Chapter 362

Words : 2151 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

There were only a few days left until the Night of Mystery would be held. After finishing the special lecture on summoning magic familiars, Rudger returned to the faculty office and slumped down in his seat. ‘The familiar summoning class is now completely on track. From the moment of summoning, they left my hands, and their future development depends on the students’ discretion.’ Magic familiars were only tricky in the summoning process – once summoned, they didn’t require anyone’s special guidance afterward. You could say it becomes instinctive. The unique “characteristics” inherent in each familiar would naturally be discovered over time. ‘Now what remains is...’ Attending the upcoming Night of Mystery and the matter concerning Sedina Roschen. “Here’s your coffee.” Just then, Sedina came with a warm cup of coffee and placed it in front of Rudger. “Any work to report?” “No.” “Anything else?” “The Royal Street matters are progressing smoothly thanks to Senior Hans’s hard work.” “I see.” -Slurp. Rudger took a light sip of coffee. Sedina watched nervously. Somehow, even just drinking a cup of coffee became a picture-perfect moment. Being able to watch Rudger start his work while bathed in the bright morning sunlight was one of the pleasures Sedina had as his assistant. ‘If the professor were to get married, I wonder who it would be with?’ Someone of Rudger’s caliber might have extraordinary women lining up for him, people who couldn’t even be compared to someone like herself. ‘Even now, I feel it’s too much that I work as the professor’s assistant.’ Sedina reflected on what kind of person she was. A heretic who hates her own family despite being from the Roschen family. Small in stature with a timid personality. All she was born with was just half elven blood inherited from her mother. Could someone like her, a mere half-elf, dare to be by Rudger’s side? Sedina still felt like it was a dream whenever she recalled Rudger’s proposal to her. “This tastes good.” At Rudger’s words of praise, Sedina hastily replied. “Th-thank you.” “Did you change the beans? The taste seems new to me.” “Yes. They’re Nesarien coffee beans that I grow modestly in the assistant’s office.” “Nesarien beans? I didn’t think they were a variety that could be grown in an assistant’s office.” “Yes. They require careful temperature and humidity control, and they’re vulnerable to pests and diseases.” “And yet you managed to grow them? It doesn’t seem like you’ve been growing them for that long...” Sedina awkwardly scratched her cheek at Rudger’s excessive praise. “Ah, I suppose because I inherited elven blood, plants I grow tend to thrive particularly well.” “Hmm.” Rudger stared intently at Sedina. Sedina felt his gaze was strangely heavy. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter as long as I can drink good coffee.” “Is that so?” “But don’t get too caught up in growing coffee beans. Your primary duty is still to work as my assistant.” “Yes. I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with my assistant duties.” “Good.” Rudger quickly emptied his cup, clearly satisfied with the coffee’s taste. At the same time, his mind was racing. ‘Being able to grow plants this well suddenly makes sense, now that I know she’s of Plante lineage.’ A curiosity suddenly struck him. If so, what were the limits of that ability? At least from Rudger’s perspective, Sedina seemed to have the ability to accelerate plant growth and bring them to their optimal state of bloom. Sedina herself might think all elves can do this simply because she inherited her mother’s blood but from Rudger’s position, having seen Bellaruna and other elves, Sedina definitely had something special. ‘Sedina’s specialty is paper magic. Moreover, she can breathe her consciousness into paper to monitor distant places.’ Sedina took on the role of gathering information and delivering news from various places using magic. ‘But what if paper magic isn’t simply an unusual type of magic?’ Rudger pondered such a hypothesis. Paper is ultimately made from trees. Trees, broadly speaking, must fall under the category of plants. ‘If she can accelerate plant growth and bring them to optimal bloom, then Sedina’s magic might not be limited to just paper.’ Sedina had inherited blood from one of the great elven families that protected the World Tree. Even though she was mixed-blood, there was no guarantee that being mixed made her weaker. ‘Hmm. I can’t be certain yet.’ To resolve such questions, he would need to seek advice from an experienced elf. There weren’t none that came to mind but there were too many complications to just go and ask if they knew about the Plante family. ‘Though Professor Vierano’s family, the Dentis, is said to be friendly to other races even within elven society.’ How could he possibly mention that Sedina was actually a Plante survivor and that the elven kingdom was after her? The moment he brought that up, Vierano Dentis would rather interrogate Rudger about how he knew such information. Currently, no one except the President knew about his status beyond being a teacher. It would be better not to do anything that might raise additional suspicion here. ‘It would be ridiculous to say I happened to hear about a survivor of the Plante family.’ Rudger decided to set this matter aside for now. There was no immediate threat to Sedina anyway. “Ah, right. Assistant Sedina.” “Yes, professor. Do you have something else for me to do? Or would you like another cup of coffee?” Sedina, who had been quietly watching until Rudger finished his coffee, asked brightly. “I’ve had enough coffee. One cup a day. Any more isn’t good.” “Ah, yes.” Sedina immediately deflated in disappointment. Rudger took something out of his pocket and handed it to Sedina. “Take this.” “Eh? Wh-what is this?” “Perfume.” “Perfume?” What Rudger handed over was indeed perfume. A translucent liquid contained in a bottle with beautiful glasswork. Not just any perfume, but a high-end one that’s difficult to find in stores. Of course, while it might be hard to find in stores, Rudger, who had become the ruler of Royal Street, could get it whenever he wanted. “Wh-why are you giving this to me...Gasp! Co-could it be that my body smells bad?!” Sedina hurriedly sniffed various parts of her body in panic. She misunderstood that Rudger’s reason for giving her perfume was to tell her to cover up her strong smell. Actually, it wasn’t entirely wrong that it was meant to cover up a smell. “Calm down, Assistant Sedina. You don’t have any strange smell.” “Re-really?” “Yes.” If he had to point out what smell she had, it was a pure grass scent like that of a lush forest in nature. “But why would you give me such perfume...” “It’s a gift.” “A gift?” “Yes. You’ve worked hard as my assistant until now, but I haven’t properly taken care of you as a teacher.” “Then this perfume...” “I’ve never had experience giving gifts to the opposite sex. This is the result of seeking advice.” Never had experience giving gifts to the opposite sex? Well, that’s natural. With his looks, Rudger probably received gifts in bulk rather than giving them. He probably never felt the need to give any. Sedina’s lips twitched. Did she dislike it? Absolutely not. She was dying of happiness. Moreover, Rudger said he had never given gifts to others. ‘Th-that means...I’m the first person to receive a gift from Professor Rudger?!’ While Sedina was lost in thought, Rudger asked. “Your expression doesn’t look good. Perhaps you don’t like it?” “N-no, not at all!” Sedina quickly grabbed the perfume bottle from Rudger’s hand as if afraid someone might take it away. She hugged the perfume bottle preciously to her chest with both hands. At the same time, she didn’t forget to hastily explain. “It’s just...I wondered if I deserve to receive such a gift...” “Don’t worry about that. If you use it well, that alone would make me happy.” “Hehe. I-I see. Ah, do you have any other instructions?” “Since we’ll be participating in the Night of Mystery soon, there isn’t much work-related business left. However.” “However...?” “Just because it’s a gift, I hope you won’t be too stingy with using it.” “...!” Sedina made a vow at this moment. That she would use the perfume Rudger gave her without being stingy. * * * Moonlight shattered through the glass window. Like sparkling glass shards, the bluish light softly illuminated various parts of the room. Rudger was sitting on the sofa taking a rest. Perhaps because there had been too many events lately, even just quietly resting like this felt like a distant memory from long ago. Ding dong─! The dormitory bell rang. Rudger’s gaze naturally turned to the tightly closed front door. A visitor? There shouldn’t be any visitors at this time of night. Though thinking this, Rudger still got up from his seat. This is Theon, so he didn’t think someone would come to harm him. Of course, since he had to consider all situations, Rudger was prepared to cast magic immediately. When he opened the door, he saw a familiar face. “Professor Selina?” “Hello, Professor Rudger.” Why would Selina, the Spirit Magic professor, be here? Though such doubts arose, Rudger maintained a calm expression and asked. “What brings you here?” As he said this, he glanced slightly at the sky. “At this late hour?” If it were the usual Selina, she would have blushed or become flustered here but this time, her reaction was very different from usual. “Is that not allowed?” “...” Selina tilted her head confidently as she asked. Following that motion, her pink hair, clearly visible even at night, swayed. As Selina asked, there wasn’t particularly any reason it wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t like there was a rule forbidding teachers from meeting outside of class hours. However, it was slightly disconcerting because this behavior was unlike her usual self. “There’s no particular reason it’s not allowed. However, if you had business with me, you could have found me separately.” “You’ve been so busy, Professor Rudger. I couldn’t find the time. Besides that, I also have classes to teach, right?” Rudger nodded. Recently, the class schedule had been so tight that the teachers were being quite overworked but suddenly, Rudger noticed something, like discovering a tiny bug crawling on his body. He found such a small sense of discomfort at Selina’s appearance as she smiled with her eyes at him. Unlike usual, something was off. “...Who are you?” “Ah. You caught me.” As if the other party had no intention of hiding their identity, they spun around once in place with a bright smile. After an elegant turn as if dancing, her appearance changed. Black hair and red eyes. Looking like Selina, but not Selina. “Esmeralda?” Selina’s true personality and...a First Order of the Black Dawn Society. Seeing her appear before his eyes when he thought she had completely disappeared, Rudger’s eyes flashed. Esmeralda was dead. Her soul had departed to the distant light along with the villagers who had been bound by Quasimodo. There was no way she could appear before his eyes again unless it was a god’s scheme. ‘Or.’ It could be a demon’s trick. Rudger’s expression darkened severely. “Helia.” “Oh? You caught on?” Esmeralda stuck out her tongue slightly and lightly tapped the ground with the tip of her heeled shoe. Then, from toe to head, her appearance scattered like an illusion and her true form appeared. Hair divided between black and white. Free-spirited fashion. And even the parasol in her hand. “Ta-da. I heard you were working here, so I came to play.” “How did you even get here...No. Never mind. With your abilities, sneaking in here would be nothing.” For Helia, who could create illusions indistinguishable from reality, sneaking into Theon would be child’s play. “So what’s the reason for suddenly seeking me out? This is only our second meeting, and I remember we had no reason to become close in between.” “Hmm? Why? Do we need to be so awkward?” “It’s not about need, it’s just the current reality. We’re not really in a relationship that needs to develop friendship, are we?” “I don’t think so?” Helia smiled seductively and placed her hand on Rudger’s collar. That touch was as natural and secretive as a snake climbing a tree. “We could become close from now on, couldn’t we?”

Chapter 362

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