I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 741 - Side Story 14: Companion (2)

Hans realized anew as he watched Rudger's reaction.

How should he put it about Rudger? He was strangely harsh in his self-assessment, to an unusual degree.

'He could go anywhere and proudly boast with his shoulders squared, but he never does that at all.'

Hans found that somewhat regrettable. With Rudger's skills, honestly, even if he boasted, he would be acknowledged and then some.

However, Rudger was always modest. If it were just his basic disposition being that way, he could at least understand.

'Brother is, how should I say it? He's modest to an excessive degree.'

Yet despite this, because of his overwhelmingly outstanding abilities, he frequently surprised those around him. The fact that Rudger himself was rather puzzled by such reactions made it quite the comedy.

If he were moderately modest, that would be one thing. But saying it's no big deal even when accomplishing great things—at this point, one might think he was using modesty as a pretext for sophisticated bragging.

Someone who didn't know him would think him truly insufferable, but Hans knew. Rudger truly thought that way from the heart.

"Brother. I've felt this for a while now. You have absolutely no confidence, should I call it, in yourself." 

"I don't think I'm particularly lacking in self-esteem." 

"That statement itself is the problem. With brother's looks, you could charm ten out of ten women. And is it that you have no money? That's not it either. Do you know how much the secret ledger funds are under brother's name right now? And what about magic? Look at brother's skills. Aren't you humanity's greatest mage?" 

"There are funds under my name? I told you to spend all the money on relic research."

Hans clutched his chest as if frustrated.

"No, is that the problem right now? And how much is that money—it's because brother gave us too much money that it's overflowing. Besides, with the money coming in as Royal Street prospered, Violetta and I were rather embarrassed, so we just created it. Satisfied?" 

"Mm." 

"And what's important right now is brother's reaction. I mean, now that you're someone who should know your own worth well enough, why do you keep deflecting like that?" 

"I don't recall deflecting."

At that moment, Alex chimed in from the side to support Hans's words.

"No. From what I see, the leader is doing exactly that."

With both Hans and Alex saying this simultaneously, it was difficult for Rudger to properly refute. Hmm. Was that really the case?

"Look at those eyes. Those are still the eyes of someone who doesn't understand." 

"Even so, I really don't get it." 

"From what I see, this is all because of brother's educational environment." 

"Educational environment all of a sudden, at this point." 

"Is brother's teacher an ordinary person? No, not even human. There was something brother always said whenever you used amazing magic."

Rudger pondered what he had said and could recall it right away.

—Compared to my teacher, I am nothing.

Right. After becoming a teacher at Theon, he had said such things less often. But until then, whenever Hans praised him as amazing, Rudger would always recite those words as if showing humility.

"When I first heard those words, I wondered what kind of person brother's teacher was. When I actually met them later, well, I fully understood why you said that."

That's right. With a teacher who was an 8th circle archmage, how could Rudger, as that teacher's disciple, go around saying he was outstanding?

"The problem was that brother's teacher's educational method was seriously radical, to a severe degree. I mean, what about brother's skills would be lacking anywhere in the outside world?" 

"My teacher wanted me not to become arrogant." 

"At that level, haven't you thought that not being arrogant is a greater sin than being arrogant?" 

"......"

When put that way, there wasn't much to say. Hans had been holding things in for a long time, so he properly vented this time, using alcohol as fuel.

"Brother, you're someone who could go anywhere and hold your shoulders high and swagger around." 

"......Even so, 'swagger' is a bit much." 

"Anyway! Are you going to keep acting like 'I'm only this much' forever? Besides, right now, if we're just talking about magical skills, hasn't brother reached teacher's level?"

Hans clearly remembered that the magic Rudger used when fighting Salesin was definitely 8th circle.

"So shouldn't you have enough confidence now?" 

"In the first place, using 8th circle magic at that time was only possible because of my teacher's help. If it were just me alone, I wouldn't have been able to use it—it was close to a kind of trick."

Hans asked with an incredulous tone at that answer.

"Wait, is 8th circle magic something that can be activated through tricks?"

Hans' point was also valid. You used 8th circle magic through a trick? Isn't that amazing too? If you put it that way, are people in the world right now who can't use 8th circle magic not using it because they don't know the trick? At that point, shouldn't that be called orthodox rather than a trick?

"Magic is close to a certain law, you see. The process of deriving that answer can be partially skipped. Should I say it's like 'all roads lead to Rome'?" 

"Anyway, you got there. Isn't that alone an achievement worthy of going down in history?" 

"It was my teacher who showed me that path. To be precise, she used magic to disassemble it in front of me and showed me the structure of how it works and activates."

Alex, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

"To give an analogy, it's like bringing a precise machine and completely disassembling all the parts to show the leader?" 

"Hmm. Well, that's somewhat similar, I suppose." 

"But normally, isn't it amazing to look at those parts and reassemble them to use like the original?" 

"That's what I think too!"

Hans chimed in enthusiastically. Say there's a machine. If you disassemble it, there would be all sorts of parts—bolts, nuts, mechanical gears, and such.

If you handed those to someone and told them to reassemble it, would there be anyone who could do it?

Even following a blueprint would take several hours, and there was even a high possibility of failure.

Yet Rudger, in that short time, reverse-calculated the disassembly process of 8th circle magic and deployed it as his own.

"Compared to the original my teacher used, it's nothing." 

"No, this is really frustrating to death! Whatever the case, you activated it!"

