Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Whoooosh.
The air changed in an instant.
The Black Flame Dragon’s imposing presence swept over the room.
As expected of a masterful display of badassery.
Even Katrinne, who was used to Ban, was impressed. The other students were beyond words.
Taken aback by the unexpected side of Ban, every student focused their attention on him and waited for what he would say next.
But then—
“Did everyone bring their textbooks? Hans, have them hand them over to Assistant Linden. I’ll hold on to them for now.”
“You’re taking our textbooks? Why?”
“Because the material is use— No, it’s too much for you to take in right now.”
“Too much for us? We already know all this.”
The students looked bewildered.
The name of this class was Understanding the Basics of Magic.
It was a basic course, so most of the students had already studied material at this level in advance.
“You know it? You’ve merely memorized the material for your entrance exams.”
“!!”
“What I intend to teach you is not that kind of superficial knowledge. I’ll make you truly ‘understand’ what magic is.”
That was right.
What Ban intended to do was exactly what the course title said: teach them to understand magic.
He intended to teach every student there what magic truly was.
And then—
The students’ eyes widened until they looked ready to split.
A lunatic lecture, unlike anything they had ever heard or seen before, began.
Mirror Tablet.
A remote Magic Tool that could connect to the Academy’s Philosopher’s Stone through a small mirror.
Students used the mirror for various purposes, such as researching information. One of those uses was the ‘Anonymous Message Board.’
By using a certain code to leave a message on the mirror, they could make the exact same message appear in a corner of the Philosopher’s Stone. Students took advantage of that feature and used it like a graffiti wall.
It was also called the Mirror Board—and today, that Mirror Board exploded.
Was Professor Ban’s lecture today for real?
Why? How was it? Tell us what happened.
I bet Ban Trash’s lecture was as trashy as he is, lol.
I don’t even have to go to know how it went. Poor bastards in Class 2. Their exam scores are going to be at the bottom, too.
Are you all deaf? I’m in Class 2, and Professor Ban’s lecture was amazing.
The posts on the Mirror Board came to a sudden halt.
But only for a moment.
Then came an explosive wave of comments, several times as many as before.
Amazing, my ass. Are you crazy?
Argh! You call that a lecture? I didn’t pay tuition to take some crap like that!
It was a brilliant lecture. What’s the matter? Is your level just that low?
Oh, are you the assistant with the shiny head? Thanks for all your hard work!
Wait, isn’t this Professor Ban himself? He graduated, so he must have an access code, right?
No, I’m telling you, it was actually good! You damn idiots!
Professor, pretending to be a student and posting insults is a violation of the school rules.
Katrinne, who had been busily posting on the Mirror Board, scowled.
It was actually pretty good, wasn’t it? Are all these people blind? Though, of course, it was a little unusual.
No, perhaps ‘unusual’ wasn’t the right word.
It was outrageous.
More precisely, it was ‘crazy.’
Katrinne recalled the lecture.
Draw a star on a blank sheet of paper.
...Do you mean a star from a stellar-rank spell? We’re not in the Magic Faculty, so that would be impossible—
It was worth repeating: this was a common course.
Far more students were unable to cast magic than those who could.
Who said to draw a star from a stellar-rank spell? Just draw a star.
...Just a star? Why would we do that?
You don’t even understand stars—or lines and dots—and you want to learn about stellar-rank spells? How arrogant.
!!
After that, Ban went on and on, giving them one bizarre instruction after another.
Draw a triangle. Draw a pentagon.
Make dots at regular intervals.
Connect the lines.
And so on.
The kind of things that made the class seem more like an art course than a magic one.
When the students finally couldn’t stand it anymore and complained—
If you want to learn about magic as general knowledge, I can explain as much as you like. But what will you have to show for it? You can learn that sort of thing by barely skimming some worthless textbook.
...
As I said before, I want you to truly understand magic through this course. Whatever Faculty you’re in, whatever path you take in the future, it will be of great help to you.
At those words, the students had no choice but to follow Ban’s instructions, but their dissatisfaction did not fade.
Not one of them understood what drawing dots and lines had to do with understanding magic.
They had been so busy drawing the geometric shapes Ban ordered them to that the first lecture ended before they knew it. The students promptly exploded.
This is insane! He doesn’t have anything to teach us, so he’s making us draw useless pictures instead, isn’t he?
What’s the homework? Draw the pictures we drew today a hundred times over? I’m not doing it!
Judging by the way he teaches, he’ll probably get kicked out soon anyway.
...This is actually really helpful practice. Maybe the students from the other Faculties wouldn’t notice, but why can’t the Magic Faculty students figure it out at all?
Katrinne clicked her tongue.
In fact, she had done the same practice once before.
It was an assignment given to her by the former head of a Prestigious Magic Family, who had since passed away.
For the record, the former head had been a Level 9 Ascendant.
Following that instruction, Katrinne, a hopeless dullard at the time, had somehow managed to make her way into magic.
...But it takes a really long time of repetition for this to work. He’s not going to keep doing just this, is he? I don’t think the students will put up with it.
Her concern proved correct.
The second lecture was exactly the same.
The only difference was that he added a few words like these:
“Draw while concentrating.”
“…Concentrating?”
“That’s right. Don’t think about anything pointless at all. It’s not as if you’d understand anything even if you tried to think about it. Look only at the lines and dots you’re drawing.”
It was nonsense—the sort of thing a ghost would say while bursting the side of a roll cake.
Today’s class was legendary again.
Concentrate, my ass! A dot’s a dot, and a line’s a line!
Argh. Figures. Ban Trash is Ban Trash.
