Episode 92. Professor (10)

The Agoge Dormitory is a building characterized by plenty of rooms to accommodate all students from the middle and lower grades, which account for 70% of the total student population.

However, because the rooms reserved for freshmen and transfer students are closed to prevent other students from using them… . Students using agoge had to use a narrow room for 6 people.

Contrary to the expectations of the school headquarters.

Despite living in a cramped room in a group, no students complained about why the agoge prevented us from using the free space.

And, the biggest reason Agoge students were able to do that is… .

“great. opened Harin, Carly. come in.”

“Melia, where did you learn all this?”

“I was bored in first grade… .”

Thanks to some students who are familiar with the structure of the doorknob, the fact that students can use the surplus room as a party room must have had a big impact.

There were many inconveniences, such as the fact that the lights did not turn on, and dust accumulated for a long time on the floor had to be removed in advance during the day… .

The Agoge dormitory students, who didn’t have a resting room in good shape, were not in a position to take a chance.

“Oh, it’s pretty bright, isn’t it?”

Recalling the days when she had to pour herself a drink while relying on the moonlight or candlelight by the window, Carly looked at the fairy lights floated by Harin in a strange way.

“Did you really study?”

“Isn’t that a compliment?”

Among them, the empty room right next to the library is a place where Mina’s roommates often go for drinks.

Carly asked Harin, who had snacks lined up on the table, as she uncorked a bottle of alcohol that had been smuggled in through various routes.

“What about Yuka and Zion?”

“They go to bed first because they have class 1 tomorrow.”

“Isn’t it the same timetable as yours?”

“I’m not weak like them~ It’s okay to drink the whole bottle.”

“Guys like you were the first to reach out. Don’t work hard tomorrow, drink in moderation and go to sleep… .”

“Can’t this be? I have to show you who I am today. Bring it here!”

“Hey! Enlist and don’t drink!”

While Carly and Harin are arguing over a bottle of alcohol.

Melia quietly poured her drink into her glass.

“Guys, stop fighting and pour yourself a drink here.”

“Wow, Mr. Melia, do you know how to make cocktails? Is there really nothing you can’t do?”

As Harin said, Melia was interested in various fields.

It was a problem that his interest did not extend to studying, which is the student’s duty.

She was an Agoge Official Talent who diligently learned anything that interested her, from assembling a clock to playing the flute, self-defense, or turning a pen.

“My mom thought I was a genius until she saw my report card.”

“Even when I saw it, you are smart. Even if you don’t have concentration, it’s because there’s too much of it.”

“I live and live. Harin, I never thought the day would come when I would hear something like this from you… . Shall I study too?”

“You who sleep when you are sleepy and wake up when you want to wake up can take classes?”

“Carly, you say you want to become a big player, but your bowl is still small. There are reasons for my irregular life.”

“… ?”

“I purposely adjusted my life pattern like this.”

onetime. Melia, who had prepared to apply for the Special Warfare Division, said that she had taught herself how to handle various memorized weapons before entering this school.

“In the tutorial I saw then, there was a detailed description of how to assassinate a target. The most important of them is to analyze the subject’s life pattern.”

“… therefore?”

“After seeing that, I decided to live haphazardly on purpose. I’m trying to learn how to avoid assassination before I become a tycoon.”

“Well… .”

Her expression is too serious to be a joke, when Harin and Carly can’t find anything to say.

smart-

Behind the sound of a knock that broke the silence, a female student’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Melia, if you live like that without any plans. Wouldn’t it be difficult to become a big player in the first place… ?”

“Eh, is Mina outside by any chance?”

“yes. Can I come in?”

When Harin opened the door, Mina stood there, holding a bunch of books she had been studying on her own.

“How did you find out about this place?”

“On my way back from the library, I heard your voices in the hallway.”

“Right? come in quickly Okay, would you like a drink too?”

“No, I will only eat sweets… .”

Worried that it would interfere with their studies, the two did not inform Mina about today’s meeting.

I was bored because the number of attendees was smaller than usual, and if Mina had come to see me on her own after finishing her studies, I could eat at ease.

Let Carly and Melia make a seat for Mina.

Harin began to lead the conversation, unraveling the recent events at school.

* * *

“Oh right. Mina, did you hear that Professor Ian is going on a business trip for a week starting next week? Do you know where you are going?”

“Ah, that… . There’s an annual event hosted by the Imperial Society called the Kiruna Research Presentation. You were invited there.”

Kiruna research presentation.

A place prepared for the Imperial Academy to select and invite outstanding professors from among Kiruna’s professors, and to hear their achievements and future research plans.

Through this, professors were able to engrave their names in the utopia-like Imperial Academy and enjoy the honor of publicly revealing their research achievements to the entire academia.

“They said that very few people were invited. I heard that there should be more than 10 people every year?”

“What, was it so great!?”

The fact that the royal society is showing interest in Professor Ian has already become famous among professors, and the fact that he has recently been receiving jealous attention.

It was a story that Carly and Melia, who don’t go to school often, heard.

“I wasn’t originally on the starting list, but I was suddenly invited a few days ago.”

“Well, Professor Ian came to this school and not even a semester has passed yet. Do high-ranking people already care that much?”

