Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 331: The Wall Between Us (1)

[I've heard. I heard you went through quite a lot over there.]

Elisa, the headmaster’s voice came through the communicator.

Though there was no one present on the other end, Ludger nodded in response.

“It wasn’t much.”

[What do you mean, ‘not much’? Even from the bits and pieces I’ve heard, it’s clear you played a significant role, Professor Ludger.]

“...Thank you.”

[Oh my. You’re not even pretending to be humble now, are you?]

“Humble, you say.”

[Yes. Normally, you’d say something like, ‘It was just what I had to do,’ or ‘It wasn’t a big deal,’ wouldn’t you?]

“......”

Ludger fell silent at how precisely she’d struck the mark.

The truth was, he’d been about to say exactly those words just moments ago.

[Why the silence? Did I hit a nerve?]

“...I won’t deny it.”

[Did someone tell you to stop being so modest? That you’re too humble?]

“I’ve been hearing that a lot lately, actually.”

[And who was the most recent person to say it to you?]

“Her Highness, Princess Aileen von Exilion.”

[Wow. I’m already surprised you met royalty, but she told you that to your face? You two must be quite close.]

“We ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) know each other... moderately well.”

[Either way, if she said that to you, it means I’m not the only one who’s been saying it. You’ve been giving the same line to plenty of people, haven’t you?]

“Now that you mention it, I suppose so.”

When Ludger replied, Elisa let out a delightful laugh on the other end.

[Ah, sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.]

“If it’s funny, you’re allowed to laugh.”

[You know what? Sometimes you’re so cunning, and other times you’re painfully sincere and predictable. It makes it hard to tell which side of you is the real one. Or maybe... they both are?]

“......”

[Anyway, let’s leave the small talk there. I’m sure you’ve already heard—this field trip was a disaster.]

“Yes. I heard we’re to remain here until all injured students have fully recovered.”

[Right. But time keeps moving, and the rest of the academic calendar keeps falling behind. At this rate, only the first- and second-years might have their vacations delayed.]

“There’ll be plenty of student complaints, I imagine.”

[That, or we push through the rest of the term as fast as possible. That means compressing each day’s schedule by one and a half times.]

“That sounds like mass student casualties.”

[But isn’t that part of the charm of school life? Speaking of which, back in my day, it was way worse. We barely had time to breathe.]

Elisa reminisced briefly, then shifted topics.

[This is aimed at you, Professor Ludger—but we’ll need to increase the weight of certain classes.]

“You mean Practical Magic and Basic Combat Training.”

[You catch on quick. Exactly. It was always important, but after what happened in the capital, it became crystal clear. Theory is essential, sure, but if you can’t use magic in a real fight, what good is it?]

Seorn had always included practical magic in its curriculum.

However, for first- and second-years, its share was relatively small.

Serious training didn’t start until third year, and Ludger had never considered that unreasonable.

But after the terrorist attack in the capital, Elisa had changed her mind.

[The incident overlapped with the field trip. A little too coincidental to write off as random.]

“The Liberation Army clearly targeted Seorn students. Most of the terror zones were where students were gathered with their mentors.”

[Exactly. This may have been an exceptional case, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore it.]

Ludger nodded.

“You believe all students should be trained in practical magic, regardless of year.”

[You agree, don’t you? After all, when you made that bet with Professor Chris Bennimore, you taught that student—Aidan, was it?—a mobile incantation technique.]

If asked to choose between theory and practical combat, Ludger would, without hesitation, pick the latter.

[And the Liberation Army still hasn’t been fully wiped out. Who knows when or where they’ll strike next? The students need to be prepared.]

“I agree.”

[And as you probably know, the Liberation Army isn’t the only enemy we have.]

Elisa’s words were heavy with implication.

She didn’t name names, but Ludger knew exactly what she meant.

The Black Dawn Society.

It was them that Elisa was most wary of.

‘Of course, the Black Dawn Society isn’t the only one.’

Seorn had many enemies.

Not because it had done anything wrong—but because any institution in the spotlight would naturally attract resistance.

Seorn was not the only magic academy on the continent.

It simply bore the title of “the best.” It was not the only one of its kind.

Naturally, there were academies from other nations that wished to topple Seorn from that pedestal.

And though Seorn was a massive organization, it also devoured an equally massive budget.

‘And there are those backing that budget.’

Major corporations, billionaire investors, even entire nations.

The Dvalk Imperial Castle was among Seorn’s biggest patrons.

But not all patrons wanted Seorn to thrive.

They didn’t care about the academy’s continental reputation.

They only wanted one thing:

To wield more influence over Seorn than their competitors.

‘Even the headmaster can’t simply ignore pressure from the investors.’

Up until now, Elisa had skillfully deflected and suppressed most of their complaints.

But the recent field trip attack gave investors the perfect excuse to start circling like vultures.

“Will you be all right?”

[Are you worrying about me? That’s... actually really touching.]

“Despite appearances, I am Seorn’s Planning Director. Anything that troubles you will naturally affect me as well.”

[True. Still, you could just turn a blind eye—it’s mostly a symbolic position anyway.]

“I don’t particularly care for symbolic titles. And I don’t like ignoring things—ignoring just invites pests.”

Ludger was all but certain investor pressure was coming.

Elisa didn’t reply right away.

But Ludger imagined she was smiling in satisfaction on the other end.

[Professor Ludger, you really do catch on quickly. Now I understand why professors go out of their way to convert students they like into graduate researchers. Professor Ludger... would you like to be my grad student?]

