Chapter 2: It Seems I Killed the Commander Too
Thinking about it, it seemed I had killed the commander as well.
Aaron pointed at the knight.
“Tell the frontlines that the commander Isaac was killed by Aaron Patrick. And send word to the demons who are not hostile.”
“How should we handle that demon?”
While brushing off the bloodied gloves, Aaron glared at the knight.
“Knights these days seem to scare children who haven’t even become adults.”
In response to his rebuke, the knight obediently moved to carry out the order.
Aaron looked at the girl who seemed to be Skadi.
I still don’t know.
The blood of Patrick urged her to kill him fiercely, but the remnants of her past-life emotions suppressed the instinct.
Love?
It was hard to be sure now, as killing intent and disgust were stronger.
Still.
It was hard to dismiss it as a momentary emotion, as it kept sticking in his eyes.
If the favor of having my life spared is to nurture talent...
Even if she was brought as a maid because she had no horns, it would be hard for her to notice she was a demon. The only thing to watch out for was to ensure that the knight from just now didn’t open his mouth.
A moment later, he shook his head.
When in the old shack.
Skadi had casually said that she was alive and had entered the academy.
It would be easy to manage if taken, but the future would be twisted from the start. Rather than that, it would be more rational to chase the academy.
The conclusion was reached.
“What are you standing there for? If you don’t want to die here, get out of this place.”
“Why did you save me? I heard the evil one hates demons.”
“It’s a misunderstanding. I did kill all the demons blocking my way, but I didn’t touch you, a minor girl.”
“Why?”
“Because I am a noble.”
He gave the obvious answer, but for some reason, this foolish girl opened her mouth as if she was dazed.
When he thought she was impressed by his noble belief.
Explosive words burst out.
“Thanks to that crazy bastard, I survived...”
“Where did that nonsense come from.”
He tried to scold her sharply for the sudden outburst, but she was already leaving the battlefield.
...It seemed like her speech had been like that since she was young, scratching at the nerves.
With his mind numbed by the blood, Aaron called out to someone somewhere.
“Sebastian.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The elderly butler who had been absent stood beside Aaron.
“Explain the situation.”
“The recapture of Londinium was successful. The army's command was well handled, and no demons fleeing separately were caught. Finally, this is the core.”
“What is it?”
“If you return to the headquarters seriously, it seems you will be imprisoned on the charge of killing the supreme commander.”
A question mark popped up in his head for a moment.
As per Sebastian's words, upon returning to the headquarters, the hero who recaptured Londinium was not praised for his achievements but transferred to prison on the charge of killing the supreme commander.
At first, Aaron was surprised by the nonexistent memory, but when the executor mentioned the name Hogg Irvan, he nodded.
A blurry but clearly bald and mentally rotten figure. Whenever a battle occurred, he disliked his own achievements growing uncontrollably, so he constantly obstructed the little guy.
At first, it was just coquetry to laugh off, but it was a guy who, despite his jealousy even when Isaac the lich was weakened, rushed forward with his opinion, eyes blinded by jealousy. As a commander, he immediately snapped his neck for the disqualifying action.
He had thought about it and done it.
“If the empire values achievements, I thought they would hush it up.”
“Anyway, since the emperor personally appointed him, there's no lack of reason, right? Actually, here we are in prison.”
The result was bad.
“It's uncomfortable, but wait a moment.”
“The tone seems to have a trick up your sleeve.”
“There is no trick, but I can bring good news soon.”
Sebastian sent a skeptical gaze at the baseless words. Just when he had to check if his master was mentally unstable.
“Aaron Patrick, visit.”
The soldier pointed at him and called.
“Don’t come back.”
Aaron, familiarly, accepted the soldier's guidance comfortably and moved.
In the room arrived following the soldier, there was one desk and two chairs. An old man in wizard robes sat on one chair. Seeing Aaron, he smiled with eyes and invited him to sit on the empty chair.
When the soldier tried to take out the key to unlock the handcuffs.
“No need.”
With a crisp sound, the handcuffs shattered.
Aaron casually patted the soldier's shoulder.
“From now on, use high-quality handcuffs. Aren't handcuffs that can't withstand the power of a wizard not so?”
“Ah, ah! Yes! I will follow! The two of you talk nicely!”
The unrealistic scene made the soldier quickly salute the old man and leave outside.
Sitting down, the old man smiled kindly and poured tea into a luxurious teacup. It was a fragrant tea that cost a considerable amount.
“Nice to meet you. I am...”
“Mercedes. The first chairman of the only academy on the continent and the current chairman. A human with the rare Meister title on the continent. No need for that.”
“Haha, no need for self-introduction. It seems you want to get to the main point, so I'll skip the preface.”
Aaron nodded his head. Then Mercedes placed a sheet of paper on the desk. There, the word 'recommendation letter' was written in large letters.
“I will release you from prison. On that condition, can you become a professor at our academy?”
It was the same proposal as before regression.
