Chapter 58: Chapter 58

Kelthas Redfield.

The only professor in the Autonomous Department, the one who was forcibly deprived of his leisurely life due to Dane’s admission.

He was also the professor who tried to send Dane to another department but ended up not being able to do so due to his unexpected swordsmanship skills.

‘Damn. I said I’d pass him, but what do I do? Is there any way to send him to a different department?’

Of course, Professor Kelthas still wanted to use any means necessary to live a leisurely life.

The simplest thing would be for Dane to decide on a department around his second or third year and leave the Autonomous Department, but the problem was that it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.

So, when Dane came to see Professor Kelthas, he pretended to be annoyed.

“Yeah, is something wrong?”

A professor was supposed to have some dignity. No matter how much he played around, he must maintain his dignity in front of his students.

Moreover, wasn’t he a former commander of the imperial knights? Even if he was the only one in the Autonomous Department, shouldn’t he save face?

It wasn’t right to spoil him and treat him kindly, like a child. He was already a thorn in his side.

“I’m very busy, so just get to the point.”

Dane began to speak more hesitantly than he had expected.

“Yes, Professor. Actually, I have a question about swordsmanship.”

“Swordsmanship?”

Professor Kelthas narrowed his eyes.

“That’s strange. You grazed my clothes twice and you still have something to ask?”

“That’s what made me even more curious. What can I do to be as at ease as the professor?”

Professor Kelthas was momentarily surprised and smiled strangely inwardly.

‘I suppose he’s not that annoying.’

It seemed that Count Sogres really made sure to educate him well. Well, from what he’d seen so far, he didn’t seem like a man with a bad personality. Asking questions about swordsmanship was one of the things these talented brats had trouble doing. They usually just lived off their own egos.

So, Professor Kelthas thought for a moment and then nodded willingly, saying, “Hmm… Alright. Then I’ll give you some time.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“What are you curious about?”

Dane began to ask questions like a storm, as if he had been waiting for him to agree.

“I felt this the last time I was sparring with the professor. When I turned to the right, my feet felt a bit twisted. Should I say that it felt like my left foot should step forward, but my right foot instinctively stepped forward instead? And the feeling of turning around in an instant, I couldn’t…”

Professor Kelthas listened to the questions silently and tried to organize his answers. The questions made him happy even if he tried to pretend not to know. How long had it been since he’d received such detailed and passionate questions?

‘When I was the knight commander, they were afraid to even ask me questions.’

Professor Kelthas wasn’t a very kind person during his time as the knight commander. It was already a place with strict rules, and with the leader’s personality being like that, who would ask questions?

That was probably why the sight of a ‘disciple’ asking questions seemed so cute.

“…I couldn’t sleep last night because of these worries.”

“Oho, you even lost sleep over it?”

He even said that he couldn’t sleep because of his worries.

Professor Kelthas thought for a moment. Yes, he was a nuisance, but he guessed it wouldn’t be right to just reject him.

‘It might be better to focus on swordsmanship and train him well before sending him to the Swordsmanship Department.’

Since it had come to this, it might not be a bad idea to teach him properly.

“Alright. If that’s your problem, I can help you solve it. Get up and follow me to the training ground.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Dane, who followed Professor Kelthas, arrived at the training ground where he had his evaluation test and picked up his practice sword as before.

“Watch what I do.”

A hexa-class knight. The training grounds shook slightly as Professor Kelthas raised his magic power.

Just by raising his magic power, it was possible to affect the surrounding environment. Dane’s eyes focused.

Whooooong!

The trembling of magic power could be felt even when he was only swinging a practice sword. Dane watched Professor Kelthas’ movements with admiration in his heart.

“Would you like to try?”

“Yes.”

Dane was able to mimic Professor Kelthas’s movements almost perfectly with just a few tries.

“Ha!”

It was absurd from Professor Kelthas’ perspective. How did it make sense that he could copy his moves just because he saw them once?

Professor Kelthas swung his sword around with the intention of telling him to try it out. Since he couldn’t possibly succeed, he was going to let Dane try until he could do it.

But how many times did he try?

The same thing kept happening.

He showed Dane the answers to all his questions through swordsmanship, and Dane simply got them all right.

‘Did he already know the answer?’

It was to the point that such absurd thoughts came to mind.

‘He’s a genius. A genius. He’s clearly a genius.’

Even roughly guessing, the students who were called ‘geniuses’ in the Swordsmanship Department wouldn’t even be able to stand in front of Dane.

He even felt strangely seasoned, as if he were a warrior who had been in combat for quite some time.

Of course, a fourteen-year-old would never have that experience.

“…I didn’t think you would understand so quickly.”

“It was all thanks to the professor’s excellent demonstration.”

“Hehe.”

Even though he pretended otherwise, Professor Kelthas smiled pleasantly inside. He was even humble. He was starting to like Dane a little.

“Alright, what else are you curious about?”

“Nothing for now. If it’s okay with you, Professor, would it be okay if I came to you later if I have any questions? Of course, I’ll make an appointment in advance. I came to you so suddenly today…”

Professor Kelthas unconsciously waved his hand at the apology.

“No. It could happen. The original duty of a student is to constantly be curious. Good job. Hehehe.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Professor.”

What a relief, he was even polite.

‘Hmm. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep teaching him?’

While his mind was wavering from one side to the other, Professor Kelthas felt better and asked, ‘like a professor’, without realizing it, “So, how is your academy life? I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to properly look after you.”

