Chapter 54
“Would you go out with me?”
A clear voice rang through the once-bustling classroom.
The students who had been chatting all fell silent.
Had they been shocked?
Regardless, I was still clasping both of Jaber’s hands tightly.
““······.””
Silence drifted by in a daze.
No one dared to speak first.
All I could feel was everyone’s gaze focusing on me, Jaber, and our interlaced hands...
Regardless, I quietly took in the red-haired woman’s body heat.
“Hehe.”
“······.”
I smiled faintly and gazed at Jaber.
The woman showed no particular reaction.
As always, only an inorganic light shimmered in her green eyes.
She stood there silently, looking up at me, as though merely saying she was listening.
‘Still... I guess she was surprised.’
I could see it.
Faintly, but unmistakably, her pupils were trembling.
‘Her emotions are faint, not nonexistent.’
Jaber’s rare flustered expression.
Having recognized it, I smiled.
Of course, to the students who didn’t know her, it probably looked as though Jaber was glaring coldly.
A tense atmosphere hung in the classroom, and the students were sweating nervously.
“Ahem.”
“······.”
I enjoyed that gap for a brief moment.
An uncanny silence continued.
Surprisingly, the first to speak was Alice, who had been frozen like a stone.
“Um, Lord Victor...?”
“Miss Alice? What is it?”
“What, exactly, was that just now...? You suddenly asked Professor Jaber to, to go out with you...?”
“Ah, I suppose I mentioned a private matter rather too publicly. I’m sorry if it bothered you.”
“No, th-that’s not what I meant...”
The girl’s eyes wavered anxiously.
“When you say ‘go out with’...”
“I suppose I left out too much. Professor Jaber promised me one thing the other day. She said she would grant me anything I asked for.”
“O-oh, I see... So that’s what it was.”
Alice nodded as though she finally understood.
She fidgeted with her fingers, then asked with a slightly relieved look,
“Then... ‘go out with’ was just wordplay, right?”
“Wordplay?”
“I-I mean... not going out as a man and woman, but interacting as a student and teacher... Something like that, perhaps. Lord Victor, you do like similar jokes, after all. You play pranks often, too...”
Her voice gradually trailed off, as though she was growing less confident.
Perhaps from embarrassment, the girl’s face had turned bright red.
Her tightly clenched sleeve lent her an air of youthful innocence.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her innocent reaction.
“Who knows?”
I let the words drift out nonchalantly.
Then I tilted my head and looked at Jaber, who remained expressionless.
“It might be faster to ask the person involved.”
“Huh? Professor Jaber...?”
A request to date.
Not a teacher-student relationship, but one between a man and a woman...
“Would that be unacceptable, in that sense?”
“······.”
Alice turned pale on the spot.
And Jaber still said nothing.
I cocked my head as though urging her to answer.
“Hm?”
““······.””
And then.
The answer that came before long was highly satisfactory.
“No.”
Her voice was devoid of emotion.
The cold-looking woman spoke without a trace of hesitation.
Her crisp, precise enunciation rang throughout the classroom.
“I will. If that is your request.”
The students who had been watching with even their breaths held.
Immediately afterward, the atmosphere in the classroom was turned upside down once more.
***
Several hours later.
After the final lecture ended, I visited Professor Jaber’s office.
“Please have a seat for a moment.”
The woman greeted me while wearing glasses, apparently in the middle of paperwork.
Jaber’s office was so spotless it was almost suffocating.
A desk without a speck of dust, books arranged in perfect rows and columns, even tiles without a single pattern.
It was literally colorless. For a woman’s room, it possessed no splendor or decoration whatsoever.
I thought it was quintessentially her.
“Tea.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Two cups of tea were placed on the table in front of the sofa for guests.
Jaber had taken off her glasses in the meantime.
Her uniform was perfectly neat.
Even in her private space, there wasn’t a single opening in her composure.
The woman calmly sat down on the sofa across from me.
“It has a lovely aroma.”
“It is tea made by lightly steeping Snowfrost Herb. I’m glad it suits your taste.”
Snowfrost Herb.
One of the most commonly consumed tea leaves.
It was bitter without tasting cheap, so she seemed to be using fairly expensive leaves.
The surface of the tea rippled under my fingertips. I tilted the cup several times, letting the time pass.
“So.”
Only after about five minutes did the red-haired woman speak.
“I’d like to hear precisely what you meant by that request earlier.”
“Hm?”
“The request that I go out with you. Surely you aren’t going to say you were serious. If you intend to waste my time with such a joke, you may leave. I am not the sort of person who enjoys wordplay.”
“Well now... When did you figure me out?”
“I knew from the beginning. I didn’t think Student Victor would throw away my promise like that.”
“What do you mean, ‘like that’?”
