It was not the direction I had wanted things to take, but Ellin no longer had any reason to take an interest in me.
She had never needed to attend my class in the first place.
So I had firmly believed that she would stop showing up altogether…….
Ellin cruelly betrayed those expectations.
“…Iones Ellin.”
“Professor, I’m here.”
“Why are you attending again?”
“Because I officially registered for the class.”
Officially registered, officially registered…….
‘Why in the world?’
I had told her that if she wanted the credits, she should go to the Academic Administration Team and have them process her registration.
But I had never imagined she would actually do it.
Had our previous conversation not been the point where our relationship was supposed to end? Had I been the only one who thought so?
…Whatever the case, the words officially registered echoed hollowly through my mind.
As long as I was a professor and Ellin was a student, I had no justification for interfering with her right to learn.
No, there was one way.
It would be a self-defeating move that damaged my professor evaluation, but this was Ellin’s fault for driving me this far.
My gaze toward Ellin turned cold.
“…Open your textbook. Today’s lecture will be somewhat difficult, so I suggest that you listen carefully.”
***
Aisel glanced up at the enormous Magic Tower.
The Snowfield Magic Tower was so closely associated with Le Sete Academy that the two immediately came to mind together.
The colossal structure, dozens of stories high, was magnificent no matter how many times she saw it.
As for its breadth, it was large enough to encompass several open fields put together.
‘It is large enough for them to create entirely different ecosystems inside.’
She knew because she had been inside a few times herself.
They even raised Monsters such as goblins, letting them roam freely.
Since the Monsters’ daily food supplies were produced on the corresponding floors themselves, it would not be an exaggeration to say that each floor contained an entire ecosystem complete with its own food chain.
The place was so vast that she sometimes forgot she was indoors.
Even setting that aside, its symbolic significance went without saying simply because it had a direct connection to the Floating Island.
It was the Magic Tower that every Mage dreamed of climbing at least once.
‘Though I would not really know. I am a Knight, after all.’
Still, she was envious of the facilities.
Aside from the gymnasium, the Department of Knighthood did not exactly feel as though it possessed cutting-edge facilities.
SLURP.
Aisel drew iced coffee through a straw.
After staring up at the Magic Tower from the café terrace below, she turned her head.
Aiden was sitting there, leisurely enjoying his coffee.
“But why do you look so gloomy, Professor?”
Aiden was famously among those whose expressions changed the least, but after spending several weeks around him, Aisel had gradually learned to discern his emotions from the atmosphere around him.
To Aisel, Aiden looked more dejected than she had ever seen him before.
Sensing her gaze from across the table, I lifted my eyes from my coffee and looked at Aisel.
Right… the reason I was feeling gloomy.
I stared at the tranquil surface of the coffee before closing my eyes.
Aisel tilted her head in confusion.
Why was I feeling gloomy right now?
Naturally, it was because…….
“My course evaluation did not go the way I intended.”
My voice dropped an octave.
In complete contrast to my mood, Aisel smiled brightly and eagerly agreed.
“Ah, right! Your course evaluation was incredibly high, Professor. What should I call it? I heard one student has already awakened their Aura?”
Yes, the student who had awakened Aura.
That was the problem.
‘Why does the world always move independently of what I want?’
On the day of the lecture in question, I had finally run out of patience.
I had reached the point where there was nowhere left to retreat, so I had finally drawn my sword.
I could not infringe upon Ellin’s right to learn.
If I interfered with that, it would cause serious problems with my next faculty appointment.
In other words, if I wanted my Part-time Professor contract renewed, I could not obstruct her in that manner.
‘But I still have another method.’
It was simply a matter of changing my perspective.
If I could not interfere with Ellin’s right to learn, then Ellin could not interfere with my right to teach.
And this was a Department of Knighthood class.
No matter how extraordinarily capable Ellin might be, she possessed no specialized knowledge of Aura!
I ground my teeth inwardly.
‘I will make the class difficult. So difficult that you will not be able to follow it at all.’
“So this kind of manifestation becomes the key point. Recall the assignment I gave you last time and try applying it here.”
As I wrote out the material, I snapped my fingers and demonstrated several different variations.
I gave them no time to take notes.
If anything, I maliciously swept through the material as though I were actively telling them not to write anything down.
It was an overwhelmingly dense lecture that filled every second of class time, precisely the sort of lecture students hated most.
