episode_0056

As time passed and class ended, the professor who finished the class came towards me and suddenly handed me a piece of paper.

I wondered what this was, so I turned it over to slowly read what was written on the paper, and then I froze.

[Academy Assistant Appointment Application]

Are you sure they gave me an application for employment just because I laughed at that ridiculous joke?

No, that’s right, if a student who beat all of his strong competitors and entered school at the top of his class laughed at his jokes that no one else laughed at, he would want to hand this to him. I understand.

Still, it’s not a good idea to hand something like this from the first class… … .

“Today is the first class, but… … .”

“It is better to offer suggestions first to students who show potential.”

The professor said that and nodded. I’m sorry, but for me, the academy is just a place I pass through for a while. I have a lot of work to do in the future, so I can’t be held back by becoming a teaching assistant or something.

“I have something to do after graduating from the academy… … .”

“There are many advantages to becoming a teaching assistant. It’s all written there, so read it slowly. And if you build up your experience and grades, you can even aim for a professorship at the Academy.”

“Thank you for the recommendation, but it’s still a bit burdensome.”

“I’m not forcing it. Think about it before you graduate, and if you think you like it, please fill out the underlined blank spaces and come back.”

The professor said that and left the classroom. I looked at the paper he handed me for a long time, then folded it up and burned it.

“Is it okay to burn it down like that?”

“That professor probably didn’t think I would accept it either. What professor in the world would recommend being appointed as a teaching assistant just because someone laughed at his pun?”

“Um… … . Wouldn’t the story be a little different if the person who smiled was the academy’s top student?”

Hermel’s words made perfect sense. So I felt even worse.

Should I just place a curse of forgetfulness on the entire dormitory tonight and erase everything that happened today… … .

‘I have a story to tell with Lady Charlotte–‘

No, let’s quit. I think if I had an unpleasant conversation with the crown prince twice, I wouldn’t be able to endure it and would stab him. really.

I closed my eyes and swept away all the emotions that were swirling around me, throwing them out of my head along with all the useless thoughts.

“Shall we go?”

“Ah, yes.”

I walked to the next classroom with Hermel. The next class was a theology class, and the professor was quite old.

“Hmm.”

As soon as I entered class, I was quite anxious because people were staring at me, but I tried not to show it and focused on class. With that thought in mind, I wonder if I could sound like a professor of elemental studies.

However, the ridiculous rumor that a horse without feet travels a thousand miles and that I like old jokes must have spread among the professors, and the theology professor told a joke similar to the animology professor during class.

“――.”

He told a joke so dull that my brain refused to accept the sound, and then he looked at me with a secretly expectant look on his face.

Of course, there was no reaction at all. The professor became sullen when I didn’t respond, but he didn’t care at all.

“Ha… … .”

After class, looking at the kids, I felt confident that this would continue to happen in the future, so I sighed.

‘The real me… … . ha… … .’

Various thoughts passed through my head, but I closed my eyes, thinking that this too would pass.

A swordsmanship class continues immediately after lunch. He was also getting older, so like the other older professors, he made absurd jokes, had arbitrary expectations, and was arbitrarily disappointed.

okay. Well, it was something I expected to some extent, and I expected things to turn out this way, so it didn’t come as a huge stress.

No, after changing my perspective a little, I realized that this image could actually become a bigger opportunity.

A suspicious person who always hides his true feelings and shows a smiling face, and a clown who laughs at absurd jokes. Which one will be more suspicious? Of course it’s not the former.

If you can reduce the risk even a little, you can become a clown who laughs even at absurd jokes――

“Charles. that… … . Do you know that?”

Hermel, who was sitting next to me and slowly observing my thoughts, looked at me with his eyes filled with determination and said, and I smiled and said, anticipating what he would say next.

“Hermel, I’m telling you just in case, if you’re thinking of telling a joke in front of me similar to the one the professor made earlier, please stop right now.”

“Ah, yes.”

Not really… … . Becoming a clown? Just the work I’m planning to do is giving me a headache, but if I live my life while listening to these stupid jokes, I’m sure I’ll collapse from chronic migraines.

As I was pressing my temples against my pounding head, Sarah approached me hesitantly.

“Hey, lady!”

“Don’t do it.”

“Yes!”

… … I tried to think as positively as possible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

After the migraine went away to some extent, I lowered the arm that was massaging my temples.

“Charles, do you really not like jokes like that?”

“Yes. I don’t like it.”

