“…Professor.”
“Hmm? The class is over. What is it?”
After Professor Heruj’s class ended, Sion approached her.
“I’m going to participate in the martial arts demonstration competition as a representative? This is the first time I’m hearing about this…”
“Well, of course! It’s because I didn’t mention it!”
“No, why is my participation being decided without my consent…?”
“That’s—”
“Snap!”
Professor Heruj, with her hands on her hips, declared confidently.
“Because Sion is my only prized student!”
“Well, that’s true…”
“Then let me ask you in return, Sion. If you don’t participate in the martial arts demonstration, who do you think should go in your place among the first-year male students in the Magic Department?”
“…”
Sion was speechless, his mouth opening and closing.
“…Clif Devrong?”
“He got kicked out of my class for provoking you. That guy isn’t qualified to be called a martial artist.”
“…Geivolg Rodenburg?”
“He tries hard but lacks skills. You’re not thinking of forcing him in just because he’s a prince, are you?”
“……”
No matter how hard he thought, there were no male students suitable for the martial arts demonstration competition.
Only one person… excluding Sion, who had become Professor Heruj’s disciple.
Sion ultimately decided to give up.
“So what should I do?”
“Oh! Has your mind finally changed?”
“If I’m going to do it anyway, I might as well prepare in advance.”
“Preparation… there isn’t really much to prepare for. You just need to show your martial arts during the allotted time.”
“……”
“Why the gloomy face?”
Seeing Professor Heruj tilting her head, Sion let out a silent sigh.
‘I also want to just get by, but there are eyes on me…!’
It was Professor Heruj, who had won first place in the world swordsmanship competition.
It was reasonable to expect that such a remarkable person had not raised a single proper disciple until now.
And suddenly her only disciple, Sion, appeared, learning her secret sword art, the ‘Yulseo Sword Technique’?
Naturally, all eyes were bound to focus on him.
But if he showed underwhelming swordsmanship there, it was clear that not only Sion but also Professor Heruj would be in trouble.
“…So you want to learn different techniques?”
“Yes, if possible, I’d like it to be impressive enough to surprise others… and have the characteristics of your sword technique stand out.”
“If that’s the case, it’s not difficult! It might be a bit challenging, but if it’s you, Sion, you should be able to learn it by next week.”
Seeing her bright smile, Sion couldn’t help but feel a creeping sense of unease.
“Now that I think about it, the acorn strike might be enough…”
“No! This is my first and last opportunity to formally introduce my only disciple in front of everyone, and I can’t be half-hearted about it! On the contrary, Sion being this enthusiastic is only igniting my passion even more!!”
“No, you could tone down that enthusiasm a bit.”
“That’s impossible! Now, it’s special training!”
“Snap!”
Professor Heruj drew a wooden sword from her waist.
“I will teach you one of the secrets of the Yulseo Sword Technique… ‘Flying Squirrel’!”
“Ah…”
“Now, let’s assume the stance! Just like before, I’ll teach you by literally hitting it into your body!”
Swish!
Professor Heruj swung the wooden sword menacingly.
Sion raised the wooden sword with a resigned look on his face.
…He regretted not just suggesting to pass by with the acorn strike.
*
The next morning.
“…What on earth did you do yesterday to be like that?”
“Shut up.”
Sion, hitting his back with his fist like an old man, painfully moved forward.
It was the aftereffects of the special training he had with Professor Heruj the day before.
‘I’m pretty sure the muscle soreness and fatigue were healed with healing magic… is it phantom pain?’
Of course, mental fatigue lingered, and his body was aching so badly that he couldn’t shake off the tiredness.
He thought about going to find Maguniria, the health teacher in the health room, to ask about it…
But just imagining what kind of indecent remarks he might hear sent chills down his spine, so he didn’t bother.
“What on earth did you do with Professor Heruj yesterday?”
“I told you. It was special training to prepare for the martial arts demonstration competition.”
“Training until late into the night, breathing heavily together…”
“Stop fabricating stories, you brat.”
“It’s not fabrication.”
If it were up to him, he would like to smack Patrick on the head or something.
But his body wouldn’t move as he wished, so he couldn’t do anything about it.
After exchanging meaningless banter for a few minutes.
“…We’ve arrived.”
“I can’t get used to this place no matter how many times I come. The streets and the fact that it changes every time…”
In front of the hut that was Professor Lunia’s classroom.
Normally, there should have been a tiered lecture hall here.
But today, it had completely transformed into a gigantic building.
As Sion opened the front door of the wooden building, a large tiered classroom came into view.
‘…Did they surround the rocky stairs with wood this time?’
Professor Lunia, who brings about outrageous changes each week, had raised the building entirely with logs, circling the existing stone-tiered chairs around it.
…The previous classroom had difficulty conveying her voice from the podium.
With a structure enclosed on all sides like this, her soft voice, even when stuttering, would surely carry well.
