Chapter 210: University Magic Tower (2)
Resting in the teaching room, Sophien received Deculein’s message from her court lady.
“I’m sorry…”
“…I don’t mind. That professor is like that.”
He said that he wouldn’t come today, but next Wednesday, on his normal teaching day. She understood because Deculein was a person who valued principles. He was a man who was incredibly firm in his beliefs, like a giant tree that never bent.
“And seeing this, the feeling of wanting to meet him is gone. Rather, this is better.”
The wooden box contained Rohakan’s head. Looking at it, Sophien’s mouth tasted bitter. It was bizarre indeed. This guy was a criminal who deserved to die. He was one of the worst pieces of scum in the history of the Empire, the one who murdered the Empress…
Click—
Sophien opened the lid. Then, she was silent.
“…”
At first, she thought it wasn’t Rohakan, as it was the head of a boy. But it wasn’t long before she confirmed that he was Rohakan. His mana remained clear inside his head.
“…You died.”
Sophien regarded Rohakan. It looked like he was going to open his eyes any second and say something to her. Saying, just like back then, ‘I killed her.’
“This damn bastard…”
Sophien’s memories of the day Rohakan assassinated the Empress were sparse. She was good at grasping the situation, but she could hardly remember those moments. Even if she tried to recall a little bit, it vanished like a switch turning off.
“You died with a face younger than mine.”
Nevertheless, one thing was certain: a blue moon had appeared in the sky at the moment when Rohakan confessed.
“…You.”
Sophien raised her head and looked to the courtier. The court lady bowed with a tremble.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, Rohakan’s voice rang again in Sophien’s mind.
—Sophien. You know too. Everyone around you suffers misfortune, with no exception.
The people she wanted to be by her side. Rohakan was one of them, and he proved that to himself.
“What is your name?”
It was the first time in Sophien’s life she asked for the name of a court lady. The courtier answered in a soft voice.
“It’s Ahan…”
“Ahan. I will give you one order.”
Ahan bowed even lower.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m honored. I will accept anything-“
“Avoid misfortune with the determination to die.”
“Hm…?”
Ahan didn’t understand. She gently raised her head, and when she met Sophien’s eyes, she lowered her face again.
“Don’t ever suffer misfortune.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty. But how could that be possible? Just being here with Your Majesty…”
She didn’t listen to the court lady. Sophien closed the lid of the wooden box. She put Rohakan down on the other side of the drawer and unfolded her 「Advanced Life and Death Problems」 again to study Go.
While solving them one by one, suddenly, an unusual sense of indignation hit her. No, something she was holding onto had exploded.
“…He said he would be happy to wait. But he doesn’t come when I tell him.”
Thinking of that wicked man, she murmured, and after solving the problems, she turned over the last page of the book.
“…”
After solving all the problems, all that remained was a mostly blank sheet of paper. Sophien looked at the two sentences written in the middle.
[For you, who is nobler than anyone.]
[Hopefully, it can be a way to refresh your mind on the road of wandering in loneliness.]
An unusual tribute was left at the end of the book, clearly dedicated to her. Sophien pretended she was sneering, but she couldn’t hide the brightness of her smile.
* * *
The grounds of the Imperial University were large. It was safe to view it as a city, given it had the facilities to be self-sufficient even if it was separated from the continent. Hundreds of thousands came and went every day, excluding the current students, and the trends of the University’s districts soon spread into the fashion of the younger generation of the Empire.
It was the pride of the Empire, the center of their culture, and the birthplace of countless talented people. I was walking across the campus of such a university.
“…Hmph!”
With the Chairman watching me suspiciously and Epherene looking sleepy, I didn’t know what happened yesterday.
“There’s no way!”
After staring at her for a while, she spoke in a chirping voice.
“What do you mean?”
“How could you kill Rohakan?! It makes no sense!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! I thought Rohakan would beat you, and you would come to me for help!”
Adrienne was quite annoyed. Steam spurted from her nose.
“I used physical power.”
“What?! Physical magic?!”
“I cut him with a sword.”
“…”
It wasn’t a lie. Then the Chairman grabbed my forearm.
“…Whoa.”
