I’m Not Becoming a Graduate Student! – Chapter 24

“…It’s already time. That concludes the class. Thank you.”

Sion, having finished the class, bowed deeply in acknowledgment.

He got so wrapped up in the lecture after a long time that he lost track of time, and the students seemed equally startled by the fact that class was over.

The one who broke that strange tranquility was Geivolg.

Clap, clap, clap!

“Fantastic lecture, Sion!”

Geivolg sprang to his feet, starting to applaud.

Ignoring the gazes of the other students, he continued with his standing ovation. They quickly caught on and began to follow his lead.

Clap, clap, clap, clap clap!

The sound of clapping spread among the students.

Sion bowed once more to express his gratitude, then returned to sit next to Patrick.

A moment later, Professor Lunia staggered in front of the students.

“O, I’d like to express my thanks once again to Sion for today’s lecture…. The next class will also take place here, so… um, dismissed! Please disperse now…!”

With the professor’s announcement, the students got up from their seats.

Sion packed up his writing tools, feeling the gazes of his classmates on him.

Then Geivolg tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

“Ah! You scared me!”

“Ha ha ha! Why are you so surprised, Sion? If anything, I’m the one who’s surprised. Your lecturing skills are astonishing! You could stand shoulder to shoulder with the academy’s professors!”

Geivolg gave a thumbs up.

Sion scratched the back of his neck and awkwardly smiled.

It was only natural that he would do well in the lecture.

‘It’s been a while since I did a teaching assistant thing, so I must’ve gone all out without thinking.’

Sion had often stepped in to sub for his supervising professor.

Whether it was because the professor drank too much the night before, suddenly went on a trip, or attended his child’s sports day…

Not to mention the times when the professor simply didn’t feel like teaching and tossed the class to Sion.

Yet, none of the students ever raised objections against Sion’s classes—

That was because Sion turned out to be a better teacher than the supervising professor.

“You always have this knack for surprising people. You’re skilled in kendo, learn magic well, and now you’re excellent at lecturing too?”

“It’s just… luck, really.”

“Luck? What a croc.”

“Ah! Just let it go. I surrender, I surrender!”

As Patrick playfully put him in a headlock, Sion tapped out.

Patrick, Geivolg, and even the other students from the Magic Department looked at Sion with newfound admiration.

‘Maybe lecturing isn’t so bad after all.’

He impulsively began the lecture, thinking he’d show it to Professor Lunia.

Seeing the positive reactions, Sion couldn’t help but feel his lips curl up in a smile.

With class over, the three planned to head back to school happily, but—

“S-Sion?”

“Professor Lunia?”

Lunia appeared in front of Sion, fingers fidgeting.

“I’d like to talk a bit about the class earlier… um, regarding spirit contracts…”

Glancing up at Sion with a peculiar look in her eyes, he felt a strange warmth mixed with a chill run down his spine.

In that moment, Sion had a hunch.

‘Please don’t let it be like last week when I ended up chatting till evening…’

He recalled the day he spent with Professor Lunia last week, where he had unsolicitedly offered advice on her lecture style.

Afterward, he had been trapped in a passionate debate with her about “What makes a good professor for the students?” until evening.

This time, he wouldn’t let it drag on like that.

He steeled his resolve, even if Professor Lunia looked at him with the eyes of an abandoned kitten!

“Ah, is that not possible…?”

“Um, Professor… that—”

“Professor Lunia!”

Suddenly, before Sion could refuse, Geivolg jumped in front of him.

‘Is he doing this for me…?’

Today, Geivolg seemed oddly dependable.

Thinking about his usual tendency to say whatever comes to his mind, Sion imagined he’d be like, “Ha ha ha! I’m taking him along, just you wait!”

With a feeling of anticipation, Sion looked at the back of Geivolg’s head, and—

“Since there’s another class in about two hours, please take care of Sion until then!”

“…Huh?”

“I hope you have a good time with the professor, Sion. Well then, we’ll leave you in peace! Ha ha ha!”

So, saying that, Geivolg and Patrick headed off toward the school.

‘…Geivolg?’

Looking at the distance where Geivolg had just disappeared, what looked strong before now resembled the back of a betrayer.

