EDPEN 26

Chapter 26.

“So then, what kind of student is the imperial princess?”

When Ruin showed interest in the imperial princess, the teaching assistant spoke cautiously.

“She might try to harm you, Professor.”

Since it concerned him directly, Ruin grew curious.

“What do you mean?”

Why would a student harm a professor?

“Right now, all the heirs to the throne are gathered at Haven, and the First Prince has always taken the Head Professor as his mentor.”

Ah. So she might try to keep her older brother—who’s competing for succession—in check?
He had indeed heard about it. That the Union imperial family, their rival nation, was currently locked in fierce political infighting over the throne. And that the heirs were fighting to secure better ‘advisors.’

‘Well, during succession season, Pride gets busy too.’

Decades ago, Ruin himself had gone through quite an ordeal, carrying out an unprecedented political maneuver that swayed the Union Emperor’s heart and changed the designated heir.

Ruin’s eyes burned.

‘If they hadn’t given me a double bonus back then, I really would’ve quit.’

「The bonus isn’t the issue—it’s more amazing that you pulled it off at all…」

Looking at the history books, the heir Ruin had replaced went on to inherit the throne admirably.
Of course, he hadn’t expected all of the current generation of heirs to be gathered at Haven.

“I’m not the Head Professor, so it doesn’t concern me.”
“No. You hospitalized Professor Charlie of all people, so the rumors must have already reached her ears.”

…Charlie. He must have been a surprisingly great hero?

「Didn’t know? He’s strong. It’s just that you’re absurdly strong for beating him senseless.」

Tch. Looks like I ended up doing something more conspicuous than expected, all because of retirement pay.

Lily spoke worriedly.

“On top of that, there haven’t been any ‘upper-tier heroes’ produced lately.”

Ah. Haven is an academy for cultivating talent, so performance matters.

“Well, to be honest, what the Chairman and the President really want is a special-grade hero.”

For reference, only someone on the level of a Hero or the President qualifies as special-grade.

‘So roughly SS-rank, I guess.’

That was why Ruin was dumbfounded.

“Special-grade is rare even among veteran heroes. There’s no way one would come from students. Even producing an upper-tier hero is already impressive.”

No exaggeration—upper-tier heroes were truly exceptional. Even outside of students, an upper-tier hero was invincible on the battlefield.

“But Firefly is special-grade!”

Please, just leave that one alone.

Ruin sighed and poured coffee into his teacup.

“Producing a special-grade is impossible even for a special-grade professor.”
“But I feel like Professor Ruins could do it.”
“Are you joking?”

Ruin avoided Lily’s sparkling gaze.

‘Well, it has nothing to do with me, but it’s an important issue for Pride.’

“Anyway, be careful of Her Highness the Imperial Princess. She won’t leave alone the professor who broke her magic.”
“Oh, did she say she’s looking for the mark?”
“Yes. She probably won’t be able to remove even the bandages of the Wayne family’s young master, but…”

It seemed the teaching assistant thought the princess’s mark was on Ruin’s face.
No—right now, all the professors thought that way. Yes, proof that he had broken the imperial crest.

That’s why the professors who disliked Ruins seemed to have tattled to the imperial princess…

‘There was never anything like that to begin with.’

Ruin calmly took a sip of milk tea.

The imperial princess, Karin Winberg, was in a foul mood. She had heard some outrageous news during her mission.

“Your Highness. The professor for Demon Hunting Studies has been appointed.”
“The professor who won’t even last a week? You don’t need to report such things one by one—”
“No, this time it’s real! He broke Your Highness’s magic and subdued the entire third-year Goldmoon class!”

What? He broke that magic?

“Hah. Instead of changing themselves, they’re obsessed with punishing students. Did they finally hire an imperial mage?”
“N-no. Apparently he broke it alone, without any consultation.”

What did you say? He broke it alone?

A cold chuckle escaped the princess’s lips.

“Is he stupid, or just incredibly bold? Then the mark magic must have been engraved. Execute that professor immediately for lèse-majesté—”
“A-ah. No. There was no mark!”

What? How is that possible?

That was precisely why even the Chairman and the President had no choice but to stand by.

“He even seems to have physically punished the students on the rooftop. The Goldmoon students reportedly tremble whenever they see the professor…”

Frost gathered in the princess’s icy gaze.