“There was no precedent for a new professor to be selected for the presentation, and there was a lot of uproar. That Professor Dana wasn’t invited last year either… .”

“uh? So, Professor Dana was also selected this year?”

“yes.”

“… Wait, you two are going on a trip for a week? Mina, what are you- evil! Carly, why are you hitting me!”

“I hung up in advance because it was obvious that I would be criticized again. ah! yeah, what is that? Strange rumors have been circulating among my friends lately.”

“It hurts… . What is it?”

“I heard there are vampires in this school.”

“Oh, the day before yesterday. Are you talking about that?”

The professor, who was in the middle of a magic beast practice lecture, had an argument with Yuri and opened the beast cage in a fit of anger.

It was an incident in which a vampire hiding among the students hunted all of the monsters.

“Fortunately, only Professor Cliff was hurt inside.”

“Was the professor in charge Cliff the old man? no wonder… . Even so, I was wondering when I would get hit by the magic beast that Ji handles. It looks good.”

“By the way, isn’t it a bit dangerous for vampires to hide among students?”

“According to the people there, he must be a very kind vampire. I heard that the students declared that they would protect them from now on? I even got a fan club.”

“… Pan? Nonsense.”

“Really! They say the vampire lurks in the shadows every night and flies over the school, helping people in need!”

After hearing the story, the other three started to laugh while holding their stomachs, saying, “What nonsense is that?”

It sounds childish even if you think about it, Harin smiled shyly.

“Are you saying it’s a rumor?”

“You didn’t really believe that, did you?”

“Ah, no way! It’s not even a kid’s game… . huh? Why are you guys, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hey you… .”

“Guys, I’m not that stupid. I just heard-”

“I got bugs in my hair.”

“… uh? uhh… . Kyaaa!!”

“Ji, calm down! We’ll take it off-“

When Harin started running in all directions to get rid of the bugs, a commotion broke out as if the lid of hell had been opened.

Dodging the flying goblet, Kali screamed at the rampaging Harin like water poured into boiling oil.

“Hey, is that going to make him fall!? stop for a moment… !”

“Sir, I don’t like… ! What are you going to do if you stay still and it sticks to your face!!”

When the fuss doesn’t stop, the table is about to turn over.

rattle-

“… uh?”

The locked window opened, and the bug attached to Harin’s head was sucked into the starry sky.

The four of them stopped and looked at the window with blank faces.

“What, what is it? did it fly? Who opened the window?”

“No one touched the window.”

“Then, please… ?”

A red star twinkled in the night sky for a moment and then disappeared.

* * *

Two weeks before the presentation of Kiruna’s research results, at the Imperial Conference, where the sun had already set, a man with eyes as blue as the universe was looking at the night sky spread out by the window.

‘Kegar, dragons who study astronomy go mad or commit suicide before they live less than half their lifespan. Why do you think so?’

‘… I do not know.’

The lab, which was tidy with calm eyes and no dust, was bathed in the pouring moonlight, creating a cold atmosphere.

Under the impression befitting a cool-headed scholar, the muscles wriggling as if an electric current flowed with just a light breath exuded an intense figure as if carved from ice.

‘Do dragons live exactly a thousand years? But stars live over 7 billion years. I feel empty in my heart at that overwhelming jet lag. The moment you realize how ephemeral you are living a life you thought you were a higher being who only pursued the unchanging truth. It’s an error in the mind.’

‘… Is that so.’

‘Yes, so how you feel right now is not your problem. It’s because Elma designed us badly.’

The news that the magic duel evaluation has ended at the Kiruna Magic School brings life to the always solemn Imperial Academy.

Kegar remembered the person who had disappeared while swearing at the clan and the goddess.

Then wait.

Even within the Imperial Academy, ‘Rubedo’, which means the highest rank, the moment the red robe reached the list of professors selected for the presentation.

Dana.

Kegar, who confirmed only that name, muttered in a trembling voice.

“… How the hell did you survive that long?”

Dana, who mainly studies light science, has deeply explored planets in the universe like the sun for 200 years.

That alone would have been painful, but in addition to light science, the minor she chose was anthropology.

Of the dragons that deeply explored humans in the past, not a single one remained without losing their sanity.

There were also individuals who were buried in the emotions of humans and took their own lives, or in the worst case, called themselves humans and killed their own people.

It is only natural that Kegar, who had suffered from madness at one time, admired her for continuing to research in fields that other clans shunned, even when she was perfectly fused among humans.

“I am not the only person capable of leading Laplace in human civilization… . Dana, it is you.”

Since dragons share all research results in their temple, the ‘Tower of Truth’, Dana’s research could also be viewed in the Tower of Truth.

Kegar has always been interested in reading the human observation reports she has been writing since she melted into human society.

What kind of place is the school and what are the professors and nobles like?

In her report, which focused on facts, we could read the deep cynicism and hatred toward humans.

‘Only she can take on the future of dragons on a continent occupied by humans.’

“I can see you in person in two weeks.”

Beneath the stars that burned so long that even the long history of dragons felt like an instant.

The dragon, awakened by hatred towards the world and the goddess, calmly drew the curtains by the window.

“I miss you, Dana.”