Professor Selena, who was smiling brightly again that day, nodded at my question.
“Yes. Rumors have already spread all over amongst the students. A werewolf who exists only as a city's ghost story. Funny, right?”
“…”
"No matter how many geniuses are gathered here, I think they're still students after all. I can't believe they are genuinely concerned about that kind of ghost story."
Professor Selena laughed, saying that the students' imaginations were so cute, but I couldn't laugh.
It was said that the first source of the rumor was from the students who went out to the nearby city of Leathevelk the previous day.
It was a dark night in Leathevelk when the sun had set.
The first sighting of a werewolf was when they saw a black shadow wandering through the roofs of the buildings in between the night fog that was gently subsiding.
I shook my head.
"They're still children, aren't they?"
“Yes. Of course, but it was a little fascinating to hear that the werewolf they saw outside the city was also seen in Sören."
"Inside Sören too, you said?"
Were the students inside the school seeing things because those who saw a werewolf in the city spread rumors about it?
"Sören must be so wide, and since it is a place where all kinds of magics are prevalent, strange phenomena occur due to the magic power. There are seven ghost stories in real life, right?"
"Seven ghost stories, you said?"
"Yes, you didn't know?"
"Professor Selena knows a lot about ghost stories, I see."
“Wh-what?!”
It was just a compliment, but Professor Selena somehow overreacted to it.
She opened her eyes wide, and her cheeks blushed in a pinkish color; her hair also stood on the edges a little.
When I gave a curious look as to why she was reacting like that, she spoke in a hurry as an excuse.
"I… I didn't look meticulously for Sören's school ghost stories in particular! It's just… I was thinking about what topics to talk about when we're having a conversation about the students, so that's not the case, really!"
"I get it, so calm down."
Seeing that both of her arms that lost direction were shaking here and there, they seemed to nearly bump into the plates and spill the food as if she was being careless.
"Noo. It's really not the case."
But Selena continued to make more desperate excuses as if she sensed some temper in my attitude.
When I thought that lunchtime was unlikely to proceed like that, Professor Merilda intervened.
"Oh, come to think of it, Professor Ludger, I heard you've done your job quite splendidly since your first class. Is that true?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You know, you showed them a groundbreaking magic that shortened the time spent for casting spells. What's the name again?"
"Source code!"
Selena also forgot that she was embarrassed and shouted such words with fire in her eyes.
Her shout was so loud that there was a momentary silence in the professor-only cafeteria.
Professor Selena lowered her head when she realized her slip of the tongue. Her earlobes that were exposed through her pink hair turned bright red.
I let out a small sigh and nodded.
"Yes, that's right."
As I nodded and confirmed it, the gazes from every direction of the cafeteria stuck to me.
They were the gazes of the professors who were eating at the other table.
As I was wondering why they were staring at me like that, Professor Merilda moved her upper body toward me and explained it in a way that I could hear well.
"It's because everyone is interested in Professor Ludger's spell."
"My spell, you said?"
“Oh my. Are you pretending not to know? The spell that Professor Ludger showed in your first class has spread throughout Sören, though?"
“Hm.”
I put a piece of meat in my mouth and figured out how things were going.
'Are they interested?'
From the first day of class, I vaguely guessed that it would be like that.
From the perspective of the people of this world, the source code that was borrowed from a 21st-century computer programming method was simply innovative.
I had already expected enough that the ripple effect itself would reach the other professors.
"I heard that it dramatically reduced the time span of the spell technique's casting. Can you really showcase it here?"
"That's right. You'll be able to earn a lot of money by patenting such a spell in a magic tower."
Professor Selena also responded.
Well, it's not wrong to say it, to be exact. The source code spell would be the wind of change in the stagnant magical society.
In fact, if I offered that magic to the magic tower where the magic patent system exists, I could literally sit on a money cushion.
Of course, that's ostensibly common sense.
"I don't care about that."
I pretended to be humble, but I knew better than anyone else why I should not apply for a patent.
For those who didn’t know anything yet, they might think it was great to offer the newly developed magic to the magic tower, but the reality was quite different.
There was definitely a magic patent system at the magic tower.
Wizards who lacked money wanted to earn income through such a patent system, but such an ostentatious offer was only superficial.
Spells could only be patented if they were properly recognized by the magic tower…
The problem was that most of the magic that was usually submitted as a patent was nitpicked while the magic tower made all kinds of excuses.
'It might be better if it's just an excuse, but there are people who also abuse it.’
Other new professors may have still had a positive perception of the magic tower, but I have already experienced how dirty and cheap they are, so my perspective toward the tower was different.