“So be it.”
“Hmm, you accept it quite readily. From the perspective of the proposer, it's funny to say this, but I can't immediately make you a professor.”
“Why?”
“No matter how chairman, there are many professors who don't like it when a 25-year-old without lecture experience becomes a professor right away.”
“Then this is just a piece of paper. Not deceiving.”
“I apologize repeatedly. Still, I won't be able to process the work immediately.”
The chairman snapped his fingers.
Starting from the tip of the finger, the spell unfolded. The unfolded spell gathered and gathered to create one phenomenon.
Translucent faces appeared in the air, filling the room enough to fill the space.
“I will ask the professors. Do you all agree that Aaron Patrick here becomes a professor at the academy? Those who agree, raise your hands.”
No one raised their hands.
Among them, the professor with the distinctive mustache spoke.
“We don't know how it will be in the lecture room even if we are elites in the battlefield. So, I think verification is necessary for this.”
“Verification?”
“If you pass the trial lecture evaluation, we will recognize you as a professor.”
“Do the other professors agree?”
““No objections.””
In the situation proceeding swiftly, Aaron asked.
“Don’t I need to explain what the trial lecture evaluation is before proceeding?”
“I have committed a faux pas.”
“Stop committing that faux pas.”
“Haha, as I get older, I keep forgetting. Please understand.”
Waving his hand, the chairman took out another paper.
It was a calendar with appointments densely written. He pointed to three months from today. In the schedule, the trial lecture evaluation was written.
“The only way for someone recommended like you to become a professor is to have the professors and students gather just before the semester starts to listen to your lecture.”
“It’s not just listening.”
“Of the 300, if 70% positively evaluate your lecture, you pass as a professor.”
“Easy.”
The mustache professor laughed at the word easy.
“Easy? There have been 100 trial lecture evaluations in 300 years since the academy was founded. How many have passed among them?”
“I don’t know.”
“0 out of 100. Idiot.”
Despite hearing the probability close to impossible, Aaron leisurely sipped the tea.
“Don’t lump me with those incompetent guys.”
“If you really exceed 70%, I will give you this cloak.”
It was a pitch-black cloak.
Compared to the splendid clothes the mustache professor wore, the cloak was plain. Not being plain didn't mean it was boring.
There was a restrained beauty with minimal patterns and decorations.
When mentioning the cloak, the atmosphere became unsettled.
“That cloak is...”
“It’s the cloak that Professor Alfred brags about when he forgets. One of the family heirlooms, I wonder what he was thinking. I hear it has at least 5 basic functions embedded in it.”
“That’s why it’s impossible, so I’m saying it.”
—Clang, clang.
“Speak while raising your hand.”
The chairman hit the desk, and the useless conversation subsided.
“I will change the condition.”
“Hah! Did you get scared? Unfortunately, I will never tolerate below 70%.”
“It’s the opposite. Good things deserve respect for them. You guys who don’t know about etiquette like that are natural.”
“You bastard who doesn’t even know etiquette!”
“90%.”
Aaron Patrick wrote 9 in the air.
“Not 70%, but 90%.”
The mouth that had been spewing curses just now closed.
The chairman organized the situation with a tired expression.
“Then, if Aaron Patrick receives 90% approval at the trial lecture evaluation, he is appointed as a professor. Does anyone object?”
““None.””
Once the matter was settled, the chairman wiped the faces in the air with a tired expression.
“...Is it indirect?”
His anxious appearance made Aaron chuckle.
“Just wait and see, Chairman.”
Three months later.
The academy located in Skyler was busier than usual.
One reason was that new students had entered the dormitory, but it was not the main part.
It was because the rare trial lecture evaluation was to be held today.
The lecture room with 300 seats was already full of professors and students.
Exactly at 13:00, the lecture time.
—Tap, tap.
The clear shoe sounds suppressed the noisy conversation.
A young man in imperial uniform with neatly tied gray hair stood in front of them.
Instantly, the women's moans that couldn't be held back because of his outstanding beauty from seeing his appearance.
“This trial lecture evaluation is by Aaron Patrick.”
He waited for the follow-up, but since no words came out even after waiting, he showed professors and students panicking.
“Is there a problem?”
A male professor-looking person in the audience raised his hand.
“Speak.”
“Hmm, Snake professor in charge of dark magic. No additional introduction?”
“No. The content of the lecture is important, not that I am not. What more explanation is needed.”
“Th, that is so...”
“If there is nothing more to say, sit down.”
The professor sat down without saying anything.
With a violent tone, no one in the audience raised their hand.
“If there is no one to speak more, I will start the lecture.”
Just before starting, while observing the audience.
A crimson light flashed.
Aaron immediately checked the position where the crimson light had been seen.
Skadi.
She was here.
His heart beat for completely different reasons from blood and chest.
Just confirming that she was there.
There was no content of the bet in his head.
Just.
He started the lecture for the woman who stuck in his eyes.