CH 16

C16: Doubt (1) ‘Why is she here all of a sudden?’ I walked into my private classroom with leisurely steps and closed the door. Unless I know for what purpose the other side came to me, I should never reveal my inner feelings no matter what. As the door closed, a suffocating silence entered the room. Naturally, I sat across from the president who was sitting on the guest sofa. She looked at me and smiled but it was the president who spoke first. “How is it? The interior design is so pretty, isn’t it?” There is no point in saying such things. “Yes.” “Theon Academy provides each teacher with their own personal space. Ms. Rudger is free to do anything you want to feel comfortable here.” “I like that.” The president’s golden eyes turned to me. I also looked at her without avoiding her gaze. I saw myself in the beautiful amber-like eyes. It was the same when we first met, but when I looked into the eyes of the president, something made my body itchy. I immediately switched the topic. “What did you come here for, sir?” “Did I come to a place I shouldn’t be?” “It is because I am curious that a busy person like the president would come to the personal space of a new teacher like this.” “Then it’s not like I’ve come to a place I couldn’t come?” “But it’s burdensome.” When I spoke directly, the president kept her mouth shut. The gentle smile was still there, but in her eyes, a strange emotion that was hard to understand was spreading like drops of ink dropped into water. The president shook her head. “There is no particular reason.” “Is that so?” “No matter how new Mr. Rudger is, he is a precious teacher who has been assigned to the Theon Academy. Of course, as president, I have to pay attention.” “Okay.” When I nodded, she showed a sullen expression as if she was dissatisfied. “You can be a little more surprised.” “I’m sorry, but I’m already surprised enough.” It’s not a lie, it’s true. I opened the door with a pounding heart because it was my personal space, but when I saw the president, I was very surprised. Even if I ran into a ghost on the street in the middle of the night, I was confident that I wouldn’t be more surprised than this. In fact, even now, my heart is beating like crazy, so I’m worried that the president might hear it. “All the other teachers were surprised.” “Have you visited other teachers?” “Mr. Rudger is the last.” Why was I last? And does the president plan to interview the new teachers? I suddenly remembered the existence of the secret society that had permeated Theon. ‘Perhaps.’ The president noticed something? No matter how secretive it was, it was impossible to completely hide its tail. ‘She must have noticed that those with suspicious movements had entered Theon.’ If I didn’t realize before but now that I know there is a secret society here, the attitude of the president seems to be different. Does she doubt me? ‘There is a possibility.’ It’s a bit unfair for me, but honestly, I have no objection. I’m not a member of the secret society, but I’m a secret society executive. I wonder how the hell this happened, but this is actually my situation right now. When I think about it, my real identity is not so proud, so I have to work hard to avoid being found out. “What did the president come to ask me?” “I’m also going to check how the first class was. You had just finished class, didn’t you?” “Yes.” “Was there ever a case where the students had a hard time or something like that?” “There was nothing.” Rather, I wondered if it would be okay if the students didn’t ask me questions like this. Well, there were times when I was intentionally telling them not to approach me, but I just meant not to bother me too much, I didn’t know anyone would do it. Ah. Still, the daughter of the Lumos family asked a question. “Hmm. That’s amazing. I looked at the list of students attending Mr. Rudger’s lecture this time, and there were many famous students.” “Is that so?” “Did you not see the list?” “Now I have brought it for you to see.” I waved the paper in my hand. “Well, Mr. Rudger is up to you, but just in case you don’t know. The princess is also there, so please be careful not to cause any problems.” “Yes.” Princess? I wonder why someone like the princess came to my class. Suddenly, I remember the blonde student who asked me a bold question. Come to think of it, when I said that she had a familiar face, was it her bloodline? “And I heard that there are many freshmen. Originally, I thought you would only teach the second years, but I think you taught it as a joint class with the first years.” “Because I had no intention of differentiating between the first year and the second year.” “I am not trying to blame you. Rather, I’m in favor of Mr. Rudger’s method of making a change of his own. Especially among the first graders, I see some pretty amazing kids.” “Amazing kids?” “Yes. [Unusual] There are children who use magic, there are children from great families, and there are children who have been raised quite hard in the tower. I usually think that there is a gap when there is a difference in grades, but I think that will be rare for these freshmans.” Thinking of her students and smiling brightly, I thought she deserved the position of president of the academy. Every time I see that smile, my skin tingles. First of all, I’m not in a position to speak with confidence in my conscience, so I just gave a brief reply while listening to the president’s words. “Well, anyway, our Theon has high expectations for Mr. Rudger Chelici.” “You’re praising me too much.” “I’m glad that there were no problems in the first class and that the first impressions with the students seemed to be okay. No need to worry.” After saying these words, the president got up from her seat. I asked politely. “Can we have a cup of tea?” “Yes?” Was it surprising that I said this? She showed a slightly bewildered expression, and then she rolled her eyes like a crescent moon. “I appreciate the suggestion, but I have a lot of work to do.” “Okay.” “And Mr. Rudger has just arrived, so do you know where the car is and where the cup is in this office?” “It must be on the inside of a shelf somewhere.” “Ding. In fact, we only prepared coffee. If you want to drink tea, you have to apply separately for it.” “I didn’t know.” “You can find out in the future. Then, I wish you all the best in the future.” The president greeted with a playful smile and left behind those words. She was truly a gentle storm. I let out a small sigh and rubbed my eyelids with my fingers. * * * “How was it?” Wilford, an old gentleman, followed the president as she walked down the hallway with a leisurely pace and