Episode 114. The Trick of the Imperial Order (3)
Professor Kaizen left home early in the morning and went straight to school. After Class D’s assembly, he headed to the professor’s lounge before going to his first class.
“Good morning, Professor Kaizen.”
“Oh, Professor Egeler. The weather is nice.”
In the professor’s lounge located on the upper floor of the Canon Building, Eggler was already smoking a cigarette.
The two of them smoked cigarettes for a while, looking out the window at Lake Capotin in silence. Then, Egeler spoke first.
“I guess you have class this morning.”
“Yes, I have a class C.”
“Class C… I had class yesterday too.”
“The cadets must have been covered in flour again.”
Eggler’s first teaching method was famous among professors: giving difficult problems and then pouring flour on all the students as punishment.
It was also advantageous for other professors. Because Eggler was good at making students nervous, other professors were able to face students who were very disciplined.
“No, I couldn’t do that.”
Professor Eggler shook his head with a regretful expression.
“What do you mean you couldn’t do that… … ?”
“One of the students got the answer right.”
“Ah… I see you fail sometimes.”
Of course, there are many promising freshmen this year, so it won’t be easy.
Professor Kaizen guessed which of the students in Class C had guessed the correct answer. Then, some names immediately came to mind.
Students who were excluded from the student roster yesterday, who could never be Per Lorenzini. Chloe Witherspoon or Dahlia Dellin.
and…….
“What about Cadet Luden Poinen and Cadet Oscar Tunio?”
“I was about to say that name, too.”
“These two are the students that Professor Benitez chose. Was there anyone among them who answered correctly?”
Professor Egeler nodded. The old professor pushed up his slightly lowered gold-rimmed glasses. Then he opened his pocket watch with a click and checked the time.
“Luden Poinen got it right. Oscar Tunio was… quite a distracting and noisy guy.”
“As expected, Professor Benitez didn’t just take over anyone.”
“That’s what it is.”
Professor Egeler paused for a moment. At that moment, the old professor’s mind was once again drawn to the image of Ruden Poinen that he had seen in the first class yesterday.
The way that Cadet Luden arrived at the answer was not in the way of a wizard. Rather, it was closer to observation and intuition by a human.
“You’ve been a professor of magic for decades, but you seem like a rather unusual student.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m starting to get more and more curious.”
“I don’t know, maybe it was just yesterday that it shined. Aren’t there always students like that? I thought they were something great, but they’re just ordinary talents.”
That was when.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked cautiously on the lounge door. The faculty lounge was a space that any professor could use freely.
Knocking meant that he was not a professor, but a student or teaching assistant.
“I’m… an assistant in healing magic. May I come in?”
“Queening? Come in.”
With Eggler’s permission, the break room door opened slightly, revealing a tense face.
She was a female assistant wearing large glasses. Her face was small and her glasses were large, so they covered almost half of her face.
A hairstyle in which the brown hair was gathered into a bun at the back of the head and stabbed with a scalpel to keep it from falling out. This look was almost like Assistant Quining’s signature.
“Queening. How was your vacation?”
“Oh, hello, Professor Eggler!”
“I didn’t know we’d be greeting you at the Canon Hall for the start of the new semester? Did your professor send you on an errand or something?”
Because Healing Magic is only in the second year curriculum, it was very rare to meet Assistant Queening in the first year only magic tower.
Assistant Professor Quining’s troubled eyes turned towards Professor Kaizen.
“Professor Kaizen said I had to attend class today… … .”
“Is that so? Is that true, Professor Kaizen?”
“That’s right. I requested Assistant Quinn’s presence.”
“Didn’t you say today was the first class?”
Kaizen smiled, smoothing his shiny gray hair.
“I’m trying to follow Professor Eggler’s example. I’m going to let the new students experience what potions are like. Don’t worry. It’ll only cause minor injuries.”
“Well, I guess that’s true.”
“Assistant Queening? Are you ready?”
“Yes! Shall we go?”
Professor Kaizen nodded his head toward Eggler and Assistant Professor Quining quickly bowed in greeting.
So the two of them are about to leave the break room.
“This is Professor Kaizen firing a signal flare. You get it?”
When Kaizen and Quining turned around, Eggler had a pleased expression on his face.
“From now on, Assistant Professor Quining will be busy. If Professor Kaizen is this active, I think I’ll try to teach the freshmen a little too.”
“Ha, ha, ha… Is that how it is?”
Assistant Professor Quining just smiled awkwardly. If Professor Egeler increased the intensity of the class, it would mean that Quining would have one more class to attend.
In fact, there wasn’t much difference in risk between design magic and potion making.
No, from the beginning, magic itself was bound to be a field that carried risks.
Even healing magic, which Quining specializes in, can cause just as much damage as any other explosive magic if the spell is implemented incorrectly.
Moreover, it was obvious that it would not end with just Gaizen and Eggler. As Eggler said, this was like a signal flare being fired.
Especially Professor Solana of Offensive Magic, who would welcome this news more than anyone else.
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“Hey, are you okay?”
“Ah, yes!”
At Professor Kaizen’s words, Assistant Professor Quining regained her wits about to disappear. She wiped away the sweat that was flowing down her face.
“Class will start soon, so hurry up.”
* * *
“Why does Professor Kaizen have two assistants?”
Oscar spoke softly as he saw Kaizen appearing during class time.
Other cadets had the same curiosity. Normally, there was one teaching assistant assigned to assist the professor in magic classes. And there were no teaching assistants assigned to non-magical classes.
“Can’t you see those red epaulettes on your shoulders? Don’t you know what they mean?”