Even if the old judges of the magic tower found a new magic that had no room to be nitpicked, the problem still existed.
'If you don't have any supporter who will become a reliable support to you or a backing from a noble family, your magic patent will literally get snatched away.’
Or, if the developer was dissatisfied with it and did not want to apply for a patent, they could be dragged to places like a back alley or something and forced to cast their developed spell.
There was a time when such a thing happened.
In other words, the nominal patent system that was being promoted by the magic tower was nothing but an ostentatious fraud.
Knowing that, I didn't offer my spell to the magic tower in order to earn money.
It was an obvious reality to get kicked out because one didn’t have a backing, let alone money.
'I'm better off as Ludger now.’
Although he was a fallen aristocrat, he was currently working as a professor in Sören, so it was not bad in terms of his recognition.
However, even with Ludger's identity, the magic tower might make me catch a sleeping weasel if I barely lowered my guard.
—A place where stagnant old men's greed was as rampant as sticky mud.
Even I loathed such a place.
And the source code that I intentionally showed in Sören was an act that was done with some calculation.
First of all, the students would spread talk that the groundbreaking spell of Source Code was created by Ludger Chelysie, and the story would circulate.
The rumors would keep spreading among students and reach the professors, and even among the professors, the rumors would keep spreading outside of Sören.
—That's how it'd reach the ears of the magic tower.
If I lowered my head first and applied for a patent, it'd be like offering my neck to be cut.
However, if they approached me because they were getting impatient with the advent of new magic, then the position of the former and the latter would change.
—And Ludger's status would be even higher.
Rather than being viewed as Sören's new professor who had nothing, he would become a Sören's professor with considerable talent.
If I carried around such a name card, people around me wouldn't easily look down on me.
It would take a little time, but there was nothing better than that to solidify my position.
'However, the problem is that the other professors are after me with their eyes on fire.'
It was like that even then.
Professor Selena and Merilda were good-natured so they just passed it, but the other professors had been sending me explicit jealousy.
Especially the eyes of Chris Benimore, one of the professors who was newly appointed with me at the same time, seemed to be like an infested magma.
He could kill people with his eyes like that.
"But it's still a shame...”
"I don't have to think that it’s a shame to show it to my students first."
I got up from my seat after properly wrapping up my sentence.
It was because I thought I would get indigestion from the other professors' gazes if I stayed there.
"I'll be on my way now. I have another class to teach."
"Oh, yes! Good luck with your work!"
“Good bye~”
I nodded my head lightly to the two professors who sent their farewells to me and walked away quickly from the professor-only cafeteria.
* * *
* * *
Merilda narrowed her eyes as she watched Ludger go away.
She had thought he was a great guy from the first time she saw him, but she realized it even more while talking with him.
Ludger Chelysie… That man had really shown the spell of source code, which even the other professors had eyes on, to the students first.
'Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept it secret until he showed it to the students in his first class, let alone revealing it to the magic tower.'
From Merilda's point of view, Ludger's behavior had not been something akin to wizards in those days.
It's a little strange to say a term like 'wizards those days', but wizards had always been like that since the old days.
Because they were too cool-headed, they lacked a lot of empathy, and that made them selfish and lacking in consideration for others.
But over time, such tendencies had become much worse.
It was the magic world of that time that even a teacher who had to teach someone never showed his vision bluntly because they did not trust their student.
She was feeling it earnestly because she also had experienced a similar situation.
But what about Ludger?
Even when he had that great spell, he didn't show off his skills to his surroundings.
And what was more surprising was that he used the spell in front of his students.
'No matter how young the students are, if he shows them how to use a spell like that, some sensible students might get the ropes of the technique.’
‘Doesn't he even worry about his spell being snatched away?’
There are only two reasons for him to do so:
One was that the spell was something that's hard to understand just by looking at it.
‘Or…’
He'd resolved that it was okay for the spell to be snatched away by someone.
'Eyy, no way.'
But if it wasn’t that, the confident attitude that he showed her when they were eating a while ago…
That couldn’t be explained.
'I can't believe such a person is a new professor like me.’
The more she thought about it, the more shabby she felt about herself.
Merilda sighed and turned her head to the side.
Selena, her colleague and close friend, stared vacantly at Ludger's seat.
She was pretty much into it, too.
Merilda shook her head, thinking that she couldn't help it, then she immediately smiled mischievously before touching Selena's neck with her fingertips.
“Heeyaaa!”
"Selena, what are you thinking about? Why? Are you feeling upset that Professor Ludger left first?"
"Pr-Professor Merilda? What on earth are you talking about!"
It was indeed fun to tease Selena.
