I Did It Again!
Behind the main building, where not a soul was in sight. Fearing someone might overhear, Jeon Raydel clutched his head and let out a silent scream as he collapsed onto the ground. If anyone had witnessed it, they would have doubted their own eyes. The sight was utterly at odds with his usual taciturn, cold demeanor—the very image that had earned him the nickname "Ice Prince." It was frantic, fidgety, and completely undignified.
"......I'm beyond saving. What an idiot."
His expression quickly turned gloomy as he slumped down. There was no strength left in his legs. Even he couldn't fully understand why he was behaving this way.
"I can't even summon the courage to say a single word to the girl I like."
He had always believed love at first sight was something that only happened in novels or manga. During the entrance ceremony, the moment Arina stepped onto the podium as the new students' representative, Jeon felt as if flower petals were scattering around her. The sweet scent of spring blossoms brushed the tip of his nose. Looking at her made everything else vanish from his sight, as if his eyes had gone blind to the world. The only sound that reached his ears was the violent pounding of his own heart. The fierce, explosive rhythm made his chest ache.
'This is the first time I've realized what a coward I am.'
At first, he couldn't comprehend why people grew nervous and stumbled over their words in front of someone they liked. Whether it led to a relationship or rejection, you had to confess before anything else could happen, right? But now that he was the one in that position, he understood it all too painfully. It wasn't even a confession—simply speaking a single word felt impossibly difficult.
"Haa."
He was also well aware of the nasty rumors that circulated about him. What had started as nothing more than a lack of courage had ballooned into claims that he hated and despised her. He had never intended any such thing, yet the rumors had spread without him ever getting a chance to explain, swelling until they spiraled completely out of control.
'I really must thank the princess for that.'
The one silver lining was that Arina herself remained completely oblivious to those rumors. For that alone, he could never thank Princess Marily—who always stayed by her side—enough, no matter how many times he expressed his gratitude. The mere thought of Arina misunderstanding his feelings and coming to hate him was a horrifying, bleak prospect.
'It's okay.'
It was still all right. There were plenty of chances to make up for it. He would start with a sincere apology. Then they could gradually build up to exchanging simple greetings like "hello."
"......"
Just imagining it brought a foolish grin to his lips. Jeon cleared his throat to compose himself, then sprang to his feet. Facing the wall, he took several deep breaths to steel his resolve.
"Hup!"
His eyes widened as he glared fiercely at the wall ahead, as if it were his mortal enemy.
"H-hello? S-s-sorry about earlier!"
Wrong. He was stuttering so badly that no one would even understand what he was trying to say. Jeon hung his head in renewed despair.
At the sudden mechanical sound, he whipped his head around so violently it seemed his neck might snap.
"Ah, it seems the storage was insufficient."
Professor Karlsen casually smiled as he slipped the smartphone he'd been using to record back into his pocket. Then, wearing his signature gloomy expression, he forced the brightest, most cheerful smile he could muster and raised a hand toward Jeon.
"Hel... hello there, Jeon."
"......!"
For a moment Jeon could only blink, unable to process the situation. But once his mind caught up, his face flushed crimson and he immediately grabbed Professor Karlsen by the collar.
"From where exactly did you start recording?"
A student seizing a professor by the collar was blatant insubordination, yet Karlsen didn't seem bothered in the slightest. He simply watched the furious Jeon with eyes full of mischief.
"Not long. From the moment you came running here and sat down."
That was practically from the beginning! If you were there, you should have said something or at least made your presence known! Please!
Of course, Jeon's own distraught state had kept him from checking his surroundings, but embarrassment had clouded his judgment so thoroughly that he couldn't recognize his own fault.
"Why did you record it?"
"It was interesting. We've never seen this side of you before, Jeon—the one who barely speaks a word. I wanted to share it with the other professors to clear up their misconceptions about you."
"That's unnecessary meddling. Please delete it."
"......"
Professor Karlsen simply stared at him with wide, innocent eyes. Seeing that, Jeon realized the truth. This man had no intention of deleting it at all...!
"Wow, I got lucky. I was already wondering about how you kept staring at Arina during the last class. So it wasn't hatred after all—it was because you like her."
This was quite the revelation. While the kingdom leaned more liberal than others and aristocratic authoritarianism was relatively weak, nobles were still nobles. The Raydel Marquis family was one of the kingdom's most prestigious houses. Their influence had weakened somewhat after the incident ten years ago, but a marquisate remained a marquisate. The sight of a noble from such a family—the current head's own younger brother, no less—completely flustered and smitten by a commoner was an exceedingly rare spectacle.
"I saw you bump into Arina in the corridor and followed secretly, wondering where you were headed. It was worth the effort."
Jeon's hand, still gripping Karlsen's collar, trembled uncontrollably with rage.
"......What would it take for you to delete it?"
Yet he soon released the collar and took two steps back, as if surrendering. His eyes clearly said, If you weren't a professor, I would have hit you.
"Oh, is this a negotiation? Perfect timing. I actually have a favor to ask of you as well, Jeon."
