<50 - The Story of Professors>
Even the monk Myung So, who wanted to keep an eye on every move of Oknodie, faced an unavoidable trial.
“During lecture time, I must focus on lecturing, so I can’t continue watching!”
What kind of trouble would Oknodie cause during the lecture?
_sweatdrop_
I was as anxious as a child left by the water’s edge.
If they were little monks, I could scold them harshly, but Oknodie wasn’t even one of them.
I could only pray she wouldn’t stray off course.
As soon as the lecture ended, Myung So immediately searched the enrollment records linked to the professor’s magic watch.
[Oknodie's Enrollment Records]
<①Monday, 2nd Period - Developing Insight (Adventure Department, Bronze the Estrada)>
“Whoa.”
This was a big deal.
Oknodie, who was already marked as a thief, attending the empire’s number one thief lecture?
Is this what a fateful encounter looks like?
Is it like strapping a booster to a child who was already flying?
Adding the divine skills of Professor Estrada, a rogue, I was already worried about how much closer Oknodie would get to being a thief; the child’s future already concerned me.
“I must go and have a word with her directly.”
For Oknodie’s future, this had to be stopped.
‘Professor Estrada isn’t someone with a big desire for students, so if I speak nicely, she should understand.’
It was obvious where she would be after her lecture.
Having certainly caught the eye of the empire-native professors, she wouldn’t be socializing with other professors.
Nine times out of ten, she would be holed up in her assigned professorial research room.
“Professor Estrada, are you there?”
Unlike the haughty female professors of the empire, who wafted fragrant perfume, there was no trace of such scent in Professor Estrada’s research room.
Colorless and odorless.
Given her elusive nature as a rogue, it was so quiet one might wonder if anyone was actually there.
“Wasn’t the door open? I know you’re in there, so just take a moment to speak with me. I’ve come to request a consultation regarding a student.”
“Annoying, aren’t you? I’m only responding because you’re not a professor from Central.”
_clack._
_drdrdrdr._
_kugukung!_
The sounds of machinery whirring echoed loudly from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the research room.
…What on earth did this person do in her research lab?
Like how one should avoid quarreling in a wizard’s workshop, there should probably be a saying warning against stepping into a rogue’s research room carelessly.
“Did you install contraptions to defend against thieves?”
“That’s not incorrect. I set up this Great Empire Professor interception device so that the thieves boasting imperial salaries can’t set foot in here.”
“…Isn’t that a bit extreme?”
As the floor parted, revealing a hidden staircase, she retorted.
“Is the busy professor from the Eastern Region here to worry about my relationships?”
“Not at all. As I mentioned earlier, I came to consult regarding a student.”
“Is there a student with bad habits? Just to be clear, I’m not interested in common pickpockets or petty criminals.”
Though I was clearly climbing the stairs, I couldn’t hear a single footstep from the female professor.
Something she’d been holding in her hand vanished _whoosh_.
‘…memorization?’
It took me a moment to realize because of her voluptuous figure straining against her dress shirt.
Maybe to become a great rogue, possessing an attractive bosom is a required trait.
‘Goodness. Myung So, how rude of you to think such things.’
Embarrassed by my less-than-monastic thoughts, I found myself face-to-face with Professor Estrada, who had ascended the stairs and was looking at me sideways.
“Indeed, you recover quickly from fascination, just as befits a monk. You’re certainly unlike the common novices.”
“Did you do something like that to your fellow professors?”
“I was curious about the effects of the lecture [Basics of Mana Flow Techniques through Meditation]. The effects are undoubtedly evident.”
The smile on her face radiated warmth like a benevolent Saint, suggesting that beauty is indeed a necessary condition for a rogue.
Thinking that a prolonged conversation might only make me look foolish, Myung So got to the point quickly.
“Do you remember Oknodie, who enrolled in the lecture this morning?”
“She was an excellent student.”
“Oknodie is a scholarship student dispatched by the foundation. However, unlike before, when the foundation kept the identity of scholarship students a top secret, this time they openly revealed her support.”
“That’s strange.”
No professor is unaware of the foundation.
Many have fallen victim to their infamous reputation.
Bronze the Estrada.
The rogue who turned the Holy Central Empire upside down assessed them like this.
