Research Life of a New Professor at Magic University - Chapter 18

TN: Changed Viscount Lacton to Earl Lacton. (26/04)

“I will not answer any further.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I was just curious.”

Stella Lacton immediately made apologized.
Though I’m unsure of her intentions, I don’t think she’s trying to be hostile.

“What exactly are you trying to imply? Are you trying to threaten me or something?”

“No way. How could a student threaten a professor?”

Of course, she couldn’t threaten me.
A wizard with a doctorate receives noble treatment.
It’s not exactly the same as inheriting a title, but one could no longer blatantly disrespect them, either.

Moreover, as a professor at Magic University, I receive treatment equivalent to at least an earl.
Although the Lacton family is of the earl lineage, Stella is neither the head nor the heir.
There is no way such a student could treat me like a lackey.

“Then what’s your intention?”

“I’m just interested in swords.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

I pointed to her hand.
Stella looked down and spread out her palm. A white and pretty palm with slender and delicate fingers.
There were no calluses.

Just in case, I touched her palm and finger joints, all of which were soft.
If you like clichéd compliments, you could say they’re as smooth as silk.

Interestingly, the area between the middle and index fingers was a bit tougher.

It’s the part used to hold a pen. Just looking at this, she’s a typical bookworm.
Probably not too far from a naive girl who dreams of knights in fairy tales.

“These hands haven’t held a sword. You don’t seem to have much interest.”

“Oh, um! Yes… Yes! That’s, but…!”

Her face flushed slightly as if struck at the core, and she stumbled over her words.
After a moment of “Ahem! Umm!” she regained her composure.
She immediately put on the same bright smile as before.

“That’s right. I’m not a swordsman. But I do have an interest in swords. Specifically, I’m interested in magic swords.”

“Why are you interested in magic swords when you’re not even a wizard?”

“I’m interested in enchantment! It doesn’t have to be weapons specifically. Anyway, metals are a bit tricky, aren’t they? But since you seem to have a deep interest in this field, I took it as an opportunity!”

That was a lot of worrying for nothing.
Why would she do such a thing to a stressed professor?

“If that’s the case, just ask more normally next time.”

“I was planning to but couldn’t help it because of that sword. You know, there’s someone in my family who’s obsessed with swords, so I learned quite a few things. But even so, I’ve never seen something like that.”

Was Earl Lacton a swordsman?
I don’t remember him that well. Maybe it’s about her older brothers.

I kept those questions to myself, feeling like I would waste time if I said anything.

Anyway, she really showed the sword for no reason.
It was too much trouble to go to the blacksmith just to get a long sword to show in class, so I brought the one I had.
If I had known this would happen, I would have asked Arien to get one.

“Is that all?”

As we talked, a lot of time had passed. Too much time was wasted due to unnecessary personal conversations.

I thought about the experiments that I would assign to Arien.
Or should I just throw her some papers?
Maybe I should assign the experiment to her today?

Work piles up when you’re busy, indeed.
I can already hear Arien complaining.

“…Professor?”

What a brat!
How can she complain so much about one report?

“Professor?”

“Oh! Hello, are you done with class, assistant?”

It wasn’t a hallucination; it was indeed Arien.
Has it already been that long?

“What were you doing? Didn’t you go to the lab?”

“I was just chatting with a student who came with questions.”

Arien narrowed her eyes suspiciously and then looked at Stella.

Upon receiving that gaze, Stella smiled brightly and shook hands with Arien.

“Assistant! I’ve been wanting to meet you in person! I’ve heard rumors since I enrolled and wanted to become friends, and now we’ve finally met.”

“Oh… is that so? Nice to meet you.”

“Oh my! I’ve always admired you from afar. You’re even more beautiful up close! Oh! Can I call you senior?”

“Yes….”

“I’ve wanted to become friends for a while, but I didn’t expect to see you like this! You’re going to Professor Atwell’s lab, right?”

“…Yes.”

She was friendlier than Arien and I combined.

“Well then, I’ll be going now! Sorry for taking up your time, Professor! See you next class, senior!”

“Yeah. See you next time.”

***

“She’s gone.”

“Yeah.”

“What were you talking about so deeply?”

“It’s nothing important.”

I recounted the conversation I had with Stella Lacton during that time.

Naturally, there was no substance to it.

“Really, nothing important? You talked for over an hour?”

“It doesn’t seem like it was up to an hour. Anyway, yeah. It was a waste of time.”

Arien looked dissatisfied. It seems like she still has unresolved questions.

“Why the face?”

“It’s just weird. She didn’t ask any questions and just kept talking about herself?”

