CHAPTER 43……………………………………………
. Parent–Teacher Conference (4)
There was one secret about Logan Eleanor that he had told neither His Grace the Grand Duke, nor Miss Lillian, nor even Sylvia.
“Logan, I’m really sorry….”
Recently, Logan Eleanor had been suffering humiliation at the Disherno Academy.
After class, in an empty hallway, two students were sniffling in front of him.
“I–I tried my best. Sniff.”
Logan looked at the student quietly and replied in a dry voice.
“No. It’s fine. If I had been better, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
And he truly meant it.
Logan had been placed on the same team as the two students in the recent group sparring assignment.
The problem was—
“St-still… Logan even took time to teach us.”
“In the end, we didn’t improve again and just held you back….”
The gap in skill between Logan and the two students was far too great.
For every group-graded assignment, the professors of the Swordsmanship Department paired Logan—almost as if on purpose—only with the lowest-performing students.
Of course, Logan had even gone so far as to teach them swordsmanship separately in an effort to improve their performance, but…
“Our team got an F again. If you’d been grouped with better students, Logan, you would’ve obviously gotten an A….”
They were right. The large score sheet posted on the hallway wall proved it.
[10/10 Logan Eleanor, Theo Paulo, Gillian Wood – F]
10th out of 10 teams. F.
“……”
Considering Logan’s brilliant talent—he had ranked first in every individual assignment—the grade was absurdly poor.
Most likely because of the incompetent teammates who failed to fulfill their roles properly.
However, Logan recalled Lillian Crimson’s words: There are no useless students.
Looking at his fidgeting teammates, Logan said quietly,
“Let’s increase our practice time. I’ll pay closer attention to your stances.”
“Logaaan….”
One of the students, whose eyes were already brimming with tears, finally burst into sobs.
Logan lightly patted the student’s shoulder.
On the outside, it looked like a kind gesture of comfort from a friend.
Inside, however, he was thinking:
If you have time to cry, you have time to practice.
Just as Logan was thinking with complete lack of empathy—
“Logan Eleanor?”
Someone called out to him from the end of the corridor.
“…Who are you?”
“My name is Audrey Anser. Perhaps you’ve heard of me.”
She was a female student pushing up her thick glasses, arms full of heavy books. On her thick cape was the large emblem of the Department of Magitech Engineering.
Logan dismissed the crying students first, then narrowed his eyes slightly.
Audrey Anser. He had heard that name somewhere before. It was—
Audrey added calmly,
“I’m also one of Professor Crimson’s students.”
Right. The student Miss Lillian had first admitted as top of the class.
“…Ah. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Now alone in the corridor, Logan quickly bowed deeply to Audrey.
Audrey waved her hand casually, brushing off his greeting.
“There’s no need to bow like that. We’re in different departments anyway.”
Then she got straight to the point.
“By the way, haven’t the professors been acting strange lately?”
“…Pardon?”
Audrey pushed her slipping glasses back up her nose with a finger.
“Ah, sorry. I should explain better. I mean—haven’t they been giving you unfair assignments in particular? Harder instructions? Leaving you out of notices?”
“…Ah.”
Countless recent incidents flashed through Logan’s mind—too many to count on both hands.
If he hadn’t been such a steady personality, the constant petty stress might have easily given him an ulcer.
“I knew it!”
At his silence, Audrey’s expression twisted in anger, as if that alone was confirmation enough.
“There’s no way they only did it to me. Damn them.”
“……”
Logan remembered Lillian once describing Audrey as somewhat timid.
But after being tossed around at Disherno Academy, Logan now saw a senior who seemed somewhat different from that description.
They couldn’t have done it only to me?
Slowly, Logan spoke.
“Don’t tell me….”
Audrey immediately nodded.
“That’s right. It’s obvious. They’re cracking down on her disciples to keep Professor Lillian in check.”
“…Surely the academy wouldn’t go that far. Really?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
Audrey shrugged.
Perhaps Logan had suspected as much.
The fact that Lillian Crimson was practically revered like a goddess at the academy also meant that the brutal Disherno system—once founded entirely on respect for the professors—was beginning to collapse.
