The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 67

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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 67
Katrine’s face flushed crimson.
“Ha, who do you think you are?! You think you can beat me?! Of course, I don’t care about becoming Master Han’s top disciple or anything like that!”
“Both of you… be quiet… or rather, please keep your voices down. I’m getting a headache.”
The hospital room erupted into chaos.
‘…Well, it’s nice they’re all so eager to work hard going forward, but could you maybe keep it down a little? I’m still a patient, you know?’
That’s when it happened.
“Ahem. The students are quite lively—good to see. Puppet, you look well enough yourself.”
An unexpected visitor.
Professor Alif, the Dean of Students.
A key figure in the Karak Faction.
‘Why all of a sudden? Could it be…?’
I widened my eyes slightly, sensing what he was after.
Professor Alif studied me with a displeased expression, then spoke bluntly.
“Take this. It’s an official notice from the Chancellor’s office—read it. Sigh, I don’t know how you’ve roped me into running your errands like this.”
My eyes brightened.
The document contained a complex array of details, but boiled down to one thing:
Course preparation complete.
Chancellor Karak had kept his promise.
The moment of my first lecture was finally approaching!
‘Excellent! Now I’m a professor giving lectures! I’m going straight for a formal teaching position!’
It felt like a dream drawing closer to reality.
The dream of becoming a professor and living the good life.
But I couldn’t simply rejoice.
“…What is this course exactly?”
I swallowed hard.
There was a problem with the course selection.
A very serious one.
“Do I really have to teach this particular course?”
“What?! How can you say such a thing? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to arrange this position?! Do you not understand what a tremendous privilege you’ve been given? If you don’t like it, forget about it!”
Alif stormed out, furious.
‘This is troublesome.’
Hans and Linden tilted their heads in confusion.
“What’s the matter, sir? Understanding the Foundations of Magic? Isn’t that a good course?”
“It’s an important subject, and only renowned professors get to teach it. Come to think of it, how did you end up taking this course anyway? There must have been a professor assigned to it originally?”
“Apparently the previous instructor suddenly took leave for personal reasons. I heard he’d racked up gambling debts and fled the Free City in the dead of night?”
“Isn’t this a good thing though? It’s your chance to establish credibility as a professor right away! Everyone will be watching you!”
“That’s precisely the problem.”
“Sir?”
I said nothing.
Understanding the Foundations of Magic.
They were right—there was nothing inherently wrong with the subject. If anything, it was excellent.
The problem lay in what surrounded it.
‘It’s the course at the center of the “Factional Clash” arc of the new semester.’
By factional clash, I meant the conflict between the Karak Faction and the Rafalte Faction.
This course becomes the nexus of fierce antagonism between them, and within that conflict, the protagonists distinguish themselves.
‘If things go this way, I become the standard-bearer of the Karak Faction. What on earth is Chancellor Karak thinking?’
Coincidence?
That cunning Chancellor Karak wouldn’t allow it.
‘He still doesn’t trust me. If things go poorly, he’ll dispose of me.’
If I fight well against the Rafalte Faction, he’s pleased.
But if I fall short of his expectations, he’ll use it as a pretext to get rid of me.
‘Damn it, I’ve sworn my loyalty—why can’t the man trust me? Though honestly, with a person like that, he’d make for a perfect first-year final boss.’
In any case, it was a difficult position.
A shrimp caught between two whales.
The best strategy would be to skillfully avoid the battleground of the whales.
‘Impossible. House Rafalte has their fangs bared at me too.’
I suddenly felt the weight of reality crash down on me.
One side suspects me, the other sees me as a mortal enemy.
And Randolph, the former Chancellor who still harbors goodwill toward me, was an absolute bomb I could never get close to.
Social politics were never easy, just as they never were in life.
‘If I could ease things even slightly with House Rafalte, it would be far less exhausting. Is there a way?’
Perhaps it was because I was mulling over such thoughts.
Conveniently, Emily arrived at my door.
“Ban, are you feeling alright? I came to visit.”
“I appreciate it.”
I regarded Emily, this body’s former fiancée, for a moment.
‘If I used Emily, could I improve relations with House Rafalte?’
But I quickly shook my head.
It would be impossible unless we became engaged again.
I was about to change the subject when—
Emily looked at me gravely and opened her mouth.
“…Are you going to do it again?”
“Do what?”
“Use another Self-Sacrifice Spell or something like that?”
Her expression was angry.
“Are you worried as a business partner? Don’t be. I’ll make sure nothing comes back to harm you.”
“That’s not it. Sigh….”
“?”
For some reason, she looked even more displeased.
As I tilted my head in confusion, Emily broached another matter.
“Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Emily pressed her lips shut firmly.
It wasn’t something she could easily bring up.
“It’s alright. Speak freely. Aren’t you and I business partners?”
……
“Aren’t we? I think we’re rather well-matched partners, actually.”
When conducting business, compatibility with your counterpart matters too.
In that respect, Emily was an exceptionally easy person to work with.
“What about something other than a business partner?”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’m not one to dance around things, so I’ll speak plainly.”
Emily fixed her gaze on me directly.
“What do you think about us becoming engaged again?”
……
I doubted my own ears.
Emily’s expression was serious.
I hadn’t misheard.
