Chapter 4 : Assistant Professor (2)

A month had passed since the new students entered the academy. During that month, they attended their assigned lectures and took several exams. Based on these exams, their grades were calculated and rankings determined. While rankings were important for all students, they held particular significance for the first years at this time.

“Hey, what’s your rank?”
“…479th.”
“400th is right in the middle. Including the Knight Department, shouldn’t that be enough to get into a decent department, even if it’s not your first choice?”

Because these rankings determined their class assignments. High-ranking students had the privilege of choosing their desired department. Each department had a capacity of 50 students. Therefore, popular departments were often filled by the top 50 students.

“Excluding the Knight Department, my rank is 479th among the Magic Department students.”
“That’s almost last place. So you’re practically guaranteed a spot in the Mana Studies Department.”
“Exactly! Who would want to focus on those lectures these days?”

Ten departments belonged to the Knight Department and ten to the Magic Department. When the 20 departments were ranked by popularity, the top two were always the same.

“Hah… I wanted to join the Elemental Department.”
“What would you do there? I heard they’re already full, from 1st to 50th rank.”
“I wish at least one person would switch to a different department. Don’t you think so? There are other good departments, like Creation Magic or Pure Magic.”
“Are you that envious?”
“You’re aspiring to be a knight, so you don’t understand. Besides, you got into the Practical Studies Department.”
“I was 51st, and there was an open spot in Practical Studies. I got lucky.”

The student holding a staff looked enviously at the student with a sword at his hip.

Within the Magic Department, the Elemental Department reigned supreme. Within the Knight Department, it was the Practical Studies Department. This popularity had persisted for decades, securing these two departments the top spots in the rankings.

And just as the top two were a given, so was the bottom.

“What am I going to do? Seriously, if it’s Mana Studies, wouldn’t it be better to repeat a year?”
“Even if you repeat, with a rank of 479th, you’ll probably end up in Mana Studies again.”
“I should have studied harder.”

For 30 years, the Mana Studies Department had consistently held the last place among all departments, and this year was no different. There were several reasons for this, but the biggest one was that the subject matter was considered outdated.

Mana Studies was one of the oldest departments in the academy. While it had tradition and history, it was sadly deemed behind the times, unable to keep up with the advancements in magic.

Naturally, the students assigned to the Mana Studies Department…

“…”
“…”
“…”

…all wore grim expressions. Some couldn’t believe they had been assigned to Mana Studies, seemingly in denial. Others were determined to study harder and transfer to a different department next year.

Not a single student was happy to be in Mana Studies.

Another characteristic of the department was that more than half of the students were commoners. The academy claimed to accept commoners without discrimination based solely on talent, but perhaps due to the lack of specialized magic education from a young age, the admission rate of commoners was significantly lower than that of nobles.

And most of those few commoners were gathered here.

However, like a lotus flower blooming in mud, there was one person who shone brightly in this classroom filled with the lowest-ranking students.

“E-Excuse me… C-Could that be Princess Selene?!”

Princess. At that single word, all the students turned around.

There sat a girl with brilliant silver hair that could not be concealed by anything.

“Oh my, it’s Rudmy and Yang! Fancy seeing you here.”

The princess looked down at the students with her golden eyes, as if they were made of molten gold. She smiled and waved.

The fact that the most noble person in the Empire was in the lowest-ranked department in the academy astonished the students. And the professor reading the student roster was equally surprised.

Olivier Lovegood, Professor of Mana Studies. Though somewhat eccentric and quirky, she was a respected professor at the academy. Although the Mana Studies Department was declining, Olivier’s lectures, which emphasized unconventional and free thinking, were highly regarded among students.

“She’s skipped a lecture or two before, claiming a sudden burst of inspiration, but a year-long seclusion is a different story.”

When she suddenly skipped lectures, it was easy enough to have the students do self-study. But this was essentially dumping all her responsibilities on me.

This wouldn’t do. Other assistant professors would consider this an opportunity to gain experience in the classroom and impress other professors, but… I wasn’t like them.

“Assistant Professor Ziek, have you read the document the professor wrote?”
“Lisil, you put this document here.”
“Yes, I placed it where you usually put important documents before reviewing them. It seems you just read it.”

As I was agonizing over this unexpected situation, a woman in a suit approached me.

Lisil. One of the assistants working under Professor Olivier, along with me. She was the assistant who had been with Professor Olivier the longest.

