ACADEMY'S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR
When I arrived at the entrance of the forest, most of the people were backing down, and only a few people in charge of the forest remained.
Among them, the most prominent human being was, as expected, the principal.
Her distinctive two-toned hair stood out, even during the night.
"Your Honor."
"Ah. Professor Ludger."
The president greeted Ludger with a grin.
Then she opened her eyes wide when she saw two girl students standing restlessly behind Ludger's back.
"Oh? What happened with both of them?"
"Because they entered the Silent Forest recklessly, I took these students who got lost and came here."
"The Silent Forest?"
The principal squinted her eyes for a moment.
The shivering Cheryl Wagner quivered her body even more as it was hard for her to bear the anxiety, and Flora Lumos shut her lips tightly.
"Hmm. To go to a dangerous place called the Silent Forest in the middle of the night… What on earth was the reason for that?"
"W-well I…!"
Cheryl was choked up and couldn't speak properly.
At that moment, Flora stepped up.
"It's because of me."
"F-Flora."
"I went into the Silent Forest on my own. Cheryl was just chasing me.."
"Flora Lumos?"
Flora Lumos, a second-year Sören senior, was also a student whom the principal had been watching with interest.
Her family, appearance, and magic talent.
Such a lady went into the Silent Forest on her own?
"Did something happen?"
"No. It just happened because I was walking thoughtlessly to lift my mood; then Professor Ludger saved Cheryl and me."
"Hmmm. I see."
The principal did not ask Flora why she went into the Silent Forest.
—Because she already knew that Flora Lumos was innocent.
It was not nonsense to say that they went in by mistake.
Because the Silent Forest was so wide, it was practically impossible to manage all of the forest's areas, even in Sören.
Especially on dark nights like that one, students were sometimes attracted to the magic power of the forest without realizing it, so that could have been their reason.
—She was just possessed by the magic power of the forest.
The principal stared at Ludger, who brought the two students.
"Thank you for taking such a long walk, Professor Ludger."
"It was a matter of course."
"But what can I do but apologize? The case is already over."
"Have you finished everything, Your Honor?"
"Yes. I did it myself due to the urgency."
The principal apologized and took a close look at Ludger's expression.
But Ludger's expression remained unchanged.
He wasn't surprised, relieved, or annoyed that he had walked in vain.
He just accepted the situation as it was.
"Understood."
"Oh? Your feelings weren't hurt? I asked you to do it and ended it on my own."
"I think the case has been solved well because the principal is more competent than me. That would have been a more efficient and faster way to get things done."
The principal nodded with a puzzled look at Ludger's words.
"That… Yes. Well, that's true."
"I have no complaints about that. I don't feel disappointed or sad about such a trivial thing."
"…"
The principal was at a loss for words at the response that was so honest and straightforward.
'As expected from a soldier.'
Ludger had been very consistent since the first time she had seen him.
"More than that, the item in your hand, Your Honor…"
Ludger opened his mouth when he saw the item that was wrapped in a cloth in the principal's hand.
"Ah, this one? It's nothing."
"I see."
When the principal said that, Ludger's attention was drawn to it.
He acted secretly, even though he knew what it was.
Ludger nodded and aimed his gaze slightly at the two students he had brought along.
"So what should I do?"
"Ah. Well, students can make mistakes like that, right? So I think you can talk to them properly and send them back to the dormitory."
"I don't have to give them a penalty point?"
"Oh, my. You're saying something so heartless. I'll take care of them, so just send them back."
"Y-Your Honor!"
Cheryl looked at the president with a touched look and eyes full of awe.
Flora just stood still as if she were not particularly interested in such things.
"Then I'll take the responsibility to send them back."
"Yes. Professor Ludger, please do a little more work tonight."
"Understood."
Ludger then left that place after he finished his encounter with the principal.
* * *
* * *
"So what happened?"
After Ludger left with the two students, Wilford, who was watching the situation from afar, approached and asked the principal.
"…With Ludger Chelysie."
"This incident has completely wiped out my suspicions toward him."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. He didn't react much, even when he saw me. If he had anything to do with them, he should have shown at least a slight bit of agitation, but it didn't happen."
In addition, Ludger had even taken two lost students out of the woods.
Maybe because she had asked for help, he had rushed over there and found the students in the woods.
"He's quick in managing his work and I like his attitude as well. Most of all, he has a strong mentality that doesn't fall to my captivation."
"You must like him."
"Well, I think so. I think the same goes for Mr. Wilford, though?"
"Hoho. Well, I won't deny it either."
Wilford was a former knight, so he especially liked Ludger.
He had a restrained and sharp devotion that was unmatched by the other weak wizards.
His remarkably trained body in particular, which stood out subtly under his attire, showed that he was different from common wizards.
His physical training couldn't have been sloppy.
That part made a pretty good impression on Wilford.
"Anyway, I think this case brought an alert to them."
"I'm not sure. I hope so."
"Or should I have captured them alive and questioned them?"
The principal shook her head violently at Wilford's words.
"You know about it very well too, Mr. Wilford, that it's not gonna work on them."
"That's true."
They were the members of a secret society that hid in Sören.
No matter how many of those guys she caught and interrogated, it would be impossible for them to tell her the information about their organization.
If they were that meek in the first place, the organization wouldn't have recruited them.
Furthermore, some measures might have been taken by them to prevent another possible leak of information.
It was much better to get rid of the visible ones.
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"I hope this will calm them down for a while."
***
"Now go back."
Ludger, who escorted Flora to the dormitory, turned his back without hesitation, as he had finished his work.
"That…"
"What's the matter?"
Flora called Ludger and was about to say something.
However, no matter how many times Flora mumbled with her lips, her voice didn't come out properly.
