“Huh, impressive.”

Watching her, Luca sneered.

‘I like this version more.’

Unlike her emotionless appearance in the original, her open dislike was quite to his taste.

‘I wonder how far she’ll go.’

Whether she knew of Luca’s expectations or not, Herote continued speaking.

“Well then, let me tell you about the staff changes first. During break, some professors quit, so new professors have joined us. Detailed information will be given in writing, but right now, I’ll just do brief introductions.”

So saying, Herote glanced at a script-like sheet of paper.

“First, as expected, I, Herote Marcato, who was the head of the Magic Department, am now the headmaster. The new Magic Department head is the former vice-head…”

There had been quite a lot of personnel changes, especially in the Magic and Alchemy Departments.

Many had been influenced by Miros, so several teachers had been replaced.

“Oh, and the student supervisor will still be Professor Kirius Blavon.”

“……”

Kirius, with his head slightly lowered, looked gloomy.

The students rustled with whispers.

“I heard Professor Kirius acted strange during the festival. Is he all right?”

“They say he actually carried weapons around campus, intending to kill a student.”

“Who was involved? I think it was that….”

Some students seemed to be well informed about the incident and glanced at Luca as they murmured.

That’s when Herote spoke up.

“Of course, it was controversial, but the vice-master, Ethylen Basta, said if there are any issues, he’ll take responsibility himself and asked to give him just one more chance. Considering the circumstances, there are extenuating factors, and I also know that Professor Kirius has taught students with passion, so I decided to give him one more chance. If he causes trouble again, I’ll dismiss him without mercy, so don’t worry.”

The hall quieted again.

No one would object after such a statement from her.

“Now, moving on…”

Looking bored, Herote glanced at the sheet again, but suddenly showed a spark of interest.

She grinned at the students.

“The head of the Swordsmanship Department, Zeritz… ahem! Sir Zeritz, has resigned due to personal reasons.”

Rumble, rumble—

Her words caused an immediate commotion among students.

It was quite a shock, after all.

Zeritz, the Invincible Sword, had helped make the Hernan Academy the best on the continent.

“What? Zeritz, the Invincible Sword, quit? No way!”

“Even Heroine Eltima Cross left, and now Zeritz too? Is the academy going to be all right?”

“What about the S-class lectures? Is there any swordsman who can fill that position?”

Herote, watching the commotion, spoke indifferently.

“Silence.”

“……”

The hall fell instantly quiet.

Herote cleared her throat once, then continued.

“So, the S-class lectures and Swordsmanship Dean position will be taken over by another ‘Grandmaster’-level swordsman.”

“Another Grandmaster?”

The tension returned.

Grandmaster-level swordsmen were rare.

Especially in the Hernan Empire, where swordsmanship wasn’t particularly respected, there were only two Grandmasters.

One was Zeritz, the Invincible Sword.

The other was Slau Modriger, Captain of the Royal Knight Order that guarded the imperial castle.

“D-don’t tell me, Slau Modriger?”

“Idiot! Why would the captain of the Royal Knight Order come here? It has to be a Grandmaster from another country!”

“That’s surprising in itself. How did they even get a Grandmaster-level swordsman?”

Herote stifled a laugh at their uproar.

Then, using magic, she raised her voice.

“Let me introduce him. He used to be in charge of the SA-class class, but has recently been promoted to Grandmaster and will take the head position in the Swordsmanship Department—Professor Kryphi Mosto.”

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Kryphi Mosto, your new Swordsmanship Dean as of today.”

“…?!”

With Herote’s introduction, Kryphi stepped onto the podium.

But the students were too stunned to react.

It was shocking that a new Grandmaster-level swordsman had appeared in the Hernan Empire.

“Uh…”

Ottbo, flustered, glanced at Luca beside him.

Luca also wore a bewildered expression.

“Master…?”

Kryphi glanced over the students, and his gaze met Luca’s.

He smiled brightly and said,

“I look forward to working with you, students.”

Kryphi, who in the original handled E-class lectures, was now taking charge of S-class lectures and the Swordsmanship Department.

* * *

Kryphi had moved his office to the Swordsmanship Dean’s office.

Luca was standing before him.

“Well! There’s not much time left until the lectures start, but I have a sudden favor to ask.”

“……”

At Kryphi’s gentle words, Luca went silent for a moment, then spoke impassively.

“I heard you’d broken through the wall, but I never imagined you’d become Head of the Swordsmanship Department, master.”

“Haha, it’s nothing. It’s just that nobody else wanted the position, so it got dumped on me.”

Kryphi spoke modestly.

But unlike before, when he had only an ambiguous, interim position, now he held the chair that every academy instructor dreamed of.

It was a seat Kryphi himself had once dreamed of, too.

“What happened with Zeritz?”

“That old man went off in search of love.”

“Love…”

Kryphi shuddered as if the very word was appalling.

And Luca looked just as dumbfounded by the mention of ‘love’.

Both wore deeply troubled looks.

‘This is totally off script.’

Luca, in particular, was alarmed.

