The New Guard Is Suspicious (40) — One Chance
‘The new recruit of Unit 42, Grave.’
Nora quietly studied the man seated across from her.
His eyes carried a faint, wolfish ferocity, yet the corners of his mouth were curved ever so slightly upward.
Her questions were more than a few. How had a brand-new recruit become a professor's TA? Why had he listed her name as one? The mysteries chained together, tail biting tail, without end.
But one thing was certain.
‘This is my chance.’
Ever since Nora had joined the Elite Guard, she had harbored one unshakable goal: to become a teaching assistant. That was why she practically lived in the Office of Academic Affairs, and why she spent her pitiful guard's salary buying meals for the TAs on a regular basis.
But the wall between her and the TA position had been high. She had stumbled and crawled through setback after setback, again and again.
And now, of all things, opportunity had come rolling right up to her feet.
It didn't matter who the man was — rookie or anything else. Whatever it took, she had to seize this chance.
“I'll do it,” Nora said respectfully.
“Good decision.” Grave gave a small nod.
The casual way he spoke down to her made her brow twitch, but she forced herself to stay calm and pressed on. “If we're to meet the deadline, the paperwork has to be submitted as quickly as possible. First we need the Permit for Elite Guard Assistance in Instruction and the Certificate of Instructional Safety Liability Assignment — both have to be issued separately by the Administrative Office.”
“I'll gather the documents myself. Hey, Raven. Gather the documents for her.”
“...I'm sorry?”
“I wasn't talking to you.”
At Grave's words, Nora's brows knitted together.
‘...Is he making fun of me?’
This was an emergency. Time was of the essence — even running out right now to collect the forms might not be fast enough — and he was playing games?
“Ah, I'll handle the professor and the lessons themselves. You take care of everything else.” Grave said it as flatly as if he were reading off a menu.
Nora's eyes went wide.
Being a TA was no walk in the park. You had to manage students who wouldn't listen, check homework every single day. And the hardest part of all was dealing with the professors.
When a professor called, a TA had to come sprinting out of bed in the dead of night. It wasn't for nothing that the position was nicknamed 'the professor's slave.' There were TAs who'd gone half-bald after drawing the wrong professor.
And yet he was volunteering to take on the professor himself.
Sitting in on classes alongside a professor sounded pleasant enough in theory, but the reality was the exact opposite. Professors grew even more temperamental the moment they stepped into a lecture hall, and assisting instruction meant catering to every one of those moods.
Taking the professor and the class support on top of it — that was volunteering for the two most punishing duties a TA had. Granted, even setting those two aside, the remaining work piled up like a mountain, but that much Nora could manage on her own somehow.
“In exchange, there's one condition.”
So he did want something after all. Nora nodded warily.
“From now on, submit a support request to Unit 42 every day. Under my name.”
“...I'm sorry — that's all?”
“That's all.”
Grave rose from his seat.
Nora scrambled up after him and blurted out, “The other TAs will probably try to interfere.”
“The TAs?”
“Yes. They won't stand by and watch a guard become a TA. They'll do everything they can to make you quit — you can count on it.”
Nora knew exactly how much pride those TAs had. The moment word spread that a mere guard had been made a TA, every last one of them would see red.
“Make me quit, hm?”
“They'll use force, too.”
“Perfect.”
“...I'm sorry?”
“I'll be sending you some manpower shortly.”
“What do you mean by—”
Grave vanished without answering.
‘What on earth is that man?’
Nora muttered to herself, staring at the empty seat. She couldn't make heads or tails of him — but that wasn't what mattered right now.
‘My chance is here. I have to grab it. No matter what.’
She shut her eyes tightly and ran through her plan. The timeline was brutally tight. Everything hinged on how fast the paperwork came together; once the documents were in hand, she could handle the rest herself.
Of course, Grave had offered to collect the forms, but she couldn't just sit around waiting.
Mind made up to move herself, Nora rose from her chair. And then—
Kkaak. Something knocked on the door.
‘What now?’
She opened it to find a neatly bundled stack of papers sitting on the floor. The moment she checked the contents, Nora's eyes went wide.
‘...The Permit for Elite Guard Assistance in Instruction?’
She hurriedly flipped through the documents.
‘The Certificate of Instructional Safety Liability Assignment... the Psychological Fitness Review Request—’
Every form she needed, densely packed together — including ones she hadn't even thought of herself.
He had been sitting across from her mere moments ago.
‘He prepared all of this in that time?’
Impossible.
Had he prepared it in advance? No — that didn't make sense either. How could anyone have known things would turn out this way?
‘...What on earth is he?’
Nora swallowed dryly.
“TA Belmen, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Professor Leon. You know him, right?”
“Of course I do. He's the one everyone's been buzzing about, isn't he? Though most of it's supposed to be baseless rumor.”
“That's what they say. Anyway — Professor Leon started his lectures, and get this. Apparently he's using an Elite Guard as his TA.”
“What? Don't joke around.”
“I wish I were. And one of them is Nora.”
“Nora? That Nora?”
“Yeah, that Nora. The one you're always clinging to whenever you get half a chance.”
“Ahem — I cling to her? You've got some nerve, you—”
“...Anyway. I could believe it of Nora, but the other one is apparently some guard nobody's even heard of. A new recruit, at that.”
“Are they insane? With the finest TAs on the continent right there, he's going to use grubby little guards instead? New ones? What's the Head TA doing about this?”
“Naturally, all hell broke loose. Raged on and on about how it was an insult to every TA alive. But what can you do? It's the professor's call.”
“So we're just going to sit back and watch?”
“No. The professor's untouchable, but... the TAs are another matter, no? The Head TA gave us firm orders. Teach those upstarts who've forgotten their place a proper lesson.”
