Chapter 34

The next day.

Yujin, having received a call from the president, was currently on his way to the President’s Office.

There were procedures to go over, and the president said there were also some questions they wanted to ask. But Yujin suspected it was probably due to him cosplaying as a Dark Sorcerer in front of Professor Reina.

After all, Reina must’ve rushed straight to the president to report it. Imagining her shouting urgently that they had to catch him made Yujin chuckle a little.

“Well, I guess I’m just a terrible person, huh?”

Still, when you think about it, Professor Reina didn’t really do anything too wrong. If anything, she just investigated him a bit, right?

Of course, in modern Earth terms, investigating someone like that would already be considered pretty unethical, but here, it wasn’t really much of an issue.

That said, Yujin did feel a little guilty. He’d have to properly apologize once the misunderstanding clears up someday.

With that thought in mind, he arrived at the door of the President’s Office and knocked.

Knock knock.

“President, it’s me.”

“Ahh! Uh, please come in!”

As soon as those words were spoken, the door swung open dramatically before Yujin could even react. This made him crack a wry smile for a moment.

It turned out the president had been waiting by the door since the beginning, eagerly anticipating his arrival.

Still, she *was* technically his superior… Watching the hierarchy get so messed up like this did make it hard not to smirk. Was this really the kind of life he wanted as a professor?

Yujin spoke up.

“There’s no need to treat me like some feudal lord. In the Academy, aren’t you still my superior?”

“Huh, but…”

Seeing the president stammering, Yujin let out another bitter laugh. Her attitude clearly showed her deep reverence for dragons—she simply couldn’t bring herself to act casually.

“You seemed fine doing it in front of Professor Reina. That works for me.”

“B-but how can I possibly… While others are around, I wouldn’t dare interfere with your leisure, but in private like this…”

‘Strictly speaking, we’re not exactly alone anyway.’

Tiamat was also standing nearby, watching the president with an awkward expression. Though there was no real reason to mention this to the president.

Still, this whole “leisure” thing… Yujin realized anew, after hearing Tiamat say it yesterday, that he truly was acting like a dragon indulging in its hobbies—whether teaching as a human or playing around as a Dark Sorcerer in front of Professor Reina.

He supposed even he wasn’t consciously trying to behave differently.

After letting out a small, wry laugh, he continued.

“Fine, do whatever feels comfortable to you. Just don’t act this way in front of others.”

“Ah, yes! Of course!”

“And… Can I come in now?”

After realizing they’d been standing outside for a while, the president jumped in surprise.

“Ah, ah! Yes! Please come in!”

Once the president quickly moved aside, Yujin finally stepped into the President’s Office.

The president promptly closed the door and hurried back to her seat. Sitting behind her ornately decorated desk by the window, she began speaking.

“Could you please come over here?”

Pointing to the space in front of her, the president watched as Yujin walked over.

Once he was in front of her, she handed him a few documents.

“Just fill these forms out or sign them wherever necessary. Ah, of course, take your time to review the contents first…”

WHOOSH!!

“Done.”

“…Huh?”

Yujin had barely skimmed through them before grabbing the quill pen and filling out all the documents in the blink of an eye. The speed was so fast it left the president momentarily stunned.

And judging by the smoke rising from the papers, the process had been quite intense.

“Wha-what kind of speed is… No, wait. Didn’t you even bother checking the details?”

“Application form, contract, research achievements, self-introduction, development plan… I’ve reviewed everything. The contract had no unreasonable clauses, and the rest only required stating facts or making things up, so it doesn’t matter. Besides, there wasn’t much to write for the research achievements or self-introduction anyway. Sure, I filled in appropriate content, but given that my hiring was already decided, these forms don’t hold much significance, do they?”

“W-well, that’s true…”

Despite her dazed expression, the president carefully examined the documents. Although the inked parts looked slightly scorched, the content itself was fine.

‘The level mentioned in the self-introduction… Setting it at the early 8th Circle makes sense. Since I’m nearing the end of the 8th Circle and the Mage Association president is mid-7th Circle… As settings go, it seems fitting.’

Circles.

A system for mortals that allows them to handle magic by forming permanent mana rings within their hearts.

Long ago, during a dragon’s leisure, this knowledge was shared with mortals, enabling them to generate and manage mana through rings formed in their hearts. The more rings inscribed, the higher the rank, increasing both mana quality and storage capacity.

In reality, this system is irrelevant to dragons, who possess infinite mana far beyond mortal levels and can control it purely through willpower. However, it’s useful for mortals.

Simply put, Yujin arbitrarily set himself at the early 8th Circle, which was quite appropriate.

