Ch.261256 – Cephiron’s Little Devil

It is a teacher’s duty to guide a child back to the right path when they stray.

Jacqueline Carroll, who graduated at the top of her class in the Cephiron Foundation’s gifted education curriculum, had a face full of concern after being summoned by the middle school department head.

She’d received news that two elementary students were pretending to smoke cigarettes with their wands. And unfortunately, one of them happened to be NoName.

In Jackie’s opinion, NoName was unique even compared to other geniuses. What made her peculiar was that while showing no interest in classes, she seemed satisfied with academy life itself.

Perhaps because of this, she voluntarily refused to skip grades, and despite her rapidly growing fame, she still got along well with her friends. During practical sessions, she even helped the teacher control the mischievous children.

She could be considered a favorable student, far from causing trouble for teachers.

However, Jackie couldn’t shake the feeling that NoName was too much for her to handle. As a new teacher only in her second year, she struggled with how to deal with a child who had already far surpassed what she could teach.

Professor Cheon’s earnest request echoed in her mind: “Though she doesn’t show it outwardly, she carries deep wounds inside. She tends to rush headlong into dangerous situations sometimes, so I’d appreciate if you could keep a close eye on her. And if NoName ever acts contrary to common sense, please don’t let her manipulate you—discipline her firmly.”

Jacqueline Carroll, who had received Professor Cheon’s wish for NoName to lead a normal life, now learned that NoName had caused another major incident after the unauthorized use of 4th Circle magic at the beginning of the first semester.

“I mean, even if it’s not real cigarettes! Don’t you know magic use is prohibited on campus? And you, her friend! When your friend does something wrong, you should stop them, not just stand there enjoying the show! Oh, teacher, are you here. Are you these students’ homeroom teacher?”

“Yes, yes. I’m Jacqueline Carroll, homeroom teacher for Class 2-A.”

“The homeroom teacher is also at fault. How could you not know your students were playing such pranks in the corners of the academy?”

“Pranks such as…?”

“Cough…!”

NoName awkwardly coughed between them. Misty mana still in vapor form leaked slightly from her mouth.

Realizing that raising his voice in front of the children wouldn’t help, the department head delegated the incident to Jackie.

“We occasionally have outside visitors to the academy—what if they had witnessed such disgraceful behavior? I trust you’ll handle this appropriately, so I’ll take my leave now. And you kids! Stop playing in these secluded areas and go to your proper playground, understood?”

Having said his piece, the department head disappeared over the wall with his switch.

When Jacqueline glared at NoName and Johan, they each showed different reactions. While Johan trembled in fear, NoName’s gaze was fixed on distant mountains.

‘Is she thinking “go ahead and scold me if you dare”?’

As an academy teaching magic, the teaching staff, including Jacqueline Carroll, tended to be strict with the children.

“Can you two tell me directly what you did wrong?”

But such strictness didn’t work on NoName. Instead, she pushed Johan forward.

“Johan, you go back to the classroom first.”

“…?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s okay, I’ll explain everything to the teacher myself.”

“But I can’t just…”

“Go on.”

NoName sent Johan away from the uncomfortable situation.

‘Even in this situation, NoName protects her friend first.’

Then suddenly, pointing toward the building entrance where Johan had gone, NoName spoke up.

“Actually, Johan was the one who started it.”

A completely unexpected answer came out.

* * *

To make the kids in class believe that Johan wasn’t the one who confessed to me, the teacher’s role was most important.

In the end, I had to tell Teacher Jacqueline everything that had just happened truthfully in order to recruit someone to coordinate stories with.

Besides, I only promised to keep it secret from my friends, so I wasn’t really breaking any promises.

“Ah, so NoName suddenly received a confession and was a bit flustered…! So you were trying to comfort Johan?”

“Something like that.”

“Kids these days move so fast…” Jacqueline muttered.

“Still, NoName, I think that even teaching similar actions can create admiration for smoking. You’re smart, so you understand what I’m saying, right?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then you admit that what you did was wrong?”

I hesitated to answer as the conversation seemed to be flowing in a strange direction.

“NoName, do you really think you did nothing wrong? I don’t think that’s the case…”

“Teacher, do you remember a few months ago when I was very sick and had to drink liquid potions every day? Actually, I had to convert them to vapor form to swallow those bitter potions. If you still think what I did was wrong, I’ll admit to everything…”

Teacher Jacqueline’s opinion wasn’t entirely wrong.

