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Thud thud.

The sound of boots echoed down the hallway.

A man in a tidy outfit pulled the door open with both hands and entered, where several professors were seated at a long conference table.

“Ah, Professor Dmitri, welcome.”

“Hello, Professor Riana.”

Riana Lindsey, the homeroom professor of Class C, greeted Dmitri Velikov as he walked through the door.

Dmitri returned her greeting and took a seat at an empty corner of the table.

“With you being the last to arrive, Professor Dmitri, I assume you’ve been quite busy.”

“Haha. The students’ eagerness to learn is so great that class ran a bit later than usual.”

Epert Liar, the professor in charge of Class A, casually remarked to Dmitri, but Dmitri took it as a snide comment.

Although he had been granted the surname Liar by the previous emperor for his outstanding abilities, his fundamental origins were that of a commoner.

Dmitri Velikov, this human, held the belief that all nobles were superior to commoners.

Thus, he misinterpreted even simple niceties as exaggerations.

‘…Tsk.’

There was nothing he could say about it.

He had tried to challenge him a few times in the past and had faced defeat far too often.

All he could do was click his tongue inwardly like now.

“By the way, does any professor know why the Dean has called for this meeting today?”

Dmitri glanced around at the professors seated at the table as he asked, but no responses came.

And rightly so, as the events that were about to unfold were entirely the doing of Lucia.

“Hmm…”

During this time, a woman sitting at one end of the table cleared her throat.

“Yulia, do you happen to know anything?”

Yulia Rodenburg, a third-year student and president of the student council, was present at the professors’ meeting.

Her presence was indicative of the significant power the student council held within the Academy.

Indeed, the student council was an important organization active in various areas within the Academy.

The other professors had no objections to her being there.

“Well… I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re planning to dismiss a few people after the incident last time.”

Dismiss.

In simple terms, that meant firing.

At her words, a few professors shifted uncomfortably, clearly feeling the sting of her remark.

“Hehe, I was just joking, so there’s no need to be so tense.”

She grinned, flashing a charming smile.

If she made two more jokes like that, their hearts might just stop.

“Well then… if I had to guess, it might be related to adventurers? I heard the Dean has been frequently visiting the Adventurer’s Guild lately.”

Adventurers, huh.

The position of Academy Dean wasn’t something that could be taken lightly.

What reason could there possibly be for such a noble person to go to such a shabby place?

“Perhaps there’s an adventurer he’s taken a liking to and wants to hire as a professor?”

“Haha, an adventurer as a professor? You’re quite the jokester, Yulia.”

In this Academy, it was unheard of for a commoner to teach nobles.

Not in the past, not in the present, and not in the future.

At least while he was awake, that would never happen.

“Oh? What would be wrong with that? The Dean was an adventurer back in the day.”

Even if they were adventurers, there were grades to it—S rank and all the riffraff.

“Ah! Could it be that person from back then?”

“The one from back then… That seems plausible.”

Epert and Riana spoke as if they knew something.

“Professor Riana, do you happen to have someone in mind?”

“Um, well… The one who helped out during the Demon incident from last time!”

Whoever it was, he had no idea.

It just so happened that he had taken a sick leave due to magical exhaustion at that time.

But one thing was certain.

“If it’s truly that person, it might be okay. If they can take down a demon, they must have some skill.”

“Right? I hear they’ve been leveling up at an incredible speed.”

That person was an adventurer.

And adventurers, at their core, were commoners.

The thought of such a person becoming a professor?

“That’s absolutely unacceptable!”

*

“That’s absolutely unacceptable!”

As Lucia opened the door, the scene revealed a neatly-dressed professor standing with his hands on the table, erupting in outrage.

“Professor Dmitri, is something wrong?”

“Ah! Dean! You’ve come…”

The professor trailed off as he greeted Lucia and then noticed the rest of them.

“Uh… Excuse me, Dean. If you don’t mind me asking, is that someone from our students behind you?”

“Oh. As expected of you, Professor Dmitri. You seem to remember.”

“Haha… I have a bit of confidence in my memory…”

But was that recall in a good way?

I had a feeling it wasn’t.

He probably remembered me as the commoner, the one who was always at the bottom of the class.

“Dean? Is the person behind you the new professor?”

A young woman with light blue braided hair sitting to the left at the table spoke up.

‘Yulia?’

If I remember correctly, that must be her.

No one else had such a hairstyle.

Yulia Rodenburg, the third-year student council president.

