Latecomer

The fact that a man, and a sloppily dressed one at that, who threatened me with a phlegm-filled voice, would suddenly change and become obsessed with me was even more unpleasant than I had anticipated.

,Become my disciple!

,No, I won’t.

On the way back to where the statue was, Rotten, for whatever reason, suddenly started sticking to me, asking me to become his disciple.

,With your abilities, you can quickly find the materials and be a great help to my research!

,Isn’t that usually called a teaching assistant, not a disciple?

,Wouldn’t it be more plausible to exploit a disciple?

I shook my head, dumbfounded by Rotten’s confident retort.

,And as I said, I’m in the Combat Department. I have no knowledge of magic engineering.

,It’s okay, I used to be a wizard.

I stopped walking and stared at Rotten, dumbfounded by his nonchalant tone. Rotten smirked, an unpleasant smile.

,So, become my disciple. You’re still young, so you don’t know, but it’s not easy to find a master like me.

Rotten adjusted the bag of Platinang flowers and added.

,Once we go to my house and have a detailed conversation, you’ll think differently.

Rotten patted me on the shoulder as if I were already his disciple, and I ran a hand over my face as I continued down the mountain.

,But why were you investigating the Stone Thorn Disease? No one’s interested these days, and the Stone Thorn Disease plants have decreased so much that everyone’s forgotten about it.

I couldn’t say that I would die from the witch’s curse if I didn’t find a cure for the Stone Thorn Disease, so I vaguely made something up in response to Rotten’s sudden question.

,Just… I have personal reasons.

Returning to where the statue was, I retrieved the Spear of Destruction entangled in vines. As I put the Spear of Destruction into my spatial storage and sighed in relief, Rotten asked with a glint in his eyes.

,Hey, I’ve been wondering since earlier, what kind of magic is that?

Seeing Rotten ask with a face full of curiosity, like a true wizard, I kindly explained.

,That’s… a secret.

,You son of a bitch! Tell me! Is it a family secret or something that you can’t tell me?

I shook my head at Rotten’s reasoning and said.

,I’m a commoner?

,What?! How does a commoner know such great magic!!!

At Rotten’s seemingly angry words, I shrugged and said as if it were nothing.

,I learned magic by chance. I was suspected of knowing this kind of magic as a commoner, but thanks to that, I received certification from Headmaster Nelson.

At my explanation, Rotten nodded as if he finally understood.

,That makes sense now. So that’s why you said you got certified…

Ignoring Rotten’s gaze, which was even more burdensome than before, I casually asked while descending the mountain.

,How far has the research on Stone Thorn Disease progressed?

,Research? You saw it with your own eyes. A living boar turning into a statue.

At Rotten’s grumbling tone, I teased him mischievously.

,You failed?

Seeing Rotten’s expression as if he was contemplating whether to take out his staff, I hurriedly added.

,But you’ll be able to find a cure for Stone Thorn Disease soon.

Deciding not to take out his staff at my words, Rotten scoffed and replied.

,Hmph, recent research on Stone Thorn Disease is yielding good results… If I could just get more Stone Thorn plants, I could continue the research and shorten the time.

Seeing Rotten look at me with greedy eyes again, I felt a sense of déjà vu, as if I had received such a gaze from Lacar before.

,Are you really not going to become my disciple?

,The reason you’re saying that isn’t because I have magical talent, but because I can easily get flowers, right?

I said jokingly with a smile, but a brief silence fell between Rotten and me.

Narrowing my eyes at the strange silence, I looked at Rotten, who asked as if changing the subject.

,But are you sure it’s okay for you not to go back to the academy?

Realizing that much more time had passed than planned at Rotten’s words, I hurriedly shouted.

,I, I’ll come back later!

There were many things I wanted to ask, but it was too late. Even if I left for the capital right now, I would definitely be late.

After saying goodbye to Rotten, I hurriedly returned to the village, went to the tavern, gave gold coins to a villager who had a carriage, and was able to leave for the capital.

Arriving in the capital, I hurriedly ran to the academy, but it was already late and the doors were firmly closed.

Knocking on the small iron-barred door next to the main gate, a man who appeared to be a security guard approached.

,It’s been a long time since curfew, what took you so long?

,I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the time.

The guard, who had been grumbling at my uniform and was about to open the door, suddenly stopped when he saw my face and called another guard. The security guards, who had been whispering to each other, looked at my face and smiled mockingly.

,You’re Ross, right? The guy who screwed us and the capital guards over in the sewers.

,Wow, a freshman going out and even being late. I heard Transcendence has changed a lot these days, but it’s a complete mess.

The security guards started grilling me through the iron gate. It seemed that the security guards still harbored resentment towards me because of the sewer incident.

