Chapter 6: Girl, You Are in Trouble
Seeing Heni working so hard on his behalf, Viktor couldn't help but walk over to her.
Heni caught sight of a figure gradually approaching and looked up with a start.
"Professor Viktor?"
Once she made out who it was, she scrambled to her feet in a fluster and greeted him, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
For the first ti in a long while, Viktor broke from that poker face of his and offered her a word of concern:
"Aren't you tired?"
He knew Heni's position had been arranged by the school—yet her level of knowledge was clearly sufficient to stand as a new teacher at the Royal Magic Academy in her own right.
Setting aside whether having soone this talented serve as his Teaching Assistant might one day be exposed by the public, his own conscience already felt uneasy about it.
"Not at all!"
Heni shook her head decisively, her manner resolute.
"It is my honor to prepare lessons for the Professor!"
What an endearingly oblivious little lamb.
If this had been the original Viktor, he would probably have wrung every last drop out of this little lamb until nothing was left.
Squeeze out every last bit of use, then discard her the mont there was nothing more to gain.
That, in plain terms, was the kind of person Viktor was.
If sothing benefited him—hold on tight.
In truth, with Weija around, he had absolutely no need for a Teaching Assistant to prepare lesson content for him.
There were no outsiders around. Viktor decided to let this foolish little lamb off.
He weighed his words carefully and, keeping as close to Viktor's detached manner as he could, said flatly:
"You don't need to write lecture scripts for anymore."
Heni froze at those words. Her body swayed, and she could barely keep herself steady on her feet.
She assud she had made so kind of mistake along the way—serious enough that Mr. Viktor was considering dismissing her.
"Professor, I can spend more ti perfecting your lecture scripts……"
Tears welled in her eyes unbidden. Heni's voice trembled as she pleaded with Viktor not to let her go.
"Please don't dismiss —I promise I can do a good job as Teaching Assistant!"
Viktor's brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't anticipated this reaction from Heni at all. His intention had simply been for her to rest earlier so she could make proper use of her talents independently at the Magic Academy.
Yet her entire mind was fixed on begging Professor Viktor for a chance to correct herself, desperate to stay on at the Academy as his Teaching Assistant.
It was as though… she were about to lose her job.
Weija ruffled its wings and explained softly in his ear:
"Think about why that is."
"This child is nothing more than a Magic Apprentice. She hasn't even crossed the threshold to beco a mage."
Viktor finally understood. He looked at Heni before him and felt a pang of regret at her wasted talent.
In ga terms, a Magic Apprentice fell within the Level 1–9 range.
In plain words—a novice.
The Royal Magic Academy never kept idle passengers. To beco a teacher here, the bare minimum requirent was to first beco a mage.
Only then would the Academy consider that individual's teaching ability.
No matter how outstanding Heni's knowledge was—so outstanding she could even prepare lessons for the most gifted class in the entire Academy—
As long as she had not beco a mage, she had no qualification to beco a teacher.
Putting himself in Heni's shoes, Viktor now understood just how hurtful the words he had just spoken were.
Heni was only a Teaching Assistant.
If even he no longer had any use for her, then only 2 endings awaited Heni.
Wait for the next Professor's Teaching Assistant position to open up.
Leave the Royal Magic Academy. Unemploynt.
If she lost her job, no one would find fault with the Academy—people would only assu her own shortcomings had led to her dismissal.
She was learned beyond asure, had devoted her whole life to study, and yet in the end couldn't even find a next step.
But Viktor wouldn't offer her comfort—because he was a notoriously petty Villain.
So he simply dropped a single remark: "Very well, I take back what I said. Heni, you've done well. You've made no mistakes."
"I'll continue making use of you—until you're completely worn out."
"So until that day cos, don't go wearing yourself down."
Heni brightened at once, nodding with excited enthusiasm.
"Professor! I won't let you down!"
Viktor found himself genuinely curious—why would soone as capable as Heni be content to work as a Teaching Assistant?
He asked her exactly that.
Heni hadn't expected Viktor to ask about her background. She looked montarily startled. A flash of sothing dim passed through her eyes—but she steadied herself and answered:
"I graduated from the Royal Magic Academy, but even by graduation I had not beco a 1st-Tier mage, so I stayed on at the Academy and voluntarily beca a Teaching Assistant."
The rest of the story was easy enough to piece together.
The other Professors naturally had their own preferred Teaching Assistants beside them. With all her ability and none of the aptitude, she simply didn't catch anyone's eye.
Not until the Academy took on a new Professor—Viktor—did she finally have a chance to work alongside this notoriously gifted mage.
After hearing her explanation, Viktor gave a nod and patted her on the shoulder:
"Keep at it. Since the Academy has kept you on here, they certainly won't treat you poorly."
"I've only just arrived—would it be convenient for you to show around the Academy?"
Heni heard his request and agreed in a flustered rush, hastily gathering up the things on the desk.
"I've just gotten here and haven't really had the chance to look around—this is a good opportunity to take a proper look."
That was what Viktor said out loud. But in his heart, he knew perfectly well.
In the ga, he had lost count of how many tis he'd been here—he even knew there was a hidden garden behind the Principal's office.
He only said this so she wouldn't exhaust herself writing.
Especially writing lessons in front of him, on his behalf. It gave him a sense of guilt.
Work that was clearly his own responsibility, wholly handed off to soone else.
Of course, alongside the guilt—it was also thoroughly satisfying.
Who doesn't enjoy slacking off?
Heni led him through the entire Academy, tirelessly introducing him to every building along the way.
The garden, the lawn, the Training Ground.
