The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 131
Annoying.
Joanna repeated to herself inwardly.
Annoying.
She kept remembering the worried glances Van had sent her way.
Glances not even her mother, who claimed to love her, had sent her.
Her insides churned with irritation.
Yes, irritation.
How dare he look at her with such eyes.
‘I’m destined to become the head of a magical family, the queen of mages. I’ll make sure you can never look at me like that again!’
She had forgotten the fact she was struggling every day to remember.
She was not someone to be pitied.
Though currently in dire straits, someday she would reach the pinnacle of magic and look down upon everyone.
At that moment of resolve, Joanna’s magic transformed.
Whoooosh!
Krrk.
The troll glared at Joanna.
Its eyes were filled with intense killing intent.
“What are you looking at? Just a monster!”
Van had mentioned it in a recent lecture.
Manipulative magic is about making the opponent ‘submit’ to one’s will.
Therefore, the caster’s will significantly impacts the power of the magic.
Kraak!
“The sword is working!!”
“It’s the effect of Lady Joanna’s manipulative magic! It’s weakening the troll’s regenerative ability! Push harder!”
‘This isn’t enough.’
Joanna clenched her teeth.
The troll’s regenerative ability was gradually pushing back against her magic.
The face that came to mind at that moment was Van’s.
If Van saw her now, he would have sent her that look of worry.
As he always had up to now.
Yes, thinking back, Van’s gaze was always filled with concern.
Every time they met, he looked at her with a worried gaze.
How irritating!
‘I will surpass you and ensure you can never make that face at me again!’
A mage is a problem-solver.
Even in desperate situations, they must find a way out.
What would other mages have done in this situation?
She recalled the figures of the outstanding mages she had met so far.
There were many.
Duke Alfonso, Lady Beth, and many other top mages from her prestigious magical family.
But all these memories were blurred.
What clearly came to mind again was Van.
If it were Van, he would surely have taken down this monster in an unheard-of, extraordinary way.
With cringe-worthy, show-offy remarks to boot.
‘Come to think of it, why does Professor Van always spout weird rubbish? Does he think it makes him look cool? It’s utterly childish.’
Recalling Van’s awkward bravado made Joanna unwittingly let out a laugh.
Unbeknownst to her, it was perhaps the first laugh she had let slip in years.
Perhaps thanks to this? A solution came to mind.
‘I need to use a Healing Curse.’
A curse of healing.
A second-tier spell that uses the monster’s intense regenerative ability against it to inflict damage.
However, it wouldn’t work on a troll. Its regenerative power surpasses the curse’s damage.
‘If I increase the two stars to three, I can amplify the output of the Healing Curse.’
Meaning, she intended to upgrade it to a third-tier spell!
Even though Joanna hadn’t even reached the 3rd ranked star yet.
It was an absurd idea, but.
‘I feel like I can do it.’
Ridiculously, this was also thanks to Van.
Joanna had always been exceptionally intelligent in terms of magic.
With the basics made immensely solid through Van’s tyranny (?)—like copying the introductory book of first-tier spells a hundred times.
‘I just need to duplicate the structure of the stars and link them together.’
Then, trouble arose.
Krrrrk!!
“C-Careful?!”
“Lady Joanna, dodge!!”
The troll charged at Joanna, ignoring the other students.
‘Ah.’
At that moment, Joanna’s mind went blank.
Paralyzed by fear, she couldn’t recall the formula.
But then.
She clenched her trembling fist.
Again, she received Van’s assistance in her mind.
“How dare you. A mere creature dares to challenge me, who will become the queen of mages. I’ll teach you your place.”
Whoosh!
Joanna’s face turned bright red as she tried to imitate Van’s rubbish way of speaking.
‘How can he even say embarrassing things with such confidence?!’
But it had an effect.
The embarrassment snapped her back to her senses.
Whoooosh!
The spell was complete.
Kraaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!
Koong!
The troll screamed and fell to its knees.
It was a success!
‘It worked, it worked.’
Joanna herself collapsed to the ground as her strength left her body.
The troll groaned and started to rise again.
The spell had worked, but it wasn’t enough.
‘Ah.’
But then, at that moment, a soft voice rang out.
“Step away from my student, you insignificant creature.”
The kind of pompous remark Joanna had mocked.
But at this moment, it sounded more reassuring than anything else.
Flash!
The troll’s head was severed.
Koong! Behind the fallen troll, Van appeared.
However, his expression was different from before.
Instead of the usual worrying demeanor, Van was smirking.
It was a look of pride in her.
“That spell of yours was pretty good. As a special reward, your suspension is over.”
‘What? My suspension period had already ended.’
But still.
It was the most pleasing compliment she had ever received.
Not wanting to admit it, Joanna huffily turned her head away.
* * *
‘Thankfully, I wasn’t too late.’
I sighed in relief.
Checking the students, though some had minor and major injuries, none had lost their lives or were critically injured.
‘Thanks to Theren and Joanna’s efforts.’
Especially Theren.
He really did something remarkable.
Hans had gifted Theren a magical device, which I had subtly cursed with a faint attractor.
Thanks to that, the monsters’ attacks were slightly more focused on Theren, relatively reducing the damage to other students.
