Chapter 47
Chapter 47
‘…Why are these two acting like this?’
I was so taken aback that I tried to calm them down again, but—
“I’ve already made up my mind, okay? So please stop worrying about me. I don’t care if there are so few applicants that the class can’t function properly.”
“Y-yes. I’m fine with it too. In fact, I’d rather spend some quiet time with you, Professor, with only a few students.”
‘…No, I’m not worried about you two.’
My mouth opened and closed.
It didn’t look like my persuasion was going to work.
For the record, students had the right to choose their classes. So, in principle, a professor couldn’t reject a student’s choice.
‘…Is this really okay?’
I looked up at the sky.
My professorial life, which had been filled with dreams and hopes, felt as though it were going off the rails from the very first step.
-Kkyu.
As if to comfort me, the baby dragon poked its head out of my magic pouch and rubbed its cheek against mine.
‘…You’re one of my worries, too, you know?’
Perhaps she had misunderstood my sigh, because Katrinne asked,
“But are you really okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“At this rate, you’re in danger of being kicked out. Let’s find a way to get six students, at least. I’ll do the work of a hundred people to make up for the rest.”
“I-I’ll do my best too. O-Of course, I’d rather be here with you, Professor, just the two of us, but…”
I quietly watched the two of them worry about me, then chuckled.
“There’s no need to worry. The situation isn’t necessarily bad.”
There was a reason I’d been a Sales King in my previous life.
I always tried to look on the bright side, no matter how bad the circumstances were.
‘When you’re already at rock bottom, you can make a much stronger impression by turning things around. Depending on how I handle this, I’m actually in an even better position to hit it big.’
I thought of a concrete way to do it.
‘I just need to make a scene.’
It was the sort of phrase that would make someone flinch if they heard it.
I was serious.
But it couldn’t be just any scene.
I needed a big one.
As it happened, there was a way for everyone to win.
I looked straight at the two of them and asked,
“Do you two need money?”
“…Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“I’m asking because I’m your supervising professor.”
“What do you take me for? I’m a duke’s daughter, you know.”
“So how much do you have left for living expenses?”
“…Enough for a week. If I sell the jewelry I stole from my family in advance, I can hold out a little longer.”
As expected, the Duchess’s schemes had cut off Katrinne’s support from the Ducal House.
As for Libel, well, there was no need to ask.
The growling of her stomach rang out, and I wondered whether she was even managing to eat proper meals.
‘There’s a way. A way to solve both their poverty and my problem of recruiting students.’
“I-I’m fine. I’m used to going hungry anyway, so one meal a day is more than enough. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Could you not worry about me either? I’ll handle the money problem myself.”
I shook my head.
I wasn’t saying I’d give them financial support.
Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I was flat broke myself.
“Would you two like to take a part-time job?”
“…A part-time job?”
Their ears perked up.
It wasn’t easy for First-Year Students to get a chance to work part-time.
“Right. It won’t be very difficult, as long as you do exactly what I tell you.”
And then, after they heard my explanation—
Katrinne sprang to her feet.
“What kind of ridiculous idea is that?! How are we supposed to do something that dangerous?!”
The part-time job I’d proposed was exterminating Monsters in the Underground Waterway.
A task that even most adventurers wouldn’t dare undertake.
But—
“You can do it, as long as you do exactly what I tell you. I’m Ban Ecclesia, after all.”
“!!”
“To think you’d be scared over something like this. I’m disappointed in you. Katrinne, didn’t you enroll in the Academy with the sole intention of giving your family a good slap in the face?”
Katrinne bit down hard on her lip.
I looked straight at her and Libel and spoke.
With all my sincerity.
“You chose me, Ban Ecclesia. I won’t let you regret that choice, so trust me. It may only be a short two months, but during that time, I’ll make you the best you can be.”
The most effective form of marketing was word of mouth.
I planned to become a top professor whose students would all want to be taught by him, by showing everyone how the two who’d chosen me rose to the top.
The next day.
A letter arrived at the Academy.
Amazingly, it was a commendation from the city’s Guard.
-This commendation is hereby sent in recognition of the extermination of Monsters in the Underground Waterway by Katrinne and Libel, students of your Academy.
Everyone was stunned.
“Wait, isn’t the Underground Waterway where Level 3 Monsters appear?”
“Even upperclassmen have their hands full with that place! And those two were only the top and second-place students in the Magic Faculty, no matter how you look at it!”
The reason soon came to light.
“Someone saw Professor Ban—no, Professor Ban—enter the Underground Waterway with the two of them that day!”
“So it was thanks to Professor Ban?”
I answered everyone’s questions simply.
“They’re my students. I only put them through special training before beginning the proper lessons.”
“!!”
“What a shame. That there are only two people who can receive my special instruction. It can’t be helped. If you let prejudice blind you and miss out on the teachings of a professor destined to become a legend, then that’s your loss.”
…The Black Flame Dragon had snuck in a final line there, but the reaction wasn’t bad.
Everyone looked at me with expressions of shock and confusion.
‘This is only the beginning.’
I continued their “special training” one after another.
-A letter of appreciation for eliminating the ghost monsters at the City Cemetery.
-A letter of appreciation for resolving the Curse at the abandoned house in Slum District Five.
