Alice's first-ever disciple, Greg Sass, was born into the kingdom's famous House of Sass and had once been the very definition of a student with connections and a slacker at the academy.
Despite his prominent background as a duke's son, Alice could guarantee from her painful experiences over the past year that this guy was a complete mess when it came to magic theory studies and research.
For coursework and theoretical research reports requiring solid foundation and patient investigation, Greg could always find all sorts of excuses and methods to force them onto her—his nominal Instructor—to complete.
Worst of all, his aristocratic, entitled attitude meant that Alice—who was naturally terrible at confrontations and especially ill-equipped to handle students of his status—could only swallow her anger most of the time. She had to bite the bullet, take on the work, and sacrifice her rest hours staying up late to clean up his mess.
During that period, as she stared late at night at assignments Greg should have finished himself, she often had an absurd illusion:
Who was the Instructor, and who was the disciple?
She, the Instructor, had basically turned into Greg Sass's personal academic manual laborer!
Fortunately, those dark and miserable days didn't last too long.
Not long after advancing to his second year, Greg went missing for quite a long time.
During that period, Alice felt even the air she breathed was much fresher, and she even quietly prayed that he would preferably never show up again.
Although Greg eventually returned to the academy later and began attending classes normally, Alice immediately adopted the most direct and effective strategy—evasion.
She adjusted her schedule as much as possible to avoid any occasion where she might cross paths with him, and she never took the initiative to ask what he had done during his disappearance or what changes had occurred after his return.
She simply wanted nothing more to do with this trouble magnet.
The last time Greg had suddenly turned up at the door of the old lab she frequented for reasons unknown, she had been scared out of her wits. In her desperation, she actually pulled open a cabinet used for storing magic creature specimens next to her, squeezed inside to curl up, and didn't dare breathe heavily, staying in there for a full half-hour until she made sure there was completely no sound outside before venturing out.
She literally preferred staying with those weird specimens soaked in preservative fluid over facing Greg again.
Though recently, a rumor had been quietly circulating among the Instructors, saying, "Greg Sass has already been designated in advance as one of the second-year student representatives for the Hundred Academy Exchange."
However, when Alice heard it, her first reaction was to scoff, followed by a surge of humiliated anger.
She was firmly convinced that this was definitely a malicious rumor made up by those other professors who disliked her on ordinary days, just to deliberately provoke and humiliate her!
No matter how one looked at it, Greg Sass could not be associated in the slightest with the title of "a genius elite competing for glory on behalf of the academy"!
Absolutely impossible!
"Sigh..."
At that thought, the coldness of reality and the distance of her ideals wrapped around her once more. Alice couldn't help but sigh softly again, her shoulders slumping slightly. Even her oversized professor's robe seemed a bit heavier at this moment, nearly engulfing her petite frame entirely.
"Alice-chan, why the sigh?"
A voice laced with laughter echoed right against her ear, its warm breath even fluttering a few locks of purple hair near her ear.
"Because—"
Almost instinctively following the tone of the question, Alice was about to blurt out her troubles.
But as the words reached her lips, she shuddered violently, as if poked by a freezing needle, instantly snapping out of her self-pity!
This voice... this tone...
Like an overly frightened small animal, she whipped around abruptly, the movement so swift that her wide sleeves kicked up a gust of wind.
Her light purple eyes widened slightly in horror, clearly reflecting the tall figure who had somehow stood quietly beside her without a sound, currently bending slightly to look down at her.
"G-Greg!?"
Her voice cracked from extreme nervousness and surprise, carrying a faint tremor.
Her fingers unconsciously gripped the hem of her wide sleeves, her knuckles turning slightly pale.
"W-Why are you here!?"
This was clearly the venue for the first-year freshmen's exam and mentor meet-and-greet!
What was a second-year student like him doing here?
Had he come specifically to make trouble for her?
Because she had been deliberately avoiding him all this time?
As if utterly oblivious to the panic and resistance radiating from her entire body, the smile on Greg's face actually deepened slightly:
"Because there's fantastically good news I need to tell you in person, of course, my dear Alice-chan."
The suffix "-chan" gave Alice a slight chill down her spine.
"Good news?"
Alice became even more vigilant, her body leaning back slightly of its own accord as she tried to put a safe distance between them.
To her, Greg Sass's appearance almost always signified endless trouble and one bad news story after another.
Good news?
The credibility of good news coming out of his mouth was roughly equivalent to the sun rising from the west, or the Demons suddenly becoming peace-loving.
"That's right."
Greg nodded.
"Actually, the academy has already designated me in advance as one of the second-year student representatives for this Hundred Academy Exchange. So, as my Instructor, you naturally gain the precious qualification to accompany me. How about it? Surprised? Shocked?"
Alice froze for several full seconds, her brain seemingly coming to a complete halt under the impact of this overly abrupt and absurd information.
Immediately after, her delicate brows knitted tightly together, and a touch of anger at being teased washed over her face. Her voice unconsciously raised a bit, though still carrying timidness:
"That's impossible! Don't... don't try to fool me again! This kind of joke isn't funny at all!"
She didn't believe it for a second. This was definitely a new prank Greg had cooked up just to see her make a fool of herself in shock and embarrassment.
"Why would I fool you?"
Greg spread his hands with an innocent expression:
"If you don't believe me, you're free to head to the Headmistress's office right now to confirm the truth with her in person. Do you really think someone of the Headmistress's status would tell such an easily disproven lie just to play along with a nobody like me?"
Alice choked on her words.
That was true... The Headmistress possessed exalted status and unfathomable strength. It was indeed impossible and unnecessary for her to cooperate with a student like Greg Sass to tell a lie.
Yet she still found it unbelievable. Her ice-purple eyes full of suspicion, she scanned Greg up and down. Suddenly, an even more terrifying thought popped into her mind, and she lowered her voice, speaking in a strange tone:
"D-Did... did you... offer up your body to the Headmistress? T-To get... this qualification through such... improper means?"
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it felt; otherwise, it was completely unexplainable!
Rate on N.U.
