Academy’s Undercover Professor-Novel - Chapter 91

ACADEMY’S UNDERCOVER PROFESSOR

[Translator – Alice]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 91 – Celebration Party (1)

Lynne had recently experienced a series of events that’d made her seem to be losing some hair.

She hadn’t had a quarrel with the aristocratic students, she hadn’t failed her class because of her non-property magic, and the men who were interested in her appearance hadn’t disturbed her.

There were some fun and happy events, but there were more events that weren’t like that.

Now that the first exam period was over, Sören’s students were taking a break while making the most of their few vacant hours.

Some had already concentrated on their studies as their pride was hurt by failing the test, but it was none of Lynne’s business.

—Because she seemed to have done well on the exam.

‘That’s why I was going to take a break.’

It was a honey-like break that was given to her after a long time.

The seniors also agreed that it would be difficult to take a moment to rest until after the next exam period, so they told the juniors to rest well while they could if they planned to take a rest.

Lynne took those words completely to heart and was about to take a break.

‘But why the hell am I here…?’

She lifted her head that’d been slightly bowed down and looked at the man who was sitting comfortably across from her.

“What’s wrong?” Freuden Wolfsburg asked back as he felt her gaze.

He was a very handsome man, even when she looked at him again.

A man who would be the leader of one of the three duke families and the eldest son of Wolfsburg…

Yeah…

He was sitting opposite of her.

Both of them were also eating alone in a small, vacant lot that was not visited much by others.

‘How did this happen?’

The taste of the fancy food that lingered in her mouth and the gap between the breathtaking situations that she encountered made Lynne’s head dizzy.

Obviously, they had met and had a meal like that before.

But it was only sympathy and goodwill from Freuden, as her lunch had been thrown to the ground because of the bullies.

After that, she’d thought that kind of event would never happen again…

‘We just ran into each other on the street.’

She was looking for a place to eat while holding a lunch box, thinking that she should be especially careful.

However, she didn’t really want to go to the student cafeteria.

She didn’t have any friends to eat with, and that place where many people gathered would only naturally attract attention to herself.

She couldn’t believe the others stared at her so intensely while she was eating. The food she ate while being watched like that also made her feel stuffy and gave her an upset stomach right away.

But wasn’t it too much to eat in a toilet cubicle where there were no people?

There was a joke that when someone had no friends, they would secretly eat in the bathroom, but Lynne didn’t want to be like that.

That was why she was outside.

Who knew that she would run into Freuden there?

He was seemingly on his way to eat, too, as he was walking around with a lunch basket alone without his followers.

-Lynne, are you on your way to eat?

-Pardon? Oh, yes.

-Hmm. It’s quite lonesome for us to eat alone, let’s eat together.

-…

There was no way she could reject it.

Lynne eventually ended up eating with Freuden, and that was the situation.

‘It’s a very fancy menu, even when I look at it again.’

Looking at Freuden’s lunch box, Lynne realized how terrible the lunch box she had packed was.

Because of her tight money, all she could eat was steamed potatoes and some vegetables.

It was her reality that she couldn’t even dream of eating meat.

She was sullen for some reason, and then there was suddenly meat piled on her lunch box.

“Oh, Senior?”

“Eat more.”

“Pardon?”

“Come to think of it, mine has too much meat.”

Freuden said so and concentrated on his meal again.

Lynne was thinking about whether to reject it or not, but she decided to eat it because she thought it would be a waste to throw away what she’d received.

‘More than that, it’s amazing.’

While eating the delicious meat, Lynne had no choice but to wonder.

‘Senior… I think he prepared more food than before. Who was he planning to give it to?’

Maybe he’d made an appointment with someone, the appointment was canceled, and then he’d met her right in time as he was passing the road and he gave her the meat as the other person’s substitute.

Was she lucky or not lucky?

Lynne decided not to think about it too deeply, as it was useless.

‘It’s delicious.’

The meat tasted particularly good because she hadn’t had any in a long time.

***

It was really awkward, but the delicious meal was soon over.

“Well, then, I’ll go now.”

Freuden rose from his seat, as he needed to tend the garden.

At least for the moment, it seemed that he didn’t want to be disturbed by others, so Lynne bowed and left the vacant lot after saying that she enjoyed the meal.

It was an uncomfortable position, but it was not a position of distress.

‘Still, I think Senior is a good person.’

She didn’t contemplate deeply about why Freuden was that nice to her.

She thought Freuden was just a good person.

‘He didn’t seem to have any bad intentions.’

Freuden was someone who did not discriminate against the commoners and someone who had even saved her when she was in danger.

Freuden might seem like a terrible villain to some people, but at least Lynne didn’t think so.

He was a good person.

It was some kind of hunch for her to be very certain of it.