In just a few days, he had resolved more than three of the city’s major troubles, and it had even come to the point where a special commendation plaque was presented in the name of the Guard captain.
“Were the rumors about Professor Ban really true?”
“Then was the story about Professor Ban refuting Professor Ballas’s theory during the training period true, too?”
“I’ve also heard that Professor Ban is a legendary genius. Though, of course, that was something a gossip magazine said.”
“…Did we decide on our supervising professors too hastily?”
The students murmured among themselves.
Everything was going exactly as intended.
I haven’t made a clear decision yet, but one or two students have already come to ask about signing up. If I ride this momentum, it should work out.
And there was another incidental benefit.
He had received an additional reward along with the commendation plaque, so he had ended up with more money than he’d expected.
I’d like to pocket it myself, but…
Looking ahead to the future, I decided to “invest” it.
“P-Professor, why are we here? Why would I need clothes like these?”
“I don’t need new clothes, either.”
The place I had gone was a clothing store.
Seeing their expressions of distaste—as if they were breaking out in an allergic reaction at the sight of new clothes—I spoke to the two of them.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. This isn’t for you. It’s for me.”
“…For you, Professor?”
“That’s right. My reputation won’t tolerate my students going around looking so shabby, so that’s the only reason I’m doing this.”
I wasn’t just saying it.
Wouldn’t it be good publicity if the two of them looked respectable?
There’s no question about Libel, and Katrinne’s appearance is shabby, too. Even if she is an illegitimate child, how could they discriminate against her so blatantly?
But then, I realized my mistake.
“…I said I didn’t need it. Who does he think he is?”
“…I will never forget this kindness.”
I’d only bought them a single set of ordinary clothes, but both of them looked far too moved.
This must be the first time either of them has ever received a gift like this.
I cleared my throat.
It felt as if I’d dug myself into a hole, but what was done was done.
It’s only going to be like this for the two months of the First-Year Student adjustment period, anyway.
Still, I spoke coldly, if only to establish a little distance between us.
I was particularly worried about Libel, more than Katrinne.
“Libel, you need to pay attention to your appearance. No matter what you’re like on the inside, if you look shabby on the outside, people will look down on you and treat you however they please.”
In fact, that was something Libel would experience countless times from now on.
The problem is, Libel isn’t just a nice person, either.
No—actually, she had a more dangerous personality than anyone.
She was pretending to be docile, but you never knew when or how she might explode and cause a major disaster.
“You’re a commoner. There’s no one in this Academy of lower status than you. If you get into a dispute, don’t waste your time trying to stand up to them. Come find me instead.”
“…Th-thank you.”
“I’m not doing this for your sake. If something happens to you, it’ll cause trouble for me. That’s the only reason.”
“Th-thank you even more.”
She had a look on her face that said, I know what you really mean, Professor, so I frowned.
In any case, there was the side effect of growing closer to the two of them, but the process of choosing my students was going smoothly.
Now all that’s left is to land one decisive blow.
I expected Kansir or Ballas to lose patience and pick a fight with me.
If that happened, I would trample them, and the finishing touch would be complete.
But they’re both quieter than I expected. Should I provoke them on purpose?
It was while I was considering that that an unexpected problem arose.
A single invitation had arrived.
—Invitation to tea.
The problem was who had sent it.
—Sent by the mayor of the Free City.
My face went rigid.
Why is this person…?
It wasn’t simply because he was an important figure.
The mayor of the Free City was someone with a deep connection to “Ban.”
And a troublesome one at that.
Ban the Trash’s natural enemy.
That was the mayor of the Free City’s nickname.
Meanwhile, at the main house of the Prestigious Magic Family—
-Smack!!
A loud slap rang out.
Amazingly, the person who had been slapped was Ballas, Rubines’s renowned newly appointed professor.
Before him stood Duchess Beth, the matriarch of the Prestigious Magic Family, staring at him with a cold gaze.
Ballas hurriedly dropped to his knees.
“I’m sorry, Duchess! Although I failed to meet your expectations during the training period, from now on I’ll take care of that bastard Ban—”
“Shut up.”
At her icy rebuke, Ballas’s face turned white.
“You have only one opportunity left. If you disappoint me again, there will be nowhere in the magical world for you to set foot. I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in some remote region of the south, unable to return.”
It was no mere threat.
The Duchess before him was more than capable of doing exactly that.
Countless people had fallen out of her favor only to become invalids or have their lives ruined.
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
After Ballas withdrew, his face heavy, crash! A loud clattering sound rang out.
“Ahhh! Damn it! That Katrinne bitch, and Ban!!”
The news that Katrinne was already distinguishing herself at Rubines as soon as she enrolled drove Beth mad with rage.
As it happened, Joanna, the daughter she had borne herself, had recently been in a slump and had shown nothing particularly impressive since enrolling.
It’s all that bastard Ban’s fault.
As Duchess Beth ground her teeth, a middle-aged man appeared, swaggering casually.
“My, my. If you get angry, won’t it ruin your lovely skin, dear sister?”
“Is this about Katrinne again? Didn’t I tell you ages ago that we should get rid of that girl? Shall I take care of her now?”
The man grinned.
His smile was brimming with menace.
“If killing her is a problem, shall I at least pluck out that child’s insolent eyes and bring them back to you? Just like you used to do so often back when you were in the Abyss as the Witch of Cruelty.”