I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

“Professor.”

Claire, who had a faint smile on her lips just moments ago, now returned to her usual expressionless face.

As I had mentioned at the mansion, I was purely out for her change of pace, so this situation wasn’t particularly welcome. She looked up at me, conveying her determination to carry out her role as an extension of her rest, with a slight smile on her face.

I moved the magic that had accumulated in my heart and let it flow through our joined hands.

“Go ahead and enter first.”
“What…?”

Emotions returned to her dry face.

I released her hand as I looked into her slightly rounded eyes.

“It’s not a scene that’s suitable for that little one, so I meant for you to go in first and enjoy the show.”
“Oh, I see…”

I placed my hand on her cheek, which now showed signs of worry. To be precise, it was to fix her hair that had been messed up by the wind.

“There’s no need to worry. Today, I’m the one who suggested going out.”

I finished my sentence as I gently pushed her back.

“Today, you’re not an executor or an associate professor. You’re Claire Bean Assen, a woman, and you’re going to spend the day as yourself.”

This was my way of repaying her for the consideration she had shown me as equals.

**

In front of the grand hall, where the faculty members were blocking the entrance.

The owner of the ‘Chang-gung’ guild and Nam Goong-Min, the father of Nam Seo-hee, scratched his head as he watched the young professor sweating profusely.

‘The atmosphere is quite different from previous Festivals, like when Yeon-hee studied here.’

It had been six years since his second daughter, Nam Yeon-hee, graduated, so it was indeed a long time. But he never expected that the world would change so much that a young professor, who seemed to have just received his professor’s ring, would be able to withstand the pressure from the five guild masters.

‘Or is he not enduring it?’

His face was pale, and he looked like he might pass out at any moment, his legs trembling. So, what was the reason for his mental and physical endurance?

To begin with, it wasn’t uncommon for the heads of large guilds to make such a fuss.

‘This time, the intention is a little different, though.’

In the past, they would purely leave their seats out of curiosity about their children’s growth, but this time, they had all agreed to move together to see their children and, at the same time, a certain girl.

At the front was Kang Min-ho, the guild master of the Iron Knights, with a stern expression, and next to him was Na Hee-je, the guild master of the Crimson Flame, with a viper-like gaze.

It was their children who had been easily defeated by a single girl.

‘Well, it has nothing to do with me.’

The girl they were so eager to meet was the best friend of his beloved youngest daughter. He was here purely to catch a glimpse of Nam Seo-hee’s face, and his intentions were different from theirs, which were filled with ulterior motives.

According to what he had heard, even Bwiar’s sword had taken on the role of her protector, so he didn’t want to meet her even more. There was no point in getting on her bad side.

‘Moth-like fools.’

Even though they must have heard about it through their children, they still behaved this way.

‘But he’s really stubbornly holding on.’

The young professor seemed on the verge of collapse but somehow managed to stay standing.

If this were outside, he would have been sliced somewhere and would be rolling on the floor by now. Even considering that they were inside the Academy, his endurance was impressive. He even considered recruiting him into his guild.

‘Should I just leave?’

The grade evaluations weren’t just for today, so there was no need to stand here and feel sorry for himself. Moreover, he was curious about the reason that was making the young professor endure all this.

‘Yes, I should leave.’

The professors connected to the guilds had all been systematically eliminated, and they had kept their mouths shut no matter what. And now, with Bwiar directly controlling the flow of information, only limited sources were coming out.

‘When I list them one by one, it does seem like there have been some significant changes.’

Nam Goong-Min was about to neatly wrap up his thoughts and turn back to the 4th-grade stage when—

“Uh, uh…”

He stopped walking and slightly turned his head at the sound of the professor’s bewildered voice behind him. He wanted to check if anyone had lost their temper and done something.

However, none of them, despite their nasty tempers, had done anything emotional. They were all leaders of organizations and knew better than to act on impulse.

‘What’s going on?’

The door, which had been tightly closed, seemed to open by itself as if an invisible person had entered, and then it closed again.

‘It doesn’t seem like magic.’

Anyway, why bother caring about it when he was about to leave?

As Nam Goong-Min turned away, ignoring the situation—

“Huh…?!”

He took two steps back in surprise at the sudden appearance of someone in front of him, like a mirage. He quickly scanned the person with his eyes.

The person was tall, so tall that Nam Goong-Min had to look up, and had unkempt hair.

‘…Those glasses?’

Despite the aura that somehow made him hesitate to approach, the man who had suddenly appeared was wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses that didn’t suit him at all. And Nam Goong-Min suddenly recalled hearing about those glasses from his youngest daughter at some point.

“Baek Woo-jin…?”

He remembered that the protector of his youngest daughter’s best friend wore glasses just like that.

“The parent-teacher conference is in winter.”
“Yes? Oh, yes…”

He didn’t know why, but his intuition was telling him to nod and agree, so he did.

“Wait here.”
“Yes, but… what’s your name…?”

Nam Goong-Min fidgeted with his hands as he watched the man’s back as he walked away.

‘…Did the chairman find the fountain of youth or something?’

He hadn’t felt the man’s presence at all, even when he was right in front of him, and even as the man walked away, he still couldn’t sense his presence.

Nam Goong-Min felt like he was seeing a ghost for the first time in a long while.

“Ah!! Professor B-Baek?!”

The young professor, who had been panicking with a pale face, suddenly looked like an awakener who had stumbled upon a lucky chance as he approached the man.

‘So he’s the girl’s protector, huh?’

As I watched the young professor address him, it seemed that he was not just a guardian but also a professor at the Academy, and a rather high-ranking one at that.