“It seems the professor has had some sort of epiphany. She wants me to substitute for her for a whole year.”
“She called out to me excitedly on my way to work, saying she had finally figured out how to complete her spell formula. But she said it would take a long time and handed me this document.”
“That must be it.”
“Yes.”

Judging by Lisil’s tone, Professor Olivier’s discovery must have been significant.

However… without her, the Mana Studies Department would fall apart.

There was no other choice but to meet her and persuade her.

“I need to talk to the professor myself.”
“You can’t.”
“What…?”

Lisil blocked my path as I was about to head to Professor Olivier’s lab.

“The professor gave explicit instructions not to let anyone in.”
“Then what about the lectures? We have a syllabus, but… You know as well as I do that her lectures are more improvisational than planned. How can I replicate that?”

I argued point by point. Yet, Lisil’s expression remained unchanged. She continued to block my way.

“Professor Olivier has entrusted everything to you, Assistant Professor.”
“Entrusted? More like dumped everything on me.”
“Regardless, you’re the one who has to conduct the lectures.”

Yes, I knew that. If Professor Olivier had chosen to seclude herself like this, no one could stop her. Even the Dean or the Director, her superiors, would be turned away if they went to her lab. There was no way I could persuade her.

‘The professor is eccentric, but… she’s a mage the academy has to accommodate.’

The youngest Grand Mage in the history of the Empire. Since Olivier had declared that she’d be staying in her lab for a year due to a breakthrough, no one could stop her.

It was only natural that I, her assistant professor, would have to take over everything.

But still…

“I… don’t know Mana Studies well enough to teach it to anyone.”

My position was that of an assistant professor. My role was to review the materials prepared by the assistants and organize them for the professor’s lectures. It was a job anyone with a basic understanding of magic could do, even without deep knowledge of Mana Studies.

There was a reason why the assistants disliked me. I was the guy who occupied the assistant professor position despite knowing very little. It wasn’t an inaccurate assessment, so I never bothered to refute it.

And… the assistant who disliked me the most was Lisil, standing right before me. Before I arrived, she had been closest to the assistant professor position.

“…Assistant Lisil.”
“Yes, Assistant Professor Ziek.”

Lisil responded obediently when I called her name. I took a breath and spoke.

“Bring me the student roster.”
“What about the equipment and textbooks the professor usually uses for her lectures?”
“Forget it. Don’t bring them today. I don’t need any other assistants either. Tell everyone to stay in the faculty office and work during lecture time.”
“Understood. I’ll bring the roster right away.”

Lisil bowed her head and left to retrieve the student roster. As expected of a capable assistant, she returned quickly.

The first-year Mana Studies student roster. It contained the details of 50 students. As expected, the Mana Studies roster had less information written compared to other departments. Only ten students had family names included with their given names.

‘Are the rest all commoners?’

Last year’s ratio of nobles to commoners was about the same.

As I scanned the student roster, with no more than two pages of information per student, a particularly long name with over ten pages of activity records caught my eye.

What was this?

“Selene… Bern… Asterique?”

Asterique was the name of the Empire where the academy was located. Bern was a middle name, something only the parents would know.

Selene? A familiar name. No, a name I knew.

‘Third Princess Selene?!’

My mind momentarily froze. When I realized who was on this list, I almost screamed. I’d heard that a member of the royal family was entering the academy this year.

But I hadn’t paid much attention. If it was a royal, they would naturally join the most popular departments, like Elemental Studies or Practical Studies.

But…

‘Why is she here…?’

Her ranking was within the top 100. That was enough to get into the Creation Magic Department, even if the top-ranked Elemental Department was out of reach. Using her royal authority, she could have easily joined the Elemental Department.

So why was Selene’s name on the Mana Studies roster?

‘Is this an error?’

It didn’t make sense. If it were a mistake, the royal family would have said something, and the academy would have hastily changed her department. That meant she had applied to Mana Studies of her own volition.

‘What merit would our Mana Studies Department have for a royal… Ah! Could it be…?’

Suddenly, something came to mind.

‘The Deposed Princess’ Selene. That title was more familiar than Third Princess in the game. A princess who lost in the struggle for the throne and fell from grace. Around this time, she should be building her power. Could it be…

‘Does she want to recruit Professor Olivier to her side?’

Was that why she applied to this bottom-ranked department instead of Elemental Studies or Creation Magic? If that was her reason… uh oh.

‘All I can do is wish her luck.’