Ch.58Lazy Young Master Is Too Competent (4)

# “We need to stop this.”

The commoner club “Magic Club” was originally a popular club where all commoners appeared in every session.

However, only four people gathered now. Everyone else was busy doing something to earn merit points. They felt a serious crisis.

“Merit-Demerit System? This system only benefits the nobles. It goes against the will of the great First Emperor!”

Justin, who had been listening quietly, bit his lip.

At first, he thought the Merit-Demerit System was really good. He believed it was a policy for commoners, not nobles.

That’s because lately, the nobles’ behavior had been increasingly crossing the line.

But his thinking was wrong. Some professors were cautious of offending the nobles.

“I agree.”

“…You finally came to your senses? You’ve been opposing everything I suggested.”

The club president looked at Justin as if surprised.

“Anyway, we need to stop this by any means necessary.”

“But how?”

“By appealing to the Chancellor.”

“…Do you think the Chancellor will take our side?”

Catherine said.

“It’s ridiculous to think the Chancellor would side with commoners. He’s on the nobles’ side. And not just any nobles—the high-ranking ones.”

The commoners kept their mouths shut after hearing Catherine’s words.

They knew she was right.

But they couldn’t just sit still either.

“To think they would try to divide the commoners like this.”

“That’s not true.”

Justin said firmly.

“The policy itself isn’t bad. What’s bad are the professors who abuse it. How about this?”

Everyone’s attention turned to Justin. Perhaps he could solve this frustrating situation.

“Let’s make a list.”

“A list?”

“Yes. A list of professors who abuse the Merit-Demerit System.”

“…And what will we do with it?”

Justin proudly declared.

“Nothing.”

“…What?”

Catherine looked at Justin in disbelief. She was about to say something when Justin continued.

“But, certainly.”

He burned with a sense of justice.

“Certainly, someday—there will come a time when that list will be needed.”

But then—

“What nonsense.”

“?!”

Damon approached with a contemptuous look.

“What did I just hear? Pathetic commoners.”

**

“Soon there will be students who are dissatisfied with this system.”

Imperial Academy 2nd Quarter 2nd Meeting.

Everyone’s attention was on Ruide.

“Isn’t that difficult to assert, Young Master Ruide? Conflicts have already noticeably decreased. Everyone is desperate to earn merit points.”

‘Justin won’t stay quiet.’

Even without looking into Justin’s mind, it was obvious what he was thinking.

He would soon find it unreasonable. The Merit-Demerit System relied purely on professors’ discretion. Without clear standards, it was inevitable that some would feel wronged.

“Professors, please take note of these guidelines. These are the standards for demerits and merits. And please try to adjust so that no one gets expelled if possible.”

Ruide magically placed one sheet of paper for each person.

“This should resolve most, if not all, issues. If it’s not reasonable, we can change the scoring standards through meetings.”

The paper had things written like:

-Picking up trash +1 point.

-Unexcused absence from class -5 points.

-Falling asleep in class +1 point, etc.

…After seeing the last item, Fenicia raised her hand.

“…Young Master Ruide? No, Professor Ruide?”

“Yes.”

Ruide looked at Fenicia with innocent eyes.

“Why is falling asleep in class worth +1 point?”

“Because they’re at an age when they’re growing, so it’s pitiful if they’re sleepy.”

Fenicia sighed.

It was clearly influenced by his personal bias.

But the other point values were surprisingly meticulously arranged. There was no way to find fault with it.

‘How did he do this in just one day…’

Anyway, Ruide continued the meeting.

“This is just a temporary measure. In the end, it still relies on the professors’ discretion.”

Some might think it doesn’t make sense to give merit points for picking up trash.

Then they could pretend not to see it, or openly refuse to give points.

Because this chart wouldn’t be distributed to students.

Above all.

‘Justin will have strong objections, especially because of the Countess—’

The Countess and Justin were extremely incompatible. Justin’s characteristic was maintaining a confident attitude in everything, and the Countess disliked those who acted above their station.

“Is there a solution?” Fenicia asked gently.

“Just wait.”

“…Pardon?”

“You can’t expect to be full after the first spoonful. Rather than changing everything at once, we need to change things step by step.”

In fact, he knew the solution.

But Ruide wanted to give the academy professors an enlightenment.

‘I’ll only step in this once.’

He wouldn’t always intervene like this. It would be troublesome if they relied on him too much—

It would probably be fine.

At least, he was confident that the conflict between commoners and nobles would be resolved.

‘The students’ real enemy is the professors.’

Would they fight among themselves when a powerful third enemy appeared?

Ruide didn’t think so.

“Oh, and please prohibit nobles from taking etiquette classes like opportunists.”

“Yes. I was about to take measures for that.”

They decided to give merit points for taking etiquette classes with the grand goal of “civilizing” commoners.

But what about the nobles?

If they’re not going to inherit their family name, nobles also desperately need merit points. Not all nobles are rich.

So some of them chose to attend etiquette classes to easily earn merit points—

But this wasn’t right. It was a source of discontent for both commoners and conscientious nobles.

So Ruide blocked it completely.

But ending it there would truly be inequality.

‘Now all that’s left is that…’

Ruide decided to wrap up the episode of conflict between nobles and commoners.

“Since I’m also a professor, may I conduct one lecture?”

“…!”

Everyone’s eyes widened at Ruide’s bombshell statement.

Especially Clifford, who couldn’t believe it.

The guy who ran away from the academy because it was bothersome, giving a lecture?

But from the beginning, Ruide had planned to conduct one lecture.

The minimum expectation the Emperor wanted.

He thought it wasn’t just resolving the conflict between nobles and commoners.

It was about Ruide himself teaching something.