How shameless. The man had nerves of steel. Taking Jeon's glare in stride, Professor Karlsen continued with his characteristic swaying, unsettling movements.
"It seems Professor Clara recently made some sort of deal with a student too."
That was why Professor Scape had gone to see her in person today. Fabricating a medical record so a student who wasn't even sick could skip class was clearly overstepping into another professor's domain and abusing her own authority. The fact that the kind-hearted Professor Scape had gone to hear her side first was the only reason she hadn't been forced to write an immediate apology. And Professor Clara, knowing full well how serious it was, had begun by apologizing to him.
"It was scary~"
"I imagine so. Professor Scape looked genuinely furious."
"I thought I'd just have to endure until today since I probably won't be able to skip anymore~"
Despite Professor Scape's stern warning that he would overlook it just this once, Professor Clara showed no signs of remorse.
"But I couldn't help it~ I had my reasons too~"
"I see."
From her words, Professor Karlsen had gained a sudden insight. Yes, to push his own ideas through, he would have to be prepared to clash with even more senior professors... or so he believed.
Of course, this was an entirely misguided epiphany. Professor Clara had done nothing right, nor was she displaying any righteous defiance against injustice. It was the perfect mindset for becoming a pariah in the workplace. Perhaps it was this twisted sense of logic that had led him down the path of dark magic in the first place.
"Based on that realization, I've decided to push my own thoughts forward a little."
Professor Magnus had said they could not involve students in this matter. They had to resolve it using only the professors' power, without giving the students any chance to sense the problem. At the time, Karlsen had respected that opinion. Assuming it would succeed, it had seemed like the best approach. But unfortunately, events were not unfolding as the professors hoped.
'The pace is too fast.'
The incident was accelerating at a pace that made it hard to believe the culprit had been acting passively until now. No damage had occurred yet, but at this rate, preventing the event Professor Magnus wanted to avoid might prove impossible.
'Then I'll proceed in my own way.'
Following Professor Clara's example, Karlsen had resolved to confront Professor Magnus's policy head-on. After all, whether students were involved or not, as long as no harm came of it, what did it matter?
"Mana Up. You know about it, right?"
"......"
"I'd like you to look into it. Check whether any students in Class B actually have the app installed. If they do, discreetly inform me. It's simple enough, isn't it?"
One person—Togun Masao—wasn't enough. They needed at least one student per class. For that, they required someone the enemy might target but who would never fall for their temptation, just like Togun.
'In that sense, Jeon is perfect.'
The second-ranked student who had lost the top spot. Of course, the staring had come from his feelings for Arina and created a misunderstanding, but only Jeon and Professor Karlsen knew the truth. The widespread rumor that he glared at her out of inferiority complex made him an ideal next target for the culprit. On top of that, he possessed a reason he would never succumb to the enemy's seduction.
"We haven't identified the exact nature of the incident yet, so it's difficult to explain in detail. However, the most likely culprit in the professors' eyes is a dark mage."
"......"
"You hate them, don't you? Dark mages."
Karlsen smiled playfully at Jeon, whose eyes had changed at those words.
Jeon Raydel. Younger brother of the current Marquis Raydel. There was zero chance he would fall for a dark mage's schemes. To him, dark mages were mortal enemies who had killed his father—the former head of the family—and driven the house to the brink of ruin.
"I know, Jeon. To be honest, I don't like them either. They're dark mages, after all. It's unfortunate as a professor, but what can I do? Given the circumstances."
"......"
"But this is for the students' safety. I hope you'll cooperate."
With that, Karlsen pulled out the smartphone again as if to lighten the mood and waved it in front of him.
"That was just a joke. If you want, I'll delete it right now. So if you don't want to do it, just say so honestly. I don't want to force responsibility onto students."
As proof, Professor Karlsen deleted the video he had just taken right before Jeon's eyes.
"How about it? Will you help?"
Karlsen asked with serious eyes, as if he would fully respect Jeon's decision. Staring at him, Jeon clicked his tongue and looked away.
"To be honest, that little stunt just now made me dislike you even more, Professor."
"How sad. I joined this academy because I wanted to become a professor beloved by the students."
"Fine. I'll cooperate."
It was exactly as Professor Karlsen had said. Jeon hated dark mages. No—he loathed them. They were vermin that deserved to be wiped from the world. Even without Karlsen's request, the moment he learned a dark mage was scheming inside the academy, he would have stepped forward on his own.
"Ah, just to be clear, your role is simply to let me know if you see any students using a suspicious app. Understood? The opponent is a dangerous dark mage."
"......"
"Hey, you need to answer me here... Jeon?! Hello?!"
Huh? Did I make some kind of mistake?
Watching Jeon's departing back as he left without another word, a single bead of cold sweat trickled down Professor Karlsen's forehead.
He had underestimated the hot-blooded vigor of adolescence.
'This won't create some butterfly effect and cause problems later, will it?'
Professor Karlsen could only fervently pray that no such thing would happen.