Ch.257257. No, Not the Professor.

“Hmm…”

The inn with its doors firmly shut.

In the first-floor dining area, I slowly examined the women lined up in a row.

“What’s your name?”

“What?!”

“I asked for your name.”

“It’s Lumina!!”

I called each one by name and checked them carefully with my spiritual vision.

You never know, do you?

There might be someone among them who’s in cahoots with Giselle, the Academy’s headmistress.

After thoroughly examining them, I dusted off my palms decisively.

“Good, everyone seems fine.”

Most of the women wore puzzled expressions at my sudden declaration, but they maintained their posture nonetheless.

Seeing that, I wondered if I might have instilled too much fear in them.

“Jawill Wilson.”

“At your service.”

“Take this letter to Lake Territory.”

“N-now?”

“Yes.”

“…Alone?”

“Would you prefer to go with one of these women? I’m sure Clara would love that.”

After my slight mockery, Jawill Wilson hung his head low.

“…I’ll go right away.”

“Don’t do anything foolish and come back quickly.”

“Yes, understood.”

I turned my gaze back to the women.

Eleven people in total, including Lillian and Bianca.

Even the two women whose arms I had severed were standing there with tense expressions, apparently having been successfully treated.

“I’m going to clear all your debts.”

The women’s expressions varied upon hearing this.

Some dismissed it as a lie.

Others were suspicious, thinking, ‘What’s the catch?’

Some were still too frightened to think anything at all.

I continued regardless.

“Is anyone satisfied with their current life?”

Quiet stillness.

I nodded silently.

“I didn’t think so. Well, let’s first clear all your debts and then talk again.”

There was no point explaining further now when they wouldn’t believe me anyway.

Why waste my breath?

I figured they wouldn’t listen even if I paid off all their debts before explaining.

“Um, excuse me.”

Just then, Lillian, who had been fidgeting, addressed me.

I blinked lightly.

“Go ahead.”

“Are you really going to pay off all our debts?”

“Yes.”

“…Could we speak privately for a moment?”

“If you wish.”

Lillian headed upstairs.

I was about to follow her up the stairs when I paused and turned my gaze back to the women still standing in line.

“I’ve already confirmed that none of you would do this, but if anyone were to go outside and leak our conversation to someone…”

I let my words trail off as I curled my lips into a wicked smile.

“…You understand, don’t you?”

The women nodded vigorously in response to my smile.

I resumed my steps and headed to the second floor.

“What else did you want to discuss?”

Lillian seemed hesitant about what she wanted to say, despite having called me over.

After hesitating for quite some time, she finally bit down on her molars, apparently having made up her mind to speak.

“…Paying off our debts means you’re buying us, right?”

“Well, that’s a strange way to put it, but I suppose so?”

“Then I should tell you something in advance.”

“What is it?”

“We don’t sell our bodies.”

“…Huh?”

“We’re all women who have resisted the temptation of Headmistress Giselle and other professors offering to clear our debts in exchange for our bodies.”

What on earth is she thinking?

They say when you’re too dumbfounded, words fail to come out of your mouth?

That was me right now.

“…I see.”

“No, it’s not just ‘I see.’ Let me be clear. If you’re planning to buy us and sell us to another pleasure house for a higher price, please stop now.”

Looking at Lillian’s resolute face, it seemed she really thought that of me.

I pressed my fingers against my throbbing temple.

“I’m not selling you.”

“…Pardon?”

“I said I’m not selling you to another pleasure house.”

“Then what do you plan to do with all of us… Don’t tell me your sexual preference is for groups—eep!!”

After saying that herself, Lillian’s face instantly turned bright red.

Thinking about it, her suspicion was understandable.

The eleven women, including Lillian, were all so attractive in appearance and figure that this place could easily be mistaken for a pleasure house.

That’s why.

Giselle and the other professors must have desperately desired their bodies.

Forgetting that these were students they had once taught.

Growing irritated at the mounting misunderstandings, I continued in an annoyed voice.

“Hey, I don’t have such sexual preferences! Why do you keep making assumptions about things I haven’t even mentioned?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I wondered what you wanted to talk about… This is driving me crazy.”

“…It’s just that there’s no other reason for you to buy us.”

The reason Lillian’s self-esteem had fallen so low must also be due to Headmistress Giselle and the professors.

