“Quickly, kneel and apologize to His Majesty! If you had acted with the same seriousness as you do now in your usual behavior, His Majesty would not have asked you this.”
Ulrich was too enthusiastic about scolding me.
“Though she is originally mischievous in nature…”
It was an attempt to redeem himself for his earlier misconduct before the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, I, as the representative of the Academy, will guide Hanelope well. Please do not be angry.”
Ulrich put on an air of maturity.
‘Wow, he’s quite the actor.’
His natural acting skills intrigued me, given that I knew his true nature.
I had to bite my lower lip hard to suppress my laughter.
The Emperor stared intently at the actor Ulrich.
Professor Frank, who was observant, spoke up.
“Your Majesty, Young Master Ulrich has always held great respect for you. He is an exceptional student who consistently ranks at the top. And the magic you just witnessed…”
“It’s a 5th Circle spell!”
“…….”
“I am also a 5th Circle mage. I reached the 5th Circle before Hanelope did.”
Everyone looked at Ulrich with surprise.
‘Did he lie before the Emperor just to surpass me?’
For Ulrich, this was a moment of crisis and opportunity. But it was still a stretch. He was acting on impulse.
“Is that true?”
The Emperor asked Professor Frank. The professor hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“Yes, well… as he continued to progress, haha… what Young Master just demonstrated could easily be considered a 5th Circle spell.”
“But he couldn’t control the magic.”
“Well, you see… it’s just that… the power overflowed, making it difficult to control. With more practice, Ulrich would become stronger than the Young Lady. It should be sufficient to assist His Majesty.”
Professor Frank kept lying before the Emperor.
Richter looked at Professor Frank with a pale face.
“Come to think of it, Professor Frank has talked about Wuli many times as if he’s practically a genius.”
The Emperor stroked his chin and murmured.
Ulrich’s face was filled with delight.
“Professor Frank must have taught him specially. What a remarkable accomplishment!”
Even Professor Frank couldn’t hide his joy at the Emperor’s praise.
“Yes, yes! He is such an exceptional individual that there wasn’t much I had to teach him. I put in some effort, of course. At this rate, the Young Master will be as powerful as Saint Asta herself, if not more. It might be good to create an opportunity and have him suppress the malevolent energy.”
“This is good news.”
The Emperor grabbed Ulrich’s hand tightly.
“Shall we shake hands?”
Wuli was taken aback and pulled his arm back. But the Emperor firmly held onto Ulrich’s wrist with a large hand.
As a result, Ulrich’s sleeve was pushed up, revealing a finely crafted bracelet with intricate patterns on his wrist.
Ulrich hastily tried to pull his sleeve down.
However, the Emperor pulled Wuli’s wrist closer and examined the bracelet.
“Hmm, Professor Frank. Do you know what this is?”
“Ah, well, um… that’s…”
“It’s hard to believe you wouldn’t know. Isn’t this an elemental magic-based magical tool sold by your family? It enables even those who can’t use magic to wield powerful spells.”
“…….”
“It could easily turn into a destructive weapon if it goes beyond the user’s control. That’s why the Ministry of Magic banned its circulation.”
Just as I suspected.
He had used the magical tool’s power, not his own.
‘Ulrich kept accusing me of using ‘tricks’ because he himself was using them! And he thought others would do the same.’
Professor Frank and Ulrich turned pale.
“Pathetic!”
The Emperor swatted Ulrich’s hand away.
Ulrich, who was pushed toward Professor Frank, grabbed onto his clothes in fear.
“Is giving a broken magical tool to Hanelope not enough? How dare you attempt to deceive me?”
The Emperor glared at Professor Frank.
“Are you lacking as a professor and trying to deceive your superior?”
“Yo-Your Majesty, I-I didn’t…”
“Ignorance means incompetence. The vice-chancellor clearly lacks talent, which is why no matter how much investment went into the academy, there were no results.”
“……”
“If you were aware and still conducted this felony, your neck will be on the line.”
“No, Your Majesty! I truly didn’t know! Young Master sougUlrichht out the magical tool on his own due to his excessive ambition!”
Ulrich, who had been stuttering in fear, looked up at Professor Frank in fright.
“Whether you truly didn’t know or pretended not to know, we will find out through an investigation. Regardless of which is the truth, you can no longer work at the academy. Wuli does not need to stay at the academy either.”
The Emperor’s tone turned icy.
Terrified, Professor Frank and Wuli flopped on the floor in silence.
