The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 139
“Pleased to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you at the academy. They say you’re a rising star in the world of magic, and it seems it’s not an exaggeration.”
Despite his words, his gaze was anything but friendly.
It was to be expected.
He, too, must have received orders from Duke Volman to oust me.
‘But that must be an act too. Pretending to be my enemy, pretending to show loyalty to Duke Volman, it’s all fake.’
Stefan Grossman.
Everything about him is fake.
‘I was originally planning to wait for him to reveal his sinister intentions, to strike a blow against Duke Volman.’
But I’ve changed my mind.
I’ve decided to make him my slave… no, a cooperative pawn, to use for my own ends.
The method was simple.
“I’m not particularly pleased to meet you.”
“…Hmm?”
He twitched his eyebrows at my disregard.
My impoliteness didn’t stop there.
Without asking for his permission, I plopped down on the reception sofa, crossing my legs.
With the arrogance lent by the Flaming Charisma.
“…How rude. I heard you changed, but was that just a rumor?”
“I’m not here as a professor to see you. I’m here as a creditor.”
“What?”
“You owe our Ecclesia family 500,000 penas, right? Pay it back now.”
He grimaced.
“Are you referring to the sponsorship money received from the Ecclesia family a year ago? This is the first I’ve heard of having debt from sponsorship money.”
“As much as our Ecclesia family may be, we’re not so generous as to give sponsorship money to a fake.”
“!!”
Quick and to the point.
I didn’t beat around the bush, directly stabbing at him.
Of course, he was not at all perturbed.
“A fake, you say? How dare you insult me, Stefan Grossman, the 7-star master. Do you think even the blood of the Ecclesia family can be forgiven for such disgraceful behavior?”
Paafff!
A chilling shadow flickered around him.
It was illusion magic.
His specialty was form manipulation, specifically, an illusion mage.
“I’ll forgive you this once for Duke Volman’s sake. Apologize immediately for your rudeness.”
His attitude and momentum seemed genuine.
But,
‘It’s all fake.’
Despite the grand appearance, I felt no sense of crisis.
“The Ring of Jade Illusion.”
“!!”
In an instant, he reacted for the first time.
“What are you talking about?”
“Seeing the magic you just displayed reminded me of a legendary magical artifact said to be possessed by the fairy folk. It’s flashy, but there’s something odd about it….”
“Shut up!!”
As if trying to silence me, he hastily cast his magic.
It wasn’t fake.
True to a Lv 7. Master, the illusion was splendidly magnificent.
But, it was strange.
Just as I had mentioned, there was a feeling of alienness.
Being a master of magic myself, I could detect this weird feeling.
And, I knew exactly what was causing this sense.
Wooosh!
The illusion was torn apart and disappeared.
“W-What is this?”
“Relying too much on the power of a magical artifact, no matter how great, is unwise.”
“!!”
“Especially, selling the abilities of a magical artifact as if they were your own abilities is even more unacceptable.”
I looked straight at his stiff face.
“Isn’t that right, Graham?”
Graham.
At the mention of that name, his face turned exceptionally pale, incomparable to before.
“Y-You? What? How, how much do you know?”
“I know that you’re of the fairy folk and that you’ve stolen the Ring of Jade Illusion, a legendary item passed down through your clan, to conduct your scams.”
“!!”
“Ah, and I also know that you’re not just any fairy, but a prince of the Seven Clan.”
Yes.
That was his real identity.
A prince of the Seven Clans that rule the Great Forest.
“Ah, damn it. What bad luck.”
His tone of voice changed completely from before.
Swish!
A completely different figure appeared.
Pointed ears.
A fairy, commonly referred to as an elf.
However, he looked different from the typical elf as described in tales.
‘Ugly, isn’t he?’
An ugly elf!
A far cry from the stereotype that all elves are beautiful.
In reality, not all elves are beautiful, so it wasn’t anything special.
The problem was something else.
‘Elves are supposed to be born with an innate affinity for spirits, but I can’t feel any of that in him.’
In other words, he was a mutant.
Graham, the elf, gave a twisted smile.