The woman showed not the slightest wavering at my glib question.
“Receiving a professor’s protection within Grandia carries considerable weight. Each professor possesses extensive authority, and every one of them is an ability user counted among the finest on the continent. Why else would cadets go to such lengths to secure positions as their assistants?”
“Indeed. I hear that being a teaching assistant at Grandia Academy—especially a direct assistant who works closely with a professor—is fiercely competitive. Combining current students and graduates, they say it’s harder than getting through the eye of a needle, don’t they?”
“You know about it. It is embarrassing to say this myself, but even among those professors, I am effectively second-in-command. I merely thought that, given the chance to obtain something from someone like that, you would not throw it away on a silly joke. Especially not you, Student Victor.”
“What kind of person do you take me for?”
“A thorough one. Thorough enough to realize in advance that I was watching you and use that fact to apprehend the mole. And thorough enough to devise such a plan in only a few hours. You pretend to be swayed by emotion and act playful, yet at the crucial moments, you display movements of uncanny precision.”
“Well, that’s quite a burden, receiving such high praise.”
“I would like to hear your answer.”
Clink—
Jaber quietly set down her teacup.
The movement looked mechanical, like that of a lifeless machine.
“The request. You do intend to make it properly, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“I would like to hear what it is. You must have had something in mind to make such a joke.”
“Of course.”
I nodded at the sharp observation.
I tapped the edge of my mask and spoke.
“A direct assistant.”
“······.”
“I want to become Professor Jaber’s direct assistant.”
Jaber narrowed her eyes.
“You may or may not know this, but since I began teaching, I have never taken on a direct assistant. Nor did I intend to take one in the future.”
“I know.”
“You are confident. Do you think I will accept your proposal?”
“Yes. If it is you, Professor Jaber, I am certain you will.”
“I would like to hear your reason.”
“Because...”
I smiled.
The corners of the mask’s mouth seemed to twist, if only slightly.
“You still suspect me, don’t you, Professor?”
“······.”
Jaber was rigid and stubborn.
There was no way she would consider me cleared simply because I had shaken off the suspicion of being a mole.
After all, she suspected me not of being a mere mole, but of being the culprit behind the unauthorized conquest of the 70th floor of Purgatory.
‘Jaber isn’t the sort to grow suspicious easily.’
But once she suspects someone, she suspects them to the very end.
That was her philosophy.
Her own rule, upheld since long ago.
From the moment I began to be suspected, I never thought I could easily slip free.
‘If I can’t slip free... then I’ll turn the situation to my advantage.’
So I had thrown out a proposal tempting enough to hook Jaber.
The woman’s gaze remained cold and sunken.
“I suppose I made it rather obvious.”
“I’m fairly perceptive.”
I shrugged nonchalantly.
“What do you say? If you take me on as your direct assistant, I’ll spend much more time by your side. It will give you a chance to observe me more closely and thoroughly. In other words, you’ll have more ways to confirm your suspicions. I’ll also humbly accept your surveillance and interrogations while I remain your direct assistant. Until you’re satisfied, Professor.”
“······.”
“In exchange, I get to enjoy the authority of a direct assistant. I’ll be able to do much more within the academy, and with you backing me, people will stop looking down on me. Of course, I intend to perform every duty required of a direct assistant perfectly and without complaint, so you needn’t worry. It’s a win-win proposal.”
“······.”
“What do you think?”
It was an exceedingly arrogant attitude and proposal, but Jaber did not grow angry.
She merely seemed lost in thought, weighing its rationality.
After a little while, the woman finally nodded.
“I accept.”
A brief answer.
A single sentence, with no excuses or explanations.
This was why talking to Jaber was so easy.
As long as one stayed within the bounds of her rules and rationality, she was refreshingly straightforward.
It even felt like dealing with a robot programmed with a few rules rather than a human being with emotions.
Jaber did have emotions, but compared to the other elements that made her who she was, they were extremely slight.
‘Well, she is the dean’s foster daughter...’
I accepted that explanation on my own.
“Excellent.”
I smiled in satisfaction.
Regardless, Jaber lifted her teacup once more.
“However, I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
“You must report to me on every activity in which you use the authority of a direct assistant. Whether you act first and report afterward, or report first and act afterward. If you fail to observe this condition, this proposal will be considered void, regardless of the reason.”
“That isn’t a particularly difficult condition. It doesn’t sound as though you intend to restrict my activities, either.”
“Correct. In addition, I will take care not to excessively intrude upon Student Victor’s life. If you want some private time, or if I ask something you find too burdensome to answer, do not force yourself to respond to my summons or questions; refuse them. I will not hold it against you in any way regarding those matters.”
“Oh? You hardly need to accommodate me to that extent...”
