Chapter 33: The Knight Hates Magic Freaks (1)
All instructors who were working at the Academy were swarmed with work. Not only did they need to prepare for their classes, they also had a lot of documents to submit; from lesson plans, budgeting to work-related reports.
They even had to send letters of understanding to instructors of other subjects to make their classes sail smoothly in the future. While some might say that there was no point of doing this, majorities thought that these small courtesy rules were necessary so that they could form smooth relationships among them.
That was why the Academy instructors were usually stuck at their desks all day long.
However...
“Fuck! Damn it! Goddmanit!”
At a certain table, a man who wasn’t an instructor was sitting there, working on the paperworks instead of the actual instructor.
He was none other than Damien Paulet, Lee Han’s assistant for the next three years.
That gnoll-like instructor—!
As a noble young master, he lived a life far from such crude profanities, and yet after working on all these paperworks for over a week, profanities became the only thing he’d spit out of his mouth. It was understandable though, as it was clear how stressed and exhausted he was just by looking at the dark circle under his eyes.
In fact, he was so overworked that he didn’t even remember ever going back to his dorm for over a week.
Dormitory? There’s no such thing in the Academy—!
He couldn’t help but spit out such nonsense.
Not too long ago, he used to live in the dormitory, but these days, he found himself using the faculty lounge more often.
Was he really that busy to the point that he didn’t have time to go back to his dormitory? The answer was yes, and there was nothing he could do about it.
During the day, he had to attend his elective classes and compulsory classes in addition to attending the Swordsmanship Department’s classes. Then, after the classes, he had to assist the instructor, but that wasn’t all.
-You have to train too, why are you pretending that it’s someone else’s business?
The instructor tormented him under the pretext of training him, even though he was already being kicked and beaten like a ball enough already. Because of that, not only did he have to help him with his duty after the classes were over, he also had to train together with that dreaded instructor.
-The hell? I have to do all this? Assistant, do it.
He remembered what the instructor said before shoving all these documents into his face.
Of course, he thought about rejecting it back then, but the moment he met the instructor’s eyes, he had a feeling that the detestable man would actually kill him if he didn’t accept it, so he could only nod his head obediently.
And just like that, he became the sole person who worked on all the instructor’s paperworks. That was also when he decided that it would be a waste of time to go back to the dorm, and instead he should just use that time to do his school assignments.
At some point, he started living in the faculty lounge. Correction, he became something similar to a vengeful spirit that haunted the faculty lounge.
At first, some people were surprised by this, but nowadays, barely anyone paid much attention to him.
“Wow, that Swordsmanship Department’s instructor is amazing. To think he already got an ‘assistant’.”
“Hehehe, I’ve seen this kind of sight every year, but I still can’t get used to it. When will that assistant drop out, I wonder?”
“I’ll bet that he’ll disappear within this semester.”
Hearing that the sight of an assistant overworking himself in the faculty lounge was a familiar sight to all the instructors...
Damien involuntarily shivered.
From what he heard, there were a lot of his seniors who had successfully escaped (dropped out) from being an assistant, but that wasn’t a feasible path for him. After all, he was a contract slave—or rather, he was contractually obligated to become that man’s assistant for three years.
“Dammit...”
Damien’s eyes became moist as he let out another profanity.
**** * ****“Why did Damien Paulet become like that?”
A certain cadet with gray hair blinked as he secretly observed the faculty office.
He reacted this way because this development wasn’t in the ‘planned Chapter’.
Damien Paulet wasn’t supposed to be like that.
“Why is he working as an assistant instead of becoming Irene Windler’s follower?”
The gray-haired student murmured.
Something’s wrong, this isn’t how the story is supposed to go.
There’s something that’s twisting the story.
“But how? Where did it go wrong...?”
The gray-haired cadet continued to ponder and...
“Cadet, what are you doing there?”
“P-Pardon?!”
“...You keep talking to yourself, is there something wrong?”
“N-No...”
“Are you sure? Oh, I know! Are you here because you’re interested in becoming an assistant? If that’s the case, I recommend you to become an assistant in our History Department! It’s a rewarding department with new things to study every year!”
“N-No I-I...”
“No need to be shy, let’s go! I’ll tell you great things about our History Department!”
“U-Uh...”
The gray-haired cadet—who seemed to have a communication disorder—was caught by a professor of the History Department who was so lively that one would mistake him for not being right in the head.
After that, the gray-haired cadet had to listen to ‘reasons why you should become an assistant in the History Department’ against his will for a full five hours.
**** * ****A week after the semester officially started.
For some, it might be a short period of time, but for some others, it was an incredibly intense time.
In that sense, Lee Han was confident that the week he spent in the Swordsmanship Department was more intense than any other department.
I never knew teaching kids was this hard.
He even began to respect the teachers who had taught him in his previous life, save for a few who weren’t even worthy to be called a teacher.
“...I swear, if I see just the bridge of their nose, I’d kill them all.”
“S-Sir Totle.”
“Yes?”
“...You’re saying your thoughts out loud.”
“...Ah.”
Only then did Lee Han remember that he was at a faculty meeting.
Some of the instructors looked at him with trembling eyes, maybe because they overheard his muttering.
...I’m definitely an outcast here.
