Chapter 222
Chapter 222
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: The Nightmare Has Returned (1)
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Something was wrong.
I had a gut feeling that the situation was unfolding strangely, that we'd run into a problem I hadn't anticipated at all. Resting my chin on my interlaced hands, I fell deep into thought.
'Krelhalm's reputation is better than I expected.'
No, it went beyond good—he was monopolizing the students' affection. Even after leaving the dean's office, I'd kept observing him from afar, and the result revealed one clear fact.
'Even just sitting there, students flock to him...!'
Krelhalm was simply sitting on a bench, yet students gathered around him. Some asked about assignments, others chatted about trivial things, and some even bought him coffee as an offering.
'...Have I ever received coffee from students?'
I might have, come to think of it.
'But not a single one brought me cake.'
I pictured Krelhalm eating the cake the students had brought him. For some reason, my stomach started to hurt. It wasn't just my stomach—my mouth felt a bit bitter too.
"Tsk..."
Craving something sweet, I took a sip of coffee heavily laced with syrup. Even though it was overly sweet... today, it just tasted bitter.
"I wish Professor Lertia would keep teaching us forever."
"He teaches so well and answers questions perfectly."
"And the assignments are just right! That's the best part."
"When Professor Lania comes back, he'll leave again? Ah..."
Even as I savored my coffee, the voices of the students I'd overheard earlier echoed in my ears. Voices tinged with regret, voices hoping Krelhalm wouldn't leave.
'Exactly.'
Tones that seemed to wish I wouldn't return.
"No, why on earth???"
Thud!
I set down my coffee cup and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Me... inferior to Krelhalm? Well, sure, in terms of lesson polish, I might fall a bit short. I could admit that straightforwardly.
Who was Krelhalm, after all?
He was the man who had served as chancellor of Artia, the famed academic city. It was hard to find anyone with credentials surpassing his in education.
'I... can't... win. Yeah, right. I lose.'
I couldn't beat him in teaching.
No way could I, with barely a year under my belt, overcome an educator with a century of experience.
'The quality of the classes isn't that different, but a loss is a loss...'
I could accept that much.
I could admit defeat cleanly.
"But this is a separate issue."
Krelhalm, hogging all the popularity.
Krelhalm, who in a single moment closed the distance with the students I'd been carefully nurturing for nearly half a year.
'This is about personal appeal.'
Personal appeal.
I'd never once thought there was anything wrong with my personality or character. Not even once. Compared to Sara and Remia...
'No, they're not even human, so they're not comparable.'
Compared to Princess Lüel...
No, she's a bit off too.
'Kalt?'
"The spiritual pillar of the Hounds."
"A respectable, proud knight."
No, he's highly rated too...
'My master is naturally superior to me. The Black Tower Lord? No, him too...'
The options in my head dwindled one by one.
When I compared accomplishments in the realm of appeal, everyone outshone me.
"Hmm..."
I agonized over it for a long while.
As my coffee grew cold, I muttered absentmindedly.
"Am I... not as well-regarded... as I thought?"
So.
"...Is there something wrong with my personality?"
No, that couldn't be.
I'm normal. There's nothing wrong with my personality. I shook my head and stood up.
'For now, I'll keep watching a bit longer.'
Observation, tailing, investigation.
I needed to understand this situation in more detail.
2.
'It's not just students—I need to check the professors' evaluations too.'
With that thought, Lania began surveying Krelhalm's reputation by wandering around the academy grounds.
"Professor Lertia? Oh, he's a good guy. A bit curt, but his classes are clean-cut, his manners gentlemanly... and above all, he's handsome, right?"
"By the way, Professor Lania, you're back from vacation? You could've taken your time..."
His reputation among the female professors was excellent.
But clearly, his looks were a factor. Interpreting the data through such biased lenses, Lania continued roaming the academy.
"Professor Lertia? He's a fine professor."
"Lots to learn from him. Especially that crispness in his classes—no complaints there. He wraps everything up in that one short session. I hear he barely gives assignments too."
Still.
"Huh? Not class, but appeal? Personality?"
"Nah, his personality seems fine. Students love him, and despite being curt, he gets along well with the other professors... Doesn't look like any issues with his appeal."
......
"Honestly, compared to you..."
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
...His reputation among professors was good too.
Lania gritted her teeth and accepted that fact as well.
"Ah, Professor Lania's back...?"
"Worried classes stumbled without you? Your absence? No, never felt that at all..."
Lania listened closely to the students' words.
Yet no student said, "We missed you, Professor!" She swallowed bitter saliva and kept walking.
"Why'd we bring cake?"
"Uh, just wanted to give him something?"
A professor so good they want to give him something.
"It's such a shame he's leaving..."
"Do you know when he's going? We were thinking of throwing a farewell party..."
Wanting to throw him a farewell party.
So sad to see him go.
What a shame for such a good professor.
Those were the typical reactions. Lania grew weary of questioning students and listening to them, her steps heavy.
