“Oh, I heard about it. Just try not to be too late.”
There was a hint of doubt, but Presia had truly gotten permission from the dormitory head.
As I exited the dormitory, a chilly night breeze welcomed me. It was getting warmer, but the night air was still cool.
Unless it was a special occasion, there were no students outside at this hour. As I made my way to the Magic Research Building, I only spotted a few teaching assistants.
Room 707 in the Magic Research Building. I lightly knocked on the door and entered without waiting. During the day, sunlight would have filtered in through the gaps in the curtains, but with the sun fully set, the only light in the room came from a small lamp.
As expected, Presia was not in the first room. I headed toward the inner room as if it were natural. Upon entering the adjacent room, I found Presia sprawled on the sofa, sleeping soundly. She seemed to be in a deep sleep, as there was no sign of her waking up from my knock or the sound of my footsteps approaching carelessly.
“Boss?”
Since our appointment was at 10, I needed to wake Presia. I approached cautiously, calling her in a soft voice to avoid upsetting her.
“Boss?”
Still, Presia remained sound asleep. I raised my voice slightly.
“Boss? It’s time to wake up.”
“Ugh… what is it…?”
Only then did Presia start to rub her eyes and sit up. However, she didn’t seem to grasp who had woken her or why I was there, her voice still groggy.
“You called me at 10 today. It’s time to get up.”
If it were daytime, I would have pulled the curtains aside to indirectly wake her, but at night, that method was useless. The only light seeping in was from the stars in the night sky.
Fortunately, Presia took a moment to gather herself before quickly waking up. In fact, her expression looked much clearer than during the day. She seemed to be more of a night owl.
“Oh, you came. Right, I had something today…”
Finally getting out of bed, Presia rummaged through her closet, pulling out a short cape to throw over herself. However, underneath the cape, she only wore a thin dress. It seemed like she would be cold if she went out like that, but Presia didn’t seem to care much.
“Alright, let’s go. Grab the basket I prepared over there and follow me.”
Slap!
As she passed by me, Presia playfully slapped my rear and began walking ahead.
I didn’t understand why she did this again, just like last time, but I was starting to worry about her preferences. However, I didn’t have the pride or courage to object. I had long sold that cheap for my salary and allowances. Honestly, for this amount of pay, I could overlook a slap or two. Well, considering she was just a small girl, it felt kind of cute.
As I walked slowly behind Presia, keeping pace despite the difference in stride length, we soon reached the wall surrounding the academy.
Presia pulled out one arm, which she had hidden under her cape, and placed her palm against the wall.
Then, a bright wall of light began to glow atop the wall. It was the barrier surrounding the academy. Regardless of the circumstances, the academy was the top institution for cultivating talent in the continent, filled with the scions of noble families. If it were to be attacked by an enemy, it could be catastrophic. The enemy could be simple terrorists, sudden movements of monsters, or assaults by demons.
Thus, I had heard that the durability of the barrier magic installed at the academy was comparable to the one surrounding the empire’s capital.
As I was watching in fascination, I noticed a fine crack in the glowing wall about 10 meters wide from where Presia had placed her hand.
“Take out two from the basket and hand them to me.”
I immediately retrieved the translucent magical stones, mana stones, from the basket as instructed by Presia. She took the handed mana stones, removed the existing one embedded in the wall, and replaced it. But it didn’t seem to end with a simple replacement; she drew several magic circles in the air, and soon, a flash of light erupted from the magic circles. Looking up at the previously cracked glowing wall, it was as good as new, as if nothing had happened.
“There are still many places to repair… keep the replaced mana stone and follow me.”
I stuffed the two mana stones, which had lost their glow, back into the basket and started walking after Presia.
Time passed as we worked on repairing the barrier, but the places we actually repaired were few. Since we were repairing the barrier surrounding the academy, we had no choice but to walk along the wall for quite a while.
“Achoo!”
About halfway around the academy, Presia sneezed lightly. Perhaps the chilly night wind was too cold, as she was rubbing her arms under the cape to warm herself. I had a feeling she would be cold wearing just a thin dress under that cape…
I took off my school jacket and draped it over Presia’s cape. Presia was much smaller than me, so this was enough to cover her.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Fortunately, Presia thanked me and tightened the jacket around her with her hands to protect herself from the cold night breeze.
Well, it wasn’t as if I was freezing, but I wouldn’t say I was completely immune to catching a cold. I did feel that I should have stopped Presia before she left the lab.
“But why are you, the boss, repairing the barrier?”
I decided to ask Presia something that had been on my mind since earlier. I thought such repairs were usually handled by the academy.
“They said I was too young… and tossed it to me.”
It seemed that this kind of favoritism happened everywhere. But would they really assign such an important task as repairing the barrier to a student, especially a freshman?
“But weren’t you in the same grade as me?”
“Same grade? No.”
Oh! I hadn’t even considered that her youthful appearance might mean she was in a higher grade. If she had a complex about looking younger, it wouldn’t be surprising if Presia were angry. However, fortunately, she seemed to be unconcerned and walked silently.
“Then, how old are you?”
“Me? I’m 16.”
?
Academy students usually enter at age 18. But Presia was two years younger. And since she wasn’t even in the same grade, that meant she had to be at least a second-year. What a ridiculous genius!
“Wow… then when did you enroll in the academy?”
If the school trusted her enough for such responsibilities, wouldn’t she have to be in at least the third year? So, she must have enrolled at 14?
“I’m not a student.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m a professor in the Department of Magic.”
?
???
“What do you think? Does that make you respect me a bit more now?”
Presia smiled softly.
Wait a second. I felt like I had heard something absurd, and my mind struggled to process it.
This small girl in front of me is a professor in the Department of Magic? Moreover, a professor younger than me? Not a scholarship student or anything, but a professor?
Only then did it dawn on me. It made sense why this girl could sleep in the lab even after class hours—and how she could occupy and use the lab all by herself.
She wasn’t a student, so there was no need for her to be concerned about class schedules, and she had been assigned a personal research lab because she was a professor.
“Uh… how should I address you then? Should I still call you Professor?”
“…Just boss is enough.”
Of course, I wouldn’t disrespect her just because she was younger. In fact, the fact that she was invited to be a professor at such a young age was something to be revered. After all, if one has enough money, they can be called brother or sister regardless of age. My respect for the boss would always remain.
“So, what do you teach, professor? Judging from the spells you experimented on me, I can’t quite figure that out…”
Thinking back to the spells she had tested on me, I wondered if she specialized in buff or debuff magic, but there had also been completely unrelated spells. I asked out of curiosity.
“Those are just spells I created as a hobby.”
The revelation that the salary and allowances I received were just a simple hobby was the most shocking thing I heard today.
Eventually, when we finished all the work, it was well past midnight. Unlike me, who was feeling drowsy, our boss looked even more energized.
“Well then, I’ll be going in now. Thank you for your hard work, boss.”
“Yeah. I paid a little extra for tonight’s night allowance.”
As I received the coin purse she handed me, I felt it was heavier than usual.
In this day and age, to have a boss who even takes the time to give night allowances, who could one respect if not her?
I bowed to the boss once more at a 90-degree angle. I love you, boss. Call on me anytime.
