<792 – How to Prevent the Professors from Going Dark (3)>
The female students, who were extremely worried about Oknodie, smiled warmly when they received the invitation to a social gathering hosted by Oknodie.
“It looks like Oknodie has finally shaken off her sadness. I mean, pretending to be an adult and sending out invitations like this? Isn’t that just adorable?”
“Thanks to Countess Arcadia being a role model as usual. All I did was whip up some cheerful dishes and give her a comforting massage.”
“I only gave her the elixir of blooming energy, which is a treasure of the Red Magic Tower. Sure, someone with low mana might feel burning pain when consuming it, but for someone like Oknodie with exceptional mana control at the professor level, it’s probably just a snack, right?”
Everyone felt a bit sad for not having done enough for Oknodie and exchanged motivating comments about wanting to provide her with more substantial help.
At that moment, Oknodie, eavesdropping secretly, panicked and jumped out from under the tablecloth.
“That’s more than enough! What I’ve received so far is totally sufficient! Please stop doing anything more!”
“Oh my. Oknodie, how could you come out from a dusty floor like that?”
“April cleaned in the morning!”
“Hmph, it’s not just about cleanliness; it’s about your behavior. You wouldn’t learn unless there’s some sharp pain involved. Come here. I’ll give you a smack!”
“Waaah, let go!”
Arcadia scolded me while gripping me tightly with an unusually harsh touch and giving my rear a slap-slap as if she were filled with vigor.
Just walking made me feel sore, so getting hit on the rear made me let out a scream without thinking.
“I hate you, Arcadia!”
“Hmph, this is all Oknodie’s fault for not behaving properly. If you don’t act nicer in front of everyone from now on, I might just rip off your skirt and smack you again.”
“Eeeek!”
I felt a mix of sadness and a bit of anger at Arcadia’s surprisingly stern demeanor, but as I locked eyes with her, I captured the deeper thoughts behind her gaze.
– Oknodie is the heir of the Foundation. The heir of an organization feared by the entire world.
– How many people and organizations, fueled by resentment against the Foundation, would want to take revenge on Oknodie? It must be frighteningly many.
– A line must be drawn. This child is a good one. Even though she was positioned as the heir of the Foundation, I must proudly show that she is actually this good, and create a public sentiment that would turn any attempts to attack Oknodie into an issue.
– Otherwise… next time, it may be Oknodie’s turn to be targeted as an enemy of the world.
– I can never forgive that kind of situation. Even if it means being hated by Oknodie, I will definitely stop it with my own hands, with our hands.
It wasn’t just Arcadia.
In the determined glow of my gazes with the other classmates and female students, I could see firm resolve reflected in their eyes.
As we nodded gently to each other, my earlier frustration from these few days dissipated.
After all, it was to help me, not just anyone else.
With that reason, I could understand their actions.
“I’m sorry for scolding you so harshly. As an apology, I’ll give you my favorite elephant teapot that sprays water from its trunk when I pat your head.”
“Wow, a rare collection!”
“I knew the Kingdom of Florence was a country that mindlessly chased trends, but I didn’t expect even such a trendless teapot to exist?”
It must’ve been quite an unusual magical tool, as the usually nonchalant Isabel looked utterly flabbergasted.
“What? Such an unpleasant teapot could never be trending.”
“Then why do you cherish such a teapot that has never been trending? That’s a bit…”
“It looks unpleasant.”
Rosgini, with her fiery temperament, easily brushed away Isabel’s attempt to diplomatically express herself.
“Ha-hah! I totally agree. It looks like complete trash!”
“I didn’t say it looked like that!”
“Well, it’s fine. I’m aware that it’s a strange item. When I made that, there was quite a buzz about stories involving the giant monster elephants of the Eastern Continent and the lamp’s fairy.”
“Isn’t that a monster though?”
At Hestia’s puzzled question, Arcadia let out a dry chuckle.
“You’re right. I thought about making a magical tool by combining the two, but after making a prototype, I found that a dark-corrupted elephant had stomped hundreds of people to death and was consequently eradicated. Now, the tool that looked like a tool of evil magic has become part of my personal collection.”
“I know! That’s called a cursed item, right?”
“Please don’t refer to it like that; it stings a bit.”
Dorothy, the apprentice Forest Guardian, made a light comment that hit hard.
“There are many useless items in the North too — a stuffed bear of a deceased child, a half-knitted scarf of a dead old woman, the weapons left by fallen hunters. Still, during harsh winters, they can serve as valuable firewood or war supplies. Every item invariably has its unexpected use.”
Irene’s words, meant to be uplifting, brought forth a cold and gloomy silence fitting the Northern Grand Duchess’s name.
An unvoiced glare filled with “You must be incredibly oblivious” got lost wandering around, unable to land on Irene, who was the second strongest after Ishtar in this room.
