Chapter 83 : Chapter 83
Volume 2
Chapter 7 : The Pink Bear and the First Lesson
After his morning run, Muen returned to the dormitory.
Only then did the entire dormitory district seem to wake up, as waves of noisy voices began rising one after another.
Back in his room, Muen took a cold shower.
The cold water struck his skin, washing away the sweat while also sharpening his mind.
After finishing his bath, Muen looked at his refreshed reflection in the mirror and stroked his chin in admiration.
“Mm. Perfect.”
“Still as handsomely roguish as ever.”
Although appearances were difficult to change in a short time, Muen felt that a difference in bearing and spirit could still slightly alter the way others perceived him.
He had to change his image in other people’s eyes as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, every single person who saw him would look as though they were thinking, This man has clearly been possessed by an evil god, and he was truly sick of that.
…
Assembly hall.
The opening ceremony was about to begin.
Muen arrived a few minutes early and followed the directions to the section for second-year students.
About half the seats were already filled.
Muen found a relatively empty spot and sat down.
In the original novel, because of his status and personality, Muen Campbell had never really had any close classmates in the academy aside from those few lackeys of his.
So now, naturally, no one came over to greet him.
But Muen could feel a great many gazes resting on him, curious looks as though they were staring at some rare giant panda.
“How strange.”
Muen glanced around.
The moment he turned his head, many students quickly looked away, but Muen still felt as though countless gazes were stuck to him like taffy, impossible to shake off.
“Even if I really am something of a celebrity in this academy, I should not be drawing quite this much attention.”
“Could it be… that my apology yesterday really worked?”
Muen slapped his palm with his fist, suddenly enlightened.
It seemed that the story of him apologizing to Ariel had already spread.
“In that case… the reason they keep staring at me must be because they are wondering whether I have truly turned over a new leaf.”
“If that is so, then I had better put on a proper display.”
“This is a perfect opportunity to improve the image people have of me. I cannot let it slip away.”
Muen secretly rejoiced and immediately straightened his back, placing what he believed to be the perfect smile upon his lips.
Combined with that heaven-blessed handsome face of his, his charm shot straight to the maximum.
Quite a few girls in the first-year section had already noticed him and let out soft squeals of infatuation.
But in the other sections…
“Oh no, Muen Campbell is looking over here. Quick, look away…”
“Huh? He smiled. He smiled at me. It is over. He is not interested in me, is he?”
“No, no, absolutely not. I refuse to become the fourteenth ship he steps on. I would be sunk by a dreadnought-class battleship!”
Whispers like that spread ceaselessly among the girls.
Unfortunately, they were too far away for Muen to hear.
And in a spot much closer to those girls…
“Those damned busybodies! Who are they calling a dreadnought-class battleship!”
Hearing those words, Ariel bared her teeth and claws, looking as though she wanted to charge over and tear apart the mouths of those gossip-loving girls.
“No, Ariel, calm down. This is the assembly hall. If you make a move here, it will become a huge problem.”
Lia wrapped both arms around Ariel’s slender waist and held her back for dear life.
“And besides, even if you are a little flatter, a little harder, and a little stronger in combat, that does not necessarily mean they were talking about you!”
“Lia.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Whose side are you even on, you little traitor?”
“Wah, no, Ariel, stop, do not tickle me—the ceremony is starting, hahaha, it is starting!”
Bzzzt—
The sharp static of a magic amplifier cut off the girls’ playing.
On the broad stage of the assembly hall, a pink bear mascot patted the magic amplifier in its hand and tested it.
“Hello, hello—can you hear me? Can you hear me? Very good, it seems you can.”
“Hm?”
Muen also raised his head and looked toward the absurd pink bear mascot on the stage, completely out of place with the solemn atmosphere of the hall.
“Did they invite it here to liven up the opening?”
At a setting like an opening ceremony, they had actually brought in someone wearing a mascot suit to energize the mood.
