Book 1 Chapter 161
161
First-year faculty office at Lumern.
Nine men and women stood with tense expressions.
Standing stiffly, they were waiting for someone.
Just then.
Step- step-
A middle-aged professor with a sharp impression walked towards them.
Upon seeing the professor, the nine men and women became even more tense.
“Are you the temporary teachers selected this time?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
The Lumern professor scanned the nine individuals with sharp eyes.
Then, he crossed his arms, dragged a chair over with a screech, and sat in front of them.
‘What tremendous pressure!’
‘They said Professor Halind would be in charge of us at Lumern, so that must be Professor Halind.’
‘Th-this is one of Lumern’s top professors!’
The promising young professors from Icot, Emerald, and Scown calmed their trembling hearts.
All of them had come to the Hero Academy for training as temporary teachers at Lumern.
It was an opportunity that could lead to being appointed as an associate professor at Lumern.
They paid close attention, listening intently to the Lumern professor’s words.
“Good. Then you.”
“Yes, yes?”
He gestured with his chin to the female professor from Icot on the far left.
“Tell me about the mindset of a professor.”
“A professor is someone who helps students. Someone who understands what students want…”
“Wrong! Next!”
“A professor is someone who leads students…”
“You’re wrong too! Next!”
Seeing the merciless Lumern professor, the temporary professors behind him wore tense expressions.
‘As expected of Lumern…!’
‘Their educational philosophy must be profound!’
Everyone gulped dry saliva and racked their brains.
But none of the nine gave an answer that satisfied him.
“Hmph— I had high expectations since you were said to be excellent professors, but I’m disappointed.”
“S-sorry.”
“No. There’s no need to apologize. Aren’t you still in a learning position? No. In fact, humans are creatures who learn something from birth until death. Even I sometimes learn from my students.”
He wore a softer expression, different from a moment ago.
Seeing the professor, the temporary professors looked moved.
‘I heard Professor Halind was very scary?’
‘The rumors must have been wrong.’
‘His character is extraordinary. I can learn a lot.’
“Then what is the mindset a professor should have? It is!”
The professor crossed his arms.
“Elegance.”
“Huh?”
“Elegance! That is the mindset a teacher should have! A teacher is someone who should always be admired by students! You should always be ready for students to look up to you! Now! From now on, I will introduce myself! Everyone, try to appeal to yourselves elegantly!”
“What are you doing, Sedjen?”
“You’re here, Halind.”
“You’re supposed to be in charge of the students, aren’t you?”
“Hmph. I heard promising young teachers have arrived, so I came to impart some wisdom for a moment. Just wait an hour or so.”
“Drag him out.”
Halind said mercilessly, looking at the enthusiastic Sedjen.
Then Ain and Ren, who had come with him, grabbed Sedjen and dragged him out of the faculty office.
“Ain! Ren! Isn’t it because of my teachings that you are who you are now! These are young professors with bright futures! There will surely be much to learn from me… Ugh! Let go! Let go! You dogs of Halind! I said let go!”
Sedjen’s desperate cries echoed, but Ain and Ren mercilessly dragged their teacher out of the faculty office.
“C-can they do that?”
Just then, when the Emerald professor cautiously asked, Yura, who had come with Halind, smiled subtly.
“It’s an everyday occurrence, so you’ll get used to it.”
Despite the commotion, the other professors working in the faculty office didn’t bat an eye.
As the temporary professors looked on with curious expressions, Halind sat in the chair Sedjen had been in and spoke.
“From now on, I will announce the department schedule.”
“Um… do we not have to introduce ourselves?”
When the female professor on the far left raised her hand and spoke cautiously, Halind’s cold gaze turned to her.
“Why should we do such a thing?”
“Gasp!”
Overwhelmed by Halind, she made a terrified expression.
Halind took his eyes off her and began to recite the schedule.
Watching Halind, one of the Scown professors, looking greatly flustered, urgently raised his hand.
“P-professor! Time to take notes…!”
“I heard all of you are young and capable professors.”
Halind said indifferently.
“You should be able to understand this at once, right?”
Having said that, Halind began to talk about the schedule again.
The nine professors tried their best to cram all of Halind’s words into their heads somehow.
