Chapter 17: 17

ACADEMY’S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR

Chapter 17 – Suspicion (2)

 

‘There’s nothing that comes to my mind right away.’

Even if I was concerned about Aidan, I couldn’t recall anything right away, so I decided to move on.

I put all the personal information of the rest of the students into my brain.

There were a total of 54 freshmen and 26 sophomores.

The ratio between first and second years was roughly 2:1. I had already guessed that the number of freshmen was higher because their was dominant among the existing name tags, but it was more than I thought.

‘There are also some freshmen whom I should be careful of. Starting from the newcomers who were backed by the magic tower and the alchemy school, to the kid who was publicized as an extraordinary rookie in the magic tower.’

Even students with ordinary grades in Sören were called geniuses when they went outside Sören.

And all those geniuses then strayed to various places.

The place was crowded with such people, so it was certainly far from common sense.

Having checked the list of all the students, I placed the papers on the desk and pressed my fingers against my throbbing forehead.

‘I’m tired. I’m tired in a lot of ways.’

I recalled the meeting and conversation that I had with the principal a while before.

Considering the principal came to me and pried at me, it meant I hadn’t fully earned her trust yet.

Moreover, Sören’s trust as well.

It wasn’t a complete suspicion, probably fifty-fifty when I thought about it.

There was a high possibility that their views toward me would be divided depending on how I behaved in the future.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Since I had already decided to play my role, I had no intention of showing any suspicious behaviors.

The principal was the sixth rank , almost the top of the eight existing hierarchies.

I had heard she had crossed the seventh rank.

A fourth rank wizard could not beat her even if there were 100 of them.

‘Not to mention the principal… The biggest problem is the secret society.’

The secret society was still quiet because it was just the beginning of the semester, but if time went by and there was a chance for them to maneuver behind the scenes, they’d move right away.

The problem was: for what purpose did they infiltrate Sören Academy?

What were they trying to do by planting people there while getting rid of some employees?

Were they literally aiming to overthrow Sören, or was there something in Sören?

‘Maybe it’s a kind of treason against the empire.’

I brought out the newspaper that was stuck between the documents and spread it out.

The article in the newspaper, written in black letters, still covered the last incident of the Magic Engineering locomotive terror attack.

[The terrorist attack on the Magic Engineering locomotive turned out to be conducted by the Revolutionary Army.]

It seemed almost certain that there was a Revolutionary Army behind the train raid.

The Revolutionary Army, or the Liberation Army.

The Revolutionary Army, under the ideal of the fall of imperialism and the uprising of citizens to break down the existing unfair status system…

‘To be honest, it’s no different than a terrorist organization.’

Originally, if it was according to the earth’s history, the politics of this time would have felt like a parliamentary cabinet system was added to the modern constitutional monarchy, but this world, where magic existed, still belonged to the power of kings and nobles.

Still, seeing all kinds of various movements taking place in this world over the past 50 years, the world was also on a similar trend to the flow from the Earth where I lived.

—The stagnant magic and the science that grew rapidly.

At the same time, magic engineering was born by combining science and magic.

It was just amazing that such extreme change was happening in less than a century.

And that’s also the reason why the Revolutionary Army happened.

‘However, it is highly likely that the secret society is not related to the real Revolutionary Army.’

Frankly speaking, the death of the real First Order, Ludger Chelysie, led me to such a conclusion.

If he was in the same organization, why would he be involved in a train terror attack and die?

The reaction he showed then was that of someone who never expected his train to be attacked.

It meant that the terrorist attack itself was completely unexpected by the secret society.

‘It would be right to separate the secret society from the Revolutionary Army.’

And there was another thing I could guess:

The First Order known as Ludger Chelysie was not someone who was suitable for combat.

‘He was definitely good at magic; his judgment wasn’t bad either. He probably received high-level training.’

However, it was not so overwhelming that he was called an executive of a secret society.

What particularly bothered me was the reaction of his secret society’s subordinate, who had contacted me secretly.

‘His subordinate saw my face and she just thought I was the First Order. I’m sure it’s not that she doesn’t know the face of the Ludger I saw on the train.’

Why?

She obviously accepted the fact that his appearance had changed.

‘If she thinks that it’s natural for him to change his appearance, I can figure out the specialization of the dead Ludger Chelysie.’

In other words, the First Order specialized in disguise and infiltration.

It was rather fortunate for me since I had those characteristics as well.

At least I wouldn’t gain any suspicions from the other members by my appearance.

I could be at ease.

