NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21
“Got something to hide?”
“Uh? No way!”
I just went to check on how the surveillance I asked for was going, and the Dean is fidgeting, looking oddly anxious.
“Suspicious.”
“It’s really nothing. Just… I think Rin might have sensed something?”
“Hmm?”
Even so, with a mage of the Dean’s caliber keeping watch, there’s no way a third-year like Rin would notice…
‘Well, maybe she could.’
Considering Rin isn’t just any ordinary female student but the calamity that will swallow the world in the future, the Dean’s surveillance could easily be detected.
‘But I can’t just give up.’
“Keep it up, even if she notices. She won’t be able to do anything serious anyway.”
“Y-yeah? Got it!”
The Dean nodded vigorously, grinning like she found a hole to escape through. It feels like I got the answer I wanted, and it doesn’t seem like a problem worth worrying about. I’ll just let it slide.
“Are you watching right now?”
“Of course! Wanna see?”
Before I even asked, she manipulated her mana and expanded the screen. It looked like after school, Rin was enjoying tennis with friends, but something felt odd.
Instead of the school-issued gym clothes, she was dressed in professional tennis gear, and her hair is tied up, exposing the nape of her neck excessively.
The skirt sways dangerously, and as she tries to cool off by adjusting her outfit, her skin is oddly exposed towards us.
“Is she really this careless?”
Of course, it was an angle that others couldn’t see. The circumstances were just too perfectly aligned for our surveillance.
Back in the village, little boys would sneak a peek or tug at the skirts of the girls they liked.
The girls were too naive back then, but Rin was different.
She was known for her iron wall, completely impervious to such antics, but now it feels like she has opened up, just a little.
“Did you deliberately aim for this angle?”
I shot a suspicious glance at the Dean, wondering if this was on purpose for my benefit, but she shook her head vigorously.
‘Is this the effect of being with her peers?’
The innocent country girl Rin, who used to smile sweetly, is now unwittingly exuding a weird charm. Sure, she’s still an 18-year-old kid, but I can’t help but worry she might drift into a strange direction.
“It’d be good to pay a bit more attention.”
She’s being careful not to expose herself in front of others, but who knows how or where she’ll be seen next?
I waved my hand, asking to shut off the screen, and the Dean quickly complied. Even though the office was empty, she whispered quietly as if someone might overhear.
“I have some recordings, do you want some of the good ones?”
“No way, are you insane?”
I’ve always known she was a bit of a weirdo, but I didn’t think she’d go this far.
The Dean looked surprised by my reaction, almost like she expected me to wag my tail and be happy.
“Delete all of it right now. Don’t create any weird evidence.”
I said firmly, and she nodded, a bit downcast. What kind of childish behavior is this coming from someone who should be mature by now?
“I’m leaving.”
With a loud slam of the door, I exited the Dean’s office, thrusting my hands into my pockets, lost in strange emotions.
*
“Sigh.”
What am I even doing?
Cowering like this over a student is ridiculous.
After Daniel McLean left, the Dean felt frustrated yet amused, returning to her paperwork.
There had been so much going on lately, and with the Leiros family starting to watch closely, her mind was a mess.
‘Should I just expel them for good?’
Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d want to expel Fenil Leiros and his crew who were suspended for a month, but that would mean a real showdown.
Just one week until their return.
This was a chance for the problem kids to realize their family can’t protect them perfectly and to hope for a quieter life.
Knock knock.
A light knock.
Recognizing who it was, the Dean smiled and invited her in. There stood Rin, just back from playing tennis with friends, a towel draped around her neck.
‘What a remarkable girl.’
At first, I hadn’t realized, but she had been using magic to suppress her presence, eliminate smells and sounds, and become perfectly invisible, only releasing it when she entered the Dean’s office.
In other words, she didn’t want anyone to find out about her connection with the Dean.
‘Even fifth graders struggle with that level of simultaneous casting.’
Yet, she was casting spells with precision and speed, breathing steadily.
Being a mage myself, I knew in an instant.
This girl could definitely claim a line in any magical tome across the continent.
“How did it go?”
Of course, Rin didn’t come for that reason.
“I was rejected. I just got scolded for asking why they were recording it.”
“Is that so?”
Rin noticeably looked disappointed.
Did the Dean want to record it? Certainly not. Such tasks were troublesome and hard to store, so what’s the point?
But this was a mutually agreed recording.
Because Rin, the one being monitored, wanted it.
“I thought you’d like it.”
Looking at Rin mumble to herself, the Dean inwardly thought that she wasn’t quite normal either.
When Rin first traced back and confronted the Dean about her surveillance, she was startled. She thought she was bearing the shame of being a voyeur because of Daniel.
‘Now, who asked for this?’
Surprisingly, Rin had pieced together most of the truths and came to the Dean with the correct answers.
But there were also parts that differed.
For example, the Dean felt bad for framing Daniel and was helping her out.
That was nearly the right answer.
Daniel dodged Rin, but he correctly assumed that the Dean was watching her through him.
However, Rin, unaware that she would one day stab both her childhood friend and her fiancé, thought that Daniel had a special condition she heard about from Elise.
‘Doesn’t matter. Rather, it’s great!’
Even though it was a special condition, at least someone was watching her like this. Just that thought sent a shiver of excitement, and a bashful smile spread across Rin’s face.
After that, Rin subtly began to act prettier under the magical surveillance, thinking Daniel doesn’t see everything, and the Dean isn’t watching either.
So, the idea of recording came to Rin.
She couldn’t always be pretty, so just compile the pretty moments and let him watch.
“Just don’t delete them for now. I might need them later.”
“… Sure.”
“Did they say anything else?”
“That they might be concerned about too much exposure that could be seen by others.”
Rin’s expression brightened instantly.
‘She was worried about it being seen by others!’
Beaming, Rin thanked her for all the support and cast her magic again to leave.
‘No need to worry. I set it up so only you can see it.’
Thinking of this, Rin’s joy at being cared for made her quicken her pace.
After Rin left, the Dean took a deep breath and brewed some tea.
What others, like the Leiros family, said outside didn’t really matter.
First, she needed to get the Academy in order.
The only reason the Dean was helping Rin was that Daniel was mistaking his feelings for her.
‘What a peculiar way to be infatuated.’
‘Huh?’
When Daniel first mentioned this surveillance, the Dean mumbled that way, and Daniel merely frowned without outright denying it.
To him, it was nonsensical, but he also couldn’t explain everything in detail, so he skirted around the issue instead.
The Dean misunderstood, and that misunderstanding was passed on to Rin.
‘If I help both Daniel and Rin, they’ll become a couple and thank me later. Then, the internal problems will resolve themselves naturally.’
Now, she was not the Dean who wanted to expel them by framing them, nor was she a voyeur of her students.
She was becoming the Cupid of love and wouldn’t be able to act as freely as she did before.
“Hohohohoho!”
After all, what are you kids, anyway?
Feel free to experience the sweetness of puppy love in the palm of an adult’s hand while laughing.
‘Seems like the Dean has some unnecessary thoughts in her head lately. I need to tighten discipline a bit. Whenever I loosen up, things quickly go out of hand.’
‘To show the surveillance screen or recordings means the Dean is alone with Daniel in her office? I need to take some precautions about this.’
Sadly, the young boy and girl had something a bit more twisted than the innocent romance the Dean envisioned.