Chapter 53

Professor Winslet took Jacqueline to the Magic Department.

His personal office was located on the first floor of the First Magic Department, directly ahead not far from the entrance.

The office was surprisingly empty.

After glancing around the room, Jacqueline commented,

“There’s nothing here.”

The spacious room was nearly empty.

There was a work desk, a bookshelf behind it, a table for guests, and a pair of two-seater sofas on either side—

And that was all.

Not even a single decorative item.

The atmosphere felt cold and desolate, but it matched Professor Winslet’s impression rather well.

He took off his coat stained with blood and tossed it onto the desk.

Red spread across the expensive-looking wooden surface.

Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Jacqueline asked,

“Did you… kill someone?”

“A foolish question.”

Jacqueline interpreted that reply as something like, “Of course I did. Can’t you tell just by looking?”

So she quickly blurted out,

“What about the body? Did you bury it? Or burn it?”

Professor Winslet turned to look at her.

His face seemed to say she wasn’t worth speaking to, and he answered curtly, as if it were a waste of words:

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Huh? Then whose blood is that?”

“An animal’s. I was hunting.”

“Hunting?”

Hunting was a noble pastime.

And Professor Winslet was indeed a noble.

Back in her hometown, Jacqueline had often seen the lord and his guests go on driven hunts, so at first, the professor’s explanation sounded plausible.

But even with a little thought, something seemed off.

Hunting usually takes place in the forest.

Not in the middle of the Academy where people were walking around.

And certainly not at midnight. What kind of hunting was that supposed to be?

“I’ll keep your secret. So go on, confess and ease your mind.”

.

Professor Winslet didn’t respond.

Instead, he reached into the pocket of the coat he had taken off and pulled something out, tossing it onto the coat.

It was a red stone—

Not very clean, with dried blood clinging to it like scabs.

Jacqueline asked,

“What’s that?”

“Bloodstone. Essence of blood. A material of vampires. Today’s hunting trophy.”

“You hunted a vampire? There was a vampire at the Academy? Wait, vampires are real?!”

“One question at a time.”

“Uh… then starting with the first one!”

“I hunted a familiar released by vampires. Yes, there was one. And now there isn’t. Don’t go running your mouth about it.”

“Of course not. I’m great at keeping secrets…”

Jacqueline replied while subtly averting her eyes.

But in truth, she was already planning to bombard Shannon and Rita with questions about vampires the moment she got back to the dormitory.

Professor Winslet wiped off the blood on his clothes roughly, then sat in the high-backed chair behind his desk and crossed his legs.

“Sit down.”

Jacqueline looked around in front of her and replied,

“There’s no chair.”

“…Then let’s move.”

The two shifted to the guest table and sat across from each other.

Jacqueline felt a bit uneasy.

It was her first time seeing Professor Winslet’s face this close up.

He had a fairly tall seated posture, so Jacqueline had to look up at him slightly.

The professor spoke.

“So, what exactly do you want my help with?”

Jacqueline was caught off guard and asked,

“You’ll help me?”

“I’ll at least hear you out.”

Can’t he just help a little without acting like it’ll kill him?

That’s what Jacqueline thought. Yet despite herself, a small sense of hope welled up as she explained everything she had seen and heard to Professor Winslet.

She waited for him to respond with her eyes sparkling.

After a brief silence, Professor Winslet called her name.

“Jacqueline Dogwood.”

“Yes!”

“Stay out of it. Know your place.”

Jacqueline sighed inwardly.

I’m such an idiot for expecting anything.

***

Bringing Jacqueline to my office had been nothing more than a gesture of responsibility. This was something any educator should do for a student under their charge.

But after hearing what she wanted help with, I was at a loss for words.

“So, you’re asking me to get involved… in something that doesn’t even concern you personally?”

“Yes, exactly!”

“Quite the busybody, aren’t you?”

“Yes! Very much so!”

“That wasn’t a compliment. I meant you’re shameless.”

“Ugh… So the problem is that it’s not my business? Then what if I bring Daniel here to ask you himself?”

“He’s no longer a student at the Academy. As a professor, I have no obligation to help him.”

“Then what if the victim from the theology department asks you directly?”

“You said she’s in a coma, didn’t you? How’s a half-dead girl who can’t even speak supposed to ask for help?”

“…Wow, you’re seriously trash. Always finding a way to weasel out of it.”

“What was that you just muttered?”

“Nothing. Anyway! I’ll ask you again. Please don’t turn your back on what happened to Daniel. Please.”

I let out a sigh.

“My answer hasn’t changed. Don’t get involved in matters beyond your place. It’s pathetic to ask someone else to solve a problem you can’t handle yourself. You ought to feel ashamed.”

“If a little shame is all it takes to save someone, then I’ll gladly be ashamed ten times…no, a hundred times over!”

“That’s what we call being a nuisance.”

“Hmph!”

No amount of fake crying or trying to act cute would change anything.

“Besides, there’s one more reason.”

“What is it?”

