Chapter 22
Tomorrow's group class recruitment priorities from 1st to 10th place had been decided.
The top priority recruitment target was Jaime Victoria.
An outstanding candidate for Katarology. The fact that she was active and full of initiative was also a bonus.
The second priority was Claudia Menzies.
She was the ideal candidate Dick had mentioned: main in Haemotology, sub in Toxicology. If they could recruit her, the entire first semester would go much more smoothly.
Besides them, the list was filled up to the 10th priority.
“Even if we miss out on Jaime or Claudia, it’s important to quickly move on to the next on the list without hesitation. Oh! And when recruiting, we’ll emphasize that we have you, our special admission student number one, alright?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Only after thoroughly laying out their plans did the two finally lie down in bed.
Simon felt a sense of satisfaction. Was there any other group that had prepared their strategy this hard?
He secretly looked forward to tomorrow’s class.
* * *
The next morning, a new week began at Keyzen.
As Simon entered the classroom for the first-period Elementary Black Magic, it was completely different from the quiet atmosphere of the previous week. Now that people had become more familiar, the room buzzed with noisy chatter.
Simon sat quietly in his seat and was pulling out his textbook when Dick placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I just spoke with Jaime! We’ve got the introductions out of the way.”
Simon looked impressed.
“You’re really good at this kind of stuff.”
“Heh, networking is a must in business. This was always my job.”
Just then, footsteps could be heard from outside the classroom. The students quickly took their seats, sensing the professor’s arrival.
This was the moment the homeroom professor for Class A would be revealed.
“Please let it be Bahil!”
Dick muttered. Simon quietly hoped that Aron Deia of Summonology would be the professor for Class A.
He also thought Hongpeng of Magical Combat would be fine, and Eric Aura of Darkness Dynamics seemed like the kind type who would kindly teach black magic.
And then the door opened.
“Ah……!”
Everyone's jaws dropped.
“No, this has to be a joke, right?”
Dick’s pupils trembled like an earthquake.
The professor stepped up to the podium, piercing through the silence.
A neatly restrained bob cut, a sharp and commanding expression, and violet eyes that radiated charisma.
She was the acting chancellor of Keyzen, holding the title of vice-chancellor.
“My name is Jane Olivia.”
She was the second-in-command at Keyzen.
“I may hold the vice-chancellor title, but during class, feel free to simply refer to me as professor.”
As Neftis’s closest aide, she essentially wielded the full authority of Keyzen in her stead.
Among all the faculty seen so far, she stood close to the pinnacle.
“……Why is she teaching first-year students?”
Dick muttered under his breath.
Just as he said, it was rare for someone like the acting chancellor to directly teach students, and even when she did, it was usually for third-year classes.
“Well. Sometimes in life, unexpected situations do arise, don’t they? Dick Hayword.”
Dick stiffened like he had just seen a horror movie.
‘H-how does she know my name?’
Sweat poured down the back of his head. Jane turned to face the students.
“I’ll be in charge of Class A’s Elementary Black Magic for this semester. As Dick Hayword just said, I’ve only ever taught third-year classes until now……”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Please do your best, so the gap in levels doesn’t become too painfully obvious.”
Swallowing sounds echoed here and there.
In truth, being able to attend a class taught by Keyzen’s vice-chancellor was an incredible opportunity, but because of her infamous reputation, the students couldn’t just smile about it.
Jane was the embodiment of the term “Keyzen-esque” often thrown around by students.
If she deemed a student to show no potential or have a poor attitude, she was infamous for expelling them without hesitation.
Even the third-years, whom Keyzen treated as precious high-level assets, had not been spared from her expulsion blade, so it was only natural that Class A was already quaking in fear.
“Then, let’s begin the class.”
Breaking the silence, Jane spoke up.
“As you all know, Elementary Black Magic covers eight core subjects and supplements the fundamentals of necromancy that the individual subjects can’t teach.”
At her signal, assistants came in carrying stacks of thick papers and began handing them out to the students.
“Before that, you all need to know how proficient you are in those eight subjects.”
Simon and Dick's shoulders trembled.
A test on all subjects right from the first class! This was completely unexpected.
“Each subject’s exam will last 22 minutes. We’ll take four subjects first, then have a 4-minute break, and then immediately take the remaining four. If anyone is caught cheating, I’ll remember your name and expel you once the student protection period is over.”
There wasn’t even a moment to breathe.
Having thoroughly cornered the students, Jane folded her arms and declared:
“Let’s begin the test.”
* * *
For Simon, this was his first ever school exam.
At the same time, it became one of the most exhausting and painful three hours of his entire life.
Not physically exhausting, but mentally agonizing.
[7. After casting the Paralysis Curse, the subject showed symptoms of muscle rigidity and hypertonia, and turned to stone after 20 minutes. Assuming the subject’s internal mana loss rate is 0, what is the correct Darkness value to be added to the Paralysis magic circle based on the subject’s curse resistance?]
‘……I can’t solve this at all.’
The letters were black, the paper was white.
It was clearly written in continental language, but he couldn’t understand a word of it.
It was frustrating.
These problems were surely meant to be solvable, yet he alone sat there blankly while the other students were all writing with their quill pens.
An unfamiliar sense of helplessness took hold of his body.
He had gotten ahead a bit recently, gained control of his father’s undead legion, and thought he’d adapt to Keyzen easily, but that had been arrogance.
‘Yeah, this is reality.’
He hadn’t done any preparatory studies, so he would have to work insanely harder than others.
Faced with problems he couldn’t even begin to solve, Simon only grew more stubborn and desperate.
And so, the three hours, which felt like an eternity, finally passed.
“Uuugh.”
“That was so hard.”
Even the other students didn’t look too happy after the exam was over.
Dick handed his test sheet to the student behind him and turned to Simon.
