Chapter 22
Chapter 22
The Director had proposed two additional tests.
The first was to help a failing student graduate.
The second was to serve as an examiner for the entrance exam.
“Just in case you misunderstand, let me say it again: I truly believe in you, Sir Ban! I’d love to have you join Rubiness Academy right this very moment! But I have to convince the students and professors who oppose you.”
In other words,
both tests were meant to improve my reputation.
‘The entrance exam is one of the Academy’s biggest events. If I do a good job as an examiner, the professors will see me in a new light.’
At first glance, they seemed perfectly reasonable tests, and difficult to refuse.
They didn’t sound particularly hard, either.
But I realized these weren’t nearly so simple.
If anything, they were more like ‘traps.’
‘These tests are meant to make me fail.’
I looked at the Director.
Her eyes were smiling obsequiously.
But beneath that smile, something chillingly cold lay in wait.
Having been through every kind of hardship, I knew all too well that people like her were truly frightening.
‘Helping Linden graduate is no easy task.’
If—
If Linden really was one of the ‘Ten Demons’ I knew, then I could consider it impossible.
The Director must have known about Linden’s ‘circumstances’ as well. This was clearly a test she had deliberately set up to make me fail.
‘The examiner job is meant to do the same.’
It would be full of dangerous traps.
During the entrance exam, all kinds of trouble and complaints arose in the first place, so it would be easy to pin the blame on me.
But—
“Understood. I’ll do as you say.”
“Oh-ho-ho? Are you sure?”
“Of course. Thank you for your consideration, Director.”
I agreed without voicing any particular objections.
‘It won’t be easy, but I shouldn’t look at this as an entirely bad thing. These tests have major advantages for me, too.’
Regardless of the Director’s ulterior motives, if I completed these tests without a hitch, my reputation would improve considerably.
‘And that’s not all.’
I was especially interested in the role of entrance exam examiner.
‘As an examiner, I can legally reject applicants I don’t want.’
In other words, I could make sure the ones I had to avoid among the sixteen protagonists were rejected!
‘I don’t know which of the sixteen will apply to Rubiness Academy, but I’ll make sure the quieter protagonists get accepted, as much as possible.’
The rejected protagonists could always go to another academy as their second or third choice, so it didn’t matter.
‘Helping Linden, one of the Ten Demons, graduate is the problem. But there’s a way I can handle that, too.’
Still, it wouldn’t be wise to simply nod along without asking for anything in return.
I had to get something out of this.
“However, I have one condition. If I complete both of these assignments perfectly, appoint me as a ‘Special Professor,’ rather than an ordinary ‘Temporary Professor.’”
“!!”
What I was about to become now was a ‘Temporary Professor.’
I was dissatisfied with the fact that I couldn’t become a full professor right away, but apparently, with the Academy’s recent hiring trends, everyone had to serve as a temporary professor before becoming a full professor, unless they had truly exceptional credentials.
‘Even that parachute hire Balik had to go through the Temporary Professor process.’
The problem was that this Temporary Professor period lasted a full two years.
‘How am I supposed to wait two years!’
There was just one—
one way.
I could be appointed as a ‘Temporary Special Professor’ from the start.
That title was given to temporary professors recognized for their exceptional talent, and in such cases, they were eligible to become full professors after just one year.
“I believe my remarkable abilities have already been proven by the various unfortunate incidents that have taken place recently. If I also prove myself to be perfect in leadership and diligence, then it wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to use your authority to appoint me as a Temporary Special Professor, would it?”
I put emphasis on the words ‘unfortunate incidents.’
Your Academy did me wrong, too, didn’t it?
So give me at least this much! It was an offer that bordered on a threat.
“Oh-ho-ho. A Special Professor, you say.”
The Director let out a laugh.
It was a laugh as dry as could be.
A dangerous feeling flashed past me in an instant, but I didn’t back down.
‘I can’t give this up.’