So that’s it. He threatened the children and learned how to解除 it, didn’t he? There’s no way he broke it with skill.

“Suspend the mission for now. I’m returning to Haven.”
“Your Highness?!”

Thus, the imperial princess returned to Haven. First, she had to find out what kind of threat Ruins had used against him.

She immediately went to find the third-year Goldmoon students she had entrusted as ‘gatekeepers,’ but…

“Yah!”
“Hah!”
“Yah!”
“?”

A strange sight unfolded before her eyes.

The students were hanging from trees like they were performing acrobatics, trying to snatch something—

“Hah!”

This time, they were digging into the ground and popping up like moles—

“Yah!”

They were even swinging fishing rods nonstop in a place without water.

So bizarre that students, soldiers, and even a general passing through a military facility could only stare in confusion.

‘…What on earth are they doing?’

What’s more, they were all refined third-year Goldmoon students. People who were far removed from all-nighters now had hollow eyes, cursing someone under their breath.

“Is that professor insane?!”
“How many kinds of magic does he even use?!”
“I thought he was a healing professor!”
“Is it true he doesn’t even have tinnitus?!”

Yes. They were trying to remove Ruins’s bandages under his ‘expulsion order.’

They targeted him when he was reading, when he went to work, when he ate, even when he went to the bathroom.

But—

“You idiots have no learning ability.”
“Aaagh!”

They were the ones who got hit instead.

That wasn’t all.

“Ah—w-who the hell moved that thing here?!”

Slosh!

Some lunatic had dragged over a rooftop-sized water tank using telekinesis, then mercilessly tried to dump it on someone—

“You waste mana in a novel way.”

Bang!

“Kyaaaah!”

…Instead of dumping it, they rolled down the mountainside together. Ruin, who was walking while reading a book, had kicked it.

“You think you can catch Firefly with something like this?”
“Profe—aaagh!”

The professor, who had kicked a student from behind, flipped through Healing Studies: Agonizing Treatment Methods and said,

“Remember this. Immobilization magic becomes useless the moment the caster’s concentration breaks. And the larger the object, the greater the concentration required.”
“Profeessooor! Kyaaaah!”
“That’s why immobilization magic is meant for small objects, not large ones.”
“I—I’m falling! There’s a cliff! Please grab me!”
“Climb up yourself, you idiots.”
“Kyaaaah!”

The professor ignored the falling students and walked on.

Angered by this, they even hired upper-year students from the assassination class.

They rained concealed weapons from the sky—enough to shred the professor’s clothes to pieces—but—

“Even a good weapon is useless if the user is a moron.”
“…Huh?! An illusion?”

Bang!

The assassination students were grabbed by the back of the head and slammed into the ground. They foamed at the mouth, suffering injuries that would keep them unconscious for a month.

Ruin brushed dust off his suit jacket in disgust.

“What do you take other people’s clothes for, anyway.”

It seemed he was angrier about nearly ruining his clothes than about being ambushed.

Spotless, Ruin walked on while reading his healing textbook.

The students could only stare at the sight in a daze. Honestly, they wondered if the Union even had a professor like that.

The problem was…

‘We’re saying we want to learn, so why does he keep replacing classes with games of tag?!’

Even after the top students put their heads together and set a total of nine traps, they finally managed to remove the bandages—only to find…

“There are more bandages inside the bandages! How many layers does he even have?!”
“…I managed to remove five.”
“…Only five? I got to eighteen.”
“……”

Is he even human?!

At that point, the third-year Goldmoon students began tearing at their hair. They neglected assignments from other classes and devoted themselves entirely to catching the professor.

They had no choice.

“Understand this. If the three ringleaders fail to see my face, the entire third-year Goldmoon class will be expelled. I’ll overlook cooperation, though.”

“Damn it. At this rate, we’re definitely getting expelled!”
“This is all your fault!”
“Ha… we’re doomed. We might really get expelled—huh?! Your Highness?!”

The imperial princess, who had come to find the third-years, had her eyes gleaming for a different reason.

‘Expulsion?’

Could it be that threatening them to undo the magic wasn’t enough, and now he was even threatening expulsion?