“No, Professor. But thanks to your consideration, I think I will be able to enjoy my life at the academy in the future.”

“Haha, what did I do?”

Professor Kelthas finally smiled happily.

Then Dane continued naturally, “I think it will be fun in the future, too. I’m thinking of creating a club.”

“Oh, clubs are great. You made it yourself? What kind of club is it?”

“It’s a club where we practice swordsmanship and explore the academy and other places.”

“That’s good.”

“But there’s a bit of a problem. Originally we just had to register, but now it’s changed to a permit system, so they say I need a recommendation from a professor.”

“Oh, really?”

Professor Kelthas asked just in case, “So what happened?”

“I’m thinking of looking for a professor to help recommend my club.”

Professor Kelthas was momentarily flustered.

‘Another professor?’

What was he talking about now? There was a perfectly good professor right in front of him!

“If you’re looking for a professor, isn’t there me?”

“Huh? Oh, you said you were very busy, so I was worried that I would be a bother…”

“Huh. What are you talking about? No matter how busy I am, this is still something I can do. What should I do?”

In response to Professor Kelthas’s words, Dane explained the process.

“Hmm. Alright. Then I just need to go to the student affairs office and say I will recommend your club.”

“Yes, that’s right. But if it’s too much trouble, you can write a separate letter of recommendation…”

“Alright. My only student is starting a club. Even if it’s a hassle, how could I just give you a letter and take care of it? Don’t worry, just go back.”

“Yes, Professor. Thank you.”

Dane bowed his head deeply.

In the shadows of his hair, Dane…

…was smiling in satisfaction.

“…you really did it?”

“That’s right. Dane is a student, too…”

When I returned and told them that I had found a professor to recommend our club, Leila and Ernest looked surprised.

“Why are you like this? I also belong to a department.”

“That’s true. I never even thought about it since you were the only one…”

“That’s right. I heard that the professor of the Autonomous Department doesn’t show up to faculty meetings and it’s hard to see him.”

That was right.

“But anyway, how did you get it? Did you know the professor before entering the academy?”

“We’re freshmen, so it’s hard to even talk to our professors!”

He was easy to talk to, though?

Anyway, by pretending to inquire about swordsmanship, I succeeded in winning the professor’s favor and getting him to promise to give a recommendation. I was a freshman and could see that he already considered me a nuisance, so if I had gone and just asked, it wouldn’t have worked.

I even got advice on swordsmanship. Wasn’t this really the best of both worlds?

Anyway, there was nothing good about making an enemy of the man since he was my professor, even if it was in name only.

“So, are we really starting a club now?”

“I don’t quite believe it. I thought I would just join a suitable club.”

I didn’t even think we could do it either. If only it weren’t for those pests from the Physical Beauty Club.

Well, this might be better. After all, this meant that we could do whatever we wanted.

“So, if we make a club, what do we do first? Swordsmanship training? Or treasure hunting?”

“Of course it should be ruin exploration! There’s a place that’s only a three-day walk from the Academy…”

I guess I’d have to decide on a club concept, too. Of course, there was something more important than that.

“What should we name our club?”

The two who were about to bicker turned to me at my question.

“Name?”

“If it’s a name…”

While the two of them were thinking about a name, I felt squirming under my clothes.

It was Karnas. He was probably stretching while sleeping.

By the way, he slept really well. I put him in my bag for a moment when I met Professor Kelthas earlier, but he didn’t cry when I left him, and he was still sleeping soundly when I put him back in my clothes.

Was it because he was a baby? Whether humans or animals, they tended to sleep a lot when they were young.

“Kikreuk…?”

Karnas seemed to wake up slightly when he felt my touch.

“Dane, what should we name the club?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yeah. Anything.”

“But what are you looking at?”

“There’s something on my chest.”

I was just talking and thinking about a name.

What would be good? It wasn’t that important, but it was a bit weird to just go with anything.

That was when Karnas popped his head out from my clothes.

Both of their eyes widened.

“Hey, Dane. Wh-what is that?”

“What! Suddenly! D-Dane. What is he?”

The two of them looked at Karnas with mouths wide open after he popped his head out of my arms.

I answered simply.

“A summons.”

“S-summons? When did you summon it?”

“So cute…”

Nodding at the fact Karnas was a summons only lasted for a while.

“This is the little one I’m raising.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re raising it…?”

Leila seemed to know a bit as she asked me.

“What do you mean by raising a summons… No way!”

I nodded and said, “What you’re thinking should be correct.”

“Really… truly… a Familiar?”

“Yeah.”

“…Wow.”

Leila was speechless, and Ernest seemed to be still searching for his words.

“That, uh, f-familiar?”

It seemed like it was a big shock.

“Kikreuk?”

In the midst of all this, Karnas was tilting his head towards the two who were looking at him in surprise. He looked so cute that I scratched the crown of his head with a finger.

“Found him! He’s over there!”

“Dane Sogres! I finally found you! Hahahahaha!”

Ah.

It was them again.

Weren’t they tired?

“Could it be that they…”

Leila, who had seen the pests from the Physical Beauty Club with me, narrowed her eyes and looked astonished.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Let’s go first.”

“Huh? Where?”

“To the student affairs office. To register our club.”

The moment I registered and created the club, they wouldn’t be able to bother me anymore.

We started running.

“Surround them!”

“Go get him!”

In the midst of all this, I thought about the reaction Karnas had just shown. He was a perceptive little thing, so he didn’t suddenly show up like this.

Of course, it hadn’t been that long since we met, but…

Did that mean…

Could he sense danger?