It seemed the academy leadership was not as old-fashioned as he had imagined.
“Well then… could all students please return to the seats where they ought to be and sit down quietly?”
The pink bear mascot spoke in the lazy tone of an unemployed middle-aged man.
Yet when that voice spread through the entire hall, it was as though some invisible law had taken effect.
Every student returned to their seat and sat down at once, and the enormous hall, capable of holding over a thousand people, became so silent that even a pin drop could have been heard.
“Mm, it seems all of you are very well-behaved.”
The pink bear mascot nodded in satisfaction.
“Since that is the case, I will not waste your time. I will just give a brief introduction of myself.”
“My name is Pink Bear.”
“I am your new principal.”
Oh, oh, so it is the principal.
The role this Pink Bear was playing was pretty funny. It had almost managed to make him…
Wait, what did it just say?
Muen’s eyes flew wide open as he stared at the stage in shock.
The principal?
This ridiculous pink bear was saying it was the principal?
That was not right at all!
In the original novel, the principal of Saint Maria Academy was not some bear.
She was supposed to be a mature beauty with a very generous chest and a superb figure, wearing a deep-V business outfit that revealed a tantalizing hint of lace beneath, along with black suspender stockings, striding through the academy in ten-centimeter heels.
Because the original novel had described her in such a deeply alluring—no, deeply captivating—way, Muen had actually been looking forward to seeing her.
After all, the original Muen had slept through the last opening ceremony and never even known what the principal looked like.
But how had the mature beauty vanished and been replaced by this absurd pink bear, which inspired absolutely no desire to explore further?
This was not merely a wrong item after opening the box.
This was an entirely different species!
He had wanted a life-sized, ultra-realistic beauty, and what he got instead was a plush toy bear?
Plush toy bears were cute, yes, but they could not possibly fulfill his hopes—I mean, his expectations!
And only now did the students below finally react, erupting into cries of shock loud enough to tear the roof off the hall.
Apparently, they too found it rather hard to accept a mature beauty suddenly being replaced with a stuffed bear.
“Ahem.”
The pink bear gave a small cough.
The sound was not loud, yet it instantly smothered the uproar throughout the hall.
“I know all of you students are very dissatisfied. Indeed, going from a beautiful, coldly enchanting mature beauty to an adorable pink bear like me is admittedly a rather jarring difference. But I cannot help it. Your Principal Hathaway was temporarily transferred by the higher-ups for some reason and must handle other duties, so the position of principal can only be filled by me for the time being. I know many of you are deeply unhappy about this, but—”
The pink bear’s mouth suddenly stretched wide, and from the darkness inside, where nothing could be seen, there emerged a thick, powerful, heavily hairy arm.
The arm slowly extended outward, then raised… a middle finger at everyone present.
“I do not want to be principal either, damn it! It is such a pain in the ass!”
The pink bear roared in a low voice.
“If you have any complaints, go take them up with the higher-ups! I am just a miserable office worker who got dragged over to fill in! I was lying on a beach full of beauties, basking in the sun and admiring my thighs, when suddenly I got yanked here to become some damned principal. And they even warned me sternly that I am absolutely not allowed to make a move on female students. Do you think I agreed to this willingly?”
“No! I absolutely did not! A principal who cannot make a move on lively, adorable female students has no reason to exist!”
“…”
Along with Pink Bear’s furious shouting, the entire assembly hall once again fell into deathly silence.
Even Muen found himself gaping so wide he could practically swallow an egg whole.
He took back what he had thought earlier. This Pink Bear was not cute at all.
“Tch. So in the end, you are all just a bunch of boring brats.”
Apparently having vented enough, the Pink Bear withdrew its arm and resumed that listless, lazy tone.
“Alright, that is all. I do not really have anything else to say. I just wanted to say hello to all of you.
So then… I suppose I will just wish you all a happy end of term in advance.
Mm. That is it.”
With that, Pink Bear tossed aside the magic amplifier and swaggered off with an utterly insolent gait.