“It’s wrong to make a judgment after hearing only one side. At the very least, you should hear both sides before taking action.”

“You don’t trust me, Professor?”

And who are you supposed to be?

I nearly said that.

But seeing the clear, earnest look in Jacqueline’s eyes, I figured saying something like that would probably hurt her feelings.

She protested as if it was completely unfair.

“But you saw it yourself earlier, didn’t you? Just how much of a piece of trash that guy is! You don’t even need to hear his side to know!”

“Even so, you can’t go around trying to fix every injustice in the world. Know your place.”

“But I can’t just ignore it either!”

With that cry, Jacqueline’s emotions seemed to overflow, and she began to pour out her words.

“Don’t you think it’s strange, Professor? The Academy is supposed to be a place for learning, right? It even says in the Academy’s first rule: ‘All who seek knowledge are equal before it’. But why is it that some people can hurt others and walk away unpunished, while others suffer injustice and don’t even get a chance to speak up?”

To the passionate Jacqueline, I responded quietly.

“You’ve misunderstood something. Equality is an illusion. It doesn’t exist in the Academy.”

“Wait…didn’t you hear what I just said? It’s written in the Academy’s first rule! Section 1, Article 1!”

“Then the rules must be lying.”

“…Huh?”

Jacqueline’s mouth fell open.

“The rules lied to you.”

“They lied? To me? But… why?”

“Because it makes you easier to control.”

At last, Jacqueline was left speechless.

“The Academy’s leaders wrote that rule about equality precisely because they knew it would never truly be upheld. And more than that, they wanted it to be broken.”

“Why would they?”

“To make noble students and commoner students despise and hate each other.”

It was what people called divide and conquer.

Jacqueline who was clearly not understanding asked again.

“What’s the point of making them hate each other?”

“The Academy benefits from it.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“The Royal Academy is an institution that trains talent for the kingdom. To put it more bluntly, it produces workers who will serve the kingdom.”

“Like you said in class this afternoon?”

“That’s right. But it’s not just the royal family that wants high-value workers like you. Nobles with land in the provinces also need skilled individuals to work for them.”

“I’ve heard something like that before.”

“They scout graduates by paying off their tuition in exchange for employing them in their own households. In fact, many nobles send their sons and daughters to the Academy with that exact purpose. But then, who loses out?”

“You don’t mean… the royal family?”

“That’s right. The royal family invests a great deal of effort in recruiting new students from all over the kingdom and continues to spend time and money on them until graduation. Naturally, they don’t welcome the idea of that talent leaking outside the royal sphere. What’s more, they don’t want the power of the provincial nobles to grow too strong, so they have even less reason to let the graduates go.”

“But can they really stop it? If it were me, I’d go wherever I’m treated better. Whether that’s the royal family or a noble house.”

“That’s why the royal family created various systems. For example, requiring graduates to work under the royal government for a set period. Or using more shady methods.”

“Those ‘more shady methods’… don’t tell me…”

“They stir up conflict between noble and commoner students. By planting anti-noble sentiment among the commoners, even if a scouting offer comes in, students hesitate. Whether out of pride or concern for how others will perceive them.”

“You’re saying they’d go that far, just for their own gain?”

“That’s the true nature of the Academy. They create a hollow principle of equality, let noble students break it, and then incite you to hate them for it.”

“I can’t believe it…”

I offered another example to the shocked Jacqueline.

“Shall I give you a similar case? One of the Academy’s unwritten rules is that the student council must always be composed of noble students. That’s another form of inequality the Academy encourages.”

“The student council is supposed to gather students’ complaints and suggestions and pass them on to the administration. But what do you think happens when it’s made up entirely of nobles?”

“Noble students dismiss commoners’ complaints as the result of laziness or inferiority, while commoner students come to resent the nobles, believing they’re being oppressed.”

“With the students split into two factions and unable to unite, the Academy finds it easier to control them. It’s a win-win for them.”

Jacqueline opened her mouth weakly with her lips trembling, then looked at me with something like resentment.

“You’re always like this, Professor. You take things I’ve always believed to be true and tell me they’re not. You make me turn my head and look in directions I’ve never even considered. This afternoon, you told us that graduating from the Academy would only make us slaves. And now you’re saying the principle of equality is just an illusion.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“Is there only one truth in the world? Isn’t there a better truth out there? Are the things you say really everything this world has to offer? If the world I live in is really made up of nothing but interests and calculations…if that’s all there is, then… that’s just too sad.”

Tears welled up in Jacqueline’s eyes as she shouted those words.

I let out a sigh.

What am I supposed to do with this soft-hearted girl?

After a moment’s thought, I made up my mind.

“There is such a thing as goodwill in this world. But there are far more things that aren’t.”

“…I know. I know that now.”

“But sometimes, even what isn’t goodwill can lead to good.”

“Huh?”

Jacqueline asked, as if doubting her own ears.

And I said to her:

“You said the victim’s family name was Daniel, right? Let me show you how interests and calculations can solve a problem.”