He spoke firmly and shook his head.

Hermel nodded, and I sighed and closed my eyes.

okay. A one-time entertainment that will one day sink below the surface. It’s gossip that floats for a moment and then falls like a paper airplane.

The image just needs to be rebuilt, and it’s not so important to my plan that I have to keep it. It may be helpful, but it is not something that is indispensable right now.

Don’t mistake the order. The forest comes first, not the trees.

After I finished organizing my thoughts, I opened my eyes again.

“We will end today’s class here. Thank you all for your hard work.”

My mind became clear, and what I had to do became clear.

“Shall we go back?”

“Yes. What should we do for dinner?”

“I have something to do this evening. I will eat it separately, so let’s eat it separately today.”

“It’s a shame… … . Well, there’s nothing I can do about it because I have work to do!”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

I smiled brightly and headed to the dormitory with Hermel.

But… … . If only we could replant trees that have collapsed due to rotten roots.

Shouldn’t that be the case?

.

.

.

Late at night with the moon high in the sky. As Draco left his lab, he remembered the rumors he heard among the professors.

“Ihihihi, I guess she’s that bastard’s daughter, even the laugh points are the same! I can’t believe you’re laughing at the jokes of old people who don’t even find the slightest bit funny.”

Draco grinned and shook his head. Daughter of the Red Lion Derkel La Rochelle. Charlotte La Rochelle.

A sword is a sword, a spear is a spear. A girl who is a Weapon Master who handles most cold weapons at a high level, and whose attribute magic is above par, even reaching the point where she can use magic without chanting.

“I thought it was excessive force inappropriate for my age, but… … . Seeing that he laughs at such useless things like that guy, and even became friends with a wild beast like the second princess in just a few days, I’m glad that he seems to have an upright mind just like that guy… … . Hehehe… … .”

Even as Draco said that, he couldn’t shake off the strange feeling of anxiety that remained in one side of his chest.

“Why am I so anxious… … .”

Over the past 60 years, I have seen many talented people. Among them, there were some who were literally like assholes, and there were others who were the height of insanity and did not consider their parents to be their parents.

He also trained those guys thoroughly with his own hands and raised them into human beings with a proper mental head. Of course, that method was a bit extreme, called a curse.

But, but there was something different about that princess. I couldn’t tell exactly where and how the difference was, but the moment I saw that child for the first time, my sense of experience as a professor for 60 years screamed.

‘Something is wrong. It’s foreign.’

Different and wrong are different. Different is just a difference. It’s not out of the box. But what’s wrong is… … . It’s wrong. It cannot be said to be a simple difference, but rather a departure from the mold.

He knows very well what that mistake is. Because I experienced it once.

This happened when I was still wandering around the world without knowing anything about fashion. When I entered an unknown ruin, I was exploring the shadow of the unknown with the light of my inquisitive mind shining at my feet.

That voice that suddenly came, no. It wasn’t a voice. It was just a small sound. Sometimes it sounded like crying, sometimes it sounded like screaming.

―҉̢҈̡̯̆̎́―̴̧̰͓̙҇̾̂―̵̡̛̰̜͈̀͑―҉̧̉Қ̫̊̕

It existed there. It existed muttering incomprehensible profanity. It wasn’t huge either. It was just a piece of meat a little smaller than the palm of your hand.

but… … .

Even though it was just sitting there doing nothing, I was so scared that I couldn’t do anything.

The light of the spirit of inquiry had long since gone out, sinking beneath the deep sea of unprecedented fear. So I ran away without looking back.

“… … The moon is waning.”

It was a crescent moon like that back then too.

“Heeheehee… … . To get used to it, I dressed up like this, acted strangely, and studied curses… … . I’m really afraid that I still don’t know… … .”

Draco shivered as the feeling from that moment came back to him again.

At that moment, Draco felt an unknown cool breeze pass by the back of his neck.

The same feeling as then passed through my entire body. I felt a dark, squishy, unholy, twisted and twisted horror coming from behind me.

“No way….”

The reason why I felt that princess was foreign――

―̝̓̏̆̎̏―̑̋̕―̡̒̚―̏̄̄̍̚͡

“Hmm? What was I doing here?”

Draco blinked and looked at the setting crescent moon.

“Eng… … . What is the unpleasant crescent moon? Hey, I guess I should go in and sleep.”

Frowning as the unpleasant memories of that time came to mind, Draco shook his head and sighed.

It happened one night when the crescent moon rose.