As it passed, it even kicked over a nearby teacup steeping wolfberries, as though still feeling thoroughly displeased.
A certain middle-aged teacher nearby could only glare in fury without daring to say a word.
…
“Oh my, it is your turn now, little Selicia~”
Backstage, Pink Bear seemed to have turned into an entirely different person. Pinching its voice, it spoke to Selicia in a fawning tone.
“Are you nervous? Would you like to rest a little longer? It would not matter if that bunch of useless students had to wait a bit more.”
“The fact that Father and the others actually sent you to temporarily manage the academy…”
Selicia looked at Pink Bear, a trace of confusion appearing in her cool eyes.
“Are they not afraid you might truly create some sort of disaster?”
“A disaster? Why would I create a real disaster?”
Pink Bear put on a picture of innocent bafflement, as if to say, I have no idea what you mean. “I have always been a peace-loving person, alright?”
“…”
The chill in Selicia’s gaze deepened.
“Fine, fine, I swear I will not cause trouble. Little Selicia may rest at ease!”
Pink Bear raised both hands in surrender. “Ah, do not look at me as though I were trash. I will get exci—I mean, I will feel sad.”
“…”
Ignoring that rather alarming slip of the tongue, Selicia asked:
“So then?”
“What exactly happened, for it to make Principal Hathaway temporarily leave the academy she loves so dearly?”
“Haha, nothing much.”
Pink Bear twisted its thick “slender waist” bashfully and said:
“Perhaps she merely went out to meet her little lover in secret.”
“A vow of silence?”
A flicker passed through Selicia’s eyes.
“Then I believe I roughly understand what happened.”
Something that could force even a strong figure of Pink Bear’s caliber into silence, preventing him from revealing a single fragment of information, could only be a vow of silence sworn in the name of a god.
And when that was combined with Principal Hathaway’s field of research, it was not difficult to guess what had happened.
“An evil god?”
Selicia murmured softly.
Then, no longer wasting time on Pink Bear, she turned and walked toward the stage.
It was time for the student council president’s speech.
“My, my, little Selicia truly is clever. As expected, she is very hard to deceive.”
Watching Selicia’s departing figure, Pink Bear once again stretched a hand out from its “mouth” and scratched its head helplessly.
“Ah, right.”
Still scratching, Pink Bear suddenly seemed to remember something. The ridiculous bear face somehow turned utterly solemn.
“I nearly forgot my true objective!”
“I have to get to Hathaway’s principal’s office before those stuffy teachers and professors realize what is happening!”
Pink Bear looked around, confirmed no one was nearby, then muttered gravely to itself:
“The office of a mature beauty. Who knows what exciting things might still be left behind there?”
…
“Ah, it is Selicia.”
Muen was still reeling from the shock of being shown the middle finger by a pink bear, so when that cold and peerlessly beautiful figure entered his vision, he immediately felt as though his soul had been purified.
“She really has not changed at all.”
Resting his chin on one hand, Muen carefully examined the figure upon the stage.
Her hair flowed over her shoulders like a cascade of stars. Her delicate lashes fluttered, as though light and shadow were opening and closing within them.
She remained just as breathtakingly beautiful as ever, standing there like a snow lotus swaying atop a high mountain.
“It feels as though… what happened before left no mark on her at all.”
So cold.
So enchanting.
Even after such events, not even the faintest stain could cling to those pure and immaculate petals.
Instead, only the one who had caused it all would feel ashamed of himself.
But that was good, was it not?
Looking at that figure, Muen thought silently to himself.
To forever preserve the purity of one’s soul—that was what Selicia was.
…
“Golden September, autumn winds refreshing the air… on this…”
It was worth mentioning that Selicia’s speech turned out to be unexpectedly ordinary.
It sounded practically identical to every principal’s speech Muen had ever heard in his previous life.
Still, perhaps because the shock of Principal Pink Bear had been too overwhelming, the students below listened with exceptional attentiveness this time.
