episode_0019

“What are you all doing, not fighting?”

I looked at the students, who were still dumbfounded and motionless. They seemed unable to shake off my lie.

“Hahahahaha. As expected, there are many crazy guys in the academy.”

The first among them to move was Kuran Isar.

With his bronze skin and massive build, he laughed heartily and charged towards Professor Alicia. He charged so powerfully that the spot where he had been standing was slightly dented.

It was a speed that didn’t suit his massive frame. A fist, carrying that full weight and speed, shot out towards Professor Alicia.

Thump.

And Professor Alicia caught that fist with one hand. Professor Alicia’s expression seemed infinitely relaxed.

“Is this all your strength?”

Unlike the relaxed-looking Professor Alicia, Kuran was flustered, as if he hadn’t expected his fist to be caught so easily.

“What is this?”

“This time, let’s check your durability.”

As Professor Alicia threw a punch, Kuran couldn’t even react before he was struck in the face and sent flying into the wall.

Bang!

Earlier, I had twisted my body just before hitting the wall to reduce damage, but Kuran slammed his head straight into the wall.

“Isn’t he dead?”

“Ugh, a warrior of a great tribe doesn’t die from just this.”

It was enough to knock out an ordinary person instantly, but Kuran quickly regained his senses and charged again.

The reason Kuran could get up and fight like that immediately was due to the special characteristics of the Isar tribe.

“Even if you have the will to fight, you can’t fight if you’re unconscious.”

Professor Alicia instantly moved behind the charging Kuran, struck him in the back of the neck, and knocked him out. I’m actually seeing something I’ve only seen in movies.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t stated the objective.”

The students all stared at her with surprised eyes, as if they hadn’t expected Professor Alicia to be this strong.

“I will not use mana when fighting you all. Your goal is to make me use mana before the first semester ends.”

Not using mana was an enormous handicap. But no one refused that handicap.

Just now, Kuran had reinforced his body with mana when he charged at Professor Alicia. However, Professor Alicia easily caught his fist without using mana.

If Professor Alicia were to use mana as well, it wouldn’t take her even a minute to take down all of us.

“It seems Kuran-ssi was unconscious and didn’t hear, so I’ll tell him later.”

Having rested a bit while Kuran was fighting, I spoke to Professor Alicia and pulled a thread that was in the air.

“You should have seen earlier that it wouldn’t work.”

Professor Alicia seemed to think that I was trying to bind her with a thread again. But this time, it was different.

Swish.

Suddenly, a dagger flew through the air towards Professor Alicia.

To be precise, it was a trick I had set up so that pulling the thread would send a dagger flying.

The dagger flew from a perfect blind spot, but Professor Alicia caught it with her hand without even looking at it.

Thump.

Clap clap clap clap!

“Wow~ You caught that, that’s amazing.”

I clapped for Professor Alicia, who had shown an amazing feat, and said. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I didn’t expect it to be blocked so easily.

“Then, shall we see if you can block this one too?”

When I asked in a genuinely curious tone, Professor Alicia sighed and said.

“Haa… Loki, anyone would think you’re testing me.”

“Oh~ No way.”

“So, the reason you bought time with that lie earlier was to set up daggers and threads?”

“Ding-dong-ding, that’s correct! I’m sorry, but there’s no prize prepared.”

The reason I lied earlier was to set up various tricks in the classroom.

“If you were going to set them up, wouldn’t it have been better to do it while the other kids were attacking me?”

As Professor Alicia said, it would have been both easier and safer to set up the tricks while the other kids were attacking.

However, there was one problem with doing that.

“If I wasn’t doing anything, wouldn’t that be strange in itself?”

“That’s true.”

At my words, Professor Alicia gave a wry smile and said.

“Then, let’s see these traps you set up, even going so far as to lie.”

“You can look forward to it. I didn’t prepare just one or two stage tricks, you know.”

I pulled the thread, and this time, a dagger flew from behind Professor Alicia.

Professor Alicia stretched out her hand to catch the dagger as she had before, but the dagger vanished as soon as her hand touched it.

“Haha, that one’s a fake!”

And then another dagger flew towards the hand Professor Alicia had extended. It was in a position impossible to physically catch with her hand.

“Tch.”