“I am not accommodating you in particular. I am merely observing the boundaries one must observe with a student.”
“Even while suspecting me of being a dangerous person, you intend to protect my rights as a student... How fascinating.”
“Your impressions are noted.”
This was part of Jaber’s appeal.
She was strict about the boundaries she set herself.
She upheld them no matter what and never made excuses for herself.
‘In the future, she would become shackled by those rules and ultimately commit suicide in a tragedy...’
That was something I could resolve.
From the moment I decided to become her direct assistant, I had effectively resolved to bring her over to my side.
I was good at taking care of my people, too.
“I’ll process and send the necessary documents as soon as possible.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Would you like me to make the announcement quickly? If you wish, I can announce right away that Student Victor has become my assistant.”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’d actually prefer it if the announcement were delayed a little.”
“May I ask why?”
“Hehe... There’s someone I’d like to lightly put in her place before the news spreads.”
“That student, I presume. The Class B top student. Kaitlyn, was it?”
“That’s right. You remember her.”
“I have memorized every student’s name.”
“That’s even more amazing. You’ve memorized the names of the entire student body.”
The woman gave my amazement a lackluster response.
Jaber rubbed her empty teacup and asked,
“It seems you intend to clash with the Class B top student. Are you confident you can win?”
“I’d like to ask you the opposite. Do you think I’ll lose, Professor?”
“Who knows?”
She let the answer drift away.
Perhaps it was a matter of no concern to Jaber.
“Well... I suppose we’re more or less finished here. May I get up and leave?”
“One last thing. I have one more question.”
“Hm? What is it?”
An unreadable look.
Jaber was always so inorganic that her expression was difficult to read.
Her scarred hand tapped the sofa cushion.
“So... why did you really do that? Ask me to go out with you in the classroom.”
“What?”
“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure out your intention in that one matter.”
“Huh.”
What?
She was asking about something so obvious.
“Because it’s fun?”
“······.”
I looked at the woman as though it were self-evident.
At my puzzled reaction, Jaber furrowed her brow.
Even with her faint emotions, I could tell that was the expression of someone utterly dumbfounded.
“I see. Confirmed.”
Jaber gestured as if telling me to leave.
I left the office with a broad grin.
‘Yes! Free protection, what a sweet deal.’
Come at me, all of you.
I’ve got the chief investigator herself at my back.
‘At this rate... I could slap some low-ranking professor a few times and get away with only a little disciplinary action.’
Of course, I had no intention of actually doing that.
Anyway, long live Jaber.
Jaber is the best.
Yaaahoo!
The best vicious, emotionless, cool-type old maid ever!
‘This is great. Great.’
A smile stayed on my lips for quite some time.
***
The next day.
Since there were no lectures, I was lazing around in the dormitory.
“Agh, I’ve been tricked again!”
“I’d say this much is a breeze.”
I had bought something like a board game at the academy store last time, and I had set it up because I thought it would be fun to play with Her Highness the princess.
Perhaps because it incorporated magic engineering, the game mechanics were novel, and it was really fun.
“Hehe, must you fall for such a simple trick?”
“W-wait! That was downright underhanded!”
“That too is a matter of skill.”
“I refuse to accept it! We’re playing again!”
“Please accept the result with dignity.”
A bustling everyday life.
Everyday life spent with Her Highness the princess was enjoyable.
Just as the game was in full swing.
Knock knock—.
Someone knocked on the dormitory door.
‘Who could it be...?’
I tilted my head.
I stared toward the entrance with a question mark floating above my head.
After all, there was no one who would come all the way to my room.
‘I hadn’t received any notice, and the room was well soundproofed, so it couldn’t be someone complaining about noise from upstairs or downstairs...’
I ambled over and opened the door.
There stood a pair of golden and black heads of hair waiting outside.
“······Oh. Miss Lanne? Miss Alice?”
Lanne. Alice.
The two of them had come all the way to my dormitory.
They looked worried, as though something had happened.
“What brings you to such a humble place...”
“Sir Victor, is it true?”
“L-Lord Victor...”
“Huh?”
Lanne stuck her head in first.
Alice timidly clung to Lanne’s sleeve beside her.
I could only scratch my head at their incomprehensible question.
“Um, what are you talking about...?”
“I heard you started going out with Chief Investigator Jaber!”
“Wha.”
“Is it true? Please tell us!”
“Lord Victor, really...”
The two of them looked at me with unsettlingly intense gazes.
I couldn’t help but panic.
‘What?’
What was this?
Why were these two acting like this?
notes
Corrected awkward phrasing and the dormitory typo, and changed “emotionless cool-type spinster” to a more natural rendering of the original insult. No gender was guessed where the source context was ambiguous; named characters and roles were retained.