Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Be Careful as the End Approaches (3)
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Aphria's Chancellor, Aaron.
He had lived as an educator for a long time.
Now he sat in the heavy position of Aphria's Chancellor, but sometimes he wondered if this role suited him less than being a simple educator.
Anyway, it wasn't easy.
When they had planned Aphria Academy, he never imagined it would grow this large.
'I was just trying to keep a promise.'
Aaron smiled bitterly.
Aphria had originally been founded solely to honor a promise Aaron had made to his mentor, whom he had met when he was very young.
'It was definitely supposed to be that way.'
Where had it gone wrong?
Reaching out to the educators he knew had been fine at first... but recruiting even the renowned Rosel had blown everything out of proportion.
The king's supreme academy.
The flower of magical studies.
A cradle for talented mages.
All heavy titles, one after another.
Still, if that was the price of gathering excellent professors... it was something he had to endure.
'Excellent professors, talented professors...'
That thought brought one person to mind.
"...".
Aaron opened his closed eyes.
As he scanned the office, he noticed a guest had arrived unnoticed. The visitor stood there blankly—it was the very person Aaron had been picturing in his mind moments ago.
A unique individual.
An educator of a type he'd never seen before.
Aaron looked at her and spoke.
"So."
His voice carried fatigue as he let out a sigh-mingled words.
"What in the world is this? Professor Lania?"
Lania van Trias.
The young professor who had barged into his office and thrust a proposal at him blinked. Then she tilted her head slowly and replied.
"I wanted to create a memorable event before the semester ends, so I planned this."
She looked utterly innocent.
Pure sincerity emanated from every gesture. It was as if she was saying her actions stemmed from nothing but the purest goodwill, without a speck of malice.
'Huh? Did I misjudge her...?'
The thought crossed his mind unbidden.
Aaron blinked and double-checked the proposal before him. The black text danced on the page like a nightmare.
'...No, I'm not seeing things.'
He had almost fallen for it for a moment.
Aaron shook his head to clear his mind.
"No, I mean... this proposal."
A nightmare hid within that girl's innocent exterior.
Aaron, well-versed in the rumors circulating through the academy, knew better than anyone what kind of time students who fell for that harmless facade had endured.
-Assignments that crossed the line.
-Not suited for students' levels.
-Assignments that could build a mage tower.
-Please spare us.
Letters written with pens pressed hard into the paper.
Staring at the tear stains left on the notices posted on the bulletin board, Aaron steeled his resolve.
'I stop it here.'
Aphria's nightmare.
'I protect them.'
The students' sleep, their rightful youth, and at least a minimum of leisure time...!
"Hup."
Aaron swallowed once and slowly opened his mouth.
"W-Well, this seems a bit much, doesn't it...?"
Yes. It was a bit much.
He felt it wasn't right. Aaron usually accommodated professors' requests, but this was too far.
"The semester's ending, sure, but it's still exam period. Doing it before exams is impractical, and after... wouldn't it burden the students psychologically...?"
A polite refusal.
As Aaron finished speaking, he glanced at Lania. She tilted her head as if puzzled and replied.
"Is that so? I just thought it could be a little event."
...An event? This?
Aaron looked at the items listed on the paper.
「Spend time near the Harmain Forest with students to acclimate to high mana density. Award points based on endurance time...」
「Understand circuit disassembly, analysis, and reassembly under extreme conditions. Award points for speed...」
「Comprehend mana circulation in the body and the intensity of basic protective spells. Endure one hit for 3 points, two hits for...」
This was... an event?
This was closer to "training."
'The kind frontline knights might endure.'
In short, roll around in the dirt.
Until tears, snot, maybe even blood poured out.
"Professor Lania? You're calling this an event?"
"Yes? Yeah. Isn't it decent? It could spark competition. And help with learning."
The girl nodded.
Her tone suggested nothing was amiss. Her voice was the same as always. She spoke of the absurd as if it were perfectly natural.
'...It's striking, but...'
Truly striking—her way of thinking was utterly different.
"Hoo..."
Aaron tapped his forehead.
His sigh was deep. As he exhaled, Lania cautiously spoke up.
"...Is it that bad?"
A little bad.
No, quite bad.
Aaron almost reflexively agreed but clamped his mouth shut. Her face came into view.
Drooping eye corners.
Downturned gaze.
She looked somewhat dejected.
Disappointed, yet not showing it outright. If he refused, she'd probably accept it with a resigned "Oh well..." and leave.
"...".
Seeing her slumped shoulders stirred an inexplicable guilt. A pang in his heart. The atmosphere was delicate, hard to dismiss outright.
"Mm, uhmm..."
Aaron groaned and lowered his gaze.
After seeing her reaction once, even the bizarre proposal seemed a tad different.
'...It's neatly formatted.'
Her thinking was unconventional, but the proposal itself was excellently crafted. It followed proper formatting, with detailed rules.
'Quite... a lot of effort went into it.'
The direction was off, but it wasn't bad. It showed deep thought. Not something slapped together in a day or two.
