Evicted from the Dormitory
Whether Margaret liked Jeong-jae or not was a question that could be set aside for now. Even if his relationship with Walter hadn't soured badly, the fact remained that he'd suddenly been hit with a dismissal order, so he had to vacate his room in the academy dormitory.
"But can a hero really fire a school professor just like that, no matter who he is?"
Of course, a hero was a hero, so dismissing someone like Jeong-jae from a professorship at the Imperial Magic Academy probably wasn't all that hard. Still, there were procedures in place here—surely they couldn't just kick him out overnight like this...
"Professor! Professor, I heard you got fired! What the hell happened?!"
Such thoughts were shattered as Jeong-jae headed to his study to pack, only to run into his prized apprentice, Jenis Hacker. Her soft silver hair fluttering wildly, Jenis charged at him with fierce momentum. On closer inspection, she'd even cast a high-speed spell on her boots.
"Uh, uh, Jenis. Yeah. I'm a 'former' professor now. Not a professor anymore."
For a split second, he wondered if, since they were no longer student and teacher, he should start using formal honorifics with the daughter of a count's family. But calling her "Lady Hacker" out of the blue would just feel awkward, and Jenis herself probably wouldn't like it anyway.
"What happened? The hero showed up at the school, and suddenly there's a notice saying you got fired, and he bolted without any explanation! Everyone else doesn't even care!"
"Everyone else doesn't care, huh..."
Jeong-jae felt a slight sting at that odd detail. He was a special professor from the hero's party, after all—word of his sudden firing, and no one bats an eye? It made him gloomily realize just how much of a "boring lecturer" reputation he'd built up.
"Well, most students don't take your classes—or can't get in, anyway!"
"Even the ones who do don't seem that interested, do they?"
"Uh..."
Jenis hesitated, and that was answer enough for Jeong-jae. He nodded.
"Got it, got it. That says it all."
"It's fine! I'll care enough for everyone else! Uh, I mean, not in a weird way or anything..."
Looking at Jenis, Jeong-jae thought that if she straight-up said she liked him, he might actually believe it. This reaction—straight out of a manga heroine who's head over heels for the protagonist. Of course, that was only compared to Margaret; he was convinced Jenis's feelings were basically hero-worship.
"Anyway, I'm grateful you're here at least. Yeah, I can't go into details, but that's how it is. Kicked out of the hero's party, fired from the academy. No clue what to do next, honestly."
"What? Expelled from the hero's party too...? Professor, what did you do? Was it a crime? Are you going on trial? If you end up in prison, can I visit?"
"Prison? Probably not."
"Then a fine? How much? If you're short on cash, I can lend you some!"
The House of Hacker was filthy rich, sure, but Jeong-jae had no desire to borrow from a student to pay some hypothetical fine. Come to think of it, he'd never committed a crime or owed a fine in the first place. What was she even talking about?
"No, I wasn't arrested or anything."
"Really?"
"Well, I was arrested, technically."
As he hurriedly backpedaled, Jeong-jae recalled the incident with Bernard and corrected himself. Jenis grabbed his hand, her face nearly crumpling into tears.
"Professor, whatever you did, I'll come visit you, so please just defend yourself well and avoid the death penalty, okay?"
"Hold on, I'm not a criminal. No trial. Firing was the worst of it. Got it? Understand? No prison. No visits needed."
Realizing he had to clear up this ridiculous misunderstanding, Jeong-jae repeated himself emphatically until Jenis finally exhaled in relief, seeming to get it.
"Oh, okay... That's a huge relief. I was already worrying where I'd find a lawyer if even my dad refused to support you because the crime was too big."
Jenis had leaped to dire conclusions in that short time. Well, even aside from that, Jeong-jae had no intention of losing his friendship with the Hackers. Count Hacker was an extraordinary man, one of the most outstanding nobles Jeong-jae had met in terms of character.
"But Professor, getting booted from the hero's party and losing your professorship—that's some serious punishment. What the hell happened? It wasn't trial-worthy, but what did you do?"
"Well, see..."
There was no way he could spill about the suicide operation. After seeing Margaret and Walter's reactions, Jeong-jae had regained some sanity. The more he hyped up the Manhattan Project's efficiency, the more he'd look like a madman obsessed with efficiency at the expense of everything else. Jenis respected him, so her reaction wouldn't be much different.
Suddenly struck by mischief, Jeong-jae decided to tell her the truth... but dressed up to tease her a bit.