“...Please don’t use such terrifying metaphors.”

[It’s a joke. Well, half a joke. In any case, I’ll be busy working on follow-up measures and scheduling over here, so take it easy while you’re there. Just think of it as a vacation.]

“I wouldn’t call it a vacation, but I don’t exactly have anything to do either.”

[You think staying at the Imperial Castle is easy? Just thinking about what kind of demands they’ll make of us because of this gives me a headache. But while we’re here, we might as well squeeze everything we can out of them.]

Elisa ended the call with a cheerful suggestion to rest well until next time.

Ludger put away the communicator and stepped outside the room.

The place he’d been speaking from was a special room inside the castle—designed specifically for secure external communication.

‘Even having a dedicated communication room like this... the Imperial family really is something else.’

Imperial Guards were stationed throughout the area.

They were no doubt there to prevent sensitive information from leaking.

‘So... a vacation, huh.’

Elisa had called it a rare, paid vacation and told him to make the most of it.

Ludger didn’t refuse the offer.

‘But even if she says to rest... what am I supposed to do? You have to have experience relaxing to know how to relax.’

He reflected on his own life.

And realized—he had almost never truly rested.

He’d always spent his days absorbed in something.

Even when he was with his master, he had been busy learning magic.

When he became independent, Ludger wandered from place to place under various identities, encountering all sorts of incidents.

A life of constantly running forward without a moment to breathe.

That was Ludger’s life.

And he was convinced he would keep living like that until he finally achieved his goals.

In fact, doing nothing made him anxious now.

The idea of taking a vacation while suffering from compulsive workaholism felt... absurd.

‘Well, just because it's a vacation doesn’t mean I’m forced to rest.’

He decided not to be bound by the word vacation.

After all, there was still plenty to clean up after the recent terrorist incident.

Right now, the most important thing was to meet and talk with the witnesses from that day.

‘I’ve already spoken to Flora. And Aidan’s being looked after by Mandelina. That just leaves...’

Ludger recalled the student with ash-gray hair.

Rine.

One of his students. The one with non-attributed mana—and the <Eye of Judgment>.

And also...

Someone who stirred his guilt.

‘I need to speak to her.’

But just thinking about having that conversation already gave him a headache.

There was the magic he’d shown her that day... but more importantly, how was he supposed to explain the sudden awakening of her Eye?

And the matter of that demonic presence...

‘She must’ve realized by now that I was the one who dealt with Basara.’

Rine was probably full of questions too.

Should he just feign ignorance to the end?

Ludger shook his head.

But glossing over things wouldn’t sit right either—not when the presence of Zero Order kept lingering in his mind.

Rine might seem quiet, but she was sharp and perceptive.

She wasn’t the type to be easily fooled by someone suspicious like Zero Order.

Still, he couldn’t afford to bet everything on that.

Complacency breeds danger.

Ludger never expected to become a teacher at Seorn, nor to reunite with past connections like Rine and Freuden here.

Yet here he was.

The world, in the end, didn’t operate on logic or predictions alone.

That idea that you could calculate the future down to the movement of atoms—that was nothing but a devil’s fiction.

As he walked down the long hallway, Ludger pondered how to naturally approach Rine and bring up the conversation.

Just as he was about to round a corner in the pristine white corridor, he almost collided with someone.

Fortunately, he sensed their presence just in time and stopped.

Had he not, they really would have bumped into each other.

He stared directly at the person he nearly ran into.

And the other person stared right back.

Both of their eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Neither had expected to run into the other here.

‘Life really is... a series of unpredictable events.’

While Ludger thought that, Rine’s heart was equally conflicted.

She had been staying within the inner parts of the Imperial Castle for several days now.

And during that time, she hadn’t stopped thinking about Ludger.

‘That day... what exactly did I see?’

The image of Ludger, cloaked in shadows, rising from his own shadow.

The possessed Flora, and the way Ludger fought her.

What on earth had happened during that black storm?

From what she’d heard, Flora had survived, and Ludger was fine as well.

But none of the lingering questions had been answered.

Rine had been dying to speak to him about it.

Especially since lately... her eyes hadn’t been the same.

Not worse—quite the opposite. Too good.

When she looked at her reflection, her starlike, glowing eyes would mesmerize her without even realizing it.

And the faint auras she used to sense from people were now burning vividly, like roaring flames.

Rine didn’t welcome this sudden surge of power.

That’s why she wanted to ask Ludger.

He, of all people, might know why her eyes had changed like this.

‘What should I say? Actually, will I even get the chance to talk to him? Wouldn’t it be rude to just approach out of nowhere?’

She’d been worrying about that just moments ago—and now, here they were, face to face.

Neither of them spoke at first.

They both had plenty to say, but neither knew how to begin.

“Um...”

“Uh...”

They both opened their mouths at the same time, then closed them again.

Rine was the first to muster the courage to speak.

“P-Professor, you go first.”

Seeing her look up at him with that anxious expression, Ludger nodded.

“Alright. Since we both have things to say, let’s find somewhere quiet to talk.”

“O-oh, really?”

“Unless you’d rather not.”

“N-no! I’d like that. I just thought you’d be too busy...”

“I’m not. And since you’re fine with it, let’s sit on one of the benches nearby.”

Ludger’s suggestion was exactly what Rine had hoped for. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes!”

As the two of them walked off together, Sedina watched quietly from her hiding spot, spying in silence.