Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Enlightenment, and Growth (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recently, incidents have been piling up.
Suddenly struck by that thought, Aphria's Dean Aron set down his quill for a moment. As always, a mountain of documents towered on his desk.
'It feels like there are even more lately.'
Surveying the avalanche of papers, Aron leaned his head back. In truth, he knew exactly why there were so many documents needing his attention.
Over the past month, incidents had been frequent.
Particularly numerous.
'Rosel's adopted daughter becoming a professor, giving lectures, preparing public seminars...'
Of course, he didn't regret giving a position to such an exceptional professor. If it meant getting busy with those kinds of things, Aron would gladly roll up his sleeves.
But the current frenzy was far from welcome. It stemmed from unsavory incidents.
'The Aphria terror incident.'
A traitor had targeted Aphria.
Their objective was unknown.
All that was clear was that some enigmatic figure called a "prophet" by the traitors was parasitizing the academy.
'No clue at all...'
Aron rubbed his temples.
There was no suspect among the traitors. Professor Celt, the assistant in Combat Magic, seemed shady but had always been diligent.
'For a professor like that to suddenly turn traitor.'
Something felt off about it.
'McHart got dragged off by the knights on suspicion of being a traitor... and ended up cleared of all charges.'
McHart.
Just thinking of that name brought a sigh. It was because of the "certain incident" that had unfolded starting with Professor McHart.
"Hoo..."
Aron sighed and glared at the documents on the table. The names varied, but the contents were all the same.
-Lecture cancellation request / Elemental Magic - Charlotte.
-Lecture cancellation request / Mana Analysis - Kurte.
A rush of cancellations centered around McHart.
With professors suddenly requesting time off, Aron's already tangled mind was on the verge of knotting up completely.
"Ugh, uuuugh..."
Aron groaned.
He tried running his hand through his hair in thought, but there wasn't much left to run through.
'Probably from yanking it out so much back when I was worrying...'
He felt a bit sad.
Old habits die hard, though. As he pondered, his fingers naturally gripped the few remaining strands.
Knock knock.
It was right then, as Aron seriously debated whether to yank them out or not.
-Aron, are you in?
A voice came from outside the door.
'This voice...'
A familiar friend's voice.
But not entirely welcome at the moment. Aron replied listlessly.
"...Come in."
Rosel opened the door and entered.
Aron fixed him with a fierce glare.
"...Why are you glaring at me like that?"
"Are you really asking because you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"This! This!"
Aron bellowed, hoisting up the cancellation requests and waving them in Rosel's face.
Of course, the professors who submitted them had nothing to do with Rosel. Still, Aron had good reason to vent at him.
"Your disciple! Your adopted daughter! Why are professors submitting cancellations after every class Lania van Trias observes?!"
Lania van Trias.
It was already well-known that the girl had been sitting in on various professors' classes lately. When Aron heard her goal was to better understand "education," he had even been moved.
'I should have stopped her back then.'
He hated his past self for praising her diligence and telling her to attend as many as she wanted. He should have stopped her somehow.
-Lecture cancellation request.
Aron looked at the one in his hand.
It contained a lengthy letter full of explanations.
-Author: Charlotte.
-What I was teaching wasn't magic. I feel inadequate as a professor... How can I teach students when I lack confidence in my own magic?
I'm sorry, Dean Aron.
I'll take some time to reflect and adjust my curriculum...
Such letters.
-Author: Kurte.
-What I was doing wasn't analysis. I was a frog in a well. I'm not fit to be a professor...
I have no confidence standing at the lectern.
I'll take some time to recharge...
Not just one or two.
Lania had observed five classes total, and Aron held four cancellation requests.
What about the fifth professor?
That was McHart, bedridden from the knights' interrogation—his class was canceled too.
"At this rate, we'll be taking summer break three months early...!"
"Hm..."
"What on earth is your adopted daughter doing to leave professors in this state? Didn't she say she was observing to understand teaching?"
"...She did."
"Why are they all snapping their pens in half after she observes? What the hell is she showing them...?"
What exactly had she shown them?
Aron had no idea...
"At this rate, what's left of my hair will all fall out too..."
Aron's desperate cry echoed through the dean's office.