**

[Ruide’s Magic Classroom]

“……”

Hersy stared at the notice for a long time.

“What is this?”

She rubbed her eyes.

But the clearly written text didn’t change.

-Only noble families may apply.

-Merit points +3 ㅇㅅㅇ

-No commoners allowed.

“No way…?”

Hersy couldn’t understand at all.

“De, Dellin’s Fairy’s magic lecture?”

“Insane…!”

“We have to attend this!”

The students’ murmuring was at an all-time high.

“See! I told you I was right! Young Master Ruide has been appointed as a professor.”

“My goodness. Is a 12-year-old really a professor?”

It was because of a certain rumor.

The fact that Ruide Christopher had become an honorary professor at the Imperial Academy.

Not a few people believed it outright, but most were like “Come on, no way, seriously?”

But this notice proved that Ruide had really become a professor.

“That’s our Lord Ruide. See that phrase? No commoners allowed.”

“So Ruide dislikes commoners too.”

“Are you stupid? That’s not it. Some idiot professor gave special treatment to commoners with just etiquette classes, so he’s stepping in directly.”

“Ah…! Now that you mention it, that makes sense!”

The nobles immediately understood why Ruide was giving 3 merit points just for participation.

Already filled with discontent, they praised Ruide.

“Great nobles are different!”

“That’s Windsor for you! There’s a reason why His Majesty favors him! He’s reasonable!”

“Right, this is how it should have been from the start. Does it make sense to give more merit points only to commoners?”

As a result, it had a two-for-one effect.

Everyone accepted the news of Ruide’s appointment as a professor, which could have led to jealousy if handled poorly.

And Ruide’s reputation soared sky-high.

Of course, it was also Ruide who gave merit points targeting commoners, but among the students, only Hersy knew that.

[Huh? Hersy, Hersy. Lord Ruide has played a little prank on that paper.]

‘A prank…?’

The still dazed Hersy muttered to herself.

[Yes. I’ll show only you, Hersy. Just a moment.]

Miho stared intently at the notice from Hersy’s shoulder with a “zzzz” sound.

She secretly shared Hersy’s mana to make the same thing visible.

That notice had perception-hindering magic cast on it.

[How is it? Can you see?]

“Huh…?”

Hersy opened her eyes wide in surprise.

The text had changed slightly. More precisely, two sets of text appeared overlapped.

[Ruide’s Magic Classroom]

When she slightly blurred her focus, the hidden text became visible.

[Ruide’s Cooking Classroom]

“…!”

Hersy was shocked.

‘Not only is he giving a lecture, but he’s tricking everyone…!’

“Hmm, interesting. Ruide’s Cooking Classroom. My rival is doing something trivial, unlike him.”

Hersy turned to the side in surprise. Damon was standing there.

“…Are you also going to attend Ruide’s class?”

‘This man immediately saw through Ruide’s prank.’

“Hmm. It’s not content I particularly want to hear… but I have no choice.”

Damon said with a smirk.

“I have 49 demerit points.”

‘What on earth have you been doing…!’

Hersy was shocked for a different reason.

**

Ruide stood at the podium, indifferently looking at the packed classroom.

“Oof.”

The podium was so high that Ruide had to stack five wooden boxes.

Now he could be seen better.

‘…Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’

Ruide was quite fond of this world.

The air was clean, and most of the scenery was beautiful.

But there was just one thing that bothered him.

That was the food.

‘Actually, whether commoners are bullied or not isn’t my business. But I can’t not change the most important thing.’

Ruide absolutely, absolutely wanted to fix that terrible habit of casting detoxification magic before eating.

It was an act that even a demon would shake its head at.

“Hello.”

As he started with a light greeting, the nobles cheered and applauded.

Ruide waited until the noise stopped, then spoke slowly.

“By the way, everyone gets full marks even if you don’t attend.”

“…!”

“Only those who want to take the class…”

Sparkle, sparkle.

Ruide felt a familiar gaze and turned his head.

‘…Sister?’

Amelia was sitting there.

Moreover, behind her were many burly people from the Swordsmanship Club.

Gilbert was also sitting there with a haggard look.

After deliberately avoiding their gaze, he continued.

“You don’t have to attend the class. My class respects free will. Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do is stressful, right? Honestly, I won’t be teaching anything great either.”

The students laughed off Ruide’s words as if they were amusing jokes.

Well, he was a genius, wasn’t he?

A prodigy in magic who held a magic seminar almost immediately after enrollment?

But Ruide didn’t mix in a single lie.

“I’m serious. Because my class is…”

Ruide said with a yawn.

“A cooking class.”

“!!!”

The students gasped as if they were about to fall backward.

Cooking?

Did those words just come from the mouth of none other than the young master of the Windsor family?

Just as commoners perceived “etiquette” as a “luxury,” nobles perceived cooking as “lowly.”

That’s because cooking was a maid’s job. Nobles basically look down on jobs that “anyone” can do.

“Since this is the first class, I’ll end after taking a few questions instead of teaching.”

Almost all students raised their hands with a “swish” sound.

Ruide pointed his finger straight ahead.

“Yes! First-year Magic Department…”

“Not you.”

“…Pardon?”

“The student sitting there without raising a hand. What’s your name?”

He stood up in confusion.

“Ra, Raikell.”

“Raikell. 10 merit points.”

Ruide’s selection continued.

They were all students who weren’t raising their hands.

Then, someone made a gesture to leave the classroom, just in case.

Ruide clapped his hands with a greatly impressed look.

“Wow, what a truly excellent and exemplary action. 20 merit points.”

At that moment, the students realized.

What Ruide wanted!

And why he was called the Lazy Young Master.