And—
if my guess was right, the Director wouldn’t refuse this proposal.
Sure enough—
“Very well. If you complete both assignments, I’ll appoint you as a Temporary Special Professor.”
The Director smiled sweetly.
It was a meaningful smile.
A smile that gave nothing away.
“However, you must complete both assignments perfectly. If there is anything lacking, your appointment, Sir Ban, will be revoked.”
I decided to get moving right away on the first task: “Rescuing a Failing Graduate.”
‘Linden really is one of the Ten Demons I know.’
I swallowed a groan.
The Ten Demons.
They were the ten strongest and worst villains in the scenario.
Linden was destined to become a top-tier black magician, later known as the ‘Emperor of Gluttony.’
‘Normally, he’s someone I should never go anywhere near.’
But given the circumstances, I had no choice.
‘Besides, in the long run, this isn’t a bad thing. If all goes well, I might even be able to stop one of the Ten Demons from being born.’
Of course, it was the protagonists’ job to face the calamities threatening the world.
But I never knew when or where the trouble would come flying my way.
‘Linden holds a grudge against Rubiness Academy and later launches a terrorist attack against it. If I don’t stop him now, I could get dragged into it later by sheer bad luck.’
“Hans, did you look into Linden?”
“Yes, young master! He’s famous, so it wasn’t hard.”
“What did you find out?”
“That he’s a hopeless, pathetic piece of trash?”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. He’s the pathetic one who came after Ban Trash—Ah! That was a slip of the tongue! Anyway, he’s a pathetic fellow who came after you, Sir Ban. Ah, but of course, Sir Ban is now greater than anyone! Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty!”
“……”
I gave Hans a brief sidelong glance.
This bald middle-aged man sometimes seemed to go out of his way to needle me.
“I’ll have to go see him myself.”
“Yes, I’ve already found out his address!”
Just then, an unexpected visitor came to see me.
“I am Cold, a knight of the Rapalt Ducal House. I have come to speak with you, Young Master Ban.”
Why was someone from the Rapalt Ducal House here?
‘Is he here to pick a fight over Balik’s business from the other day?’
But the knight brought up something I never would have expected.
“Lady Emily wishes to meet with you, Young Master.”
I tilted my head.
Her name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember who she was.
“Who?”
Hans hurriedly whispered in my ear.
“Isn’t she your former fiancée, Young Master?”
Ah, right.
There was someone like that in the setting.
“Hadn’t we already broken off our engagement?”
“We had. But wasn’t it just revealed that the incident in which people believed Young Master Ban had wronged Lady Emily at the time of your broken engagement was actually one of Balik’s false accusations? Perhaps that’s why she wants to talk with you about what happened.”
The knight of the Rapalt Ducal House nodded as if to confirm it.
“Lady Emily wishes to clear up the misunderstanding between you.”
I frowned.
‘I don’t want to.’
Now I remembered who Emily was.
She wasn’t a bad person.
In fact, she was someone who, despite the rotten state of the Rapalt Ducal House, had a strong sense of justice and became an ally to the protagonists.
But that meant—
‘She’s the kind of person who’ll become a nuisance if I get mixed up with her.’
My goal was, above all, to live quietly and enjoy the easy life.
There was no need to form any unnecessary connections.
‘Above all, I mustn’t set off any flags.’
Feeling your heart stir at the sight of someone who had changed was a common cliché.
The best thing to do was to avoid the seeds of trouble completely, before they could sprout.
“Tell her there’s no need.”
“But she said she very much wishes to meet you in person…”
“Can’t you understand what I’m saying? I’m refusing this meeting. As the ‘victim.’”
“!!”
I spoke as coldly as I could.
“If she feels sorry for having misunderstood me, tell her never to appear before me again. Disappearing from my life forever—that would be the apology I’d want.”
If we never met at all, there’d be no chance of setting off a flag!
After the knight left with a troubled look on his face, Hans cautiously asked me,
“Are you sure about this, Young Master?”
