I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 799 - Side Story 72: Duke Lumos (3)

A quiet silence circulated in the office where only the two of them remained. Flora looked at Rudger's face, which had come close enough to hear his breathing.

What is this situation right now? Why is the teacher so close? And what is this position?

Flora's head wasn't working properly. As the situation that had only existed in her imagination unfolded in reality, her brain couldn't keep up with it.

So to organize the situation, she had mischievously teased Rudger, and Rudger, reacting to that, had cornered her against the wall.

Flora felt her neck stiffen rigidly and the muscles throughout her body contract. Being so surprised and tense, she turned her eyes to the side to hide her emotions.

But before she knew it, her eyes returned to their original position and she found herself staring at Rudger's face.

She couldn't help it. Opportunities to see him this close weren't common. Moreover, was it because he was handsome after all? Just looking at him made her feel good.

To the point where she didn't notice the proud mask she usually showed slipping off.

It should be considered remarkable that she didn't break into a foolish smile without realizing it.

-Gulp.

Being so nervous, Flora swallowed. That sound seemed to thunder loudly, and she worried anxiously about whether Rudger might hear it.

"What's wrong, Flora? Wasn't this what you wanted?" 

"Th-that is, well..."

His face is close. She can hear his breathing. If he came just a little closer, she could even feel his warmth.

Flora suddenly thought about what it would be like to kiss Rudger here. For the continuation of the Lumos family, wouldn't she need an adopted son-in-law? Rudger Lumos. Wouldn't that be a very fitting name?

No. Even so, that's going too far. Ahem. Right, marriage right away is like that, but still, dating should be okay, right? Other people do it for about 3 years, would that be enough? No, 3 years is too long. 1 year, yes, exactly 1 year seems fine.

Having spread her wings of imagination in her head, Flora carefully closed her eyes, dreaming of the rosy future to come.

But for some reason, the kind of sensation that should naturally occur when faces get close didn't approach.

When Flora carefully opened her eyes, wondering what was going on.

-Tap.

Rudger lightly tapped and pushed her forehead with his finger.

"How about waking up from your dream, Miss?"

Flora rubbed her forehead with her hand, then belatedly realized what kind of disgraceful display she had made.

A belated sense of betrayal rushed in, but she couldn't get angry. Seeing Rudger looking at her with a playful smile, her desire to be angry melted away like snow.

"Hmph. To kick away a good opportunity with your own feet, you'll regret it." 

"Yes, yes. Since I already want to beat the ground in regret, let's stop here." 

"...Anyway, send me the next lesson schedule separately. I need to adjust my schedule accordingly."

Flora had no intention of giving up Hermoa's lessons. There was the purpose of using the lessons as an excuse to visit Theon and be alone with Rudger. But the fundamental reason was that she had found her own enjoyment in teaching Hermoa.

Having become the head of a ducal family, Flora had to show an appearance befitting a family head. She hadn't had personal hobbies to begin with, but the weight of the family head's position was considerable.

Sometimes she needed to catch her breath, and teaching Hermoa Entiro was very suitable for that role.

Until now she had only received teachings, but this was her first experience teaching someone. However, having done it, it wasn't a bad feeling at all.

'So this is how it felt.'

Perhaps if she hadn't become the head of Lumos, she might have become a teacher at Theon. Just like the man before her who deserved respect.

"Then, see you next time."

Flora, who walked out with proud steps as if nothing had happened, closed the office door.

And immediately leaned her back against the door and crouched down in place without realizing it.

When she rubbed her face with both hands, a burning heat was transmitted to her palms. Right now her face must be colored red enough for anyone to notice.

'What on earth did I just do!'

'Well now.'

Rudger recalled the image of Flora who had hastily left. She tried her best to hide it, but he couldn't fail to notice that even her earlobes had turned red when she left.

Rudger awkwardly ran his hand through his hair.

'She used to be a student I had to look after, but she's become an adult beyond recognition.'

Not just her grown appearance, but the immature look from her student days had become almost impossible to find.

Even though it's just teasing, that attitude of subtly tempting him.

'If it were the old me, I wouldn't have cared, but is it because I have peace of mind? Now I'm gradually becoming conscious of various things.'

Actually, he knew that although Flora was treating him playfully, there was sincerity faintly showing between her attitude.

Rudger couldn't grasp how to deal with signs of affection sent by the opposite sex.

'When I was moving toward the goal of returning to Earth, I had no capacity to care about other things.'

That's why he deliberately ignored or turned away from it, saying he knew but couldn't help it. But now it's different. Rudger has returned to this world and decided to live with leisure.

As a result, he inevitably had to face again what he had known but passed by in the past.

If it were a complex magical formula or a difficult unknown problem, he would have happily spent time solving it. But a person's heart, especially the affection held by the opposite sex, was very difficult for Rudger to know how to deal with.

'It's not just Flora in the first place.'

Isn't there also Teacher Selena, who directly confessed to him?

There's Rene, and Sedina Roschen, and if you add Flora to this, and if there's even Casey Selmore...

'...Hmm.'

At the fact that there were more than he thought, Rudger's face became quite serious.

What made him even more worried was that there might be more people showing affection toward him here.

'No way...'

Rudger tried to dismiss it as unlikely, but he couldn't completely shake off the anxiety remaining in one corner of his heart.

