BXBX NOVEL Chapter 101 - The Competition (4)
Chapter 101 - The Competition (4)
“The Head Theoretical Professor?”
When I stopped walking, Kaiden, who had walked a few more steps ahead, stopped belatedly and turned to look at me.
“I can’t go to the Combat Department, can I now?”
“No, that’s not it. Why specifically the Head Professor position?”
“The academy students don’t learn magic, do they?”
Kaiden, this guy, he’s answering literally even though he knows exactly what I’m getting at.
“What I mean is, there’s already a Head Theoretical Professor, so why do they want to put you in that position?”
“You mean the elf professor.”
Kaiden gave a faint smile.
“I’m sure you already know why the Second Princess set such a condition.”
“Well, I’d rather hear it directly from your clever mouth.”
“Is that so? Understood. If you insist.”
Kaiden slightly bowed his head and then spoke.
“After the war, Linus served in the highest position in the Imperial Palace as Captain of the Royal Guard, but a few years ago, he transferred to the Security Office.”
“That’s true.”
“And recently, by the orders of the Second Princess, he was almost appointed as the Headmaster of the Special Mission Academy. However, due to family matters and raising a child, after several processes, it was settled with you becoming the Head Combat Professor.”
“We all know that. So?”
“Why do you think the Second Princess tried to appoint Linus as the Headmaster of the Special Mission Academy?”
Kaiden asked with a smile.
“Linus is not someone who would be content with just being a headmaster.”
“It’s obviously because she wants to keep the Hero under her control.”
“Correct. The Special Mission Academy is an organization under the Security Office. It was to securely bring the powerful Linus to her side. And the same goes for you.”
“Because I’m also a member of the Demon King Slayer Task Force, it’s convenient to use me as a substitute for Linus.”
“Exactly. The same goes for me as well.”
Kaiden placed his delicate hand on his chest.
“But since the current Headmaster, Kirrin Nemara, is under the Emperor’s protection, she’s offering the professor position instead. However, since I’m also from the Demon King Slayer Task Force, she’s giving me the position of Head Theoretical Professor, not just a regular professor. You as the Head Combat Professor, and me as the Head Theoretical Professor—it’s a picture the Second Princess would be quite pleased with.”
“It certainly would be.”
“If I become the Head Theoretical Professor, it’s as good as the Second Princess having the entire Demon King Slayer Task Force under her control. With Celine focusing on raising children and Lormane bound to the church, the remaining three members would all be under the shadow of the Security Office.”
It’s nothing surprising. I could have guessed as much myself.
“So, what does the Second Princess gain?”
“She gains a formidable deterrent that others won’t dare challenge, and a weapon capable of unleashing devastating power in times of need.”
“So, she’s planning to use us for a coup?”
“If not, there would be no reason for her to do all this. At the very least, it could be a precaution to eliminate potential obstacles when staging a coup.”
“Hmm, right…. She wants to use us like chess pieces. She’s choosing a complicated path. If she just focused on her agenda and left us alone, she’d have the throne handed to her on a silver platter.”
Kaiden smiled as if in agreement.
“Perhaps it’s because she never had direct involvement with us during the war.”
“I hate being someone’s lackey. And Linus feels the same way. The Second Princess seems to be seriously mistaken.”
“She’ll realize it eventually.”
“Yeah. But that’s not the problem here.”
I pointed a finger at Kaiden.
“Are you seriously considering becoming the Head Theoretical Professor?”
“I haven’t given a definite answer, but I find the offer quite appealing.”
“Don’t do it.”
At my words, Kaiden slightly narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“The current Head Theoretical Professor is a capable and diligent person. They’ve been working hard, and it’s not right for them to get caught up in some high-ranking official’s sinister scheme and be kicked out.”
“But if I take that position, I’ll be at the academy with you, Dian.”
“Sure, I’d like it if you were close by. But that’s beside the point.”
Kaiden tilted his head slightly, as if not fully understanding.
And when he did, his neat bobbed hair swayed along.
“You say you’d like me to be close by, yet you’re rejecting a way for me to be near you?”
“I already told you.”
“You said it’s unfair treatment toward the current Head Theoretical Professor. But it’s a decision made by the Second Princess.”
“Then I’ll personally oppose it to the Second Princess. It’s just unreasonable.”
Kaiden looked at me for a moment before asking.
“The pureblood elf who came with you, isn’t she the current Head Theoretical Professor? Do you have some special relationship with her?”
“What? No? How could that be? She hates me like she wants to kill me.”
“Is that so? Then why are you defending that elf?”
