The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 37

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 37
“Even if she is on our side, I’m afraid she’ll haunt my dreams.”
“What good is the highest commendation for a War Mage if she’s so ominous?”
As the soldiers’ conversation made clear, the woman was a War Mage who had distinguished herself greatly on the Northeastern Front, yet no one welcomed her as a hero—no one welcomed her at all.
It was born of instinctive revulsion.
Like crows circling a corpse, they found her unsettling and called her the Black Condor, keeping their distance.
“Still, I heard she’s leaving the battlefield soon? Supposedly she’s agreed to become a professor at Rubiness Academy.”
“The Black Condor as a professor? That’s bizarre. Sometimes when I see her, I wonder if she might not be a member of the Demon Race.”
“You’ve had that thought too? I’ve wondered the same thing. Though surely that can’t be true.”
The Demon Race.
A race of darkness born from the Demonic Realm.
One of the Empire’s gravest adversaries, alongside the Ran Republic.
“But why is she just standing there blank-faced among the corpses? Is she perhaps offering sacrifices to demons?”
“If it’s the Black Condor, she might actually be doing that. Ugh, let’s get away before she notices us.”
The surroundings fell quiet.
Left alone, the Black Condor—Amanda—continued to stand motionless among the bodies with a distant gaze.
This had nothing to do with offering corpses as sacrifices, as the soldiers had suggested.
It was because of something she had heard not long ago.
-Go to Rubiness Academy.
An order from Yak Seon, her benefactor.
-Find the Master of Magic there.
The Master of Magic.
It was a preposterous title.
How could any human being in this world become a Master of Magic?
Since Magic first spread to humanity, many mages had become Transcendents and Ascended Beings, yet not a single one had ever earned the title of Master of Magic.
Still, Amanda could not ignore Yak Seon’s words.
Had it not been for Yak Seon, she would have long since become something terrible and monstrous.
-Only the Master of Magic can lift the curse you have received.
Even Yak Seon did not actually know who the Master of Magic was.
But fortunately, there was a clue.
“…The Master of Magic. It must be that Ascended Being who appeared recently.”
Yet it was not an encouraging clue.
No matter how much people searched, that Ascended Being left no trace, not even a shadow.
“But I will find them. By any means necessary.”
With that resolute vow.
Actors began to gather on the Lancell Plateau.
* * *
I was thinking, with the training session ahead of me.
‘I need to prepare.’
There was one preparation that mattered most.
‘I have to get stronger.’
I drew a specially crafted box from my pocket.
Whoosh.
A beautiful jewel brimming with cold radiance was revealed.
The Heart Stone of the Frozen Sea.
An S-grade Elixir I had requested from my former fiancée Emily just recently.
‘I am strong and yet weak.’
I evaluated my capabilities objectively.
‘My theoretical knowledge is at Tier 4, but my Mana is only around Tier 1 intermediate.’
Grand Master of Magic and Mana Insensitivity.
Because of these two polar opposite traits, depending on the situation, I could display unreasonable power—or sometimes become extraordinarily fragile.
‘Even so, objectively speaking, I’d have to call myself weak.’
Every time I had overcome a formidable opponent, I had gotten lucky enough to exploit their weakness.
Without tricks, fighting on even ground, I could manage at most against those of Tier 2 or 3.
‘The problem is my limits can’t be overcome in the short term.’
That was why I had prepared this—the Heart Stone of the Frozen Sea.
‘It can greatly enhance my combat ability.’
As I gestured, the formula blazed bright, and the Heart Stone of the Frozen Sea trembled.
The Heart Stone of the Frozen Sea was a perilously dangerous Elixir that only high-rank mages of at least Level 5 or higher could absorb, but I gave it no thought.
It was time to grow stronger.
* * *
At last, the day of the training seminar arrived.
The manor prepared on the barren Lancell Plateau was thronged with people.
A crowd that far exceeded the number of trainees.
It was thanks to the journalists from the magical press outlets converging on the site.
“How is it that a mere new professor training seminar is generating this much buzz?”
“Right? I’m shocked too. That Rubiness Academy, which had been in decline, is hiring such remarkable people as new professors.”
“Yes, especially Balas. He could have gone anywhere among the Four Great Houses.”
“It’s not just Balas. There’s Amanda, the highest-decorated medal recipient, the prodigal son of a swordmaster house, and the foremost disciple of the Heavenly Sky Island elder. Not a single unremarkable face among them.”
“And they’re not the only ones.”
At someone’s interjection, the journalists fell silent.
Right. There was one more.
Someone no one had anticipated.
An anomalous presence wedged among the swans.
“The Young Prince of the Rebel Faction.”
“Wait, isn’t it a bit much to still call him that now? The rumors circulating lately are rather striking.”
“Is all of that actually true?”
“It was reported by Gossip Daily. They actually have journalistic integrity and only report facts.”
The journalists fell silent again.
Even so, they found it hard to believe easily.
“…We’ll know soon enough.”
That’s right.
All the journalists sensed it instinctively.
The one to watch most at this seminar might not be the other distinguished new professors, but rather the Young Prince of the Rebel Faction, once called a “ragamuffin.”
“Psst! They’re entering now!”
Balas, adopted son of a magical house and a prodigy of the academic world.
Kansir, the wayward son of a swordmaster house.
Amanda, War Mage.
Lyran, foremost disciple of Heavenly Sky Island.
Each time they appeared in turn, applause poured down like a torrent.
Then came the turn of Ban,
‘And now?’
As everyone held their breath with mixed doubt and anticipation,
Tap.