But I hadn’t committed any illegal act, and besides, I had special permission from the former principal to freely use magic of 2nd Circle or below.

If Johan ends up smoking cigarettes because of this incident years later, he can be scolded then. There’s no need to punish an innocent person now.

“What?”

I gave her my most pitiful look, begging her to understand my unfair situation.

Teacher Jacqueline turned her head away, avoiding my gaze. She’s a tougher opponent than I expected.

After pondering for a while, she suddenly slapped both her cheeks and delivered her ultimatum.

Did it work?

“NoName.”

“Yes.”

“First, would you hand that over to me?”

“Ah…”

The plan failed.

My intention was to divert her attention toward the cigarette topic, but in the end, she refused to be deceived.

“You also know that wands are prohibited in the classroom, right?”

“Yes…”

“I’ll return your wand when school ends. Don’t bring it to the academy next time. And after classes today, find the PE teacher and help clean the auditorium together—then I’ll forgive you completely. Promise!”

“Yesss…”

Teacher Jacqueline, who even forcibly took my pinky finger for the promise, exhaled proudly as if she’d accomplished something.

“Great! Let’s go to class, NoName! It’s your favorite practical combat session, right?”

I answered with a completely distorted face.

“I love it… I wish we had combat practice for an hour every day…”

I wish we had time every day to cook the kids to my taste.

“Should I suggest that then? Ask them to increase it to five hours a week?”

She asked for my opinion with a gentle smile.

Apparently, having scolded me, she was now trying to cheer me up.

I seized this golden opportunity and eagerly took the bait.

“That’s…! A great idea. But five hours still seems too little, maybe seven hours would be…”

“Alright! I’ll definitely suggest it at the next teachers’ meeting!”

“Yes!”

* * *

It was autumn.

A little devil descended upon Cephiron Academy.

“Class 2-A! The vice principal is calling me, so I need to go, but there’s still about 20 minutes left in class. Don’t leave the gym, okay?”

“Don’t worry, teacher. I’ll take good care of everyone.”

“That’s right, NoName is our class PE leader, so please take care of the kids. I’ll leave the key here, and when the bell rings, don’t forget to lock the gym door.”

“Yes. Be careful on your way.”

The only warrior who could defeat the devil was nowhere to be found.

After standing on tiptoe to confirm that the homeroom teacher had gone far away, NoName picked up the key from the floor.

Click-

As NoName perfectly sealed the gym entrance, only a chilling silence flowed through the vast space.

The brave Seo Yu-na ran up to her and asked why.

“NoName, why are you locking the door…? Huh? We worked hard during class, so can’t we rest now?”

“Seo Yu-na, can you do a handstand with one hand yet?”

“Ah… no. You just taught me today, how could I do it right away!”

“Then you come with me too.”

NoName shook her head, pushed Yu-na aside, and walked steadily toward the center of the auditorium.

Small groans could be heard from all around.

Handling aura is inherently connected to using muscles.

Therefore, all the children who had practiced surrounding their bodies with aura were sprawled on the cold floor, each complaining of various pains.

Some said their limbs were numb, others that their backs ached, and some that their bottoms hurt.

BANG-!

“…!”

NoName stomped her right foot hard on the floor, eliminating all the noise.

The children all glared at her fiercely.

At first, learning about aura from the teacher and NoName had been quite enjoyable.

The feeling of becoming lighter, as if walking on the moon, must have been a novel experience for the children.

‘What is she trying to do now!’

‘Please, let’s stop, stop!’

But excessive use causes strain on the body.

Even so, NoName had remarkably identified each child’s limit, systematically torturing their entire bodies by switching from arm exercises to leg exercises just as their arms started to tingle.

“Everyone’s finished warming up now, right? Shall we start?”

NoName swung her arms around, drawing up her aura.

But apparently that was all just warm-up.

“Seo Yu-na, into position.”

“Po… position!”

“Handstand.”

“Hnngh!”

Thanks to special training during the break, Yu-na could perfectly manage a handstand with both arms.

“Standing on one arm is naturally difficult. There’s no need to give up already. Let’s slowly increase the intensity. Quickly, everyone follow along, I’ll check your form.”

“…”

“If even one person can’t do a handstand, nobody gets lunch today.”

Unfortunately, this was during 4th period, right before lunch.

NoName gave a sinister smile watching the children repeatedly doing handstands and falling over.

“NoName, I did it with one hand…! Oh, waaahh!”

“Such a shame. Let’s try again, Yu-na.”

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

NoName’s special training had only just begun.