I wanted nothing more than to storm into the Academy and lay waste to it, but I had no justification.

They would have surely followed the contracts financially, and they could simply deny ever wanting the women’s bodies.

“Let’s drop that topic. Who owns this establishment?”

“I don’t know the details, but it’s probably owned by Headmistress Giselle.”

“So if the debts are paid, you can just take your belongings and leave, right?”

“Y-yes, but… are you really going to pay off our debts even though we’ve said we won’t sell our bodies?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

“But you’ll have no use for us…”

It was pitiful.

Born as a human being, what must it feel like to say with your own mouth that you have no use?

I rose from my chair.

Then, stroking Lillian’s hair with my palm, I let out a gentle laugh.

“Wait. You are a useful existence.”

*

“…What did you mean when you told me to wait?”

Rupert’s question greeted me as I entered the room, where he had been silently waiting for me.

I nodded my chin as I sat down in a chair.

“Sit down first.”

Rupert slowly sat down in the chair opposite me and began to speak.

“Please tell me.”

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“…Pardon?”

“That all the women running this place are Academy graduates.”

Rupert, startled for a moment, nodded with a bitter expression.

“Yes, I knew.”

“You must have also known about the stolen money and the false accusations against you.”

“…That’s correct.”

“The reason you endured it all to the end—was it some kind of conscience as a former Academy professor?”

Rupert sighed several times before continuing.

“There’s no need to hide anything at this point. Shortly after I transferred to Estella Academy, I accidentally overheard a conversation between other professors.”

“That there was an establishment run by Academy graduates trying to pay off their debts?”

“Yes, at first I dismissed it, but the more I learned, the more serious the situation became.”

I leaned toward Rupert to focus on the conversation.

“Go on.”

“When I first visited this establishment, the professors inside were shamelessly fondling the women’s bodies like customers at a pleasure house. They were truly vermin, desperately trying to spend the night with these women.”

“And then?”

“I went to the headmistress to report this, but nothing changed. Looking back, it makes sense. The owner of this establishment, who had instructed these women to work here to pay off their debts, was none other than Headmistress Giselle herself.”

I could feel Rupert’s anger as he spoke.

He bit his lip hard before continuing.

“That’s when I discovered Giselle’s plan.”

“What plan?”

“The women here took on enormous debts with exorbitant interest rates to graduate from the Academy. The amounts were so large they could never repay them no matter how hard they worked.”

“And when they couldn’t handle the debt, they would have no other options left.”

“Exactly. Headmistress Giselle intended to turn this establishment into a pleasure house. It would satisfy her desires and needs in one go.”

Rupert’s tightly clenched fist trembled on the table as his emotions surged.

“Did you leave the Academy out of disgust?”

“No. I tried my best to rectify the situation, but eventually Giselle caught on and framed me, resulting in my expulsion from the Academy.”

“…So that’s what happened. But that doesn’t seem enough to make even you give up on life.”

“At my age, it’s too late to transfer to another Academy. Besides, Giselle has probably already made sure no other Academy would accept me.”

I rested my arms on the table, propped my chin on my hand, and gave him an indifferent look.

“Anyway, so? If there were an Academy willing to hire you, would you consider teaching again?”

“…Didn’t you hear me? Giselle has already—”

BANG!

I slammed my palm forcefully on the table and twitched my eyebrows.

“No, I’m asking if you would consider teaching again if there were an Academy willing to hire you?!”

Rupert hesitated momentarily before hanging his head low.

“…No. What right do I have, someone who couldn’t resolve the issues at the Academy and could only stand by…”

“What if they were resolved?”

“…Pardon?”

BANG! BANG!

Frustrated by Rupert’s tone, I repeatedly pounded the table with my palm and narrowed my brow.

“If the burden on your heart could be lifted, would you consider working at an Academy again?”

“H-how would that be possible?”

“I asked if you WOULD.”

Rupert, who was about to shake his head, paused at my firm gaze, then closed his eyes tightly before opening them again.

“If such an impossible miracle were to happen, I would like to be a professor again until the day I die.”

“No, not a professor.”

“…Pardon?”

I grinned at Rupert’s puzzled expression.

“Wouldn’t you want to try being an Academy headmaster for once?”