After the speech, applause thundered through the hall.
After Selicia stepped down, the heads of each department came forth in turn to speak about various precautions for the term.
They also took the chance to advertise their departments to the first-year students, hoping the newcomers would choose their courses.
Saint Maria Academy’s structure was somewhat different from the schools in Muen’s previous life.
There were no fixed classes here. It was far freer, more like a university, where one could choose whichever courses one wished to study.
There was not even any distinction between required and elective classes.
As long as the courses you chose over the course of a year added up to the necessary credits, you could select them however you pleased.
Of course, students only had this freedom once, at the time of enrollment.
If they wished to change courses afterward, they would have to go through a complicated process.
But that was also meant to prevent students from flitting from one thing to another without learning perseverance.
So for first-year students, these choices might determine the direction of their future and were thus extremely important.
They had three days to sit in on and observe the teaching in every classroom before making their decisions.
For older students, however, the first class of the new term would begin immediately after the opening ceremony ended.
“My first class… is Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic?”
Muen glanced at his timetable.
“Perfect. That makes it very suitable as my first lesson.”
A smile lifted the corners of Muen’s mouth.
Since it was called Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic, it was obviously going to teach material about the basics of magic.
Compared to Professor Prang’s practical magic class, it was surely far better suited to a beginner like Muen, who knew next to nothing.
“My first lesson in learning magic, and also the first lesson in my new debut after the holiday. Just wait and see. I will show all of you a different Muen Campbell!”
After giving himself a little encouragement, Muen strode toward the light ahead like a warrior heading onto the battlefield.
…
The great clock tower.
Classroom for Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic.
It was a huge stepped lecture hall, much like a university classroom from his previous life, capable of holding nearly a hundred people.
Yet when Muen arrived, he was the only one there.
“Am I really the first one here?”
Muen glanced at the time. There were less than fifteen minutes before class began.
As expected, freedom could also breed laziness to a certain extent.
That common university habit of slipping into class right before the bell was no exception here at Saint Maria either.
Of course, this world was not nearly so competitive, so the opposite phenomenon—arriving absurdly early just to reserve good seats—had not yet had the chance to develop.
“Then I will just wait.”
Muen neatly placed his textbook in front of himself, sat with his back ramrod straight, and waited quietly for time to pass.
“I should not waste this time either.”
Thinking that, Muen closed his eyes.
…
“Damn it, that move actually had that kind of variation to it!”
Muen suddenly opened his eyes, and a sharp aura slipped from him unintentionally.
“Ah!”
Muen heard a cry of alarm.
Turning his head, he saw a little girl carrying books, staring at him in shock.
Her books had fallen to the floor, and she had not even noticed.
Damn it. His battle-state expression had been too fierce.
He had frightened her.
Realizing this, Muen hurriedly rubbed his face and put on a gentle expression.
Looking at the little girl, he smiled.
“Sorry. Did I scare you?”
“N-No…” The girl looked as though she were about to cry.
“Then… let me help you pick up your books.”
“No, no, I can do it myself!”
The little girl immediately crouched down to gather them, as though she were deeply afraid that if Muen touched her books, they might become infected with something terrible.
She was obviously so nervous that, despite there being only a few books, her trembling hands took a long time to pick them all up.
After finally collecting them, she hurried past Muen and made her way to the third row… then thought for a moment and ended up sitting in the fifth row instead.
“How strange. Am I really that frightening?”
Muen scratched his cheek in puzzlement.
Why did that little girl react as though she had seen some supreme scumbag who had stepped on thirteen different girls, terrified that just getting too close to him would make her the next one?
No.
It must just have been because his expression a moment ago had been too fierce.
A smile—he needed to keep smiling.
Muen checked the time.
Five minutes left.
Class was about to begin.
People should start arriving soon, right?
No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than it was as though some switch had been flipped. Students began pouring into the room one after another.
