ACADEMY'S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR
The omnipotent stone existed…
Her words were so out of the blue that I was at a loss for a moment while contemplating what to say.
"Are you surprised?"
"It's indeed unexpected."
If the principal laughed and said, 'I'm kidding', I would have passed it by while thinking that it was just a superior's workplace joke.
But judging from her reaction, I thought she was telling the truth.
"Hmmm. First of all, I'll need to explain about the omnipotent stone to you."
The principal moved her fingers lightly as she said so.
Her movement was too natural and light.
But in the end, it wasn't like that.
The enormous and vivid mana that was emanating from the principal's fingertips moved and formed a shape in front of me.
It was obviously a hologram that was shaped like a stone in the air.
I couldn't believe that mana could give shape to something like that.
It was a surprising sight, but I controlled my expression and examined the shape of the embodied stone in detail.
It was called an omnipotent stone, but it was more of a rough gem or gemstone than a regular stone.
"As you can see, this omnipotent stone exists, and it has been around for a very long time. It's an object that's existed for so long that it's hard to guess its age, but it still has unknown and mysterious power. There's a term in this world for this kind of object."'
"A Relic… I see."
Relics, or, in other words, antique objects.
The word referred to old objects with mysterious power.
"So you knew."
"Yes. Because I've heard about them as well."
Relics and artifacts were different.
Artifacts were more of a magical handicraft that was artificially created for a particular effect.
But relics weren't like that.
Unknown identity… Unknown year… Unknown ability…
Nobody had yet figured out who had made them, how they were made, or how they worked.
And their effects or powers were at least 100 times more potent than the artifacts created by the great wizards.
In some ways, they were second only to strategic weapons that required special maintenance for each of them.
That was what a Relic was.
However, as they had great power, the number of Relics was so extremely small that it was hard to find one in the entire continent.
Such a Relic existed in Sören?
"Since Professor Ludger must have heard something about it, it'll be easy for me to explain it. Yes. There was a Relic called the Omnipotent Stone in Sören. It's been kept in Sören for a very long time, to be exact."
"Is that so?"
I nodded my head.
Well, there was no reason for me to be surprised and say, 'Impossible!' when she was there.
However, the problem was with why the principal had called me and told me the story.
Wasn't it confidential no matter how you looked at it?
"I need your help, Professor Ludger."
"What is it?"
"Currently, the rumor about the Omnipotent Stone is spreading amongst the students. It means that most people in Sören already know about it."
I nodded my head.
Because that was what Aidan had asked me after class.
At the time, I thought it was just a fake rumor and had scolded him to study hard instead.
Who would have thought that it was real?
I became embarrassed for some reason.
"Is there a problem with that?"
"This rumor wasn't supposed to spread in the first place."
Ah, so, in the end, it was that.
"The fact that the rumors about the Relic that were supposed to be kept a secret spread means that inside information was leaked out."
"So you mean someone didn't keep the secret properly."
"Yes. Well, there's one reason for that. The Omnipotent Stone is a relic with such an extremely powerful strength that the place it's stored in needs to be periodically touched up.
To sum up what the principal said, it was like this:
The Omnipotent Stone that listened to people's wishes… The Relic itself was a stone that emitted a strong force.
It was kept in a secret place that could not be seen by others, but whether it was a storage box or place, it couldn't do its role properly because of the strength that was emitted by the Relic itself.
'Of course, periodical maintenance and repair is a must.'
Then, while fixing the storage place, the Relic should be moved to another place for a while before being brought back, but the problem was that the information leaked during that preparation.
That eventually became a rumor and spread among students…
The principal seemed to take it quite seriously.
"Someone is intentionally leaking the information."
"I see."
"The reason why I called you is because of this. I need your help, Professor Ludger."
'Help, huh?'
I think I knew the help that the principal was talking about without listening to it.
'I'd rather not make it obvious and just accept it silently.'
If I argued with the principal there, such behavior itself could only be seen as antipathy toward her.
To gain her trust, I needed to show that I trusted her first.
Trust toward each other wasn't one-sided toward only one party, but it was given and received by both parties.
Trust was built through this method.
In other words, when I immediately said that I would believe and follow her, it was no different than answering that I was not her enemy and that I fully believed what she said.
'It is better to maintain a good relationship with the principal for the long run. If I accept her request here, it will also erase the debt of my heart.'
I answered right away because of such a calculation.
Of course, I emphasized the countenance of a soldier who did not show their feelings on the surface and just silently carried out the orders from their superiors.
"Professor Ludger, please be aware of the students' rumors and let me know immediately if anyone shows any suspicious movements. Other than that, I'll need help with transporting the Relic."
"Understood. When should I move?"
"The faster the better."
"Is there any other professor related to this job besides me?"
"Yes. Indeed, but I don't think you'll encounter each other because you're in charge of different jobs."
"I see."
It meant for me not to put too much concern on it.
Even so, I couldn't believe she had called me out to do it, as I was just a new professor.
She must have been very wary of me.
Through my bet with Professor Chris, I had given a huge blow to Hugo's faction, but was that not enough?
"First of all, please behave as usual, Professor Ludger. We still have some time left before we move the Relic."
"Understood."
The incident would happen when the Relic was out of its safe place.
At that time, the people who deliberately spread the rumor of the Relic would aim for it and make a move.
And such people very likely belonged to the Black Dawn Society.
'Things are flowing in an interesting way. She ordered me, a First Order, to hunt down the members of the Black Dawn Society.'
It must have been a joke of destiny.
Was it a coincidence, or did she do it on purpose?