“Because it’s unjust? Think about it. What if the Second Princess suddenly brought in another mage and kicked you out of the Tower of Illusions? And then you find out that mage and the Second Princess have some personal dealings. How would you feel?”
Kaiden didn’t answer, only nodding slowly.
Why is this guy acting different than usual?
“So, to summarize, you have no particular feelings toward that elf professor; you’re just upset about the unfair situation.”
“That’s exactly it. Wrong is wrong. So, Kaiden, don’t accept the offer. It’s not about your ability or qualifications.”
“I understand your feelings, Dian. I’ll speak to the Second Princess again.”
Kaiden bowed his head.
“But, Dian, there’s one thing I’m truly curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Why does that elf Head Theoretical Professor hate you so much?”
“Because she wants to be the Headmaster, but she keeps getting passed over because of me and Kirrin.”
After briefly explaining what Ismera had told me, Kirrin nodded as if understanding.
“So that feeling isn’t directed at you, but at the Head Combat Professor suspected of having connections with the Imperial Palace.”
“Is there really much of a difference?”
“There is a difference.”
Kaiden smiled.
“In the former case, even if you made her Headmaster, she would still dislike you. But in the latter case, depending on the situation, there’s a chance she might no longer have any reason to dislike you.”
“That doesn’t seem relevant to this matter.”
“Of course, Dian.”
Kaiden responded with his usual mysterious smile.
But wait a minute. Now that I think about it, this is quite funny.
From the Imperial Palace’s perspective, since we used illusion magic to provide a vivid experience, they should be rewarding Kaiden or me, not attaching conditions.
What are they thinking?
The Second Princess, she’s much more unpredictable than I imagined.
# # # # #
Kaiden had to continue overseeing the evaluation, so we parted ways and I returned to the hall.
But in front of our booth, I saw the three Dark Elves from earlier standing there.
Other participants, upon seeing the Dark Elves, shuddered and kept their distance, taking a wide detour.
Indeed, pureblood Dark Elves have coal-black skin and unusually red eyes that give off an unpleasant aura, enough to make your skin crawl.
Suddenly, I found myself really missing the gentle Kirrin.
But come to think of it, Ismera is probably alone in the booth right now.
Earlier, when faced with the Dark Elves, Ismera was so frightened she couldn’t even speak properly.
I hurriedly ran over, pushed the Dark Elves aside, and entered the booth.
“Professor Ismera!”
But there was no sign of Professor Ismera anywhere in the booth.
“Has Kirrin not arrived yet?”
Just then, one of the Dark Elves spoke from behind me.
“What?”
“I asked if Kirrin has not arrived yet.”
“Can’t you tell by looking at the empty booth? And I’d like to ask you in return. Where’s the pureblood elf who was here?”
“We don’t know either. There was no one here when we arrived.”
Where did she go? This woman…. She didn’t even notice when we arrived earlier because she was asleep in the carriage.
She should’ve caught some sleep while she had the time.
Maybe she went to the restroom.
“Is Kirrin not coming today?”
While I was wondering where Ismera could be, the Dark Elf asked the same question again like a machine.
“I’m not sure either. She said she’d come if she finished her academy work quickly, but looking at the time, she probably won’t be able to make it.”
“Then we might not get to see her face. We just finished our evaluation and need to return to the forest.”
“In that case, you might miss her.”
The female Dark Elf looked at me for a moment before taking something out of her pocket and handing it to me.
It was a small note, folded twice.
“What’s this?”
“Please deliver it to Kirrin.”
Through the slightly parted gap in the note, I could see characters that I couldn’t make any sense of.
“You’re free to open it, but you probably won’t be able to read it. It’s written in the script unique to our tribe.”
“I’ll make sure to deliver it.”
“Thank you.”
With that, the Dark Elves all turned and left the booth.
“By the way…”
At that moment, the largest of the Dark Elves turned back and spoke to me.
“You look awfully familiar.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Have you ever fought in the war?”
“War, huh. Now that you mention it, I did have some ties with Dark Elves in the Black Swamp.”
“The Black Swamp, you say.”
The Dark Elf stared at me for a moment before speaking.
“Fate is truly a strange thing.”
“That’s how the world works.”
I replied with a smile, and the Dark Elf slightly bowed his head and turned away.
The Battle of the Black Swamp.
At that time, Linus and I set up a counter-ambush and inflicted near-obliteration on the Dark Elves who were coming to assassinate the army’s high command in the dead of night.
Judging by his talk of familiarity, that elf must have been at the scene back then.
So what? That was over ten years ago.
The past is the past.
But what’s written on this note?
I couldn’t make any sense of the Dark Elves script on it.