Judging by the thick notebooks and materials most of them carried, Muen concluded that the majority were diligent, top-performing students.
When those students saw Muen sitting in the very middle of the front row, all of them froze slightly, then quickly tugged on their companions and headed for seats farther back.
At least five rows away from him.
And so the students who came later followed the same pattern, shifting back another five rows, until before long an enormous semicircular empty space had formed around Muen.
No one sat anywhere near him.
“No way…”
At this point, even Muen, who had been forcibly maintaining his smile, could hardly bear it any longer.
What was he, some ultimate source of infection? Why were they sitting so far away from him?
But Muen was not the only one on the verge of losing composure.
At the very last moment before the bell rang, a bunch of students who clearly looked like troublemakers sneaked in through the back door.
Their uniforms were worn carelessly, their hair was dyed all sorts of wild colors, and many of them wore things like earrings and nose rings.
The moment they entered, they were dumbstruck.
Where were their seats?
What about all those comfortable, warm back-row seats where they could avoid being called on by the teacher and sleep peacefully until the end of class?
How had they all been taken by students who looked so obviously well-behaved?
They swept their eyes across the room and soon saw Muen sitting in the front row… as well as all the empty seats around him.
But in the end… not one of them chose to go over there.
It was not that they minded sitting with Muen. But that was the front row. Has anyone ever seen delinquents willingly sit in the front row?
Impossible.
Better to stand there until their legs go numb and give up on sleep altogether than sit in the front.
“What the hell is this?”
Ariel, who had nearly been late, pushed her way out of the crowd with Lia and also froze when she saw the unprecedented liveliness at the back.
Where was her seat?
Where was her beloved throne in the back row by the window?
How had it disappeared?
And why were so many people crammed back here?
“What do we do?”
Lia tugged at Ariel’s arm and pointed at Muen in the front row.
“Should we go sit over there?”
“Absolutely not!”
Ariel glared and snapped angrily:
“Have you forgotten how the rumors were already spreading after what happened before? If I go sit next to Muen Campbell now, who knows what kind of eye-rolling new version those rumors will evolve into?”
“That is true. Then what now…”
“We stand.”
Ariel gritted her teeth.
“It is only standing through a lesson. It is not as though that is some great hardship.”
…
…
“Professor Prang… I am a little nervous.”
Outside the classroom.
The newly arrived Professor Flan spoke timidly to Professor Prang beside her.
“What if something goes wrong while I am teaching? What should I do? I am so afraid I will not teach well and the students will hate me.”
“Do not be nervous, do not be nervous. Nothing will go wrong.”
When facing Professor Flan, Professor Prang wore a rare expression of kindly reassurance.
“The first lesson is something every teacher must go through. During that first class, students are usually quite tolerant toward their teachers. Believe me. They will not hate you.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. As long as you perform the way you did during your trial teaching, everything will be fine.”
Professor Prang smiled. “Although a few of the students are mischievous, they are all very lovely children.”
“I see. Then I feel relieved.”
Professor Flan patted her ample chest.
At the same time, she also felt a bit excited.
Lovely students…
I wonder in what way they are lovely.
Just as she was thinking that, Professor Prang led her into the classroom, and Professor Flan lifted her eyes expectantly.
Well, for a teacher, if one were to speak of lovely students, it would certainly be the diligent ones in the front row. She absolutely had to—
Hm?
Where were the diligent students in the front row?
Why was there no one at all in the first few rows except for one dazzlingly handsome blond young nobleman?
Professor Flan looked up and saw that every single student was seated from the fifth row backward. Quite a few were even standing rather than coming any closer to the front.
This…
This…
Was this not exactly like…
Being disliked by the class?
Before she had even started teaching, she had already been disliked?
“Professor Prang…”
With tears shimmering in her eyes, Professor Flan looked at Professor Prang.
Had he not said she would not be hated?
“Wait, let me sort out what is going on first.”
Professor Prang was also clearly baffled.