Kryphi’s strength or his new position didn’t bother him.

But Zeritz leaving the academy was another story entirely.

‘Why did this change?’

Destiny was not easily altered.

The fact that even after eradicating the academy’s darkness, Eltima gave up the headmaster’s seat was proof that fate tended not to change.

Yet now, Zeritz had abruptly left the academy.

‘No, you’re supposed to become the protagonist’s master. You can’t just leave.’

No matter the other changes, Zeritz leaving—when he was supposed to become the protagonist’s master—was incomprehensible.

‘Zeritz becoming the protagonist’s master was supposed to be immutable fate, never changed even in the original. Why did this happen now?’

In all the countless loops, the protagonist had always taken Zeritz as a master.

Zeritz’s character was pivotal to the story, and the protagonist always became his disciple to inherit the Divine Sword, meroal.

But Zeritz had left?

‘This is bad. I can’t just let this go.’

Luca’s mind grew complicated, realizing this would bring massive changes to many forthcoming events.

Then Kryphi spoke.

“Well, it was also about love, but more importantly, Eltima had to change her plans, and there was nothing to be done.”

“Change her plans…?”

Luca’s voice trailed off, and Kryphi wore a thoughtful look.

“Hmm… I suppose it’s okay to tell you? Eltima seemed to want to recruit you, anyway.”

Apparently convinced, Kryphi nodded and glanced around before speaking.

“Eltima is currently investigating allegations that other countries on the continent may have allied with devils. At the same time, she’s dividing up personnel to destroy devil idols. To fill out the lacking manpower, she called for my master.”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“I’d previously told her about fighting the devil. That’s how she learned about the third prince’s pact with the devil.”

At Kryphi’s answer, Luca finally understood.

‘It’s Kryphi.’

The reason Zeritz left the academy.

It was because Kryphi had redeemed himself.

‘In all other loops, the protagonist drove Kryphi away. So Zeritz couldn’t leave the academy. But this time, Kryphi never became a villain.’

In the original storyline, Zeritz became deeply disappointed in Kryphi and stopped thinking of him as a disciple.

He then accepted the protagonist as his new student.

However, Kryphi had completely turned things around and was now Zeritz’s proper disciple and a fully qualified swordsman.

Thus, Zeritz no longer needed a new student.

And since the redeemed Kryphi had surpassed the limit and become a Grandmaster, Zeritz could leave the academy without any regrets.

‘What a mess. What should I do?’

Undying Princess, the Academy’s darkness, the White Plague—

Having such enemies disappear wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that the protagonist had lost a close companion.

‘The story won’t progress.’

You could always produce new villains—delinquent students, arrogant seniors, or strict teachers raising a ruckus.

But you couldn’t improvise a crucial supporting character like a master.

‘If it goes on like this, I’ll turn into one of those trash isekai protagonists who steal all the good stuff from the original main character.’

And he’d even essentially declared before that he’d take all the misfortune while others could have their masters and lucky encounters.

Luca just felt infinitely tired.

“Anyway, it’s almost time, isn’t it?”

“Time…?”

Before Luca could finish sorting his thoughts, Kryphi got to the main point.

Luca looked puzzled.

“As I said, class will start soon. There’s something I need to ask of you, Luca.”

“A favor…?”

As Luca tilted his head, Kryphi smiled broadly.

“Of course, it’s a favor I think you’ll love!”

* * *

“Hey, what’s going to happen to our class now?”

“I have no idea. I never imagined Professor Kryphi would actually become a Grandmaster.”

“He didn’t even seem like such a big deal. What happened?”

The students in the SA-class basic swordsmanship course were in chaos.

After all, their teacher had suddenly become a Grandmaster and Dean, and was now in charge of S-class lectures.

“So who’ll teach our class then?”

Everyone was wondering the same thing.

With only one body, Kryphi couldn’t teach two classes at the same time.

“Probably another teacher will be assigned to us.”

“Yeah… that makes sense.”

That was the practical judgment.

Naturally, S-class lectures took precedence over SA-class.

“But why hasn’t a teacher shown up? It’s class time.”

“Maybe it was too sudden for a replacement?”

“Oh, come on. They must’ve sorted it out during break. Even if it’s a first-year SA-class, they can always find someone to teach.”

As everyone was whispering, Luca entered the basic swordsmanship training hall.

The students, oblivious to his arrival, kept chatting among themselves.

Luca simply regarded them quietly, sighed, and stepped up onto the podium.

“?”

“That’s…”

“Luca Traverse?”

Everyone knew Luca, the teaching assistant.

Even if not as an assistant, more than half recognized his face.

“Hm… Haaah… Sss…”

“?”

“What’s with him?”

Standing on the podium, Luca hesitated with a troubled look and let out odd sounds.

The students watched, all puzzled.

“… Ha. I guess there’s no helping it.”

Finally, steeling himself, Luca bit his lip and faced the students.

“From today, this class will be led by me, Luca Traverse, representative student of the Swordsmanship Department and official disciple of Kryphi Mosto.”

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep