Chapter 285

Leonor, upon hearing the news, was so shocked that she nearly spat out the tea she was drinking.

She managed to stop the tea from spilling out at the last second, but the effort left her coughing for quite a while.

…Isn’t she overreacting a bit?

Was the fact that I was appointed as a professor at the academy really that shocking?

“Professor? At Remnant Academy? Has the dean finally gone senile…! No, even if that’s the case, I didn’t think you’d accept such a thing. What exactly are you planning to teach?”

Well?

“That’s for you to figure out.”

“…What?”

“Why are you so surprised? You swore to assist me, so this is just part of the job.”

Just like how cotton farming needs unpaid labor experts, a professor needs an assistant.

And you, my dear, are going to be my first assistant. I’ll squeeze you dry.

Since it’s an honorary professorship, I don’t even need to give lectures, but even if I did, I planned to leave the basic teaching methods to Leonor from the start.

[I wondered how someone with no wisdom could teach others, but now I see your cunning plan… You’re still as crafty as ever.]

‘Saying I have no wisdom is a bit harsh. I’m just making the best use of available talent. What could be wiser than that?’

If I can’t do something myself, it’s wise to leave it to someone who can.

Preferably, someone who can’t refuse.

Even though it’s a knight order created by the former emperor, running a whole knight order means her teaching skills must be better than mine.

Plus, she’s reached master-level combat skills after this battle… and as a royal, she’s been trained in basic etiquette. The academy would welcome her with open arms.

As for me, I’ll just conduct practical sparring sessions according to Leonor’s curriculum.

I’d like to make Nigel an assistant too, but since he’s under Ludwig’s command, I’d need the marquis’s permission.

“So, let’s work well together from now on, Assistant Professor Leonor.”

“Good heavens…”

Leonor, who had been staring at my smile, sighed deeply while holding her forehead.

—

The professor’s residence was a mansion-like building located at the back of the academy.

It was somewhat isolated, and since it was an inaccessible area in the game, I had no idea it was the professors’ quarters.

The special guesthouse was also well-equipped for foreign dignitaries, but this place was even better.

It was like the difference between a high-end studio apartment and a luxury penthouse.

The living room alone had eight rooms.

A reception room, study, bathroom, training room, storage, and even three separate rooms for servants. It was practically a small mansion.

Rana might be shocked when she sees it.

Returning to the academy after so long, the tiny room we used to share has turned into a mansion.

“It’s awkwardly small… Do we really need to live here? Once the rewards are handed out, we could be given a grand mansion to live in.”

Leonor, still retaining her royal sensibilities, complained, but for me, this was just right.

After all, it’s only going to house about four people, so anything bigger would be unnecessary.

“This is fine. It’s convenient for moving around the academy.”

In fact, living in an external mansion would be more inconvenient.

The professor’s residence, like the academy, is off-limits to outsiders, but if we lived outside, my mansion would probably be swarmed by crowds.

I might have to relive the chaos I experienced every time I left the hospital.

“Hmm… For your status, you’re surprisingly modest.”

“I’d prefer if you called it frugal. It’s better than being extravagant, right?”

“I suppose so.”

Leonor nodded.

Perhaps because Isabella was so extravagant, Leonor, who despised her, tended to avoid luxury and entertainment.

Still, being a royal, her sense of money was worlds apart from mine.

—

Since we didn’t have much to begin with, the move didn’t take long.

In less than an hour, workers who seemed to be academy staff moved all the belongings of me, Rana, and Nigel from the special guesthouse to the residence.

I watched the scene and explained to the workers where to place each item.

The three separate rooms were designated for Rana, Nigel, and Leonor, and their personal belongings were stacked there. Rana’s books were neatly arranged in the study.

The rest, they’d figure out themselves.

After the workers left, Leonor and I had a meal, washed up, and lay down on the bed.

It was a bit early to sleep, but my body, still recovering, tired easily.

Since other professors were dispatched outside the academy due to manpower shortages, there wouldn’t be any visitors… I could rest a bit like this.