Professor Alicia seemed to know she couldn’t catch it either, so she pushed off the ground and dodged.

“I see. An attack that mixes real and fake using your unique magic. Creative.”

As Professor Alicia said, I used an illusion to create a dagger heading towards her at the same time I pulled the thread.

She tried to catch the dagger I created with an illusion, and as a result, she couldn’t catch the real dagger and had no choice but to dodge.

“The first stage trick failed. But that’s okay! There are still many stage tricks left.”

“It’s an excellent attack method. But why didn’t you use it when you fought the Golem?”

“I have plenty of thread, but do you know how expensive daggers are?”

Even a somewhat useful dagger costs quite a bit. And on the day of the entrance ceremony, I had almost no money.

“If I hadn’t received money from you, Professor-nim, last time, I was so broke I was even wondering if I should steal a knife from the cafeteria and throw it.”

“Haa, if you don’t want another demerit, change that thought.”

“Of course, there’s no need for that since I have money!”

Professor Alicia lightly stretched in place and spoke to me.

“Loki.”

“Yes! Professor Alicia-nim!”

“The daggers fly when you pull the thread. Right?”

“That’s right!”

“What will you do if I charge at you without even giving you time to pull the thread?”

Professor Alicia said that and walked towards me. If I tried to pull the thread, she would probably charge at high speed.

And Professor Alicia walking towards me was exactly as I expected.

Creak.

Professor Alicia took a step forward to come towards me, and as a result, her leg got caught in a thread set on the floor.

“Daggers fly when I pull them, but other things don’t necessarily need me to, do they?”

Crash!

A desk, boasting a size entirely different from a dagger, crashed down on Professor Alicia.

“Tsk.”

Professor Alicia clicked her tongue and punched the desk, and the desk shattered into pieces.

“If the principal finds out, he’ll have something to say.”

At her words about the principal having something to say, I asked her in a worried voice.

“I don’t have money, is that expensive?”

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to pay for it at all.”

“Wow, that’s a relief. I was wondering what I’d do since it already activated, but it’s great that I don’t have to pay for it.”

Creak. Creak. Creak. Creak.

With one desk already having flown at Professor Alicia, other tricks connected to desks also began to move.

“I’ve connected all the desks in the classroom with threads, and I don’t have the ability to pay for them, you see.”

“All of them?”

“Yes! All of them.”

Crash crash crash crash crash!!!!

As soon as I finished speaking, all the desks in the classroom crashed down on Professor Alicia. Dozens of desks engulfed the spot where Professor Alicia was, turning it into a chaotic mess.

Among the students who were blankly staring at this spectacle, I spoke to Clara, the Tower Master’s disciple.

“Clara-ssi.”

“….Hm?”

Clara said, wary of me.

Why is she like that?

It didn’t seem to be because I suddenly shoved my handsome face close to her.

That wasn’t important right now, so I urgently told Clara.

“Quickly unleash a spell before Professor-nim comes to her senses!”

“There’s no reaction, isn’t she already defeated?”

Indeed, Professor Alicia was no longer visible, buried under the desks, and there was no reaction, but I knew very well that this level of attack would never be enough to defeat her.

“No way.”

“Haa… Alright, fine.”

Clara let out a short sigh and then began her incantation. Then, fire ignited on her staff and began to grow at an incredibly fast rate.

‘Her incantation is much faster than last time.’

“Fireball.”

A Fireball like a meteor engulfed the spot where Professor Alicia had been.

“It would be nice if this was the end of it, wouldn’t it?”

Bang!

No sooner had I finished speaking than one of the desks that had been piled on Professor Alicia flew all the way to where I was, as if it had been kicked by something.

“Eek!”

I moved my body to dodge the desk that flew at me. Professor Alicia walked towards me, her body completely unharmed.

Seeing that, Clara stepped back and asked me.

“What is that professor’s true identity?”

“I don’t know either.”

Actually, I knew Professor Alicia’s true identity.

The reason she’s so strong even without using mana.

The reason she was completely unharmed by that last attack.

Professor Alicia’s true identity is a dragon.

Her strength ranks among the top five even within Croaca.

I spoke to Professor Alicia, who was approaching me.

“The one who attacked last was Clara-ssi.”