Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Katrinne’s face flushed bright red.
“W-who says you get to decide?! You think I’ll lose to you?! It’s not like I’m interested in becoming Professor Ban’s top student, of course!”
“Both of you… shut… No, please be quiet. I’m starting to feel unwell.”
The hospital room erupted into an uproar.
…It’s a relief that everyone seems so motivated to work hard from now on, but could you be a little quieter? I’m still a patient, you know?
Just then—
“Ahem. It’s good to see the students so full of energy. And you look well enough too, Ban.”
It was an unexpected visitor.
Professor Alif, the student affairs director.
He was one of the key figures in Director Karak’s faction.
Why now? Could it be…?
I guessed what he was here for and let a hint of surprise show in my eyes.
Professor Alif looked at me with displeasure for a moment, then spoke curtly.
“Here. This is an official notice from the president’s office. Read it. Honestly, who do you think you are, making me run errands like this?”
My eyes lit up.
The document was filled with all sorts of complicated details, but the gist of it was simple.
Director Karak had kept his promise.
The moment of my very first lecture had finally arrived!
All right! I’m a professor now, too! From here, I’ll make it all the way to an official appointment!
It felt like my dream was inching a little closer.
The dream of becoming a professor and coasting through life.
But I couldn’t exactly rejoice without a care.
“…This course?”
I swallowed a groan.
There was a problem with the course selection.
A very serious one.
“Do I really have to take charge of this course?”
“Ha! What do you mean by that? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to secure this position for you? Don’t you understand what an enormous privilege you’ve been granted? If you don’t want it, then forget it!”
Professor Alif snapped angrily and left.
This is a problem.
Hans and Linden tilted their heads.
“What’s wrong, Young Master? Understanding the Basics of Magic? Isn’t that a perfectly good course?”
“I know, right? It’s an important subject, so only famous professors get to teach it. Come to think of it, how did Senior Ban end up in charge of this course? There must have been someone teaching it already, right?”
“I heard the professor in charge suddenly took a leave of absence for personal reasons. Apparently, he’d fallen into gambling debt and fled the Free City in the dead of night.”
“Either way, isn’t that a good thing? It’s a chance to make a name for yourself as a professor right away. Everyone will be watching you.”
“That’s exactly the problem.”
“Huh?”
I didn’t answer.
Understanding the Basics of Magic.
As the two of them had said, there was nothing wrong with the course itself. If anything, it was a good one.
The problem was what would happen around this course.
This is the course that serves as the setting for the new semester’s “Faction Clash” episode.
The factions in question were Director Karak’s faction and the Rapalt Ducal House faction.
The story was about the two factions coming into major conflict over this course, while the protagonists made their mark amid the turmoil.
If this goes ahead, I’ll end up as the standard-bearer for Director Karak’s faction. What on earth is Director Karak thinking?
Was it a coincidence?
There was no way that slippery old fox, Director Karak, would do something like that by chance.
He still doesn’t trust me. If things don’t go well, he’s going to cut me loose.
If I fought well against the Rapalt Ducal House, all the better for him.
But if I failed to meet his expectations, he’d use that as an excuse to get rid of me.
Damn it, I told him I’d be loyal, so why can’t he trust me? Well, this is exactly the kind of guy who’d be the first-year arc’s final boss.
Either way, it was a difficult situation.
I was about to become a shrimp caught between two whales.
The best option would be to deftly avoid the whales’ battlefield, but—
Impossible. The Rapalt Ducal House hates me too.
I suddenly felt drained.
One side suspected me, and the other was my mortal enemy.
And the one side that did look on me with goodwill—the side of Former President Randolf—was a bomb I absolutely had to stay away from.
Office politics was never easy, but this was something else.
If things with the Rapalt Ducal House could ease up even a little, this would be less exhausting. Is there any way?
Perhaps because I was worrying about that, Emily happened to visit.
“Ban, are you feeling all right? I came to see you.”
“Thanks.”
For a moment, I looked at Emily, this body’s former fiancée.
Could I use Emily to improve my relationship with the Rapalt Ducal House?
But I soon shook my head.
That would be impossible unless Emily and I got engaged again.
I was about to bring up something else when Emily looked at me gravely and spoke.
“…Are you going to do that again?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you going to use something like the Self-Sacrifice Spell again?”
She looked angry.
“Are you worried about me as my partner? I’m fine. I’ll make sure nothing happens that could hurt you.”
“That’s not what I mean. Honestly…”
“??”
For some reason, her expression turned even more displeased.
As I tilted my head, Emily brought up something else she had come to discuss.
“Actually, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
Emily pressed her lips together.
It meant that this wasn’t something she could bring up easily.
“It’s all right. Speak freely. You and I are business partners, aren’t we?”
“……”
“Aren’t we? I think we make rather good partners.”
When doing business, compatibility with the other person (?) mattered too.
In that respect, Emily was an incredibly easy person to work with.
“How would you feel about being partners in something other than business?”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’m not one to beat around the bush, so I’ll be direct.”
Emily looked straight at me.
“How about getting engaged to me again?”
“……”
I wondered if I’d heard her right.
Emily’s expression was serious.
Which meant I hadn’t misheard.
“Is this your father’s—His Grace Duke Bolman’s—idea?”
“Yes, that’s right. He changed his mind after hearing the recent rumors about you. Since Father is going to take control of Rubiness Academy anyway, he plans to put you out front.”
