Academy's Undercover Professor

C65: The Witch’s Trap (1)

Chapter 2/3 for the week.

I have a piece of a Relic, still, I can’t say that all Relics are the same, but I do know why they are called ‘Relics’ so I’m sure that this <Almighty Stone> is definitely not a Relic.

‘The president told me that the Almighty Stone was stolen.’

And she said that the stone was a relic. However, this almighty stone that I actually saw is not a Relic. This is just a stone that holds inexorable magical power.

At that moment, I had no choice but to assume the worst case scenario and at the same time an eerie sensation ran down my spine. The Silent Forest does live up to its name, and countless spirits and thoughts wander around and cry.

Occasionally, mutated beasts, a.k.a magical beasts, also wander around but now all sounds were cut off.

‘The surroundings have become quiet.’

I looked up at the sky which was obscured by the clouds and something was floating up there. It was far away, but I saw it clearly as it slowly absorbed power.

“……!”

I hurriedly generated magic. At the same time, I summoned the magical beast “Ater Nocturnus” and quickly wrapped it around my body.

A shadow like a black cloth wrapped around me like a mummy. My body, covered in shadows, dug into the ground and at the same time a star fell from the sky.

* * *

“Qaaaang—!!!”

A white, dazzling explosion occurred in the center of the Silent Forest. The pure white light that burned the darkness spread in the form of a huge dome and engulfed a corner of the forest. A huge storm raged, and shards of branches and stones splattered in all directions.

The white dome, which spread as if to swallow up the entire silent forest, eventually stopped its explosive expansion and gradually disappeared.

Where the light disappeared, nothing remained. The trees that made up the Silent Forest, the spirits that floated in the air and the demonic spirits that were eroded by the energy of the forest withdrew in fear and awe of a being.

“End this.”

The clouds lifted and the moonlight fell from the sky, her white hair shone softly in the moonlight, it was President Elisa Willow.

She descended from the sky and landed at the center of the ruins she had created. In the place where everything disappeared, only one thing remained.

“I recovered the fake Almighty Stone.”

The president mumbled and looked around her. At the same time, she lightly sprinkled her magic power, but nothing was discovered.

The cockroaches that hid in Theon were all finished with a single blow and that was all thanks to the ‘bait’ called the Almighty Stone.

‘I wanted something bigger, but I can only settle with this.’

The president lightly shook her head from side to side. She didn’t want to stay here long because of the high-level magic she used a while ago. The surroundings are quiet for now, but the Silent Forest will again fill the space.

‘I wanted to completely erase this forest.’

No matter how high-level magic she uses, she won’t be able to wipe out the forest alone. However, if someone with poor skills enters the Silent Forest they will go crazy thanks to the forest’s magic.

It’s annoying, but she had no choice but to leave it alone.

‘I’ll just tell the others that I’ve handled it properly.’

Elisa deliberately asked Rudger Chelici for help in handling this matter in secret because he seemed capable, but her doubts of him had not yet been cleared. She thought that maybe Rudger might have been here.

‘Indeed, what would have happened?’

The magic she used was not something that even a wizard of the same rank could easily stop. Moreover, since it was an attack that was close to a surprise, it was even more difficult to avoid it. If Rudger had been here, he would have died too.

‘I hope he didn’t.’

She hoped that a man of that caliber was not a traitor. Elisa thought so, grabbed the bait and flew back into the sky.

* * *

‘Honestly, I’m surprised.’

Seeing the president leaving Rudger wiped the cold sweat running down his forehead.

‘The president must have stepped in. If I had been a little late to react, it would have been a disaster.’

The magic the president used was an explosion of light as if a meteorite had been dropped.

‘Is that the magic possessed by a 6th rank wizard?’

Rudger couldn’t believe he had been there just a moment before. It was thanks to the “Ater Nocturnus” that he managed to escape.

‘It’s good that I set the coordinates in advance.’

Space movement magic does not exist in this world. No, it would be correct to say that magic does exist, but is not known “externally”. That is why the students were surprised by the coordinate designation method that Rudger showed in the middle of his lecture.

Often in fantasy novels that existed in his previous life, magic such as ‘blink’ and ‘teleport’ exists. There is no such magic in this world but Rudger used it thanks to “Ater Nocturnus”.

Unlike most of the summoned beasts that take the form of a pet, “Ater Nocturnus” is Rudger’s clothing and it stays around his body. If he moves “Ater Nocturnus” using the coordinate designation technique, Rudger himself will also move with it.

‘I’m dizzy.’

With trembling hands, Rudger took a pill from his inner pocket and poured it into his mouth. The tremors in his body subsided as the pure magical power was supplied to his brain.

The downside of this magic is that the number of times it can be used is extremely limited. In addition to the extreme consumption of magical power, the body, attracted by magic, jumps over space, and suffers from extreme motion sickness and pain.

Even a knight who has trained his body will be stunned but thanks to the medium of shadows, the after-effects are minimal, and if it had been other attribute magic, he would have been in a way worse condition.

