CHAPTER 44
She added a note of caution.
“Oh, and don’t write your name. It’s anonymous. What matters most is your honest opinion.”
It was certainly a unique first class.
Normally, classes would begin right away with structured content. The students looked puzzled, as none of them had ever experienced a lesson like this on the first day.
About ten minutes passed.
“Looks like most of you are done writing.”
As Clemence said that, her gaze unconsciously shifted toward Lennox.
‘Of all people, Alfeo ended up in the same class as Lennox…’
Clemence had been trying hard not to think about it since earlier.
Receiving her gaze, Lennox stood up, gathered the worksheets, and handed them to her.
Their eyes met briefly, but the first to look away was Clemence.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s class.”
She signaled the end of the lesson.
The students cheered at the early dismissal and hurried out of the classroom.
‘Do they know each other?’
Alfeo, noticing the odd atmosphere between the two, looked at them with curiosity, then recalled the content of the class.
‘A blank paper class, huh.’
It was obvious she hadn’t prepared anything for the first day and was just passing time.
‘Still, it’s better than some tedious idolization lecture.’
He appreciated that it broke from the traditional format. Then suddenly, something came to mind.
‘Wait a second… does this mean I lost the bet?’
Alfeo chuckled awkwardly, eyes shifting.
Oh, I think I made eye contact with Ren just now.
‘Well, at least he won’t make me dance naked like Louis did.’
Forgetting the bet with Ren almost immediately, Alfeo began humming to himself.
‘Anyway, I wonder what the next class will be like.’
A flicker of interest passed through his red eyes, then faded.
Meanwhile, after the class ended, I returned to Professor Logen’s office and began carefully examining the collected worksheets.
There was only one reason I had conducted such a strange class.
‘Alfeo.’
A few years ago, he had been the only surviving illegitimate prince executed under suspicion of treason.
‘…And that was also when House Euclid was wiped out.’
The Emperor had spared Alfeo for one reason alone.
‘A resource too valuable to kill.’
Recently, new weapons like cannons, grenades, landmines, and other chemically enhanced arms had been introduced in warfare.
All thanks to one scientific genius—Alfeo.
To a war-obsessed emperor, he was a treasure. And the same went for Tara Transport.
Currently, Tara Transport only used magistone as a power source. They hadn’t figured out how to process it into parts yet, which made his knowledge even more vital.
If they could solve that problem, it would open doors to far greater ventures.
The ultimate goal of the transport business—
‘Like the aviation industry, for instance.’
Of course, with current tech, that was still a pipe dream.
But this groundwork would be essential for future expansion.
I had avoided approaching Alfeo until now for one reason.
‘The Emperor Seriel.’
Approaching Alfeo from the outside would have drawn too much attention. But now we were inside the Academy.
As teacher and student, I had a legitimate reason to meet him—and without imperial scrutiny.
So now my first task was clear:
‘How do I make Alfeo mine?’
Using my position as a professor to its fullest advantage.
I found a clue in memories from my previous life.
‘Hey, Yoon-jung, did you know? People like us hate anything predictable.’
‘…I didn’t ask.’
‘That’s why we always crave new and exciting knowledge.’
‘I still didn’t ask.’
My quirky college friend—who got into university as the top student in the country—had said that.
Our conversation gave me a good direction for approaching Alfeo.
‘Yes, I’ll use a fresh, unexpected teaching method to spark his interest.’
That’s why I held a “blank paper” session.
“Let’s see which one is Alfeo’s…”
I compared the sheets with his past homework to find a match.
Though I thought it would take a while, I found his in five minutes.
“…What awful handwriting.”
Alfeo’s writing wasn’t just bad—it was catastrophically bad.
It was so uniquely terrible that it made identifying his worksheet easier.
But then I hit a second obstacle.
‘Is this code?’
It was completely illegible. After ten minutes of struggle, I finally deciphered the message.
I want to know how to make money.
P.S. Not small change, but big money.
‘Doesn’t he already have a lot of money?’
He might be illegitimate, but given his achievements, the imperial family probably gave him an allowance.
‘So that’s just pocket change to him?’
If imperial money was “small,” then Alfeo’s idea of “big money” must rival mine.
‘You greedy little guy, Alfeo.’
Still, it worked in my favor.
It meant we had aligned interests.
But I felt guilty just reading Alfeo’s paper and skipping the rest, so I began reading others more slowly.
I want to know how to be popular with girls!
The answer was simple: be good-looking.
‘Good-looking people…’
My thoughts drifted unconsciously to Lennox’s face. I suddenly wondered what he had written.
But since it was anonymous, I couldn’t tell.
I flipped to the next sheet.
I’m sleepy…
#*&#@&@(Unreadable doodles and scribbles)
‘Wow, everyone’s going wild with the anonymity.’
Even at a noble academy, people were just people.
One particular sheet caught my eye.
Anything taught by Professor Jacqueline is fine.
I was taken aback.
‘…What on earth do they see in me?’
I hadn’t even gone through formal professorial training, yet they were okay with whatever I taught?
That student was definitely a bit—no, very—strange.
‘And the handwriting looks oddly familiar…’
I couldn’t quite place it, and I kept staring at the sheet, lost in thought.
Then—
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
I looked up, surprised by the unexpected visitor.
Short brown hair, towering height, wide pelvis.
The man’s stern face gave the impression he could wrestle a bear bare-handed.
“Aaron?”
“So you really did become a professor.”
“Haven’t heard that stiff tone in a while. What brings you here?”
“By any chance, the commission—”
“Denied.”
“Harsh.”
Ever since I signed that explosive contract with Admiral Herman, Aaron had kept asking me to lower the navy’s commission fee every time we met.
‘Guess his superiors are giving him hell.’
But I had my own financial struggles too.
Still, I planned to repay the favor someday—for teaching Ren at my request.
Hopefully, after I bought my noble title.
“Anyway, good timing. I’ve been meaning to ask.”
“What is it?”
“How’s Ren’s progress these days?”
Aaron looked puzzled at my question.
“You didn’t know? Ren recently became a Sword Saint.”
“…What?!”
No way.
I had expected him to be ahead of his peers, but Aaron’s answer far exceeded my expectations.
Aaron, a renowned prodigy, had become a Sword Saint at 15.
But Ren had just turned 14.
And unlike Aaron, who had received structured training from a young age, Ren only began learning swordsmanship at 11.
‘…So just how insanely talented is he?’
He might be the protagonist, but this was downright terrifying growth.
“Everyone at the Academy is talking about it. You’re slow on the news.”
Aaron looked proud as he said it.
“…I see.”
He must’ve sensed something strange in my reaction, because he stared at my face.
“You sent him here yourself, but you don’t look too happy about it.”
Sharp observation.
“No… I’m just really surprised.”
Aaron nodded.
“I guess it is pretty fast progress for a swordsman.”
Fast? This was an unprecedented pace.
“Well, I’ll be off to train now.”
“R-right…”
He turned to leave for the training grounds, and I watched his back with a dazed look.
Now I felt slightly uneasy.
‘…Am I really okay with how this is going?’
I might have just nurtured a disaster too big for me to handle.