A heartfelt proposal.
An event planned with genuine best effort.
'Is it right to reject it outright?'
Aaron let out a groan.
"...Well, this one looks okay."
For all his soft-heartedness, Aaron couldn't reject it all.
He pointed to the mildest item.
"I can approve this one."
"Really?"
The girl smiled at his response.
A flower blooming. Gazing at her radiant smile, Aaron chuckled like an old man watching his grandchild.
"Do your best with it."
"Yes, thank you."
She bowed politely and left the office. Aaron watched her retreating figure until the door closed... then finally exhaled the breath he'd held.
"...".
Silence filled the now-empty office.
...The right choice, right?
Aaron broke into a cold sweat.
Only after she left did he feel something was off. His firm resolve had shattered. Clutching his forehead, he muttered.
"Can't ignore her sincerity..."
It was a proposal made with real effort.
How could he slash it away?
'I'm still too soft.'
This weakness was why he found the chancellor's role burdensome.
Anyway, it wasn't easy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
After leaving the chancellor's office, I strolled the hallway and muttered absentmindedly.
"A proposal made in one day just won't cut it."
Of course not.
I'd jotted down every idea that came to mind and barely formatted it. Hardly my best effort—just a rough draft from a single day.
'He must have seen through that.'
As expected of a chancellor—not just anyone.
Impressed inwardly by Aaron's discernment, I flipped through the proposal. Only one item had been approved amid several.
'The blandest of my planned events.'
A shame.
But getting even one through was something. Compared to the effort, it was satisfying enough.
'I can polish it up.'
Right before semester's end.
It could be a pretty splendid capstone event. I smiled contentedly.
'Looking forward to it.'
I wanted to show the students soon.
As I walked with that thought, someone caught my eye.
"Hmm..."
A male student sat alone on a park bench, scowling at his study sheet. A symbolic hand axe hung at his waist.
Rak from the Battle Magic Department.
'One tough kid.'
I casually lifted the proposal.
Glancing between it and Rak.
'...Clinical trial.'
Perfect opportunity.
I turned toward Rak.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Hard. I have no idea.
Rak scowled as he wrestled with the study sheet. He grasped the method roughly, but his answers kept coming out wrong. There seemed to be an error in the calculations... but he couldn't pinpoint it.
"Hoo..."
Rak exhaled shortly and tilted his head back.
His nape rested against the bench back.
'My head's spinning.'
Studying multiple subjects at once.
Naturally, formulas mixed up in his mind. A jumble. With his head in chaos, studying wasn't working.
Time for a break.
'Maybe hike the back mountain.'
As he pondered seriously, footsteps approached. Rak lifted his head.
Thud.
Light footsteps.
Rak looked toward the sound. A familiar figure stood there.
'...Professor Lania?'
Undulating ash-gray hair.
Blue eyes peering through the strands, fixed on him. Rak felt an inexplicable chill from those eyes.
Flinch.
Instinctively trying to flee, as he started to stand—
"Rak."
A predator named its prey. Rak's body stiffened, marked as the target.
Chin.
The predator closed in.
Rak stared at Professor Lania before him with trembling eyes. Her blue gaze looked down at him.
"Wh-What is it, Professor Lania?"
"One favor."
"Pardon? A favor?"
She beckoned with a finger.
"Stand up?"
"Y-Yes..."
Rak hesitated but rose. Lania patted his shoulder lightly.
"You know Mana Shield, right?"
"...Pardon?"
Rak blurted dumbly.
Of course he knew Mana Shield. But the request was so out of left field.
"Make it as sturdy as possible?"
"Uh, uh..."
Flustered, Rak complied.
Soon, a solid shield formed before him. Lania tapped it with her knuckles and nodded.
"Good enough."
Then she spread three fingers.
"Here goes."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Follow me."
She folded fingers one by one.
"One, two, three. Aa."
"One, two, three...?"
As Rak said "three"—
She clenched her fist. Pulled her shoulder back, then thrust lightly forward.
Whoosh.
Fist met shield.
A crash like shattering glass. Rak's eyes widened. His mana couldn't hold her fist for even a second.
'Ah.'
The fist approached.
In slowed perception, Rak intuited.
'This is dangerous...'
He envisioned his head snapping back or a massive nosebleed. As Rak panicked to dodge—
Stop.
The fist halted before his nose.
A belated whoosh of wind ruffled his bangs.
"Hup..."
Rak gulped belatedly and stepped back. Lania lowered her arm and tilted her head.
"Hm."
She clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly, then muttered.
"Doesn't work after all? Need to think of something else."
...So, what the hell was that?
"Thanks for helping, Rak."
She patted his shoulder.
Then turned and walked off. Rak blinked at her back.
"...Uh, yeah."
His mind cleared.
Ventilated by a completely unexpected method. Rak stared blankly at the study sheet.
"Ah, got it."
The answer came instantly.
As he wrote it down, Rak tilted his head. It felt like a storm had swept through.