Academy’s Undercover Professor-Novel - Chapter 86

ACADEMY’S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR

[Translator – Alice]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 86 – Spiritology Class (2)

Spirits were beings born originally from nature.

Spirits had existed since the time of Mother Nature’s existence in the beginning, and of course, they had lived in this world for a long time before human beings.

Spirits that were derived from nature retained the power of nature.

That was why they were strong, beautiful, and the purest.

There were only two kinds of emotions that such spirits felt toward human beings:

Fondness and indifference.

Therefore, when spirits signed contracts with humans, they determined the criteria according to their curiosity.

The spirit did not care about how a cruel a villain the person was or if they were resented by others.

The standards of good and evil shared by human beings were nothing more than specks of dust in front of Mother Nature.

Nature was not afraid of human beings.

Human beings were also a part of Mother Nature—they were one of the elements of the world.

Spirits derived from nature had absolutely no reason to fear human beings, which were a part of nature.

But…

It was happening before her eyes.

Spirits were frightened by a human being.

Selena knew that there had surely never been a case like that.

“Professor, Ludger? H-how come this kind of…?”

“Professor Selena. You don’t have to be so surprised.”

Looking at Selena, who was staring at him as if she was looking at a strange thing, Ludger thought he should calm her down a little bit.

“There are all kinds of people in the world. It’s no wonder that there’s someone who’s hated by the spirits.”

“Hated by the spirits, you said?”

“Yes. I’m such a person with that unique physical type.”

Ludger’s excuse was actually too lame to call an excuse.

But that was the best excuse Ludger could make.

He couldn’t tell her the truth about his true ‘physical type’.

The only good thing about that was…

“Is… is that so?”

Selena truly believed his words.

Of course, Selena wasn’t a complete fool either.

Innocence has its limits, and even when it was her, she would never have believed such nonsense.

Usually, of course.

But it was a different story if it was Ludger who said it.

Ludger was a mysterious man.

Since he’d been appointed as a professor in Sören, he had been so skilled that it was hard to believe that he was a new professor and had shown great performances one after another.

One of the most famous anecdotes was his creation of Source Code, a new spell that had never existed before.

The creation of a new spell…

Even she, who was a fellow professor like him, felt like she was going back to her days as a student whenever she saw Ludger.

In the end, it was that.

Even if the words were the same, the persuasive power varied depending on who the speaker was.

Ludger had become so credible to Selena that she could believe anything he said.

“And please take a look. It’s mainly the spirits in the lower level that are avoiding me. Other spirits don’t avoid me.”

“Oh… But there are only low-level spirits around here.”

“Then you can check with the spirit that you manage.”

Most of the spirits floating around were low to lowest-level spirits.

Selena, on the other hand, had signed contracts with spirits above the intermediate level, as she was invited to teach in Sören at her young age.

The spirits were not just from one attribute, but the intermediate spirits she managed were water, wind, and earth spirits, three kinds of attributes.

“Ah.”

It was just as Ludger had said.

Because they were intermediate spirits that had already contracted with Selena, they were invisible to others because they hadn’t shown themselves yet.

There were as many as three intermediate-level spirits.

They were not particularly afraid of Ludger like the lower-level spirits.

The intermediate-level spirits that could only be seen by her were rather confused by the frightened expressions of the other lower spirits.

“How are they?”

“Oh? It’s real. The spirits of intermediate-level and above who have signed their contracts with me are docile.”

Selena twinkled her eyes as if she was just amazed that she had discovered a new fact.

“More than that, it’s awesome! I’ve never seen a lower-class spirit avoid anyone this much.”

Selena was sticking her face toward him.

Ludger slightly pulled back his upper body.

“There are many kinds of people in the world.”

“It’s a shame. I wish you had been close to the spirits as well.”

“It’s alright. More than that, is it okay for you to take so much time talking with me? The students are waiting.”

“Pardon? Ah, ah really! Excuse my shortsightedness! The students are in the middle of a test right now, right? Thanks, Professor Ludger!”

“No problem.”

Ludger breathed a sigh of relief inwardly as he saw her rush to the students and arranged their contracts with the spirits.

She passed it by like that because she was Selena, if she was someone else, she might have questioned his existence.

‘I’m glad it’s not a situation where I’m lacking mana.’

Ludger was fully aware that the spirits were afraid of him.

But if the lower spirits were being asked if they were entirely afraid of him, they would say no.

It wasn’t exactly him that the lower spirits were afraid of, but the other ‘something’ behind him.

‘But now I have a lot of mana, so I don’t think the intermediate-level spirits and above are able to recognize it.’

But when he used up a lot of mana…

And if that Noise resonated in his head…

At that time, the intermediate-level spirits would also show reactions.

Then it would have been hard for him to even make an excuse to Selena.

‘Even in my best conditions, the low-level spirits still recognize it. Ironically, it’s the weakest beings who recognize this strange power.’

Grit.

Far away from the students, Ludger chewed and swallowed mana recovery pills to prevent himself from getting caught by the others.

Ludger’s eyes were directed at Selena, who praised the students who had just signed their contracts with the spirits.

She was genuinely happy with her students’ success as if it were hers.

‘More than that, is Professor Selena only handling intermediate-level spirits?’

For the moment, she had seemed to handle a total of three intermediate-level spirits.

The intermediate-level spirits of water, wind, and earth.

That alone was definitely a great skill.

But still, if she’d entered Sören as a professor, he thought there would be one more spirit she could be confident about.

As he was thinking so, Ludger narrowed his eyes to a strange sensation that he suddenly felt.

‘A gaze…’

Ludger rolled his eyes and searched for the owner of the gaze that was heading toward him.

‘Where is it?’

