The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 17: Passed Like A Dog (3)

It had been thirteen days since I became the mansion’s mutt.

The snowstorm continued for days but the inside of the mansion was warm unlike the shed. Well, it’d be strange for it not to be considering it was a house with the finest architecture and heating.

When I’d be up since 5 a.m. researching Flare, Professor Hasfeldt would bring me breakfast.

“Don’t mind me and focus on what you were doing.”

... Something’s up.

For how badly we fought two weeks ago–to the point of getting me collared–the lack of enforcement was unbelievable. The only restriction was that she kept me nearby all day.

And she was really strict about the ‘all day’ part. She’d watch during meals like this, when I went to the restroom, and even until I went to bed.

It was really creeping me out. I’d rather she just beat me a few times....

That wasn’t the end of Hasfeldt’s bizarre behavior. I didn’t know if it was her hobby but she’d order me to do magic research while she sat around doing something else.

I glanced sideways and skimmed over the book titles that Hasfeldt was reading.

[Aristocracy and Monarchy][101 Ways to Maintain A Good Relationship Between Lord and Vassal][Introduction to the Art of Conversation and Conduct]Had she finally gone mad...?

Nothing about Hasfeldt’s past actions indicated that she would ever read these kinds of books. It was along the same lines as a science or engineering nerd having trouble appreciating classic poetry.

But for whatever reason, she had stopped fabricating scrolls on a daily basis like she used to and just spent time reading these kinds of materials that she found in the school’s academic library.

“How much have you done now?”

Hasfeldt, who had been glancing my way occasionally, snatched the paper I had been working on.

It’d only been an hour since I started; why was she in a rush?

They say that urgency showed on a person’s face. Objectively speaking, Hasfeldt hadn’t been looking good these past few days.

I asked as a greeting.

“Did you not sleep well?”

“Because of the Drakes.”

“......?”

As I waited with asking eyes for further explanation, Hasfeldt continued with her answer.

“There has been some trouble within the board due to the increase of Iron Drakes in the back mountains since three months ago. We’ve been called for staff meetings these few days to deal with it, so I am a bit tired.”

Man, I’d love to get to know the people on this board.

“If it becomes a real problem, then they can just get rid of all the mid-level Beasts in that mountain.”

“This isn’t your concern. Focus on completing Flare.”

She certainly did seem hurried since she was pushing me to finish the Fire Magic as soon as possible. Then wasn’t it normal to help out?

It was contradictory in the first place that the leading authority on this was commanding a slave to develop this Ultimate Magic when she herself was struggling to complete it.

I had two weeks left max. If I missed the golden time, then the level of difficulty in getting back to my world would jump. I was going to have to pray before a glass of water1 so that wouldn’t happen.

Hasfeldt hadn’t said a word about selling me off to the Imperials before I brought it up. Her attitude was unforgivable because that was worse than lying by my standards.

Knock knock.

“Delivery.”

Professor Hasfeldt nodded at me so I put my spoon down and went to the door.

When I got the mail, it was a letter painted liberally with gold. It was a form of letter that I had seen before.

It was finally here.

The gold symbolized a letter from the Imperials or a similarly important institution. I didn’t even need to see who the sender was and ran back to Hasfeldt.

“It seems to be a letter from the Imperials.”

“... The Imperials?”

Hasfeldt’s eyes became half-resolute, half-anxious.

She opened the letter and started to read silently.

It only took a few seconds for her brows to arch like a bow.

Knock knock knock.

“We have a lot of visitors this morning.”

Ah, is this puppy-training or something?

I went back to the main entrance and asked who it was only to hear a familiar voice filter through. Immediately recognizing the owner of the voice, I opened the door in excitement.

“Hey, how have you been?”

“Professor Heerlein!”

It was a brief exchange but it was enough to grab Hasfeldt’s attention. At her colleague’s random visit, Hasfeldt got up from her seat and walked over.

“What brings you here this early on a day off?”

“Bringing good news.”

“What do you mean?”

Heerlein responded to Hasfeldt’s question with a light smile.

She then saw the gold envelope in Hasfeldt’s hand and expressed her interest.

“Oh my, it must be a letter from the Imperials. Is His Majesty sending end-of-year greetings to the nobles?”

“It isn’t that.”

“Or is it a party? I’d like to go as well if it’s a social gathering or tea party.”

“It’s no such thing so you don’t need to be concerned. Anyway, I’ve already asked you twice why you’re here.”

“Why, I’m here to see my lovely student.”

“... My, student?”

Hasfeldt made a dumbfounded face at Heerlein’s answer.

My body was suddenly jerked backwards. The metal collar sounded for a moment but that was all. I felt cushioning on the back of my head.

Professor Heerlein put her arm around my shoulders and finished connecting her phrase to the clause.

“Who else lives here besides you and Aether? Of course I came to see her.”

“That girl is my personal assistant. You can seek your student during classes.”

“What does it matter if there’s a classroom or not to be a teacher and pupil? As long as there is someone who teaches and someone who learns, that makes them teacher and student, and the place they stand the classroom.”

