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“Ha······.”

A woman sat in front of the desk.

Lucia Marygold let out a sigh, something she hadn’t done in a while.

The reason was the recent appearances of demons and mana creatures, one after the other.

Months ago, during a training exercise, a demon incident had occurred.

It was unfortunate that she couldn’t deal with it directly at the time as she was on a business trip.

She had heard that the group, which included the top student from the first year, somehow managed to defeat it.

Though personally, she didn’t quite believe it, there was no way to investigate further since the parties involved had said so.

‘When was the last time I saw a demon······?’

It felt like it had been at least ten years.

Back when she was active as an A-Rank adventurer, she had happened to dispose of a demon she encountered.

That demon had been strong enough to put her life on the line.

However, it seemed that the strength of demons varied from individual to individual.

“Hu······.”

With her elbows resting on the desk, she rubbed her forehead and sighed once more.

With just the demon incidents, her head was already throbbing, and to make matters worse, a mana creature had appeared during a recent artificial dungeon training.

She pieced together what had happened based on the testimonies of the students inside, but the conclusion was that she had no idea why they had started appearing so frequently lately.

Clearly, both demons and mana creatures were living in hiding, so they shouldn’t be roaming around so casually.

Yet, here they were.

She recalled the information given to her by the professor who was leading the training at the time.

– Right after entering the dungeon, the students felt something strange and tried to escape, but were blocked by some kind of barrier, and when they ventured deeper, they found a mana creature controlling corpses.

The ability to control corpses.

If it was a mana creature, it was a distinctly malicious ability befitting their kind.

Of course, she wasn’t one to simply brush such an event off with, “Oh, I see.”

She had pressed the professors on what they had been doing during such occurrences.

– Well… the magical tools inside were taken over. Since we used the ones that were originally there, we didn’t notice the anomaly…

The magical tools made for academy practice and the mana creatures that had invaded in advance.

It seemed as though they had known and prepared for it ahead of time.

How could beings thought to be disconnected from the world act as if they were aware of the academy’s curriculum?

Why did they only strike when she wasn’t present?

She simply concluded, ‘There’s a traitor among us.’

It wouldn’t make sense otherwise. If it weren’t for a traitor, it would mean there was divine intervention, or something equally significant had taken place.

Whether the traitor was a student, a professor, or perhaps even a cleaner.

She didn’t know any specifics, but whoever it was wouldn’t be easy to find.

Aside from the possibility of a traitor, there was no information at all.

If they were the type to easily leak information, they wouldn’t be able to play the role of a traitor to begin with.

‘I’ll have to focus on finding the traitor for a while.’

She leaned back against her chair and closed her eyes.

– Thanks to the adventurer who came to help, we managed to wrap things up before any casualties occurred.

– That’s right! If it weren’t for the adventurer who came to assist, it would have been a disaster.

The adventurers who came to support had claimed to be vital.

Coincidentally, the supporting adventurer was someone she knew.

Luke.

It hadn’t been long since he had dropped out, and she certainly wouldn’t have forgotten that.

‘Wasn’t he on a B-Rank promotion exam right now…?’

She exchanged information with Guild Master Argo, whom she had personal ties with.

Thus, she knew he had gone off on a raid for his B-Rank promotion exam.

It had only been a few months since he had dropped out.

How could he have become so strong in such a short time after being the last in the entire school?

She was curious about the secret behind it.

Not for herself, but to incorporate his secret into the curriculum for the sake of the students.

Demons and mana creatures were slowly rearing their heads.

If they only targeted the academy when she wasn’t around, it would be difficult to respond.

Therefore, the best way would be to make the students stronger so they could protect themselves.

Even if professors were around, it was impossible to monitor everywhere in the vast academy.

Besides, taking demons and mana creatures aside, everyone desired to become stronger.

‘I should propose it later on.’

*

That was the origin of the incidents.

Now she was prepared to listen to the opposing party’s conditions and try to entice him into a smooth agreement.

So, Lucia was visiting ahead of schedule, aligned with the date Luke was supposed to arrive.

Frankly, she was willing to accommodate most requests, provided they weren’t completely unreasonable.

As long as he didn’t vomit······.

“Luke’s mouth···!”

“Lu, Luke, it’s spilling out!!”

“······.”

There was quite a commotion, but cleaning up was no trouble for Lucia.