A faint footfall echoed, and the expressions on people’s faces shifted subtly.
The aura emanating from Ban as he ascended the platform was utterly different from what they had known before.
‘…What is this?’
And then.
“Ban Ecclesia.”
!!
Whoosh!!
The Black Flame Dragon’s overwhelming presence engulfed everyone in the hall.
It was the beginning.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
There was a village in a forest near the training grounds.
Though it lay in a remote location, the atmosphere was peculiar.
The eyes of those standing watch—members of the militia—were sharp and alert.
A presence that rivaled elite knights.
And there was something even more surprising.
“What are you thinking about, sir?”
A middle-aged man with the most intense presence bowed respectfully to a young boy and asked.
“Saint Yohen.”
He was a saint of the Rebel Faction whom Ban had treated before!
By sheer coincidence, a rebel settlement happened to be located near the training grounds.
“Just… thinking about various things.”
Yohen blinked his doe-like eyes as he answered.
The demonically tainted aura that had been visible when Ban treated him then was nowhere to be found—only an innocent impression remained.
“Ah, I heard you’ll be enrolling at the academy soon. You must be nervous.”
Yohen smiled faintly.
“In a moment. I’ll take a bit more of a walk before heading back inside.”
“Very well. Still, do be careful. The monsters have seemed rather restless lately.”
“Is something the matter?”
“Ha, it’s nothing of consequence, I imagine. This Lancell Plateau is where an evil dragon sleeps, you see, and the monsters tend to grow fierce on account of it. But do take precautions all the same. You are our hope, after all.”
At the word “hope,” Yohen’s expression darkened just slightly.
But he let no sign of it show, smiling thinly instead.
“Yes, thank you.”
‘I’m not such a remarkable person.’
Everyone around him revered him as a saint.
But Yohen knew himself well.
He was nothing more than a being possessed of the same selfishness and ugliness as anyone else.
‘Perhaps the seed of the demon within me was planted as punishment for my hypocrisy.’
Yohen reflected bitterly.
‘Who was it that saved me then?’
Lyran had told the Ran Republic that Yohen had liberated himself from the demon’s influence, but Yohen remembered clearly what had truly happened.
—I declare in my name…
A voice that had come from beyond the despair and darkness of that moment.
—I will never abandon you to death.
‘I wish I could meet them. I want to know what kind of being they are.’
Yohen exhaled quietly.
It was not merely that they had saved his life.
The sublimity that had dwelt in that voice.
The sacrifice evident in their willingness to save another despite the danger they themselves faced.
They were surely a truly noble being—nothing like the false version of himself.
‘Perhaps if I met them, I might find an answer to my doubts.’
Yohen turned his gaze away.
‘They’re probably a mage… but surely not one of the mages at the training grounds over there?’
Yohen gazed toward the brightly lit training grounds near the settlement, offering a silent wish.
He hoped that somehow he might encounter that benefactor from that moment.
* * *
After the training began.
Everyone in the hall wore a peculiar expression.
It was because of what Balas had said next.
“He took a position as a specialist in magical theory and is currently Tier 1 intermediate.”
“…….”
Tier 1 intermediate.
No academy’s magical faculty had ever appointed someone at such a level to a professorship.
‘Defeat Puppet’s constructs? That’s all lies, isn’t it?’
It was a natural suspicion.
Then, with a loud crash, there came a commotion.
“Ha, it’s been a while, Balas. Have you been well? I’ve missed you.”
It was Kansir, one of the new provisional professors and scion of a renowned swordsmanship lineage!
An expert in combat techniques that merged swordsmanship and magic.
“I’ve heard tales of you—my ears have been burning. I was curious to see how much you’d changed, but you don’t look so different to me.”
Everyone held their breath.
It was a provocation!
‘I’ve heard that Kansir has always disliked the prince.’
No—it was more than that.
‘He’s trying to crush the prince and make himself look better.’
Yet no one moved to intervene.
Training exercises were naturally a proving ground for competition among the new professors.
Such quarrels arose often.
So long as the fighting didn’t become too fierce, they were permitted to proceed.
Besides.
‘Now we’ll have a chance to see if the prince’s reputation is true.’
Kansir smirked.
“What say you? Shall you prove your mettle through a friendly duel? I’d like to see this strength of yours—the strength that supposedly toppled Puppet’s constructs.”
It was a duel challenge!
And yet.
“No, I won’t be dueling.”
“Frightened? Then drop to your knees at once—”
“One should only duel opponents of equal standing, shouldn’t one? You lack the caliber to face me in a magical contest.”
“!!”
Ban’s mouth twisted upward.
An expression of pure contempt.
“Not a duel, then. A lesson instead.”
“…What?”
“After all, this is a training session, isn’t it? I’ll show you sword-swinger what real Magic actually is. Be grateful for the education.”
The hall fell silent.
Kansir’s face had gone deathly cold.
Whoosh!
Kansir climbed onto the podium where Ban stood.
His movements were as fluid as any seasoned knight’s, drawing murmurs of admiration from scattered corners of the room.
“Did you mean what you just said? There’s still time to apologize.”
At Kansir’s words, Ban exhaled slowly through his nose.
Why was that?
The moment that sigh reached their ears, a chill ran down the spines of some of the more experienced observers.
It was the premonition that came before disaster struck.
“What you truly need isn’t Magic instruction.”
“What is it, then?”
“A lesson in character as well. But be prepared for it.”
Heavy as a mountain.
His voice rang out with overwhelming pressure.
“Good teaching, after all, leaves marks upon the body.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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