Scythia Academy not only assigned one laboratory per professor but also provided a spacious room exclusively for each professor’s use.
On top of that, they generously funded research projects, and if there were notable results, they handed out bonuses that easily exceeded twice the allocated budget.
As an honorary “professor,” Felix was naturally assigned a laboratory.
“This is… my space?”
After parting ways with Tene and Rosaria, Felix stepped into the laboratory designated for him, unable to hide his shock as he frowned.
The room was dimly lit, likely due to the curtains being drawn. The wax candles on the wall sconces had melted and hardened into brittle remnants.
From the very entrance, dust covered the floor thickly, and rolling liquor bottles greeted him.
Some bottles were left uncapped with unfinished alcohol, leaving sticky, evaporated stains on the floor. Trash was scattered haphazardly throughout the space.
“Wow… They really didn’t even bother to check this place, did they?”
Despite it being a research lab for a magic professor, there wasn’t a single related book in sight. The only textbook present was a dusty and grimy copy of Basics of Magic—a book Felix already owned at home…tossed carelessly on a cluttered desk.
Surprisingly, the interior of the book was as pristine as if it were brand new.
In the original story, Felix was a fake professor who couldn’t use magic at all. He pretended to be a mage by hoarding magical tools, but even Felix didn’t expect to find the lab in such deplorable condition.
“Well, first things first… I need to clean this place up.”
Determined to change the atmosphere before his first day at the academy was completely ruined, Felix pulled out his staff.
He hadn’t used a magic staff until now, but while crafting magical tools for Rosaria, he thought it might be nice to have one for himself.
Although Felix could cast spells without one, using a staff amplified magical energy more efficiently. His staff, crafted from the branches of the World Tree, had excellent mana conductivity.
Unlike a simple staff, this one was made from two vibrant branches of the World Tree entwined together, forming a comfortable grip.
A single leaf from the World Tree adorned its tip.
[Cleanse.]
Felix gathered mana and chanted the spell. The magical energy surged from the staff, briefly lingering in the air before spreading to engulf the entire laboratory.
…Creak—Clatter—
Soon, the bottles scattered on the floor began to tremble and floated into the air, gathering into one spot. Dust and grime coalesced into a small sphere, as though pulled into the eye of a storm.
“Phew, that’s much better now.”
Drawing back the curtains and opening the windows, Felix let the sunlight flood in and tossed the gathered dust outside.
Now that the space was clean, Felix could finally appreciate the spaciousness of the lab. Thinking about customizing it to his liking, he even felt a hint of gratitude toward the original Felix for only leaving behind liquor bottles instead of unnecessary junk.
Knock, knock.
“Hmm?”
As Felix leaned against the desk, mulling over how to furnish the room, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
[Professor Felix, are you there?… Ha, like he’d actually be here. That guy wouldn’t bother showing up, would he?]
A female voice calling for him drifted in from the other side of the door, followed by murmured complaints that Felix heard loud and clear.
The words were laced with resignation and irritation.
“Yes, whats going on?”
[“Huh? You’re here?”]
It was a voice calling for him, so he decided to respond. From beyond the door, he heard a voice muttering in surprise.
‘It’s the first day of the new semester. To think someone would assume I wouldn’t show up… How much of a mess must the original Felix’s behavior have been?’
Felix couldn’t help but be appalled at every little reaction, which revealed just how much of a disaster the original Felix was.
Bang!
Soon, the door to the laboratory opened, and a woman appeared, her wide-brimmed hat pulled down low.
She was quite short, with her head only reaching Felix’s chest—Felix himself being about 180 cm tall. Her entire body was wrapped in a robe, making it hard to guess her appearance apart from her small stature.
“Today, you didn’t run away and… What’s this? Did you eat something weird today? Why is your room so clean?”
“Haha… I just, uh… felt like tidying up today,” Felix replied, scratching his head awkwardly as the woman looked around the room in astonishment.
“I wish you’d act like this more often…”
Boop!
“Huh?”
As she stepped fully into the laboratory, closing the door behind her, she removed her hat. Felix couldn’t help but flinch at the sight before him.
Her hair was a tousled, curly light brown, and her face was dotted with freckles across her nose. She wore large, round glasses, and although her expression was softer compared to Rosaria’s, her sharp features and prominent dark circles gave her a distinct impression.
But what surprised Felix the most was…
Perk—Perk!
The long, white bunny ears that twitched atop her head.
A beastkin.
The woman wrapped in the robe was a rabbit beastkin.
“…What?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
“By the way, you’ve been speaking formally since earlier. Did you really eat something weird today?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… just trying to… change my image a bit?”
“With your face, no matter how much you try, you’ll just come off as insincere and annoying.”
