I Became an Unknown Professor at the Academy

The long, long rainy season had finally ended.
The sky, once filled with dark clouds, had miraculously cleared up on the morning of the festival.
As if someone had given permission to enjoy the festival.
“I’ll be back~!”
-Okay!!
Baek Hana and the fairy, with only her head poking out of Baek Hana’s pocket, waved goodbye as they left the mansion. Claire, who had seen them off, quietly turned around.
Baek Woo-jin, the owner of the mansion, had left early in the morning to take care of something, after infusing the fairy with his mysterious power while she was asleep.
Because of this, Claire was left alone in the mansion.
“Hmm.”
When Baek Woo-jin used to go out for lectures, the fairy would often go out as well, so Claire often had time to herself, like today.
She entered the kitchen and checked the time on the wall clock again.
“At least 12 hours.”
Claire took out colorful fruit cereal from the cabinet and filled a bowl with it. In the past, she had used it because it was easy to eat and had a balanced nutritional value, but now, it had become one of the few foods she enjoyed.
“Hmm, hum~♪”
As she poured white milk over the colorful cereal in the bowl, Claire hummed an unknown tune.
In the past, this tune had caught the attention of Bwiar, and it had also been passed on to Baek Hana.
Chirp, chirp.
The pleasant chirping of birds through the open window, along with the warm sunlight, delighted Claire’s ears.
She sat down and put a spoonful of cereal, now softened by the milk, into her mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
As she chewed, the sound of the cereal breaking apart filled her mouth. Since she had avoided such convenience foods since she started living in the mansion, she felt like this was a little rebellious.
As she savored the subtle sweetness of the fruit in her mouth, Claire opened her mouth wide to take another spoonful of cereal.
-Oh my.
“Pffft…”
A voice that shouldn’t have been heard through the open window for ventilation reached her ears, causing the cereal on her spoon to fly onto the table.
She quickly put down her spoon and turned her head.
-If you open the door, I would be grateful.
Yesol, dressed casually, was waving at her through the slightly open window.
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“Hmm~ It’s interesting. I don’t feel any special magical power, yet it’s so refreshing. Can I have a cup of coffee?”
“…”
Claire nodded at Yesol, who had entered the mansion and was wandering around the kitchen, and quietly chewed and swallowed the cereal.
Yesol, feeling as comfortable as if she were in her own home, took out an instant stick and a small tumbler from her pocket. She had prepared thoroughly before visiting the mansion to avoid using any cups that might be off-limits.
“Did the Professor send you?”
“Hahaha~ Isn’t it obvious~? How could I pass through the maze without Professor’s permission?”
Crack.
As Yesol answered Claire’s question, she got ice from the water dispenser and sat down.
“You must be busy.”
“No matter how busy I am, how could I refuse Professor’s request?”
Yesol answered without missing a beat, and Claire glared at her with a slightly sullen look. Yesol smiled at her superior’s gaze.
‘You’ve really changed a lot.’
Her superior in the past never made such expressions. In fact, she was so devoid of emotion that it was questionable whether she even had any feelings.
“What did Professor ask you to do that you came all the way here?”
That superior was now making a smile that would naturally come to a woman’s face.
Of course, it was a subtle change that only those who had spent a long time with her would notice, but Yesol felt that way.
“It seems the Professor was worried about you being alone.”
“Hmm?”

As Claire raised an eyebrow, Yesol took a sip of her melting coffee.
“The Professor asked me to take care of you for three days.”
“A request?”
“Yes. So, please drink this and change your clothes.”
Yesol took out an old-fashioned camera, which was hard to find these days, from her bag and explained.
“Hahaha~ It would’ve been nice if you had told me about your new hobby of taking pictures.”
“…”
Claire’s earlobes turned slightly red as she chewed her cereal. She hadn’t expected the Principal to mention something like this.
“Oh, your new hobby was revealed by our great and respected person(Bwiar).”
“Damn…”
A broken word came out of Claire’s mouth, and the spoon she was holding bent like taffy.
“Of course, Professor also gave me a heads-up.”
“…”
Claire’s trembling hands calmed down at the mention of Baek Woo-jin.
She calmed herself down and finished the rest of the cereal. Then, as she put away the empty bowl, she asked a question.
“But why only three days? The festival is four days long.”
“Ah, that’s it.”
In response to Claire’s question, Yesol covered her mouth with one hand and laughed.
“The Professor said he would personally pick you up on the last day.”
“…”
Yesol patted her belly as she watched Claire’s neck turn red.
‘My belly is about to burst.’
She was thrilled to be able to spend three days with such a cute superior.
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-Here! A chance to get a high-grade healing potion for just 1,000 won!
-Try our special roasted swamp toad!
-Oh, too bad, it’s a dud.
The vast grounds of the Academy.
Senior students had set up stalls along the road, enthusiastically promoting their wares.