“How was it, Simon?”
Simon gave a bitter smile.
“……I really need to study harder.”
“Agreed.”
After collecting all the test sheets, Jane addressed the students.
“Good work, everyone. Have a nice lunch, and I’ll see you again in two hours.”
“Thank you, Professor!”
No matter how crushed they felt, the mention of lunch was enough to make their bodies spring to life, some things never changed.
Thus, the students of Class A poured out of the classroom like the receding tide.
“Let’s begin.”
“Yes, Professor!”
Now was the start of Jane and the assistants’ real work. They sorted the exam sheets and began grading at their respective seats.
Among them, Jane was by far the fastest.
Her hand moved so swiftly it was nearly invisible to the eye. Her quill shot straight from top to bottom and immediately flipped to the next page without pause.
"......."
But at some point, beside Jane’s desk, the face of a young girl appeared.
Resting her cheeks on the edge of the desk, she blinked her large, blue eyes.
"......You must be busy, why are you here? Lady Neftis."
Jane’s voice was cold as she asked, and the girl replied with an innocent smile.
"To play!"
"......."
Jane ignored her and resumed grading.
Neftis, sulking, swung her legs as she clung to the desk and began to play around. Eventually, Jane snapped and struck the top of Neftis’s head with the edge of her hand.
“Ow!”
“Don’t interrupt.”
“Waaah! Jane always hits meee!”
Clutching her head, Neftis burst into tears and rushed over to cling to the hem of a nearby assistant’s robe.
With the sudden appearance of Keyzen’s ruler, the assistant’s face turned pale.
“Huuuh.”
Jane sighed.
“Stop tormenting my poor assistant and come over here.”
“No! No! You’ll hit me again if I go!”
“Now.”
Jane’s voice was cold and commanding. Neftis stuck out her lips in a pout and slowly came closer.
“Everyone, take the test papers and move to the empty classroom next door to continue grading.”
“Yes, Professor!”
As if they had been waiting for that very command, the assistants grabbed the test papers and scrambled out of the classroom in a hurry.
Neftis puffed her cheeks and glared with intensity.
“Jane! You’ve been so cold to me lately!”
“This is how I’ve always been.”
“Hmph. You’ve really changed! When I picked you up from the slums, you were a scared little girl, clinging to my hand with trembling eyes like a pure and innocent child!”
“That ‘pure child’ ended up like this after 24/7 overtime and work-related stress.”
Jane spoke sharply and handed over half the test papers to Neftis. Neftis blinked.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? Since you’re here, instead of getting in the way, help with the grading.”
“.......”
Realizing the situation a bit too late, Neftis gave a sheepish laugh and took a step back. She turned to escape, but Jane was faster, she caught Neftis and tucked her under her arm.
“Waaah! Nooo! Let me go! I don’t wanna work!”
Jane gave another chop to Neftis’s head, silencing her, then sat her down properly, handing over the test papers and a quill pen.
“Jane. You know this is child abuse and a labor law violation, right?”
“Who the hell are you calling a child. Stop talking and get to work.”
“......Yes.”
For a while, only the sound of quills scratching paper filled the room. Jane, who finished grading five test papers in a flash, glanced sidelong at Neftis.
Still sulking with puffed cheeks, Neftis was grading, but she had written “dummy” over a wrong answer.
“What are you doing? Don’t mess around.”
Once again, Jane struck her mercilessly on the head.
Neftis clutched the hit spot with both hands, sniffling.
“But it’s true! They’re really a dummy! They got the ingredient question in Toxicology number 2 right, but got the comparison question right below it wrong!”
“Hm.”
Jane looked over the problem and let out a soft chuckle.
“They used the formula for number 2, but answered number 3 with common sense instead of thinking it through. It’s a common student mistake.”
“Dummy, dummy! What’s this kid’s name?”
Neftis flipped the page to see the cover.
“Huh?”
The name was hidden.
“It’s a blind evaluation. If we see the name while grading, it might cause bias.”
“......It’s just a test, do you really need to go this far? That’s thorough.”
“Even if it’s just a test, there are many interesting samples.”
Jane pulled out one of the already-graded test papers.
“And this one is the opposite of what you just graded.”
“What do you mean?”
“They got most of the basic questions from number 1 to 15 wrong, the ones meant to just give out points. But then.”
She flipped the test paper to the back.
“Number 20. They attempted the hardest question.”
On the very last page, question 20.
The sheet was filled with complex formulas to the point of visual chaos.
“What is all this?”
“Ancient runes from Darkness Dynamics, instance skeleton formulas from Summonology, and Exhaust calculations from Katarology.”
“......You don’t mean?”
Jane smiled gently and nodded.
“Yes. This student didn’t do any preparatory study. They meticulously pieced together a logical answer using only what was taught in last week’s lessons.”
Neftis read through the paper.
“What the, it’s a Darkness calculation problem, but they used summoning formulas? They assumed resistance is proportional to Darkness loss rate and solved it from there.”
“Yes.”
“So, did they get it right?”
Jane shook her head.
“If you use the Teron Theorem, the answer comes out to exactly ‘1,200,000’.”
“Then what was this student’s answer?”
“1,200,146.”
Jane’s expression turned deadly serious.
“It wasn’t the answer the problem intended, but it was closer to the correct one.”
Neftis glanced down at the test paper.
She saw that even the strict Jane had marked question 20 as correct.
“Lady Neftis. May I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Why did you assign me to teach the first-year class? Specifically,”
She tore off the white paper concealing the name.
[Simon Follentia]
“to the class that has this boy in it?”
Neftis rested her chin on her hands and beamed.
“Hehe, I don’t really get what you’re talking about~”
Jane sighed internally.
‘......What a fox. A three-hundred-year-old fox of a woman.’
Superb.