But his confusion lasted only a brief instant.
Then those eagle-sharp eyes of his locked onto the one person who should never have been sitting in that seat.
No matter what had happened, it had to involve that fellow somehow!
“Muen Ca—Campbell! What exactly are you doing?”
“Me?”
Suddenly being called out, Muen looked utterly bewildered.
He spread his hands and said:
“I did not do anything at all.”
“You did not do anything? Then why are you sitting there?”
A fellow who always sat in the very back row to sleep had suddenly run to the front row. How could that not be suspicious?
“Why can I not sit in the front row? I just wanted to sit a little closer.”
Muen was shocked.
“Do seats now have restrictions based on grades or something?”
“Well, no, not exactly. Naturally, seats may be chosen freely.”
Still, a trace of suspicion flickered through Professor Prang’s eyes. “But for you to be sitting there still feels very wrong.”
“There is nothing wrong about it. I just want to study properly!”
Unable to help himself, Muen straightened even more and put on a pained expression.
He simply wanted to become a good student. Why was it so hard?
“You—” Professor Prang had been about to say more, but then he remembered Muen Campbell’s recent behavior.
Perhaps… Perhaps he truly was sincere?
In that case, Professor Prang took a deep breath, turned toward the delinquents crowded in the back of the room, and roared:
“What are all of you doing? Sit down in your seats at once!”
“But—”
“No buts. Sit!”
Professor Prang’s stern gaze swept across the room and finally stopped on Ariel.
Seeing that the Ariel Bugarde he thought highly of was also mixed in among those delinquents, Professor Prang frowned. He slapped the desk beside Muen and said:
“Ariel Bugarde, you sit here!”
“Huh? Why?”
“There is no why. I am giving you the best seat in the classroom, and you still do not want it?”
The best seat…
Looking at the place next to Muen Campbell, Ariel could not help twitching around the cheeks.
But because of Professor Prang’s usual authority, no matter how unwilling she was… she still dragged Lia over and sat down beside Muen.
“Hello. We will meet again, Miss Ariel.”
Muen greeted her with a smile.
“You…”
Looking at Muen’s smiling face, Ariel’s own face nearly twisted out of shape with irritation.
In the end, she simply snorted and turned her head away, preferring not to look at him at all.
“Huh?”
Muen froze.
Had he said something wrong?
“It looks like she still really hates me.”
Muen scratched his head, then turned to the other side.
On the other side sat a delinquent who had also been forcibly dragged over by Professor Prang.
He looked vaguely familiar.
He had probably followed the original Muen around for a time.
In that case…
“Hello.”
Muen smiled and greeted him as well.
“…”
The delinquent’s cheek twitched.
He too gave a cold snort and turned his head away with a tsundere-like air.
Muen: ???
“Hmph. Must every last one of you make people angry?”
Seeing that all the seats were finally filled again, Professor Prang irritably jabbed his cane on the ground, then turned to Professor Flan.
“Go ahead and begin, Professor Flan.”
“A-Alright.”
Professor Flan nodded hard, then looked at the students before her and forced out a smile.
“Um… hello, everyone. I am Flan Flodo. From today onward, I will be the second-year teacher for Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic. I hope you will all support me.”
“…”
The room was silent.
Professor Flan looked left.
A strangely dressed delinquent sat there, chewing on something, with a sinister smile appearing now and then.
Then she looked right.
A girl whose face was dark as the bottom of a pot stared out the window, as if she had not taken the teacher seriously at all.
A wave of sorrow rose in Professor Flan’s heart.
Professor Prang, were these children really lovely?
Why were they nothing at all like she had imagined?
“Great!”
Only the handsome blond young nobleman in the middle applauded enthusiastically.
“Hello, Teacher!”
“Hello, student.”
Professor Flan nearly burst into grateful tears.
There really were still good students after all.
Just look at this blond young nobleman—handsome, polite, and aside from his name sounding rather familiar…
Wait? His name?
