The Master of the Villains Has Disappeared

It took two and a half days to decide on my second assistant.

His name is Evan Krause.

"I look forward to working with you, Professor."

"Yes, I look forward to working with you too."

Tall stature and sturdy build.

He had a good reputation among students, and was a talented individual that not only I but several other professors wanted to hire as an assistant.

However, he was a student who had been an assistant for the Mana Design subject until last year.

It seems he refused love calls from other professors this year as well and applied to be an assistant for the Mana Design subject.

Of course, from my perspective, he was a student who was good, if not bad.

Especially, the fact that he had momentarily stopped the original Atar made me evaluate Evan highly.

'To be honest, I was unsure, but now that I see his face, I understand. It's exactly as described in the novel.'

Strictly speaking, the original Atar and the Atar I taught are slightly different individuals.

Even taking that into account, Evan was certainly an outstanding student.

How often do you find a student who can hold back, even momentarily, someone who will later be known by the alias of Battle Maniac?

Of course, for now, all I had to ask Evan to do was distribute study materials.

Somehow, I ended up enjoying the luxury of having the academy's popular figure and a princess do small errands.

'Isn't this a bit arrogant for a new professor?'

Such a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

A kid who became a professor through the parachute of an ancient dragon, having a princess and the top student of the year as assistants - isn't this a bit presumptuous?

One way or another, Primus Academy is the setting for the introduction of the original work.

In other words, it means it's a noisy place where various incidents and accidents occur.

"Professor Leta. You might not know since it's your first time being a professor, but this is actually the custom."

"Ah, the custom..."

It means it's a place where factional fights and power struggles among professors occur quite frequently.

It might be natural in a way for the professors' attention to be focused on a new professor who snatched away two promising talents.

To the professors seated around the faculty meeting table, I am a so-called 'rolling stone'.

Perhaps rumors about my impertinent behavior towards the six family heads in the past have spread, as most gazes are not very favorable.

"Hmm, the Dean didn't say much."

"The Dean isn't someone with enough leisure time to worry about internal patrol duties."

I inwardly retorted, asking if I was someone with too much time on my hands, to the words of the pot-bellied professor who was trying hard to smile kindly.

Thinking it wouldn't be good to stand out too much among the professors, I just smiled gently as well.

Come to think of it, internal patrol duty is a piece of cake compared to the terrible incidents that will occur in a few years.

I knew that these trivial tasks mentioned by the professors were attempts to discipline me.

"If it's Primus's custom. I should follow it."

"We'll be counting on you."

Since it's come to this, I decided to examine one by one the vulnerabilities of Primus revealed in the original work.

I'll take this opportunity to completely block any chance for those with extremely dangerous ideologies to infiltrate the academy.

Crucially, it's true that I'm not yet familiar with Primus's vast grounds.

On the evening of the internal patrol, I called my assistants and asked them to guide me.

"Well, nothing much will happen anyway. Just think of it as taking a walk with me."

"Yes."—"Understood."

In exchange for taking time out of their late evening, I treated them to dinner.

This is kind of like overtime work, and if I don't even buy them a meal, it's no different from slave labor.

Somehow, Isabel also ended up joining the dinner with me and my assistants.

Strictly speaking, it was more like the assistants joined the dinner of Isabel and me, but anyway.

'...Hm?'

But Isabel's gaze towards Evan sitting across from her is slightly strange.

No, not just her eyes, but her hands too.

Why do her fingers keep fidgeting?

She who couldn't even make eye contact when first seeing Princess Irina is now glancing at Evan.

Moreover.

"Um, Senior Evan. I heard you were also an assistant for the Mana Design subject last year... is that right?"

"Ah, yes. Last year, I helped Professor Jennifer with her classes."

"I see. I saw you coming into class yesterday, and you seemed very proficient."

Isabel even speaks to him first.

Looking closely, her cheeks seem to be slightly flushed too.

...Very suspicious.

Noticing that Isabel's condition had become slightly strange, I called her aside at the café we went to after dinner.

And then, with a slight hope.

"Isabel. What do you think of Evan?"

I directly asked about Isabel's true feelings.

Almost simultaneously, Isabel became flustered and started stammering.

However, not long after, Isabel slightly lowered her head and in a small voice.

"...They say love at first sight is a fateful encounter."

She told me a line that could only come from a romance novel.