“We won’t have anything to do with each other from now on, so of course there’s nothing to worry about.”
“…In my experience as a former Casanova, what you just said, Young Master, might actually…”
“??”
“Ahem… N-no, never mind.”
I was puzzled, but decided to let it go.
“Let’s go catch a problem student.”
Linden’s lodgings were in the Fifth District.
‘According to his records, he comes from an ordinary family. What’s he doing staying in the Fifth District?’
The Free City was divided into seven districts.
The First District had the best living conditions, and the farther up the numbers went, the worse those conditions became.
District Six was the Slum, and the Seventh District was the Four Dragon Fortress. The Fifth District was little better than a slum itself.
“I hear he used to be a fairly diligent student. But then, when he became an upperclassman, his circumstances suddenly took a turn for the worse, and his attitude at school went downhill too.”
I nodded.
‘I don’t know everything about the past of Linden, one of the Ten Demons, either.’
After being hounded by enormous debts and becoming a black magician’s slave, he went through a brush with death before becoming the strongest black magician.
That was Linden’s backstory.
“This is the place.”
A house that looked ready to collapse came into view.
It was as run-down as the shack in the slum where I’d lived through my poor childhood on Earth.
“I’m coming in.”
Creak. As we went inside, a young man with a dull, vacant look jumped in fright and hunched his shoulders.
“W-who are you?! Are you debt collectors? I-I told you I’d pay you back! If just the stocks I invested in hit it big this time—!”
…Stocks?
I asked Hans,
“…Is this fellow Linden?”
“Y-yes. His appearance matches the description.”
The young man, Linden, blinked at me.
“…And you are? Senior Ban the Trash? What do you want with me?”
Linden was now a fourth-year student, in his final year. He seemed to recognize me because he’d seen ‘Ban’ when he himself was a first-year and ‘Ban’ was a fourth-year.
“I’m Professor Ban now.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’ve decided to become a professor at the Academy. The Director told me to rescue you, a failing student. Why are you holed up here? Tell me. I’ll help you.”
Linden answered cautiously.
“…You’re going to help me, Senior?”
“Yes.”
“…Then, could you lend me just ten thousand Pena?”
“…What?”
“I-I can pay you back right away! I’ve got some incredible information this time. If it hits big, I’ll make at least ten times my money—!”
My head began to throb.
As I’d mentioned before, Linden ended up being sold to a black magician because of his enormous debts.
I’d wondered how he’d managed to get into so much debt. Now I knew from what he’d just said.
“You—don’t tell me you lost all your money playing the stock market?”
Flinch!
That reaction meant I was right.
“Then what about the graduation exam?”
Linden answered hesitantly.
“…I signed a contract surrendering my body, so I’m supposed to be dragged off as soon as I graduate. I was trying to put off graduating…”
I sighed.
To think one of the Ten Demons could be such a pathetic fool!
‘Wait, isn’t this actually a good situation for me?’
I looked Linden up and down.
He looked vacant, but he was destined to become a top-class black magician in the future.
In other words, he was an unpolished gem.
‘If I play my cards right, I might be able to make him my patsy.’
He was different from the protagonists, whom I had to avoid at all costs.
If I could just get him to come to his senses, Linden wouldn’t have to fall into evil.
“I’ll take care of your debt problem for you.”
I had a way.
“Y-you will, Senior?”
“Of course, it won’t be for free. There’s one condition.”
I spoke with a powerful air of intimidation that left no room for argument.
“I’ll take over your contract surrendering your body.”
“What… what do you want me to do?”
“After you graduate, become a graduate student in my research lab.”
“!!”
I lifted the corners of my mouth.
To Linden, it was probably a smile that could not have been more terrifying.
“Become my slave—no, my graduate student—and pay back the debt you owe me.”
This was a chance to acquire a slave of Ten Demons caliber as a graduate student.
There was no way I could let it slip by.