187 – Hot fire (3)
Unannounced notice of class cancellation. But the students did not panic. Although the reason for class cancellation was special, it is not special for a class to be canceled suddenly.
Students who were accustomed to the absence of classes left the classroom with skillful movements.
-Wow, aren’t you crazy? Professor Reynold was attacked and no one else?
-I don’t know, I’m scared… I guess the liver came out of the stomach… Professor, you’re not an ordinary noble, but a noble among noble families. If you get caught, it will be hard to die quietly.
– By the way, what are we doing until lunch?
-I know. It’s hot outside, but are there any empty classrooms?
Is it because there is a gap of two hours until lunch time? Or is he worried about the professor who is in a coma? The students rushing out of the classroom continued to whisper.
In the back row, Lucia suddenly felt a figure approaching.
“Do you believe me?”
“huh?”
I looked back. It was Gracie, a friend I was taking class with.
“Do you believe it? What do you mean?”
“You said the professor was attacked by a gunman. Don’t you think something is suspicious?”
“…Awards?”
“That’s a weirdo. No matter who looks at it, the culprit has already been determined!”
“…?”
What does he say again? Lucia tilted her head and stared at Gracie. On the other hand, instead of looking at Lucia, Gracie checked to see if there were other people around.
Only after the group that had left the lecture room dispersed and went their own way did Gracie drag Lucia, whose face was full of doubts, to a dark place.
After confirming that no one was listening, Gracie opened her mouth with eyes full of confidence.
“It’s an assistant teacher.”
“what?”
“The assistant is the culprit!”
“…Do you really want to say something big?”
Slap – Lucia lightly slapped Gracie on the forehead.
Gracie Versailles. Like Professor Reynolds, she was born into a prestigious family in the empire, but rather than being dignified and polite, she was a girl of her age who likes to dig into events and whisper with friends.
It’s okay up to that point. After all, anyone can come up with interesting ideas that might be fun, and the joy of sharing those ideas with others is something Lucia knows well. A normal Lucia would have been able to go along with Gracie’s whispers.
However, slandering others without any evidence is another story. Moreover, Gracie’s family is a prestigious samurai family called Versailles. Aren’t the words she speaks out to have an impact dozens of times greater than the words that commoners throw around for fun?
“Gracie, don’t you feel sorry for the teaching assistant?”
Lucia decided to say something to this immature ‘young’ friend.
“What about the teaching assistant? He’s someone who spends his days in the lab unable to even get his meals on time.”
“Uh… do you?”
“Yeah! But it’s not just about eating. Aren’t people completely devoid of energy from working hard on research every day? How pitiful he looked when he looked so pale that he couldn’t even tell if the face he had just seen was a corpse.”
“That’s right.”
“How could you slander a poor person like my assistant without any basis?”
“Um… I know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes? Then from next time…”
“But I said it with clear evidence.”
Gracie spoke in a comforting tone as if to calm the excited Lucia down.
“Of course, you’re not human, right?”
“…Gracie?”
Lucia took a step away from Gracie. The teaching assistant is not human? What does that mean? Lucia couldn’t understand what Gracie was talking about.
I just measure the distance between me and my friend with a bewildered face. Maybe I can’t call you a friend anymore.
“Go, all of a sudden… what do you mean?”
However, Lucia did not give up her desire to check whether she was making some unnecessary misunderstanding.
Sometimes Lucia was caught up in memories of the past, and it was often difficult to follow the conversations and mood of people around her. Others might think she was a mess, but Lucia was a reincarnation who skipped 500 years.
‘…Maybe it’s only natural that the current generation of teaching assistants shouldn’t be treated as human beings.’
500 years is a huge amount of time. There are times when not only the language but also the culture changes 180 degrees just by crossing borders, and since there is a time between Gracie and Lucia that would not be strange even if the dynasty changes again and again, Lucia tried to understand it with the sense of a ‘modern’ person as much as possible.
“Did I hear correctly? You’re not human.”
“Uh… I thought you would know, of course.”
“Don’t hesitate and talk to me quickly. If the assistant is not a human, what. Can he become a demon?”
“I’m not a demon.”
Gracie smiled at Lucia.
“Instructor, you’re an elf.”
“Elf?”
“Yes, elf.”
“B-but. Assistant, you don’t look like that at all. You don’t even have pointy ears…”
No, what does being an elf have to do with the fact that the culprit who harmed the professor was the teaching assistant? Gracie, are you really a racist?
It doesn’t say that. This is because Versail, which is none other than Gracie’s family, is a mixed-blood family that has adopted a majority of elf blood.
Her great-grandmother, Sir Margaret, has 3/7 elf blood, so to assume that the assistant instructor is the culprit of this incident simply because he is an elf is a disgrace to one’s face. Lucia listened to her friend with a little more patience.
“Whether or not you have pointy ears, if you cut out your ear flaps and continue to undergo recovery surgery, they will be no different from normal human ears.”
