ACADEMY'S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR
The atmosphere that had been sorted out flowed strangely after Chris Benimore's appearance.
The response of the aristocratic students was particularly passionate, and the reason was simple:
Chris Benimore was of noble descent and a professor who pushed other noble students from behind.
Ludger stared at him and opened his mouth.
"Professor Chris Benimore, I don't understand what you're saying."
"It's not a difficult sentence to understand because it has a literal meaning."
"Literal meaning?"
"No matter how we're the professors, we can't control all of our students' behavior. Even from what I heard, it seems that both students are trying to spar on their own, but isn't it too much of an infringement on their freedom for a professor to step up and stop them?"
Ludger wriggled his eyebrows slightly as he listened to Chris's sly words, but it was also for a very short time.
Ludger sneaked a look at the atmosphere of the other students.
As he was looking at their reaction, he saw some students nodding at Chris's words.
Some even said that it was an abuse of a professor's authority to intervene in a fair spar with each other, even if the professor was Ludger.
'I got a sharp retort, I see.'
Chris Benimore was a professor who favored aristocratic students.
His appearance raised those students' vigor considerably.
Ludger decided to step back.
"Even so, it can be problematic for students to engage in an arbitrary magic duel without a professor's permission. If these students got badly hurt, it would be a loss, even for Sören."
"Of course, it's true. But how about this…?"
"How about what?"
"Both of us are going to observe it"
The students buzzed at Chris's words.
"Professor Ludger and Professor Chris are going to observe it?"
"Do we need to have a magic duel in front of two professors?"
Just imagining it made them feel burdened and frustrated.
Some students were confused, but the aristocratic students were different.
Their eyes were filled with a certain shine.
Since the professors said that they would step up and observe it themselves, they wouldn't be able to prevent the duel under the pretext of it being dangerous.
"Or are you going to stop me by saying it's dangerous, Professor Ludger Chelysie?"
Chris purposely gave a sarcastic smile to provoke Ludger.
"I didn't know you cared about them so much that you wanted to be overly protective toward them."
"It's not that I'm overprotective, I'm just considering the chances of possible danger."
"But if the two of us step up, such a risk won't exist. What do you think? Those two students want to battle against each other."
Ludger could roughly guess the situation from Chris's words that seemed to have an explicit intention toward him.
Chris Benimore hadn't thought of Ludger Chelysie in a good way since even before that.
Unlike Ludger, who was said to be the new professor in Sören from a fallen aristocrat family, Chris was still an active aristocrat.
For Chris, who had a strong aristocratic tendency, Ludger's existence itself had annoyed him for a long time.
'Ludger Chelysie… I haven't liked him since the first time I saw him.'
Other commoner professors still acted accordingly as commoners—their behavior was full of rashness; no nobility or restraint at all.
But Ludger was different.
He shone more than anyone else on his spot. He was much more aristocratic than the aristocracy themselves.
He didn't lose his shine, even when he was a mere fallen aristocrat. Chris didn't like it.
'What's so good about the downfall that made him stand stiff with his neck tightened?'
Was he not even embarrassed about it?
It was the same when he had met Ludger for the first time. Chris had thought something was churning inside his stomach as he looked at Ludger's behavior, who just nodded his head without showing any surprise at all when he saw Chris.
'I didn't like it when Professor Hugo wanted to ask him to join our faction either.'
Ludger had even declared in front of Hugo that he would not enter such a place.
He felt relieved, but somehow, he felt repugnant about it as well.
'Such a place? What does he mean by such a place?'
What did he believe in for him to act like that? Chris had heard that Ludger had created a great spell called Source Code, but that was all.
Chris didn't understand. The more time went on, his dark feelings toward Ludger only gradually deepened.
And at that moment, Chris got a chance to give Ludger a proper blow.
"What do you think, Professor Ludger? Isn't it enough?"
"I will hear the opinions from the students."
Ludger said so and looked back at Aidan.
It was a stare that seemingly asked Aidan whether he really wanted to have a magic duel with Jevan.
"…Yes. Absolutely."
Aidan nodded with firm determination.
At first, Aidan thought he wanted to solve the case with nice words without having to fight, but Jevan had crossed the line too far.
How could Jevan say such a mean thing to his friend?
Aidan couldn't forgive Jevan because of that.