“So, Oknodie, why did you gather us today? Even if it’s a friendly gathering, something incredible always seems to await when you bring everyone together!”
Breaking the ice-like atmosphere of winter streams was Titosso, who seemed to be enjoying tormenting me by not joining in with everyone.
“There’s an event I want to introduce!”
“Oh, really~?”
“The event of taming the professors remaining in the Goblin World.”
Taming the professors.
When everyone heard that bizarre combination of words, they produced strange sounds like “Ue?,” “Uung?,” and “Eung?” like a computer experiencing a bug.
“What on earth does that even mean? How are you supposed to tame professors? Are you serious?”
“Just like a drowning person would grab onto anything, I’m sure professors would want to cling to their students when in dire straits, right?”
The professors were indeed in a very special situation.
The Goblin World where the Warrior ran rampant.
The professors, having indulged in their mischief to return to the Middle Realm, faced the wrath of the furious Warrior, who was now wreaking havoc.
Some professors who had allied with the Foundation after escaping were completely annihilated by Warrior Ishtar.
The remaining professors were in desperate need of any help.
“Because of the chaotic dimensional connections from the last war, the distance to each dimension and calculations for dimension connections have drastically changed. Now, only the Foundation, the principal, or myself know the absolute dimensional coordinates to save the professors!”
Isabel whispered in a serious tone while poking Rosgini in the waist.
Of course, I heard the whole thing because the
“While the Foundation did pass some precious information to Oknodie, do you think they shared this kind of intel? Given the current situation, it’s quite a stretch.”
“It wouldn’t be information to share before the Foundation Workshop Battle. If there was a suitable timing, it would have been once Oknodie has grown into an amazing adult who has faced a confrontation… once the outcome was clear, that would be the right moment.”
“…So Oknodie is currently sharing Papa’s last wishes and gifts with us?”
Huh?
Did I ever hear such amazing last words?
I’m pretty sure I have no concrete memory of that…
But surprisingly, there are some aspects I can guess.
Among the memories tossed and turned chaotically when we engaged in the final close-quarters combat with Foundation Papa, I vaguely remembered some of the professors being included.
Had Foundation Papa not shown the truly frightening professors, even the future me would have flinched at the sight!
The lack of detail was likely because Foundation Papa couldn’t help but be in his first playthrough.
“Look, it seems Oknodie has been eavesdropping on our conversation.”
“Seems like she caught on.”
“As expected… even the Chairman doesn’t want to be a hindrance to his daughter even at the end.”
Everyone seemed to be misunderstanding something, but I wouldn’t mind if they came to conclusions like that.
Though I initially intended to roll around full of vengeance for the smacking, seeing everyone worry about me eased my anger just a little, and I decided to lower the stakes a bit.
“To rescue the professors, we need to sway the hearts of both the Goblin Warrior and the professors, but while it’s one thing to deal with the warrior, I’ll share the secret to convincing the professors for you!”
“For example?”
“Getting the rights to raid the vacant professors’ research labs and promising to meet the minimum required student numbers for course enrollment. Just one of those should be enough to get them to come along, right?”
Any professors abandoned at the academy would surely not miss such an opportunity to gather their benefits or an extended chance at their professorship.
“Just asking for reference, what kind of lectures are the ones we need to attend?”
Ishtar keenly tapped into the warrior’s sharp insight.
“Uh, um… Professor Demonika’s [Enjoyable Tours] lecture?”
“Based on my experience, those kinds of half-baked lectures designed to appeal to Duke Andersen are usually traps waiting to happen. Let’s persuade them using the first method.”
Cheh, dodging that one!
“But what’s the reason we need to rescue those professors who bully us? If we just let them go, wouldn’t the number of troublesome professors drop, and our academy life would turn happy?”
“Huh? True?”
“Sigh. You all really don’t understand, do you? The world is vast, and there are plenty of strong candidates who’d gladly accept offers for professorships.”
“For instance?”
“Blood Guest living up on the peak of the Dragon Master? Or a crazed nobleman Michael who shows up out of nowhere with a knife claiming it’s Harvest Day after students become strong enough to graduate? Or the giant Giganthous who once tried to revive the primordial giant, but got hit with reality after using all its resources?”
Within the students’ minds arose images of terrifying, infamous candidates for evil professors — infamous not for their renown, but because they had butchered the majority of witnesses.
The imagined monstrous candidates for evil professor would carry out practical assaults while testing their mana coagulation under giant standards or causes chaos due to their excellent or terrible grades.
“There’s a saying that old dogs are wise.”
“The grace of a mentor is like the sky; we shouldn’t let our sky fall apart.”
“Wouldn’t a known professor be a safer bet than an unknown one?”
The persuasion turned out to be a roaring success.