Knowing that worrying about a problem with no answer was useless, Rudger decided to focus on other work.

The face of Rudger, who was checking materials to prepare for the next lesson, was clearly flushed red, albeit faintly, if examined closely.

The student Rudger was to teach next was Eric Willow. Eric, a distant cousin of Chancellor Elisa Willow, was still maintaining the disheveled hair he had shown before.

"What kind of lesson will I receive?"

Eric asked in a voice slightly filled with anticipation. He had clearly heard the news that when Rudger taught other special class students, he taught each in their own way.

"What do you want?" 

"Me?" 

"Do you want to control your magic eyes? I see that as the biggest problem you have."

Eric fell into thought for a moment, then soon nodded his head. If there was his biggest problem, it was because of the difficult-to-handle power of his magic eyes.

Those who possess magic eyes usually only have one ability, but in Eric's case, multiple characteristics of magic eyes were overlapped.

As a result, if he didn't concentrate even a little, he would end up causing harm to his surroundings. Suppressing even one power was overwhelming, but with various powers running wild, he couldn't let his guard down even in daily life.

'And yet to have such a relaxed mindset. His mental strength is not ordinary.'

If Mina was wounded by overwhelmingly powerful talent and chose escape, Eric was closer to avoiding contact with others based on rational judgment rather than escape.

'If he has his own conviction in his actions, there won't be difficulty in teaching.'

Rudger handed Eric a glasses case.

"What's this?" 

"Something you'll be using from now on."

The contents were naturally glasses. The rimless glasses, which didn't seem to have very high prescription, looked luxurious with gold incorporated throughout.

"It's also an artifact." 

"Where did you get this?" 

"I modified something I was using before."

Making artifacts is difficult, but modifying existing ones is also quite difficult. Yet Rudger was speaking as if it were nothing.

'Well. There's no use comparing such things.'

Eric had directly clashed with Rudger, so he knew how tremendous his skills were.

Even though he had charged in while opening all the powers of his magic eyes, he couldn't inflict a single wound. That was the extent even when Rudger wasn't serious. He was a mage of such an unfathomable realm that his level couldn't be known. Modifying an artifact would be nothing.

Eric put away the glasses he was using and switched to the ones Rudger gave him.

"How is it?" 

"This is..."

The moment he put them on, he felt like the world had brightened dramatically.

Usually Eric had to live with various problems when seeing something because of the overflowing power of his magic eyes.

Because the power of his magic eyes swirled this way and that, the scenery he saw was always in the form of all kinds of colors mixing in raging currents.

As a result, even the blue sky that others saw could only be seen by him as a strange flow that made him feel mentally strange just by looking at it.

He had been using a powerful artifact in the form of glasses with high prescription to make it better, but even that wouldn't have been complete.

But this was different.

"I can see incredibly well."

It seemed like an unremarkable impression, but for Eric it was no different from rare praise.

The world is bright and clean. The power of the magic eyes that had been surging within his eyes became docile, suppressed by the power of the artifact Rudger gave him.

"How much does this cost?" 

"I haven't put a price on it, so I'm not sure. Anyway, if it's not you, it would just be ordinary glasses to anyone else." 

"...In other words, it's a precious item that I couldn't exchange even for billions, right?"

Eric sighed. He already couldn't shake the feeling of owing Rudger a great debt.

"Don't think of it as a debt. It's just preparation to facilitate lessons with you." 

"This?"

He felt it from the attitude of casually handing over such a precious artifact, but Rudger really seemed to think that way.

"So, how is it? Is the effect good?" 

"It's so good it's surprising. I feel like I shouldn't take these off even when sleeping."

Eric swept up his bangs. The world hidden by his hair became even more clearly visible.

From the color of the sky to the scenery inside the lecture room. When he looked out the window, the view of Theon's grounds appeared ordinary.

For others it would be a sight they always see, but for Eric, even such ordinariness was very precious.

"I'm glad to hear that. However, artifacts are ultimately something you can't carry on your body for life. You know that, right?" 

"...Yes. It's not a fundamental solution. I have to suppress the magic eyes with my own power."

The glasses artifact is ultimately just an auxiliary device. One cannot walk properly by depending only on auxiliary devices.

"That's exactly what I'm going to teach you." 

"You mean the method to suppress magic eyes?" 

"Because I have a similar experience to yours." 

"Similar experience?" 

"Yes. If I had to compare, it was something more severe than magic eyes."

Eric couldn't understand what Rudger was talking about. He couldn't believe the words that he had suffered from something more severe than his own magic eyes with multiple overlapping powers.

He had no choice. What Rudger had suffered from was so much more serious that it would make Eric's magic eyes seem like 'nothing.'

Divine communication (神通). He had to hear the voices of gods whispering since childhood.

Some gods treated him favorably, but some acted violently, trying to devour Rudger somehow because he was the best vessel that could project their power to the lower world. They didn't hesitate to be coercive to the point of adding threats.

Even gods who treated him favorably weren't particularly good. The favor of gods was too excessive and heavy for humans to contain.

"What I will teach you is sealing magic."

Though Rudger had been tormented by such gods, he's fine now. It was thanks to the sealing magic he created with his master's help.

"You will seal your magic eyes with the newly learned magic."