You’re all so ignorant, not even recognizing the true value of this exercise. I think this is going to be incredibly helpful! I have a friend from a Prestigious Magic Family, and they said they do similar exercises.
…I… really like Professor Ban’s classes, too. Everyone… shut up.
Thank you to the teaching assistants for your hard work. Spreading false information and using abusive language violate the school rules.
Katrinne and Libel stared at the Mirror Board in silence.
They had both tried, somehow, to post comments in his defense, but they were no match for the opposition’s firepower.
To be honest, even Katrinne could understand the students’ complaints.
It was definitely a good method, but it was something better suited to practicing alone, diligently—not to a class.
‘…What on earth is Professor Ban thinking?’
The little room… no, the laboratory was in an uproar.
“Ah, Senior Ban. I told you this wouldn’t work! Do you have any idea how many student complaints we’ve received?! Look at all these forms! Ah, Marie, don’t chew up the complaint forms just because you’re taking the professor’s side!”
“Ppa! Ppa!”
“Hmph, do you not understand His Young Master’s great purpose? His Young Master is exacting bloody revenge upon the students who spoke ill of him. Starting next class, he will properly demonstrate his greatness! Isn’t that right, Your Young Master?”
The commotion was just as I had expected.
I drank my coffee with effortless elegance, not the slightest bit perturbed.
“Don’t worry. Everything is going according to the lesson plan.”
“What plan? That’s nonsense! Are you out of your mind?”
It wasn’t Linden or Hans.
I turned my head. A man with a stern-looking face stood there, his features twisted into a scowl.
“You…?”
“…Surely you haven’t forgotten me? I am Ballas, the former adopted son of a Prestigious Magic Family, a prodigy of the magical world, and the most promising of this year’s Temporary Professors.”
“…Ballas, right. I know who you are. Just tell me what you want. Why are you here?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know? Because of you, I’m at risk of being expelled from the Academy along with you!”
That was a strange thing to say.
“I’m the assistant professor for your Understanding the Basics of Magic.”
I gave a small nod and said, “Mm.”
Normally, Temporary Professors participated in the main courses in supporting roles. As luck would have it, the course Ballas had been assigned to assist was mine.
“I won’t say it twice. Even now, you should conduct your class according to the curriculum standards set by the Ministry of Education.”
“I’m already meeting the standards. Isn’t the course objective to help the students understand magic?”
“At this rate, we’ll both be expelled!”
“What are you making such a fuss about? It seems certain you’ll be expelled regardless of whether I do things this way or that.”
“…What did you say?”
Ballas’s face stiffened.
‘As it happens, I need a sucker to work for me. Let’s talk him around.’
“Isn’t that right? You no longer have the backing of a Prestigious Magic Family. Who’s going to treat you well now? Don’t tell me you really think you’re someone important.”
“…Watch your words.”
His face flushed, but he couldn’t deny it.
“I’ll give you a chance.”
“…What do you mean?”
“If you give my course everything you’ve got as an assistant, I’ll make sure you get a perfect score on the course evaluation, at the very least. The choice is yours.”
“……”
Ballas remained silent for a long while.
To be honest, I hadn’t thought there was much chance he would accept my offer.
‘He’s always had a deep grudge against me.’
But then—
“Fine. I’ll accept your offer.”
“…Really?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. This is just a gamble—I’m hoping to ride the luck that follows you.”
Ballas growled.
“I’m only joining forces with you for a little while. Don’t forget that I’ll be the one who comes out on top in the end.”
After that, he turned and left in a huff, and I shrugged.
Whatever Ballas was feeling, it was a relief that I’d acquired a sucker I could put to work.
“Senior Ban, did you recruit Professor Ballas because you’re planning to change the class content?”
“That’s right.”
By comparison, everything up to this point had been little more than warm-ups before the main event.
Warm-ups meant to get the students ready to accept my “real” lessons.
‘But I haven’t finished preparing the final class yet.’
I thought about it for a moment.
I could ask Hans and Linden for help, but that wouldn’t make it perfect.
‘I need help from someone with deep knowledge of magic. Someone even more knowledgeable than the likes of Ballas.’
That was no easy requirement to meet.
Ballas might have looked like a blundering fool, but he was a Five-Star Supreme Mage.
To be more knowledgeable than him, someone would have to be at least a Sixth-Star Mage.
‘There is one person who comes to mind.’
But I soon shook my head.
‘No.’
The person I had thought of was Professor Bernstein.
The head professor of the Magic Theory Department.
‘I’ve already sided with Director Karak’s faction. Professor Bernstein and I have parted ways.’
It was then that I heard a knock at the door. Linden opened it and, his face gone pale, stammered,
“S-Senior Ban. The tiger professor… I mean, Professor Bernstein is here.”
“!!”
It really was Professor Bernstein.
‘Did he come to persuade me to join Former President Randolf’s faction?’
But Professor Bernstein said something I hadn’t expected at all.
“Don’t you need help?”
“How did you know, Professor?”
“I’ve considered teaching the same kind of class as you. Of course, I didn’t dare try it, and gave up. I’ll help you.”
It was precisely the help I had been hoping for!
With Professor Bernstein’s assistance, everything would be perfect.
‘…But if I accept his help, won’t I end up indebted to him?’
As I wore a troubled expression, Professor Bernstein looked straight at me and said,
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t care which faction you belong to. From the start, what I expected from you was that you’d be a mage—not that you’d get involved in politics.”
“……”
“Once again, I’m only offering my help as a scholar of magic and a professor who has devoted himself to teaching. I’m simply looking forward to seeing what results your class will produce.”
There was not the slightest trace of ulterior motive in Professor Bernstein’s gaze as he said this. It was completely sincere.