Why Did You Mess With Him? He’s the Evil God’s Lackey! Chapter 9

Chapter 9: This Wave is a Big One!

"Do you think gathering Followers is just sothing you say and it's done?"

"Followers must be sincere and willing—only then does it take effect."

Viktor listened to Weija's explanation while tapping the desk, watching the morning sunlight fall across the books before him. A quiet smile crossed Viktor's face as he sat tucked away in the Study.

"Sincerity? I'm not worried about winning that over."

Weija narrowed its eye and let out a low, grumbling coo—its way of expressing displeasure toward Viktor.

"Perhaps you're even more underhanded than the original Viktor."

"You flatter ."

Viktor said nothing more and simply returned to reading the Lecture Script.

He always felt that ever since this wretched bird had been bound to him, it had been gradually forgetting about its own business of reviving itself as an Evil God.

Thinking this, Viktor glanced at Weija.

At that mont, the Crow was standing on the desk, nodding its head with drowsy, half-asleep bobs.

Weija had been eating by day and sleeping by night, with hardly any exercise.

It was the spitting image of a decorative ornant.

In just a matter of days, Weija had grown a full size rounder. When it perched on Viktor's shoulder, Viktor could clearly feel his shoulder growing noticeably heavier.

But since Weija itself wasn't in any hurry, he saw no reason to worry about it on its behalf.

And so he spent a quiet morning in the Study reading through the Lecture Script and Erika's assignnt.

***

By midday, Viktor had finished grading Erika's assignnt. As for the day's lesson content, thanks to Heni's diligent preparation, he had quickly committed the key points to mory.

When Viktor stepped out of the Study, he spotted Heni erging and rubbing her eyes.

"You're up? Get ready—we should be heading out."

Viktor offhandedly reminded Heni. She startled like a frightened fawn and snapped awake almost imdiately, hurrying to comply:

"No problem at all, Professor. I'm all ready."

Viktor gave a nod, then instructed a servant to prepare the Carriage to head to the Royal Magic Academy.

He waved for Heni to get into the Carriage with him. Heni was utterly nervous—but she had no choice but to obediently climb in.

The 2 ended up sitting face to face. Heni kept her head down the entire ti, not daring to look up even once, only stealing the occasional furtive glance at Viktor.

Heni felt her heart hamring so hard it might burst from her chest—thump thump thump, nonstop.

Inside, it was like a volcano erupting. Her mind was a frantic whirl: 'I'm actually riding in the sa Carriage as the genius Professor, Mr. Viktor!?'

'Good heavens!'

Heni felt overheated—only then did she realize sweat had ford on her brow, and she couldn't even sit still.

Viktor noticed how stiff and uncomfortable she looked and was on the verge of saying sothing.

But speaking up out of nowhere might only make her more nervous.

In that case, it was better to let her stew in her own racing thoughts.

The more nervous she was, the more she would overthink—and then it would inevitably dawn on her that she had, just that morning, slept in the ho of this notoriously infamous noble Lord.

Viktor watched the way her eyes went wide in dawning horror and found it rather amusing.

And so he just watched Heni, while Heni kept her gaze fixed on her own shoes. The 2 of them held that posture the whole way—not a single word exchanged the entire journey—quietly waiting for the Carriage to reach its destination.

***

As the Carriage gradually ca to a stop, Viktor was the first to speak:

"We're here."

Only after hearing Viktor's voice did Heni slowly lift her head, the tension visibly draining from her expression.

"Finally."

She let out a long breath. She hadn't expected that stretch of road to feel so endless.

After getting out of the Carriage, Heni walked alongside Viktor the entire way.

Seeing him heading toward his office, Heni worked up her courage and said: "Professor Viktor, the Principal said to stop by his office when you arrive at the Academy."

Viktor gave a nod and walked straight toward the Principal's office.

Heni, once again like a timid little fawn, followed along behind Viktor.

Knock knock!

After passing through the Mage Tower's teleportation, Viktor knocked on the door of the Principal's office.

"Co in."

With the Principal's permission, he pushed the door open and entered, Teaching Assistant in tow.

Standing before the Principal, Viktor got straight to the point:

"Principal, I heard you wanted to see ."

