Professor Jian, who was the first to enter the lounge, stroked his mustache and said,
“Everyone, I hope you weren’t bored waiting for us? We came as quickly as we could, but since they are freshmen, there were many things to instruct the teaching assistants on, so we ended up a little late!”
“No, we were only just about to start waiting ourselves. We haven’t been waiting that long.”
“Mm? I see. That is a relief, Student Jin Prach.”
When I spoke up on their behalf to say it was fine, Professor Jian looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, then soon smiled and bowed his head.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to ask about Professor Jian’s rather unusual attitude, Professor Jugin, who was standing beside him, spoke first with a troubled look.
“...Mm, for now, we should sit down too. Ah. There’s one chair missing. What should we do?”
“...Should we stand?”
“No. Though you may have come here for an unfortunate reason, we cannot make students stand for no reason. It is not a special education session, after all.”
“Shall I bring another chair? There should be one in the supply room.”
“...There is no need for that, Professor Jan. I will simply stand.”
“Professor Osil?”
Professor Osil, with his slender build and an air of fatigue about him, stopped Professor Jan, who was about to leave the lounge to fetch a chair, and said,
“I do not think the discussion will be very long, and if Professor Jan steps out now, it will only consume more time. Therefore, rationally speaking, I will simply stand by the wall over there.”
After saying that, Professor Osil really did move over and lean against the wall beside the round table.
While Professor Jan looked back and forth between him and the table with an uncertain expression, Professor Ran, who was beside her, naturally sat down and said,
“Please just sit, Professor Jan. Professor Osil was considerate first, so we can hardly refuse his kindness, can we?”
Once Professor Jan took the initiative and sat down, the other professors around her also agreed with her words and took their seats.
“Ahem. Then this old man shall excuse himself first, Professor Osil. These days, even standing still drains my stamina.”
“Thank you! Professor Osil, I think sitting will actually be better for everyone’s neck health, so I’ll sit first. If I stand, all of you would have to bend your necks downward whenever you look at me!”
As the other professors, excluding himself, expressed their thanks to Professor Osil and sat down, Professor Jan let out a faint sigh and took the remaining seat.
“If your legs hurt at all, please tell me. I will run and bring you a chair immediately.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Professor Jan.”
Nod.
Professor Osil politely bowed his head in thanks for Professor Jan’s kindness.
Once the situation was settled, the professors’ gazes, which had been directed at Professor Osil, turned toward us.
Eyes glittering with curiosity, eyes wondering what should be done with these troublemakers, eyes observing us closely, eyes more interested in Hua Ling than in me, and finally, eyes that simply looked on without any emotion at all.
Perhaps because each professor had such a strong personality, their gazes, each unlike anyone else’s, fixed on my face, giving me the illusion that the skin of my face was being licked.
“...Now then, first, let us begin by discussing why you all appeared late to Academia’s entrance ceremony.”
In the awkward silence, Professor Ran was the first to open the conversation.
“Student Jin Prach, could you tell us?”
“...You’re speaking formally to me, unlike when we first met.”
“Student Jin Prach is now a student of Academia. I do not speak informally to students.”
“I see.”
I nodded as though accepting Professor Ran’s answer, then opened my mouth.
“First, I would like to make it clear that our late appearance at the entrance ceremony was not by our own will.”
“Not by your own will?”
“Yes.”
I moistened my lips a little and began explaining to the professors, as much as I could, how we had fallen into a situation we could not resist.
“In truth, Isil here and I left the Twilight Hall quite early and headed here, to Academia’s main building. In my case, I had not been told the route to the main building, so I left early to give myself plenty of time. As for Isil, well... she said she came out in the morning, when there were no people around, to enjoy solitude...”
“...”
“...I see. Did the guide who brought you here, Bell, not explain it to you separately?”
Ignoring Isil’s quiet glare, I nodded and answered Professor Jan’s question in the affirmative.
“Yes. I did speak with Miss Bell, but I did not hear anything about Academia’s geography.”
