Chapter 225: Waiting for the Start of Classes (3)

Capital Bashka.

The Jerome family was, generation after generation, a lineage of educators that had produced excellent teachers, and it was one of the families with the greatest prestige in the kingdom.

When it was asked who was above the king, the answer that it was the king’s teacher was not entirely an incorrect joke.

Even by gathering only the disciples they had trained, it would be possible to govern an entire country without problems.

Alpeas, who arrived at the main residence of the Jerome family, walked through a corridor built in an old style, guided by the butler.

Although they had known each other for 30 years, it was the first time he visited her room.

When the butler opened the door, a luxurious scene greeted him.

The floor was so clean that it reflected his face, and on shelves divided into three levels along the walls, there were all kinds of antiques.

To the north, there was spread a tiger-skin rug large enough for ten people to lie on it. Given her rejection of imitations, it was surely authentic. However, it was doubtful that such a large tiger existed in the world.

The woman was sitting on a sofa over the tiger rug. She was about 50 years old, but looked around 30.

Even now she was beautiful, but in her youth she had been truly stunning. She was so proud and neat that men did not even dare to speak to her easily.

“If you’ve already arrived, close the door and sit down. What are you doing standing there like an idiot? You’re still just as foolish.”

Alpeas could not help but laugh.

Her habit of looking down on all men had not changed.

Her clear voice, like that of a nightingale, was also the same, making him feel as if time had gone backward.

“No, it’s just that I find it curious. I wondered what kind of place you lived in, but it seems you simply brought your bad temper here.”

“You come to someone else’s house without notice and on top of that say nonsense without shame. How would someone from the countryside like you understand the value of my things?”

The rug was undoubtedly of the highest quality. That was why Alpeas deliberately stepped on it with his shoes on.

It was a whim he allowed himself as the man who, in the past, had made her, known for her unmatched pride, cling to his pants begging.

She did not scold him. But, contrary to expectations, she showed an expression of disbelief.

“What are you doing now? Ah, whatever. Get to the point.”

Alpeas smiled mischievously. She was the same as 30 years ago.

Jerome Olivia.

A great mage of second rank officially certified, and currently an auditor of the council of professors. In addition, four years ago she had been the director of the royal magic academy.

“Get to the point? It’s nothing much. Since I didn’t receive a response, I came personally.”

“And what do you want me to do? You caused problems and were suspended from the teaching staff, and now you expect me to fix it? Director of a rural magic academy? And on top of that a temporary position of 6 months?”

“It’s not necessarily fixed like that. If you want to stay longer, you can.”

“Then why? Why would I have to leave this house and go down to a province?”

“It would be nice to drink tea calmly while we grow old together.”

Olivia showed a cold anger. That made her resemble her past self even more.

“Aren’t you confusing something? That I loved you was 30 years ago. And you haven’t forgotten how you treated me, right? Above all, you are no longer attractive.”

“Haha! That’s true. But you are still beautiful.”

Olivia ground her teeth. That was why she hated men. Just because she once gave him her heart, they behaved as if they had possessed everything.

That someone like him, who had lost even the position of director and had nothing to boast about, smiled shamelessly, was repulsive to her.

“Who do you think you are to be so confident? I am a second-rank certified great mage and former director of the royal magic academy. You are a fourth-rank mage and director of a rural academy. I earn more money, and I also receive more respect. Why can someone like you, who comes to ask for a favor, behave so shamelessly?”

“Hmm, who knows. Maybe it’s because you like me?”

“You are… an… idiot.”

Olivia’s face turned red. Saying such embarrassing things at that age had it become ridiculous over the years? Before, he never said things like that so easily.

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t want you to feel sad if you saw me in a miserable state after so long.”

“Oh, really? Not at all. I have imagined countless times that you would come to kneel before me.”

Alpeas showed a bitter smile. Thinking about it, she had probably been the one who suffered the most.

“Fine. If you say it like that, I’ll ask you clearly. Do you want me to kneel here?”

Olivia snorted with disdain. At this point, whether he knelt or not did not matter.

“What are you doing these days? Did you lose your job? Did you really go mad late in life?”

“Well… I read books, take walks. I also talk about this and that with Erina.”

For the first time, Olivia’s eyes filled with surprise.

Alpeas’s first and only love. Erina still lived in his heart.

‘He still can’t forget her. What an idiot.’

After losing his wife and wandering for 10 years, Alpeas returned and, with the dream of becoming a teacher, became a disciple of the young Olivia. As a genius who had established photon theory, Olivia taught him with affection.

Affection. That was the problem. She should never have accepted as a disciple someone older than her, more talented, and above all, attractive.

Unable to contain the love growing inside her, Olivia finally confessed her feelings to Alpeas.

But Alpeas, unable to forget his wife, rejected her without hesitation. From that day on, Olivia’s life changed completely. There were many nights she spent crying over her wounded pride.

What frustrated her the most was the humiliation of losing the man she loved to a woman who no longer existed in this world.

The burning love of her twenties blinded her. And in the end, she even damaged Erina’s portrait in front of Alpeas’s eyes.

For the first time, Olivia felt Alpeas’s killing intent. She clung to his pants begging, but from that day on, he stopped even treating her as a person.

If only everything had ended there. But the Olivia of that time was too desperate and passionate. She did not have the courage to give up her first love.

But she should have. That night, going to Alpeas’s room was the greatest mistake of her life.

