Became the Villainess’s Guardian

On a rare free weekend with no classes or research,
Professor Magni, glancing at Edan’s empty seat, decided to go out.

If the East End district at Londinium’s eastern edge was known as the slum area, then the opposite side was the center of administration, commerce, and culture.
True to Londinium’s chronic lack of naming sense, this western edge of the city was aptly called the West End.

The intellectuals, capitalists, politicians, and nobles who needed social venues gathered in the West End to converse among themselves and grow ever tighter-knit.
Among them, those with similar tastes and interests would secure a building to form a club.

There were innumerable clubs on all sorts of topics – clubs for idle married gentlemen, millionaire clubs, technician clubs, clubs for manly gamblers, and so on.
Naturally, among these was the long-standing Magicians’ Club occupying a place in Londinium society.

“I’ve reserved Room 3.”

“Professor Magni, we’ve been expecting you. Allow me to take your hat and staff. Now, please follow me this way.”

A staff member who recognized him guided the professor to the designated location.

A magician’s career was tied directly to their club membership.
The professor, who had frequented the place often enough to nearly be promoted from respected elder to NPC club staff, was not so boorish as to be asked for ID.

It had been nearly 20 years since Professor Magni took up the lectern at Londinium University to teach electromancy.
In this long period, how many students had passed through his hands?

Some had returned to rural hometowns to become teachers at small schools, others had joined the kingdom’s civil service, and of course there were those who chose to remain unemployed.
But many pursued the path of research befitting the subjects they had studied.

And an extremely small number among them had exhibited a frontier spirit, choosing to blaze their own trails instead of joining other palaces.

-Knock knock knock

“Ah, come in!”

“Well, it’s been a while.”

Professor Magni had received a letter several days prior.
Cutting through the lengthy flattery that began with “[The legitimate heir to the lineage of electromancy passed down from Michael, my esteemed master…]” and stripping out the excessive adjectives, the core content remained:

“[…and so I find myself in some business difficulties, and humbly request your guidance for this unworthy disciple.]”

And the very person who had sent that letter was the one he was meeting today.

Once a student, and like Edan, someone who had served as his assistant.
After entering society, she had established her own palace as a palace master.

“Freyja.”

“Master.”

The faintly auburn hair was frazzled compared to the last time he had seen her, and the eyes that once sparkled with passion for scholarship were now dull.

Her face, thoroughly haggard, briefly took on a sorrowful expression before she burst into tears, blubbering as she poured out everything that had transpired.

As a newly emerging field, electromancy faced numerous attacks from all sides, and the evidence and theorems behind magic were endlessly questioned and refuted.

As such, Professor Magni’s life was invested in constantly headbutting challenges to establish the foundations of the theory. The Royal Academy membership he had obtained along the way was merely small change from this arduous journey.

Although he was now too old to personally spearhead the renaissance of electromancy, he could at least pass the torch of knowledge to the next generation.

Professor Magni’s mentor, the electromancy progenitor Michael, was an unassuming man.
Even when the Queen herself formally offered him a knighthood, he politely declined all honors, wishing to remain an ordinary magician.

As his disciple, the professor naturally respected and revered that character.
But Professor Magni harbored a bit more ambition.

“I will make it happen, Master! I will lead the electromancy renaissance!”

“Very well. Go forth!”

“I will establish a palace and once more elevate electromancy to greatness! Watch over me!”

Thus, when his gentry-born, affluent assistant spoke of using personal funds to start a business, he had wholeheartedly cheered him on.
Incidentally, he also packed in students worried about employment to bolster the workforce.

In the first few years, the business sailed smoothly.
Quite a few investors were gathered, securing funds, and the fellow magicians worked diligently on development.

And that ambitious dream of building a splendid palace and raking in money like fallen leaves as a young and rich palace master…

“Our research and development budget is…?”

“My apologies, Palace Master. It was entirely depleted last quarter.”

After layers of careful phrasing, the ‘Quarterly Results Report_For Reporting_Final_RealFinal_FINAL(2)’ that reached her spelled out in detail the imminent risk of running aground.

“If only I had more time and budget…!”

“It seems you don’t.”

“Wahhhh…”

Professor Magni looked upon Freyja with pitying eyes.