Her eyes widened with admiration.
“You’re in good shape, indeed! But was a surprise attack on the careless Rohakan the cause of the victory?!”
“I never said it was a surprise attack.”
“You did!”
“Haaaahm- Ugh!”
“You did, mhh, it was an ambush!”
Adrienne repeated herself as Epherene yawned and stumbled along. Despite the difficulties these two posed, I arrived at my office.
“You did!”
Ignoring Adrienne, still clinging to me, I sat down.
“You did-“
“More importantly, the Altar seems poised to move.”
“…The Altar?”
“Yes. It is the force that moved the beast wave.”
“…”
Adrienne’s expression turned.
“…The beast wave?”
“Yes.”
Now that Rohakan was dead – though, of course, he hadn’t completely died yet, but his range was limited to the vineyards – the Altar would begin to move in earnest.
“…I didn’t know you would believe in such a conspiracy theory!”
There was a hint of pity in those words. I thought for a moment and then nodded. In the continent, the Altar was similar to the Illuminati in modern terms. Of course, I don’t mean to imply that the Illuminati exists, but most people dismiss the Altar as just a cult somewhere out there.
Only a few Named knew for sure that the massacre and suppression of the Demon Blood, the sudden intensification of the beast migration, and most of the social chaos happening now were the Altar’s plots. There was no way to prove it.
“Yes. Anyway, if you don’t have any other news, please leave now. I have a lot to do.”
“…I do have some!”
Adrienne held out a list.
“This is the entrance exam! Bloodlines of the Principalities and Kingdoms will take the entrance exam to our university! The rest are documents related to the entrance festival!”
I read it. Principality of Yuren, Kingdom of Reok, Gahala… There were many names of high-ranking nobles and even royalty from each country. If they gathered in the Empire, of course, unexpected quests would be inevitable.
“You will be the judge!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! Please give them an honest evaluation! There are also donation amounts there! I marked it with a golden star!”
Golden star. It was divided into one, two, and three depending on the donation amount, but being admitted thanks to money wasn’t a big deal in this world.
“Go easy on those people!”
“You’d better not ask me to do that.”
“…Hey! Still!”
I closed the list.
“If they have the skills, they will enter.”
“…I see that you don’t know at all how the tower works! We have to accept donations to get money! Do you want to become the chairman without even that?!”
“Yes. This is enough. Please, go now.”
“Gosh! You are no fun these days!”
At this point, I wondered if she was deliberately picking a fight. The Chairman stared at me with narrowed eyes, but she finally turned around. I ignored her and picked up my pen.
“Epherene.”
“…Eh.”
Epherene, dozing in the assistant’s seat, looked back at me with half-closed eyes.
“Submit your thesis.”
“Oh…”
She walked over and handed me a pile of papers. It was now the season of spring thesis correction and evaluations. As I was the head professor and the head of the keynote department, I would personally examine the teaching assistants and the various professors at the university.
“Why do you look so shabby?”
“…Why do you keep forgetting the reason? You told me not to sleep without you. So I haven’t slept.”
Epherene stared at me.
“…I see you’re obedient. Rest.”
“Yeah.”
As soon as Epherene had said that, she went back to her desk and smashed her face into its surface while I examined her thesis.
* * *
…The next day.
The University Magic Tower had been a mess even before the start of the semester due to an unprecedented situation.
“Professor Relin. Have you submitted your thesis?”
“…I was-“
“Professor, by any chance, that Head Professor Deculein-“
“I know! That’s why I’m rewriting it right now, punk!”
It was because of an official message from the 77th floor of the University Tower, from the office of the head professor, who was almost certainly becoming the next chairman.
[Magic Tower’s faculty, or wizards who are studying with the intent to become a professor of magic, submit this spring’s thesis on the 77th floor. The thesis will be reviewed by me, Deculein. If there are any deficiencies, I will correct them, and if there is no hope, I will discard them.]
It meant that the head professor would directly review their theses, though they didn’t know how he would do it by himself. If you added up all the papers of the professors and the graduate students under them, there would be hundreds, if not at least a thousand, papers to go through.
“That’s absurd.”