“Haa, I was certain that child would take care of it, so I did not call Student Jin Prach back after we parted... It was my oversight.”
Professor Jan murmured to herself with a faint sigh, saying that Bell had become a mage and she thought that scatterbrained personality of hers had been fixed, but it seemed it had not changed. Then she nodded and continued the conversation.
“Understood. That is something with some room for consideration. Then did you also meet Student Hua Ling in the morning?”
“Yes. While heading to Academia’s main building with Isil, we met Hua Ling for the first time at the training ground of the main building, where she was training.”
“...Student Hua Ling?”
“Mm, that is correct.”
When the gazes of the professors, which had been on my face, shifted to her, Hua Ling seemed a little burdened and answered while lightly scratching her chin.
“When did Student Hua Ling arrive at the training ground?”
“I do not know the exact time, but I left the dormitory before sunrise.”
“...At such an early hour?”
At Professor Ran, who asked back with a surprised expression, Hua Ling answered briefly with a look as if it was nothing.
“Yes. It is a habit, so I must begin training by that time at the latest.”
“...Student Hua Ling, you are very diligent. Given your circumstances, you must have been quite tired... Have you not only recently arrived in the Empire?”
“Separate from mental fatigue, my body simply moves. So I did not particularly feel tired while training.”
“...Impressive.”
At Hua Ling’s answer, all the other professors nodded toward her with expressions of admiration.
Professor Jugin, seated to Professor Ran’s left, was smiling with an expression that went beyond admiration and into satisfaction.
“To summarize what we have heard so far, the three of you gathered at the training ground at a very early hour. What did you do after that?”
“We immediately entered Academia’s main building, because Jin Prach here said he wanted to know where the auditorium was first.”
“What? You went straight into the main building?”
I nodded at Hua Ling’s words and affirmed it to the professors, who had heard her unexpected answer.
“Yes, that is correct. To be honest, I was curious about what Academia’s main building looked like, so we entered first thing in the early morning. Perhaps we were the first of all the students to arrive.”
“...At an hour that early, the main building of Academia should have had its lights out. Was it not dark around you?”
“It was dark, so it was hard to see well. However, Hua Ling here has good eyes, so we somehow managed to move around inside the main building.”
As I said that and blinked at Hua Ling, signaling her to back me up and say that I was right, she turned her head away as if she had seen something she should not have.
No, why?
“...That is strange. If you were inside the main building, and not somewhere else, there is no way we would have failed to find you. Even Professor Jian here did not see so much as a shadow of you. What on earth happened?”
“Ah... Well, you may not believe this.”
“Tell us. No matter how absurd it may sound, we will listen without reservation.”
At Professor Jan’s attitude as she looked at us with a serious expression, I paused for a moment and dragged out the time.
Right, after laying the groundwork this much, the professors probably wouldn’t suddenly get angry and think we were telling some pointless lie.
We must not forget that the situation we are in right now is a seat meant for punishment.
I do not know how life at Academia will proceed, but it is obvious that if the professors here mark us negatively, life from now on will become extremely difficult.
Our first impression has already been poor, but there is still a chance to turn it around.
“It was when we were moving through the dark main building with Hua Ling in the lead.”
“Yes.”
“While looking around to find the door to the auditorium, Isil found the main building guideboard. The one with the black background.”
“...A black guideboard?”
What? Why is Professor Jan looking puzzled when I have not even gotten to the point yet?
“Student Jin Prach, please continue.”
“Ah, understood.”
When I hesitated and cut myself off at Professor Jan’s reaction, Professor Ran, who had been listening attentively, spoke up and prompted me to continue.
“While we were reading the rules written on that black guideboard, a man suddenly approached us.”
“Who was he, Student Jin Prach?”
“The man introduced himself as Jude from Pishaden, and he was a ghost.”
“...”
When I opened my mouth and brought up the story of Jude the ghost, I saw Professor Ran’s eyes narrow.