Became the Academy Romantic Phantom Thief chapter 177

177 – Health Teacher

“Mental Illness?”

“Do you have any expert knowledge about it?”

At my question, Joanne shook her head without much thought.

“That field is just beginning to be researched. When I was learning medicine, it was when I wasn’t even recognized as a formal field.”

“As expected.”

She asked just in case, but it was as expected.

She must have noticed the slight disappointment in my answer, so she cautiously approached her body with curiosity.

“But why all of a sudden? Were you interested in that in the first place?”

“There’s something I’m curious about lately.”

“If that’s the case, shall we find an expert I know? Still, since I rolled quite a bit on the battlefield, my feet are on the wide side.”

I was delighted with the unexpected good news from her, but also grateful to her for helping me so actively.

“I’m sorry I made you worry about me.”

“What is this? Besides, we’re partners in the same boat, aren’t we?”

That’s right. My visit to her hospital today was only for business reasons.

“I heard that you already finished all the basics last time, is that correct?”

“Yes. But you know. What is the identity of that secretary?”

I looked at Joanne, startled by the sudden, meaningful question.

Did he find out Juliet’s true identity? She said that she recognized it right away after meeting her once?

As I know better than anyone how absurd that is, I couldn’t help but be astonished inside.

I don’t even think that Juliet leaked a clue clumsily.

So, she had managed to uncover her identity through the smallest of cracks, and it was hard to believe that this erratic gambler doctor had such insight.

After thinking about it, the action I took was to pretend.

And fortunately, her reaction that followed let me know that my choice was correct.

“Stay still. What do you mean by that?”

“No, where did you get such a competent secretary? Even filthy pretty!”

He let out a sigh of relief and affirmed in his heart.

I don’t know about Juliet’s other things, but the one thing she does is perfect.

The problem is that the reason for such competence is that he is a spy. If she is dispatched as a spy to a rival country, she must be good enough.

“And somehow it seems familiar… I must have seen her somewhere.”

I thought with an awkward smile at Joanne’s muttering words that followed.

I could roughly guess what the reason for thinking that was.

Perhaps it reminds me of the last time Sherlock disguised himself at the casino. Did she then introduce her name as her Charlotte?

It was not strange at all that Juliet felt so deja vu, as her vibe was quite similar to her Sherlock.

Right now, even just me, I strongly suspected that the two might be the same person.

In fact, even at the moment when I realized that I am a separate person, I am seriously predicting that there might be a story like the secret of my birth mixed in.

Anyway, as Joanne said, quite a few things had already been done with Juliet.

Today’s meeting is just a place for decision makers to gather and stamp documents.

“From now on, we will be an official partnership.”

“Cooperation has been going on for a long time, hasn’t it?”

“But the nuance is different. Besides, I heard that our hospital is the first?”

That’s right. He planned to build the foundation’s welfare system, starting with Joanne’s hospital and increasing partner companies one by one.

“Speaking of which, where is the next candidate?”

“I’m thinking of several places, but the academy is my top priority right now.”

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Joanne reacted violently with a look of surprise at my answer.

“Wow…”

“Why but?”

“No. In a way, I don’t think this is destiny.”

“Destiny?”

As I frowned at her incomprehensible expression, she blurted out her answer with a sly smile.

“Whoops. There is such a thing.”

I don’t know what it is, but why do I feel uneasy?

“But why the academy? Isn’t the mysterious camp a little avoided because they are originally closed?”

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Joanne’s question was valid. It’s a world where magic exists, but people’s eyes on magic weren’t very nice. To put it simply, it is an unknown existence that cannot be controlled and cannot be properly understood.

As a result, the wizards and other mystical camps naturally began to isolate themselves from the normal world.

As the times passed, the relationship between the two grew farther away, and now they are close to being divided like light and shadow.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to connect the two again?”

“Hmm. It is a grand ambition.”

“It is not impossible at all. They even gave scholarships to academy students right away.”