The Principal was an elderly, portly old man with an assortnt of mage tools hanging from his person—the very picture of a traditional mage.

He was also the strongest individual in the Academy: a 4th-Tier mage.

A figure the world called a "Saint Mage."

Legendary in every sense of the word.

He had reached this tier no less than 20 years ago.

Upon seeing Viktor, he pushed his water cup aside, capped his pen, and gently set it down atop a book.

His body seed to have aged to its limits—even the smallest movent left him feeling weary.

He let out a breath and leaned back into his chair, speaking slowly: "Professor Viktor, I heard about what happened in the classroom yesterday."

Viktor's brow furrowed slightly. He hadn't expected the matter of Erika's provocation to reach the Principal's ears.

"You handled it well," the Principal smiled at him, then continued, "though… was it perhaps a little too strict?"

"Over ti, the students may start to take issue with it."

Hearing the Principal say he had been too strict, Viktor shook his head and replied:

"Without that approach, they won't understand what it ans to respect their teachers."

Viktor's tone was flat. He saw no problem with how he had handled it.

Besides, he was Viktor—and Viktor was soone who repaid every slight in kind.

Fortunately, the Principal quickly ca around to his view, nodding as he said: "Hmm… respect for teachers… well put. Truly worthy of being called a genius mage."

"Right—the reason I called you here today is this."

The Principal rifled through the desk and produced a sheet of parchnt, which he handed to Viktor.

"This is a lecture invitation our Academy has drafted to send out to the public. Have a look and see if there's anything you'd like to add."

Viktor received it gently and read through the contents carefully.

"I'm sure you understand by now, Professor Viktor."

The Principal revealed a warm smile and said:

"At our Academy, instructors holding the title of Professor are required to conduct a public lecture once every month."

"We plan to publicize your lecture program one month from now, inviting mages and professionals from all fields to attend—and recording the lecture via Magic Stone to be distributed."

Hearing this, Viktor already grasped his aning.

"So my hope is that you can refine the content of your lecture over the course of this month. At that ti, the Academy will provide you with a lecture hall capable of accommodating several thousand people."

"Professor Viktor, do you have any suggestions?"

Listening to the Principal, Viktor understood—it wouldn't be long before the Academy's student recruitnt period arrived.

The Academy wanted to attract students of outstanding aptitude, and prospective students would naturally weigh the caliber of the faculty.

If, at exactly this mont, the youngest 3rd-Tier mage Professor in the Academy's history were to make a prominent appearance—that would undoubtedly be an extraordinarily powerful draw for new students.

Though Viktor's reputation was poor, he had ability and strength. No one would care about his reputation because of that.

And if he truly delivered this lecture with flying colors—

That old piece of news would naturally fall apart on its own.

Viktor recalled the newspaper from a few days prior, and the promise he had made to Gwen.

No one cared about the romantic history of a capable, powerful Professor—even if he had genuinely flirted with the Duke's daughter.

At the sa ti, if he saw this through, his title of "Professor" would be directly and firmly tied to the Royal Academy.

With that connection in place, he would clearly be able to accomplish far more in the years before that death ending arrived.

And so Viktor gave a nod and agreed.

"No objections on my end. I'll follow the Academy's arrangents in full."

Seeing Viktor agree, the Principal smiled, then looked toward Heni standing at Viktor's side.

"How is this Teaching Assistant working out? Are you satisfied with her work?"

Viktor glanced at Heni beside him, then answered:

"Having such a capable Teaching Assistant is my honor."

With that, Viktor turned and left, Heni following behind.

Heni trailed behind Viktor, her heart an absolute ss.

The more she turned over the Professor's words about her in front of the Principal, the more she felt all her efforts had been worthwhile.

She couldn't help it—her steps grew light and cheerful.

For the afternoon's class, Viktor taught his lesson as usual.

This ti there were no so-called "insiders" in the audience. After yesterday's events, no one believed they'd get any amusent out of Viktor.

Viktor continued teaching his material as normal. The students all worked diligently, recording key points and taking thorough notes.

Erika, this ti, made no move to cause trouble either. She listened attentively, her pen filling page after page of notes.