“Yeah, really?”
“Oh, by the way, this is a pointless story. I wasn’t born with pointy ears, but my uncle was born with pointy ears, so he cut off his ear flaps when he was a newborn. My family practices circumcision to avoid being discriminated against by exclusive views. “I practice (割禮) so I can tell the difference.”
Lucia thought about the appearance of the teaching assistant she had seen in the classroom a moment ago. The assistant didn’t say anything or change his expression, so he just looked like a quiet man, but there were so many things in the world that I didn’t know.
“What’s important here is my grandmother’s story!”
Gracie snorted and said with a confident expression.
“My grandmother said that since you were in the academy, there was an assistant who ruthlessly replaced the advisor you didn’t like.”
“…Isn’t the professor changing assistants?”
“Yeah! Isn’t that even more exciting? A teaching assistant who replaces the instructor like a spare part!”
“…”
“This story was told by my third aunt. There were rumors like this back then, but today I can be sure. The culprit who harmed Professor Reynolds was the teaching assistant. No, the teaching assistant!”
“Uh… but there’s no proof, isn’t it?”
Lucia scratched the back of her head as she looked at the confident Gracie. I listened to it while I was sleeping, but in the end it was just a mental illness without any physical evidence.
“Why is there no evidence? Isn’t it strange? Aside from your academic achievements, you are an 8-star wizard.”
“…yes.”
“You must be wearing a self-defense barrier or other protective equipment. It’s strange that you were attacked by a stranger and ended up in critical condition. Moreover, the professor is from the Dras family. What’s so disappointing about someone who could secretly attack a person with such civility and military skills and succeed? Are you doing something strange?”
“is it…?”
“And the professor is still alive. If I were a monster, I would kill the professor. There would be no problem.”
“Hmm…”
“So the conclusion is that a teaching assistant who wants to change a professor he doesn’t like has crossed the line of breaking the head of a professor he is comfortable with. And he goes out to find a new professor who can help him with his research. Just wait and see. As I said, Because it will work out.”
“You know…”
After much thought, Lucia spoke.
“Gracie?”
“huh?”
“If you’re so confident, wouldn’t it be better to report it? What’s the point of raising it? If what you say is true, the next advisor will be the victim.”
“Lucia, aren’t you looking at me too much? I’m Gracie Versailles.”
Gracie, with a cold expression, pretended to put her upturned thumb on the floor.
‘Yes, I’m Kylie.’
Lucia nodded towards her strangely enthusiastic friend.
“I have to report it right now. Luckily, there’s over an hour left until lunch.”
With those last words, Gracie quickly ran towards the front door.
*
“…something like that happened?”
“What’s wrong with him?”
That night,
While having dinner with Lucia after leaving school, Siron heard an absurd story.
“No, I’m not that bad of a friend. I just feel like the kid is thirsty for stimulation…”
“Whatever it is, I don’t think I would get involved with that girl named Gracie. She’s not some kind of megalomaniac. Ugh, she’s a group of people who would be tiring to be around.”
Siron didn’t know about such ridiculous ghost stories. In the first place, such a nefarious elf infiltrated the academy and remained fine for hundreds of years? What on earth are the police officers of this country doing? This is a world where everything goes wrong even if the charges are verbally acknowledged.
“And, I know you’re strong so I won’t worry, but even if someone asks you to do something, refuse.”
“It’s nagging again.”
“I’m not nagging, but the reason you came home late the day before yesterday was because of that professor who was attacked. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought I was being too meddlesome, but now I feel like I have to tell you.”
“…Who else heard that from?”
“Who is it, Siriel?”
Siron took a large bite of the pig’s hind leg and turned the pages of the magic book.
“There’s a lot I want to say, but I’d like you to graduate from school quickly. You’re best suited for swords, not magic.”
“…You don’t have to say it too many times. Because I know.”
Lucia responded and stood up. In the past, Siron often took care of Lucia, but there were quite a few times when she felt like he was interfering with her when she saw him for the first time in a year.
‘He knows what kind of father he is.’
However, Lucia understood to some extent the feelings of Siron, who interfered in everything. Siron was an older brother who knew how to go out of his way to protect his younger sibling. That was the case 10 years ago, and it doesn’t seem to have changed now.
Also, since Lucia did not dislike such theories, her body followed his words even though she made a subtle comment with her mouth. Unless the world turns upside down, Lucia will probably never go to graduate school.
“Ah. Come to think of it.”
“huh?”
As Lucia stood up and straightened her place, Siron took his eyes off the magic book and stared at Lucia.
“For some reason, I thought it would be better to tell you in advance.”
“What?”
“W-what are you talking about?”
Siron closed the magic book and pursed his lips. Seeing the pause as if she had something important to say, Lucia tilted her head, forgetting to wipe the sauce off her mouth.
“I am going to propose an engagement to Siriel next month.”
A gorgeous runway that can’t be covered up even with emoticons! It’s Yoru!