The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 69
‘I knew it, it’s unfolding just like the storyline.’
I clicked my tongue in annoyance.
The division of <Fundamentals of Magic> into two sections was the crux of the issue.
It had escalated into a fierce competition fueled by the pride of both factions.
‘The Rapalt dukedom pushing Baron Aiden to the forefront, and the arrival of an audit team from another academy, it all follows a similar pattern.’
The difference now was that I had become the representative of Chancellor Karak’s faction.
‘…But it can’t really be following the story, right? If it were, the Rapalt faction wouldn’t be the problem here.’
I recalled the ‘conclusion’ of this faction conflict episode and broke out in a cold sweat.
In this episode, the Rapalt faction was just a fake boss.
The real boss was someone else.
‘It won’t turn out that way. The conditions don’t match right now.’
At first glance, it might seem similar, but the situation was entirely different from the story.
The same event happening was impossible.
‘…Still, better to be prepared, right? Even if I don’t end up with a ‘disaster’ like demons suddenly crashing the party, there could be other unforeseen complications. Damn it.’
Being caught up in weird events and accidents was making me increasingly pessimistic.
So much for everything being okay.
Dreadful thoughts kept creeping in.
‘For now, I’ll set that aside and focus on preparing for the lecture. Considering my opponent is Baron Aiden.’
Baron Aiden.
He might feel like an extra, but he’s not someone to underestimate.
An A-fessor, no less.
If we were to quantify lecturing ability in terms of levels, he would be almost on the rank of a Lv. 7 Master, an elite among the elite.
No wonder he was nicknamed “The Magician of Lectures” at the academy.
It was said that any complex topic became crystal clear when Aiden lectured.
‘My lecturing skills are far inferior to his. Of course, I’m not lacking in eloquence, but lecturing isn’t my specialty.’
In the original storyline, the professor from Chancellor Karak’s faction is overwhelmingly outmatched by Baron Aiden.
‘It ends up being a catalyst for that disaster.’
I needed a clever strategy.
Just then, the door to my… no, the laboratory, swung open, and Hans and Lindon entered, hands full of boxes.
“I, Hans, have successfully completed the mission you entrusted to me, risking my life!”
“…Come on, old man, don’t exaggerate just because you fetched some magical items from the storage. But why did you ask for these materials? Are we making an artifact or something?”
They both looked puzzled.
“It’s for preparing the lecture.”
“…With these? But the course you’re teaching, <Fundamentals of Magic>, isn’t that a mandatory basic subject for everyone? Do we really need to prepare something so grand for that?”
The mandatory basic subject was designed for all freshmen.
It wasn’t just the magic faculty who attended, but students from the knight, humanities, and support department as well.
The purpose of the course was literally to understand the basics of magic, so there wasn’t a need to prepare anything particularly advanced.
“Do you understand how difficult and profound the basics can be?”
“…What?”
Some might consider the basics of magic to be simple, but that was far from the truth.
In fact, the basics were more profound and complex than any other content.
“I read through the textbook, and I was astonished.”
I tossed the existing textbook onto the desk.
“With such materials, it’s impossible to ‘properly’ lecture on the basics of magic. I plan to prepare the correct content myself and teach the real fundamentals.”
“…”
Both of them didn’t say anything, and I sighed softly.
‘I never thought I’d be this much of a perfectionist.’
The moment I opened the student textbook, I thought,
‘What kind of garbage is this?’
It was a famous textbook written by a renowned scholar from the Mage Tower.
Adopted by all four prestigious academies because it was supposedly comprehensive.
‘On the surface,’ that is.
‘What is this, the basics of magic? It’s more like a miscellaneous magic knowledge encyclopedia.’
My instinct as a Master of Magic expressed a vehement rejection, and I made my decision.
To teach the proper basics in my own way, aligned with the course’s objectives.
‘Anyway, I can’t beat Baron Aiden with a conventional lecture.’
Even if my lecture was on par with Baron Aiden’s, could I win?
Absolutely not.
They would find all sorts of faults, and I would ultimately lose.
There was only one way.
‘I need to overwhelm them in terms of content.’
However, this method had its problems.
“That… Senior Van, are you sure? I hesitate to say this, but your teachings are so profound that they’re often difficult to grasp. Honestly, even I, among the top graduates, often don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Lindon, you imp! Are you suggesting something is wrong with the Master’s teachings?! It’s all because the brilliance of Master Van is too dazzling. Perhaps the freshmen will be blinded by his brilliance, turning into utter fools. Maybe you should dim the radiance a bit?”
It was a valid point.
“I understand both of your concerns.”
“…So, you’ll just go with the existing textbooks for safety, right?”
“No, how can I lecture with such garbage content? It would weigh on my conscience as Van Ecclesia.”
“But nobody will understand!”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Hans and Lindon looked at each other, and I lifted the corners of my mouth in a smile.
“My actual worry is, what if my lecture is so exceptional that I surpass not only the S-fessor and X-fessor but become an L-fessor? What then?”
They looked perplexed.
The term ‘L-fessor’ I had just mentioned was the cause of their confusion.
