Professor (1)
The interior of Ulfrik's mansion had been expanded with powerful spatial magic.
It had been vast enough back in the day, five hundred years ago, to house all of his disciples.
Now, it was so spacious it bordered on extravagance.
But I, Mihaden, and Lorang had decided to share a multi-bed room.
"I think there's a lot I can learn from Kirian. I want to room with him."
"Me too! Dean! I wanna live with Kirian!"
"Hey, you guys…."
"Alright, then. Stay that way for the time being."
It was because of Mihaden and Lorang.
Those two had apparently made up their minds to stick to me like glue.
"What the hell are you two thinking?"
It was a serious question.
Anyone watching might think I'd lost my mind, but I'd chosen the Eternalism academy with my own goals in mind.
Yet these two had just followed me here.
It was downright insane.
Top-ranked participants like us were basically guaranteed entry into the upper academies.
'And they come here?'
There had to be some other plan at work.
But all I got back was Lorang's utterly random response.
"It's delicious! That's why!"
"What…?"
Now that I looked, the guy was grinning innocently with an ice cream cone in hand.
"This is the bubble ice cream floating around from the west!"
"You mean the trend from the western regions?"
"Oh! Yeah! It's trending! Want a bite?"
I shot Mihaden a look of utter disbelief, but he just gave me a face that said he had nothing to add.
He kept silently unpacking his things.
"Fine. Whatever. Just unpack or pack or do whatever. I don't care."
Truth be told, I didn't really want to know what was going on in their heads.
Everyone had their own lives to live.
"This going in the communal freezer? Speak up if you want some!"
This was driving me nuts.
I let out a deep sigh.
That's when Hierniorn landed on my shoulder.
The phoenix eyed me cautiously before opening his beak.
'Tiberian, isn't it about time this one manifested in the flesh? You won't keep me as a mere spirit forever, will you…?'
He was saying it was time for him to take physical form and show himself to the world.
If he underwent another upgrade using the Fire Spirit Essence I'd mentioned before, it seemed entirely possible.
I nodded slightly.
'Yeah. But it'll take some time. I can only get the Fire Spirit Essence on an external mission.'
The Kirchheis family's academies regularly sent disciples out on various tasks.
These were called "external missions," a standard event.
As far as I knew, you couldn't go solo until your third year.
'That's too late….'
'Well, I can probably push it forward by about a year.'
It depended on the homeroom professor's personality and policies, but with a decent excuse, I planned to attempt a grade skip.
Eternalism had no second-year disciples anyway, so it wasn't impossible.
That's when the door to our multi-bed room burst open, and some unexpected faces appeared.
"Young master!"
"Hey! Kirian!"
It was Jenice and Libiel.
Their sudden arrival left me tilting my head in confusion.
"What? How'd you get here?"
'Indeed. The nanny makes sense, but Libiel's from another academy—she shouldn't be able to enter the Eternal Mansion.'
Disciples below second year had to live in academy dorms.
They could come and go freely, so trips back home were fine, but they were expected to eat and sleep within the academy for a while.
And the Eternal Mansion was off-limits to outsiders by default.
Jenice was essentially on leave, and Libiel should have been at Absolutism.
Yet here they were, right in front of me.
"Well, you see…."
"Something huge happened. I still can't believe it. You'll freak out when you hear."
They glanced warily at Mihaden and Lorang before grabbing my arms.
They wanted to talk somewhere quiet.
What on earth could it be?
"Don't freak out. Young master, you have a father now."
"You're the eldest grandson of the Kirchheis family starting today. And I'm rich now, so I came here as an exchange disciple."
"What the hell does that mean?"
I couldn't help but chuckle as I listened to their story.
Right after Kirian posted his unbelievable score in the Tomb of Books and Swords and vanished into Eternalism.
Jenice found herself enduring intense stares she hadn't asked for.
"Not your average nanny…."
"Those dark-affinity techniques were creepy just to look at."
"Definitely from the Rnab family."
Her hidden background and identity had come partially to light.
But she figured it didn't matter.
'Once the young master moves into the academy dorms, I won't draw attention.'
Her nanny contract might even end.
It'd be regrettable, but she could just return to the Rnab family.
If Kirian needed her, she could come back then.
'But thinking about not seeing those two anymore….'
Her nose tingled despite herself.
She'd poured her heart into raising Kirian and Libiel.
Back at the dorms, packing for the Eternal Mansion, she had to blow her nose several times.
"Jenice, why do you keep sniffling? Caught a cold?"
"It's nothing…."
As Libiel eyed her suspiciously.
A unfamiliar shadow appeared at the door.
"Libiel Kirchheis. You here?"
"Huh? What brings the dean here?"
An old swordmaster with a neatly trimmed mustache.
Lupen Belhok, dean of Absolutism, where Libiel belonged.
He was famous for his aloof demeanor, living up to his epithet "The Arbiter of Stern Judgment"—
"I have something important to discuss. Can you spare a moment?"
"You're talking to me…?"
"Of course. If you're busy, I can come back."
His tone was unusually cautious today.
It was weird enough that Lupen had come personally for a mere second-year like Libiel.
She'd be rolling in Absolutism's training grounds by morning anyway—why seek her out?
And it didn't stop there.
