Him? Ewan Campbell?

“Well, as expected of Professor Planck. As strict as ever,” Professor Glen remarked with a chuckle. Then, as if he had just noticed something, he let out a small “oh?”

“Hey, look over there. Isn’t that the little girl from the first year—oh, wait, I guess she’s a second-year now, the one everyone was talking about? The illegitimate child of some noble family?”

“Our academy does not concern itself with a student’s background. And besides, she was in your class, was she not? And you can’t even remember her name!” Professor Planck said sternly.

“Hehe, there are so many students. Who can remember them all?” Glen scratched his head, playing dumb.

“Her name is Ariel. And she is indeed a very outstanding student.” Professor Planck had, of course, also seen Ariel getting out of her carriage. His gaze swept over her face, and his perpetually grim mood instantly improved, a small, rare smile appearing on his lips. “Not bad. It seems she had a fulfilling vacation.”

“You really do think highly of her,” Glen said.

“Of course. To be able to raise her magic level to the Gold rank of the second tier in just one year is a rare sight, even in my decades of teaching. It is no exaggeration to call her a genius,” Professor Planck said, a hint of genuine pride in his voice. If it weren’t for the fact that Ariel’s magic clearly showed the influence of another, equally brilliant teacher, he would have been tempted to take her on as his own personal disciple.

“Is that so.” Glen nodded in admiration, then promptly lost interest. He had seen too many geniuses in his time; most of them were quite boring. “Speaking of which, there should be another much-talked-about student in the second year, right? What was his name again? The son of a duke, I believe.” Glen’s thoughts jumped from one topic to another. “Professor Planck, do you know… eh?”

“Ewan! Campbell!”

Professor Planck gritted his teeth, his entire being radiating the aura of an active volcano about to erupt. Of course, he knew that name. It was practically seared into his very bones! Utterly, painfully unforgettable. Not because of his status as a duke’s son, nor because of all the ridiculous trouble he had caused.

But because of the shame!

Yes, he, Planck Rohninger, had suffered the greatest, most profound shame of his fifty-year teaching career at the hands of that boy!

One year! An entire year!

Three hundred and sixty-five days!

Eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty hours!

That girl, Ariel, had already reached the Gold rank, a level at which she could be considered a competent, independent mage. Even the most average of students could at least master the basics and cast a few simple attack spells.

But Ewan Campbell… that boy… in an entire year, had only managed to learn a single spell: “Light”!

“Light”!

A spell his cat could learn in three days!

And it took him a whole year!

Because of this monumental, soul-crushing failure, when he had attended the annual summit for top educators over the vacation, the moment he had walked in the door, someone had pointed at him and laughed, “Professor Planck! I hear you’ve produced another prodigy! One spell in a whole year!”

And he, a titan in the world of magical education, could only stammer with a beet-red face, “N-nonsense! How can ‘Light’ be considered just one spell? It’s… it’s practical and efficient! At the very least, it should count as one and a half!”

The room had immediately erupted in joyous, uproarious laughter.

Joyous, my ass! He’d wanted to smash his head through a wall!

He used to attend these gatherings to bask in the admiring gazes of his peers, to put on a bit of an air and offer guidance to the younger generation. But ever since Ewan Campbell had burst onto the scene with his “outstanding” academic record of one spell per year, he felt like people were pointing and whispering behind his back wherever he went! For a self-proclaimed perfect educator like him, it was utterly, absolutely intolerable!

But, to his eternal frustration, there was nothing he could do about it. Poor grades weren’t a violation of school rules. And the Campbell family was one of the academy’s major patrons. He couldn’t just go out of his way to pick on a student.

“It seems you really dislike that Ewan Campbell.” Glen instinctively took a step back. He had rarely seen Professor Planck this angry. Just standing next to him felt like being at risk of being eaten alive. He quickly tried to change the subject. “Hey, look. Your star pupil seems to have run into some trouble.” Glen pointed toward the school gate.

“Oh? That looks like Emon from the fourth year. I have some recollection of him. His talent is not bad.” Professor Planck was successfully distracted, and his mood calmed considerably. “What are they doing? Are they going to fight?”

“It seems to be… a challenge?” Professor Planck squinted. Even from this distance, he could vaguely make out Emon throwing a glove at Ariel’s feet. Among nobles, this was a formal declaration of a duel.

“Ohhh, a fourth-year challenging a second-year in front of so many people. You don’t see that every day,” Professor Glen whistled, clearly enjoying the drama.

“Strange. Why would Emon suddenly challenge Ariel? Did they have some kind of conflict before?” Professor Planck wondered aloud. He thought for a moment, and then he remembered that the feud between Ewan Campbell and Ariel was common knowledge throughout the second year. And Emon… seemed to be quite close to Ewan Campbell…

Ewan Campbell! It’s you again!

Wasn’t it enough to torment me? Now you have to torment my star pupil as well?!

“It seems they’re not fighting,” Glen continued his running commentary. Then, he suddenly exclaimed, “Hey, look! Isn’t that… what’s-his-name? Ewan something-or-other?”

“Ewan! Camp—BELL!”

Professor Planck had also spotted Ewan in the crowd. His eyes bulged, and he let out a low growl. “He still has the face to show up at this academy!” He gripped his staff so tightly his knuckles turned white, wishing he could just storm down there and give that Ewan Campbell a good whack. You were lucky you ran off at the end of the term, you little brat! Otherwise, you would have gotten what was coming to you!

“Now, now, calm down. He’s just a student. Why do you get so worked up over a student?” Glen said soothingly. “It’s normal for students to have varying levels of academic performance, isn’t it?”

“Normal?” Professor Planck looked at Glen and sneered. “If a student in your potions class, after a full year, still couldn’t tell the difference between a sleeping draught and an aphrodisiac, and in fact, was even drugged with one or the other, what would you think then?”

“…” Oh no. That’s a little too relatable. Glen’s blood pressure instantly shot up.

“Ahem, let’s not talk about that. Let’s see what’s happening over there. Hmm, that Ewan Campbell seems to be saying something. And from the looks on everyone’s faces, it’s something quite extraordinary.” Glen stroked his chin, a grin spreading across his face. “Good thing I know a little lip-reading. Mmm, let’s see what you’re saying… ‘I… have… turned… over… a… new… leaf…’ Huh? ‘I have turned over a new leaf’?”

After deciphering the sentence, Professor Glen turned to Professor Planck in disbelief. “That Ewan Campbell said he has turned over a new leaf.”

“Turned over a new leaf?” Professor Planck sneered. “Do you actually believe such an obvious lie, as plausible as a toad turning into a swan? If that Ewan Campbell can truly turn over a new leaf and start studying hard, then I’ll… I’ll…” Professor Planck looked around, then slammed his hand on his desk with a loud bang. “I’ll eat this desk!”