Academy's Undercover Professor

C82: The First Test (1)

The day of the first test was near. Rudger finished reviewing the final exam questions in his office. Across from him, his assistant, Sedina, was sitting and diligently organizing all the papers.

“Sedina.”

“Yes! Fir, no, Mr. Rudger!”

“Did anything happen recently?”

Rudger asked Sedina, keeping his eye on the test questions. Seeing his concentrating look, Sedina looked at the scene in a blank slate without realizing it, and then she came to her senses and answered.

“Well, there really wasn’t anything.”

“Well, what are the others in the organization doing?”

“Everyone is taking care of themselves. All of them are cautious in their actions, probably because the Security Bureau recently visited Theon.”

“I see.”

Rudger shook his head. He was quite relieved that the Black Dawn Society was not active at the moment and remained still.

He doesn’t know if they’ll do anything during the first test. That would have been quite embarrassing.

‘She’s helpful at times like this.’

Trina Ryanhowl was a troublesome opponent in many ways when he met the enemy, but now it is different. Thanks to her visit to Theon to investigate the Leathervelk case, the members of the Black Dawn Society had to resign themselves.

Being the shield that protects the Empire and the tycoon of the Security Bureau, she is considered the most dangerous existence for the Black Dawn. Considering her achievements so far, it is natural for them to lay low.

How many secret organizations have been smashed by Trina’s hands, and how many criminals have died in her hands? If Trina felt anything suspicious and started an investigation, there was a high possibility that the power of the Black Dawn Society would be greatly reduced.

“Of course, since this is an unprecedented secret organization, there are many powerful members hidden.”

If the two fought, no matter which side lost, Rudger would not be disappointed.

“Perhaps that’s why the members of the organization are careful and meet each other outside of Theon.”

“Is there a meeting?”

“Yeah, that’s what I think.”

“Sedina, didn’t you go to such a meeting?”

“Yes? Yes. I just…….”

Seeing Sedina getting pale, Rudger wanted to ask something. In the first place, she is also a member of the Black Dawn, so she should have been invited.

Still, Sedina would have been visibly depressed in the past, but this time, she didn’t think much of it. There was no one around her back then, but now there is Rudger.

Just as the two of them were about to end their conversation, Sedina opened her mouth as if she remembered something.

“Come to think of it, there was one unusual thing.”

“There was?”

“Yeah. Actually, it’s kind of weird to report to Mr. Rudger, but…….”

“Explain. I’ll judge after hearing it myself.”

“Oh, yes. Three days ago, three members of the organization were caught by police. They’re all only Third Orders though.”

Caught by the police? That was a little strange.

“Well, even if they were Third Orders, they wouldn’t have been so stupid as to be caught by the police.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Someone else got involved in the case. Who is it?”

“It’s said to be a student of Theon.”

“Student?”

Rudger took his eyes off the questions and stared at Sedina.

Embarrassed to receive that gaze from him, Sedina shrugged her shoulders even more and nodded her head.

“Yes. There are three students in total, two boys and one girl. I don’t know if you know, but they’re also students in your class.”

“Students in my class?”

Two men and one woman. Rudger could immediately recall the unusual combination.

“Aidan, Leo and Tracy Friad?”

“Yes, that’s right. I can’t believe you remembered right away. As expected, First…Teacher.”

“How did those kids caught the Third Orders in town……Right. It was because of that.”

Rudger remembered the existence of the ‘Bulletin Board’ in Theon. The exact name is <Application Board>. It is a legitimate means of making money that Theon students can use.

“Did the students carrying out the quest find any traces?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Of course, this quest is similar to what the mercenaries do.

Some difficult quests will be formally requested through the mercenary request office, but there are also miscellaneous quests that mercenaries do not take.

Theon tuition is expensive and although there is a scholarship system, it covers the pure educational expenses, but does not cover the cost of living expenses or other materials necessary for research and experiments.

It is said that if you enter a club, research costs will be paid steadily, but establishing a club is not easy.

‘After all, for students who are short of money, this is the only way to make quick money.’

Other than that, working part-time in Theon was also possible. Still, they are high-quality workers who can use magic, so wouldn’t that hurt their pride? And so the ‘Bulletin Board’ appeared.

‘It’s mostly used by low-income students who lack money.’

A noble family, or a wealthy merchant family, is never short of money in the first place. The rich students always get plenty of support, and they can get most of what they want.

Naturally, the main students who used this request board were the commoners or those who lacked money.

Very often, there are nobles who apply for entertainment. This <Application Board> is said to be available to anyone, but of course there are conditions.

There is also a difficulty or risk in the request, so the grade is important to receive the request. The higher the grade, the more difficult the request can be, but the lower grades could only take the easy requests.

Of course, even if the student grade is low, a temporary would be issued by Theon if they pass a test.

“Even so, they’re still in their first year.’