Such was the nature of invention in this era.
What would the elders who once rolled the dice of racial destiny against the Demon King’s forces in their youth, and their children who heard those vivid first-hand accounts, think when they saw the youths casually taking trains to vacation resorts at the kingdom’s fringes every weekend?

‘Humanity is now capable of anything!’

‘Technology will free us from endless suffering. Perhaps we could even subjugate the demons without spilling a drop of blood one day?’

Techno-optimism. Mago-optimism.
Having named the present an ‘era of prosperity’ so intoxicated with hope and optimism, investors began making all sorts of demands.

“Let’s fly in the sky!”

“Automobiles faster than trains!”

“How about highly advanced computing devices? If I could contain all the world’s knowledge in my hands?”

But even Edan, the chosen other-world protagonist feverishly working to disseminate modern civilization, did not harbor such grandiose dreams as ‘showing semiconductor technology to these modern-other world people to provide smartphones for all!’
If that were possible, he would not have been contorting his body with dread every new year as humanity’s annihilation drew ever nearer. He could have just developed a hypnosis app or something.

However, the tender-hearted Freyja was swayed this way and that by such demands,
And the investments gathered with hopes and dreams melted away like ice cream under the summer sun.

“Yes, I understand the problem.”

“Then…”

“But there’s little I can do to help.”

As professor and assistant existing as one body, Edan could fend off external meddling.
Most were collaborative research projects anyway, so it was easy to become the blowhard wielding reputation and authority crying “Of course!”

But to also handle Freyja, a full-fledged member of society and palace master… that was a bit… awkward.
Unless he quit being a professor to join Freyja’s palace, there was little he could do.

And yet, if not a fellow disciple who studied under the same mentor, who else could he trust?
This successor to the electromancy lineage bound by the teacher-student relationship was now seeking his aid. As the progenitor, he could hardly turn a blind eye.

Conveniently, there was one suitable candidate.

“I will soon regain my freedom. But until then, I remain a slave. A pitiful being incapable of emotion.”

“Electromancy is a mere upstart, lagging behind the steam engines powered by fire and water magic.”

“Take that back, those words just now…!”

An unemployed individual with unparalleled loyalty to the school and no shortage of ambition.

After consoling and sending Freyja off with assurances that he would think of a solution, Professor Magni turned his attention to Edan, who had rushed over immediately upon hearing there might be a job opportunity if he wasn’t employed yet, as if sniffing out something.

“So, you’re still looking for work?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you trying to find employment? It wouldn’t be bad to work for the kingdom either. Oh, I recall you seemed quite interested in military weapons as well.”

Working in public service wouldn’t be bad.
However, there was one critical issue – having to start from the bottom.

While leveraging Professor Magni’s clout would make climbing the ladder much easier, it would still be difficult to reach a position with any real autonomy even a decade later.
Moreover, being beholden to the kingdom would hamper freely pursuing research. There were certainly advantages, but the drawbacks were too great.

“I understand what you’re saying. But still, it’s the palace.”

“If that’s your thinking, then I have someone to introduce you to.”

“Oh?”

The professor left those words and wrote me a letter of recommendation.
If I had this back when I was a fresh graduate, I might not have fallen victim to the professor’s mind control assistant tactics.

I sensed this moment was a parachute hire event. In fact, I had that inkling the moment he called his former resigned assistant.

After receiving the professor’s self-interested well-wishes to return whenever I missed him, I promptly headed to the palace address without delay.

“We’ve arrived. That’s 5 libras.”

“Here we are.”

“Thank you, Nauri. Please use us again.”

Having climbed into a carriage from Londinium University, I disembarked at the western edge of the city.
It was an area I didn’t frequent often aside from occasionally being dragged to clubs by Professor Magni, so the surroundings felt somewhat unfamiliar.

“The West End, huh. Quite a nice place to do business.”

I took a deep breath, thinking the air might be a bit different, only to choke and cough out dust.

Chemical fumes and magic stone powder. Such an aroma of industry and magic meant this was the heart of prosperity – not a bad signal.

Stopping a few passersby and fumbling my way along, I soon stood before a towering skyscraper.

It couldn’t match the heights of humanity’s greatest structures in my previous life, but the view looking down on the surrounding low factories with their forests of chimneys jutting out inspired awe and a sense of oppressiveness.

After climbing the entrance stairs, the name ‘Ceres Palace’ was elegantly inscribed on a sign above the doors.