“True.”

“It seemed to me like her purpose wasn’t about magic but about you, Professor. Answering loudly during class and asking questions every time… it seemed like she was trying to get your attention.”

Was it so? I’m not sure. Whatever her intentions were, I appreciated that she didn’t put me in an embarrassing position.

“And when I arrived, it seemed like she was hurrying to leave her seat. How come she suddenly ended the conversation when it hadn’t been that long since she brought up the topic properly?”

“In the end, it was just small talk.”

That’s true. I thought we were getting into the main topic when she brought up the sword.

“Does that make sense? Does a student call a professor just for small talk?”

“It happens.”

“Well, you must be used to it.”

“What’s the meaning of that?”

It’s not uncommon for noble ladies to cling to me and talk endlessly without any important matters.
This time, however, it was difficult for me to end the conversation on my terms.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you be careful?”

“Why should I be careful?”

“You’re a prominent wizard, Professor. Everyone is interested in your research. What do you think someone approaching you so blatantly in such a situation wants?”

This was truly an unnecessary worry.

“Are you saying she might steal my research data? That won’t happen.”

“…Alright. Let’s end this conversation then.”

She acquiesced easier than I expected.
Come to think of it, she must be tired as she had just finished her class.

“Did you learn a lot from class?”

“You’re quick to ask. Yes, the class content was informative. But the constant mention of boring names almost drove me crazy.”

“There’s a reason why those names are mentioned so frequently. Studying their research deepens understanding of magic.”

“Even if you say so, it’s already becoming tedious.”

For some reason, today, Arien is ticking me off.
I haven’t said anything about her attitude yet, but if she behaved like this under another professor, she’d be in trouble.

“While we’re here, let’s go to the storage room. Some items need to be moved.”

“Are you ordering materials again?”

“No, it’s class materials. We will conduct an experiment on Friday, right? I need to move the materials for that in advance. I was planning to do it tomorrow, but since we’re here, might as well do it today.”

“Are we really starting right from the first week?”

“Yeah. It’s a session that happens once weekly, so we can’t waste a day on orientation.”

The curriculum isn’t so long that we have to have an experiment every week.
Still, it’s necessary to secure some flexibility for attending conferences or going on trips later.

***

Arien and I arrived at the material storage room on foot.
It didn’t take us even 10 minutes.

This place is among the most loosely managed storage rooms in the Department of Magic.
Perhaps because there are many inexpensive and frequently used materials here.
Places with a lot of traffic are challenging to manage, and everyone present would help with its security.

However, there was nobody there when we entered.

“It’s my first time here. There’s everything. Can we use materials from here for our own use?”

“No, you can’t. These belong to the department, so anyone can’t just use them.”

“Don’t you get permission even as a professor?”

“Everything costs money. You can’t use them as if they were yours unless it’s really urgent. You must submit an experiment plan and get permission if you need them. It’s natural to be cautious. Even though this place is poorly managed due to the frequent traffic, I don’t want to go through the trouble if I don’t have to.”

“What a shame.”

There aren’t any expensive items in this storage room.
But even with all the variety here, it’s impossible to equip my research lab with everything I need.
Since there are many items and buying them in small quantities would be costly, I didn’t have much choice.
There could be a method where the department or the university buys in bulk and sells to professors at a reasonable price, but unfortunately, there isn’t.

“What are we making in the first class? I don’t think you’ve told me before.”

“Potion. Since you might need to help, we’ll start with something familiar.”

“Is it a stamina recovery potion?”

“No, it’s a basic antidote potion, just slightly more difficult than the previous one you’ve made.”

“I’m a little worried. Having to supervise making something I’ve never made before…”

I’m glad I could satisfy her with my own thoughtful consideration.

“Don’t worry! I’ve prepared for that just in case.”

But after hearing my words, Arien didn’t seem reassured.

“…What now?”

She really has no respect for professors.

“You’ll be making the antidote potion today. I’ve already taken some for the experiment preparation and reported it to the department, too.”

“I figured as much…”

It’s good that she accepts things quickly. Arien is becoming a respectable graduate student.

“Oh, wait. You said the procedure for taking departmental items was bothersome?”

“This is for class preparation, so the process is simple.”

“…”

“After the experiment, if you just write the report, they’ll accept it. I got confirmation that it’s fine as long as it’s submitted by Monday morning.”

“AAAAARGH!”

Arien suddenly let out a scream and burst into tears.
It’s pretty refreshing to see an elf express such intense emotions unexpectedly.

Maybe I’ve succeeded in teaching this elf about human emotions.