‘For now, I’m just going to do my activities as a professor, and I won’t say anything to the secret society. I can just say it’s an attempt to clear the Academy’s suspicions.’

All I had to do was get the subordinates below me to do all the bothersome things, and in fact, as someone who held a First Order qualification, I just had to be careful about solidifying my position.

Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about it for a while.

However, the problem would genuinely arise when the secret society awakened from its slumber and became active.

From the planting of their executive-level figure as Sören’s professor, it was clear that they intended to overthrow Sören in some way.

‘It’s complicated.’

Sören was not likely to collapse easily, but it was not an iron fortress that was completely impossible to attack either.

No matter how powerful an empire was, it was bound to collapse.

History had proved that.

In particular, the more extreme the transitional form in the generation, the closer the possibility became reality.

Even if it was just in case, I couldn’t ignore the slightest possibility that the secret society would overthrow Sören.

‘In that case, would it be better to leave Sören and commit myself to the secret society?’

‘No, I can’t do that.’

‘Even if I have to do that to survive, it won’t last long.’

For the moment, it wouldn’t be a problem if I acted like I was their newly appointed professor under the guise of Ludger Chelysie.

Would the other First Order, who hadn’t been actively moving together with me so far, not notice the subtle changes in Ludger?

‘I’m sure they’d find out.’

I didn’t know what would happen if I got caught being their traitor. It’d be the worst case if the secret society could win against Sören.

Rather, keeping the professor’s position while deliberately interfering with their plans was the most likely way for me to survive.

However, if I was also explicitly standing on Sören’s side, the society would immediately notice my betrayal.

‘It’s a moment of extreme tightrope walking.’

Unless I knew what the purpose of the secret society was, I couldn’t plan to do anything right away.

I picked up my pen and wrote down a summary of my future plans on an empty paper.

-Be wary of the other First Order from the secret society. Need to quickly identify who they are. After that, refrain from contacting them as much as possible.

-Maintain my position as a professor. Don’t let go of my wariness so that I won’t be neglectful in my classes.

-I will focus on working as a professor so that the academy won’t be suspicious.

After writing it down roughly, there were about three things to do.

I didn’t worry about the possibility of anyone reading it.

Since I wrote it in Korean, people in this world would not know what it means even if they were reborn after they died.

‘Well, all I can do right now is do my best as a professor.’

Tap tap.

I tapped on the wooden desk with my fingertips.

Well, if the secret society contacted me and pressured me by asking why I didn’t make any movement, I could make an excuse that it was an attempt to clear their suspicions.

I immediately took out a new piece of paper to write a letter and picked up a pen.

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I originally had an acquaintance whom I was supposed to meet at another place, so I had to tell that person that I couldn’t go there.

‘There’s a lot for me to do.’

In fact, I had to deal with it in advance on the first day, but I forgot because there were so many things to worry about.

Well, since I had nothing to feel sad about, I betted that fellow wouldn’t complain much about it.

I wrote the letter with as many pleasantries as possible, instead of direct words, in case someone opened it.

Like the letters that Ludger Chelysie had, I also used ciphers.

At the end of the sentence ‘come to Leathevelk’ in the letter, I had forgotten an important request that I included at the end of the letter instead.

[Bring my stuff on your way here.]

* * *

* * *

The reply to the letter came the very next day.

The appointment that was written in the letter was for me to meet them at Leathevelk’s industrial area the next weekend.

As for me, I wanted to meet them a little earlier, but they said they were busy with their work, so I decided to understand them.

Whrrrr.

After reading the letter, I immediately burned it to avoid the worst case that might happen.

Immediately leaving out of the professor’s office, I dressed casually and headed to my accommodation.

“Excuse me…!”

Someone was in a rush while calling me.

It seemed that he was a Sören employee, but seeing that his outfit was neater than the others, he looked to be an errand man who served as a messenger.

“Are you Professor Ludger Chelysie?”

“Yes, that’s right. How can I help you?”

When I asked him so, the messenger looked slightly frightened as he flinched.

As soon as I sensed that even the employees were avoiding me, the messenger gave me a document after calming himself down.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a patrol duty invitation.”

“Patrol duty?”

‘Isn’t that usually done by an employee or a security guard? Why would a professor have to do that?’

When I looked at the messenger with such a stare, the messenger made an excuse while drenched in a cold sweat.

“There… there was an order from the principal this time. Now that new students have entered the school, Sören’s students are at their slackest, so this is an attempt to prevent them from causing any problems.”

“To a professor like me?”