Of course, simply providing scholarship support for a student and being connected to the academy itself were different issues. If we do this one by one, maybe one day it will be possible.

And Juliemond will take care of it anyway, so I just need to believe in him and support him. Maybe.

“Anyway, our foundation will support some patients who are in financial difficulties in the future.”

“Yes. It’s not like we’re losing anything, so there’s no reason to oppose it.”

“I think it is, but wouldn’t it be quite effective if we actively promoted this kind of welfare policy?”

It was a proposal that I made with some care, but she shrugged her shoulders and gave an appropriate answer.

“That wouldn’t be too bad either.”

“I thought of your hospital, but you are saying too much.”

“Oh, that’s it. Actually, I am retiring this time.”

A few seconds of delay followed as I couldn’t understand the meaning of the words.

When I realized it belatedly, it was impossible to tell whether this was a joke or serious.

“…Are you serious?”

“What are you going to do by lying about something like this?”

“Then what about the current contract?”

“This is my last official activity. I feel proud because I think I did a good job.”

The absurdity flooded in.

No, did you tell me about this a while ago?

As I thought about it, I belatedly realized that it is common to deliver news face-to-face like this in an age where there are no phones.

But you should have told me first before signing the contract.

Or did you tell Juliet beforehand when you met him?

What’s the point of doing that now? Judging by the way she was talking, it seemed that her resignation had already been confirmed, but there would be no going back, and it seemed that she had no intention of doing so.

“So why are you leaving?”

“Because I got a scouting offer. In fact, I am the only director of this hospital, not a private hospital run by me. I started to make money after being discharged from the military.”

I already knew that the head of this hospital was Gilbert. Since the two of them said they became close in the military, working at this hospital must have something to do with it.

The important thing is that the facilities and scale of the hospital are very good as it is run by a great nobleman.

“No. How many better hospitals are there than here? Was the title of representative director guaranteed?”

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Joanne smiles meaningfully at the question she asked because she was genuinely curious.

“It’s a secret. I guess we’ll find out later anyway.”

It didn’t take long before I understood what he meant.

***

A sunny weekday morning.

I become a phantom thief at night and a director of the foundation on the weekends, but during this time, I was always just an ordinary student attending the academy.

So today, as usual, I was walking on my way to school towards the academy.

A familiar face that I happened to run into at a fork in the road.

It was none other than Gina Granger.

As I happened to go over to his house, I realized that we live in the same direction.

And then, just today, we ran into each other like this.

Honestly, our first meeting was close to the worst, but now that we’ve grown to the point of hatred, we’ve gotten closer and thought we’d become friends. So I greeted him warmly.

Hurry up!

The reaction that came back was more than simple ignorance and escape.

The situation where he clearly recognized me and ran away without even saying hello.

I tried to understand that there must have been something urgent, but only the fact that she intentionally avoided me, which was already in my heart, settled down and gave her a mixed feeling.

Thanks to that, her spirits dropped from the morning and she entered the class with her shoulders drooping.

Then, contrary to me, Dahlia, whose tension has risen as if piercing the sky since morning, screamed as soon as she saw me.

“Maurice! Did you hear about that?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“The new health teacher came to work this morning!”

“At this timing?”

A new teacher was suddenly selected on an ordinary weekday, not the beginning of a new semester or the month of a quarterly change.

“Rumor has it that she is a very pretty female teacher! Did you expect it right now?”

“Hmm. No.”

“To be ashamed! Are you curious about what kind of person Maurice is? Let’s go take a look!”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t even say I was going…”

Dahlia dragged me down to the first floor before I could give an answer.

He’s not normal either.

By the way, what did the new teacher say about the subject?

Did she say she was a health teacher?

···Hmm. Wait for a sec.

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Just as she was about to feel uneasiness, she ran into a woman in a white gown approaching her from the hallway on the first floor.

The moment I checked her face, I realized that my insecurities had become reality.

Also why Joanne said she would find out sooner or later.

“Oops. Are you a first year student? Hi?”

Why the hell are you here?