Just as an empire does not need two suns, neither does Disherno Academy.
Audrey spoke with certainty.
“So the professors are clearly trying to lower the grades of Professor Lillian Crimson’s disciples—me, and you, Logan.”
“……”
If it were only his own grades falling, he wouldn’t care.
But if it damaged Professor Lillian’s honor?
Logan clenched his fist.
After watching him for a moment, Audrey spoke as if to reassure him.
“I’m still barely holding onto first place. But I heard the Swordsmanship Department has a lot of group assignments, so I came to check on you.”
“…Thank you, Senior.”
“Senior? I’m a freshman too—ah.”
Only then did Audrey seem to realize the meaning behind Logan’s “Senior,” and she let out a short laugh.
“Fine, I’ll be generous. If there ever comes a moment you can’t endure it anymore, come find me.”
“…Then what?”
Did she perhaps have a secret strategy?
Seeing the faint hope on Logan’s face, Audrey declared confidently,
“I’ll punch the professor together with you and get expelled. I’ve already figured out my own future path, and lately I’ve been carrying around major textbooks all the time—my arm strength’s improved quite a bit, you know?”
“…Ah.”
Logan stared briefly at his somewhat unhinged senior, then answered firmly,
“I won’t be calling you.”
Thinking to himself that at least he wasn’t quite as crazy as she was.
However, in the very next assignment, Logan’s resolve broke.
This time, it was even an individual task.
“…Why did I fail?”
Soaked in sweat, holding a wooden practice sword, Logan asked the professor seated at the desk. The professor had just written “Fail” in large letters on Logan’s result sheet.
The professor smirked.
“Logan. Do you not know what this assignment was about?”
“No. I memorized it clearly. The intent of the task was to measure the accuracy and destructive power of a horizontal slash. Accuracy must be within a margin of 30, and destructive power must be 100 or higher.”
Watching Logan recite the lengthy assignment perfectly, the professor looked irritated.
He then showed the magical measuring device that had just finished evaluating Logan’s hundred horizontal slashes.
“Yes. Your margin of error for 100 slashes was 0. That satisfies the requirement. But the destructive power is wrong, isn’t it? Can’t you see it says ‘Measurement Impossible’?”
“Measurement Impossible” meant the destructive force exceeded what the device could measure.
In other words, Logan’s horizontal slash had surpassed the academy’s student level.
Logan calmly asked,
“…Isn’t ‘Measurement Impossible’ obviously above 100?”
“How can something unmeasurable be above 100? The device might be broken.”
It was sophistry.
“……”
Logan gripped the wooden sword tightly.
Crack.
The handle—made from what should have been the toughest wood—splintered in his grasp.
Should he really follow Audrey’s suggestion and punch the professor, even if it meant expulsion?
“Logan Eleanor? Do you have a complaint?”
No. He couldn’t.
Logan released his clenched fist weakly.
“…No, sir.”
Professor Crimson had worked so hard to teach him.
I have to endure it.
As if expecting Logan to bow his head, the professor sneered.
“That’s right. You shouldn’t stand stiffly before a professor.”
“……”
“Now then, bow your head properly, apologize politely, and leave. Because of you, the order of individual assignments has been delayed.”
“…Yes.”
“Who taught you, honestly….”
Are you not my teacher?
Well. Judging by your behavior, perhaps not.
If only someone would step in and cause a scene.
Audrey probably wouldn’t suddenly appear again.
Suppressing the curse rising in the royal tongue, Logan began to bow—
Thud!
“…What?”
Someone snatched Logan’s result sheet from the professor’s hand.
“Measurement Impossible, hmm. You achieved the same score as I once did.”
“……!”
Logan’s blue eyes widened at the sight of the figure.
“What is this—?”
The professor stammered, mouth hanging open.
Students gathered around, whispering in confusion.
Suddenly appearing in the testing hall was a tall, imposing beauty with long silver hair flowing behind her—the Grand Duke Eleanor.
Bang.
She slammed Logan’s result sheet onto the desk and fixed the professor with a predator’s gaze.
“And yet when I received ‘Measurement Impossible,’ I was awarded full marks. It seems the academy has changed quite a bit since my time.”