Viktor responded to each with a nod, playing along—though this place was already as familiar to him as his own backyard.
When they arrived in front of the Arcane Hall, he stopped.
This was the Player versus Player sparring ground, where players could also practice their Skill Proficiency in magic.
But at this mont, a clamor of voices was spilling out from inside—it sounded like students quarreling.
Viktor furrowed his brow, and suddenly felt a deep sympathy for the school director who used to march up and down corridors checking on every noisy classroom during school days.
Unruly children needed to be managed. Unruly students even more so.
And so, he pushed open the door and walked in.
***
Erika was in a thoroughly foul mood.
She had wanted to teach Viktor a lesson—and instead ended up being the one taught.
On top of that, her most treasured Hairpin was gone.
It was a gift left to her by her mother, and she had sent it into the dinsional rift of the Teleportation Formation with her own hands.
To retrieve the Hairpin, Erika had made a special trip to the Arcane Hall to practice her Teleportation Magic, trying to undo whatever Viktor had done to her Teleportation Formation.
But clearly—she couldn't do it.
After the Magic Circle exploded again and again, she clutched her golden hair in sothing close to despair.
"This is infuriating—how did it fail again!"
Erika grew more and more agitated with each failed attempt, and in her frustration, she made a grave mistake.
During her practice, she forgot to cancel her Teleportation Magic—and due to her carelessness, the position of the portal had been left in the middle of the Arcane Hall.
A student in school uniform stepped directly into her Magic Circle.
The Magic Circle activated on its own. A peculiar red light blazed to life……
Whoosh~!
After a burst of intense red light, the student vanished without a trace!
Erika watched with her own eyes as the student disappeared inside her Magic Circle.
"Jack? Jack!?"
"Damn it—he's been teleported away!"
The faces of the boys and girls accompanying him changed drastically.
Panic flashed across Erika's eyes. She had made a catastrophic mistake!
"No—he's been teleported to another Dinsion!?"
She worked her magic frantically, desperately trying to bring the unlucky student back.
But no matter what she tried, the Teleportation Formation gave absolutely no response!
That unfortunate student, just like her unfortunate Hairpin, was nowhere to be found.
How eerily similar this scene was to what had unfolded in the lecture hall earlier.
By now, everyone's attention had turned to Erika—her eyes frantic, her magic running nonstop.
That Teleportation Formation at the center of the hall—it shared the sa magical elent as hers.
And just today, word had already broken that Erika had learned Teleportation Magic.
In this mont, the students in the Arcane Hall erupted in fury.
"Erika du Chloe!"
"It was you! You're the one who teleported Jack away!"
"You did it on purpose!"
The students at the Academy were divided into 2 major factions: the Nobility Faction and the Commoner Faction.
The Nobility Faction and the Commoner Faction had never gotten along. In the nobles' eyes, those who entered through examinations would more often than not end up working beneath their families one day.
Clashes between the Commoner Faction and the Nobility Faction were a constant—but fortunately, at the Royal Magic Academy, strength was the only thing that mattered.
So while tensions existed between the 2 sides, they rarely broke out into open conflict.
But now, in the eyes of the Commoner Faction students, Erika du Chloe—the leading genius of the Nobility Faction, the Duke's prized daughter—had undeniably, in front of everyone, delivered them a resounding slap in the face.
Noble families generally had no need to visit the Arcane Hall. After a day of study at the Academy, they would typically return ho where private tutor mages continued their instruction.
Only the commoner students who had scraped into the Academy on modest grades would co to the Arcane Hall and drill tirelessly.
If their family backgrounds could not surpass the nobles, then they could only surpass them on the path of magic.
Yet no one could have anticipated that Erika, in a foul mood of all things, would choose this very mont to try to get her Hairpin back.
And in doing so, she caused this disaster.
By now, no one cared about the truth of what had happened. The Commoner Faction students simply wanted an outlet—sowhere to pour out every grievance they had ever suffered.
"Erika—you need to apologize for what you've done!"
"Apologize! And bring Jack back!"
Erika stood alone, unable to defend herself against the crowd's condemnation, head lowered, saying nothing.
She could only keep attempting to teleport the missing student back.
But surrounded by the students' shouting, her mind grew more and more muddled. She couldn't even manage to calm herself down.
She could only respond with barely contained irritation: "I can't do it!"
"My magic misfired—I don't know how to bring him back either!"
But this only enraged the commoner students further.
"You made our friend disappear, and you won't even offer a single apology?"
"This is what nobles do—in the end they always bare their fangs and show they cannot coexist with us!"
"Your noble lives are worth sothing—what about ours? What do you take us for!"
Erika bit her lip and kept her head down in silence.
Her fist clenched slightly. A wave of resentnt surged in her chest.
Viktor! In what way am I inferior to you!
What you can do with ease—I should be able to do it too!
She knew she shouldn't be blaming soone else. But the mont she had seen Viktor, she discovered—she couldn't help it.
Viktor surpassed her in every regard. Whether in knowledge or magical aptitude.
That was an aptitude praised unreservedly by nobles far and wide—even by her own family.
Once the seed of envy takes root in the heart, it is very difficult to pull out.
"Do you all have nothing better to do?"
An abrupt, detached voice rang out from the doorway. The last light of the setting sun stread in, falling across Erika's flawlessly beautiful face, casting it in a blood-red glow.
Viktor leaned against the doorfra, a peculiar Crow perched on his shoulder.
Both hands tucked into his coat pockets, his gaze swept the room with complete indifference.
"If you'd like to write disciplinary reflections, by all ans—keep arguing in front of ."
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