I skipped over all the smaller explanations, telling them that they should naturally have familiarized themselves with the detailed theories and examples beforehand.
And that was not all.
I still remembered the countless pieces of knowledge and setting lore I had played around with back when I was a director.
I simply repackaged all of it as “experience” and mercilessly threw it at them.
At a level that was impossible not only for an outsider, but even for someone in the same field to follow…….
Aisel glanced around.
She had heard people talking nearby.
“Haah, I really wish I’d managed to register for Professor Aiden’s lecture.”
“They say someone got the hang of it after only two classes. It must be an incredible lecture.”
“But I heard even fourth-years can barely begin to grasp it. How could a third-year understand it that quickly?”
“Apparently, he gives a lot of examples. The actual class is ridiculously difficult, but they say if you manage to keep up, the results are incredible. That is why they say there’s going to be a new Second-Ranked Student among the third-years.”
Aisel glanced at the passing students before staring intently at me again.
I did not know what I looked like to her, but one thing was certain.
I had gone completely limp, like a waterlogged sponge.
Unfortunately, even at times like this, Aiden never lost his aristocratic dignity.
Despite how utterly contrary the situation was to my intentions…
I elegantly savored the aroma of my coffee…….
As I did, Aisel’s expression caught my eye.
She looked as though she wanted something.
She fidgeted with her fingers before whispering quietly, seemingly embarrassed.
“…I couldn’t follow all of it back then. Could you explain it to me one more time in your office?”
“…….”
“Ah, th-this! I-I’m not asking for private tutoring! Just a review! A review! Really.”
Aisel spoke with her face flushed red, braving her embarrassment.
Perhaps she knew herself that it was a shameless request.
“I mean it! I really couldn’t concentrate properly back then. I feel like I could understand if you showed me just one of the examples again. It’s just…”
I covered my forehead with one hand.
Why are you doing this too……?
I no longer understood how the world worked.
All I had wanted was to drive Ellin away. I had never wanted these positive evaluations.
‘At this point, it feels as though the world itself is determined to spite me.’
Haah.
“I will show you once we get to my office.”
Overcome with emotion, Aisel clasped her hands together and gazed up at me with glistening eyes.
“Seriously, Professor, I love you so much.”
What?
I glared at Aisel.
The gazes suddenly converging on my back stung.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I was afraid to turn around.
My breathing stopped, yet Aisel continued praising me as though she alone had noticed nothing.
“Professor, thank you so much. I’ll work really hard and live up to your expecta—”
“Aisel.”
“Yes?”
“What did you say just now?”
Aisel tilted her head as though she had no idea what I meant.
She looked perfectly innocent, as if she knew nothing at all, but my social standing was at stake here.
I could not overlook this…….
“Try retracing what you said a moment ago.”
“Um… Seriously, Professor, I love you so mu—huh?!”
Her face burst into flames for an entirely different reason.
“N-No! Wait, I didn’t mean it like that! I-I meant that I’m really, really grateful! That was the intention behind what I said!”
“Yes. Deny it quickly.”
The gazes boring into my back became slightly less painful.
I had nearly found myself swept up in a dangerous rumor.
I swept a hand over my chest with a sigh of relief.
I could never afford to lower my guard around Aisel.
“So why do you keep glancing at the Magic Tower, Professor?”
Throughout our conversation, I had repeatedly looked toward the towering Magic Tower.
If events were proceeding according to the story, the inside of the Magic Tower should already have been in complete chaos.
I took another drink of coffee before setting the cup down on its saucer with a CLINK.
‘Demonic Energy Corruption.’
The practicum floors opened to students were being consumed by Demonic Energy, causing all kinds of mutations.
Plants and animals were turning into Monsters and becoming hostile toward every sentient being, while a thick Purple haze filled the environment and spread Corruption throughout the surroundings.
“Still, isn’t it a little strange? The Magic Tower suddenly locked all its doors.”
I swallowed my answer and remained silent.
Everything I had just thought about was taking place in secret.
An attack against the Magic Tower from an insider.
Caught off guard by an unexpected strike, the Magic Tower was now silent as the grave.
They had not even announced that they had been attacked. They were simply allowing the outside world to continue as though these were ordinary, peaceful days.
The only noticeable difference was that the campus security forces seemed slightly thinner than usual.