“The principal said it would be the most effective if the professors do it instead. And the article in your contract states that professors should also step up and prevent the problems that might happen within Sören.”

‘Come to think of it… there was such an article.’

However, I had thought they were telling me to do it at my own discretion.

I didn’t expect for them to be that aggressive in giving me the order…

“Hmmm.”

But maybe he took my pondering differently.

The employee hurriedly spurted out additional explanations in a cold sweat.

“You… you don’t have to stay up all night. You just have to do the patrol from after the class ends until before the dorm curfew.”

“And today is my turn?”

“Yes, yes.”

I received the duty invitation without a word from the messenger.

The name Ludger Chelysie was written there on the day’s date.

There were several professors besides me in Sören, so the patrol duty must have been done only once a week.

It would be a little annoying if I needed to do it on the weekend.

“Then… then please excuse me.”

The messenger, who had told everything that he needed to say, ran away from me in such a hurry as though someone was going to catch and eat him alive.

I ignored the messenger and checked the list in the duty invitation.

‘Considering Sören is so wide, does it have a structure where one professor has to do the patrol in each designated area?’

There were three more people on duty that day besides me. Among them, I also saw the name Selena, a professor of Spirit Studies, who was a newly appointed professor just like me.

‘Well, we don’t have to meet each other because the area of our patrol is different, but let’s say hello if we meet.’

‘More than that, if it wasn’t like this before but the rule is suddenly implemented under the direction of the principal, does the principal also suspect that spies are planted among the professors?’

Perhaps that was how professors were being used to weed out their suspicious contacts or movements.

If they were spies, they would not move hastily unless they were a fool, but that did not mean that the principal’s policy was meaningless.

The principal herself gave the instructions because they would be a deterrent to warn the other party not to act recklessly.

It was some kind of warning.

From the principal’s point of view, it was good if the suspicious people got caught there, and even if they didn’t get caught, there was still nothing to lose from that kind of policy.

‘We don’t know what the students who are at the peak of their excitement will do after the semester starts, so there’s no room to argue if the professors have to come forward and prevent possible incidents.’

They were not ordinary students, but geniuses who used magic, and of course, the scale of incidents that could be inflicted by them was different from those of ordinary people.

If the professors had to stop it, they would certainly do it.

The new professors who were just being appointed that year would not be able to refuse the principal’s order because they wouldn’t have any solid arguments in the first place.

The hierarchy existed even inside the Academy. We had no choice but to do what the principal demanded us to do.

The patrol area I was assigned to was the .

“This is really…”

The training center was a place where students often went to show off their magic skills to the fullest, so it was difficult for problems to not occur there.

‘Don’t tell me… she’s not sending me here on purpose because she’s aiming at me, right?’

I headed to the training center while hoping that it was not the case.

***

The magic training center was not far from the main building.

They were separated by a short distance that could be reached within a 10-minute walk along a well-paved path.

A large building could be seen through the trees in the moderately cultivated garden.

Its overall design has an appearance that reminds me of a super-large vinyl greenhouse.

‘It’s so big.’

Even on Earth, the size of the stadium was so large that it couldn’t be measured properly, so it’s very impressive.

There are three such buildings inside the Academy.

Each was called the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd training center, and the largest of them, the 3rd training center was also the main stage where Sören Academy’s event—[Magic Festival]—was held every semester.

I looked at the third training center that was located closest to me, but there were no particular incidents, so I passed it.

There were only a few people at the second training center, and most of them went back to the dormitory after they finished their training.

I was just about to check out the last first training center before going back to my accommodation…

Eventually, an incident broke out.

“How dare a lowly commoner like you…!”

I could feel some mana that was fluctuating inside the training center along with a shout that seemed to be torn in octaves.

Sensing that my anxiety had become a reality, I immediately ran inside the training center.

When I ran down the corridor and arrived at the audience’s railing…

One girl student was seen trying to shoot a spell at another girl student.

The magic she used was the second-tier electric spell [Burning Thunder].

Even if it was a second-tier spell, it was a spell that could cause fatal injuries if the opponent was defenseless.

‘I shouldn’t be late.’

I immediately casted a spell technique.

The spell technique that was created by that student was almost complete, but with the source code, I could cast spells within third-tier class faster than anyone else.

The spell that I used was a first-tier releasing spell that’s made with mana, [Shining stone].

I shot it fast and pierced through the middle of the student’s spell technique just before it was completed and destroyed the spell.

“Who is it?!”

The student whose spell technique was destroyed stared at me with anger, thinking that she had been disturbed.

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