“Yujin, can I ask just one question?”
“Go ahead, Tia.”
After wrapping up his rough conversation with the president, Yujin was heading toward where Professor Reina had left when he readily nodded at Tiamat’s question.
“That kid… Considering what you called a punishment, you didn’t really do much, did you? Was that enough?”
“Yes, it’s enough.”
Keeping quiet about the president being a dragon is more than sufficient. Upon saying that, Tiamat’s expression becomes peculiar.
“Now that I think of it, this feels strange, but compared to that time with the elf, aren’t you being quite merciful? Ending things just by keeping quiet about the fact that you’re a dragon seems odd.”
“That’s Miss Mirien you’re talking about. The situation is different now compared to back then.”
Yujin chuckled inwardly for a moment before speaking to Tiamat.
“When you think about it, it’s my fault too. Just because I got hired as a professor at the academy doesn’t mean I can trespass without permission. Even though there was a reason, it’s still true that I wasn’t a dorm supervisor and was heading toward the student dormitory. If you think about it, from the president’s perspective, I was just an intruder.”
“Hmm…”
“The president has an obligation to stop any unauthorized intruders. If you think about it, the president didn’t make any major mistakes in their actions. So, wouldn’t it be ridiculous to actually punish them?”
Having said that, Yujin glanced over his shoulder at the president who was hesitantly following behind. Seeing the president flinch, Yujin smirked and spoke to Tiamat.
“So, that’s why. Regardless of any misunderstanding or hostility due to misjudgment on my part, the president’s actions were justified, so we’re taking that into account.”
“I see. Got it.”
“Haha, of course, it’s best to keep the whole ‘dragon’ thing secret elsewhere, so I’ve placed a taboo seal on it.”
The Dragon Language has the power to even reverse rules. Engraving a taboo onto a human soul is no difficult task.
Looking at it this way, the powers of dragons seem pretty unreasonable. Being able to control someone’s life with just a word… huh?
“Hey, isn’t that something all the big shots have in common?”
Yujin chuckled bitterly at the thought and continued walking forward.
Meanwhile, Reina Sahart was anxiously staring towards the direction of the academy garden from inside the President’s Office, which was located at the deepest part of the academy.
Thinking that the princess might be targeted, she brought her to what she believed was the safest place. However, Reina was currently feeling both confusion and anxiety due to the lack of any incidents.
“No incidents… What the heck is going on?”
There’s no chaos where it should be chaotic. Only silence.
Could it be because we moved here fearing the academy would be engulfed in flames? But would that guy let us move so easily?
I don’t know. Maybe everything ended before it even started, or maybe it was all just our misunderstanding.
The latter was closer to hope, but given the current situation where we know nothing about that man’s strength, it’s only natural to cling to that hope.
A man who could effortlessly subdue even the Grand Mage, the head of the Mage Association. While I don’t want to think the president would lose easily, it might be a situation where even the president can’t handle it in the worst-case scenario.
Reina silently hoped it wasn’t such a worst-case scenario while staring blankly at the princess sitting on the sofa in the president’s office…
Creak.
“!”
At that moment, the door to the president’s office suddenly opened.
Reina immediately turned her gaze toward it.
“President!”
Then, a familiar figure came into view.
A woman with fiery red hair and regal golden eyes appeared, causing Reina to relax her tense expression.
The president, Ines Karandar, also greeted her with a smile.
“Professor Reina.”
“Thank goodness…! I was worried something happened to you, President…”
Reina hurriedly approached her, but stopped abruptly after noticing something.
“Uh… w-why…?”
“Ahh, Professor Reina, no need to panic. This person… no, Professor Yujin is not a Dark Sorcerer.”
Seeing Reina’s eyes shaking like they were hit by an earthquake, President Ines quickly explained.
“It was all our misunderstanding. So, please calm down and listen to me first.”
“…”
Upon hearing those words from the president, Reina hesitated for a moment before steadying her breathing.
Ah… right… I did consider the possibility of a misunderstanding, didn’t I? His suspicious circumstances aside, there wasn’t any solid evidence against him.
It could all be a misunderstanding. If that’s the case, there’s no reason for me to be this flustered.
“But… this person…?”
However, Reina had momentarily overlooked something. The president had used an unusual honorific earlier. “This person”? Isn’t that a term used when addressing someone of high status?