“Meri, this is rude even for you. What are you saying after showing up all of a sudden?”

Hasfeldt had no clue that Heerlein had been helping me behind the scenes. This was the first encounter with all three of us in person.

Either way, this had to be troublesome for the master.

No, is it ‘former’ master, now?

I already realized why Professor Heerlein showed up here, which was why I was comfortable in a situation that felt like it was going to explode.

It was unfortunate seeing the friendship between the two professors start to crack but that wasn’t within my control. I decided to just enjoy my metaphorical popcorn quietly.

“Yeah, how rude it must be for a mere Margrave to be barging in on a Grand Duchess like this.”

“That wasn’t what I meant......!”

“And it must feel rude that a once commoner.... no, that some beggar worse than a slave got appointed as an Academy professor and is running the same course as you.”

“... What are you trying to say, Meriga?”

A third party would consider Professor Heerlein’s words to be cutting.

But I knew that that was only Heerlein’s particular style of talking.

She was nowhere near as emotionally shaken as Hasfeldt. The spoken language, being different from simply reading and writing, tended to reveal the mental state of the speaker through tone and volume.

Hence it was possible to predict the next part of the conversation from Heerlein’s jesting tone. According to my big data gathered from machine learning, the chances of Heerlein flattering Professor Hasfeldt next was 95 percent.

“I know that you don’t think that way at all, Klais. You miss the mark occasionally but I know that you’re naturally a good person because I’ve seen it in you these last ten years.”

“.......”

“But you know, other things aside, I don’t think you treat the graduate students well. You can’t think of them as testing equipment. Why do you think we withdrew from the battlefield and became professors?”

“Aether isn’t a student; she’s my assistant.”

“You say that even though she must have learned over 800 Fire Magics from you?”

“I can’t listen to any more of this. Stop running around in circles and state your purpose.”

“Fine. This may be impudent but let me tell you something because I respect what we have.”

Heerlein gently nudged me away and pulled out a gold envelope from her sleeve. It was the same color as the one Hasfeldt received from the mailperson but the design details were different.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Particularly, there was an emblem of a torch representing academics and a staff representing magic crossing over each other in the center. It was a sign that was also on Heerlein and Hasfeldt’s robes.

“Tilette’s seal...?”

“This was delivered to me this morning.”

[Letter of Acceptance]

[Name : Aether]

[Examination Number : 108128]

[The student is deemed fully capable of studying at our institution and is hereby granted admission.]

[Furthermore, upon receiving this notice, they have been given a third status as a student of the 1024th class of Tilette Magic Academy, and by law any previous status or positions have been nullified.]

[◇ Score : 440/500 marks (Written 400, Practical 40) → For questions about marks, please contact the Office of Admissions.]

[◆ Admission Rank Notice : Second Place (Eligible for half-scholarship for the first semester)]

[President of Tilette Magic Academy, Jakob Robespierre (Seal)]

“Oho.”

I thought I’d jump around in glee when I got the acceptance letter but I felt calmer than expected.

Writing the delivery address as Professor Heerlein’s home had indeed been the right thing to do. Having a guardian basically allowed me to avoid three different bad endings.

I was no longer a slave after three years, I wouldn’t be sold off as a servant to the Imperials, and most importantly, I could stop pursuing a degreeless PhD so I should be shedding tears of joy, but....

I couldn’t focus on myself right now. No, there was no reason to.

“W-what is this.......”

“Think about it. How could a girl who made no money outside of what you gave her for food pay an expensive exam fee?”

“Were you behind all this? Meriga...!!”

I never knew that Professor Hasfeldt could make that kind of expression. She looked exactly like my sister when I’d take both drumsticks2.

“It was amazing. Who knew that a perfect scorer of the written test would finally show up when there hadn’t been anyone for a thousand years? The practical was lacking in comparison, of course, but so what? The fact that a Golden-Eyed passed the threshold means she’s quite skilled. This deserves additional marks.”

A pillar of the Four Grand Dukes trembled helplessly in the face of a mere Margrave’ rapidfire speech.

“W-what.... H-how......? Why on earth would you...?”

All attempts to speak got clogged by air. Hasfeldt could only open and close her mouth, unable to retaliate against Heerlein’s attack.

By now, her mind had to be racing.

Even if she knew about my Academy application, accepting the fact that the sponsor was her long-time trusted friend was a whole other matter.

“Yeah, so this is what I want to tell you.”

A small key appeared when Heerlein, who’d been petting my head with a grin, quietly uttered a spell. She stuck that key somewhere close to my neck and turned it.

The metal collar came loose with a clunk. It opened up wide, feebly slid down my shoulder, and fell onto the carpet.

Professor Hasfeldt’s rage bar was already filled past a hundred percent. Her face said that something was bound to happen if she was provoked any more than this, but Prof Heerlein delivered the final blow without a care.

“Klais, your assistant’s pretty badass.”

The heating in the mansion was especially good today.

1. An olden day practice in Korea of praying earnestly for something2. In Korea, drumsticks are the most desired pieces of fried chicken and it makes you a criminal to hog all of them