People Die When They Do Unusual Things
Shwaaak— I drew back the curtains, and bright light poured in.
"Urgh~haaa!" I stretched my arms high above my head. It felt so refreshing! See, people really do need their sleep!
Before I knew it, Bianca was by my side, wobbling her orb ever so slightly.
"Hehe! If I just sleep enough, I wake up early too, right?"
"People don't call rising at 1 p.m. 'early,' Professor Miriel."
"Eek?!"
It was Cordelia. Or, uh, Miss Cordelia? How'd she even get in here?
Cordelia naturally reached out and petted Bianca. "This child let me in. What a good kid, thinking of her master."
Glare— Bi~an~ca~? You're supposed to ensure your master's sound sleep, and here you are helping someone who wants to interrupt it?! You little traitor! Just you wait!
I shot Bianca a furious glare, but Cordelia just stroked her and cooed, "If Professor Miriel bullies you, you can come to me instead, okay?"
Bianca, catching my eye, refused to leave Cordelia's arms. Fine, stay there. I'll upgrade you alright.
Oh, right. Bianca, you're still unfinished, aren't you? Maybe I should finish you off while I'm at it? Hehe—
*****
It had been almost a full week since that last class, and I'd slept straight through it all.
Surprisingly, not a single student came by with questions about the assignment, so I got to enjoy my deep slumber without any interruptions.
At the time, I just thought, Wow, as expected of Medeia Academy—the students here are on another level.
Of course, it didn't take long to realize how wrong I was.
"Eh...?"
The massive lecture hall was a wasteland.
"Did I get the time wrong?"
I glanced around and checked the clock, but it was exactly 1:30 p.m.—right when class was supposed to start.
"Hmm. Guess they're all oversleeping and running late?"
Yeah, sure. That makes sense. I mean, I overslept last time too... Ahem.
Anyway, long story short: only eight students showed up to class!
I have no idea why, but I said it again for emphasis—just eight students wanted to take this class!! Last week it was a full 100, so what gives?
Whatever... it doesn't matter! Right? Eight is better than... no, actually, it sucked. Big time.
Why the hell are you lot still here!!!!
Pushing down my trembling heart, I checked the attendance sheet.
1. Ersa Portia, fourth of the Portia Empire's third son and four daughters—the Fourth Imperial Princess.
2. Imir Ainber, second daughter of the Ainber Duke's family—one son, three daughters.
3. Belinda Premier, eldest daughter of Premier Margrave's three sons and two daughters.
4. Haitel Keriz, eldest daughter of Keriz Margrave's one son and one daughter.
5. Perdita, the only freshman genius mage wielding three attributes.
6. Rupelsia. Our original game's protagonist.
7. Kiruba. The pitiful swordsman friend who can't use magic but idolizes it anyway.
8. Belviti, Imir's friend and the one footing her research bills.
That's it! End of list!
"Huh... this is weird. There were 100 students last class, but only eight left on the roster?"
Ersa raised her hand. "The assignment was impossible, so everyone dropped during the add/drop period."
"Ah..."
Oh? Really? Sweet!
Then Perdita raised her hand. "The ones remaining are those who truly want to attend your class, Professor."
Haa... that's the worst news I've heard all day.
You know those people I said I absolutely had to avoid in my roll-around life? Yeah, it's you guys!!!
Eeeeeek!!!!
The original main characters!! Playable character, the jet-black Rupelsia! The Fourth Princess Ersa Portia with the highest total stats! The youngest swordmaster, Belinda Premier! Imir Ainber, essence of magitech engineering and creator of magical devices and automata! Belviti, the budding merchant seeding Imir's funds! Perdita, the genius mage who becomes an archmage with four attributes before graduation!
Six out of the eight protagonists in this class—what am I supposed to dooooo?!
Haa... can't you all just drop too? And Imir? Weren't you absent last time?! Why are you here now?!
What the—yeah! Magic! Didn't it strike you as odd that everyone else bailed?!
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Belviti raised her hand. "More importantly, if we don't hit ten enrollees, the whole class gets canceled! We want this lecture to continue!"
Canceled... now that was music to my ears.