"I... was researching forbidden magic in secret at the school. Magic no one should touch."
"W-what? Then all that time you said you were buried in research..."
"A taboo grand magic that could claim countless lives... I was deep into it when the hero caught me. He dragged me before him and interrogated me."
"No way... You were researching that?"
"The hero called me madness incarnate and, by his judgment, I was expelled from the academy—my forbidden magic sealed away. But they couldn't put me on formal trial without submitting that magic as evidence, something they couldn't risk exposing..."
"I... I see..."
Jenis was trying to stay calm, but her hands and feet trembled uncontrollably. It wasn't exactly a lie—just the truth, embellished to sound scarier than it was. People usually pictured summoning ancient archdemons or blood sacrifices when they heard "forbidden magic." Jeong-jae's simple, clean mega-explosion spell was a concept this world hadn't even dreamed of. They had gunpowder, but at best it was 14th-century cannon level; the tactical idea of massive explosions barely existed. His spell was an extension of explosion magic, not dark magic, but Jenis had clearly jumped to conclusions about black magic.
"I-I'm fine! My dad raised me to be familiar with the dark side since I was little! I don't mind necromancers or summoners much—as long as they're good people! You're a good person, right, Professor? Right?"
He had no idea why someone like Count Hacker would raise a daughter with no aversion to necromancers, but her pluck was admirable. Honestly, even Jeong-jae had a bit of a hang-up about necromancers. They were often Demon King affiliates, and even if not, weren't zombies creepy? Raising the dead like that.
"Well, not planning to turn villain anytime soon..."
"Then we're good! I get it. You must've reached for forbidden magic while searching for a way to defeat the Demon King's army, and the hero couldn't just ignore it. Misunderstanding on both sides—give it time, it'll sort out. Problem solved! What a relief!"
Her optimistic take wasn't half bad. Jeong-jae gave a light nod before fixing her with a stern look.
"Anyway, don't go blabbing about this. It's forbidden magic, after all. Got it?"
"Yes, Professor! Even if His Imperial Majesty himself asks, I won't say a word!"
"That's the right attitude."
Still, leaving Jenis behind with her feet still shaking, Jeong-jae headed up to his private study. He definitely needed to pack quickly; no question he couldn't stay at the academy anymore.
"This one's from the library, this is my personal collection..."
Jeong-jae pulled out a large magic pouch and started sorting books first. He'd died crushed by books back on Earth, but his love for them hadn't faded here. When he first arrived in this world, he'd worried medieval shortages might mean no paper or books—but that was unfounded. In a world where mages cast grand spells via scrolls, paper production magic had evolved profoundly using beast hides and plant fibers, all to prevent shortages of grimoires and scrolls. If this world's gunpowder research was level 5, bibliography was pushing 99.
Even on Earth, he'd rarely seen books this thick yet so light.
"Still, gotta pack light. Can't just grab everything."
He set aside most of his personal collection for donation to the Imperial Magic Academy—books he'd read thoroughly, with little left to study. Some had his own annotations, but as a renowned mage here, he figured that wouldn't devalue them.
As he sorted the read ones into the donation pile, one book caught his hand.
"Research on Converting Vitality to Mana..."
This book. In a way, it had inspired his expulsion from the party. It held brilliant techniques, so he didn't hate it, but he'd read it enough—about to slide it to donations—when he paused.
"Just maybe..."
His hand froze, gripping it tightly. Lingering attachment. The scroll was confiscated, but he'd written it alone, no help needed. With paper and pen, he could recreate it anytime. Walter had seemed to witness its future use—a mushroom cloud explosion, at least.
"If there's still an answer left..."
Trembling, he clutched the book, taking deep breaths: whoosh, haa, whoosh, haa.
"Get a grip. You went down this road already, got called crazy, and ended up like this. They didn't fire you so you could obsess again. Forget it. Do what Walter says. Forget..."
He regained his senses and moved the book back to donations. Its content didn't matter anymore; taking it meant he still clung to the Manhattan Project. Leaving it here signaled he wouldn't touch that terrifying magic again.
For the next twenty minutes, he focused on sorting—until, like a lightning strike, impulse won. He rummaged through the donation pile.
"Damn it, no way I'm letting this end like this!"
The book he yanked out: Research on Converting Vitality to Mana. He couldn't let go. Docile by nature, but once an idea hooked him, he couldn't shake it. That was Park Jeong-jae.
Casually tossing it into his travel bag, he resumed sorting as if nothing had happened.