Academy’s Undercover Professor-Novel - Chapter 141

ACADEMY’S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR

[Translator – Alice]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

 

Chapter 141 – Second Exam (3)

 

Lynne felt confused.

On her way to the classroom to prepare for the next exam, she encountered familiar people at the classroom entrance.

One person was a beautiful woman with cold facial features and a sharp gaze—Flora Lumos.

The other person was the carefree Cheryl Wagner.

She was a senior one year older than her and a person who took Professor Ludger’s class as well.

Usually, she would pass her by there without paying any attention, but Lynne couldn’t do that because Flora was there as well.

‘Oh… Did I do something wrong?’

Flora Lumos, who usually didn’t have any contact with her, was glaring at her with a hostile stare.

Why was Flora changing her indifferent attitude?

Lynne looked troubled, thinking about if she had done something rude to Flora.

As she was sensitive to others’ animosity, Lynne had not any trace of emotion from Flora before that.

The situation was very unexpected for Lynne.

‘It’s not complete hostility, but it seems like she’s feeling somewhat uncomfortable toward me.’

Lynne found it hard to guess the reason. No way, was it because of the second exam result? Because she received the same A+?

It was an assumption with high probability. In fact, it was the only reason she could think of.

‘What should I do?’

Lynne was concerned.

As she glanced toward Lynne with half-opened eyes, Flora Lumos looked more ill-tempered than anyone that she had collided with until then.

It wasn’t a hostile feeling toward her, but she clearly showed her distaste toward Lynne.

If Lynne rashly spoke, there was a high chance that Flora would become very easily irritated.

After she thought so, when Lynne was concerned because she couldn’t do anything, Elendil stepped forward from beside her.

“Do you have any business with us, Lady Lumos?”

“…”

Flora’s stare was directed at Elendil.

Her sharp gaze toward Lynne changed to be a bit softer toward Elendil.

To be exact, the gaze was filled with frustration and pity.

Flora sympathized with Elendil, who was with Lynne.

‘Third Princess… after living your whole life under your older sister’s shadow, you barely get closer to that kind of girl.’

However, she didn’t have any intention of saying it out loud.

Flora wasn’t in a situation to sympathize with the third princess.

“Uh, Flora?”

After she read the room from beside Flora, Cheryl cautiously called her.

Flora didn’t answer and just entered the classroom through the opened door.

“A-ahaha. I’m sorry. It seems like Flora’s in a bit of a bad mood today.”

Cheryl awkwardly laughed while apologizing to Elendil and Lynne before soon heading toward the classroom, following Flora in a hurry.

Elendil glared at both of their backs with dissatisfied gazes.

“What the hell? She blocked our path all of a sudden. She didn’t answer my question and just went away.”

“I know, right?”

Lynne could only chime in between Elendil’s words with an awkward smile.

After she followed Flora, who sat on an empty seat in the classroom, Cheryl interrogated her.

“Flora, why the hell were you like that? So unlike you.”

“What do you mean ‘so unlike me’?”

“Usually, you don’t even pay any attention to other students, but you paid attention to that Lynne girl?”

“…”

Even though it had already passed, Cheryl was going to keep bringing it up.

She had been acquainted with Cheryl since they were kids, so Cheryl knew Flora’s personality better than anyone else.

Flora already knew what to say to get Cheryl to think about something else.

“Rather than that, Cheryl, have you properly prepared for the exam this time?”

“O-oh?”

Cheryl’s face was tinged in embarrassment at the sudden question.

As she liked to play and pick up on gossip, to be frankm her personality was very far from the studious type.

It wasn’t like she depended on tuition, but it was an undeniable fact that she had the biggest mouth compared to other students.

“You know that the person in charge of the exam this time is Professor Mary Ross, right?”

“Why are you talking about it all of a sudden?”

The professor with the longest service in Sören, Mary Ross, was famous for her tender personality, gentleness, and how considerate she was of the students.

What she taught was Pharmacology of the Curses and Dispelling class.

However, what she taught wasn’t simply Pharmacology, the various fields related to Pharmacology were also within her class category.

Because Professor Mary Ross was very tender to the students, no matter how badly they did in her exams, she would at least give them C+.

That was why Professor Mary’s class was famous for being a sugary class, and the students all wanted to take it.

It was one of the few classes where they could safely secure their scores.

“Well. This year, Professor Mary told us that, rather than giving a low score, she would transfer those who don’t take her exam seriously to another class, right?”