Her position was awkwardly ambiguous to be called the main heroine, so maybe she’d be more like a supporting heroine.

Even though she would graduate from the Academy this year, since the story is set to conclude within a year in the narrative’s timeline, that was irrelevant.

She is the character who struggles to deal with all sorts of incidents happening at the Academy.

Somehow intertwined with demons and monsters, she summons Arthur for questioning and also develops feelings for him late in the story while interacting with the student council.

“Ha… I was trying to keep a low profile, but how did you figure it out? You’re really impressive.”

“You underestimated the student council’s information network. Hehe.”

As Lucia sighed in exasperation, Yulia chuckled softly.

Now that I was caught, it seemed okay. Taking a few steps ahead, Lucia addressed the table.

“Now that it seems everyone is gathered, I’ll say this. We’ve hired Luke and his party as temporary teachers.”

Not ‘We are considering hiring them,’ but ‘We have hired them.’

The decision was already finalized.

At that, the professor who had just exploded with anger spoke up cautiously.

“Um… Dean, while I respect your decision, I must oppose the idea of bringing an adventurer as a professor.”

Ah~ It’s already been decided, so too bad~ Just go back~

“Why do you think that way?”

“Until recently, he was a student himself. How can someone his age, who should be expanding his knowledge with other students, teach others? That seems utterly absurd.”

“Age doesn’t matter when it comes to teaching. Just because someone is young doesn’t mean they can’t teach.”

“He is a commoner. The fact that a commoner would teach a noble will surely incite rebellion among the students.”

“At the Academy, the pretenses of commoners and nobles are completely unnecessary.”

Even though the Academy was said to mean least in terms of ranks, that wasn’t the case in reality.

What if he had a target on his back after getting marked during his time at the Academy and faced retaliation after graduation?

It was natural for commoners to keep an eye on nobles, and among nobles, there were those who took it for granted.

“Ha… This is why I went alone.”

Lucia had said she went alone yesterday without a word.

That was probably the reason.

“Well, there’s a good way around this, isn’t there?”

A young teacher with azure hair spoke up.

“If he can prove that he can teach in martial arts or academia, wouldn’t that suffice?”

“That’s a good suggestion. Professor Epert.”

The old professor approached me.

“Do you really think you’re ready to teach someone else?”

“………”

“Excuse me?”

Luna poked me in the side.

“Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you answering…?”

“Huh? Did someone say something to me?”

Luna pointed at the professor in front of us.

“Oh. Luna, did that guy say some nonsense? I have a filter that automatically blocks out any barking sounds, so I didn’t hear anything.”

If it’s a person, then they should speak like one. Why are they barking?

That’s why I can’t hear it.

“Haah… ”

The sound of laughter and mockery mixed with giggles from those around.

“…What did you just say?”

Then the professor clenched his fists, trembling with anger.

“Well… You’re quite skilled at provoking others. Very well. Let’s test this right now!”

*

And so, we moved to the training grounds.

The training grounds were already filled to the brim with students.

Some were watching the training from outside, while others were resting, having just finished their training.

“Uh…? Professor Dmitri…?”

“Riana and Epert are here too…?”

“Isn’t that the Dean back there…?”

With the professors gathering and the Dean present, it was inevitable that eyes would be drawn toward them.

Some were trembling in fear, wondering if something might be wrong.

Not wanting to shatter the conference room, we came to the training grounds, but since it wasn’t originally meant for professors, attracting attention was a given.

The professor who had decided to challenge me approached a student who had just finished training.

“Cedric, may I borrow your place for a moment?”

“Ah…? Yes! Sure!”

“Thank you very much.”

If he could manage such civility, then why had he spoken nonsense earlier?

Entering the white, draped training ground, facing off against the professor allowed for no shortage of words from his side.

“If you surrender now, I will let you off easy.”

“Is that how it is? Apparently, professors are quite talkative. Are you perhaps better at sucking up than at actually teaching?”

Who the hell did you suck up to to become a professor with just words?

Or are you a blabbermouth wizard?

Talking too much reminds me of that guy from the backwater village.

“How utterly vulgar…!”

He ground his teeth, fists shaking with rage.

He looked like he was on the verge of a transformation.

‘No, but wait a second, that’s kind of funny, isn’t it?’

I’m here as a temporary visiting professor, after all.

What’s with asking for proof from someone you called for in the first place?

Suddenly, I felt a surge of anger.

“Damn it, you’re dead.”

“………?”

 

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