The third-year Goldmoon students, startled, approached the silver-haired beauty.

“Your Highness. Have you already finished your mission?”
“What about the Demon Hunting Studies professor?”
“He hasn’t come yet—huh?! A Hound!”

The students recoiled in shock at the knight standing beside the princess.

The ‘Hound,’ draped in a red cloak, was the imperial family’s guillotine, loyal only to the throne. His main duty was purges.

And why would such an executioner be here…?

‘Are they planning to deal with Professor Ruins?!’

At that moment, crisp footsteps echoed across the marble floor.

“I didn’t hear that a fourth-year had already returned from their mission.”

“!”

Everyone was startled by the voice. The frozen gazes that had been fixed on the executioner slowly turned.

Yes. That polite yet characteristically insolent tone—could it be?

Sure enough, Professor Ruins was smiling thinly at the imperial princess.

“Ah, pardon me. Since you’re being treated as a grade-skipping student and attending upperclass courses, I should have treated you as an upperclassman. Did you run away from your mission?”

Profeessooor!

The teaching assistant Lily beside him looked like her soul had already left her body. Truly something only a Wayne could do.

In the end, the Hound tried to step forward, but the princess stopped him and looked at Ruin as if dumbfounded.

‘So this is that professor?’

A black suit draped over broad shoulders, black shirt, black gloves, black coat, with a necktie pin glinting as an accent. A professor like a crow.

Tall and imposing—though the intimidation seemed to come from the bandages. At a glance, he looked like an ordinary man.

And my magic lost to someone like this?

The princess narrowed her eyes.

“Professor Wayne, could you spare a moment?”
“Unfortunately, my next class is right after this. Please make an appointment outside of class hours. For reference, the earliest available slot is a month from now.”

…Is this professor messing with me?

“It will only take a moment.”
“Your Highness is interfering with the students’ right to education. Is it a lack of patience?”

Lily screamed internally once more.

Professor! That’s Her Highness the Imperial Princess!

The princess let out a scornful laugh.

She had heard that his mouth was not just alive but flapping like a fish—so it was true. Was he deliberately provoking her, afraid the mark on his face might be discovered? Trying to make her angry so she’d stop dealing with him?

Certain that there was a mark, the princess brushed back her silvery hair, gleaming like silk.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with the next class. Please spare a little time.”

Ruin, who had taken out his pocket watch, sighed.

“I’ll give you five minutes.”

What? Five minutes?

The princess was taken aback.

“…I believe the class starts in thirty minutes?”
“Three minutes.”

…You bastard, that’s not even enough time for tea.

The princess restrained herself from pressing her brow.

“About ten minutes—”
“One minute.”
“……”

She tried to negotiate, but the time only shrank further, leaving her speechless. She could roughly see what kind of personality this professor had.

“Fine. Five minutes.”
“I’m timing it.”

Click. Ruin snapped his pocket watch shut.

The teaching assistant looked at him as if to ask whether this was really okay, but Ruin didn’t care and turned away.

Ruin strode into the lecture hall first. The princess followed, and the students erupted.

“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Is she having a meeting with the imperial princess?”

Of course it caused an uproar. He had broken the magic that the imperial princess had deliberately crafted and taken the Head Professor’s position.

“Whoa, it’s the ringleader versus him!”

The ringleader that not even the Head Professor, the President, or the Chairman could touch!

And what kind of dormitory was ‘Goldmoon’?

—Goldmoon, the legacy of great rulers’ bloodlines.

A powerful dormitory that wielded ancestral power, a gathering place of Union’s elites. Among them, the imperial princess was a famous ‘Transcendent Candidate’ at Haven.

And she brought a Hound with her? That meant the princess had come fully prepared.

‘No way I’m missing this.’

When the students tried to sneak in to eavesdrop, a fountain pen flew through the air.

Crunch!

“Aaagh!”

The pen stabbed into the wall right next to a student’s ear. Ruins had thrown it—without even looking back. The students who collapsed nearly felt their hearts stop.

“Insane—does he have eyes in the back of his head?!”
“You can throw that like this?”

More importantly, is Ruins really okay?

“What if the mark gets exposed…!”
“At last, it’ll be revealed.”

The professors’ expectant gazes turned toward the Demon Hunting Studies lecture hall.