There were students who took advantage of Mary Ross’s kindness and deliberately took it easy on the exam because they knew they would get an ok score anyway.

—That was why Mary Ross took a special countermeasure against that.

She would forcefully transfer the students who didn’t take the exam seriously to another professor’s class.

A professor changing a student’s class as they pleased was usually something that couldn’t be done, but it was quite possible for Mary Ross, as she was the oldest staff member in Sören.

“Are you really going to be alright?”

“Oh.”

Cheryl was drenched in a cold sweat at Flora’s point.

“Wh-what should I do? Flora…”

“What do you mean? Why are you asking me that?”

“Flora~ Please help me. Hm? Please.”

“Ah. Get off of me. What are you doing? It’s gross.”

“But Flora, if I’m like this, I won’t be able to get a proper score. Hm? We’re friends. Please give me a chance, just once~.”

In the end, Cheryl divided to try to mooch off of Flora.

Once it became like that, Flora thought that it was enough for her to distract her childhood friend’s attention, so she passed Cheryl the notebook that she’d brought.

“Now, take this. I only wrote down the important points, so if you just cram it and remember as much of it as you can, you can evade a failing grade.”

“Thanks! I love you, Flora!”

As Cheryl started her cram studying right away, Flora stared at Cheryl apathetically before she discovered Lynne sitting on one side of the classroom.

She was a commoner, but she had a rare hair color and a beautiful face.

If that girl had been born an aristocrat, she would have probably received many offers of courtship from other students.

Just then, Lynne seemed to sense someone’s stare, as she looked over at Flora.

Both of their gazes met.

Flora soon turned her head away because it would only embarrass her to have a glaring fight with that girl.

‘Never mind. Why am I worrying about this as if a commoner is my opponent?’

After she put her elbow on the desk while resting her chin with her arm, Flora suddenly mumbled by herself.

“What’s good food for someone who’s sick?”

“Huh? Flora. Are you sick somewhere?”

Cheryl suddenly raised her head after having been focused on the notebook.

As Flora looked at her friend’s curious expression who’d happened to hear her mumble even while focusing on her cram, she flatly replied.

“I was just curious. Do you have any recommended medicine?”

“Hmm~”

Cheryl leered at Flora.

Suspicious. Very suspicious… Flora Lumos, who didn’t have any interest in others, was concerned about someone else being sick?

However, her consideration as a friend came into play, and she let it pass.

“Well, I have heard some things… according to a story that’s been around high society recently, I heard that there’s a medicine that aristocrats in their 40s and 50s consume. Is it a powdered medicine made from grinding dried mandragora?”

Mandragora, which was chosen as an A-class material in pharmacology, was a precious material that was hard to obtain even with an enormous amount of money.

Cheryl deliberately spoke about the incredulous material because was because to talk about it was even a half-joke in itself.

“As expected, mandragora is the best, huh…”

“Oh?”

She thought Flora had asked the question without much thought, so Cheryl couldn’t hide her confusion when she heard such a serious reply.

However, Cheryl soon smiled like a playful cat.

“Hoho. So there’s someone in this world that Flora cares about? Who is it?”

“Wh-whaat?! It’s not like that!”

Flora’s white skin was tinged red.

Cheryl’s suspicion became a certainty at Flora’s fierce reaction.

“What do you mean~? How long do you think I’ve known you? You can’t deceive my eyes! I can definitely smell something here.”

“Can’t you be silent? Rather than that, the exam is going to be held in less than five minutes, are you going to be okay?”

“Ah!”

As she belatedly became aware of her circumstances, Cheryl hurriedly stared at the points in the notebook.

Cheryl teared up while asking for help from Flora with a pitiful gaze.

“F-Flora… How much material will be covered in the exam?”

“Starting from the manufacturing of a beginner recovery potion to the precautions for mana transmission.”

“Hiing. It’s too much.”

“I know, right? You should have constantly studied daily.”

“We both studied for a similar amount of time, but why only me?!”

“…If you’re implying that it’s because I’m a genius, I’m going to be angry. Do you think I don’t know that you played outside and didn’t study on your days off?”

“Heeek!”

As if giving the last sentence to the groaning Cheryl, the classroom door opened, and the person in charge of the exam, Professor Mary Ross, entered.

The mild elegance of Professor Mary was still the same as usual, but she wore a smile mixed with a somewhat irresistible charisma.