‘Besides that, the president stepped in. I didn’t know things would go this far.’

Rudger suddenly remembered that the President had asked him for help.

‘Is she testing me?’

He thought about it, and then shook his head. If so, there is no need to use such a cumbersome method. On the surface, she said that she would leave it to other teachers, and that he himself was meant to handle this matter in secret.

The only thing Rudger overlooked was that he made contact with his enemies too quickly, way more quickly than the President had thought.

President Elisa was supposed to let the Rudger and others know after she took action. She must not have thought that Rudger would find the enemies before her, even in the Silent Forest.

‘Besides, even that Almighty Stone was nothing more than a fake. After all, it’s because she’s the leader of Theon. I have to be vigilant.’

Rudger shuddered. The President once again imprinted in his mind that she was an extraordinary human being.

‘I must be more careful not to get caught.’

Either the president finds out that he’s a fake, or the Black Dawn finds out but it didn’t seem like a good result would ever come out if either one of them caught him.

In particular, when I saw the magic that the president used a little while ago, I realized clearly that I must be very careful.

‘The only benefit I could get was the Almighty Stone, but even that was a fake.’

In a way, it was just a small loss but Rudger did not regret it.

‘Traces have been left behind.’

The Almighty Stone that Demires stole is not a real Relic, but a fake made by the president carefully. However, that alone could not assert that the Almighty Stone did not exist. When the President summoned him about the stone Rudger didn’t find it strange at all.

‘There is no way Demires and the other members of the Black Dawn could have played with fakes like that. There must be something that genuinely attracted them.’

That means that the real thing is still there.

‘Since I left my mark on the fake, the president will most likely go to check the real thing. I just need to remember the traces that were engraved on the fake.’

Right before the President attacked Rudger left his mark on the false stone and because the fake emitted so much magical power she didn’t even notice it.

‘I’ll act at the right time.’

The moment I was thinking about getting out of the Silent Forest the sound of stepping on branches echoed from behind me.

“Teacher?”

“…….”

Rudger looked back slowly and Flora Lumos stood there, staring at him with trembling eyes.

‘Have you seen it?’

Rudger never questioned why Flora was here. For now, only the fact that she met him in the Silent Forest is important.

Rudger clenched his fists out of her sight. He thought about destroying the evidence right away, but thinking that he would be going too far, Rudger opened his mouth.

“Flora Lumos, why are you here now?”

“Yes Yes? Oh no. That’s…….”

Flora Lumos could not be quick to answer why she had come to the Silent Forest.

‘How can I tell you that I just followed the nice smell that I smelled for the first time?’

And Rudger Chelici was at the end of that smell. If she said that wouldn’t she look like a pervert?

“You won’t answer?”

“That, that……Why is the teacher here?”

In the end, all Flora could say was this.

Rudger let out a small sigh at her bewildered reaction. She didn’t take it seriously, so that meant she hadn’t seen the scene in which he wore “Ater Nocturnus”. Even so, the entrance must have been guarded by people outside, so she must’ve come in by accident.

“Flora Lumos, this forest is dangerous for a student like you. Go back.”

“……I’m not that weak, am I?”

The Silent Forest is a dangerous place, especially for students. However, a student like Flora was strong enough to survive the Silent Forest.

She has a peculiar constitution called ‘Magic Synesthesia’, so if she felt the magic of the forest was dangerous, she could avoid it and escape.

Since she came all the way here Flora wanted to ask about the mysterious magic but as she was about to speak she saw Rudger holding a pillbox in one hand.

“Teacher, what is that?”

“……It is nothing.”

Rudger said so and put the pillbox in his hand into his pocket.

Flora stared at Rudger with a suspicious look. She came into the forest chasing the smell, and out of nowhere a great light flashed in the distance and then at the end of the smell was Rudger.

“I…….”

“Flora, where the hell are you? Whoa!”

At that moment, a young voice resounded, it was the cry of Cheryl Wagner, who had followed her from afar.

Flora and Rudger both shut their mouths at the same time.

“Flora! I’m scared! Where the hell did you go?!”

“……Haaa.”

Rudger sighed and moved on.

“Follow me. I will help you get out of this forest safely with your lost friend.”

“…….”

Flora also gave up on asking questions in this disturbing situation, so she quietly followed Rudger’s.

Rudger, who lightly rescued Cheryl, came out of the forest with the two of them. At the same time, the guards who were exploring the outside of the forest found the three people and approached them and asked what they were doing.

“The students went into the forest and got lost so I went to get them.”

Rudger replied that it was no big deal.

The pursuit corps that had been stationed near the forest were disbanded at the command of the president.

Cheryl cried, ‘I’m sorry~’ one after another, but Flora didn’t listen.

‘Why was Mr. Rudger in the woods?’

And what kind of magic was he using?

Flora looked at Rudger’s back and couldn’t shake her skeptical thoughts.