He seemed to be called Muen Campbell. That name… where had she heard it before?
Somewhere…
Perhaps from the previous teacher. Or maybe from a newspaper.
That was right—the newspaper!
Muen Campbell, the legendary Duke’s son.
The ultimate scumbag who juggled thirteen girls and forced his ex-girlfriend to get an abortion!
Professor Flan’s vision went black.
She instinctively looked to the side.
Professor Prang, save me…
But Professor Prang suddenly received a call.
He picked up a transmission stone and listened to the message coming through.
“What?”
Professor Prang thundered in fury. “Those little bastards in the fifth year blew up a teaching building during an experiment? And that floor had the magical beasts raised by the magical beast care club on it? And now all the beasts have escaped? Damn it, I knew sooner or later something would happen if magical beasts were housed next to the laboratories. Wait there, I am coming immediately!”
After hanging up, Professor Prang turned to Professor Flan with a trace of apology.
“I am sorry. I have to leave for something urgent. I can only leave the rest in your hands, Professor Flan.”
“Huh? Wait—”
“I believe you can do it!”
After forcibly pouring that bowl of chicken soup straight into her soul and flashing her a thumbs-up, Professor Prang vanished in a blur.
“…”
Do not cry, do not cry. A tiny setback like this cannot defeat me.
Professor Flan blinked hard, forcibly driving the tears back into her eyes.
Then she turned around and smiled bravely.
“Now then, students, let us begin the lesson.”
It is starting!
Muen immediately pulled himself together.
He had prepared for so long precisely for this moment!
No matter the subject, the first class was always extremely important, so he could not afford to miss a single word.
For a student like him, who had no foundation at all, the best method was to follow the teacher’s pace exactly.
“Please take out your textbooks.”
Mm-hm, take out the textbook.
“Open to the first page.”
Mm-hm, open to the first page.
“Use the table of contents to find the chapter titled An Overview of Multi-Stage Continuous Chanting.”
Mm-hm, find the—
Wait. Why did that feel wrong?
Muen frowned.
“The topic of today’s class is the basic knowledge behind multi-stage continuous chanting. If any of you have questions, please raise your hand.”
“Teacher, I have a question.”
“Mm… Muen… Muen Campbell, was it? Go ahead.”
“Um… why are we starting with something as advanced as multi-stage continuous chanting?”
Muen widened his innocent eyes and asked curiously.
“Why can we not start with something simpler?”
“Something simpler?”
Professor Flan tilted her head in confusion. “But this is already the simplest material.”
“Nonsense!”
Muen slapped the thick textbook and asked:
“What about all the earlier material? There is so much of it before this. Multi-stage continuous chanting is around page one hundred, is it not?”
“The earlier material?”
Professor Flan looked even more confused. “Was that not all taught in first year?”
“…Ah.”
Muen froze.
Then he understood.
Then all kinds of emotions surged through him at once.
How had he forgotten something so important?
He… was a second-year student now.
A second-year teacher was not going to reteach all the things from the first year.
No matter how much he wanted to earnestly follow the teacher’s pace, he could not do it now, because between them lay a pitiful, heavy wall.
It was the chasm between first year… and second year.
Muen silently lowered his head and hurriedly flipped through the earlier pages of the textbook, hoping that perhaps this might stir up some lingering memory in his mind.
But after turning only a few pages, he gave up.
Fine. Forget lingering memories—there was absolutely nothing in his head.
The original owner of this body had probably learned nothing at all.
So this was the true weight of someone who had studied for a whole year and only learned a Light spell?
What was he supposed to do now… Should he just accept it cleanly and repeat the year?
“…”
Looking at Muen’s devastated expression, Professor Flan thought for a moment and decided it would be best not to make the situation worse by asking what was wrong.
Class had to continue. Continue the lesson.
“Alright then, let us begin this chapter. If there is anything you do not understand, make sure to tell me.”