‘It’s been six years since graduation…’
Kim Kyoung-tae, the ice magic wizard of the third assault team of the Milky Way, one of the top 10 guilds, looked around at the noisy students and invited guests and sighed.
‘I should have just refused.’
A few weeks ago, a letter had arrived, inviting him to the Academy’s festival in the name of the Chairman. Since it was a direct invitation from the Chairman himself, it was only right to attend the festival, even if it meant taking a vacation, unless there was a special reason.
Kim Kyoung-tae had also attended for this reason, but the other half was because of the sentence written at the end of the letter.
【Repay the favor you received from an old friend.】
At first, he didn’t know what it meant.
Knowing that the Chairman was a peculiar person, he even wondered if it was a meaningless sentence meant to tease him.
But he repeated the sentence once, twice, three times…
A memory from long ago, which he had forgotten, vividly flashed before his eyes, as if by magic.
-Piiit?!
-What, what?!
Autumn of the second year, first semester.
A small, cute girl, crying piak piak, was sitting on the lawn in front of the old building, eating chocolate.
He was so startled that he dropped the chocolate, and the little girl quickly ran to a nearby tree. But she kept looking around, wanting the chocolate, and her appearance was so cute that he left the rest of the chocolate there and left.
The value of the chocolate was more than enough to soothe his tired mind and body after the competition.
After that encounter, whenever his mind was tired, he wondered if he might meet her again and brought chocolate to that spot. And luckily, after a few repetitions, he was able to meet that girl again.
-Here.
-Pii…
The second meeting brought them closer.
-Piak!!
-Hey, don’t touch it. I’ll open it for you.
By the third meeting, they had become somewhat close.
-Piiang.
-Huh? Are you giving this to me?
-Pii!
On the fourth meeting, he received a strange gift.
A small orb created by the light emanating from her body.
As soon as he received it, he intuitively felt that he had encountered a fortuitous encounter within the Academy.
Without hesitation, he swallowed it.
It was just the right size to swallow.
Fortunately, his prediction was correct, and he, who had been just an ordinary student, managed to secure the second place in the second-semester evaluation. However, strangely, he didn’t feel very happy about it.
After receiving the shining orb, he hadn’t been able to meet the little girl again. Even after autumn passed and winter came, she didn’t return during the vacation.
So, he thought.
Perhaps the little girl was just an illusion created by the glowing orb.
If she was real, there was no way she wouldn’t have shown up at least once in a few days. That’s what he thought.
“Damn…”
Kim Kyoung-tae muttered under his breath and scratched the back of his head.
‘A guy with no perseverance.’
He cursed himself.
If the little girl was real and not an illusion, it would be pathetic to give up on her so quickly, after only three months. He had given up on the girl who had completely changed his life with a fortuitous encounter.
Kim Kyoung-tae attended the festival with the mindset that he would do anything if the ‘friend’ in the Chairman’s letter was indeed the little girl he had met.
‘I hope it’s true.’
If it turned out to be just a joke by the Chairman, he would feel more uncomfortable than angry or disappointed.
“But what should I do for the remaining three days…”
If he had a girlfriend, he could have enjoyed the festival with her, but Kim Kyoung-tae was still single, busy with work.
-Ahh!!
-Hey, I told you not to use force!
-I was being gentle!
-No, you weren’t! Hey, if you’re going to give advice, why don’t you do it yourself?!
-Don’t fight…
Amidst the overlapping voices, Kim Kyoung-tae’s gaze naturally turned towards the girls with distinct and catchy voices.
‘Wow, are they exchange students?’
One girl had hair as white as the first snow of winter, another had pink hair like the cherry blossoms of spring, and the third had slightly glowing beige hair.
There were two more girls next to them, but they had ordinary black hair.
‘They’re playing the Glass Molding game.’
In this game, players had to mold special glass that only melted with magic into a predetermined shape using only magic.
If too much magic was infused, the glass would melt completely, and if too little was used, it would solidify awkwardly. Additionally, if it wasn’t properly processed, it would break with even the slightest impact, making it a game with a high level of difficulty.
-Hey, Baek Hana!! You do it!! I’ve already spent 30,000 won!!
-You wanted to do it yourself!
-I don’t know!! If I lose more, it’ll be a complete loss!!
-I’ll do it, so stop nagging me.
Kim Kyoung-tae watched the girls, who were clearly junior students from the Reinforcement Department, and slowly approached them.
If it were a group of dark-skinned men, he would have turned his back and left, but since they were cute juniors, he couldn’t help but want to help them as a senior.
‘I can spend some time with them for a while, right?’
He thought that he could spend the day with them, winning some prizes and revealing himself as a graduate.
“Excuse me…”
Thud!!
Kim Kyoung-tae’s eyes widened at the dull sound.
“Huh?”
“Hey, pay attention!! Why are you looking behind you?”
“No… It’s nothing.”
At Edyn’s anxious call, Baek Hana looked puzzled for a moment, then refocused on the game.