Halind, who finished speaking quickly, narrowed his eyes.
“Any questions?”
At that question, the temporary professors couldn’t ask any.
They were busy trying to organize Halind’s words that had somehow entered their minds.
“As expected of excellent professors. To understand it at once.”
Halind, whose lips curled up, gestured with his chin.
“Then let’s go.”
Having said that, Halind went to his seat.
The temporary professors looked crestfallen and stared at Yura.
Yura, receiving their gazes, smiled subtly and said.
“It’s an everyday occurrence, so you’ll get used to it.”
At Yura’s words, which were exactly the same as before, the temporary professors looked dumbfounded.
“Scown professors, please follow me. After lunch, you have a summoning magic major class.”
At Yura’s words, the Scown professors followed Yura out of the faculty office.
Ain and Ren, who had returned after sending Sedjen out of the faculty office, also took the Icot and Emerald professors respectively and left the faculty office to prepare for class.
Halind, sitting at his desk, narrowed his eyes.
‘Is there a spy among them?’
Throughout the semester, Tartaros had been carrying out various machinations at Lumern.
Behind every major incident, Tartaros was always there.
And Lumern’s upper echelons still hadn’t caught the tail of Tartaros within the school.
In such a situation, they accepted hundreds of external personnel.
There’s no telling that Tartaros wouldn’t pull another trick.
‘Their goal must be to slowly, and surely, shake Lumern.’
Indeed, the incidents during the first semester had shaken Lumern’s standing.
The result of that is this joint class.
Of course, Lumern’s reputation and influence remained unscathed.
However…
‘Small tremors eventually create small cracks, and small cracks become huge ones.’
In this situation, cutting off external interaction and focusing internally would be one of the best solutions.
But Lumern accepted external students.
‘It must be the Headmaster’s will to say, "Try if you dare."’
The greatest hero of this era.
The hero who subjugated the Tartaros legion commander.
Sword Saint, Kalian Veidan.
Kalian conducted this joint class as a way to reaffirm his continued strength.
A declaration of his will that if any incident occurs, he will be at the forefront.
‘I must assist him well.’
Halind sighed deeply and unfolded the student roster.
While managing students from other academies was practically Sedjen’s role, the background checks were Halind’s.
Thanks to that, Lumern’s top personnel were currently assigned to Halind.
Sedjen’s sudden taking charge of the professors earlier was also a consideration to lighten Halind’s burden somewhat.
Halind began to turn the student roster with sharp eyes.
***
Lunchtime.
Leo leisurely strolled through Lumern’s Grand Library.
Besides Leo, there were many students from other academies in the Grand Library.
They walked around Lumern’s Grand Library, exclaiming in admiration.
After lunch, Chen Shia, who took summoning magic class with Leo, approached him with a smile.
“The Hall of Heroes is packed with people.”
The Hall of Heroes, also known as the Relic Vault.
It is where countless legendary armaments used by active heroes lie dormant.
And now, the sword of the Sword Saint Kalian was displayed in the Hall of Heroes.
Even as headmaster, Kalian was a rare sight even for Lumern students.
As such, students from other academies flocked to the Grand Library to somehow see the achievements of Kalian, the greatest hero of this era, along with his renowned sword.
“Come to think of it, Young Master Leo, you’ve talked with the Headmaster several times, haven’t you?”
Chen Shia’s eyes sparkled.
“What kind of person is he?”
“He just seemed like the old man next door.”
“I guess only Leo would call the Sword Saint ‘the old man next door’.”
Chen Shia burst into giggles and pulled a book from a bookshelf.
It was a book about Kyle, the Hero of Beginnings.
“It just so happens to be here. Books about the Hero of Beginnings are popular these days, so it’s hard to find since many other students borrow them.”
“Are you interested too?”
“Of course. Come to think of it, Young Master Leo. Didn’t you say you were forming a club related to the Hero of Beginnings?”
“Yeah. The approval will come through once I get club members.”
While progressing through the department schedule, Leo had steadily prepared for the club.
“Well, everyone has already joined clubs, so there aren’t any close friends left to join.”
At Leo’s words, Chen Shia paused, then smiled subtly.