A sharp word flew towards Oscar. It was from behind.
Oscar turned his head to see who was shooting at him, and gulped when he saw Dahlia with a cold expression.
“I don’t know.”
As Dahlia said, one of the two assistants had an epaulette on her shoulder.
Shoulder straps with a blue cross on a red background.
Dahlia smirked, as if she knew it.
“Yeah, of course you didn’t know. That means a healing wizard.”
“No, why did you bring a healing wizard to teach class?”
“I brought you here because you need healing magic.”
“So what I mean is, in ‘The First Step in Potion Making’?”
“… … .”
Dahlia just glared at Oscar, and couldn’t bring herself to lash out any further. In fact, even she was surprised that there was a healing wizard in this class.
‘What on earth is this?’
Rubin glared at Kaizen. The sly squire of the Imperial Order. To others, his gaze looked no different from that of any other curious cadet, but in fact, it was filled with hostility and wariness.
Kaizen.
There is a royal decree behind that man.
As of now, even Kaizen himself seemed unaware that the organization issuing the orders was the Imperial Order, but that was not important.
If it was an obstacle, it was something to be removed. That was the only thing that mattered to Rubin.
‘I’ll be trying to find out the identity of Per Lorenzini for a while. I’ll be using my position as a professor and my classes.’
For now, he had to wait and see. Right now, Gaizen doesn’t know who Per is. The one who had the information about Per ahead was Rubin.
‘I should use Professor Kaizen.’
Meanwhile, the class continued to be chaotic.
Professor Kaizen, who didn’t even say hello after entering the classroom. He had been comparing the seating chart with the students’ faces one by one for over ten minutes without even starting the class.
Meanwhile, Assistant Professor Thompson, who was assisting Kaizen, was busy moving around. He was sweating profusely as he carried various teaching materials to the classroom.
There were various ingredients for making magic potions. Ogre hair, caponilia flower stems, mana stone grains, etc. There were also various potions in beakers.
At that time, I thought that this chaotic atmosphere would continue.
“Professor, I have a question.”
A bright voice cut through the classroom.
“… … .”
Kaizen raised his head and looked around to find the owner of the voice. His expression was crumpled. He was trying to point out and reprimand the fact that he couldn’t wait quietly.
However, the professor’s expression quickly softened.
“Tell me… Cadet Chloe.”
“Thank you. I would like to know why a healing wizard is present in class today.”
Professor Kaizen’s eyebrows twitched. However, no one noticed it except Rubin.
“Yes, I checked it out. The person standing over there is an assistant professor of healing magic.”
Kaizen looked at Quining and said.
“If I may introduce myself, my name is Quining. From now on, the cadets will call me Assistant Quining. I am also your senior, having just turned twenty.”
“Hello, Assistant Professor Quining! My name is Chloe Witherspoon.”
The cadet who greeted him cheerfully was the daughter of an imperial noble who had caused a stir in the city? Assistant Instructor Quining, who realized this fact belatedly, greeted him hesitantly.
Then, Professor Kaizen’s answer followed.
“The reason I have Assistant Professor Quinn in attendance today is because of the experience I will have in class today.”
The word ‘experience’ was enough to excite the cadets. What kind of experience could it possibly be that even requires healing magic!
“Over the next year, the cadets will be able to create a variety of magical potions. However, they must realize how powerful and dangerous these potions are.”
Kaizen came down from the podium. He stroked his shiny hair as if it were his habit, and looked over the cadets.
“But as you can see from the fact that the teaching assistant is here instead of the healing magic professor, even if you get injured, it will be very minor, so there’s no need to be afraid. Hmm, while we’re on the subject, let’s get started with the lesson.”
Thud thud.
“… … .”
“Nine people.”
A short word echoed through the classroom. The students waited for the next words, and soon it was Kaizen pointing to the spacious space at the back of the classroom.
“First, let’s make groups of nine. Once the groups are formed, each group should gather at the back.”
Knock knock. Knock knock.
As soon as the professor gave a firm order, the students stood up one by one, pushing their chairs out. Each of them went out to find friends they wanted to be part of their group.
“Oh, before that.”
Just as the recruiting battle was about to start and things were about to get noisy, Kaizen briefly suppressed the commotion.
“I’m looking to hire a teaching assistant for Class C to help me with my classes. Which students would like to apply?”
The cadets looked at each other for a moment, but no one volunteered right away.
The advantage of being a teaching assistant is that you get to meet the professor often and delve deeper into the subject than others.
But the downsides are also obvious.
Depending on which class you were teaching as a teaching assistant, you could end up wasting your time. Potion making was also an unpopular subject compared to other classes.
“Isn’t there any?”
Kaizen frowned. It was as expected.
“Well, I can point out some, should I do that?”
In fact, it has always been like that. Students who were selected as assistant students would often distort their faces as if they were being punished. It was expected that it would be the same this time.
“I will do it.”
The cadets’ eyes turned to one side. Professor Kaizen also looked in that direction.
He wasn’t a stranger. No, he was a cadet whose name I had heard many times, even though it was my first time meeting him in person.
Professor Eggler’s positive comment came to Kaizen’s mind.
‘A unique student’. That’s what I said. It was so ambiguous. Was it true that you were interested in ‘Potion Making’?
“Hey, Luden. Are you serious? If you do something wrong, you’ll… … .”
Rubin cut off his roommate’s worried remarks and met Professor Kaizen’s eyes.
“Please take care of me, Professor Kaizen.”
“If you become a teaching assistant, you’ll have to go to my lab every now and then, and it’ll be quite a hassle. Are you ready?”
“Yes, that’s what I wanted.”
