Chapter 25 – Doppelgänger (1)

Lehel Darard.

One of the seven masters of the Merak Tower in the kingdom, and headmaster of Farencia Academy, the most prestigious educational institution in Pennheim.

She was one of the five Grand Dukes who founded unique magic and successfully extended the mortal coil through her magic, achieving immortality.

From the past to the present, people have revered the great white-haired wizard, calling her by a name that embodies respect and awe.

The One Who Returned from the End of Eternity.

The Reincarnation Duke.

Ring! Ring!

Merins, the administrative chief, ignored the call from the Reincarnation Duke. She had been busy all morning writing notices about the new salon’s assessment results and disqualification reasons.

Ring! Ring! Rrrrrring—!!

But the persistent call from the communication crystal did not stop, even after lunch.

Why the hell is she calling now when I’m swamped?

Merins, frustrated, slammed her hand on the communication crystal and shouted.

“Yes. I’m coming up!”

Even though she finally had a moment to rest from her murderous workload, her heart grew heavier. She couldn’t guess what whim had prompted the chairman to call her.

The first reality that new wizards face upon entering the tower is the wall of their limitations.

Dunces. Mediocres. Talents. Geniuses.

Among the graduates of the academy, only those who are at least above average can have their names listed in one of the seven towers. Those who reach the ‘upper floors’ of the tower are at least acknowledged as talented individuals.

To be a direct disciple of the tower master or a wizard who has mastered 6th-tier magic means being recognized as a genius by anyone.

But does it end there? Is there no wall beyond that?

Of course not. The ultimate goal that every wizard in this world aspires to is the creation of unique magic.

This is the realm of monsters, beyond the reach of mere geniuses.

To see through everything with a single principle. Even while observing the same place and the same thing, the results are entirely different. Wizards who grew up hearing stories of such monsters from the tower, the battlefield, and the academy often joke:

Those who master unique magic are all out of their minds.

Knock! Knock!

“Chairman, it’s the administrative chief.”

— Come in.

Merins had been assisting the Reincarnation Duke, Lehel Darard, for quite some time.

In her mind, the concept of Lehel as a wizard didn’t deviate much from the aforementioned statements.

“Chairman… Are you alright?”

When she entered the room, the white-haired wizard was crying over her desk, her head hanging.

That description was fitting.

Slumped over the large desk that occupied half the room, she was crying.

“I lost again, sob…”

“Again? How much did you lose this time?”

Three trembling fingers.

“3,000 gold?”

“No.”

“Then… 30,000 gold?”

“……”

“300,000? 300,000 gold!!?”

“…Heh.”

It seemed she was correct. The rumors about the Merak Tower facing bankruptcy due to frequent disruptions in the coin market weren’t false.

Lehel was an extreme spendthrift and a gambling addict. She traveled all over the continent to join gambling circles. According to her, she needed to hoard as much gold as possible for the uncertain future, but Merins had never seen her win any money.

It was clear that she took on the roles of headmaster of Farencia Academy and master of the tower solely for the money.

“I was sure the Grand Canyon would win this time…”

“No matter how confident you were, losing all your fortune in gambling is just reckless.”

“Phew. Exactly. That’s why I called you, to turn over a new leaf.”

Merins felt a glimmer of hope at her words.

Finally, the chairman might be coming to her senses? Could it be time to escape from the student council’s reckless governance of the academy?

“Starting today, I’m going on a gambling expedition! I’ll visit every gambling den from Farencia to Thessalon and the Frank territories!”

“Oh, Hela, please…”

A lifelong devout believer in the Church of the Main God, Merins offered a prayer to the indifferent deity.

While she sought divine intervention, Lehel donned a shabby robe and a conical hat.

“Take care of the academy while I’m gone. Don’t let another incident like last time happen, okay?”

“Are you talking about the student council? You already dismissed them yourself.”

“That’s true, but I get the feeling these days that the kids aren’t reading the school rules. I worked so hard on those.”

Merins thought, Who reads a rule book as thick as a textbook?

She was sure every professor and staff member at the academy would share her sentiment, but Lehel was different.

A monstrous wizard whose thinking couldn’t be confined by normal standards.

“So, I have a good solution…”

What came out of the wizard’s mouth was a dreadful disaster.