Honestly? Better to let it get axed than get tangled with protagonists. Hehehe. Yeah, let's make it happen. Cancel it and coast through the semester!
Master won't complain—it's not my fault the students ditched!
But that happy fantasy didn't last. Ersa's next words crushed it flat.
"Even if it gets canceled, we'll start a club and appoint you as advisor. But without a class, professors have to head out into the field..."
Huh? Field? What's that about?
Never heard of it. Master never mentioned anything like that—his warning was just, "Fail to open a class and you'll be homeless."
Wait... no way, Master, did you trick me?
Even if he did, it wasn't good news.
"At Medeia Academy, professors without enrollees handle monster and bandit subjugations on major roads to protect incoming students."
"Princess Ersa! On that note, we have a great idea for our club—"
"No, Belviti. A student club won't be approved for such dangerous work. No way they'd okay something involving days of combat and camping."
Er... Perdita. One thing first: as someone who knows the original story, that's wrong. But more importantly!! Days of combat and camping?! What the hell?! Does cancellation mean no dorms either?!
Kwaaaang!!!! I'm screwed! Should've stayed in the mountains!! This is all Master's fault!!!!
*****
I had zero motivation left. Lecture? Who cares anymore.
The students just watched me silently. Well... at least I'm not asleep.
Didn't expect even the will to sleep to vanish.
I just pulled out mana orbs and tossed them around. Fire attribute once. Water next. Then fire, switched midair to water.
"Whoa..."
"Ooh."
Um, kids? Why the awe? I'm just too drained to care. Boo-hoo.
No matter how I spun it, I was doomed. Can't let it cancel like this, but tangling with these guys is a problem too.
"Argh!! Screw it!"
In a fit, I made three mana orbs and hurled them at the straw dummies.
Boom—
The dummy hit by the orb vanished without a trace.
"Whoa..."
"Perdita? Weren't those dummies indestructible?"
"As far as I know, Princess, all academy targets have unbreakable magic arrays embedded."
"As expected of Professor Miriel!"
Guess I went overboard. Heh... Master? You believe in me, right?
"Don't worry, Professor! Worst case, I'll bribe people with money!"
Belviti... that doesn't help. You don't even have money—you're just an aspiring merchant!!!
"Or I can bring some ladies and lords who follow me."
"No no, Princess, that's unnecessary."
"Better yet, spread word of today's lesson to other students."
Huh? Perdita, what're you on about? When did I even teach anything?
"Oh! Good idea, Perdita. Professor's demo today was a perfect example."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Weirdly so.
Hey, wait—when did I show you anything? Huh? Why do you all get it but not me?! Are you sidelining the prof?! Waaah— Master!! The students are bullying me!!
I hated how they were scheming without me. You know how unsettling it is when protagonists huddle and plot?
I gripped my staff, Plutoid, tempted to flick their foreheads like Master does, but held back. I'm the adult here—gotta be magnanimous. Sniff...
Just try starting trouble. I'll make you regret it!
Fuming, I conjured a massive pure mana clump. So dense it burned blue, then chucked it at the last dummy.
'Flames of the End'
The final dummy dissolved away.
"Ooh..."
"Attribute-less magic is truly beautiful."
"Magic really is gorgeous. Sniff—I wish I could use it too, looking all cool!!"
"Even I, a total magic noob, think it's beautiful!"
Poor shy Haitel Keriz and Imir Ainber just watched silently. I get Haitel from last time, and Imir's the quiet type anyway, but why's our playable protagonist Rupelsia mute?
She had no voice in the original too—was that canon?
Reality hit hard. Motivation? Gone.
People die when they do unusual things, huh? Guess waking early did me in...
Haa... let's call it here.
"Class dismissed for today. Good work, everyone."
After the students filed out, I headed for the door to leave.
And right there, at the classroom door, what I received was...
Facility Damage
Target Straw Dummies: 4 units
Compensation: 1,600,000,000 nyang
One quick note: that 'nyang' you see is the Portia Empire's currency unit. No idea why it's called that... but anyway, 1 nyang equals about 1 Korean won. So that compensation? 1.6 billion won.
"Like I have that kind of moneyyyyyy!!!!!"
I quietly paid it off in Master's name.