The next day.
Yujin was on his way to the Headmistress’s office after receiving a call from her.
She had mentioned that there were formalities to go through and questions she wanted to ask, but Yujin figured it was likely because of the “dark mage act” he had performed in front of Reina.
After all, if it were Reina, she would’ve immediately gone to report it to the Headmistress. Thinking about her rushing in and urgently shouting to the Headmistress that he needed to be captured brought a small smile to his face.
I really am such a terrible person, aren’t I?
Strictly speaking, Professor Reina hadn’t done anything seriously wrong. If anything, perhaps the only questionable thing she’d done was investigate him behind his back.
Of course, on modern-day Earth, digging into someone’s background would certainly be considered a big issue, but here, it was obvious that it wasn’t a major problem.
In any case, Yujin did feel a little sorry about it. He figured that someday, once the misunderstanding was cleared up, he’d need to properly apologize to her.
With those thoughts, he arrived in front of the Headmistress’s office. He knocked on the door and called out.
Knock, knock.
“Headmistress, it’s me.”
“Ah! Oh, come in, please!”
With those words, the door suddenly swung open. Seeing how quickly it opened before he could do anything, Yujin let out a brief bitter smile.
As it turned out, the Headmistress had been waiting right by the door, ready for Yujin to arrive.
Of course, she was technically his superior, but seeing her disregard protocol like this made Yujin’s bitter smile deepen. No matter how he looked at it, his life as a professor here was bound to become more and more stranger.
Yujin spoke.
“There’s no need to treat me as if I’m some sort of master. Within the academy, you are still my superior, aren’t you?”
“B-But…”
Seeing her stammer in response, Yujin let out another bitter smile. Her reverence for dragons was so overwhelming that she couldn’t even fathom such an idea.
“You managed just fine in front of Professor Reina. That’s all you need to do.”
“H-How could I possibly…? I only acted that way in front of others so as not to interfere with your amusement, Sir Yujin. But when it’s just the two of us…”
Strictly speaking, it’s not even just the two of us.
Tiamat, who had been quietly watching the Headmistress with a slightly reluctant expression, was there as well. Of course, there was no reason to mention this to the Headmistress.
And speaking of amusement… Yujin was reminded of it once again, just as Tiamat had mentioned yesterday. He had come to fully realize it: right now, he was nothing less than a dragon indulging in amusement.
Whether it was working as a professor in human form or pretending to be a dark mage in front of Professor Reina for his own enjoyment… these were exactly the kinds of actions a dragon trying to find amusement would engage in.
Yujin likely didn’t have any particular alternative motives driving his behavior, either.
He spoke with a faint bitter smile.
“Well then, do as you like. But don’t behave this way in front of others.”
“Ah, y-yes! Of course!”
“And… may I come in now?”
When Yujin, who had been standing outside the Headmistress’s office the entire time, asked this, the Headmistress jolted in surprise and quickly replied.
“Oh, ah! Yes! Please, come in!”
As she hurriedly stepped aside from the doorway, Yujin finally entered the office.
The Headmistress immediately shut the door behind him and moved quickly to her seat. She sat behind the desk in front of the beautifully decorated window and spoke.
“Could you please come over here?”
As she gestured to the spot in front of her, Yujin walked over to the indicated location.
When Yujin approached, the Headmistress handed him a stack of documents.
“Please either fill out or sign the contents of these documents. Of course, you can take your time and review them carefully before…”
Whirrr!
“Done.”
“…Huh?”
Yujin, who had merely glanced briefly at the documents, picked up the quill pen that had been placed with them and completed everything in an instant. His speed was so lightning-fast that even the Headmistress found herself momentarily dumbfounded.
It was so fast that the friction caused faint wisps of smoke to rise from the papers. That said it all.
“Wh-What kind of speed is that…? No, wait. Are you sure you don’t need to check everything properly first?”
“I reviewed everything: the application, the contract, the research accomplishments, the personal statement, the development plan, and so on. There were no unreasonable clauses in the contract, and the rest just required me to fill in either factual or invented details, so it wasn’t a problem. Besides, I didn’t have much to say about my research accomplishments or personal statement anyway. Of course, I filled them in with the appropriate information, but they’re not very meaningful, are they? Especially when my appointment has already been decided.”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
The Headmistress couldn’t hide her bewildered expression as she reviewed the documents. Although some of the sections with writing appeared to be slightly singed, there were no major issues with the content itself.
“So, for the self-introduction… you set your rank at the early stages of the Eight Circle, huh? I’m at the end of the Eight Circle, and the Head of the Mages Association is in the middle of the Seventh Circle… so I guess that’s an appropriate estimate.”
Circles.
It was the magic system of mortals, a framework that allowed them to wield magic by permanently forming a circle of mana in their heart.
Long ago, a certain dragon shared this knowledge with mortals for his own amusement. By forming a circle of mana in their hearts, those imbued with mana could generate and manipulate it through their hearts.
The rank of a mage was determined by the number of circles engraved in their heart. The more circles they had, the higher their level of mana, and the more they could generate or store.
For dragons, however, the Circle system was entirely unnecessary; it was a construct only for mortals. Dragons, with their infinite mana and immeasurably superior mastery of it, controlled magic through sheer willpower alone. To them, the Circle system was cumbersome and irrelevant.
Still, when it came to introducing himself in his personal statement, Yujin had to write something. So, he had arbitrarily set himself as being at the early stages of the Eighth Circle. It was a choice that was quite appropriate.