Lynne had a special sense of recognizing the hostility or danger of others toward her.

It was not something like magic, but it was just a vague feeling, and she trusted that feeling quite a lot.

In fact, that feeling of hers was often proven true.

The desire of the people who approached her due to her appearance and the people who helped her with pure, good intentions were different in the atmosphere they gave off.

It was the same even after she’d arrived at Sören.

Envy, contempt, possessiveness, etc…

All sorts of emotions were directed at her, and Lynne avoided such people as much as she could.

She could see the darkness that couldn’t be hidden inside the students who approached her saying they were fellow commoners and the aristocrats who were trying to approach her with a good smile.

That was why Lynne didn’t get along recklessly with others.

—Because she couldn’t do that.

It might’ve been another case if she didn’t know about it from the beginning, but she couldn’t treat someone whose intentions were so obviously seen with a welcoming smile.

But Freuden wasn’t like that.

—That was why Lynne sat together and ate with him.

Otherwise, even though it was Freuden’s offer, she would have turned it down no matter what.

‘There aren’t a lot of people like this, it’s fascinating.’

There were only a handful of people who’d come to Sören and did not have complete malice toward Lynne.

One of the most representative people was Freuden Wolfsburg, whom she had just finished a meal with.

‘There’s senior Elendil, too. And then…’

The last person that came to her mind was Ludger, who’d handed her a book about non-property magic.

‘And Professor Ludger Chelysie…’

Ludger’s sharp gaze toward her seemed to be full of dissatisfaction with everything, but Lynne knew…

That he wasn’t hostile toward her.

On the contrary, he was docile to her and even had good intentions.

Was it kindness?

No. It was strangely different from the feeling of kindness that other people gave off.

It was close to a good feeling, it wasn’t like he was showing an interest toward her, but something that was a little darker.

Regret…

Or guilt?

‘Why on earth?’

She couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling that it was the case.

It just looked that way, and it just felt that way.

“Uuurgh.”

Lynne rubbed her eyes with her hands.

Was it an illusion that she kept feeling itchy around her eyelids those days?

There was a person standing silently in front of Lynne when she rubbed her eyes and looked forward again.

“…!”

She had heard a saying that if someone was too surprised, they wouldn’t even scream.

Lynne was feeling that way acutely for the first time.

The man in front of her smiled and greeted her.

“Hi, you’re Lynne, right? A freshman.”

“Oh, yes, but who are you?”

Seeing that he was wearing a uniform, he was also a student in Sören like her.

When she looked at his name tag, it was a different color.

Second-year student… He was her senior.

He was a handsome man with a bright smile.

He had a style in which he ponytailed his slightly scarlet hair on the back of his neck.

His slightly opened eyes seemed to be very nice, but Lynne had an impression that he was a little bit like a snake—it meant that she felt like he had a secret plan beneath his sleeve.

But Lynne didn’t run away because she didn’t feel any hostility from him.

On the contrary, she was extremely curious as to why the man was in front of her.

“I’ve been wondering what Freuden was doing by himself lately.”

“Oh, are you a friend of Senior Freuden?”

“Senior?”

Was it unexpected for her to call him Senior Freuden so openly?

The squinty-eyed man opened his eyes slightly, then he chuckled and laughed.

“Yeah. We’re friends. My name is Henry Presto, Freuden’s friend. Nice to meet you.”

“My name is Lynne.”

“Yes. I already know that.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t be so wary while looking at me like that. It’s just amazing that my friend Freuden, who has always been lonely, made a lunch box and walked to meet someone in person on a holiday after such a long time. Both of you have met before this as well, right?”

“H-how do you…?”

“There’s just a method for me to find out.”

Lynne realized that this senior named Henry was not an ordinary person.

He had no hostility toward her, but should she say that he was dangerous as a person?

He knew things that others didn’t surprisingly well.

“Haha. You don’t have to be so wary.”

“…Yes.”

Even though she said so, she stared at him with a disapproving gaze.

Henry grinned while scratching his cheek, perhaps because he thought he had made a mistake at the start.

“Hmm. Am I suspicious for some reason? Then, I will give you good information as an apology.”

“Good information?”

“Yes. Good information. You’re tight on money these days, aren’t you?”

“Pardon?!”

Lynne showed a reaction and belatedly regretted it.

She should have pretended that it wasn’t the case, but he’d hit the nail so properly that she’d revealed all of her feelings outwardly.

“N-nooo.”

“It’s all the same. Other students also need money, so they do a lot of part-time jobs here and there or go to the commission notice board and get a commission.”

“…”

“But honestly, it’s annoying to handle a commission, and you can’t tell which commission is dangerous or not, right? That’s why the safe way for you is to earn a daily wage by doing miscellaneous work inside Sören.”

That’s true.

