“Yes.”
Ring nodded in acceptance, though her slightly downturned ears betrayed a hint of disappointment and lingering curiosity.
When the class finally ended, Professor Broad turned to Kael with a warm farewell.
“Student Kael, you worked hard today. If you ever face any difficulties, come to me anytime!”
“Yes, Professor.”
Suspicious eyes bored into him from every direction, yet Kael simply nodded with perfect composure. Irina, however, watched the exchange with an expression that could only be described as thunderous. Inside her heart, the questions surrounding Kael were raging like a storm.
The next class was physical training—the final lesson of the morning and, for the students of the magic department, the most brutal hour of the day. The professor responsible was Galen Marcus, the very same man who had led them earlier.
“Good to see all of you again, my dear students! Even in the magic department, stamina is vital! To build that stamina, you will now run ten laps around this clearing. Cheating with magic will not be tolerated. We begin in three minutes, so warm up and prepare yourselves!”
At Professor Galen’s command, the students let out heavy sighs. Barely an hour had passed since they left the dungeon, yet they were expected to run ten full laps around the enormous field.
“Ugh, a morning stamina class is pure torture.”
“Ten laps? Around this massive clearing? He’s insane!”
“We came straight here without any rest.”
“I’m still exhausted from everything I went through in the dungeon.”
The magic department consisted mostly of young women with inherently poor physical conditioning. These girls had already depleted their strength, and their hunger only compounded the problem. Only a handful had forced themselves to eat the coarse black bread. There was simply no way they could muster the energy to run properly while starving.
Professor Galen looked at them and burst into loud laughter.
“Haha! Don’t complain that you lack the stamina to follow the lesson! If you have no stamina, that is entirely your own fault! And if you were hungry, you should have eaten the coarse black bread! I will not accept any excuses about being too hungry to continue!”
There was no mercy for the female students. To these noble young ladies it must have felt like a lightning bolt from a clear sky, but that was their problem alone.
“P-Professor, please! Ten laps is too harsh!”
“Couldn’t we do five?”
“I don’t think I can even manage three!”
Professor Galen smiled with clear satisfaction.
“That’s precisely why I’ve prepared something special for you. Any student who cannot run, speak up. I will make sure you run.”
Whatever it was, the ominous shift in Professor Galen’s demeanor was unmistakable. Through Professors Lucia and Broad, the students had already sensed that the academy’s instructors were far from ordinary. The common thread between all three soon became apparent.
“Of course, Student Kael may rest comfortably. Haha, Student Kael. You may simply watch from here.”
The clearing fell deathly silent. Every gaze snapped toward Kael. The professors’ blatant favoritism had surfaced once again.
A sharp gasp escaped someone’s lips.
“What? Kael again?”
“Why does he keep getting special treatment? I seriously don’t understand.”
The murmuring swelled. One male student stepped forward.
“Professor, why do you show such favoritism only to Kael? We’re all the same students. Isn’t this discrimination?”
Professor Galen’s eyebrows rose slightly. He crossed his arms and looked down at the boy with overwhelming pressure.
“Knowing will only bring you harm. But remember this: we professors regard Student Kael’s life as equal in importance to all of ours combined. Ask no further questions and return to your position. Immediately!”
The male student’s face turned ashen. Professor Galen had openly released a mage’s pressure. Struck head-on by the crushing aura—comparable to a knight’s killing intent—the boy stumbled backward in retreat. The other students held their breath. A clear warning lingered in the professor’s tone, and no one dared ask another question.
Kael watched the scene and laughed inwardly.
This professor must have really taken a liking to yesterday’s strawberry jam. And he’s probably already anticipating the butter or cheese he’ll receive right before dinner tonight.
Despite a physique so robust one might mistake him for a warrior, Professor Galen Marcus was a grand mage. Even so, the craving for sweets that came with physical exhaustion was something no mage could resist. In Tartaros Academy, however, such luxuries simply did not exist. The strawberry jam must have felt like salvation itself.
Still, I’m confident in my stamina.
Unlike the others, he had eaten a proper, filling meal.
“It’s all right, Professor. I’ll run as well.”
Professor Galen let out a booming laugh.
“Haha! That’s our Student Kael! Then let’s run together!”
Kael slipped in among the students and began running around the clearing. Despite his lack of talent, his movements were respectable thanks to steady training. By regulating his breathing and moving his legs with steady rhythm, the wide perimeter gradually became manageable. Having eaten well, his stamina was more than sufficient. After the first and second laps, he naturally joined the leading group.
The Ring and Ming sisters, commoners who had regularly trained their bodies, also ran far better than their delicate appearances suggested.
The rest of the students fared differently. The female students in particular—still carrying the fatigue from the dungeon and, unlike Elenora and Irina who had at least forced down some coarse black bread, having eaten nothing—began to collapse after the third lap.
“Kyaa!”
“M-My legs!”
One girl fell to her knees. The student beside her stumbled from the collision and collapsed as well. Soon the others followed, dropping one after another. Hunger and exhaustion had robbed their legs of all strength.
Professor Galen watched and laughed.
“Haha, collapsing already? Fear not—I’ll help you!”
He swept his hand through the air. White bandages erupted around the fallen girls, instantly wrapping their arms and legs. What had felt soft at first suddenly tightened, forcibly correcting their postures.
“Huh? W-What is this? Kyaaaaak!”
One girl screamed as the bandages yanked her leg, forcing her upright and shoving her forward. Her body began running against her will. The excruciating pain of joints twisting beyond their limits drained the color from her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“It hurts! Kyaaak! It hurts! Professor, please release me! It huuurts!”
The other girls suffered the same fate. The bandages whipped their arms and drove their legs, compelling them to run. Bones creaked. Muscles screamed as if they were tearing. Screams erupted from every direction.
“Kyaaaaak! Please stop! My legs—they’re ripping apart!”
“Kyaaaaak! Stop it! Professor, save me! It hurts so much I’m going to die!”
“Kyaaaaa! It hurts! Somebody help!”
“Uwaaaang! Mommyyy!”
Noble young ladies forgot all dignity, weeping for their mothers like children. Yet Professor Galen continued laughing without a shred of mercy.
“Haha! Pain is the mother of growth! Once the run is finished, I’ll cast recovery magic, so don’t worry! Even if your limbs tear completely off rather than just your muscles, recovery magic can regrow them. So run without fear!”
“That’s not the problem!”
“It hurts! Save us!”
The girls’ screams never ceased. The sight of their bodies being puppeted by the bandage magic was utterly pitiful. One girl’s leg bent at an unnatural angle, bone threatening to pierce the skin, yet the bandages showed no sign of stopping. Tears poured from her eyes and endless shrieks tore from her throat, but no one paid her any special attention—because every girl nearby was writhing in the same agony.
This confirms it.
Kael realized the classes at Tartaros Academy were anything but normal. Having to endure such lessons while surviving on coarse black bread, it was no wonder suicides occurred every year in every grade.
“Student Kael! If it becomes difficult, you may rest whenever you wish! Haha!”
Of course, in this merciless class, he remained the exception—shielded by open favoritism and special treatment.
The message came directly into his mind through Professor Galen’s magic. It was a request for butter before the evening meal.
Those noble young ladies really are pitiful. They lived in such luxury outside these walls, yet here they suffer like this simply because they cannot offer a bit of butter.