Merilda thought so and teased Selena for a while.
Of course, she would have to appease Selena afterward, who became sulky along the way.
***
—Saturday after the theory class ended.
From noon, when the sun was shining the brightest, I had already been in Leathevelk, a nearby city from Sören.
At first, it seemed like I was having a simple walk to look around nearby cities, but in reality, I did that because I had a previous engagement.
The appointment was at night, so there was still a lot of time left.
I arrived early to look around and see what kind of place Leathevelk was.
'The city itself looks pretty splendid.’
Leathevelk, a city with advanced magic engineering, was a huge city where the Ramsey River, which stretched for more than 500km, flowed into the center of the city.
The flowing rivers and countless railroads on its ground were the blood vessels that instilled the vitality of the city, and the people living in them were full of vigor.
Leathevelk, which was the center of all kinds of business, magic, and engineering, had won the reputation of being the most developed city since it was side by side with Sören Academy.
I walked through 'Centerford', the main street of Leathevelk.
Unlike other districts, there were gentlemen and ladies dressed in suits quietly enjoying their leisure time.
Centerford, a place that symbolized the revival of Leathevelk…
A residential complex inhabited by rich people, the roadside trees were beautifully carved, and steam cars and golem wagons roamed on every road.
I drank coffee while sitting on the terrace of a quiet cafe.
The subtle fragrance of coffee beans and the aroma of coffee I drank were mixed in a cafe that was quiet, even on weekends, inflicting a strange atmosphere.
‘It’s cool.’
It was a beautiful place, and I wanted to live in a place like that at least once.
It would be natural to have such a vague idea in my mind.
'The price of the housing here must be expensive.’
After I got up from my seat and calculated the price of the coffee I drank, I headed to the next area.
It was 'Grand Chapel,' a high street with the most population in Leathevelk.
It was the place where a huge white cathedral in Gothic Revival style stood tall.
It was a busy street for some reason, so many things that I had never seen before in the other places were all packed on that street.
—Machines emitted white steam from an external combustion engine made of brass and the technicians working with those machines.
—Children playing with little mechanical toys.
—People who were busking on the streets while playing accordions, cellos, and violins, and the citizens who danced while listening to the music.
“…”
As I walked around the city while taking a look at various places, the sun was sinking, and the sunset began to burn the sky's color.
Ding. Dong. Ding.
A huge clock tower that was rising throughout the city rang a bell, signaling that it was already six o'clock.
Since it was early spring, where there were still traces of winter, the sun set early, and the air that touched my skin quickly became cold.
I headed for the appointment while closing the front of my black coat.
So far, I had only seen the beautiful appearance of Leathevelk, but the place I was headed to was the opposite.
—A clear shadow that's cast under the intense light.
The place was called the hideous bare face of the city.
I walked through the water vapor that was rising from the surface of the Ramsey River while pressing the wide-brimmed hat that I wore on my head.
When the clouds, which were the color of burning scarlet flames, drifted over to the west and the deep blue sky covered the entire city of Leathevelk…
I stood in front of an alleyway in a foggy industrial area.
There were no people.
The street vagrants gave up begging and went back to the deep side of the alley, and the children who worked hard to earn a daily wage while coughing severely also went home.
I was the only one there.
The scarlet light of the street lamps touched the fog and hazily scattered.
In that empty silence, I waited for the person I was supposed to meet while leaning against a brick wall covered with dirt.
'He said he'd come early, but he's late.’
As soon as I thought so, I heard a sound from the inside of the alley that I was leaning my back against.
Grrrrrrr.
It was a sound that could never be made by a human being.
I pulled my back from the wall and stared inside the alley.
A pair of red eyes rose from inside a strange space that was half-mixed with gray fog and pitch black darkness.
‘This is really…’
I remembered what Selena had said at the cafeteria the day before.
The rumor that students saw werewolves.
She'd gone on by saying that it's just a ghost story, but I wasn't sure.
Looking at it then, I wondered what she would think of it.
At that moment…
He moved in the darkness.
His movement was heading towards me in an instant.
I didn't miss it and stared at the werewolf intensely.
I immediately raised my fist and hit him on the head.
Baam!
“Aaargh!”
A loud scream resounded briefly amidst the fog.
I looked down at the guy who sat down in front of me without hiding his pathetic face.
"I wondered why you were late, so you were planning to play this kind of prank."
"Darn it. Still, it's been a while. Can't you act surprised somehow?"
The person who said that and touched his head with his hand was the acquaintance that I was supposed to meet, who could also be called my subordinate.
"Long time no see, Hans."
“Long time no see.”
He was the cause of the werewolf rumor among the students.
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