'...He's so popular, Krelhalm.'
Thud.
She plopped down in a corner of the garden.
The spot where Krelhalm sat in the distance brimmed with warmth, while her own bench felt ice-cold. From afar, Lania gazed at Krelhalm.
He was still surrounded by students.
Even though she'd returned from a month's vacation, not one student noticed or approached her. Truly, not a single one. Her heart ached for some reason.
"Tsk..."
Even the sunlight seemed to shine brighter over there.
'No, this is a good thing...'
While she was away, Krelhalm had handled classes perfectly and helped the students—that was great. It was exactly what Lania had intended.
'So why does this feel so weird?'
Why did her stomach hurt?
Why did her insides itch?
Her mood was incredibly strange. Frowning at this unfamiliar emotion, Lania couldn't fathom why something good was twisting her guts.
"Ugh..."
A very, very irritating feeling welled up. Raniel bowed her head, lost in torment. Why hadn't the students missed her?
'...Did I go too hard on them?'
Maybe she should've eased up a bit.
No, but considering they'd join mage towers or battlefields later, she had to push them that much. Her master had said to pile on assignments, and this was still very humane...
'Still, maybe I should've gone easier.'
The first emotion surging was regret.
Wondering if she should've treated them better, Lania stared at Krelhalm's seat. At first, her gaze held regret, but gradually heat crept in.
Students laughing ha ha ho ho.
Krelhalm sharing the cake they'd brought.
The petite mage, excluded from that cozy scene, bit her lip hard and muttered.
"That's my spot..."
That seat over there is mine.
That's where I should be sitting.
The coffee and cake should be mine...
Her emotions shifted bit by bit from regret to obsession. Regret and obsession usually led to self-destruction next. Normal people would wallow in regret and obsession, blaming themselves for not doing better back then.
'No, damn it, now that I think about it, this is outrageous?'
But Lania was different.
She never fell into despair.
Far from ordinary, she glared wide-eyed at the students beside Krelhalm. Now it just seemed outrageous. No matter what, shouldn't at least one have noticed and come to her?
The assignments weren't enough.
She shouldn't have given them breathing room.
She needed to remind them periodically, make sure they couldn't forget her.
All sorts of plans bubbled up and faded in her mind. Each one designed to wring screams from the students—truly thoughts befitting her.
'Maybe split midterms and finals into assignments and field tests over several days...'
Regret and obsession, yes—but despair wasn't hers to claim.
Despair belonged to the students who forgot her.
As Lania solidified her plans.
"Ah, Professor Lania, you're back?"
Someone called her name.
Lania whipped her head around. She looked at the student standing behind her.
"Feels like forever. How was your vacation?"
A brightly smiling girl.
"Want some, Professor Lania?"
In her hand was a muffin fresh from a café. She handed it over and sat beside Lania. Lania stared at the muffin now in her hand.
It was warm.
And looked so fluffy.
Then Lania turned to the girl beside her. The girl beamed and spoke.
"I learned a ton this month, but I still missed you, Professor Lania. It was tough, but everything I learned from you really helped."
There was at least one who missed her.
At that fact, Lania rubbed her eyes. She folded away all the plans in her head and shoved them to a corner.
'I must've gone crazy for a moment.'
Clearly possessed briefly. Lania smiled brightly and patted Chloe's shoulder.
"Chloe..."
"Yes?"
"You're the best, just."
"Huh? Suddenly?"
A single freshman had stopped a professor on the brink of corruption. Unaware of her feat, Chloe just blinked.
3.
"Ah, Senior, you're back?"
"Yeah. You holding up okay?"
"Me? Whatever."
Kalt scratched his eyepatch covering one eye.
"I'm starting to get used to the one-eyed life now. Seeing with one eye is manageable."
Distance gauging was tricky, but he'd adapt in time. As Kalt bantered, Raniel gave a faint smile.
"Really?"
She stopped in front of Kalt seated in the office chair. Leaning down slightly to look at him, Raniel spoke.
"You won't need to."
"...Won't need to?"
"How long ago did you first sense that wall?"
An out-of-left-field question.
Not that out-of-character for her senior, so Kalt answered.
"About three or four years, roughly. Maybe longer."
"I see."
"Yes. But why ask suddenly?"
Raniel pulled something from her bosom.
"It's about time."
"For what? The afterlife?"
"No, superhuman, you idiot. Superhuman."
Raniel smacked Kalt's head with the cup in her hand. Kalt rubbed his crown and blinked. Superhuman? Had he misheard?
"What do you..."
Mid-sentence, Kalt shut his mouth.
His eyes shook at the cup his senior held—the one that had just whacked him.
"...What is that?"
A cup filled with platinum starlight.
Anyone could see it was no ordinary item. Facing it, Kalt asked, and Raniel answered.
"The Grail of the Stars."
She smiled.
"A miraculous holy relic that lets you reach superhuman realm without fail."