If it was perhaps the latter, and the principal thought that I was a traitor, she would think that I wouldn't be able to do the task.
But that was a mistake.
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'Because there's no one who wants to expel the Black Dawn Society from Sören as much as me right now.'
They were a shackle to me.
I never knew when or where they were going to suddenly do something crazy.
'I'll take this opportunity to check how great the Black Dawn Society is.'
Whatever was going to happen, it still didn't change the fact that there was an additional problem that I had to solve.
It was a good thing that I had gotten an assistant in advance.
—Even though it was contradictory because my assistant was a pawn of the Black Dawn Society.
"I'll contact you privately later."
"Yes. Understood."
After getting up from my seat, I bowed to the principal and left the principal's office.
* * *
* * *
After Ludger left the principal's office…
The principal, Elisa Willow, stopped organizing her papers at the sound of knocking on the door and raised her chin.
"Please come in."
When she gave the permission, the door opened quietly.
Soon, Wilford entered the principal's office with a silver tray in one hand.
On the tray were cookies and warm tea that was freshly brewed.
"Please enjoy."
"Ah. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. This is my job."
Elisa stretched to loosen up her stiff body and immediately picked up a cookie and put it in her mouth.
"Haah. As expected, your cooking always tastes good whenever I eat it."
"You look very exhausted."
"Well, it's indeed true."
The principal usually didn't show her feelings, but Wilford was an exception.
He was a loyalist who had been assisting her for a very long time.
"So did Professor Ludger Chelysie accept your offer?"
"Yes. He nodded obediently to my surprise."
Elisa was still amazed when thinking of it.
Still, she had thought that he'd be surprised and ask her questions.
As soon as he had heard her request, he had read the situation right away and accepted her request naturally.
"I'd say that he seemed like a… soldier who absolutely obeys his superior's orders"
At first, she had been suspicious of Ludger Chelysie.
—Because she knew that suspicious individuals had infiltrated Sören.
Their existence was so cleverly hidden that it was hard to tell whether they were employees, students, or professors.
That was why Elisa had put the new professors on the list of suspects, especially Ludger, whose past track record was relatively ambiguous.
However, she had no choice but to change her mind when looking at the attitude that he showed afterwards.
"It was indeed unexpected that my Vaskania didn't work on him, but looking at his behavior, it suggests that he has a strong mentality."
His evaluation among the students was also overwhelmingly good.
Especially, the Source Code spell that he created, which was enough to stimulate Elisa's curiosity even though she had only heard the rumor about it.
If she had not held the heavy position of a principal, she would have searched for Ludger before anyone else.
"Hoho. Didn't I tell you so? He's a reliable person."
"But you were actually suspicious of him too at first."
"It was until I met him at the train station directly."
Elisa was suspicious because she didn't believe in Ludger, but now she thought it was okay for her to trust him.
He had made the Hugo faction dumbfounded, which had been bothering her more than anything else.
That alone had relieved her one-year stress while she was working as the principal.
Even so, she couldn't completely trust him.
That was why she let him handle this job.
'Professor Ludger. This is the last time. I hope you can show me more than I expect.'
The principal mumbled so while chewing on her cookies.
***
Knock knock.
I was reading a thesis in the professor's office when I heard a knock on the door and raised my chin.
"Who is it?"
"I'm Sedina, professor. I'm here to look for you because I have finished sorting out the homework."
"So it's Sedina. Come in."
When I gave her permission, Sedina opened the door and came in.
Her face after having sorted out the homework of 80 people was full of fatigue, but she was still proud that she had done it.
"Here's the summary."
"Yes. You have worked hard."
"Yes."
I took off the rimless glasses on my face and carefully examined the data Sedina had been organizing.
Sedina stared at me doing that with a blank look on her face.
"Hmm. There's no issue. Good job."
"N-no. It was a comfortable work because I just had to sort them out."
"Is that so? You worked hard. Now go back and take a rest. I'm also about to get off work."
"Ah, yes! You have worked hard!"
Sedina brightened up at my compliment and left the professor's office excitedly.
As I was left alone again, I organized the pile of assignments Sedina had been sorting out, turned my head, and stared out the window.
Before I knew it, the sun had set and the sky turned dark.
The twinkling stars embedded in the sky were so dazzling and brilliant that it was hard to see such starlight on the earth where I had lived.
Was it already nighttime?
'The principal will call me again in the next few days.'
A Relic that was kept in Sören…
And the Black Dawn Society organization that was after such a Relic.
The principal had long been aware of the existence of the Black Dawn Society. Perhaps that would be the first proper fight between Sören and the Black Dawn Society.
And I had gotten involved in that.
'I can't jump to conclusions yet because what I should do hasn't been decided, but I'm sure this is a big turning point.'
Rather, no matter how it was the biggest magic academy on the continent, I never imagined that a Relic would exist in that place.
A Relic was not a simple object.
They were objects with a huge mystery that even wizards could not identify.
Tuk tuk.
I took the medicine out of the bottle and poured it into my mouth.
After I felt refreshed and charged with mana, I suddenly remembered something, so I took an object out of my pocket.
The principal would have thought I might have heard something about Relics because I was a military officer, but that wasn't the case.
There was only one reason why I wasn't surprised to hear about relics…
'Relic, huh.'
The object that I took out from my pocket…
It was a piece of metal of unknown material that looked like a fragment dropped from some round object.
'I didn't know I'd find it in a place like this.'
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Because I also had a Relic.
To be exact, it was a 'piece' of something that used to be a Relic.
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