Though the children were frightened, surprisingly, the lecture proceeded normally.
After Professor Frank and Wuli were led away, the Emperor continued observing the lecture.
‘Above all, Miss Richter handled the situation well.’
Richter comforted the frightened children one by one.
Then, she engaged their attention with intriguing stories and demonstrated various fascinating magic spells, ensuring that the lecture proceeded smoothly.
‘With a lecturer as skilled as Miss Richter, it’s a shame I’ve only endured Professor Frank’s boring lectures until now!’
As soon as the lecture ended, I followed Miss Richter.
She was sitting alone in the office, her energy completely drained.
‘She herself must have been surprised, even though she pretended to be okay in front of the children.’
I opened the door quietly and approached Miss Richter stealthily.
“Miss Richter, are you okay?”
Richter looked up, surprised.
Then, upon recognizing my concern, she smiled gently.
“I’m fine. What brings you here, Young Lady?”
“I was worried about you, Miss Richter. You must have been very shocked.”
Her expression became subtly strange at my words.
“Concerned about me…?”
Her voice trembled.
When I nodded, Richter seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“You care about my worries so much… I am simply fulfilling my duties as your teaching assistant!”
“I’m just an ordinary assistant. Nobody has ever cared about my worries like this before. I’ve always had to cater to others and console them…”
I smiled.
“Does Miss Richter like teaching?”
“Princess…”
“Miss Richter, you’re kind, and you’re skilled in magic! Your lecture today was really interesting! So, I hope you too enjoyed it and had fun teaching us.”
Miss Richter was speechless for a while.
Even with just a few words from a child, she seemed deeply moved.
Almost to the point of tears.
‘What has she been through?’
I felt sorry for her.
She worked hard to hone her abilities, but never was repaid.
‘In her previous life, she was wrongly accused and brought down.’
That would not repeat in this life. I will help Miss Richter realize her full potential!
“Ah.. Princess! You forgot this before the lecture…..”
Wiping away a tear, Miss Richter pulled out something.
It was the pouch with the pendant in it.
I was startled and backed away.
“Young Lady, why are you acting like this? Are you okay?”
“Th-There’s a strange thing in there!”
“Strange?”
Miss Richter was puzzled and reached into the pouch.
When she found the pendant, Miss Richter was stunned.
“Why does the Princess have this pendant?”
“Is that yours, Miss Richter?”
“It’s not ‘mine,’ because it’s too dangerous for me to own.”
I knew it! It really was a harmful object!
“Is it cursed?”
“No, it’s not, but it’s an object that emits a great deal of energy of unknown origin. I found it for sale on a street vendor, and it seemed so dangerous that I bought it to keep it sealed. I was worried that it disappeared the other day.”
“It was inside a broken mana stone that Wuli gave me. The mana stone shattered, and that pendant fell out.”
Miss Richter looked puzzled.
“The pendant’s power was too strong to be sealed in the usual way, so I sealed it inside the mana stone. Professor Frank must have taken it thinking it was a normal stone.”
Soon after the Emperor’s visit was suddenly decided, Professor Franck had to teach the Emperor a magic trick to demonstrate.
So he used the mana stones to help the incantations.
‘In his haste, he brought this stone and didn’t even realize it was a sealing stone.’
“But to have broken the mana stones, this pendant must be more powerful. I’ll seal it again.”
“If it’s dangerous, is it okay… for Miss Richter to have it?”
“Don’t worry. I’m a grown-up.”
Miss Richter smiled sweetly.
“You’re so cool, Miss Richter.”
Richter’s cheeks flushed red at my compliment.
“Don’t keep saying nice things about me. I’m not as great as you think I am.”
“I don’t care if you’re not great to everyone, you’re still the best teacher I’ve ever had.”
Miss Richter’s eyes moistened again.
“Haah.. But I’m the one teaching magic and selling tools, when having a second job is prohibited by the academy.”
“Miss Richter, do you need a lot of money?”
Miss Richter’s eyes widened and she nodded.
“My family is sick, and the medication costs a lot. But the money I make as an assistant barely pays the bills.”
Sick family?
‘I can make the medicine.’
But that wasn’t enough.
“Miss Richter, become a professor!”
Richter laughed hysterically.
“Since Professor Frank has been kicked out, me being his assistant won’t be able to work here anymore. Fortunately, the boy I’m teaching now is very bright, so I’m going to focus on him.”
“What do you think about him?”
I asked bluntly.
Thank you for the translation (灬º‿º灬)♡
Thanks for reading!