Rosel just shrugged at the sound.
"At least only two are left now."
"...That's two too many."
"One of them is my class. I won't cancel, so don't worry."
"......"
Aron narrowed his eyes at Rosel.
Rosel van Trias.
The Rosel Aron remembered always had a plan. So surely, he had one for this too.
...Aron wanted to believe that.
'Let's think positively.'
Yeah, Aphria was already in enough chaos.
'Might as well let the professors take time to regroup...'
Aron's deliberations didn't last long.
Someone knocked on the door again.
-Dean Aron, are you inside?
"...Yes. Come in."
A professor entered the dean's office.
His face was familiar—not just to Aron, but deeply connected to Rosel as well.
Professor Gerrekt, in charge of Circuit Comprehension.
He was a mage who had been a professor before coming to Aphria. In terms of experience as an educator, few in the capital could surpass him.
Moreover, Gerrekt was the first professor Aron had recruited when establishing Aphria.
'So why is this guy...?'
Aron tilted his head.
"Professor Gerrekt? What brings you here?"
"Uh, Aron? Haven't I been working pretty hard lately?"
The first words already felt ominous.
But Aron nodded. It was true—Gerekkt had never canceled a single class since Aphria's founding.
"...Thinking of taking a break for the first time in ages."
"...Something happen?"
"I got a bit of a shock."
Aron asked warily.
"By any chance, Professor Lania?"
"What, you knew too? Then this'll be quick. It's this theory the young professor brought up in my class. Take a look..."
Gerekkt thrust a paper forward.
-Lecture cancellation request.
Aron closed his eyes and leaned back.
Ignoring him entirely, Gerrekt ranted on.
"I need time to research this groundbreaking approach and figure out how to teach it to students, so just a week off for me..."
"......"
Aron's hand naturally went to his thinning hair. He gripped it.
Pluck, plop.
The last few strands of Aron's hair fell out.
With a face of enlightenment, Aron muttered.
"...Yeah, how could I stop you? Take a good rest and come back refreshed."
2.
Professor Rosel's Mana Trading class.
The students were unusually energetic right before it started. Normally half-dead, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, today their eyes sparkled.
There was good reason.
Required courses like Mana Trading overlapped in scheduling—one before, one after.
Early morning class, then Trading, then another right after.
And being mandatory, they couldn't slack off.
No way exhausted students could muster energy for three hours of back-to-back lectures plus more.
But today was different.
For some reason, all the required course professors except Rosel had collectively canceled.
It boiled Aron's blood, but for students, it was pure bliss.
"After this class..."
"That restaurant in the capital lately..."
Just imagining what to do after class was fun. As the students chattered excitedly.
"......"
Resti quietly flipped through her notes.
She had no friends to chat with anyway, and preparing for this class was enough to keep her busy.
'Today's lesson plan...'
Rosel's classes were hard to follow.
Miss the flow once, and it took double the time to catch up.
To ride the wave, she needed to preview the flow. Resti reviewed her pre-studied notes.
Thud.
It was then.
"...?"
Someone set down writing tools next to the focused Resti. Then pulled out a chair to sit. Resti tilted her head.
Her position as the Ashen Mage Tower's Next Lord.
Resti's blunt, quiet personality.
That combo meant no one approached her now, even if they did at semester start. Plenty of empty seats, yet sitting right next to her?
Resti glanced over.
Just to see the face.
Rustle.
First into view: ash-gray hair, now familiar. Then snow-white skin and blue eyes.
"Hi."
She gave a short wave.
Resti's eyes widened.
"...Professor Lania?"
"Yeah. Mind if I sit?"
Resti nodded.
Professor Lania pulled out the chair with a scrape and sat. Resti turned back to her notes, but the words wouldn't sink in.
Thump thump.
Her heart raced for no reason.
Should she say something?
An uncharacteristic thought.
'...But what?'
Nothing came to mind.
Couldn't talk homework right before class.
"......"
After a moment's thought, Resti pulled a stack of papers from her bag. Professor Lania's worksheets, of course—all blanks filled.
'Related to today's lesson.'
...Probably.
Resti carefully placed the densely completed sheets where Lania could see. Hoping for praise like last time.