“Why? Never seen an ugly elf before? Since you’ve investigated this much, you roughly know my past, don’t you? Shunned by my superior kin, unable to bear it, I stole the treasure and left. So what?”
He was getting angry.
“All I wanted was to show those unlucky kin of mine that I could live well! If only I had been born looking normal, I wouldn’t have lived like this!”
“Don’t make excuses, fake.”
“!!”
Is there such a thing as a villain without a backstory?
Especially considering the scale of the crimes he commits in the storyline, there was no room for leniency.
‘Randomly assigned as a professor to one of the four prestigious institutions, embezzling a tremendous amount of money, driving the academy nearly to bankruptcy.’
With a voice devoid of any remorse, he sneered.
“Ha, 500,000 penas, was it? Such a trivial amount. I’ll just pay it back.”
“Enough. I’ve changed my mind. I’ll just sue you at the magic tower.”
“What?”
“I will sue you for fraud, jointly with other families you’ve taken sponsorship money from. Since the total sponsorship money you’ve received from various families exceeds 5 million penas, the sentence would be….”
I made a calculating face for a moment.
“Roughly 578 years, I suppose. The sentence for magical fraud is significantly harsher.”
“That’s absurd!”
“What’s absurd? We are the Ecclesias. We can create crimes where there are none, so sentencing a clearly guilty person like you to such a term is simple.”
“T-That kind of sentence, I’ve never heard of….”
“That’s because humans live up to 100 years at most. If a sentence exceeds 100 years, they simply execute them. But you’re an elf, you can easily serve 578 years.”
His face turned deathly pale.
Now, it was time to wrap this up.
“You’ll hear from us soon, so enjoy yourself. It might be your last taste of the outside world.”
As I turned to leave, he desperately grabbed me.
“P-Please, show mercy!!”
“Why would I?”
“For the Ecclesia, no, for Young Master Van, I will do anything!! Please, show me mercy!”
He’s a smart one.
He knows exactly who he should be begging to.
“Anything, you say?”
“Yes, I will repay all the sponsorship money right away, and I will resign from the head of the department!”
“No, don’t resign. You don’t have to repay the money either.”
“What?”
“Continue deceiving Duke Volman while serving as the head of the department. That way, you’ll be of use to me.”
“!!”
Grasping my intention, he swallowed hard.
Yes.
He was useful because he was acting as the head of the department.
I planned to keep him in his role as the head while deceiving Duke Volman for my own benefit.
And then.
“There’s something you need to do for this festival. Listen carefully.”
His eyes widened as if they were about to split.
“H-Huh? Doing such a thing would increase my sentence, wouldn’t it?!”
It would.
It’s a clear crime.
Feeling a slight prick of conscience, I offered some advice.
“Just don’t get caught. So, do it well.”
* * *
This plan required several villains.
I went to find the next villain.
“Hoho, who do we have here? I almost forgot your face. Do you know how much I’ve missed Professor Van?”
Karak the ultimate villain, the worst of the worst in Ruby!
‘There’s no need for me to face the Three Evils alone.’
I had thought about asking for cooperation from Grampa Rudolph, but I gave up on that idea.
Since there was no evidence that they were spies for the Three Evils, and his hot-headedness might lead to violence and complicate things.
‘For such matters, Chancellor Karak is better. After all, he’s the unexpected boss of the first-year storyline.’
But then, I encountered an unexpected situation.
“The new professors are spies for the Three Evils?”
“Yes, there’s no evidence, but I’m certain.”
“Hoho, is that so? I’ll trust Professor Van’s word then. But?”
Chancellor Karak gave a sly smile.
“What problem would there be?”
I realized one thing.
Chancellor Karak already knew everything.
He had been turning a blind eye.
True to his role as a behind-the-scenes boss.
‘It wouldn’t matter to Chancellor Karak even if the Three Evils took root in the academy.’
In fact, in some ways, it could even benefit him.
Chancellor Karak’s goal wasn’t just to make the academy his own.
‘I can’t persuade him like this. What should I do?’
But then.