How should I put it, it's pure if anything...

"You can't have Evan, Isabel."

"W-Why?!"

"Well, to Evan, you're just a kid. He doesn't see you as a woman..."

I'm sorry to Isabel, but I remember Evan already has someone.

I don't remember the name well, but it was a girl majoring in healing magic. I think she was Evan's childhood friend.

In other words, it means the fresh young girl standing in front of me right now has no chance.

How can Isabel compete with a pure love that has continued from childhood through school days?

"L-Love is something you fight for! Age doesn't matter in love!"

"What dangerous things are you saying."

Anyway, right now, I had to go on an internal patrol with my assistants who had brought warm coffee and sweet smoothies for takeout.

Therefore, to Isabel who had to return to her dormitory, I carefully left a message not about her hopeless love. But to pay attention to the assignment that needs to be submitted by the next Mana Design class.

"There's no favoritism just because you're like a sister. You need to do your assignment thoroughly, okay?"

"...Okay..."

The internal patrol finally began a little while later.

However, I feel like Evan, who is walking right next to me, will probably be pestered by Isabel for a while.

-Pat pat.

Without realizing it, I patted Evan's back a few times.

To Evan, who looked down at me with a puzzled expression at this patting, I only said "Good job."

'Hmm, I feel a bit sorry...'

Strictly speaking, I haven't done anything wrong, but it's true that I feel a bit uneasy.

Still, for now, I carefully observed whether there was anything strange or if there were any students wandering around late at night while patrolling from the main building in order with my two assistants.

By the way, Primus's grounds are incredibly large.

I knew that Primus was the continent's top academy, but the scale I actually felt while walking around exceeded my expectations.

Not only the academy's main building but also the grand library and the great hall called the sanctuary of learning.

Even the park and walking paths, nowhere looked shabby.

At this rate, it might be comparable to a decent village or city.

As I was properly realizing the vast scale of Primus, I shifted my gaze to a certain huge structure visible in the distance.

And then, I slightly raised my head towards Evan and Princess Irina and asked.

"What kind of place is that? It's not on the patrol list."

"Ah, that's a facility exclusively for the Stage of Advancement. I believe it's currently under construction."

"You'll probably be able to take a look soon, Professor. The Mana Design subject's assignment is also included in the Stage of Advancement."

Evan and Princess Irina then briefly told me about what happened as they recalled last year's Stage of Advancement.

For example, the story of how the student council president fainted in a maze created by a certain professor.

"There's a rumor that one student went missing during the Stage of Advancement and still hasn't been found."

"...It's a dangerous competition. More than I thought."

"Well, rumors are just rumors. You don't need to take it too seriously."

Creepy stories good for telling late at night like now, such as the incident of a student's disappearance.

We continued our patrol while talking about these kinds of stories.

By the time we arrived at the boundary of the huge forest adjoining Primus.

Knowing that a horde of monsters would pour out from this forest a few years from now, I slightly examined the form of the defensive magic circle.

'...When on earth is this magic from?'

As expected, it was very outdated.

It's not something that monsters without much intelligence could solve.

But it's a simple magic circle that those plotting something dangerous could solve with their eyes closed.

Therefore, I decided to replace the magic circle first, and started to draw up mana little by little.

However, Princess Irina and Evan's gazes were directed not at me but somewhere a bit far away.

"What's wrong? Is there something over there?"

"No, it's just... I thought I saw something small move just now."

"I'll go take a quick look."

With the end of Evan's words, a few footsteps followed.

However, in the end, I had to hurriedly chase after Evan and pull him back strongly.

-Whoosh!

"...Tch."

A sharp sword strike that cut through where Evan had been standing.

And a sound like clicking a tongue.

As expected, as the mysterious presence tried to disappear again, I first spread out a barrier.

Is this what they mean by 'when it rains, it pours'?

"...Why does it have to be during my patrol."

While muttering such complaints, I pulled up the shadow trying to disappear into the ground.

But for some reason, it looked familiar.

"Mmph! Mmph!!"

"...Huh?"

The woman dangling from thin threads of mana surrounding her on all sides was certainly a face I had seen before.

Was her name... Arita?

The person Karian had said was his most trusted subordinate in the past was now captured by me.

The gradually rising ominous feeling was a bonus.

My small head also started to throb little by little.

I had no idea where to even start fixing this.