“Everyone prepared for the exam adequately, right?”

Cheryl’s complexion turned ghastly pale.

* * *

Professor Mary Ross’s exam was finished.

Her assistants stepped forward and collected the test papers, and the students were happy at the thought that the day’s exam had ended while stretching their bodies.

It was only Cheryl who stuck her head on the desk as if she was doomed and about to die.

“Uuuuh. I was barely able to answer all of them somehow.”

It wasn’t like she was dead, but her voice made it seem like she was dying.

“Hoho. Everyone worked hard in the exam.”

When Mary Ross spoke in a calm voice, the students who had released their tension were focused on her speech.

Even after the exam was over, there weren’t any students who got up from their seats.

“Cheryl. Get up. It’s time for the tip.”

“Oh, right!”

After she became one with the desk, Cheryl suddenly raised her head, straightened her back, and went into all-ears mode.

Usually, right after the exam, the students would run away from the classroom, but that day was different.

There was a reason why they remained in the classroom and stared at Professor Mary Ross while full of expectations.

It was because of something special that could only be heard in Professor Mary Ross’s class.

There was a famous story among Sören students…

Professor Mary Ross would say that the students attending her class had worked hard in the exam and would tell them information that wasn’t usually told in her classes.

The ‘time for the tip’ that Flora got Cheryl’s attention for was just that, the tip given after the exam was indeed fun and also very useful, so its popularity had skyrocketed among the students.

It wasn’t a mere tip, but it was information that might be a syndrome in the magic world, so it was enough to make the students’ eyes turn upside down.

“All of you must have known it because you did the test today, but there’s an additional supplementary explanation about the precautions of mana transmission.”

The students perked their ears.

Someone had even finished his preparation to write.

“Mana transmission is basically something done between two wizards. In the case where the transmitter’s mana control is poor, it can be very dangerous.”

They’d recently used mana recovery potions, but if things went awry, it was also common for people to do mana transmission through emergency treatment for patients with mana exhaustion.

Realistically, people could save the money needed for medicine with a little bit of bother and risk.

“But… Did you know that there’s a mysterious phenomenon that happens in that kind of mana transmission if both people’s mana collide and mix?”

“Professor, what on earth is that mysterious phenomenon?”

“It’s that you can read memories.”

They could read memories if they shared their mana?

Unlike the confused students, some of the others who had some knowledge about it showed a reaction as if they had heard it somewhere.

“This is called Memory Storming, in fact, it’s a phenomenon that has been published in a Magic Tower thesis.”

“Ey, no way. It’s not a lie?”

“No. I think I have heard of it before.”

Mary Ross smiled gently while thinking that the buzzing students were cute.

“Do you know that there’s memory in mana? Mana contains many things that we haven’t fully discovered yet. Mana embedded in a wizard’s body especially contain many more memories because it has been in the body for longer.”

“Professor, how does mana store memories?”

Mary Ross shook her head at the student’s question.

“Shamefully, that hasn’t been discovered yet. The research is lacking, and it hasn’t been long since said thesis was released.”

“Ey, what?”

“Mana is still a mysterious strength, and it’s our role as wizards to research it. However, a research result recently came out of the New Magic Tower… the source of this Memory Storming phenomenon is still unknown, but they said we can utilize it.”

She lightly said it as if it was nothing much, but the weight of her words was never light.

The Magic Tower… To think that she said the research result that came out of the New Magic Tower that had split from the Old Magic Tower in such a light manner.

That was the reason why Mary Ross’s tips were famous among the students.

‘As expected from the longest-working member of Sören.’

‘Perhaps there are a lot of her students that she taught who went to the New Magic Tower?’

‘So she’s still communicating with her students after they graduated.’

The students were excited at the new information.

“In fact, there’s a talisman that can trigger this Memory Storming for a little bit. My past disciple sent it to me as a present, saying this is a successful product.”

Mary Ross pulled out a couple of pieces of white paper that looked like talismans.

The paper with a geometrical shape drawn on it was a talisman and medium that could invoke Memory Storming.

“Because it’s a prototype, it doesn’t have a very huge effect, so it’s harmless. Is there anyone who wants to use it?”

Could they read memories kept in mana if they used that talisman?

When the students were wondering about it, Flora Lumos was the only one with glistening eyes.

‘Can I… use that on other people as well?’

Her smart brain was already thinking of another method.