Is there anyone the president would address so respectfully? A woman who has ruled as one of the strongest in the world for years, standing confidently even before the emperor?
There was something unsettling, but Reina trusted the president. Of course, if she says it was a misunderstanding, there must be a reasonable explanation.
Believing that, Reina asked the two of them.
“How… how did it happen?”
“Just as it sounds. I first had a conversation with Professor Yujin and determined he is not a Dark Sorcerer.”
“Is that so…?”
Did she use some kind of lie-detection magic? But would that work on a mage of Yujin’s caliber? Even truth-telling or confession magic cast by a Grand Mage like the president would require an absurd difference in skill levels to work. Someone on the same level could easily counter or deceive such magic. Of course, this assumes the difference between the president and Yujin isn’t too great or if Yujin is even stronger…
“He’s a powerhouse who could easily subdue the head of the Mage Association. It’s hard to imagine there’d be such a huge gap in skill between him and the president…”
Even though she trusts the president absolutely, Reina knows how to objectively assess situations. The head of the Mage Association is undeniably a Grand Mage. Given that Yujin subdued him with a flick of his finger, it’s hard to imagine an overwhelming difference in skill between him and the president. Moreover, the president couldn’t gauge his exact level.
So did Yujin willingly agree to undergo lie detection or confession magic?
But as mentioned earlier, deception is possible. The president, knowing this fact, wouldn’t blindly trust such methods.
Considering this, she looked at the president, who then spoke.
“Think about it. We initially doubted him based solely on circumstantial evidence without any concrete proof. And upon closer inspection, those circumstantial pieces were either uncertain or poorly constructed.”
“That’s… true.”
Reina didn’t deny it. If she truly believed Yujin was a Dark Sorcerer, she would’ve acted immediately instead of investigating further. There were just some questionable aspects in the investigation results.
“Most importantly, the fact that he harmed the princess was a mistake. Go check her out. Professor Yujin merely helped her.”
“…Understood.”
With that, Reina approached Princess Elysia lying on the sofa in the president’s office and placed her hand on the princess’s forehead.
Hummm…
As she activated her mana, Reina examined Elysia’s body. Then…
“…No dark energy? Could it be…?”
She realized that she couldn’t sense any dark energy emanating from the princess. More precisely, it felt as if it had been hidden.
Though deep within her, dark energy still lingered, it wasn’t rampaging through her body and corroding her. It was as if it had been sealed.
“How…”
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but the president told me Professor Yujin sealed the dark energy. A Dark Sorcerer wouldn’t have any reason to do such a thing, would they?”
“…”
Hearing that, Reina finally agreed and sighed in relief.
Ah, so it was all just a misunderstanding. All this trouble was for nothing.
Although feeling somewhat deflated, she was also relieved.
“…I apologize, President. My words caused unnecessary stress.”
Standing up, Professor Reina bowed her head to the president. The president shook her head.
“No need to apologize. You were simply doing your job, weren’t you? If anything, it’s my fault for letting the misunderstanding grow.”
“That’s not true. It was my unnecessary talk that…”
“Enough. Let’s leave this discussion here. If you want to apologize, do it separately to Professor Yujin later.”
Shaking her head, the president pointed to Yujin, causing Reina to turn around and bow politely.
“I apologize, Professor Yujin. My mistaken suspicion caused you inconvenience.”
“It’s alright. I fully understand Professor Sahart’s position.”
Yujin smiled and nodded, accepting her apology.
The president then clapped her hands lightly and spoke.
“Well then… Professor Reina? Please show Professor Yujin where he’ll be staying. The best room available, if possible.”
“Understood.”
“And Yujin… I’ll contact you later. Please come to the president’s office when you get the message. Procedures aside, hiring you as a professor requires some formalities.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Then let’s go ahead and leave.”
Following the president’s words, Reina moved forward.
“Professor Yujin, please follow me.”
“Yes. President, until next time.”
With that, Reina and Yujin exited the president’s office.
“Huff…”
And the president, after taking a long breath, remained alone… or rather, only with the sleeping Princess Elysia in the president’s office.
“First, let’s send Princess Elysia to the dormitory…”
Hummm…
Muttering that, she drew a teleportation magic circle and sent Princess Elysia to her room.