As a result, Relin and the other faculty members were dissatisfied. In the spring season, most of them were usually at ease, even considering they had to prepare to welcome the royals entering the University this admission season.
“…Seriously, look at my age. And I’m writing like a student cramming.”
Relin snatched up his thesis after he hastily revised it. The assistant professor next to him quietly responded.
“That’s right. And if it’s him inspecting them, isn’t it the same as a full investigation?”
“Yes. Does that make sense… ah, just follow me. Let’s just submit it. Who knows what he will say if we’re late?”
Relin went out into the hallway, fiddling with his mustache. Still, his complaints continued.
“I mean, why does he want to personally inspect a thousand papers… if the head professor becomes the chairman, I’ll need to leave for the Kingdom.”
“Yes. I will follow Professor Relin.”
“Yes. Of course, you should… huh? Hey! Professor Ciare!”
On the way to the elevator, they met Professor Ciare. She didn’t look good either, standing limply against the wall.
“Did you also stay up all night revising your thesis?”
“Yes. I guess I did.”
“Gosh… what is this?”
Relin shook his head and went into the elevator with her.
“I heard you made connections with Reok.”
Ciare spoke with envy. Relin cleared his throat.
“They said that if I go to the Kingdom Magic Tower, I will be given the title of head professor. I’m still thinking, though… if Head Professor Deculein keeps pushing us like this, I think I will accept their offer.”
“I’m so jealous… I don’t know why Head Professor Deculein wants to make people suffer so much.”
Direct inspection, which meant a full inspection. Deculein intended to examine all other professors’ spring theses. That was nonsense. It took quite a long time for someone to count all those papers, much less read them. At least a week would be required per.
This was because the magic series was different, and it was very difficult to understand the theories of other highly developed classes. But Deculein…
Ding-!
The elevator stopped, and they arrived on the 77th floor. Relin and Ciare stood in front of the head professor’s office and let out a deep sigh. After exchanging glances, Relin, with a nod, knocked.
—Come in.
Deculein answered. The head professor solved the northern situation and executed Rohakan. Now, the power of Yukline was boiling over the sky. Even if he were to leave for the royal palace, they would have to show a perfect appearance in front of him.
“Yes. It’s Relin and Ciare.”
Relin fixed his tie and opened the door. The first thing he saw was Deculein, who was sitting and staring at them with the most fierce and terrifying blue eyes in the tower. Relin approached with a humble smile.
“Professor Deculein! I heard the news. Rohakan-“
“Just give me your thesis.”
“…Yes.”
Relin and Ciare approached in turn and submitted their papers. Deculein glanced at Relin’s. Relin met his eyes and asked quietly:
“Professor. Those thirteen pages must be a bit complicated. I also had a lot of trouble… in terms of figures during the calculations.”
Then Deculein glanced up at him and turned to the last page.
“Even if you are the head professor, it seems like it will take quite a while… do you think you can check all the thesis by-?”
“13%. 173.”
“…Yes?”
“It’s the required mana concentration and the number of circuits. Isn’t that what you asked for?”
“…”
Relin swallowed hard. Mana stones contain more than 13% mana as an ingredient and exactly 173 magic circuits. It was the correct answer that took him three days to reach.
“Ahahaha… yes. That’s right, but it takes quite a while if you just calculate it the normal way. You’ve already mastered Deron’s Inverse Calculation-“
“I calculated it normally.”
“…Yes?”
“It’s been about three months since Deron’s inversion was announced. There are many problems with that formula. It’s practical, but if you do that, you will inevitably have problems, so at least in the formula, the calculation needs to be as plain as possible. Walk the royal road instead.”
“…”
It took him three days with normal calculations. Relin looked back at Ciare blankly.
“…Hmm.”
Ciare looked between Deculein and Relin, then sneakily approached and took back her thesis.
“My thesis seems to be lacking a lot, so I will go back and revise it one more time. Good job, Professor Relin. Thank you for your hard work, Professor.”
Saying that, as Ciare ran away, Relin watched wordlessly.
Slam-!
She closed the door.
“…”
“…”
Deculein and Relin were left alone. Beads of sweat began to form on his head.