Sion reached out toward the retreating figure of Geivolg, and—

Pull.

Someone tugged at the sleeve of Sion’s outstretched arm.

Of course, it was Professor Lunia.

“S-Sion…? Shall we go into the hut and talk? About that, um, lecture method… I have many questions… hee hee.”

Lunia grinned, pulling on Sion’s sleeve.

“…Okay, let’s go in.”

Sion forced a tremor of a smile, swearing that next time he saw Geivolg, he wouldn’t let him off easy.

*

‘This place looks just the same as last time.’

Sion entered Lunia’s hut like a cow led to slaughter.

Once again, her hut was a far cry from being organized.

Cautiously avoiding the litter on the floor, Sion and Lunia stepped into the hut.

“A-are you not hungry yet…?”

“Yes. The academy typically has one class in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

“Um, if you don’t mind, I could make something for you!”

“…Lunch?”

That was good news for Sion, who thought he wouldn’t get lunch at all.

But one worry lingered.

‘Worrying about food hygiene… would that be too rude?’

The messy state of the room, the clutter scattered everywhere, and the rubbish piled up on the floor screamed out to him.

Looking at it, he couldn’t help but think cleaning should come before cooking.

Cooking here might just lead to illness…

“Uhh, just a moment… I’ll prepare it right away!”

As if sensing Sion’s thoughts, she entered the kitchen alone, humming to herself.

Left alone, Sion sat on the only somewhat clean chair at the desk.

‘The professor is definitely the researcher type. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into this.’

Surrounding the desk were scattered papers, used pens, and inkpots.

Among them, books and papers were the majority. Truly, she was a researcher, after all.

While glancing around, something unusual caught Sion’s eye.

‘What is this…?’

When he sat at the desk, a paper affixed to the wall right in front of him drew his attention.

Its terrible handwriting made it difficult to read, but he managed to decipher it.

The content of the paper on the wall read as follows:

[Advice List for Student Sion (Do not forget)]

[1. Students prefer shorter classes. Deliver a lot of information in a short time!]

[2. Students cannot outright tell professors they dislike something. Don’t directly ask them something!]

[3. Students dislike group work, or more specifically, situations where they can’t control what’s happening! If doing it, provide guidelines!]

[4. Talk only briefly about the contents during the orientation, and don’t jump right into the lecture!]

[5. ………]

A list full of ‘advice’ containing everything Sion had explained directly.

What professors should and shouldn’t do, what students like and dislike… it was all lined up neatly.

Looking at this paper, Sion felt a tremor run through his heart.

‘This is… kinda touching.’

When is the moment someone feels the most deflated after giving advice?

Sure, everyone can think of several instances in their heads depending on the person, but…

For Sion, it happened when, despite offering sincere advice, the other person didn’t change their behaviors or values.

‘If they don’t change, then there’s no point in trying so hard to explain.’

People don’t change.

Specifically, people don’t change unless they have something profound happen to them along with tremendous effort.

At least that’s what Sion believed.

That’s why when he sees Professor Lunia trying to change, he finds her burdensome yet endearing.

How could he possibly dislike Lunia, who is making an effort to take his advice to heart?

He actually felt grateful seeing her trying to put his advice into practice.

“Al-alright then… hee hee, shall we eat together…?”

Holding a large plate with something resembling cookies, Lunia ambled over.

Dodging the various bits of clutter on the floor while bringing the food, the way she moved appeared precarious.

Sion felt nervous just watching the plate with the cookies wobble around precariously.

And then, the moment she realized—

“Sion! What are you looking at…?”

“Uh? Oh, I was just reading something that was stuck on the wall out of curiosity…”

“Y-you read that…?!”

Lunia’s eyes widened as her ears began to twitch nervously.

With a thud, she hurriedly walked over, causing a clamor as she stumbled over her own clutter.

“Sion! P-please don’t read that…! I-I just tried to remember a little of what you said, and I figured since my desk is where I sit most, sticking a note there might help me remember… I-I’m sorry if it upset you; I could remove it right away—ah!!”

“Professor!”

The plate in her hands flew through the air.

Brown cookies floated in the air, tumbling down toward Sion.

Sion’s brain function kicked into high gear.

“Wind!”