Theren’s skills were overwhelmingly superior to his peers, making such a strategy feasible.
“Well done, Theren. The students are safe, all thanks to you.”
“Ah… Yes.”
However, Theren wasn’t in the best shape.
He was pretending to be okay, but he seemed shell-shocked.
‘I hope this serves as a wake-up call for him.’
Of course, this wouldn’t stop Theren’s ‘wandering’.
‘wandering’ is necessary for Theren to grow into a protagonist.
But even in his wandering, there are degrees.
After all, there’s a significant difference between a Sword Demon destined to drench the continent in blood and one who wanders within bounds.
Just like how a flu shot might make a cold pass more lightly, I hope experiences like this positively influence Theren’s future.
‘And so, don’t be too much of a bother to me either.’
Then, the students of Amethyst gathered around me.
“Th-Thank you, Professor Van.”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
“All the other professors from Amethyst abandoned us to save themselves.”
“We didn’t know you were such a person, Professor Van. We spoke ill of you. We’re sorry. A friend who went to Ruby told us you truly care for your students, but we didn’t believe it. From now on, we will praise the name of Van the Legend!”
No matter how talented they are, they are freshmen who have only been enrolled for about two months. How scared must they have been?
They were all teary-eyed like lost children who had found an adult to rely on.
“Now that I’m here, you don’t have to cry. I swear on the great name of Van Ecclesia, my wings will cover you, and not even a finger of yours will be harmed any further.”
Van’s wings will cover you all! Shout it out! Van the Legend!
“…….”
The students’ faces turned sour at the Black Flame Dragon’s missed opportunity for flamboyancy.
‘W-What, why. It’s okay for me to spout some cringe nonsense. But Mari, please don’t follow suit, okay?’
Just then, the communicator rang.
It was an unknown code number.
Professor Van! Are you with the students?
“Ah, yes, Chancellor Karl Gritton.”
Hmph! Just as I recognized, fitting for our Amethyst’s newly appointed professor! I’ll commend you this time!
“…I never said I’ve become a professor at Amethyst?”
Hmph! Those who abandoned the students and fled will all be beheaded! Baron Garden’s office with a nice view will be vacant, so I’ll give that to you as well!
“But, listen to me….”
Be quiet! I’m traversing through a mana distortion, so I can’t hear whatever you’re saying! I’ll also open the vault where the top magical grimoires are kept as a gift for your professorship appointment, go see them or not!
“…….”
The call abruptly ended.
‘Anyway, it’s good that Chancellor Karl Gritton is coming.’
Normally, one cannot traverse through a mana distortion, but it was an exception for a Level 8 Archmage.
Though, it would take some time.
‘Can’t be careless. Who knows what might happen before Chancellor Karl Gritton arrives.’
The monocle was still sounding an alarm with a violet light indicating a 50% mortality rate.
It meant the ‘real’ crisis had not approached yet.
Then, someone timidly approached me.
It was Johan.
“Professor, may I speak with you for a moment?”
“What is it?”
“Is there a way to recover the holy power?”
A different conversation than the one a while ago about it being okay to lose his power.
His expression was downcast.
‘He must feel guilty for being powerless and not able to help the other students who were injured.’
The dilemma of wanting to shed the burden of being a saint but also feeling unable to abandon the responsibility.
‘I know the solution.’
Pushing him wouldn’t work. It might even backfire.
He had to find the answer himself.
Instead, I decided to lay down the groundwork once more.
“There’s no need to force yourself.”
“But?”
“Let me ask you. Why do you want to be a saint? Just because you were born with the ability?”
“…….”
“It would be better to think about what you truly want. Walking the path of a saint out of obligation will only lead to failure soon enough.”
Honestly, I wanted to shout, ‘The world’s future depends on you awakening as a proper saint right now! Without you, the world is doomed!’ But everything has its process.
I had to wait for Johan to want to become a saint not out of a sense of duty or pressure but from his own genuine desire.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, the monocle flashed.
A message appeared in the lens that only I could see.
Warning! Danger level rapidly intensifies!
‘What’s this?’
It was the first time I had seen this message since I acquired the monocle.
The color changed too.
Originally, it was a purple color signaling a 50% mortality rate.
But then, it flickered from a 60% purple to a 70% crimson, and now it flashed a bright red.
It indicated an approaching crisis with a mortality rate of 80%.
A chill ran down my spine.
My instincts were screaming.
‘What kind of crisis could it be? This is the outskirts of the Great Forest where high-risk monsters usually don’t appear?’
Suddenly, the image of a villain-type protagonist I had missed in the alley popped into my mind.
The dual-personality monster, the dark mage Beril.
If he had intervened, there was one possible horrific calamity.
‘Could it be?’
“Why is the sky suddenly…?”
“The clouds?”
The sky darkened. Something huge appeared, obscuring the moon that had been visible through the trees.
At the same time, a roaring gust swept through.
Swiiish
Something massive descended from the sky to the ground.
The earth shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
‘…Isn’t this a bit too much?’
I swallowed hard as I looked at the newly appeared being.
A dragon.
Specifically, a magic dragon tainted with wickedness had appeared.