“Again, again. You’re trying to move me with some touching speech. Hmph, it won’t work this time. I won’t listen. I can’t hear~ Karak can’t hear~”
Chancellor Karak stuck his fingers in his ears and shook his head.
…To think the jewel-adorned Duke-like man was acting hideously cute.
If my social skills weren’t maxed out, I would have frowned.
“Such behavior, Chancellor. It’s disgusting.”
“!!”
Oops.
Unlike me, the temperamental Black Flame Dragon blurted out a fastball.
‘Hey! Despite appearances, he’s a scary guy!’
But the reaction was strange.
Instead of getting angry, he looked suddenly bitter.
“Blunt criticism. That’s very Professor Van-like. I know. My behavior is disgusting…”
“…”
I meant his act of being cute was disgusting,
but he seemed to take it as a critique of ignoring the Three Evils!
“Still, I think it’s difficult for me to assist Professor Van this time. Instead, let me introduce someone else. They might be more helpful to Professor Van in what he intends to do.”
‘Who is he talking about?’
But the moment Chancellor Karak mentioned the name of the person he recommended, I was astounded.
It was inevitable.
“Hoho, you seem surprised.”
“…Honestly, yes.”
“Their capabilities are certainly trustworthy. It’s just their difficult personality that’s the problem….”
Chancellor Karak said teasingly.
“If it’s the renowned Professor Van, I believe you can persuade them.”
I swallowed hard.
‘Is he trying to set me up?’
The individual’s capabilities were undeniable.
They were well-known throughout Ruby Academy, a name unfamiliar to none.
‘It’s not just a difficult personality we’re talking about here.’
I looked at the figure with a dark gaze.
“Do you have something to tell me, Van? Or should I say, Professor Van now?”
A fierce appearance.
Eyes sharp as blades.
It was Diego, the head of the Swordsmanship Department!
‘He’s one of Duke Volman’s most loyal followers.’
Originally, there were two main pillars in Duke Volman’s lackeys within the academy.
Diego, head of the Swordsmanship Department, and Slayman, head of the Magic Department.
Of these, Slayman had been removed from his position due to the incident I caused last time.
‘It’s known that Head Diego is reluctantly following Duke Volman, but that’s not true. He’s the most loyal.’
Chancellor Karak had unbelievably introduced a key figure from a hostile enemy to me!
But the real problem wasn’t that.
‘He’s a villain.’
And not just any villain.
Perhaps even more dreadful than Chancellor Karak.
A villain that would make the spies of the Three Evils look like child’s play in comparison.
The Manslayer.
Not right now, but in the not-so-distant future, he becomes a madman who perpetrates a bloody massacre in Ruby.
* * *
“Have a seat. It feels like just yesterday you were a student, and now a professor. To think you’d become such a distinguished professor, I couldn’t have imagined.”
Despite his fierce appearance, his demeanor was kind.
‘After all, he wasn’t inherently evil.’
No, on the contrary, he was a person of excellent character.
‘He was the professor who treated even Van’s reckless school days without prejudice.’
Without prejudice. That is, he treated everyone equally and fairly.
His credentials were impeccable.
A top knight from the capital’s guard and even a recipient of the Empire’s Shield, one of the empire’s three great honors.
The Empire’s Shield is an honor I had received before, signifying significant contributions to averting a major crisis for the empire.
‘Honestly, looking at his credentials alone, he’s too good for Ruby.’
That’s why everyone was puzzled when Head Diego stood with Volman’s lackeys.
It didn’t seem to fit at all.
‘He may have shown signs of discord occasionally, but that was due to his upright nature, and in truth, he was the most loyal.’
To the extent that when the Volman faction completely fell apart, and everyone turned their backs on Duke Volman, he was the last to remain loyal.
‘But that’s not the only strange thing. Suddenly, at the beginning of the second semester, he becomes mad and commits a massacre against the students. Out of nowhere.’
The ‘Butcher episode.’
It was a harrowing challenge that only the protagonists could stop.
‘A department head suddenly turning into a madman. I just thought of it as an episode with no coherence.’
I hadn’t had the time to think deeply about it, but looking back, it was odd in many ways.