“Louis? You want the store owner to teach the class?”

“Professor Vincent, who was teaching elemental magic basics to freshmen, is still in the temple after that explosion in the salon. We can put him in that spot.”

Merins turned pale at Lehel’s shocking statement.

A mere store owner teaching a class attended by nobles?

That would be a new low in Pennheim’s history.

But her shock wasn’t just because of that.

Louis’s background didn’t matter. Even non-wizards from the tower and non-noble officials from the capital had been invited to give lectures.

Her horror stemmed from the fact that Louis had previously been asked to teach a class by the chairman for the same reason.

“Please reconsider. Two years ago, after entrusting that suspicious man with just one class, the only third-year student who even goes near the store now is Viscountess Ruhillen!”

“Really? Even better!”

“How is that better!?”

Louis’s lecture was canceled after just one day, and students flocked to the temple’s Farencia branch complaining of mental breakdowns.

The surviving… no, the returning third-year students all kept silent about what had happened in the classroom.

No one spoke a word about it. They just studied frantically to leave Farencia as quickly as possible.

“Here’s the appointment letter and the schedule. Take them to the store.”

“Chairman…”

Meanwhile, Lehel was very calm.

She believed Louis’s class would be a good stimulus for students who didn’t read the rules.

Even without flaunting his identity, his power and dignity would naturally emanate.

Especially problematic freshmen would see a different side of Louis and show respect every time they visited the store.

“Now, this will make things easier. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

With a light heart, she opened a <Transfer Gate> and left the academy to gather all the world’s wealth into her crib.

***

“Haaah…”

After Professor Glatos’s dark magic class ended, Liv stretched slightly.

Balancing study and working at the store was gradually wearing her out.

“Are you tired, Liv?”

“Are you going to work at the store again? That store owner is really mean, making you work this late.”

“It’s not like that.”

Despite her friends’ concerns, she shook her head slightly.

Louis kept her at the store as long as possible to give her more money.

During the night, when there were hardly any customers, she could rest or read books in the store.

While quietly turning pages to the sound of crickets, the smell of Louis cooking would drift down from the second floor.

“Louis is a good person.”

She couldn’t understand why he cared for her so much.

After putting her books in her bag, Liv headed to the store.

The small three-story building bathed in the setting sun.

The sunset seen through the clear glass windows was always beautiful.

“Oh? Another letter.”

Liv found a pile of letters sticking out of the mailbox in front of the store.

She naturally collected them and sighed as she began to sort through them.

Invitations to salons sealed with crimson sealing wax. Invitations to balls. And even some quite embarrassing love letters.

All these letters had started arriving since Liv began working at the store.

Previously, male students who only watched her from crowded classrooms or the library now found it easier to approach her.

But it must be a nuisance for the boss.

From Louis’s perspective, it must be annoying to receive strange letters at his home mailbox.

Liv, who had no intention of dating anyone, felt the same.

However, she was still a noble.

Not replying to certain families would be seen as an insult, so she opened each letter.

In the midst of this, she found a letter addressed to Louis.

It bore the seal of Farencia Academy.

“Welcome, Baroness.”

Louis emerged from the store just in time.

Liv hurriedly hid the letters, but he had already seen them.

“You’re always so popular.”

“N-no! This is…”

“Hah, if I had attended school, I would’ve gotten dozens of love letters…”

He probably would have, thought Liv.

If he wore neat, formal clothes instead of those loose ones and changed his hairstyle—

“What are you thinking?”

“Oh, um, here’s a letter for you, boss!”

“Huh? Really? Let me see.”

Louis took the letter, genuinely curious, but it wasn’t a shy expression of affection from a girl.

“What? It’s from the chairman.”

“The chairman?”

Lehel Darard? The one who rarely showed herself sent a letter to the store owner?

Louis read the letter nonchalantly and nodded.

“They want me to teach some freshman classes.”

“Classes?”

“Yes. There are times when external figures are invited for guest lectures. I did it once before. Hmm, I’d like to decline since the construction isn’t finished yet…”

Surprisingly, he didn’t seem reluctant or annoyed. He seemed quite willing to cooperate.

“Do you like teaching?”

“It’s not that… There are things I think students should know.”

Liv didn’t yet realize whose standards those things were based on.