Episode 14. Dana

Professor Dana, who can feel the madness just by looking at the letter, is one of the most impressive supporting characters in the novel. A mad scientist who gives up even the least dignity as a human being and runs mad only for the truth.

She makes all the alchemy reagents into whiskey, or gives Professor Hadley’s favorite plants the philosopher’s intellect so that the plants themselves give up photosynthesis… .

It is also the main culprit of strange incidents and accidents, so it is also related to light episodes in which the main character solves problems at school.

You might think that that would be enough to say that even if you were fired from your professorship right away, you wouldn’t have anything to say… . Because her research results are so overwhelming, there is no one who can stop Professor Dana in Kiruna.

A medium-sized magic research institute researched and announced results in one month that would have been possible in a year.

The story that all theses were recognized by the Imperial Magic Society is more than just a legend among scholars, it is also a kind of ghost story.

The fact that her genius, as if a star had fallen from the sky, was not very improbable, because Dana was a polymorphic dragon hiding her true identity.

‘Ah Young. He’s a dragon.’

‘Yeah.’

‘By the way, why are you arguing in the human world?’

‘I’m going to hide the fact that he’s a dragon for now, and reveal his identity like a twist in the second half.’

‘yes? So you’re saying it wasn’t a character to be consumed lightly?’

‘Yes. So, I’m thinking about how to play an active part in the second half, but I haven’t thought about how to put in a double line and retrieve it yet. As you know, I’m not writing this novel with a separate ending.’

‘That’s right. Well… Anyway, other than Dana’s true identity, I haven’t decided anything else yet, right?’

‘Yeah. If you have time later, think about it slowly, together.’

oh shit

I should have thought of it at the time.

How could I have known I would get caught up in something like this?

“It’s a little bit like going to the lab… .”

I’d rather shove my head into the tiger’s den than crawl into it with my feet.

“Still, he’s a professor in the same department, but it doesn’t look good to refuse. I’d better invite you from my side.”

Of course, under normal circumstances, he would have refused and ran away with a single knife.

‘Something is strange.’

Professor Dana is not the first to show interest in anyone. Usually I’m just crazy about my personal studies… .

She definitely belongs to the ‘important person’, but it’s dangerous in many ways in that she’s a character I don’t know what’s inside.

If I couldn’t figure out Dana’s thoughts, it was clear that the back of my head would be broken by the twist Ah-yeong prepared for in the second half of the novel.

‘therefore. If he asks to meet you, then you have to meet him.’

I don’t want to go even if I die, so I’ll have to prepare everything and call from this side.

“Okay, Professor. When and where should I take Professor Dana?”

“Hmm.”

At that time, a flash of terrifying power began to flash from the letter on the desk.

“Now, here! Please take me!!”

pop-!

After the explosions and flashes died down, a bright woman with tangerine-colored hair in a ponytail sat down at a teacup-raising table.

Maybe it’s because it’s a polymorphed dragon. She looked so young that it was hard to believe that she was 32 years old, and her emerald eyes shone in a white research uniform.

“hello. junior?”

“… good morning. Professor Dana. Did you have dinner?”

“I tried picking and eating some Chimera leaves in the morning. It was toxic. I almost went to the other world.”

“You flew like this. Let’s have breakfast together.”

“like!”

I wanted to go to the professor’s cafeteria, but neither she nor I preferred a place that required such formality, so we decided to eat in my room.

Even though the table was still empty, Dana grabbed a fork and knife and licked her lips.

“Brother. I’ll order you something to eat?”

“I see.”

“Leen! Just give me 30 Rien’s special omelets! You know that it spreads out with just a little touch, right?”

“… Okay. Professor Dana.”

An omelet that spreads well, and that’s about 30 pieces.

It looks like a simple dish. After hearing about the terrible difficulty of cooking, I couldn’t bear to order another food for poor Rien.

“… Then I’ll ask for a coffee.”

“Yeah. We will bring it to you quickly.”

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two as Rien went to war with the omelettes.

I’ve been observing her intently, but I haven’t seen her real face yet. It would be a great achievement even if I noticed a slight change in expression or shade.

“Brother.”

“… Yeah.”

After a snowball fight long enough for each other to stare into each other’s eyes, she finally opened her mouth.

“Are you embarrassed about me?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. Junior, you are too cold to me. Do you get angry if you treat me like a stone statue even though I’ve used almost half of my 10 charm points?”

“What are your 10 attractive points?”

“Sexy, innocence, decadence, pure cool beauty, intelligent, bubbly, vivacious high school girl, female professor. I wrote it in the letter.”

* * *

“I bet you didn’t come looking for a conversation like this.”

“… Oh, you must be more aware than you look?”

If we keep going like this, we will continue to exchange joke-like conversations, so I stabbed him first, but I think this was the correct answer.

“… Junior Ian. I don’t know if it sounds funny because it’s what I’m saying. In fact. I came here to tell you about the reality that juniors are facing. I feel like I don’t know anything right now.”

Her light green eyes darkened. I straightened up and prepared to listen to her.

“Your junior will work like my assistant first while living in school.”

“Please explain in more detail.”

“Haven’t you experienced school life, junior? You probably don’t know exactly what kind of system the lab has, what criteria the assistants are selected for, and how many papers you need to write to maintain a professorship.”

“exactly… . There are many things I don’t know. I was a soldier until a year ago.”

“okay. You don’t know anything. It’s different from the other professors who climbed up here from this clenched bottom graduate student. It can’t be helped because the environment they’ve lived in is different, but why did Kiruna Magic School make junior Ian, who is from the military, a full professor, unlike other professors… ?”