“Is this the will of your father, Duke Volmen?”
“Yes, that’s right. He reconsidered after hearing your recent reputation. Since Father will be taking control of Rubinesse Academy anyway, he’s planning to put you forward.”
It was an unexpected turn of events.
“However, this is also an ultimatum. If you refuse the engagement, we’ll find a way to have you expelled from the Academy.”
“That’s rather cold. Ignoring the wishes of the person most involved….”
“I said I don’t dislike it.”
……
Even the Black Flame Dragon within couldn’t entirely mask my bewildered expression this time.
Emily stammered as if to forestall any misunderstanding, adding her explanation.
“An engagement with you would be advantageous for me as well.”
I nodded then, as though I finally understood.
“True, if you gain the backing of House Ecclesia, it would be a tremendous advantage.”
“…Yes, that’s right. We would become the perfect partners. Or if you prefer, a fake engagement works too. We get engaged to put out the immediate fire, and then dissolve it later.”
“Even so, you’re fine with that?”
“What’s wrong with a dissolution? Someone competent like me isn’t harmed at all by something like that. If you want, I’ll even write up a dissolution contract. The duration of the fake engagement would be until I gain control of my family’s power.”
I fell into thought.
‘The terms aren’t bad. It’s not a real engagement, just a fake one.’
First, House Rafalte’s harassment would disappear.
Beyond that, House Rafalte would become my umbrella.
Unlike Karak, who merely harbored suspicions, they would genuinely become my allies.
I wouldn’t need to worry about a professorship either, and a far more comfortable life would become possible.
But,
“I refuse.”
“Understood.”
“…Your reaction is rather flat.”
“I expected you’d refuse. Just tell me why. I’ll keep it from Father.”
I met Emily’s gaze steadily.
The unreadable eyes of a merchant who guards her thoughts.
I couldn’t discern her true intentions.
‘Why? Should I even say it?’
The most fundamental reason was that I simply didn’t want to.
Whether it was fake or not, an engagement was the last thing I needed to consider.
‘In a little while, all manner of calamities will unfold, the world will be on the brink of collapse, and here she is asking about engagements as if we had all the leisure in the world.’
Beyond that, there was another reason—a critical one—why I couldn’t accept this proposal.
‘Technically, I shouldn’t even be telling her this.’
And yet, perhaps because of all the kindness Emily had shown me over time,
I found it uncomfortable to simply stay silent.
Not that telling her would change what’s to come,
‘but it might help Emily somewhat.’
It wasn’t just Emily.
‘…It might also help me properly teach Senin a lesson.’
Senin.
The name emerged for the first time in my thoughts.
The heir to House Rafalte, and one of the sixteen protagonists of the Warrior Academy.
More precisely, a protagonist of the Liberal Arts Department’s Commerce specialization.
The problem was that he was a protagonist—and thoroughly detestable.
Not quite a villain, but irritating in a way that rivaled one.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him a taste of bitterness in preparation for what lay ahead.
“Will you truly keep it secret?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? What’s the reason?”
I glanced briefly at the button on Emily’s sleeve.
Contrary to her words, it was an Eavesdropping Magic Tool.
Installed without Emily’s knowledge.
‘This conversation is reaching Volmen’s ears right now.’
That was fine.
It wouldn’t change anything if Volmen learned in advance.
“The reason I refused is….”
I opened my mouth slowly.
And.
As Emily listened, her eyes began to widen with shock.
* * *
A residence gleaming with opulence.
Its scale rivaled the palace of any ordinary kingdom.
A heavy silence hung over the highest floor of the Rafalte Ducal Residence, seat of the Empire’s greatest wealth.
“So that boy captured Puppet? Was the fellow really capable to that degree?”
“…He employed the Self-Sacrifice Spell, and it appears to have been a matter of fortune, Your Grace.”
“Fortune? That’s complacent talk! Fortune is itself a measure of skill!”
Crash!
Volmen, the patriarch of House Rafalte, erupted in fury.
‘Why does he concern himself with that trash? There’s nothing remarkable about him in the first place.’
The steward swallowed a sigh.
Though the boy had recently garnered some attention, he was merely a promising mage at best—at most, a temporary lecturer at the academy.
‘If only it weren’t for the inferiority complex toward Ecclesia, His Grace wouldn’t be like this.’
House Rafalte had the shortest history among the four ducal houses.
The house of swordsmanship and the house of magic were in entirely different categories and could hardly be compared, yet Rafalte was perpetually measured against Ecclesia and found wanting.
—A house of money-grubbers with no tradition or honor, not even worth comparing to Ecclesia.
What stung most was that Ecclesia paid Rafalte no mind whatsoever.
‘Oh, that wealthy family?’ was all they thought, treating them as no rival at all.
‘But this time that trash boy spoke rudely to Miss Emily.’
Through the Eavesdropping Magic Tool, he had overheard the boy’s reason for rejecting the engagement proposal, and it was outrageous.
—He could not bind himself in marriage to a house destined to fall soon.
I cannot fathom what possessed him to utter such reckless nonsense.
But there was no doubt that Volmen’s eyes had blazed with fury.
Volmen ground his teeth as he spoke.
“That fool has been assigned to teach Understanding the Foundations of Magic?”

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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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