,If there was a guy like you when I was attending the academy, I would have half-killed you.

,I don’t know how you got out, but always remember that the academy guards are watching you. If you get caught doing anything, we’ll arrest you immediately.

Despite their grilling, I couldn’t help but find their behavior amusing. Perhaps it was because I had experienced the military before possession, or perhaps it was because my nerves had calmed down and indomitable courage was protecting my reason. I really didn’t care.

,You went out to contact the black magician, right?

As I sighed at the security guard’s mocking question, someone appeared behind the security guards.

,What are you doing right now?

I couldn’t see her because she was hidden by the guards, but I could guess it was Professor Leora from the strictness in her voice.

,Ah, Professor. He’s a latecomer.

,We were just briefly questioning him.

As I scratched the back of my head at the guards’ words, which omitted all the mockery and insults, Professor Leora’s stern voice was heard.

,Then shouldn’t you let the student inside first and then conduct the questioning, or notify the dormitory supervisor? Is it okay to leave a student outside like that?

The guards panicked at Professor Leora’s question and tried to make excuses, but Professor Leora took out the school regulations and began to point out the guards’ mistakes one by one, tearing them apart.

The guards, their faces pale, lowered their heads and stared at their toes, repeating only, ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I’ll correct it.’ It briefly reminded me of my military life.

A situation where a senior soldier appears when you’re struggling with the unreasonable grilling of a close senior, and tears the close senior apart…!

As I deeply thanked Professor Leora in my heart and cheered her on to grill them even more, someone approached, having heard the commotion.

,What’s going on?

The person who approached was the captain of the security guard. I think his name was Luke? He was quite famous within the academy, so I remembered his name.

After listening to Professor Leora’s kind explanation, Luke glared at the guards with a cold face, briefly glanced at me, then turned to Professor Leora and bowed deeply.

,I’m sorry. It’s my lack of management. They’re still new, so their training was insufficient. I will thoroughly retrain all the security guards so that this never happens again.

As the captain of the security guard bowed and apologized, Professor Leora also replied politely to protect the captain’s pride.

,If it’s the captain’s word, I can trust it. I understand.

As Professor Leora stepped back, Luke gave a grateful expression and opened the iron gate for the guards, who were still bowing their heads.

,I’m sorry. This will never happen again.

I nodded at Luke’s sincere apology.

,Follow me.

At Professor Leora’s stern voice, I sighed and matched her pace.

An awkward silence existed between us as we walked towards the Combat Department dormitory.

,Why are you late?

At the question that suddenly broke the silence, I hurriedly racked my brain to find an excuse.

,I was helping an old man… It took a little longer. I’m sorry for being late.

Rotten is an old man too, so it’s not a lie, right…?

At those words, Leora stopped walking, sighed, and turned to me.

,Ross, things that start with good intentions don’t always give good results.

I couldn’t find anything to say to Professor Leora’s words, so I just scratched my cheek.

,The sewer incident was something Ross told me with good intentions, but as a result, the academy’s defenses became lax, and Ross received a great misunderstanding, contrary to his intentions.

Is she blaming me for what happened before? I had nothing to say, so I lowered my head.

Then, something completely unexpected happened. Professor Leora suddenly reached out and grabbed my chin, making me meet her gaze.

Despite her stern voice and expression, Professor Leora’s orange eyes felt somehow warm.

,Don’t lower your head like a criminal. Regardless of the outcome, it’s true that Ross was trying to do something good for the academy students.

Professor Leora’s face had no expression as she said that, but for some reason, the strict feeling I usually received from her had diminished slightly.

,It’s too late, but I really wanted to tell you.

She said.

,Good job. Ross.

Professor Leora was holding my chin and saying that without any change in expression… but for some reason, a strange feeling surged within me.

A strange feeling of wanting to scratch my itchy nose and the back of my head for no reason.

Professor Leora, who took her hand off my chin, started walking again.

,And as punishment for being late, you are banned from going out this week. That includes the weekend, of course.

,What?! No, that’s…

I was changing my image of Professor Leora in my mind…! As soon as I was able to talk to Rotten after all my efforts, the ban on going out was too harsh.

,If I discipline you according to the school regulations, you’ll be deprived of your outing privileges.

Saying that, she turned her head with a stern face, as if asking if that would be better, so I hurriedly nodded.

,Yes! No going out this week! I think it’s a punishment I deserve for being late.

I had the feeling that Professor Leora, who was turning her head forward again at those words, had smiled slightly.

Of course, Professor Leora’s face, which I glanced at again, was as stern as ever, so I moved to the dormitory, thinking I had mistaken it.