That was unexpected.
“But this is also an ultimatum. If you don’t accept the engagement, he’ll drive you out of the Academy by any means necessary.”
“Cruel of him. He’s ignoring your opinion, the person directly involved…”
“I said I didn’t mind.”
“……”
For once, even the Black Flame Dragon couldn’t completely hide my startled expression.
As if to make sure I didn’t misunderstand, Emily stammered as she added an explanation.
“Y-you’d be of great benefit to me, too, if I were engaged to you.”
At last, I nodded as though I understood.
“True. Gaining the backing of the Ecclesia family would be a huge advantage for you, too.”
“…Yes, that’s right. We’d make the perfect partners. Or, a fake engagement would be fine, too. We get engaged to put out the immediate fire, then break it off later.”
“Would that really be all right?”
“What’s wrong with breaking off an engagement? Someone as capable as me wouldn’t be tarnished in the slightest by something as trivial as that. If you want, I can even draw up an engagement contract. The fake engagement would last until I gained power within the family.”
I fell into thought.
‘The terms aren’t bad. It wouldn’t be a real engagement, just a fake one.’
For one thing, the Rapalt Ducal House would stop giving me trouble.
And not only that—the Rapalt Ducal House would become my umbrella, protecting me.
They wouldn’t merely suspect me, like Director Karak did. They’d genuinely be on my side.
I wouldn’t have to worry about my appointment as a professor, either, and I’d be able to live a much more comfortable life.
But—
“I refuse.”
“All right.”
“…That’s a rather underwhelming reaction.”
“I expected you to refuse. Why? Just tell me that. I’ll keep it secret from Father.”
I quietly looked into Emily’s eyes.
The eyes of a merchant who never let her true thoughts show.
I couldn’t tell what she was really thinking.
‘The reason? Should I tell her?’
The most fundamental reason was that I simply didn’t want to.
Fake or not, I wasn’t in any position to be thinking about something like an engagement.
‘Give it just a little more time, and all kinds of calamities will break out, people will start talking about the end of the world, and she’s asking me to leisurely get engaged?’
There was another reason I absolutely couldn’t accept this proposal.
‘This is something I’m not supposed to talk about.’
Still, maybe it was because Emily had helped me so much in the past.
It felt wrong to keep my mouth shut.
It wasn’t a future she could avoid even if I told her about it, anyway, but—
‘Maybe it’ll help Emily a little.’
And not just Emily.
‘…It might help me give Senin a proper lesson, too.’
Senin.
This was the first time I’d brought up his name.
He was the heir to the Rapalt Ducal House and one of the sixteen protagonists of Hero Academy.
More precisely, he was the protagonist of the Merchant class in the Humanities Faculty.
The problem was that, despite being a protagonist, he was incredibly obnoxious.
He wasn’t a villain, but he was the sort of person who irritated you almost as much as any villain could.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to make him learn a hard lesson now, for the sake of the future.
“Will you really keep it secret?”
“Yes, of course. What’s the reason you’re so reluctant?”
I glanced at the button on Emily’s sleeve for a moment.
Contrary to her bold assurance, it was a Magic Tool for eavesdropping.
Installed without Emily’s knowledge.
‘This conversation will reach Duke Bolman’s ears.’
That was fine.
Nothing would change just because Duke Bolman found out ahead of time.
“The reason I refused is…”
I slowly began to speak.
And then—
As Emily listened to my story, her eyes began to widen with shock.
A mansion of unparalleled splendor.
It was as vast as the palace of any kingdom.
A heavy silence hung over the top floor of the Rapalt Ducal House’s residence, home to the wealthiest family in the Empire.
“Ban caught Puppet? Was he really that impressive?”
“…They say he used a Self-Sacrifice Spell, and that the outcome was due to luck.”
“What a naive thing to say! Luck is a skill, in the end!”
Bang!
Duke Bolman, the head of the Rapalt Ducal House, flew into a rage.
‘Why is he paying so much attention to Ban Trash? The boy is nothing special, really.’
The butler swallowed a sigh.
Although Ban had recently begun to distinguish himself, he was still only a promising mage, and at most, a mere Temporary Professor at the Academy.
‘If His Grace didn’t have such an inferiority complex toward the Ecclesia family, he wouldn’t act like this.’
Of the four great ducal houses, the Rapalt Ducal House had the shortest history.
The Prestigious Swordsmanship Family and the Prestigious Magic Family were entirely different in nature, so they were not a point of comparison. But the Raphalts were always compared to the Ecclesias and thought inferior.
—A family of money-grubbers, with none of the tradition or honor that the Ecclesias possess.
What angered him even more was that the Ecclesias themselves didn’t care about the Rapalt Ducal House at all.
They only thought of them as, ‘Oh, that wealthy family?’ They didn’t even consider them rivals.
‘And now Ban Trash has even made such an outrageous remark to Lady Emily.’
Through the eavesdropping Magic Tool, he’d overheard the reason Ban had rejected the engagement proposal, and it was appalling.
“I can’t get engaged to a family that’s going to collapse before long.”
I didn’t know what had possessed him to make such an outrageous remark.
Whatever his reason, there was no question that Duke Bolman had been blinded by rage.
Grinding his teeth, Duke Bolman said,
“The course he’s been assigned this time is Understanding the Basics of Magic?”