The Department of Education grades lecturers’ abilities from F to A.
Receiving an F grade repeatedly leads to expulsion regardless of the reason, while professors with an A grade are respected and called A-fessors.
Among them, S-fessor is a special honorary grade given when someone scores perfect marks in all lecture evaluation categories according to the Department of Education standards.
It’s extremely rare even among the four prestigious academies, with Ruby having none.
Beyond the S-fessors, there were the X-fessors (Ex-fessors).
This revered grade is given only to monstrous lecturers who not only achieve perfect scores but surpass existing standards, making them impossible to evaluate.
Across the academies, only a few of these great distinguished professors emerge in an era.
So, what then is an L-fessor?
‘Literally a legend.’
It’s short for Legend-fessor.
It denotes a professor unparalleled and memorable in the academic world, beyond any evaluation criteria or standards.
‘If my lecture’s true value is recognized, I might really become a Legend-fessor. Ah, but becoming that famous would be troublesome.’
Lindon and Hans had an irreverent expression as if to say, ‘Even for you, Master, that seems like a fantasy…’ But soon, they would understand.
That my concerns were genuine.
* * *
As the new semester progressed and time went by in the academy grounds, freshmen were getting accustomed to the academy life, and a languid air flowed through the campus with the spring breeze.
Suddenly, the academy started buzzing with noise.
“Is today finally the first lecture day of Professor Van, once dubbed ‘Trash’?”
“Shush, it’s probably not right to call him ‘Trash’ anymore, right? He even defeated the Puppeteer for the students, using a self-sacrificing spell in the process.”
“Ah, right. I also got used to saying it by mistake. ‘Trash’ is not suitable anymore.”
A student awkwardly admitted their slip of the tongue.
It was a scene that showed how much Van’s reputation had improved.
However, this didn’t mean the students fully acknowledged Van yet.
The general sentiment among the students about Van was more or less along these lines:
“He’s not ‘Trash’ anymore, but what about his qualifications as a professor?”
“Exactly. He’s still a temporary professor, and now he’s taking a solo lecture. Isn’t that too much favoritism?”
“We’ll know once we attend today. It’s finally the day of his first lecture.”
While they no longer considered him trash, skepticism was still abundant.
“I wish I was in Section 1. Baron Aiden’s lectures are so popular, I’ve heard it’s hard to even get a spot.”
“Professor Van’s lecture might also be hard to get into from now on. This might be his last lecture.”
“What if he gets kicked out midway and his section merges with Baron Aiden’s?”
“Ah, I wish that would happen. I’d go straight to the Mirror Board to leave a bad review after the class.”
“Late already. Let’s hurry inside.”
The students rushed into the lecture hall, leaving the campus once again quiet.
“Hey, what are you doing, not going?”
“…Just thinking about how to deal with… no, how to reprimand those who were just spouting nonsense. They must pay a price. Killing them or crippling them would upset Professor Van, so…”
“You, lurking in the shadows like that, it’s really pathetic, you know? It’s not like you’re in the throes of middle school 8-grade syndrome. You’re not secretly raising a black dragon on your wrist, are you?”
Catherine dismissed Libel’s grim threats with nonchalance.
“I, I’m in Section 1. You’re… lucky. I really wanted to… attend Professor Van’s… lecture.”
“Lucky, my foot.”
“Then trade with me…!”
“No way. Why should I?”
“…I hate you.”
“Feeling’s mutual.”
Both were friendless loners.
With no one else to associate with, they ended up sticking together out of necessity, but they disliked each other and bickered at every opportunity.
“…I’ll leave Professor Van’s lecture in your hands.”
“Leave what in my hands? Business is business, life is life. If the lecture sucks, I’ll honestly give it an F in the evaluation.”
“If someone shows disrespect during Professor Van’s lecture, they must pay a…”
“Ah, drop the Black Flame Dragon act and just get lost to Section 1 already!”
Left alone, Catherine sighed deeply.
Despite pretending otherwise, she too was inwardly anxious about Van’s lecture.
‘…Something feels unsettling.’
It wasn’t that she, like other students, lacked faith in Van.
Quite the opposite.
‘…It might be too high-level for anyone to understand.’
Her worries mirrored those of Lindon and Hans.
‘If it’s really that bad, maybe I’ll have to give some feedback later. Not that I’m particularly concerned for Professor Van, but if the lecture is a disaster, it affects me as a student, too.’
Upon entering the lecture hall, she found the atmosphere buzzing.
There were 400 freshmen in total, and about half of them, 200, were seated in the lecture hall.
Their faces full of expectation and curiosity about how bad Van’s lecture might be made Catherine frown without realizing it.
‘Professor Van might be annoying, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to be underestimated by the likes of you. The problem is rather that he’s excessively brilliant.’
Not that she was particularly defending Van.
But disliking the atmosphere in the lecture hall, Catherine found herself hoping that Van would deliver an impressive lecture and put these students in their place.
…Though she doubted that would happen this time.
And then.
“Good to see everyone. I am Van Ecclesia.”