Ludger looked back at Chris again while sighing inwardly at Aidan's persistence.
"Since Aidan said he'd do it, I'll allow him to do it under our observation like what Professor Chris said."
"Oh, that's a relief."
"Then…"
"Oh. Professor Ludger. Wait a second."
"What else?"
Chris had no intention of letting go of that hard-earned opportunity.
"Why don't we make a bet as well?"
"Bet? That's such a sudden offer."
"According to my point of view, you seem to care a lot about that commoner kid."
"He's not a commoner, he's Aidan. I hope you watch out for discriminatory remarks."
"Ah, Aidan, I see. I didn't know because he didn't take my class. Anyway, I consider Jevan Felio to be a pretty talented wizard."
It was obviously flattery, but Jevan already looked thrilled like he had taken that compliment sincerely.
Ludger replied in his usual cold voice.
"So what exactly do you want us to do?"
"To decide who will win the duel. Of course, I'm betting on Jevan Felio here to win the duel."
"It's funny that a professor said something about making a bet in front of the students."
Chris was annoyed by such words, but he managed to hold it back and maintain his smile.
"So what do you think? Well, if you don't want to, then there's nothing I can do about it. Indeed, if I was Professor Ludger, I wouldn't bet on the losing side either."
The students spoke noisily at his words.
As Ludger subtly cared about Aidan, then naturally, Ludger and Aidan became rivals to Jevan and Chris.
Really…
Ludger found Chris's behavior funny.
He could have ended it by efficiently refusing that offer and walking away.
However, even if he did that, he would not be able to erase his regret afterward.
It was Chris who had encouraged the duel that could have been stopped in the first place, and it was Chris as well who subtly irritated him even at that moment.
He couldn't just ignore it and pass by, there were too many eyes that were looking at them, and Ludger was annoyed.
'Why should I step down?'
So far, he hadn't cared much about Chris—who had been showing his hostility toward Ludger—just because he didn't feel the need to do so.
Because he didn't have to occupy his mind with thinking of people who didn't like him from the beginning anyway.
But…
If those people irritated Ludger directly, then the story would be different.
'Yeah. I'll play along with you for a little bit.'
He had already wanted to properly check Aidan's real skills with the duel anyway.
Ludger nodded.
"Since Professor Chris wants it so badly, I'll go with such entertainment for once."
"Oh. That's surprising. I didn't think Professor Ludger would accept this offer. So, which student do you think will win?"
"Aidan, of course."
* * *
* * *
Aidan widened his eyes at Ludger's unwavering voice. Aidan never thought that Ludger would choose him there.
The same went for the other students.
On the other hand, Chris seemed to know that it would happen.
Well, he nodded satisfactorily as if he had looked forward to it happening.
"Good."
"What will be the outcome of the bet?"
"Outcome? Hmm. Well, even though we're professors in Sören, we're still wizards. We're professors who teach the same spellcasting lessons, as well."
"Spellcasting, you said?" Ludger asked back, as he was slightly surprised at the remark.
"…"
Ludger was asking because he really didn't know.
But Chris's face turned red because he had perceived Ludger's words as making a fool of him.
'This damned fallen aristocrat!'
The mere fact that such a shout didn't come out of his mouth was no different than a display of great patience for Chris.
That was one of the reasons why Chris hated Ludger.
Chris Benimore had gone into Sören to teach spellcasting class confidently. He was proud of that fact.
However, he suddenly found out that a fallen aristocrat named Ludger Chelysie was in charge of the same spellcasting class as him.
Moreover, Ludger was in charge of the second year, and Chris himself was in charge of the first year, lower than Ludger's.
It was natural for a more competent person to be in charge of a higher year. In other words, Chris Benimore basically had been one stage below Ludger Chelysie already.
Ludger had even committed the atrocity of stealing a large number of talented students out of his class by allowing both first and second-years to attend his class.
He had every reason to dislike Ludger.
'How dare you think that you're going to be safe after humiliating me that much?'
In fact, Ludger was not aware of the actions that he had committed.
He didn't even know that Chris Benimore was a professor in charge of spellcasting like him.
That fact had trampled on Chris Benimore's pride even more severely.
Ludger understood Chris's behavior just barely.
'No wonder… I was wondering why he was strangely hostile toward me. So he's in charge of the same spellcasting class.'
