<837 – Simma (4)>
The Principal’s thoughts on appointing a new Foundation Faction Professor were clear as day.
[Why should I?]
A simple question: What makes you so good that I have to pick you and replace the other professors?
[The Foundation is like mildew that ruins my fun.]
[Betrayal is only entertaining the first couple of times. What’s the point of watching them stab each other in the back every time they get weak?]
[There’s no excitement in a future for humanity led by those boring, tedious ones.]
The Evil Dragon Omoshiroi, who lives off of excitement, said this. No excitement whatsoever.
This was the Principal’s most primal reason for opposing the Foundation.
Was the Foundation evil?
Did they kill people?
Did they disregard human life?
Not at all.
It was simply that they couldn’t quench his thirst, his desire for amusement; they were merely an obstacle.
“That’s true for your Foundation, right? But as an organization that cultivates excellent youngsters like me, isn’t the Foundation surprisingly useful?”
[Hmm… Is that so?]
“Look, butlers and maids are experts at raising young masters and mistresses, right?”
[So, you picked two and let dozens settle in.]
“What about those with nowhere to go? They’d work their tails off as professors, frightened they’d be kicked out and die if their student evaluations plummeted!”
[Hmm?]
The Principal showed some interest. A dragon is cunning, but a sufficiently strong dragon isn’t cunning—there’s no one strong enough to conceal their emotions from.
“In fact, the current appointment of the Foundation Faction’s new professors coincided with the reappointment of the academy’s professors. The low student evaluations are the root cause. There’s no way the same thing wouldn’t happen to the Foundation Faction professors! Although the methods are strict, the teachings will be undeniably excellent!”
[Yeah, it’s not like high humans would just slack off and collapse either. I see, makes sense.]
Right?
Caught up in the moment, Omoshiroi paused.
“But what’s this high human nonsense?”
[Don’t you put ‘high’ before those with power and long lives?]
“I see now!”
[You’re a high human too.]
“Wait, me?”
If it was high elf, I would have been all excited like, “Wow, a rare species!” But calling me a high human made me just feel like a polite person.
Honestly, not that pleased…
[Well, it’s all a mouthful for me anyway.]
“Are you going to eat me?”
[Not thinking about that yet. It’s too early.]
So you might eat me later?!
[You can go now. It’s okay to think of good outcomes.]
“Aah, please don’t eat me!”
The Principal just smiled enigmatically—oh, that one looks tasty—and kicked me out of the Principal’s Office.
*
The professors looked bewildered at the letter brought by the Principal’s minions.
“What is this?”
“It’s a reappointment review notice.”
They had received notices about preparations for deep-sea journeys just in case students sank into the ocean, and communications about accidentally using too much power and blowing up their labs, but a reappointment review notice was something they’d never seen before!
Trembling hands unfolded the notice, revealing that to keep their professorship, they had to pass a reappointment review.
“That’s ridiculous! When he brought us in, he was all for it!”
“Isn’t it cruel considering the academy has so many wicked ones? To catch humans being treated well and then this is what he says?”
“Where could be a better place to live than the academy? Why ask us to leave?”
The Gift Academy, a nightmare for students, was a paradise that professors enjoyed daily. With ample budget, enthusiastic students, and easy access to experts in various fields, there was no better environment for personal skill improvement and growth.
Some professors had settled in after discovering it was even better than they thought.
Especially the righteous professors mostly had no complaints about life at the academy. Meanwhile, morally corrupt professors couldn’t kill people or harass students into incompetence, so they were gloomy, but the righteous ones had no such desires at all—they were gentle professors who felt little inconvenience in everyday life.
‘What if we get kicked out of the Gift Academy… what happens to our lives?’
Professors painted scenarios in their minds.
In terms of money, they had plenty. Whether converting points into cash or exchanging them for faith in another god, there were numerous uses.
However, continuing their existing research and experiments would be tough. There would be no academy handing out budgets, and new academies or sponsors would likely provide much less support, with interference in experiments increasing.
Arguments with sponsors over profits from commercialized technology would be endless, and the replenishment of apprentices would be an even greater issue.
If the world’s most talented individuals were at the Gift Academy, outside were merely capable, mediocre talents. There would be lingering doubts about how problematic a professor would have to be to get kicked out.
“Mom, I don’t want to learn from that guy.”
“Really?”
“Our kid says no. Let’s filter him out.”
Only prodigies and wealthy students would turn their backs, while children of lesser nobles would randomly open the wild cards, going “Is this a copper card? This is iron card, ugh!”
If they just sat around waiting, they’d only compare themselves to the top-tier talents pouring in every year while continuing to feel inadequate!
“Professor, we’ve received reports that you illegally used experimental materials designated as prohibited substances in our kingdom.”
“Who made the report? Of course, I can’t disclose that. It seems your power crimes are at risk. Keep this up, and we’ll apply for your arrest warrant.”
Even the convenience of being backed by the academy would be gone, and those ‘small’ issues wouldn’t cease to exist.
In many ways, it was a series of bad news.
No matter how many flaws the Gift Academy had, they couldn’t compare to the advantages professors enjoyed!
Realizing this reality too late, the professors rushed en masse to the Principal and begged.
“Please just let it slide this time, Principal!”
“We were wrong!”
“We promise not to complain anymore about the faculty-exclusive cafeteria’s menu and we won’t send teaching assistants to gourmet spots across the continent!”
“I swear I won’t replace the materials I accidentally blew up during experiments while pretending students simply vanished!”
“I’ll never enchant the snot bubble hanging from the sleeping Principal’s nose to make it grow bigger, ever again!!”
Yet, the Principal’s eyes, which were somewhat lenient about the reappointment review, suddenly narrowed.
[It was you who used the shield magic?!]
In an instant, the seemingly calm Dragon Principal could not contain his rage and emitted an aura that radiated in all directions.
The earth trembled under his will, the air swirled, and a bolt of lightning struck down from a clear sky.
In the already mana-dense Gift Academy, the sheer amount of mana manifested in chaotic bursts of emotion, causing students to panic and look up at the sky, narrowly avoiding lightning thanks to teaching assistants who swiftly yanked them back.
At the same moment, all mana experiments underway failed due to abnormal phenomena, and in labs with high danger levels, mana or spells overheated or collapsed, exceeding set thresholds.
Boom! Crash! Fwoosh!
Smoke billowed from several labs as mana resonated with the Principal’s fury, refusing to subdue it, making rescue operations for students trapped under debris from collapsed labs far from easy.
Even the mana barriers of the Great Prison flickered ominously, yet any prisoner there would never dare to try escaping.
That fearsome wrath, the Dragon’s Spear, was far more terrifying.
[You cheeky little thing, playing pranks even I wouldn’t do!!]
“Please, save me, Principal!!”
The higher the rank of the professor, the more tense their expressions became.
Just moving emotions displayed one’s impact on the world around them.
Some beings could weave magic as effortlessly as breathing, drawing unbidden natural phenomena into existence.
They suddenly realized the Principal’s strength.
The righteous professors had now fallen out of favor with this absolute powerhouse.
[There will be strict reviews. Anyone who fails to meet the standards should never think of stepping foot in the Gift Academy!]
Finally, as the Principal’s fiery rage subsided, the dark clouds that had been slowly gathering seemed to whisper, “Aren’t we next?” before being swept away by the wind.
After the storm, in the chaotic campus, only one curious eyes stood out among those fixated on the professors’ reappointment confirmations: the charming yet mischievous-looking Oknodie, full of playfulness.
“Shield magic on the snot bubble…? The Principal is furious…? This is a weakness!!”
Oknodie had acquired valuable information!