Lee Han humbly admitted his mistake and let out a sigh. He didn’t mean to say it out loud. Because of that, he decided to make an excuse for himself.
“...I didn’t mean to kill, you know? I just thought that they were inhuman enough to kill...”
“I-I see.”
“I’m telling you the truth here.”
“I-I understand...”
“...”
No, you don’t...
**** * ****The fairly large conference room was packed with lecturers, professors, and instructors. A grand total of 112 people were attending the meeting.
If the dean who was giving a passionate speech was included in the count, the grand total would become 113 people.
“—Respected faculty members. Please accept my gratitude for your attendance here. It’s because of great talents like you that great students are produced, and great students are great treasures for the country. Oh, speaking of treasures, back when I was still in the ministry—”
The dean seemed to have entered a whole different world. He said that he was just going to greet the teachers, but he’d been doing that for an hour already.
I swear he said all this just a moment ago...
Feeling a strange feeling of deja vu, Lee Han tried to ignore the dean’s words and turned his gaze to the faculty member who had spoken to him just now.
“Um, is this how the meetings usually are?”
“...Pretty much. We just listen to what the dean has to say. Well, it’s more comfortable to take any suggestions that we have to the deputy deans instead of bringing it up here, so yeah.”
Even though the faculty member, whose name Lee Han still doesn’t know, still looked terrified, fortunately, he was a person of good character who still answered his question sincerely.
“Then can I just leave?”
“Uh, if you’re a professor, sure. Actually, you don’t even have to come since you’d be busy with your research and the dean will probably understand your situation, but if you don’t... Let’s say that it’s best for you to stay...for your own sake as well...”
“Why?”
“The dean is the former prime minister and he’s still quite active...”
“...Ah.”
That revelation was enough for Lee Han to understand.
No crazy person would dare to offend one of the top five most powerful figures in the kingdom.
Actually, no, there was indeed a crazy person who had offended him back during the entrance ceremony.
Me...
Oh no...
“Haha, don’t worry too much. The dean doesn’t really care about such trivial things.”
“...Even though I threw a whole podium at someone?”
“...I don’t know how to say this, but... You see, every three years such an incident always happens. What you did was just something that happens from time to time...”
“...”
...So, some of my predecessors were troublemakers, huh?
A warm smile naturally formed on Lee Han’s face along with a sense of inexplicable kinship. He once again realized that throwing something when one was angry was like universal law.
I’m not the only person who did that!
“...But please be careful next time. I am the one who had to remake the podium, you know?”
“Oh, is that so? Thank you... Um, may I know your name?”
“My name is Hans Schmidt. I’m an instructor in the Metallurgy Department, as well as the head of the Metallurgy Guild.”
“Wow, so you’re a big shot.”
“Haha, please, it’s nothing special.”
If that’s nothing special, then what is?
Even though Hans was a common name, this man definitely wasn’t one that he should look down upon. If his claim about him being the head of the Metallurgy Guild was true, then he was at the very least a top-tier craftsman. As someone who used edged tools, he was someone who Lee Han needed to establish a connection with.
Seriously, the Academy’s quite fun.
To think the person sitting next to me is a top-tier blacksmith, crazy.
It’s like finding out that my coworker is actually THE Jang Yeongsil himself.
Lee Han let out a faint laugh at this situation.
“If that’s the case, do you know of any decent glass craftsman? I kinda need sturdy dishes since the ones at my home keep on breaking these days.”
“...You’re quite a unique person. Whenever I meet a knight, they’d always ask me to make them swords first.”
“A sword is just a sword, as long as it’s good and strong, that’s all that matters. I’d only feel bad if I lost or broke something expensive.”
“...You’re really a unique person, haha.”
Hans found Lee Han different from those noisy people who always asked him for a sword as if they had entrusted him with an honorable and glorious work as they did so.
Because of that, his first impression of Lee Han was quite good. This also made him think that the man wasn’t as violent as he first thought.
“So, can you introduce me to a glass craftsman, please?”
“...Only if you buy me a meal later.”
“Deal.”
They then bumped their fists lightly.
That marked Lee Han’s success in making a connection with him.
At that moment...
“By the way, Instructor Hans, I’m wondering about something. Can I ask you about it?”
“Of course.”
“So, there’s someone who’s been glaring at me for a while. Who is that?”
Lee Han asked politely with a smile on his face.
At this, Hans let out a bitter smile.
Which meant, he knew the identity of the guy Lee Han was pointing at.
“...Hmm. May I ask if you’ve ever offended that person?”
“Nope. This is the first time I’ve seen them.”
“...In that case, it would be better for you to avoid that person.”
“Why?”
“Because that person is...”
And so, Hans explained everything to him.
“...I see.”
As soon as he finished his explanation, a cold sneer appeared on Lee Han’s lips, in which he hid it by pretending to cover his nose with one hand.
So that’s why I kept smelling a nauseating stench coming from nearby...
This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.
Pfft.
To think there’s a magic freak around...
Footnotes
1. Jang Yeongsil was a Korean mechanical engineer, astronomer, scientist and inventor who lived in the Joseon Era. He invented various things in Joseon back then, such as the first rain gauge in Korea and the first water gauge in the world. He's considered as the greatest scientist of Joseon.