If it were an ordinary mage, the moment they constructed the wrong formula with that vast amount of mana, the mana would immediately backflow and their entire body would explode and die.

Though Hans wasn't deeply versed in magic, he had knowledge picked up over his shoulder while being with Rudger.

He might not know other things, but at that time, Rudger really did something absurd. And that he manifested it in the form of success, even if not perfectly.

Rudger scratched his cheek at Hans' reaction. Now that he thought about it, he realized he had done something that really didn't make sense.

But if Grandel had directly seen such behavior from Rudger, he would have scolded him, asking what he was being so confident about.

In the end, Rudger learned about the world from the time he ran away from Grandel and wandered the world.

Until then, he had lived on a tightrope in the Holy Kingdom, never knowing when he might be assassinated. When living with Grandel, he couldn't learn about the world in detail.

Even while learning magic, Grandel kept telling him not to brag about it anywhere, so Rudger thought that was normal.

Having lived that way, it was natural in a sense for him to have this way of thinking.

"Geez. Really, brother's teacher completely ruined brother." 

"That person taught me magic. There was no malice." 

"That's the problem! Of all things, because the teacher happened to be the world's strongest mage, would anything ordinary catch their eye?"

What made Hans even more frustrated was that Rudger became this way not through anyone's malicious actions, but as an unavoidable result.

"Anyway, it would be better for brother to have a bit more confidence and conviction in yourself. Still, you've improved a lot compared to the very beginning, so you'll be fine if you just stay aware going forward." 

"Stay aware......I'll take your advice to heart." 

"Anyway, is there really no woman you're thinking about?"

At Hans' words, many people's faces flashed through Rudger's mind. But it was truly a fleeting moment, and Rudger could answer without any noticeable time lag.

"No." 

"Really?" 

"Hmm."

Hans asked again as if he couldn't believe it, but Alex made a peculiar expression. Hans wouldn't know, but Alex, having reached a higher level, had noticed that Rudger had many thoughts, though very briefly.

However, perhaps knowing it wasn't good for him to interfere here, Alex didn't say anything in particular.

Rather, it was more important to welcome the new guest who would soon arrive.

Whooosh.

The wind blew. You might ask what wind would blow inside a bar with doors firmly closed, but the three people in this place felt it simultaneously.

And even who had come.

Soon, with the light sound of footsteps landing with a tap, the door opened and a woman entered.

"It's been a while, everyone."

Violetta smiled brightly with an appearance that had ripened into more mature beauty than before.

"Especially you, Owner, it's been even longer." 

"It's been a while, Violetta." 

"Yes. It's been a while. Owner." 

"You don't need to call me Owner anymore. That man is dead." 

"Fufu. Is that so? But still, you are my Owner. People point fingers calling you the Demon King, but you're the one who led us from the bottom to live like human beings."

Violetta walked to an empty seat with steps like a gentle breeze and sat down. As she reached out her hand, wind blew and retrieved a bottle of alcohol from the display shelf. The bottle riding the wind wrapped around Violetta's hand.

"Your skill in handling wind has become very proficient." 

"Well, I've grown in many ways too."

Violetta, who until then had only handled wind magic, was able to fully bloom her talent in the extreme environment called the Holy War.

The high adaptability and talent for wind magic she originally possessed. Honing it to the extreme, eliminating all other talents, and scraping away her own spirit, she finally reached the realm of single-attribute elemental magic.

Of course, she was defeated by Marias Selmore, who was being controlled at the time, but what she accomplished was something that could be counted on one hand even looking back through history.

The Sky-Colour Mage. Violetta was now a mage with a proper color title.

"How have you been?" 

"If you mean since the Holy War ended, well, I started with confinement."

Violetta was also a member of Owens and a person who could be treated as a war criminal. However, like the others, she too became free through transactions and processes unknown to the people of the world.

"I was released, but I still wasn't completely free. Unlike others, I was after all a citizen of the Empire." 

"Considering Aileen's personality, she wouldn't have left you alone." 

"Fufu. The princess at the time, the current Empress, was someone starved for talent. But when we talked, we got along well, so through a deal, I was released in exchange for working for the Empire." 

"Don't be surprised, brother. Among us, Violetta is the one who's been most successful now."

As Hans added the explanation, Rudger let out an exclamation.

"Oho. I vaguely sensed it from your attire, but are you doing something?" 

"I became a councilor of Leathervelk. And I ran in the upcoming mayoral election." 

"Think you'll do well?" 

"My approval rating is overwhelming. Besides, the Empress is also discreetly supporting me from behind, so that position is practically a done deal."

From someone in the underworld to a manager and genius designer of Royal Street. From there becoming the Sky-Colour Mage and even to city councilor. And now running for mayor.

She was truly the icon of social mobility.

Violetta even wrote an autobiography based on her story and published it as a book.

Her story particularly moved women's hearts and sold like hotcakes.

"The opposing candidate in the election is backed by the noble faction, but it's not really a problem. Even if they try to do something with money, we have enough money not to fall behind them either."

The noble faction desperately tried to seize the mayoral position of Leathervelk because Leathervelk was the city most adjacent to Theon.

Though Theon Magic Academy didn't allow external interference, it wasn't completely free from the influence of Leathervelk’s mayor.

However, all such intentions were thwarted when Violetta stepped forward. Her election as mayor was virtually certain and she even had a close relationship with Elisa, the Dean of Theon.

"Theon."

Rudger recited that familiar name. 

Violetta raised her glass and asked.

"Do you miss it?"