Professor Rodelini and Eisen had truly joined hands.
News that Eisen had made some sort of proposal during an alchemy class a few days earlier, and that the entire Department of Alchemy had cheered and begun shuttling back and forth only between their labs and Eisen’s workshop, spread through the academy in an instant.
And when Reina heard this, she naturally tossed back some headache medicine and fell into thought.
‘He said it was some project and that he was going to make it bigger… so he was serious.’
At the time, Reina had been too busy keeping watch on the guards moving like Prince Rial’s shadows to have any leisure for conversation, but since she had been there, she had still heard the exchange itself.
She had thought it might end with Professor Rodelini compromising by sending over a few people, but seeing how he had stepped forward even more actively on his own, it seemed Eisen had properly succeeded.
‘Should I praise him for this or scold him?’
When she had looked at Eisen before, she had felt he was far too self-centered.
Perhaps because he had accomplished so much alone, he had usually solved most things by himself.
But after gaining his own territory, as if he had realized something there, he had begun taking more active steps to draw in people other than himself and spread golem technology further.
Depending on one’s point of view, it was like eating away at his own flesh, and from another, it was something like an Eisen-style cultural invasion. But to Reina, it felt as though Eisen was more actively trying to make allies and gather people around him, so it seemed like growth.
However, she could not simply praise him for it.
-“Professor Reina! The alchemy bastards are rioting like a mob! They’re throwing their weight around in the library, saying they’re going to borrow every technical book there is, and they’re using Professor Rodelini’s name, so it’s hard to refuse them…!”
-“Professor! The alchemy rioters are saying they need a large plot of land and are endlessly renting the arena under their own names! They’re filing duel requests among themselves and occupying the arena!”
Because the students of the Department of Alchemy had turned into Eisen.
Those always poor and starving bastards who nevertheless advanced knowledge and technology had spent a few proper days with Eisen and become mass-produced Eisens.
The plundering of supplies and book borrowing, which had finally died down because Eisen had torn apart everything worth tearing apart, was now being carried out by the alchemy bastards.
Until now, they had at least been restrained by common sense and kept under control, but once freed from the shackles called common sense, each of them was running wild.
‘To solve this, I have to strike the head.’
Taking down the alchemy bastards one by one, who were effectively no different from a mob, would only waste time.
Calmly swallowing the rest of her headache medicine, Reina quietly asked,
“Where is Eisen?”
“They say he got caught in an explosion while researching something called a floating device and was blown off somewhere!”
“And Professor Rodelini?”
“He stepped in, saying he’d improve it his own way, and the same thing happened to him!”
This is driving me insane.
If the ones in charge are acting like that, of course the underlings are running wild.
Rodelini was still a man of common sense, but since he was fundamentally similar to Eisen in some respects, once he had an environment where he could focus on research, he was surely doing the exact same thing.
Still, she had to resolve it.
Reina drew in a breath, set her mind to work, and began swiftly writing documents and letters while pointing people out.
“You, deliver this document to the dean.”
“You there, find the rest of the Knight Department and gather them. I’ll specially exempt you from class, so with Professor Iserina and the Magic Department’s help, suppress the rioters. Send about two people to find and assist Noel and Erika. They’re probably running all over the place.”
“You lot, investigate where the rioters are staging sit-ins and arrest them. If necessary, you may use my Cyclops. Just don’t destroy any buildings.”
“You, pick out about three agile people and search to see whether Saintess Mina is among the rioters. That saintess is similar to Eisen, so she’s probably slipped in among the rioters and is pocketing something. If you see her, subdue her without asking questions. Do not talk to her. She’ll try to entice you by suggesting you split the profits.”
After swiftly issuing her orders, Reina rose from her seat.
Then she fastened her long-time beloved sword at her waist.
And quietly equipped the club she had prepared for this day.
“This weighty feeling puts my mind at ease.”
It had to be at least this much to land a properly effective blow on that needlessly sturdy bastard, who had even learned how to instantly reinforce his body by drawing in mana right away and had become sturdier still.
Watching Reina swallow more headache medicine, a Knight Department student who had come to report gulped and asked,
“Professor, what will you…”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Reina smiled coldly.
“I’m going to shake off a little dust.”
To punish the two people who had caused this situation and then gone missing.
Reina began her sortie, carrying her old beloved sword and her club.
****
Several hours had passed since I ended up dangling from a tree, waiting to be rescued.
“There you are!”
A few minutes ago, Professor Reina had appeared with a ghostly expression, almost as if teleporting, cut down the tree, and as I was falling, administered a beating with her club.
I had protected my body with mana, but as I rolled across the ground after yielding to the club’s offensive power, which struck with exquisite pain, I quietly lifted my head and answered,
“I don’t know why, but I’ve been wronged, Professor.”
“You’re the one at fault, so this is your fault.”
Professor Reina said with a sigh.
“Get up. The pain should be gone by now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When Professor Reina attacked me after I caused trouble, it hurt at the moment I was hit, but after a short while, the pain mysteriously disappeared.
They said she was one of the Kingdom’s Five Strongest. Had she mastered a way to beat someone so it only hurt at the moment and didn’t last?