“… Is it for show?”

While serving in the military in the past, I was fed up with the wartime administration of that bastard.

Is it because it is a place where people live? So was the army here.

“Still, you have your eyes. A mage soldier who never lost his passion for research even in the field troops fighting endless demons. Professor Ian was forcibly brought in to make a case that such a person rose to the ridiculous position of full professor Kiruna at once. That’s why you were able to take on a full professorship at that young age.”

“Simply put, you’re saying that I’m in a position that doesn’t fit my subject. Since there is no end to the beasts crossing the border, to calm the dissatisfaction and anxiety of the soldiers and wizards and to create something that will give them hope.”

Well, it was strange that a young soldier had suddenly risen to this position.

The position of Kiruna magic professor is an honorable and prestigious position that allows you to enter the imperial family without any problems.

It is impossible to come to this place at a young age unless you are a genius.

There are many contacts with the Imperial Academy and vassals, and almost all magicians dream of a job and a shortcut to success as a professor at this school.

It was a little strange that he had suddenly risen from a soldier to a full professor, not an honorary position or part-time lecturer.

I also wondered if Ian had proven a really innovative theory and came this far based on that, but it was not possible.

‘Ha, I should have asked Ah-yeong if this was weird… . I’m an idiot for passing it off as the background of an extra whose name only appears. Ugh.’

“You are like a trophy in Kiruna right now. Since he’s a new professor, he’ll probably be in charge of E class, so he won’t care about his teaching skills at all.”

“I can roughly guess.”

“Yeah. To put it bluntly, the D and E classes have been abandoned by the department, so don’t take classes and use that time to do research. It’s already a very talkative person, but since the academic society pays special attention to new professors’ thesis, they entrust them with E class and are considerate to secure research time.”

“Hmm.”

“So I, who is in charge of Class D, never took a class last year. It will probably be the same this year, but at this school, professors are researchers, not teaching. What do professors do because they teach the kids well?”

As expected, there is definitely a dark side to this school that I don’t know about.

I also got some sense from Mint students. After listening to Professor Dana’s story, it seemed that there were some negative aspects of Kiruna that I didn’t know about.

It makes perfect sense now that the Mint student vomited 10 minutes in my office yesterday. Certainly, it seemed that it would be difficult for students in the lower ranks to survive in this school.

“Let’s go back to the beginning. You said I’d be working as Professor Dana’s assistant, then. In that situation, you meant that since I don’t have the ability to continue my research alone, I will be working as an assistant to Professor Dana, who has the most excellent research results.”

“Yes. You are a full professor, but you will learn from scratch under me. But don’t worry, all the research papers I have published will be published as co-authors with my juniors.”

No, is that okay? ?

“Oh, by the way, this was made by Mrs. Hadley. I’m a person who is crazy about research results, so I won’t take Professor Ian warmly, but it’s not enough to ignore the breath of the above.”

“I heard that the papers presented by first-time professors will be looked at more carefully at conferences. In order not to damage the reputation of the department, new professors who do not have the ability to conduct research are assigned to professors with excellent research results and published as co-authors… .”

Co-author with a little help, I wondered if this was too openly a criminal act.

Perhaps reading my expression, Professor Dana started to laugh dejectedly.

“Now you know, the atmosphere here? But, junior. Can I tell you one more disappointing fact?”

“Is there more here? I am curious.”

“Even if you find out this terrible fact, you can’t beat the professor here.”

“… I put it up to give other soldiers hope.”

“okay! Soldier wizards will dream of reversing their lives once they hear the news of their juniors. In the cold frontline, trembling with anxiety every day, I would light a candle and write a thesis. Even if the monsters cross the castle wall and rush in from dawn, they will stand on the front line, dreaming of Professor Kiruna! Just this time, just this time, if you finish your research and present it at the conference, you can live in Kiruna, being treated well!”

“… It reminds me of the saying that mages have the highest desertion rate.”

“okay. By the way, the professor is leaving this school? Because it makes no sense. You should be the hope of other wizard comrades who are getting their hands and feet cut off by frostbite at the forefront. If you tell the truth about your life as a military professor, the wizards on the front lines will lose their only hope of surviving in that hell and desert.”

“Eventually, with the absence of the mage, the front line will collapse.”

It’s downright cruel.

How can soldiers be treated as expendable breakwaters in this world?

“How are you, junior? Are you foolish? This school is such a place.”

Dana took off the research uniform she was wearing and came closer to me.

“Actually, everywhere in the world is like this. All humans are like this.”

Her eyes, completely dimmed, the color of midnight leaves, slowly approached me.

“I believe junior Ian is different from other stupid and disgusting professors. Junior is someone who can hate this place as much as I do.”

The three top buttons of her shirt came undone, revealing her deep, white undertones.

“It is a meaningless world. No matter what you do, this system will not change.”

“… .”

She came right next to me and started stroking my shoulder. Sweet-scented breath lingered in my ears.

At the point where I thought it would be dangerous to go down any further, I grabbed her wrist.

“It seems that you are greatly disappointed in the world in many ways.”

“So, are you saying that you haven’t been disappointed after hearing this far?”

“Of course, I am very disappointed. very.”

I got up holding her hand and put Dana back in her seat.

“But I’m not sure if everything is really meaningless.”

“hahahaha… . In the end, you have to do it yourself-”

“Professor Dana. My temporary class is scheduled for tomorrow in the auditorium.”

He said, buttoning up her shirt.

“If you are not busy tomorrow, I would like you to observe my class.”

“… Yeah?”

“After that, I hope we can talk again about the meaning of education.”