Thus, completely alone in the president’s office, she quietly murmured.
“What should I do? If I say I’ll contact you and then tell you to come… will you be upset? And how exactly am I supposed to contact you…”
She spent the entire day worrying unnecessarily in the president’s office.
Meanwhile, Yujin and Reina were walking through the corridors inside the academy.
An awkward silence hung between the two. Yujin didn’t have much on his mind, but Reina felt uncomfortable due to her unwarranted suspicions about Yujin.
Given her sense of propriety, Reina knew it wasn’t appropriate to start a casual conversation, resulting in this silence.
Of course, usually in such cases, Yujin would initiate the conversation, but since he was currently chatting with Tiamat, he wasn’t fully aware of the awkward silence.
‘Teaching sounds quite promising. I’m already thinking about what to teach the students and what preparations I need to make.’
‘Hehe, seeing your enthusiasm makes me happy. Do well.’
Engrossed in such conversations, it was natural that he didn’t notice the uncomfortable silence.
Thus, the two reached the faculty dormitory without exchanging a single word.
“Oh, this is quite a nice place.”
The faculty dormitory, being one of the top facilities in the academy boasting state-of-the-art amenities, rivaled a modern five-star hotel in terms of luxury and comfort.
It even featured places like a swimming pool, hot springs, and spa facilities. Other professors with separate residences often frequented it as a vacation home.
“Professor Yujin, you’ll be staying here from now on.”
“Yes, understood. Thank you for showing me around.”
“And… uh.”
Reina hesitated for a moment before speaking to Yujin.
“Let me apologize again. Due to my baseless suspicions, I acted rudely toward Professor Yujin.”
“…Hmm.”
Upon seeing that, Yujin slightly turned to look at her.
‘…Feels like playing a prank.’
Then, with a sly smile, he said,
“It’s fine.”
“But…”
“No, it’s really fine. Honestly, it wasn’t even much of a misunderstanding.”
“…Eh?”
At that, Reina’s eyes widened slightly as she raised her head.
There stood a man looking down at her with a snake-like grin.
Gulp.
She involuntarily shivered. For some reason, the man in front of her felt extremely ominous.
The unreadable snake-like expression. It parted its lips like a tongue flickering.
“Professor Reina, do you know what pus is?”
Pus.
An infection that occurs in wounds. Why is this topic coming up all of a sudden?
“…What the…”
“When pus forms in a wound, if you don’t burst the accumulated pus, the wound will eventually rot away. How about dark energy?”
“…!!!”
Reina’s eyes trembled. Her mouth slowly opened, revealing shock on her face.
“If the sealed dark energy accumulates and rots away… what do you think will happen?”
“Muuu…”
“Before that, if we burst the sealed dark energy, what do you think will happen? I’m quite curious myself. I’m clueless on how to handle it. Aren’t you?”
Clack… Tick…
She involuntarily shivered and took a step back. Now, that is…
“You…”
“Professor Reina, you’re quite perceptive. And I don’t dislike people like that.”
Thud.
Saying that, Yujin took a step toward her.
And she took two steps back.
“Safety first… sounds good, but it’s incredibly boring, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be more fun if someone added a little thrill to the job?”
“……”
“How about we play a game?”
Yujin grinned happily as he spoke. That smile seemed innocently pure at first glance.
Only, the words that followed were drastically malevolent.
“Guess who I am. And reveal the truth.”
“….!”
Upon hearing that, Reina, her face pale, kept stepping backward.
And then, she immediately turned around and started running somewhere.
Yujin watched her go for a moment before entering the room assigned to him.
“…Yujin.”
And Tiamat, watching all this, gave Yujin a peculiar look.
“Why scare that girl with weird talk?”
“Ah, you mean that?”
Yujin glanced away absentmindedly for a moment before smiling and replying,
“It was just a joke.”
“……”
“Haha, I guess I got a bit playful. Since I was mistaken for a Dark Sorcerer, I decided to tease her a little by cosplaying as one. How was it? Pretty convincing, right?”
Seeing that, Tiamat thought,
“Too convincing. Our boy has quite a nasty personality, doesn’t he?”
“Haha, thanks for the compliment.”
“Not a compliment.”
“Um…”
Yujin awkwardly scratched his head.
[!– Slider main container –]