“The student thieves are blatantly revealing trap cards.”
“Clearly a first.”
“Typically, only talents with stunted growth would reveal their identities, so the foundation doesn’t know the child’s true value?”
“The foundation’s policy may have shifted. Oknodie’s individual excellence is also quite remarkable.”
“And that’s why you’ve been monitoring her closely.”
“Correct.”
“And what exactly does that consultation entail?”
“If the child’s future becomes unstable, the foundation’s influence will grow stronger. The principal and I plan to guide the child away from the foundation’s grip.”
“And how is that connected to you?”
“Please cancel Oknodie’s enrollment.”
Professor Estrada crossed her arms, seeming amused.
Her arms gathered in a way that emphasized her shapeliness, but Myung So, now fortified mentally, didn’t even glance at her.
“Does it displeasure you that the child learns from a rogue?”
“She’s already a high-risk child. During her preparatory period, she has been roaming around the guard post, the dormitory supervisor’s room, and the outer walls of the dormitory like they were her home. No one noticed except me, her secret observer.”
“Oh.”
“An impressive talent who can maneuver that much without learning techniques will only flourish further when she learns specialized skills in a lecture.”
“Indeed. She’s already set unprecedented records from her first lecture.”
“That’s the problem.”
Myung So was worried about the future.
“If the child becomes a rogue expert under your guidance, she will traverse places she shouldn’t enter, which will ruin her social reputation.”
“Fabulous? Sister, I’m doomed?”
“…She will become a public enemy of the empire, just like you were once. Do you intend to lead this innocent child down the same path?”
“You’re speaking hurtfully.”
“Please understand. If the foundation extends a hand to a child with nowhere to go, how could they refuse? An unstable reputation would be fatal for the child’s future.”
I understood her point.
What a principled person.
Professor Estrada thought that professors from the Eastern Region were indeed different from the rotten ones of the Empire.
If I carelessly deceived such a person and sent her away, the aftertaste would be bitter.
She said,
“There are magic detectors in the guard post and the dormitory supervisor’s room to prevent unauthorized entry. If she wasn’t caught, she instinctively avoided them.”
“?”
“That child, endowed with such talent, wouldn’t stop thievery just because she wasn’t receiving my education?”
“On that front, I—”
“Lectures. You’re busy, right?”
“…That.”
“You can’t watch every move of that child 24-7. As a professor at the academy, that’s not desirable behavior either. I doubt the principal would expect that either.”
She tossed her silk hat aside, sweeping her flowing hair back with a bold gesture.
Beyond that confident movement, her amber eyes sparkled with a playful smile like a predator considering how to catch its prey.
The charm of someone captivating even without charm arrested Myung So’s attention.
“If the principal made an agreement with me…”
“An agreement… you say?”
“If a typically underprivileged rogue with the potential to steal the empire emerges, I’m allowed to take her as my disciple. No matter her background or status, if I gain her consent, it’s certain.”
“Whoa. The principal made a ridiculous promise. Is it an oath?”
“Of course.”
An oath must be upheld at all costs.
Breaking such a promise would lower one’s status.
The transcendent Dragon had made an oath stating, “I will wipe any nation from the map that interferes with my duties as academy head,” and nine hundred years ago, a nation really did vanish.
This was a continuation of the Dragon’s whim.
Many institutions and organizations on the continent treated the academy with an ambiguous approach for this reason.
“If the child can’t avoid her fate of becoming a thief, then at least learning under a rogue is the better path for her future. Being a rogue isn’t such a bad profession either.”
“Is it because they learn morality that it’s not just any ordinary thief?”
“The income is good.”
“…….”
“In the future, she won’t have to worry about making a living.”
“Professor.”
“Do you think I’m joking? I’m speaking quite seriously. Most of the world’s problems arise from a lack of money. If she had money, she wouldn’t have to rely on the foundation.”
Myung So hoped that this woman was joking, but no matter how one looked at it, she seemed to be entirely sincere.
“Oknodie, I will take responsibility for raising you as the continent’s leading rogue.”
What was supposed to be a simple request to cancel her enrollment turned into an unanticipated escalation—like going to remove a thorn only to end up carrying back a beehive.