Considering she was said to have been quite the delinquent knight, maybe it wasn’t that she couldn’t control her violent tendencies, but that she had learned how to administer appropriate corporal punishment by adjusting it so it wouldn’t become a fatal injury… could that be it?
“You’re thinking something rude.”
“Have you even learned mind-reading?”
Professor Reina noticed like a ghost.
“I’ve been hit first because that happens a lot, but what exactly happened, Professor?”
“The alchemy bastards are stirring up the academy like you did a few months ago. Do you have no idea why?”
Professor Reina began tapping her own palm with the club.
So she’s thinking of hitting me about five more times.
“I just told them that since I had money now, I’d throw them a topic, and they could freely think of methods, even if it meant grinding everything in the academy into research materials.”
“I see. Let’s have you take five more hits.”
The club came flying immediately.
It skillfully avoided only my vitals, and the control was so exquisite that it hurt only at the moment of impact without even leaving a bruise.
Then Professor Reina nodded as if satisfied.
“Mm. As expected, you’re sturdy. That’s enough.”
“Haven’t you gotten too much of a taste for hitting people? It’s too old-fashioned.”
“Has there ever been a person who grew up well without being hit?”
She said that, but when I called it old-fashioned, Professor Reina obediently lowered the club.
Then, as if making an excuse, she pointed behind her.
“Look. Look at that hopeless adult. If you grow up without being hit, you end up like that.”
“You don’t have to try so hard to justify yourself by dragging in anything you can… But why was Professor Rodelini hit?”
“Because his students were running wild as if they’d become mass-produced versions of you, and he didn’t stop them.”
He deserved it.
I thought that as I looked at Professor Rodelini, who was slumped limply.
Then bushes shook here and there, and soon the alchemy students could be seen being arrested one after another.
“Reporting, Professor! We’ve subdued the rioters and transported them here!”
“The ones staging a sit-in at the arena are being brought here after being suppressed with the Cyclops!”
“We’ve also arrested the saintess! She had slipped in among the Department of Alchemy and was stealing gold items abandoned in the corner of a storage room!”
“I wasn’t stealing them. I was making it so they could be used valuably.”
It was Mina, being escorted alongside the others while speaking shamelessly.
“Why were gold items abandoned in the corner of a storage room?”
“Among magic tools, there are lots of things more valuable than gold, and what I found were basically scraps.”
“…Even so, they’re still academy property. Ha…”
Professor Reina sighed as she looked at me and Mina grinning brightly.
Soon, the alchemy students were made to kneel and sit, while Mina, Professor Rodelini, and I were made to kneel at the very front.
…So in this situation…
“Kuh, kill me!”
“Sure, Eisen. Take one more hit.”
I immediately reinforced my shoulder with mana and blocked the club Professor Reina swung.
There wasn’t much strength behind it, so it felt like she’d already cooled off and was just playing along.
“That, when a man says it, doesn’t seem like there’d be much demand.”
“If there was, I’d be even more scared.”
“…You lot, stop playing around and get a bit serious. Separate from the fact that I’ve cooled off, from the academy’s standpoint, this wasn’t an issue we could simply ignore.”
Had she cooled off simply because she had beaten me to her heart’s content?
At any rate, the rest of the alchemy students seemed to have come back to their senses as well, since they were quiet.
Then Professor Reina narrowed her eyes and said,
“I’ll declare this in advance. Written reflections. Ten pages each. The cost of ink and paper will be charged to Eisen or the saintess. No exceptions.”
“…Wait, you’re telling me to write one too?”
“Of course. Please write it.”
Professor Rodelini protested belatedly, but Reina was firm… or rather, she slightly raised the club.
“I’m good at writing reflections. Even back in my school days, I was famous for masterpieces. You can look forward to it. I’ll make people say it isn’t a reflection, but literature.”
“…I’m not curious. In any case, you must all be punished, so submit them without complaint.”
For now, it seemed this disturbance had been settled like that.
Then things grew noisy once more, and soon Noel, Erika, and the Magic Department began to appear.
“I’msorryI’msorryI’llmake suretowarnhimproperly…”
“Ah. I was looking all over for you, and you were hanging here, Eisen?”
Noel was apologizing here and there, while Erika had been searching for me after I was blown away.
Then Reina looked around and nodded.
“Everyone’s here. Shall we finish it on this occasion? Everyone, sit comfortably. The Knight Department and the Magic Department as well.”
“Pardon?”
“I said sit.”
Everyone was bewildered by Reina’s sudden words.
As everyone sat down one by one without knowing what was going on, and while Professor Reina helped Professor Rodelini up, Noel and Erika sat beside me.
“What is this about?”
“We don’t know either…”
Even Noel had no idea.
Then, for a moment, the space in front distorted.
Soon, a woman began to emerge from within it together with Professor Iserina.
“Come to think of it, Eisen, this must be your first time meeting her. The entrance ceremony was a mess, and you’ve been roaming all over the place.”
Noticing that I didn’t know who she was, Professor Reina murmured.
Then, yielding her place to that person, she said,
“Everyone. Attention.”
With everyone’s eyes gathered on her,
Professor Reina quietly opened her mouth and said,
“Dean Calliope has said she has something to convey to everyone here.”
The dean of the academy had arrived.