"Ahem, Miss Jenice? It's the head butler. Mind if we talk?"
"Hold on! We're collateral branch from Talrod…."
"This is more urgent! It's nanny business!"
Familiar faces and strangers alike.
Intruders poured in one after another.
As Libiel and Jenice exchanged bewildered looks amid the chaos.
"…Hmph."
Bastion's massive frame appeared.
The Discipline Captain's gaze on the commotion was ice-cold.
"Word's already spread, I see…."
The visitors scattered with coughs under his aura of imminent reprimand.
The two women's reactions to him differed sharply.
"Captain! I heard everything. You gave Kirian a unicorn-horn wand? What about me? Where's my gift!"
"I told you to call me Sir Lamoff now. And I recall gifting you a feather quill."
"Ha! One gets a unicorn wand, the other a crow feather! Unfair!"
"…It's not a crow—it's an artifact made from a dark phoenix feather. Infuse it with mana, and it becomes a weapon."
"Huh? Dark phoenix? For real?"
"You need to get in the habit of reading the enclosed manual, Miss Libiel."
"I believed you all along! Captain!"
Libiel grabbed Bastion's hand and bounced excitedly.
Having spent years as trainee and disciplinarian, their bond was like uncle and niece.
Jenice, however, was the opposite.
"…."
She ignored him, pretending not to see as she packed.
To her, the captain smoothly extended a single letter, and Jenice's eyes wavered.
"A letter now…?"
"Don't misunderstand. It's not from me—it's an order stamped with the family head's seal. Execute immediately."
"Ahem. Is that so? Nearly caused a big misunderstanding."
Jenice cleared her throat and unfolded the letter.
The next moment, the nanny's eyes widened as she reread it several times.
- As of today, 'Kirian Kirchheis' begins the process of official adoption under 'Leonir Kirchheis'.
- Servant 'Jenice' shall accompany the Discipline Captain to finalize procedures.
- If deemed necessary, prepare to protect 'Libiel Kirchheis' as well.
Kirian's adoption notice.
It meant the son of the presumed-dead Demiph, who had nowhere to turn, now had a guardian.
Not just anyone—under Leonir, the family head's eldest son.
"I-Is this real? For real?"
"The family head doesn't issue orders in jest."
"Oh my god…."
"What's going on? Lemme see! Huh? Kirian adopted? By Uncle Leonir?! Whoaaaaa…."
Libiel snatched the letter from Jenice's hand, mouth agape.
Both women reacted with equal shock and joy.
Suddenly, the visitors' purposes made sense.
Bastion glanced back before speaking.
"Casual greetings, vague requests, cunning schemes… All sorts will keep coming. Kirian the young master's adoption by Lord Leonir shakes the family's power structure, and you two are the closest to him."
"Ah… Yeah, makes sense."
Jenice's face grew serious.
Leonir had only one wife, and the couple had no children.
It contrasted sharply with his siblings like Garnas, who kept multiple concubines for heirs.
Rumors swirled that one of them couldn't have kids.
'With our young master entering his household, everyone's rushing to cozy up. Natural.'
Connections weren't bad, but potential threats nearby were dangerous.
Best to play defense now.
"Does the young master know?"
"Not yet. The Eternal Forest is outside Kirchheis Castle, so the Discipline Corps can't go directly. We'd need a messenger… But I think you should tell him personally."
"Got it."
Jenice nodded.
Ironically, Kirian would hear the news last.
"Young master's things seem packed. We'll take them as-is. Yours…."
"Over there. I packed separately thinking I might return to Rnab."
"…Understood. We'll load that too."
Bastion turned away with a slight pause, mumbling.
Jenice averted her gaze, hiding her eyes.
Libiel caught it, eyebrows twitching.
'What's with those two? Something's up.'
A faint clue for the girl newly awakening to romance.
But Lupen Belhok reappeared, cutting it short.
He made a bizarre proposal.
"Libiel, how about going to Eternalism as an exchange disciple? With a hefty scholarship."
"Exchange disciple…?"
Sudden, but not bad.
Absolutism folks already ignored her, abandoned by Tornil.
Practically ostracized.
"Anything I need to do?"
"Nothing like that. Just stay close to Young Lord Kirian. Oh, and report to me occasionally."
Already "young lord."
And not "nothing"—clearly spying.
'But I can just half-ass it. The knife's in my hand anyway? Useless reports it is.'
Libiel mulled it over silently.
Growing impatient, Dean Belhok pulled out a notepad and scribbled a number.
"Roughly this amount."
The scholarship figure.
Huge enough to stun any kid.
Libiel nearly gaped.
But held it in.
"Hmm, I see…."
Despite Kirian's daily scoldings of her as scatterbrained, she was direct-line blood.
She calculated mentally and calmly returned the note.
Then flashed a bright smile.
"Not bad. If you give this much every year, I'll consider it positively, Dean!"
"Huh? Ev-every year? This amount annually…?"
"Yep!"
She'd squeeze every coin she could.
No mercy in a sure win.
Taking what they offered would just earn Kirian's scorn for being soft.
'Studying at Eternalism means no need to watch Belhok's face anyway.'
She haggled freely.
The start of a negotiation in name only—one that'd bleed Dean Belhok dry.