The bell rang. Viktor gathered his teaching materials.

"Class dismissed."

"Erika, rember to co to my office."

***

Viktor returned the graded notes to Erika and pointed out several errors.

"For where you currently stand, using Teleportation Magic with ease is still premature—but your approach isn't wrong."

Viktor taught; Erika listened. The 2 of them got along harmoniously, as though both had forgotten that Viktor had once flirted with her at her own birthday banquet.

He didn't bring it up. Erika naturally swallowed it down and said nothing either.

After imparting the knowledge to Erika, Viktor gave a nod and said:

"That's all for today."

Erika, after a mont's hesitation, asked: "Going forward, if I have questions, may I still co to you for guidance?"

She genuinely detested Viktor with every fiber of her being—but she couldn't deny that his knowledge was absolutely top-tier.

Even the private tutor her father had hired for her couldn't hold a candle to Viktor's level.

Every difficult concept beca straightforward and easy to grasp under Professor Viktor's explanation.

What Erika had no way of knowing was that all of it had actually been Weija telling Viktor, who then passed it on.

With an Evil God like a walking encyclopedia at his side, tutoring a student was effortless.

Viktor thought for a mont and said: "It depends on the situation. I have a great deal of my own work—if I have ti, then certainly."

Of course, that was just talk.

He, Viktor, clocked out on ti and never dragged his feet!

The mont those words left his mouth, sothing stirred within Viktor.

The Mage's Hand had been activated.

As the source of the magic stored in the Mage's Hand, Viktor could sense whenever Leah used it.

He'd only given it to Leah yesterday—and she'd already used it today?

Of all the timing.

Viktor wasn't particularly worried about Leah—but the source of the magic wasn't far from the Royal Capital. He decided to go take a look.

So he rose from his seat and said to Erika:

"I have sothing to take care of. Rember to close the door when you leave."

He then drew a Teleportation Formation on the spot and disappeared.

Erika: "……?"

Everyone at the Academy knew the Mage Tower had no doors—entry and exit relied entirely on the Teleportation Magic inside the Mage Tower.

***

Outskirts.

Leah stared at the group of people who had been scorched to charcoal before her, her expression frozen slightly.

Several mages at her side were trembling with fear.

Every one of them had seen it—the powerful 2nd-Tier Magic released from this woman's own hands.

2nd-Tier Magic was a level of power these small-fry could not hope to contend with.

She clearly had magic this powerful at her disposal—then why had she brought other mages along in the first place?

We're nothing but small-fry 1st-Tier mages in front of her.

Leah scratched her head and looked back at her Carriage.

She had the Clavena Family Crest displayed—so why had she been attacked anyway?

Well, never mind.

She had already notified Miss Gwen. It wouldn't be long before she arrived.

The group stayed put and waited for the Knight to co.

10 minutes later, a company of Knights arrived on white horses, clad in cold-iron armor.

Leading them was naturally Gwen, who located Leah at the first opportunity.

"Leah! Leah!"

Spotting Leah sitting alone on a nearby rock in a daze, Gwen dismounted and ran over.

Leah returned a smile.

"Leah, are you alright?"

Gwen took hold of Leah's hands, her eyes carrying a flicker of concern.

"? Of course I'm alright."

"The bandits who attacked our Trading Caravan, on the other hand—not so much."

She spread her hands and gestured with her eyes for Gwen to look in the other direction.

Gwen blinked. When she had first arrived, her attention had gone entirely to Leah's safety—she naturally hadn't noticed the heap of charred corpses piled together.

Now that she looked, her brow furrowed.

As a seasoned Knight, she had long grown accustod to the sight of bodies—but even so, this manner of death sent a faint prickling sensation across her scalp.

But… was this done by the few mages Leah had brought along?

She thought about it—and found she couldn't quite bring herself to believe it.

The feeble magic coming off those mages was nowhere near enough to sustain the power required to incinerate a crowd of people.

So who had done it then?

A far-fetched idea flashed through her mind. She couldn't help teasing Leah about it.

"Were these Bandits killed by you? Don't mind , Leah—I'm just joking."

Leah: "What if I said yes? Would you believe ?"

Gwen: "?"