No matter how special Aidan magic is, he cannot receive high-level quests. Nevertheless, while carrying out his given mission, he made a contribution to catching as many as three Third Orders for the Black Dawn Society.

‘Is it a coincidence or destiny led him?’

Rudger paid attention to Aidan since the werewolf incident. He felt that there was something about him that attracted the incident.

Rudger thought of a board in his head, a large chess board made of black and white tiles. He checked his pieces one by one.

‘The pieces I can use.’

The members of the <U.N. Owen> organization were elites who were united and had extraordinary abilities. Their roles are rook, knight and bishop.

‘Aidan and his friends, on the other hand, are actually pawns.’

He was still an idealistic kid but the presence of pawns in chess was sometimes more threatening than anyone else. The pawn that survived could become a bishop or a knight.

‘It could be a queen.’

Pawns are nothing but junk, but they have infinite potential to become anything. Rudger rated Aidan quite highly. He possessed talents, but in particular, his mental strength and tenacity were way above other students.

Reality is different from chess, so even if he survived for a long time, he could not be promoted unconditionally but Aidan might go beyond queen and become a king.

“Mr. Rudger?”

“What’s wrong?”

Rudger returned to reality at Sedina’s voice.

“I asked about the treatment of those students.”

“Treatment?”

“Yes. No matter how coincidental it was, they have been instrumental in the capture of our members of the Black Dawn. Besides, that student named Aidan also uses bizarre magic to nullify magic.”

Sedina made a suggestion to cut out the sprouts of the student named Aidan in advance since he’s dangerous.

Rudger shook his head.

“All right, let it go.”

“Are you going to leave it as is?”

“Yes, it does not pose a threat to us right now. Moreover, if we mess with Theon students, we risk revealing our existence.”

But more importantly,

Those who were beaten by students and arrested are useless to our organization. It’s a good thing.”

“I see!”

Sedina admired Rudger’s words.

Perhaps because he was a First Order, he had a different perspective on the incident. He may seem like a terrible cold-blooded man, but Sedina, who was by Rudger’s side for a while, understood an executive’s point of view.

“Anything else, Sedina?”

“Yes, the members are just saying to take care of ourselves until the test is over.”

“Is that so? I see.”

Rudger said and rose from his seat. Sedina stood up as if she had been waiting and picked up a bunch of test papers.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

It was time for the first test.

* * *

There was tension in the 80 person lecture hall. It was natural to be nervous now that the first test was approaching, but this time the situation was a little different.

Opening the long-awaited relay for the next three days is the test of Rudger Chelici. Even as it is an open book test, it was no exaggeration to say that the final boss came out from the beginning for students.

“Argh! I studied, but I have no idea!”

“Wouldn’t you get the answer if you read the books?”

“How hard are you trying to make an open book test…….”

All the students who were seated had no choice but to tremble as they watched the flowing second hand. Some shook their legs and some bit their nails.

The moment when the endlessly rotating clock hand points to the right time the sound of the door opening thundered through the quiet classroom.  At least the students waiting for the exam had no choice but to feel that way.

It was Rudger who opened the door and came in. Unlike usual coats, this time he wore a simple style with a gray vest and suit pants on top of a white dress shirt but his sharp gaze was still there, and his mood never softened.

“As everyone knows, today is the first test.”

A small sized assistant who was standing next to Rudger whined and placed the test paper on the platform.

“The total duration of the exam is 3 hours. As previously announced, it is an open book test. We’ll start in five minutes, so if you haven’t been to the bathroom yet, go now because once the test starts, no one can leave until the answer sheet is submitted.”

It was to prepare for any possible negation. In fact, there are many cases like this every year.

“If you study hard, you can do well on the test. There’s also a partial score, so you don’t have to give out a blank paper because it’s difficult.”

And the important warning was this.

“I’ll warn you of one thing. If you’re caught cheating on my test…”

Rudger’s voice, which was usually cold, fell even heavier.

“Then I promise you I’ll make sure you pay the price.”

“…….”

The whole classroom was frozen by Rudger’s warning.

The students didn’t even dream of cheating since they were afraid of Rudger but hearing the warning it became clear.

Don’t ever cheat.

“Of course, I will be the supervisor of this test.”

If he was the supervisor, they would never dream of cheating even if they were confident in their magic skills. Some students had no choice but to close their eyes when even that last hope was trampled.

The wind blew on the platform as soon as Rudger finished speaking.

Under Rudger’s spell, the test papers were scattered in all directions and came down slowly one by one in front of the students.

“Wow.”

Passing test papers to 80 students with wind magic made them realize how ridiculous and great that Rudger is.

“It seems that no students want to go to the bathroom. Looks like everything it’s ready.”

Rudger took a golden watch out of his pocket.

“The test is starting now.”

This was the first wall Theon students had to face.