“Don’t get it wrong, Alpeas. I didn’t stay unmarried because of you. It’s just that men are bothersome to me.”

“Is that why you collect strange things? Olivia, there is no one who does not desire love.”

“It is a vulgar emotion. If I ever pursued you, it was out of pride. Because you were obsessed with a dead woman and didn’t even pay attention to me.”

“Suddenly… I remember that night.”

Olivia’s face turned pale.

“You came to my room and took off your clothes…”

“Stop!”

Olivia extended her hand and shouted. Even after 30 years, she remembered it as if it had been yesterday. It was the first and last time she showed her naked body to a man.

Back then, she wanted to win Alpeas’s heart no matter what. But he did not even accept her plea to hold her just once.

‘Bastard….’

Even now, just thinking about it was so painful that she was on the verge of tears.

Why does he always have to bring up the most embarrassing moment of her life as if it were something to be proud of? Why is it always the woman who ends up losing?

‘I can’t forgive him. I’ll make sure he regrets it.’

Olivia, having failed to seize the initiative, decided to move on to the main topic and picked up the document envelope lying on the sofa.

“Well then. Let’s see.”

The documents contained information about Alpeas Magic Academy.

“Alpeas Magic Academy. Fourth among the five great magic academies. Eleventh among all specialized academies. For an idiot, you’ve climbed quite high. When it was first founded, it was truly a pitiful spectacle.”

“I was lucky. There were a lot of good students.”

Olivia wanted to smack the shameless Alpeas on the head the way she had when she was his teacher.

“I’ve heard about it. There’s a boy named Shirone, right?”

“Wow, you investigated quite thoroughly. Were you planning to accept from the beginning?”

“You can think about that yourself. What interests me is that the rise only happened at the beginning. If you look only at the results from the last ten years, you’ve barely managed to stay among the top five.”

“I did everything I could to make sure the students could learn in a good environment. Isn’t that enough? The academy’s ranking isn’t important.”

“Haha! You’re still old-fashioned.”

Olivia uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

“Fine. Six months. I’ll take charge. I’ll turn it into an academy far more prestigious than it is now.”

“Oh? That sounds unsettling. But if you do that, I’ll be grateful.”

“But I have one condition.”

Alpeas raised an eyebrow and smiled. From the start, he had not expected her to agree without asking for anything in return.

“There are students I taught when I was the headmistress of the Royal Magic Academy. Have those children transfer to your school. Their profiles are here.”

Alpeas did not answer immediately and first picked up the profiles.

There were two boys and one girl, all seventeen years old and all outstanding performers even at the Royal Magic Academy, the most prestigious academy in the kingdom.

He reviewed the three profiles one by one, but when he saw the last one, Alpeas’ eyes widened.

“Dante? Is this the Dante I know?”

Olivia covered her mouth and laughed.

“Hoho. He’s far too good a student for your academy. But now I’m the headmistress, so…”

Alpeas blinked foolishly. He had not expected Olivia to put in this much effort.

Olivia pointed at Alpeas and declared,

“I will transfer Airhein Dante and two others. That is my condition.”

***

On a mountain with difficult terrain, five magicians were running at full speed.

It was a young group, composed of people in their early to mid-twenties, all certified specialists in their respective fields.

The place they were about to raid was the hideout of a bandit group established in a mountain range near the capital, a force classified as Rank B and impossible to ignore.

Destroying the band would bring them fame and rewards, but the reason they were climbing the mountain today was different from usual.

“Why is it so quiet? Are they already dead? No matter how insolent they are, they’re still children.”

“Bah! And why should we care? We weren’t the ones who killed them. You were there too. Didn’t you see how they looked down on us? Just because they’re from the Royal Magic Academy, they think they’re everything?”

“Exactly. Even if they’re immature, looking down on active certified magicians… Young people these days are far too arrogant. They need a good lesson to come to their senses.”

But when they arrived at the hideout, it was completely silent, as if no one were breathing.

Puzzled, they opened the door, and a shocking scene unfolded before them.

All forty Rank B bandits were lying on the ground.

The students, seated around a round table, welcomed them.

“Huh? You’re late. We’ve been waiting for quite a while.”

The mercenaries were speechless. They had left only ten minutes later from the starting point.

In that amount of time, it was impossible for students to annihilate a Rank B bandit group.

“Who exactly are you people?”

“Why are you taking something so insignificant this seriously? How embarrassing for a bunch of adults. Hehe.”

A tall, muscular boy, unusual for a magician, let out a laugh.

It was Bonifar Closer, a student of the Royal Magic Academy.

He had tanned skin, sharp features, and dark brown hair slicked back and spiking up like a hedgehog’s quills.

“Haha! Just a few days ago you were talking with so much confidence. Don’t tell me you arrived late on purpose because you got scared?”

A catlike-looking girl, Victor Sabina, smiled with her eyes as she mocked the mercenaries.

She was short for her age but well-developed, and her waist was so slim it looked as if it had been tied with a rope.

The mercenaries gritted their teeth. Being defeated by students was a humiliation for professional magicians.

And even worse, if it became public, they could be driven out of the mercenary world.

“I think it’s time to admit it, don’t you? We won.”

Said Airhein Dante, the origin of this entire incident.

He had gray hair reminiscent of storm clouds and an appearance that was both fierce and intelligent—a handsome man.

The mercenaries lowered their heads. For an active magician, reputation and achievements were the most important things.

What client would pay to hire a magician who lost to students?