asked. “Are your doubts about Mr. Rudger cleared?” “Hmm…Well.” The President recalled the conversation she had with Rudger Chelici, specifically the restrained attitude he showed. “Not completely.” “Is that so?” Rudger Chelici was a unique man. The president thought so. When anyone meets her gaze they are captivated by her golden eyes. To be precise, her eyes themselves are a reverberation of her innate magical power, enchanting magic. It is the power that the president possesses, and the number one reason that made her rise to this position. Of course, she didn’t intentionally use the magical eyes of charm on her opponent. This is a kind of innate constitution, so if anyone makes eye contact with her, they will get caught without her intention. Thankfully, she was able to control it to some extent now, but her daily life was difficult in the past. Now that she has become the president, she admits frankly that she would not have been able to come to this position without her eyes. She tried to open up her inner thoughts using her personal interview as a pretext. ‘My magical eyes tend to be more influenced by the other person’s magic power.’ Her magic eyes can affect even 4th rank wizards. Of course, the premise is that the opponent did not use mind-defense magic. In particular, the greater the magical power they have, the more easily the opponent would succumb. The power of the magic eye is proportional to the total amount of magic the opponent has. But Rudger didn’t. He must be in the 4th rank, but his reaction is completely different from other teachers. The first time she met him was when he had just entered her office and this is the second time. The man did not show any shaking even after seeing his magic eyes twice. Did he resist the power of her magic eyes only with his steel will? The president’s eyes lit up. ‘He’s a fun guy.’ The president had no choice but to think so but she can’t express her feelings explicitly. “A suspicious movement has been caught, so we are looking at the people who are most dubious, but there are no results.” Ever since she found out that an unsavory group has been hiding in Theon, she had been unable to ignore even the smallest of things. Among them, Rudger Chelici was embroiled in a train attack while on his way here. It’s not his fault though. What if the train attack was a diversion and the person named Rudger Chelici was swapped out in the meantime? The president sent Wilford, the henchman she trusted the most, and one of the strongest among this Theon’s powers with the pretext of escorting him to the academy. “What do you think, Mr. Wilford?” “Hmm. I don’t think I can trust him right away, but I haven’t found anything particularly suspicious about him.” “Is that so?” If Wilford said that, he would be one of them or he could be innocent. Or maybe he’s such a great guy that he completely fooled them. ‘For now, I can only hope that it is not the latter.’ There are so many things to be concerned about right now, so she decided to stop worrying about Rudger. “Ah. But I can be sure of one thing.” “What is that?” “That man, Rudger Chelici, is by no means ordinary.” “What did you see to say that?” “I can only answer that it is an old man’s sense.” “What?” Wilford seemed quite sympathetic to Rudger Chelici at first. If Wilford, who has a clear eye for people, says that, she can believe it. Still, she didn’t completely dismiss her doubts because at any moment, that possibility could lead to the worst outcome. A wizard is a being who needs to think deeply about every possibility. Above all else, she is the president of Theon Academy. Since she is a person who has risen to an impeccable position that does not tolerate even an inch of negligence, she has no choice but to be careful in all cases. * * * Left alone, I was able to relax my shoulders and let out a sigh only after I saw her step away from the door. I’m tired. ‘The president visited me suddenly.’ Well, in her words, it’s like a normal personal interview with new teachers. The president or someone who is going to be the president suddenly comes and says it, but who would believe it? I think they were all interrogated. ‘That’s not what’s important.’ I went straight to my personal desk and sat down. The desk made of luxurious wood looked quite expensive. A clock made of cog wheels on one wall and on the other wall, the map of Theon is fixed to the board and spread out. Red curtains are spread to the left and right by the window with an antique design, and even the chair I’m sitting on is very luxurious. I was once amazed at Theon resources for allocating this amount of space to a new teacher, and again admired that it was filled with all kinds of luxurious things. I looked through the list of students attending my lectures. ‘It was real.’ On the list of students taking classes, there was a student with an unusually long and wonderful name. 2nd year Erendira von Exilion. If has the name of the empire Exilion as her surname, one would know that she is of noble blood, unless one is a fool. ‘Isn’t that the kid who boldly asked me during the first orientation?’ The princess taking my class is burdensome. Even though Theon is said to be like a third area where autonomy is guaranteed even in the Empire, it is a different story if there are people from the imperial family. If something happens to her, I will be involved as well. ‘In the first place, there is no way that something will happen to her in Theon, but no one knows what will happen.’ I cannot rule out small incidents and accidents that occur when experimenting with magic reagents, conducting actual battle simulations, or performing alchemy. Even if I care about the safety of my students as much as possible, there are cases where students fight each other out of the reach of teachers. In order to eliminate such a situation as much as possible, teachers are also given the duty to protect students……Now that I think about it, there is also a secret society hidden in Theon. Still, nothing will happen right away, so let’s think about it calmly. I also looked closely at the list of students. Among the first and second graders, there were quite a few children who stood out. ‘Flora from the Lumos family, and even nobles from other kingdoms?’ Then all of a sudden, my eyes turned to a student and stopped. ‘Aidan.’ He wasn’t brought up in a particularly great family, and he wasn’t taught by a famous wizard. He was just a commoner. Since he came here, he must have had some talent, but I couldn’t find anything special about him compared to other students. ‘Something familiar.’ There was something that strangely caught my attention.