Whoosh-!

A gust of wind emitted from Sion’s palm, gently cushioning the plate below.

Thanks to this, Professor Lunia’s food avoided a faceplant into the room’s clutter.

However, he didn’t have enough time to use magic on Lunia, who was falling toward him while reaching out for the food.

If she couldn’t use magic, he had to do it the old-fashioned way.

Quickly!

Sion caught her around the waist due to inertia, and her long hair swept across the floor.

“…Are you alright, Professor?”

In a position reminiscent of a romance movie, he successfully caught Professor Lunia.

“S-Sion…?”

Her eyes blinked rapidly, looking around as she tried to clarify the situation.

Only then did Sion realize that the position they were in… was completely inappropriate for a teacher-student relationship.

He tightened his grip on her waist and helped Lunia back up to her feet.

A moment too late, her face flushed beet red as she processed what had just happened.

“Oh, I-I’m so sorry…! T-Thank you…!!”

“Are you going to be okay to walk?”

“Yes, just um… let go of me, please….”

“… I already let go.”

“Oh, right. Y-yeah, I didn’t notice!”

As she hopped around, flustered, Lunia continued to ramble incoherently.

With her showing an exaggerated reaction, Sion started to feel a bit awkward too.

Her slim waist felt thinner than he expected, and the scent of flowers wafted over him when he caught her…

‘Get it together!’

Sion quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts.

This was the professor’s research room; one misstep and he could easily find himself becoming a graduate student.

It’s practically like being in the tiger’s den.

Maintaining his poker face, Sion released the wind magic spell.

‘…What should I do in this atmosphere?’

An unexpected closeness had led to an awkward silence.

Stealing a glance, he saw Lunia still looked dazed, her face still flushed and staring blankly into space.

With an expression that seemed half in trance, it was almost as if her mind was wandering off elsewhere.

Sion, feeling like he had no other options, reached for the cookies on the plate.

Maybe talking about the cookies would redirect the conversation.

Thinking like that, Sion took one of the cookies Lunia had prepared.

‘…But what is this? Is it actually a cookie?’

The brown round blob on the plate, if it could be called a cookie, was about the size of his palm and quite thick.

But when he touched it, it felt awfully sticky.

Yet, refusing to concede defeat was not an option.

Sion bit down on the cookie.

“…Cough, cough!”

“S-Sion…? Are you okay…?”

“No, Professor. What is this food… Or rather, this object?”

He was left speechless by the shocking flavor of the so-called cookie.

‘Please don’t tell me it’s mud?’

Logically, if a professor invited a student over to their home, there’s no way they’d serve them mud cookies. But the taste far exceeded the realm of edible.

The cookie was strikingly sticky to chew, and its flavor was bitter, sour, sweet, salty… even spicy! What on earth did she put in it?

It looked brown and vaguely cookie-shaped, giving off a mystifying earthy odor, but it was the worst of the worst.

It was a food he had never eaten in all his lives.

“Oh, this? That’s something my friend made for me… an energy cookie!”

“…An energy cookie?”

“Yes! Just one of these can supply energy for over one meal! Pretty amazing, isn’t it…?”

Lunia explained the cookie as if it were some incredible invention.

In short, it was supposed to be a high-energy substitute food akin to ‘energy bars’ or ‘protein bars’ from his past life.

But why was there such a huge difference?

“Can I ask just a few questions about this cookie?”

“Uh? Of course!”

Sion wore a serious expression as he went through one question at a time.

“Does this cookie contain any grains or nuts?”

“Well… no, I think it’s mostly animal oils? Chocolate? Cheese? Those kinds of ingredients….”


“Then how many of these do you eat in a day?”

“Usually 2 to 3 a day… and I have some as snacks! Oh, I went shopping yesterday and made a meal, but it was too much trouble for today, so I’m just having cookies….”

“Professor Lunia.”

Sion smiled brightly.

“You said you went shopping yesterday, right? Where is that? Also, can you show me to the kitchen?”

“Y-yes…?!”

Lunia, who subsisted off energy bars made only of sugar and fats, was an alarming example of what not to eat.

Sion hurried off to find the kitchen, recalling his experience living on his own during graduate school, which would definitely come in handy right now.