‘She keeps progressing, doesn’t she, Professor Lunia?’
Sion felt a sense of pride while discreetly wiping his nose.
“Why are you feeling so proud? The one who made this classroom is Professor Lunia.”
“…It’s nothing. Let’s just sit down.”
“You’re a strange one.”
Ignoring Patrick’s jibe, Sion took his seat.
It wasn’t long before Professor Lunia appeared.
Naturally, she wasn’t looking disheveled, but dressed in a casual outfit, exuding a vibrant professor vibe.
“Nice to meet you all. Today, we will have a time to empathize with spirits in the back mountains of the Byzantium Academy through hands-on practice.”
Professor Lunia spoke without stuttering.
She continued explaining the practice that would be held today.
‘…To summarize, she created a time for students to empathize and contract with spirits?’
Last time, Professor Lunia confirmed the students’ spirit affinity through her spirit, Silphia.
And today, she had allotted specific time for those who found out about their spirit affinity to contract with spirits.
Since it was said that the area around the hut where Professor Lunia was located had an unusually high presence of spirits, it should be easier to make contracts.
“Well then… I’ve posted a map of the back mountains here on the class board, so you can reference that as you wander around. Also, if you arrive at the area marked with an ‘X’ on the map… you’ll receive a gift that I’ve prepared. It’s first-come, first-served, so feel free to grab it.”
““Yes!””
The enthusiastic responses from the students.
No student disliked surprise gifts.
And if it meant not having a tedious class but rather a hands-on practice communicating with spirits, even better.
‘…It seems Professor Lunia is very touched.’
Seemingly impressed by the students’ passionate responses, she hesitated to continue speaking for a moment.
“…Well then, let’s take a five-minute break and meet outside the classroom. And, um, Sion, could you come with me for a moment…?”
“……”
Professor Lunia, who had been looking at him with an anxious expression, exited through the classroom door ahead.
Feeling the heated gazes of other students, Sion chased after her.
“Did you call for me, Professor?”
“S-Sion! The students answered my calls… and many of them echoed at the same time!”
“……Congratulations.”
Just moments ago, she had seemed like a perfectionist young professor, akin to Ronda Magret.
But with the students gone and just Sion in front of her, Professor Lunia had returned to her previous clumsy demeanor.
…Sion felt both welcomed and strangely uneasy in her presence.
“…Did you call me to congratulate me?”
“N-No! It’s not that… I was hoping you could help a little with this practical session….”
“Me?”
“Yes, yes! If you could help a little with the class like last time… I’d really appreciate it…”
“Hmm…”
Sion stroked his chin, contemplating.
In fact, he didn’t mind helping. How many times had he not helped her thus far?
However, what got to him was—
‘Helping with the class is something a teaching assistant would do.’
A teaching assistant.
Meaning someone who helps with the class.
Most of the time, it’s a ‘graduate student’ under that professor who takes on this role.
That’s right. The problem was that a ‘graduate student’ does that job.
‘If I keep helping, it might spoil her habits… This time, I’ll refuse.’
Sion wanted to teach her how to catch fish rather than just handing her a fish.
So this time, he decided to decline.
As Sion steadied his resolve and looked at Professor Lunia.
“Can’t you… just say no…?”
“……”
“I think it would be good if you… could help out…”
“………….”
With tears welling in her eyes, Professor Lunia looked up at him.
Sion’s eyes wavered at her sparkling gaze.
In the end…
Sion took her hand.
“So what can I assist you with?”
“Hehe, first, I posted the map as a notice… actually, there isn’t much to do, and you can help only if some students have an issue….”
“Like a safety officer?”
“Yes! I think you could think of it that way.”
If that’s the case, there wasn’t really much for Sion to do.
What she had asked for was limited to assisting only when ‘an issue occurs.’
On the flip side, it meant there would be nothing to do if there were no problems.
‘This is quite a sweet deal, right?’
Being outdoors for a hands-on practice was better than a boring theoretical class.
And of course, doing nothing and resting is the best compared to doing a practice.
It was a deal where Sion had nothing to lose.
As he was feeling good about reaching a dramatic agreement with Professor Lunia.
‘…Huh?’
Suddenly,
Sion turned his head to look back.
Birds were huddled together on a branch.
As he surveyed them, Professor Lunia asked him.
“Is something wrong, Sion…?”
“It’s nothing. I just felt a strange energy all of a sudden…”
“Strange energy?”
Professor Lunia glanced blankly in the direction Sion was looking, but there was nothing apparent other than the chirping birds.
Sion scratched the back of his head and nervously grinned.
“It seems I might have mistaken it.”
“Is that so…? That’s possible!”
Just as Professor Lunia and Sion were laughing at each other,
The branch that Sion had suddenly looked at
A certain ‘black shape’ hidden behind the branch began to stir.