After all, the story of Yujin subduing the Head of the Mages Association with nothing more than a snap of his fingers had already spread like wildfire, even though it had only happened yesterday. Many people were now certain that Yujin’s rank was higher than that of the Head of the Mages Association.
The Head of the Mage Association, for reference, was a Seventh Circle mage. Even reaching the seventh Circle was enough to earn the title of Archmage. But since Yujin had effortlessly subdued such an Archmage with a mere snap of his fingers, it was only fitting that he be considered at least Eighth Circle.
However, if he had claimed a rank equal to or higher than that of the Headmistress, who was at the peak of the Eighth Circle, it would have disrupted the hierarchy and caused confusion. And so, Yujin had chosen to set his rank at the early stages of the Eighth Circle.
And above all, if he had claimed to surpass the Headmistress, who was at the peak of the Eighth Circle, people would have found it hard to believe.
After all, the last person to reach the Ninth Circle was the founder of my family…
For thousands of years, no one had reached the Ninth Circle. The only one who had ever done so was the founder of the Karandar family. He was a half-dragon, half-human being.
Of course, Yujin himself was far beyond even the Ninth Circle. As a dragon, he had no need for the Circle system to begin with.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now. The Headmistress quickly reviewed the documents Yujin had filled out and spoke.
“…There don’t seem to be any issues with the paperwork.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The documents will be approved in no time. After all, Sir Yujin has already been selected for the position. However…”
“However?”
“The problem is that the academy’s semester has already started. The students have already completed their course registrations, and the course adjustment period ended a long time ago, so it would be difficult to add your lectures now.”
“That does make sense.”
By the time Yujin emerged from the labyrinth, the academy had already given the students their first set of tests. And those were only based on their experiences from just the first five levels of the labyrinth.
The freshmen had only just entered the academy, but their schedules were already set in stone at this awkward time when Yujin was appointed as a professor.
“So, I’ll be a faculty professor for the time being?”
Yujin raised the contract as he spoke.
A “faculty professor” generally refers to a professor who primarily handles administrative tasks at a university. Since they take on administrative duties, their teaching hours are also reduced. This seemed to be the case at the academy as well.
“Head of the Department of Magical Studies… It’s a fitting position for a newly appointed professor, I suppose.”
The position of department head typically refers to the head of a division under a dean. This was a role often called “department chair” in universities.
While it isn’t as significant as positions like dean or director, it comes with additional allowances. Furthermore, assistant or associate professors who hold this position often gain extra points toward their evaluations for promotion to associate or full professor. For this reason, it’s a position many junior or mid-level professors hope to secure.
It seemed the academy functioned similarly, so it wasn’t an inappropriate position for a newly appointed professor.
“Compared to your abilities, it’s a rather modest position…”
“Not at all. If a newly appointed professor were given a high-ranking position right from the start, there would be significant pushback, and I don’t think I’d find it all that fun either. However…”
Yujin waved the contract and asked her,
“It only states that I’ll be head of the Department of Magical Studies, but the name of the department itself isn’t specified.”
Typically, under a College of Social Sciences, there might be departments such as Political Science, Public Administration, Economics, or Sociology.
Yujin presumed the Academy’s Magical Studies might have a similar structure, but the department he was supposed to oversee didn’t have a name listed.
When he asked about this, the Headmistress answered,
“It was difficult to determine which department your mysterious theories from your thesis would belong to. And since department head roles here tend to rotate among the professors, it doesn’t matter much who takes on which position among the Magical Studies faculty. Otherwise… If we were to go a step further, we could even establish a new department for you.”
“That won’t be necessary. Hmm… What existing departments are there?”
Yujin, who hadn’t paid much attention to these kinds of detailed settings while playing the “Labyrinth Academy” game, found himself unfamiliar with the internal structure of the academy.
“There is the Department of Elemental Magic, the Department of Combat Magic, the Department of Practical Magic, and the Department of Phenomenon Magic.”
“Then I’ll take the position of Head of the Department of Phenomenon Magic.”
There wasn’t a grand reason behind the decision; it was simply because the concept of space and time seemed more closely related to phenomena. The Headmistress nodded her head in agreement.
“Understood. Then we’ll proceed with that.”
“Before that, there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
“I’m listening.”
“If we’re talking about department heads, that’s fine, but who is the Dean of Magical Studies? Strictly speaking, they would be my superior and even closer to me in authority than you Headmistress regarding future matters.”
As mentioned earlier, Yujin had only a vague understanding that the Academy followed a structure similar to a university. Beyond that, he didn’t know much.
Even in the game Labyrinth Academy, the professors were introduced only as “Professor of Magical Studies”, “Professor of Martial Arts” or “Professor of Alchemy” without specifying their exact titles or ranks.
Because of this, Yujin thought it necessary to know in advance about the Dean, who would be positioned above the department heads.
However…
“……”
The Headmistress avoided his gaze and broke out a bead into a cold sweat. Seeing this, Yujin tilted his head in confusion.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well… you see…”
She looked strangely hesitant as if she was reluctant to speak. Yujin pressed her further.
“Is the Dean an overly authoritative or nitpicky person, by any chance?”
“Ah… no, they’re nitpicky, but not particularly authoritative… It’s just that…”
The Headmistress hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if she were apologizing.
“The Dean of Magical Studies is… Professor Reina Sahart.”
“Ah.”
At that moment, Yujin instinctively realized he had made a mistake yesterday.
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