Though I didn’t know what was going on, it was clear that something was about to happen, so I first enhanced my hearing with magic.

“Th-the situation is…”
“I know.”

The girl’s guardian, Baek Woo-jin, lightly patted the young professor’s shoulder, and the professor, who had been pale with fear, miraculously regained his composure.

“Step aside.”
“Y-yes…”

Baek Woo-jin pushed the young professor aside and faced the gazes directed at him.

“I’ll give you a choice.”

He raised his right hand and extended his index finger.

“One: You go back to where you should be.”

His middle finger, which had been next to the extended index finger, now raised.

“Two: You continue what you were about to do.”

As Baek Woo-jin’s two raised fingers folded back down, his emotionless, dry voice once again settled around them, drilling into everyone’s ears.

“It would be wise to choose before my calm is disturbed.”

Though his words were devoid of any emotion…

‘…This is dangerous.’

I didn’t know how the others perceived the guardian facing them, but having personally experienced Baek Woo-jin’s casual display of power, I instinctively felt that his warning was not a simple one.

And the situation took an odd turn.

“Well, I know you’re a professor, but we haven’t met before, and your lack of manners makes me uncomfortable.”

Kang Min-ho, the Master of the Iron Knights and Kang Seok-ho’s father, eyed Baek Woo-jin as if testing him.

Hearing his words, which were almost like a provocation, and seeing his ambiguous attitude, I could tell that they, too, felt an indescribable discomfort from the man before them.

“Are you disrespecting me?”

Kang Min-ho sharpened his tone, but Baek Woo-jin, with his hands behind his back, showed no reaction.

Just then—

“The Executioner’s lover?”
“Lover? Oh…!!”

Someone blurted out those words, and they spread like a contagion, infecting even me.

‘So, that man was the one rumored to be dating the Executioner.’

Though no information about the man had been made public, his appearance, especially those unmistakable comical glasses, matched the impression given by the rumors.

“Haa…”
“So that’s how it is.”

After the contagion spread, the atmosphere changed once more.

The wary gazes turned into looks of displeasure.

But the words that followed were the opposite—polite and courteous.

“My apologies. I got carried away trying to see the face of my enrolled child. It was rude of me.”
“I apologize as well. She’s a daughter I’ve cherished since she was young.”

As if to forge a friendship, the tense line between them dissolved, and they gathered around Baek Woo-jin.

“You look very young, yet you’re so capable.”
“Are those glasses a special artifact?”
“Why don’t we move to a different place and talk?”

I couldn’t help but smile at the smooth, oily conversation. And then—

“If you’re not busy, let’s talk for a bit—”
“I’ve given you a chance.”

Crack—!!

As the sound of cracking joints rang out, Baek Woo-jin twisted the thick wrist of the Iron Knight, Kang Min-ho, who had been about to place his hand on his shoulder, in a direction the body was not meant to bend.

“You—!!”

Before Kang Min-ho could react, Baek Woo-jin had twisted his right hand with just one hand.

“Unauthorized use of abilities is prohibited.”

Thud—!!

With another dull sound, Kang Min-ho’s body, now covered in steel, crumpled powerlessly to the floor.

Baek Woo-jin had pulled on the twisted arm and used his palm to turn Kang Min-ho’s chin, forcing his head to face the other way.

“Also.”

Baek Woo-jin didn’t stop there.

“Your magic power—”

Smack—!!

Standing next to him, Hong Yeom Na Hee-je’s nose bridge was twisted as he fell to the ground.

“You’ve left the designated area, and—”

The Black Wolf Guild Master’s face was slammed into the floor.

“You’ve threatened a faculty member.”

Crack, crack, crack—!!

“Ugh…?!”

The left and right legs of the Milky Way Guild Master, who had been trying to escape on two legs, forgetting her magic in her panic, twisted beyond the limits of the human body.

“Therefore, you are expelled. However, as this seems to be your own doing, I will refrain from revoking your guild’s observer qualification.”

I couldn’t fully process what had just happened in an instant.

“Nam Goong-min.”
“Yes?”

I shook my head, which had been in a daze, and answered when I heard my name called.

“Take care of it so that the students don’t notice before they come out.”
“Yes.”

Since I was also an accomplice in a way, I didn’t question him and simply nodded.

“I’ll let the unauthorized departure slide.”
“I’ll take care of it cleanly.”

Nam Goong-min was a man who could quickly calculate gains and losses.

**

After dealing with the leaders of the top 10 guilds, I quietly entered the auditorium.

‘I need to keep an eye on this.’

If the balance had been tilted without using the power of nothingness, blood would have definitely been shed.

I shook off the unpleasant feeling and headed toward Claire’s magic power.

Unlike during the entrance ceremony, a huge summoning device was installed in the center of the auditorium.

The students were to defeat the summoned monsters while being watched by the observers, other students, and professors. That was the evaluation for the first day.

-Beep beep!

“Yes, it’s sparkling.”

I spotted Claire jumping next to the summoning device, keeping time with the fairy’s rhythm.

“Claire.”
“Ah…”

Claire, who had been keeping time with the fairy on her palm, looked up with a short sound.

“You’ve worked hard…”

I didn’t know why it was a question, but I nodded and held out my hand.

-Beep!

Claire put the fairy on her shoulder and carefully placed her hand on mine.

“Um, Hana’s turn is coming up soon.”
“I see.”

I nodded slightly and held Claire’s hand.

-Beep beep!!

The little rascal, who had been silent, blinked her eyes and chattered noisily, replacing our silence.