First of all, it was not from the students.

The direction of the gaze originated from among the dense trees instead.

But it was hard to guess the exact direction, as a hazy fog had bloomed in the surroundings.

‘Was it a spirit?’

The lower-level spirits were afraid of him and were reluctant to come near him.

The intermediate-level spirits only roamed around Selena.

‘There’s a strange heat that’s felt along with the gaze. I’m sure it’s from a pretty powerful creature.’

Yeah. That was definitely the spirit of fire.

Just being a little interested in him also affected the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere.

They were at least high-level spirits.

They’re called high-level spirits, but they at least displayed a 5th-rank wizard’s power when compared to human beings. Among them, the especially strong individuals were able to display the strength up to a 6th-rank wizard.

Most of all, the gaze staring at him was full of vigilance.

‘Since it’s the entrance to the Forest of Fantasy Dreams, there’s no way that a high-level spirit would appear in a place like this, though.’

Besides, the place was literally a forest. The spirits living in the forest were basically centered on the spirits of plants, light, water, wind, and earth.

The Spirit of Fire was often seen in hot places, mainly in volcanic areas and deserts.

But in that kind of forest, moreover, in the entrance, he couldn’t believe that there were high-level spirits of fire.

‘Other students didn’t seem to feel its existence.’

Neither did Selena, who was most sensitive to spirits, respond to it.

‘It’s not a creature that exists in a situation of nature. Someone artificially handled it.’

From the gaze that was heading at him, Ludger could even feel what kind of human being the creator was and the intentions of the creator.

In the end, were they trying to make sure that this human being that was feared by other spirits was really a threat?

It was a little offensive for Ludger, but he didn’t mean to show his feelings in the current situation.

‘Is there someone else in this forest who handles the spirits? Or is it someone hiding among those students who handled this spirit?’

He wasn’t sure yet.

But if he showed his strength to identify the Spirit of Fire, that person would immediately run away.

Now he had no choice but to leave them to evaluate him.

‘A person who handles a high-level spirit while hiding their identity… huh.’

A Spiritology professor in charge of senior students?

The chances were extremely low.

On the contrary, knowing that they were staring at Ludger plainly, there would only be one person.

The First Order…

The Black Dawn Society executive who was hiding in Sören.

Was the person a he or she; a student or a professor?

It was something that Ludger hadn’t even been able to identify yet. And unlike other members of the Black Dawn Society, they were the only person on the lookout that might notice his weirdness.

‘I don’t know why they’re looking at me like this all of a sudden. Or are they sending some kind of signal?’

So what would happen if he reacted there?

If he reacted explicitly, it could turn out to have a reversed effect instead.

His opponent was the First Order of the Black Dawn Society. Since he was an executive of a secret organization, he would be cautious when contacting the same executive.

If so, what should he do?

Ludger opened his mouth just in case.

“It’s a little hot.”

It was a natural murmur to himself.

No matter who looked at it, it was nothing more than a quiet recitation by himself.

However, the meaning was clearly conveyed to the person staring at him.

‘There’s a response.’

He felt it.

There was a stir in a part of the air even though it was just a moment.

It was definite evidence that the other person was listening to his voice.

But he didn’t say anything anymore.

It was the only reaction that he had shown as a response, and Ludger drew a clear line by closing his mouth tightly.

‘Now. What are they going to do?’

They didn’t have to react from over there.

Whatever it might be, Ludger had obtained a solid clue that his opponent handled a high-level spirit of fire.

However, even after some time, there was no response from the other person.

Ludger became a little impatient.

‘If the other person handles a high-level spirit, should I release the limitation imposed on me to deliberately ask for a response?’

He called it a limitation, but it was actually some kind of barrier to his mind that he’d built using his mana.

And that kind of limitation was to prevent the strange Source that he had.

Source…

The real reason why the lower-level spirits were afraid of him.

Spirits were not approaching Ludger not simply because they were afraid of him.

To be exact, they were afraid of the power that he possessed.

‘I don’t exactly have it because I want it.’

In the end, could he say that he owned it?

The Source was not something that Ludger could do anything about.

It couldn’t be detached from him, and even more, it couldn’t be neglected either.

Rather, if he didn’t maintain his mana all the time, that Source would try to eat him away instead.

That was why he usually took magic pills consistently and maintained his mana at maximum.

There were currently three limitations that he maintained.

It was only the lower-level spirits that reacted to it.

‘It’s just a simple prediction, but each time I release the limitations one by one, the higher-level spirits will be able to recognize it as well.’

In order to influence the higher-level spirits, two of the three limitations might have to be released.

It wasn’t a very pleasant thing for Ludger, either.

He couldn’t believe he had to release two limitations just to bring out his opponent.

Even if only one of the limitations was released, Ludger would hear the horrible, noise-like voices.

When the second limitation was released, then he would feel their touch.

And the last, third limitation…

The last limitation was what his teacher had begged him about, earnestly saying that, even if he died, he should never release it.

It was hard to even imagine what would happen the moment he released it.

‘How did this happen?’

Suddenly, he remembered what his mother had said in his previous life.

All kinds of beings were watching over him.

He didn’t believe it then, but he had been aware of it every day since coming to the new world.

So he was annoyed because he kept bringing up memories that he didn’t want to remind himself of.

It was that moment…

Whirrr.

A small spark formed in front of Ludger’s eyes and then turned into a letter.

Ludger was not surprised at the sight. Having already prepared himself, he calmly scanned the letters that were engraved with flames.

‘In the end. They were also frustrated like me. They’re coming up to me by themselves.’

[In three days. After school hours. In this place again.]

The First Order that he was looking for so much was the first one to attempt to have a secret rendezvous with him.