– Snap!

As she flicked her finger, the mess instantly turned to ashes, leaving only a clean floor behind.

“···If you’re feeling unwell, you should have said something earlier.”

It wasn’t the type of urgent situation that warranted summoning an ill person, so Lucia had intended to postpone it.

“I couldn’t speak, so I didn’t say anything.”

“···What?”

The answer came from the beastman woman standing next to Luke.

Luke remained expressionless and silent, but she had somehow understood and responded in his place.

“Um··· excuse me, who are you?”

“I apologize. I’m Luna, a party member of Luke. This is Yui, another party member.”

“Oh, I see···.”

Having also lived as an adventurer, she was well aware of how important a party was.

She had worried whether it would be alright to leave the academy without a good party, but it seemed she had stumbled upon some good members.

···Though they did give off a slight slave-like vibe.

‘Just a feeling, I guess.’

“Then you’re not sick, right?”

“Yes.”

There was no illness, but had he been feeling unwell, there was no way Luke would call for her.

Lucia had no way of knowing that.

“Then… would you consider becoming a temporary professor at the academy as I mentioned earlier?”

Upon hearing her question, Luna whispered something to Luke, who then shook his head several times before nodding.

“Are you really conveying that to me…?”

– Nod, nod.

“Ha···.”

What was with the sigh? She was curious about what was being said.

Luna immediately answered without making her wait.

“He says he declines.”

“···But I haven’t even told you the conditions yet?”

“He still says he declines.”

This time, it was Luna’s subjective reply without even being asked.

Luke nodded as if in agreement.

“I have a personal question.”

“Yes. Please ask.”

“Weren’t there any objections from the professors?”

“I thought it might happen, so I intentionally came without saying anything.”

Wasn’t she acting too autonomously with the titles of Dean and Chairperson?

She could scold her for that, but there was a reason it had to be this way.

If a meeting were to occur, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

There would certainly be professors who would raise the issue of elitism.

Saying something like using a dropout as a professor is nonsensical. There are issues with a commoner teaching nobles.

In such a case, opinions would be split and the proposal would get lost in the shuffle.

The academy was not just a social gathering for nobles to hone their knowledge and martial skills.

It was unfortunate that such absurd reasons would lead to missing a good opportunity, which was why Lucia had come alone.

Once a contract was signed, it would be too late to say anything afterward.

Besides, if it was Luke, his abilities would prove himself in no time.

“Why not suggest that you’re just taking a short break for now?”

Argo backed up Lucia’s words.

“Why? He’s asking.”

“Honestly, your promotion speed is hard to handle. No matter how much you claim to prove your skills, there will always be whispers like that.”

He had connections in the upper echelons of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Buying people off with backroom dealings.

Such absurd rumors.

While most adventurers took more than a decade to become B-Rank, how could he become so strong and achieve promotion in just a few months?

Such doubts couldn’t be avoided.

Doubts mixed with envy and jealousy, which lacked any real evidence but sounded plausible from the perspectives of those who hadn’t seen him.

And is it not enough to prove it with your skills?

There are limits to that as well.

Only those who have seen him in action would believe him, but how many people would that be?

There were adventurers not only in the empire but also in other branches.

It was unreasonable to go running around to prove himself to them all.

At the current rate, A-Rank would come quickly, and once that happened, the rumors would become a given.

Now was the time to take a breather.

“If you kill them all, won’t those absurd rumors disappear? He says.”

“···Then he would just become a bounty hunter instead of an adventurer.”

Luke licked his lips, seemingly disappointed.

His words were so intense that she thought it was a joke, but apparently, it wasn’t.

Anyway, this was a good timing.

With Argo’s support, Lucia was going to push it through.

“The academy offers many benefits to professors. Meals are provided, and there are exclusive lodging accommodations for professors. If possible, we’ll try to meet other conditions you may have as well. I won’t ask for too long; maybe just 1-2 months?”

Luke appeared to be deep in thought.

Seizing the momentum, Lucia pointed out the biggest advantage of a professorship.

“Professors earn quite a bit per day.”

“How much?” he asked.

Lucia whispered the professors’ pay to Luke.

Are they trying to buy me with money?

However, that thought didn’t escape her lips.

It was too much money for that.

At the sight of his expression, Lucia smiled.

 

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