Still, there was no need to worry about the Magic Tower itself.
Even though it had suffered an unexpected blow, its formidable Mages and professors were pouring all their strength into suppressing the situation. Nothing truly catastrophic would happen there.
I sipped my coffee.
For some reason, it tasted particularly bitter today.
‘The real disaster will happen…….’
I pictured Ellin in my mind and closed my eyes.
It would be dark.
She would be lonely.
She would be in pain.
She would suffer.
And with all that hardship compressed into a single moment, she would fall into despair.
Because most of the people participating in the practicum whom you were trying to save would already be dead before you arrived.
Even those who survived would hardly be all right.
It would remain with them as lifelong trauma.
But perhaps as the price of that suffering, Ellin would undergo an Awakening.
She would become the conductor who seized control of this runaway train barreling straight toward destruction and dragged its course in a new direction.
‘I have to ignore it.’
A heavy gloom swelled inside me like storm clouds.
I had desperately averted my gaze and tried to ignore it, but a dagger called guilt continued to drive itself into me.
I could prevent that incident.
No, I could do more than merely prevent it. I could suppress the situation before it ever escalated.
Perhaps I could even subjugate the Monsters so thoroughly that it would seem as though nothing had happened at all.
Then it would simply become a pleasant practicum.
‘I cannot do that.’
This was a trial the protagonist needed.
More precisely, it was a trial that the hero, Ellin, needed.
I glanced at my face reflected in the coffee.
Its surface was like a water mirror, calmly reflecting me like a mirror of the heart, yet now faint ripples disturbed it.
Those ripples unsettled my thoughts.
I had to overlook it.
Stay still.
Do not interfere.
That was the only way for you to survive.
The words I had once spoken—‘Do not meddle where you have no business.’—came flying back at me like a boomerang.
“As for why the Magic Tower locked its doors… perhaps they discovered some extraordinary ancient manuscript.”
“Do you think so? It didn’t really feel like that kind of atmosphere.”
“Everyone keeps quiet before an important announcement. That is how you make the surprise more effective, is it not?”
“Ah, is that so?”
Aisel accepted the explanation without giving it much thought.
In truth, the joke was also something I was telling myself.
What you know is merely an assumption. Nothing has been confirmed.
Something like that.
‘Haah…….’
It was fine.
Ellin would survive anyway, and campus security would be strengthened as a result.
None of the casualties would include anyone I cared abou—
“Ah, Professor. More importantly, I’m going to participate in the practicum.”
“What?”
What did she just say?
No, why?
What in the world was this?
In the original story, there had been nothing about Aisel going…….
‘Is this the butterfly effect?’
Because of something I did?
Seeing my bewildered expression, Aisel casually asked why I was reacting like that.
“You know how the practicum that was supposed to be held indoors suddenly got moved outside? They decided to recruit a few students from the College of Martial Studies to help with security.”
“What does that have to do with you going? Even if they need security, shouldn’t there be security guards?”
“But all the students going are Mages, and it’s not as though we’re going anywhere dangerous enough to warrant bringing an actual security force.”
It’s only the mountain behind the academy. They call it Spirit Mountain and say that a High-Ranking Spirit lives there, but honestly, that sounds completely absurd.
Just folklore? Something like that.
Aisel chuckled.
“It’s probably just some fictional story people made up long ago.”
She told the story as though expecting me to laugh, but I could not.
Because everything she had just said was true.
And it was also the source of the new power Ellin was supposed to obtain.
“Do not go.”
“Ehh, but they’re giving us credits.”
“I distinctly remember that the practicum takes place on the same day as my class.”
“Ah, that’s true too. But I already took the extra credits. Please let it slide just this once.”
“I will penalize your attendance.”
Aisel smiled slyly, as though she had known I would say that.
“Because the practicum schedule was changed so abruptly, the university said that attendance would be officially recognized for any overlapping classes!”
Her triumphant attitude grated on my nerves.
Aisel had probably meant it as something for me to laugh about, but when I continued staring at her with a serious expression, she began to look uncomfortable.
“Aisel, do not go. That is an order.”
Only then did Aisel realize that I was not joking, and her expression hardened.
After a moment, she stared directly at me, unable to understand the reason.
“Why?”
She asked as though she would not go if I could give her a reason……
But I could not give her any answer.