In fact, Lynne had been looking for several workplaces recently to make money.

“I know a lot about that… Things that are comfortable and make a lot of money… Precious information that other students don’t know. I can tell you that.”

“…You?”

“Even if I look like this, I know a lot about things that happen here inside Sören. What do you think?”

Lynne was quite suspicious of Henry’s behavior when he suddenly offered her such a proposal.

Normally, she wouldn’t even have listened to it, but now the situation was different.

—Because she was actually very needy for money.

Henry dug into it at the right time.

Besides, she strangely didn’t feel any animosity from him.

“What’s the reason that you’re telling me this? It’s our first time meeting today.”

“Right. To be honest, perhaps it’s just out of curiosity.”

“Curiosity?”

“It was amazing that Freuden was eating at the same table with not just anyone else, but a commoner girl.”

“Is that amazing? I think it’s because he’s a good person.”

“Good person? Freuden? Hahahaha!”

Henry laughed hard as if he had heard something funny.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Aah. Yes, that’s right. Freuden is a good person. That’s what I felt after knowing him for so long… Anyway, that’s why I’m a little interested in you.”

“…”

Why did the word “interest” make her feel anxious?

“That’s why I’m planning to help you. It won’t be a bad thing for you, either. If you hear for yourself about what it is, you’re going to be interested as well, you know? The job is easy, and you’ll get paid a lot.”

She would get paid a lot?

Lynne’s ears pricked up and moved.

One word of getting paid made her mind want to know more.

It was a situation in which she needed money. And those were the words of a man who didn’t have any malice toward her.

“What do you think? Are you interested?”

“…I’ll hear about it first.”

“Well thought out. You won’t regret it.”

***

It was a hall in a large banquet.

Guests came in one by one into the banquet hall where beautiful lights illuminated the place.

All of them were people of high status who wore luxurious attire and dressed in their best clothing.

“Hoho. Isn’t this Senator Thomas?”

“Oh, my. Count Gerald. Long time no see. You still have a fine appearance, I see.”

“Hahaha. How could I miss this?”

Antique music heard from one side of the banquet hall and chandeliers with scarlet twinkles glittered from the ceiling.

The polished, sparkling marble floor and the banquet dinner took up their surroundings.

Inside the luxurious and neat banquet hall, the well-dressed people gathered to have a friendly conversation.

‘Whoa.’

Standing near the window while watching the scene, Lynne could not help but shed her admiration.

It was the first time in her life being in such a place.

‘I heard it’s a part-time job where I just have to carry a plate at an adequate party hall!’

The reason why she’d gone there was simple.

—It was all thanks to Henry’s recommendation.

But which part of that place was “adequate”?

‘No matter how I look at it, this place is way beyond common sense. This kind of place is so uncomfortable, though.’

Lynne suppressed such a complaint inwardly.

She felt that she was deceived by Henry somehow.

‘But still, the payment was the best.’

Whatever it was, there was actually not much for her to do, and it was a simple part-time job where she just had to stand still.

In fact, there were several other Sören students there besides just her.

‘More than that, what kind of party is being held here?’

It was not just once or twice that the upper classes of society threw a party, but Lynne guessed that this party was not a usual one.

What made her certain of it was when the door of the banquet hall was opened and new guests came in.

“Oh. Finally, the main characters are here.”

“Are they the professors who were newly appointed to Sören?”

Following the gazes of the people, Lynne turned her head and looked at the entrance.

Familiar faces were seen through the widely opened door.

‘Oh, it’s Professor Selena.’

Selena, a professor of Spiritology.

She was coming into the banquet hall with an uncomfortable face while wearing a luxurious dress that was unlike her usual self.

Next to her, Professor Merilda was escorting her in a backless purple dress.

She seemed to help Professor Selena because the woman was not used to such a place yet.

In addition, other professors also appeared one by one.

There was Professor Chris Benimore and Professor Bruno.

All of them were newly appointed professors.

‘Huh? Then…’

Lynne’s eyes naturally turned to the entrance of the banquet hall.

There was only one person who hadn’t arrived yet…

Step.

The sound of shoes tapping on the marble floor swept through the banquet hall.

It would not be a simple illusion that the sound of footsteps that should’ve normally be buried by the sound of people talking was unusually loud.

───.

There was a moment of silence within the banquet hall.

The sound of the musical instrument, which had been heard softly, remained silent at that moment as well.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the entrance.

“Hoo.”

“That person is…”

A man was entering the banquet hall.

He wore a long black tailcoat that matched the dress code.

With a black overcoat over his shoulder, he held a cane in one hand.

Unlike usual, his bangs were neatly swept back.

“Ludger Chelysie…”

The man who was receiving everyone’s attention glanced through the banquet hall with an emotionless expression.