It was no wonder that Chris was angry. He'd also be full of anger if he was being compared to a professor who taught the same lesson as his.
Moreover, he also taught the Source Code and elemental magic visualization through senses—tips that would normally never be taught in classes.
Chris barely calmed down his anger and fixed his glasses.
"Ahem. Anyway, let's each provide a part of the magic and theoretical fields that we've researched in the spell casting world. Oh, of course, it shouldn't be at the level of being an important piece of our research data, but shouldn't we do that much to make a bet?"
"Shouldn't you also specify how high the level of theory that we need to provide is?"
"We'll leave it to our own discretion."
"Our own discretion". There was nothing more difficult to understand than those words.
It was like saying to put in an appropriate amount of ingredients when compared to things like food.
If he give a piece of information that was ridiculously useless, he would be revealing that his level was only to that extent.
But if he gave a piece of information that was too good, it might cause an enormous amount of damage.
In the end, the term 'appropriate' among wizards meant that it was right in the middle line that wouldn't damage their reputation and wouldn't make them suffer too much from the damage.
Ludger didn't really care, either way, so he decided to accept it.
"Alright, but it's too much for them to have a duel right now, so let's take some time before starting the duel."
"How long do you want to wait, then?"
"Three days will be fine. We'll have an open duel then."
"Hmm. Three days, huh. Well, it'll suffice."
If they waited longer, there was a chance for the opponent to take some kind of measure to counter the student they were fighting, so three days was the limit.
Even geniuses couldn't learn new magic that was being taught to them within three days.
It was really all about analyzing the opponent for the rest of the three day period or maintaining the best body condition.
"Then let's gather here again in three days."
"Of course."
It was an open match with the consent of two professors.
It was enough to spread a big wave throughout the entirety of Sören in a flash.
***
When everyone scattered to spread the rumor about the meeting, Aidan was at a loss when seeing Ludger, who was still in his spot.
Thinking that Ludger might have been carried along by the incident just because of him, he opened his mouth while being determined to at least apologize because he felt guilty.
"Uh, Professor Ludger. I'm sorry. Just because of me—"
"Never mind."
Ludger cut Aidan off coldly.
"Pardon? But—"
"It's already happened, Aidan. What you need to be concerned about right now is not how to be sorry for what has happened, but how to win against Jevan Felio in the duel."
"Oh, hm. That's right."
Ludger's words were correct because it was too late to regret the past.
But Aidan wasn't confident about something.
He didn't realize it when his anger surged, but when he thought about it rationally, it was unclear whether he could win against Jevan or not.
He was just a beginner in learning magic, but Jevan wasn't a beginner.
"What are you contemplating so much about?"
Ludger glared at Aidan and cornered him strongly.
"Are you going to say you can't do it now?"
"Th-that's…"
"Aidan, you told me you'd do it yourself. Then was your answer back then just a lie because you were swept away by the atmosphere and had no choice but to say it?"
"…That's not it."
"Yes. Of course it's not. I accepted it because I knew you were that sincere."
"But a real fight is…"
"Different. Jevan comes from an aristocratic family and must have had a personal education even before he entered Sören. Both of you are already different from the starting point, so you also knew it well."
Aidan was unable to refute the statement.
—Because everything Ludger said was right.
"However, it is too early to conclude that we will definitely lose. Aidan, what do you think is important in a fight?"
"Oh, hmm. I'm not sure. Is it skill?"
Ludger shook his head.
"No matter how great a person might be, it's common for them to die at the hands of a person weaker than themselves. The world doesn't just run because of power. The outcome of a fight could be overturned in a split second."
"Then what on earth is it?"
"You already have it."
Aidan shut his mouth at Ludger's remark.
Ludger must have been talking about the Uncommon Magic that he possessed.
"You only have to use it at important moments."
There was only one reason why Ludger easily accepted Chris's bet:
Because he was confident that Aidan would win the fight.
"But I… I want to win purely with my skills!"
But Aidan was different.
Aidan was surely grateful for the magic that had let him enter Sören, but he didn't feel like wanting to win the fight with it.
"Professor Ludger! Please give me a lesson!"
Aidan stared at Ludger with an unwavering gaze.
Ludger inwardly felt confused as he was looking down at Aidan with a cold stare.
'Why is he like this?'
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