“I don’t participate in club activities, but should I join yours?”
“Oh? Would you?”
“Instead.”
Chen Shia smiled subtly and tilted her head slightly.
“Call me ‘Noona’.”
“…Do I really have to?”
“Of course. You always treat me like I’m younger, but I’m two years older than you, Young Master Leo. I am clearly your senior.”
Chen Shia lifted her chin and slowly ran her hand through her hair.
And with a subtly profound gaze, she said,
“Can you feel the charm of an adult?”
“You sound like a kid pretending to be an adult.”
Chen Shia made a sulky expression.
It was then.
Murmur- Murmur-
The Grand Library became noisy.
Leo and Chen Shia looked towards the entrance with puzzled faces.
A rather peculiar sight was unfolding there.
A blonde female student in a Scown uniform entered the Grand Library, accompanied by Lumern students.
Moreover, the Lumern students following her were of various grades.
‘Who is she, to have so many people following her? Huh? Wait. I see some familiar faces.’
Leo saw a few familiar faces among the group of students.
They were classmates who had taken the Western entrance exam with him, and seniors who had also taken the Western entrance exam.
The commonality was that they were all nobles of the Lodren Empire.
As Leo gazed at the group of students with a curious expression, the girl who had been scanning the inside of the Grand Library eventually met Leo’s eyes.
Then, she smiled subtly and approached Leo.
“You’re Leo Plov, right?”
The girl, about Chelsea’s age, asked Leo in an elegant voice.
“Yeah, but who are you?”
“You don’t know me?”
The girl asked with a slightly flustered voice.
“It’s my first time seeing you today, so of course I don’t know. Are you famous or something?”
When Leo spoke in an indifferent voice, the first-year students next to him made flustered expressions and opened their mouths as if to tell him something.
But before that, a second-year student, Barden, a collateral descendant of the Gerdinger family, frowned and spoke sternly.
“Don’t speak so impertinently, Leo Plov. This is Her Imperial Highness Shasha Siene Lodren, the Imperial Princess of the Lodren Empire.”
At Barden’s introduction, Leo made an ‘Oh’ expression.
The two great heroic noble families of the Lodren Empire.
Gerdinger and Rwallin.
Both had supported Lodren for a long time and served as retainers of one family.
That is, the imperial family of Lodren.
The Lodren imperial family bestowed immense power upon their retainers, yet this lord-vassal relationship has remained unshaken even after a long time.
This is because the Lodren imperial family is also a heroic noble family that has produced numerous heroes.
If Gerdinger and Rwallin were knights and mages, Lodren was ‘summoners’.
When the Empire faced a crisis.
It was the Emperor of Lodren who stepped forward as the final hero to protect the nation.
As such, the next Emperor of Lodren is determined solely by ‘skill’.
And Shasha, who turns 14 this year, had already proudly ascended to the position of Crown Princess four years ago, surpassing her siblings.
Leo, too, knew about Shasha from stories told by Celia and Chelsea.
“Imperial Princess, what brings you to me?”
“I came to meet a future retainer.”
At Shasha’s words, the entire Grand Library began to stir.
The three major prestigious academies have many children of powerful figures who can sway the world.
Shasha was one of them.
For her to declare in front of everyone that she would accept Leo as a future talent of the Empire was practically the same thing.
Everyone held their breath and focused on Leo and Shasha.
The students from the Lodren Empire also looked greatly flustered, perhaps not having expected this situation.
“In that sense, Leo Plov. No, I will be a Lumern student next year, so I’ll call you ‘Senior’. Senior Leo.”
Shasha elegantly extended her hand to Leo and said.
“Will you escort me to the next summoning magic class?”
No matter how much Lumern prioritized skill, she was the Imperial Princess of the Lodren Empire.
Especially as the Crown Princess, one could not treat her carelessly.
Moreover, she would be a Lumern student next year.
Everyone watched to see how Leo would respond.
‘It would be difficult to refuse here.’
‘Anyway, she’s also trying to keep other factions eyeing Leo Plov in check, right?’
‘She played that well.’
It was when the students were admiring her.
Leo said in an unenthusiastic voice.
“What is this impudent little brat talking about?”