After all, the story of him defeating the Mage Association president with a flick of his finger spread like wildfire yesterday, leading most people to believe he was definitely at a higher level than the president.

And since the Mage Association president is a mid-7th Circle mage, already qualified as a Great Mage, Yujin’s feat of defeating him with a mere flick justified placing him at least at the 8th Circle.

Setting him equal to or higher than the president would disrupt the hierarchy, so labeling him at the early 8th Circle seemed reasonable.

Besides, if Yujin were placed above the president, who’s at the late 8th Circle, people might find it unrealistic.

‘Not to mention, no one has reached the 9th Circle since the founder of our family…’

For thousands of years, no one has achieved the 9th Circle. The only exception was the half-human, half-dragon ancestor of the Karandar Family.

Of course, Yujin, being a dragon whose power far surpasses even the 9th Circle, doesn’t need such a system.

Regardless, what mattered now wasn’t that. After swiftly reviewing the documents Yujin had filled out, the president spoke.

“…There don’t seem to be any issues with the paperwork.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. We’ll pass the documents quickly. After all, Yujin-sama was already pre-approved for the position. However…”

“However?”

“The problem is that the academy term has already started. Students have already completed their course registrations, and the lecture change period ended long ago, so it’ll be difficult to fit Yujin-sama’s lectures into the schedule now.”

“That does make sense.”

By the time Yujin emerged from the Maze, the academy had already administered exams to students, mostly down to the fifth tier, who were just beginning to experience the Maze.

The freshmen had just entered, but their courses were already set, leaving Yujin hired as a professor during an awkward period.

“So, I’ll be serving as a titular professor for now?”

Holding up the contract, Yujin stated this.

A titular professor typically handles administrative duties at universities, reducing their teaching load. This seems to apply similarly in the academy.

“Head of the Magic Studies Department… Quite an appropriate position for a new professor, wouldn’t you say?”

The head of a department, often called the chairperson under the dean, receives additional stipends and extra points during promotions. For this reason, it’s a desirable position for junior or mid-level professors.

This seems similar in the academy, making it a fitting role for a new professor.

“It’s certainly beneath your capabilities, but…”

“Not at all. If a new professor starts off too high, there’d likely be backlash, and I wouldn’t find it particularly interesting either. Still…”

Yujin waved the contract toward her and asked,

“The title says Head of Magic Studies, but the specific department isn’t specified, correct?”

Typically, under the dean of social sciences, you’d have heads of political science, public administration, economics, and sociology departments.

Assuming the academy follows a similar structure, Yujin’s assigned department wasn’t named.

Regarding this, the president replied,

“Given the mysterious theories in Yujin-sama’s paper, it was unclear where they belonged, making it difficult to assign. Also, since department heads rotate among the professors, it doesn’t matter much who takes which position. Alternatively… With a bit of effort, we could allow Yujin-sama to establish a new department.”

“That won’t be necessary. Hmm… What existing departments are there?”

Having only played Maze Academy without paying attention to such detailed settings, Yujin wasn’t very familiar with the academy’s internal structure. He only knew it resembled a university in broad strokes.

“We have Elemental Magic Studies, Combat Magic Studies, Lifestyle Magic Studies, and Phenomenal Magic Studies departments.”

“In that case, I’ll take Phenomenal Magic Studies.”

Without much reasoning, Yujin chose this because he felt the concept of space-time aligned closely with phenomena. The president nodded in agreement.

“Understood. I’ll arrange that accordingly.”

“Before that, I have one more question.”

“Go ahead.”

“While I understand the department head part, who is the Dean of Magic Studies? Technically, they’d be my direct superior concerning future matters rather than the president.”

As mentioned earlier, Yujin only vaguely understood that the academy followed a university-like format but lacked detailed knowledge.

Professors in Maze Academy are usually introduced as “Professor So-and-so of Magic Studies,” “Professor So-and-so of Martial Arts,” or “Professor So-and-so of Alchemy,” without specifying their exact titles.

Thus, he deemed it necessary to know beforehand about the dean above the department head.

However…

“…”

The president broke into a nervous sweat and avoided eye contact. Seeing this, Yujin tilted his head curiously.

“Why the hesitation?”

“It’s… well…”

She seemed reluctant to speak. Yujin pressed further.

“Is the dean overly authoritative or picky?”

“Ah… No, they’re picky but not authoritarian… However…”

The president hesitated for a moment before apologizing sheepishly.

“The Dean of Magic Studies… is Professor Reina Sahart.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, Yujin instantly realized his mistake from yesterday.

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