“To discuss multi-stage continuous chanting, we first have to begin with Meradomir, the Origin-rank Grand Magus from a thousand years ago, who pioneered—”
“Wait, Professor Flan!”
Muen raised his hand again. “I do not understand.”
“Huh?”
Professor Flan froze. “But I only just started speaking.”
“That is right.”
Grinding his teeth, Muen said, “I do not understand a single word. For that matter, what in the world even is multi-stage continuous chanting?”
“…”
Was this person not deliberately here to cause trouble?
“Then…”
Professor Flan forced out another strained smile.
“Student Muen… what exactly do you want?”
“Teacher, how about this? Start from the beginning.”
Muen turned the textbook back to page one and said seriously:
“Start here. It does not matter if you go slowly.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because I want to hear it!”
Muen leaned forward, grasped Professor Flan’s hand, and said earnestly:
“I want to hear Professor Flan explain this entire textbook to me from beginning to end.”
“Wh-what?”
The scent of a man suddenly enveloped her.
Combined with the warmth of her hands being wrapped in those broad male hands, Professor Flan—who had never even had a boyfriend—instantly panicked.
“Wh-why would I need to explain the whole book to you?”
Professor Flan stammered, trembling.
“That would take a very long time. And this is still class. We cannot disturb the other students.”
“Because I want to understand. I want to understand everything. It does not matter if it takes a long time. We can wait until after class. I can even pay specially for it. But no matter what, I only want to hear Professor Flan explain this entire textbook to me.”
Muen’s face was full of sincerity.
“Th-this…”
As Muen leaned closer and closer, Professor Flan’s cheeks grew burning hot.
Steam practically rose from the top of her head, while in her eyes there seemed to be tangles of thread spinning wildly in circles.
Calm down, Flan Flodo. You are a teacher. How can you lose your composure at a time like this?
Calm down and first figure out what this student in front of you is trying to do.
→ First, one fact must be made clear: Muen Campbell was a genuine poor student. The previous teacher of this class had once mentioned it before handing it over. Last term, Muen Campbell had scored an unprecedented three points in this very subject.
Three points! In Professor Prang’s words, if one simply stepped on the answer sheet by accident, the footprints alone would have been worth more than that.
And the greatest trait of an ultimate poor student… was that he hated studying.
So Muen Campbell definitely could not be acting like this for the sake of learning.
→ Second, he had just said earlier that he chose this seat because he wanted to be closer.
Closer—to whom? Was there anyone else in front of him?
→ Next, while the entire class had treated the newly arrived me coldly, only he had shown enthusiasm. Such abnormal behavior clearly had some ulterior motive.
→ Lastly, he wanted me to explain an entire textbook to him, no matter how long it took, and specifically after class… after class would mean the two of us alone.
In other words… he wants me to stay with him the whole time?
Therefore, by combining all the above with the premise that he is a scumbag who juggles thirteen girls—
Conclusion:
Muen Campbell! He is trying to court me!
“N-no, that is not allowed!”
Professor Flan’s face turned even redder. She violently shook off Muen’s hands and cried out:
“That is not allowed!”
“Huh?”
Muen stared at her blankly.
“What is not allowed?”
Paying for private tutoring was perfectly normal, was it not?
Had he chosen the wrong moment to ask? But he had specifically asked openly in front of everyone precisely to avoid any improper misunderstandings, given the state of his reputation.
So why…
“You are not allowed to pursue me!”
Professor Flan shut her eyes and shouted with all her strength:
“Even if becoming the Duchess is very tempting, a teacher-student romance is not allowed! Even if becoming the Duchess is very tempting…”
“Ha?”
Muen’s eyes widened, his entire body trembling as he had absolutely no idea what this teacher was talking about.
The Duchess… Has he ever mentioned the Duchess even once?
But before he could say anything further, the classroom door was suddenly knocked upon and opened.
“Excuse us. For the first class of the term, the student council is here to check attendance.”
Selicia entered, with her secretary Veir beside her.