“Well, obviously.”
“Gather everyone who can throw a punch.”
“They're just guards. Do we really need to gather anyone?”
“Better safe than sorry.”
“You're always so careful, my friend. Fine, fine. By the way — what's that guy's name? The new recruit guard.”
“Ah, his name is...”
“Grave...”
I stared silently at Leon, seated across from me. His face was set like stone, his lips pressed tight. He held out desperately for a few seconds — and then his lips began to tremble.
Before long, Leon couldn't take it and opened his mouth.
“—sir.”
“No, why do you keep adding ‘sir’?”
“But...”
Leon, looking like a man headed to his own execution, let his words trail off.
It wasn't that I couldn't understand. To a soldier like Leon, I ranked impossibly high above him.
“On paper, I'm the TA. An attitude like that will only make people suspicious.”
“But even so, I couldn't possibly—”
“Leon.”
“Captain Leon, sir!”
“Again.”
“Yes, sir!!”
Leon inhaled slowly, his face grave with resolve.
‘How hard can it be to call someone by their name?’
Irritation bubbled up in me, but I figured poking at Leon here would only make him freeze up worse, so I forced it down.
Then Leon opened his mouth with the expression of a man charging into battle.
“Grave!!”
After a moment of silence, he added in the tiniest of whispers:
“...sir.”
Another ‘sir’ had slipped out. I scrunched my eyes shut in exasperation.
Leon's face had gone ash-gray as he pleaded his case. “I truly can't do it. Once a soldier of the Empire, forever a soldier of the Empire. How could I ever dare address your honored name so casually?”
Confronted with a problem I hadn't anticipated, I pressed hard against my temple.
Leon added, his expression rigid, “I apologize. But I genuinely cannot do it.”
Beat him with my fists and he'd fall in line fast enough — but that would almost certainly cause problems later. On the other hand, having a TA who kept groveling to me like a subordinate was its own problem.
In that case, I might as well—
“Let's just make you the strong silent type.”
“I'm sorry?”
“As of now, you cannot speak.”
“I'm sorry? What on earth—”
I kicked Leon squarely in the shin.
“Aaagh!”
He let out a shrill scream. I kicked him again.
“Gwaaaaah! Why are you hitting me, sir!”
Another kick. It took about five before Leon finally stopped screaming.
“You are now a taciturn man. Do not open your mouth, ever. If you understand, nod.”
Nod.
“Good.”
Leon, pale as a ghost, pointed at his own mouth with a questioning hand.
“‘Then when am I allowed to speak?’, you ask? Still haven't caught on, I see. Tsk.”
I kicked him in the shin once more. Apparently that did the trick — Leon kept his mouth shut for good this time.
Leon was a textbook blond Adonis. Maybe it was the soldier's background, but his mouth and jawline carried a certain stubborn edge — and as a result, with his lips sealed, he cut a rather imposing figure.
I nodded in satisfaction.
“That's an order. From now on, no screaming either.”
Nod.
Leon bobbed his head, his face still frozen stiff.
Military discipline really is the only language soldiers understand.
“I plan to run the lectures myself. Any objections? If so, speak up. They're your lectures, after all.”
No-no-no-no.
Leon shook his head frantically, eyes wide with alarm.
“I mean it. I have no intention of stealing your lectures from you.”
Leon pointed at his own mouth — may I speak?
When I nodded, he opened up. “The students of Elysium Academy have the right to the finest lectures available. Your lectures were, without exaggeration, the best I have ever witnessed. If anything, it is I who should be begging you to teach them!”
Leon even bowed his head as he asked.
“Good to hear.”
“It is an honor, sir!!”
And with that, I had successfully secured a lecture for Evangeline.
The problem was that, for all that, it was still just one subject.
First-years took five courses in total: Aura, Magic, Black Magic, and Divine Power — one foundational course for each attribute, plus a general elective. Leon's lecture was the elective, which left four subjects still unaccounted for.
And Evangeline was a blockhead. Left to her own devices, she'd be expelled without question.
‘Ah, wait — Aura should be fine.’
The rift we'd just come back from had been Aura-attribute.
Whenever Evangeline closed a rift, she absorbed a portion of that rift's power. It worked better than swallowing an Outer God Fragment, with no side effects whatsoever. It was the single most important part of her ability.
‘Honestly, I wouldn't mind if more rifts opened.’
As I murmured that to myself, a thought struck me.
‘...We could just open one ourselves, couldn't we.’
This latest rift had come into being because ‘Evangeline’ had entered the ‘Central Library.’ And Elysium Academy had quite a few places just like it.
If I sent Evangeline into one of those, an incomplete rift like this one might well open up again. Break it open myself, and I'd gain an Outer God Fragment while Evangeline raised her stats.
Of course, it would put Evangeline in danger — but then again, a healthy dose of danger was good for the blood.
“Hoo-hah — hoo-hah — hoo-hah—”
Andy watched Evangeline panting like a winded dog and let out a long sigh. Ever since she'd actually gone and gotten the Knight's Breathing Method out of Vivienne, she'd been at it nonstop.
“Evangeline, give it a rest already. The Knight's Breathing Method isn't just ordinary breathing — even people who've taken formal knight training need at least half a year of practice to reach it. You can't just imitate the breaths and expect—”
“Already did.”
“What?”
“I said, already did.”
Evangeline held out the baguette she'd been carrying. A vivid, unmistakable aura was wrapped around it.
“This body of mine really is a genius, no?”
Evangeline declared it with the supreme arrogance of a scholar addressing her inferiors.
Andy felt something snap deep inside him. Something had gone very, very wrong.