Nice house.

The bathroom was quite spacious, and the bed was wide and comfortable.

It seemed they didn’t consider single people, as the bed was large enough for three people to sleep comfortably.

Other professors probably sleep with their spouses. They wouldn’t sleep with students, right?

I closed my eyes, enjoying the cloud-like softness.

From around the Zeren Plains…

I rarely have nightmares anymore, so I should be able to sleep soundly.

—

Unfortunately, my peace lasted only until that night.

The capital remained in a festive mood.

The next day, news from the north struck the capital like a thunderbolt.

The northern wall had fallen.

That brief phrase forced a harsh truth upon those who believed peace had come with the witch’s death: the era of chaos had only just begun.

It wasn’t just a simple breach.

The entire 1st Legion, including Commander Georg, and all the master-level knights had fallen.

Thousands of Imperial Army soldiers lost.

Reports indicated that under the command of Princess Faelun, they retreated to Faelun Castle, but if attacked again, annihilation was highly likely.

And then there was the king of the beastmen, Lyurik, the Winter Wolf, who faced eight masters at once and defeated seven of them.

Literally, the entire north might collapse, and the Empire was in an uproar.

I, too, woke up to the news delivered urgently by Leonor.

…It was like a bolt from the blue.

—

“The northern wall has fallen? So suddenly…?”

I was dumbfounded by the news.

Last I heard, they were holding the line just fine.

And that wall wasn’t something that could be breached so easily…?

But Leonor’s expression was stone-cold, all traces of her usual playfulness gone, as if to emphasize that the unbelievable story was undeniably true.

“The messenger was sent directly by Princess Faelun… It must be true. Honestly, it’s chaos outside right now.”

But how?

Unless they were flying through the sky, breaching that wall should’ve been impossible…!

“Rumor has it that Lyurik, the king of the beastmen, flew up using a catapult and took down all the masters on the northern wall. …Hard to believe, but there it is.”

…So they literally flew through the sky. With a catapult.

What kind of madness is that? One wrong move, and they’d have been dead.

[There’s another lunatic like you out there. Truly, the world is vast, and the mad are many.]

Hersela muttered in my head, sounding almost impressed.

I wasn’t in the mood to respond.

Who even is this Lyurik guy?

I thought the king of the beastmen was some tiger named Oleg. Did that change?

Or, like how Or-han is the current chief of the Ka`har instead of Hersela, is Lyurik some previous beastman king before Oleg…?

Leonor didn’t know what the beastmen were doing after breaching the wall or what they were up to now.

The only news from the north was that the wall had fallen and the Imperial Army had retreated to Faelun Castle.

The only certainty was that the fate of the north hung by a thread.

If he single-handedly took down eight masters and breached the northern wall, then he must’ve surpassed the level of a master… a true grand warrior.

Fighting someone like that… it’s a miracle Freide even survived.

My mouth went dry. My vision blurred, and my breathing grew shallow.

The flood of worries felt like a vice tightening around my lungs.

Freide, Milia, Damien. Are they all safe?

I sent them north to defend the wall and gain some combat experience, not to die fighting an overwhelming enemy!

The forces sent north weren’t small, and I was reassured by Freide’s rise to master-level and Damien’s growth. But this… they could die at any moment…!

“Wait, are you okay? You look…!”

Leonor, seeing my face, urgently grabbed my shoulders and leaned in close.

Reflected in her violet eyes, my face was pale, my pupils trembling, looking like a terminally ill patient.

“…I have to go.”

“Go where? Don’t tell me, the north? In this state? There’s a limit to recklessness. Going there in your condition, not even fully recovered…!”

Leonor’s words were undeniably correct.

Even I could sense that in this state, I wouldn’t last against the beastmen, let alone the cold.

But I had to go.

In the current Empire, I was the only hero-level fighter left. I had no choice.

“Recovery… I’ll recover on the way.”

I pushed Leonor’s hands off my shoulders and stood up.

The brief respite had come to an end.