"It's late at night. If you have nothing to say, I'll go."
Ludger had no consideration or concern, even when the other person was Flora.
He disappeared like the wind, as he was seemingly busy.
Cheryl, who was next to her, even got astonished.
"Whoa. As expected from Professor Ludger. He's so ruthless. Flora. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm alright."
"I was worried… Why the hell did you go into that forest all of a sudden?"
"Just because…"
"Just because?"
"There were times when I just wanted to go around without realizing it. And then, out of all places, I went into that forest."
"…Phew, I got it. But you need to be careful next time. I was also very scared!"
"Yeah. Thanks a lot for your concern, Cheryl."
Flora went back to the dormitory with a weak smile.
After washing up and changing into her pajamas, she flopped down on the bed.
She kept remembering Ludger's appearance, whom she had seen in the Silent Forest a while ago.
'Professor. What you held in your hand was obviously some kind of medicine bottle.'
Ludger was slightly startled when she had asked about it.
Even when she first discovered Ludger from a distance, she could only see his back, but he had definitely been shaking.
Why was he being like that in a place where there were no people?
'Did he get hurt anywhere?'
A hypothesis suddenly came to her mind.
Flora unconsciously propped up her upper body.
'No way, is it the truth?'
Once she was immersed in her thoughts, the other thoughts came consecutively, and she couldn't let them go.
It had certainly looked like that…
His body shivered because he was in pain… Even his behavior of hiding in a remote place where people couldn't see and taking medicine secretly…
'There's no way that Professor Ludger is taking bad medicine. He's been pretending to be strong, but it doesn't mean that he's not feeling well, right?'
Flora shook her head, realizing that she was thinking too much.
'No. I can't be sure yet. So let's not think of it too much.'
However, no matter how much she inwardly denied it, she couldn't help but keep thinking similar thoughts.
Next time…
If she had the chance, she could check it then.
Flora closed her eyes while thinking so.
She didn't think she would have a nightmare unlike the usual that night.
***
A night when everyone fell into a deep sleep beyond midnight…
The principal finally checked with her own eyes where the real Omnipotent Stone was.
"It's working, huh."
She turned her eyes to the fake stone and moved the real stone safely and stored it.
For that simple distraction, she had taken measures to get rid of the roaches that hid in Sören herself.
She had even gone as far as keeping secrets from others.
It was inevitable if she wanted to get things done properly.
But it was a relief.
Thanks to the bait, she was able to wipe out some of the enemies, and the real stone was kept safe.
It was a storage facility similar to an altar…
The principal breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the Omnipotent Stone at the center of the altar.
It looked exactly the same as the replica made to deceive others, but the real Relic was so dangerous that one shouldn't approach it recklessly.
Just like a stone that made one's wishes come true, it responded to its owner's desire and made their wish come true.
'The problem is, there's no limit to its ability.'
That was the scary point of its omnipotence.
That stone responded to the darkest and most powerful desire that was hidden deep inside the user.
Even when someone begged on the stone to make a lot of money, it wouldn't come true unless it was their real desire.
Rather, the stone often forcefully granted what the user did not want to happen.
Most human desires were based on darker 'evils'.
Rather than making money and being happy, human beings secretly wanted the person they hated and despised to be ruined or suffer.
The stone granted that very wish.
'But if it doesn't have an owner, the relic scatters the wavelength of its own magic power and lures in the person who is sensitive to it.'
Therefore, the Omnipotent Stone had to be stored in an enclosed space covered with countless partition walls.
—So that its magic power wouldn't leak out.
And those who guarded the surroundings of the Stone had to be people who would not be easily seduced by its magic.
'That's how much I have to be careful with it.'
In the pieces of literature of which only a few remained, there was a record that a kingdom disappeared in the past because of that Stone.
One might wonder why such a dangerous thing should be stored in Sören, but in other words, because it was located in Sören, the item could be stored safely.
If it had fallen to the hands of the magic tower or any other kingdom, a war would have been raging already.
'It's a relief that everything went well.'
The principal closed the entrance to the partition walls completely after checking the Omnipotent Stone for the last time.
The metal outer wall that had a thickness of 3m, which blocked the wavelength of the Stone's magic power, closed with a thud, and darkness emerged within the storage.
Only the green light emanating from the Omnipotent Stone dimly lit up the surroundings.
That was how the Omnipotent Stone would have been placed there for a long time, once again out of anyone's sight.
…If only a shadow did not wriggle in the dark.
Ssshaaa.
A man rose from within the shadow.
"Pheew."
The man, who shook off his dizzy head once and sighed, looked up and stared at the Omnipotent Stone that was located in the center of the enclosed space.
'That's real, huh.'
It looked similar to the fake one, but the quality of its atmosphere was different.
Ludger's excellent sight immediately distinguished the original from the fake one.
The Omnipotent Stone also scattered a stronger wavelength around it, perhaps realizing that humans existed around it.
Ludger frowned as he felt its wavelength with his skin.
"Is it seducing me?"
A stone that made wishes come true…
If there was a mentally sensitive person within a certain range, it emitted the wavelength of magic power to make a wish toward the stone.
It didn't just have an impact on his body…
It dug deep into a person's mind and touched the desire hidden deep inside them.
"It's doing an interesting thing."
…But it only worked for weak people.
Ludger approached the Omnipotent Stone instead.
Then he reached out and grabbed the stone.
"I'm sorry, but I don't intend to make you realize my desires on your own."
Whoooong!
The Omnipotent Stone vibrated as if it was disobeying Ludger.
If someone was seeing it for the first time, they would have gotten confused and gasped.
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"How many Relics do you think I've seen so far?"
He was an expert in that area.
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