“……”
‘Is my image really that bad…? Well, I guess it is.’
On top of being shocked by the fact that she was a rabbit beastkin, Felix was left speechless by her sudden, sharp criticism.
“Anyway, the reason I came here today is to talk about the new curriculum.”
“About the curriculum…”
The sharp-tongued rabbit beastkin walked over to Felix, who was awkwardly standing near the desk, placed her hat on it, and began explaining her reason for coming.
“After all, you’re just going to get through this curriculum without properly preparing anything, right?”
“Introduction to Magical Basics is a crucial subject for students studying magic, especially first-years. Yet you can’t even use magic yourself and have no intention of teaching the class properly.”
She crossed her arms under her ample chest after putting her hat down, immediately launching into a stream of complaints.
Most of the things I’ve prepared are criticisms of Felix, you know.
“I can’t understand how someone like you could even become an honorary professor.
You can’t even feel basic magic—no, you can’t even sense mana. How could someone like you become a magic professor?
Aren’t you ashamed that you’ve made it this far thanks to the title of a noble and your talent for handing out gold coins?”
“……”
“And you call it a class, but all you do is make us memorize the textbooks, and the questions you give us for exams are terribly low quality.
Do you know how many complaints your students make throughout the semester? No, you wouldn’t! You’re just intoxicated by the position of ‘professor’!”
“The problem is how easily you got this professor position… I spent almost half my life walking the path of magic, and after countless efforts, I barely reached the position of professor.
But you, you got here so easily… The academy pretends to be fair on the surface, but it’s been decaying from the inside for a long time… Is this really what the academy is supposed to be?”
“U-Um? So, what exactly are you trying to say…?”
As she continued glaring at Felix, she began criticizing the academy itself and slowly got lost in her own world. Felix interrupted her to stop her from going further.
“Oh, right. Ahem―! Anyway, what I want to say is this.”
She snapped back to reality at Felix’s words and cleared her throat before getting to the point.
“Give me the curriculum for this semester.”
“You want me to give you the curriculum…?”
She straightened up and, pointing her finger at Felix’s face, boldly declared.
“Anyway, the basics of magic are a required major, so you’re not really going to show anything in the curriculum introducing the major, are you? In that case, I’ll take over that position instead.”
“And if this curriculum ends successfully… I’ll officially tell the headmaster that I will take responsibility for the basic magic major!”
“…Are you saying you want to take my position?”
“Of course! That position is not meant for someone like you! Even if it’s hard, I, Lumillion Ordine, will take charge and hand it over to the right and outstanding professor!”
With her rabbit ears perked up, Lumillion boldly declared that she would take Felix’s professor position.
“…Huh, sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”
Felix found her more cute than intimidating, and he barely held back the laughter that almost burst out as he replied.
“Hmph! I knew it! I didn’t expect someone like you to give up the position you worked so hard to get! But your poor attitude in class and the low-quality lessons are undeniably your mistakes!”
“No matter how good you are at flattering people, if I bring the academy’s fairness committee into this… even the headmaster won’t be able to side with you.”
“The fairness committee… That was mentioned in the original, right?”
Fairness committee.
For the eternal development of the Empire, a newly established department was created to suppress corruption and power within the Academy.
This department was literally responsible for directly solving problems whenever unfair things occurred within the Academy.
Its authority was such that even the headmaster of the Academy could not defy it, and it was treated almost like the Emperor’s command, so the professors at the Academy always feared them.
Of course, in the original work, the protagonist Eileen exposed the corrupt practices of Felix, who abused the power of the Count family and bribery, revealing all of his secrets.
Eileen even had the Committee of Fairness with him and took away Felix’s honorary professor position. It was a very satisfying moment in the novel.
However, now that he had entered the novel and occupied Felix’s body, he was so nervous that he could almost feel his throat tightening.
But…
“Hmm… Professor Ramilion?”
“What is it? It’s no use begging now, is it?”
“Then, if I prove that my curriculum and classes are of high quality, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”
Despite Ramilion’s threats, Felix smiled calmly and responded.
“…Ha, hahaha!!! Oh my goodness!! Hahaha!!!”
“This is the best joke I’ve heard so far! You’re great at humor, even if you’re not good at anything else!”
Upon hearing this, Ramilion burst into laughter, holding her stomach.
“Do you really think you stand a chance? You, who don’t even know the basics of magic? How?”
Felix was just a fake professor who couldn’t even feel magic. For someone like him to say that he could genuinely teach was nothing more than a ridiculous, absurd boast.
“Well… I’ll just do it my way.”
“…Hmph! You’re always like this. You’re so eager to solve the immediate problems in front of you, and all you do is spout nonsense.”
“Just do as you wish. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re going to be dismissed from your position as a professor very soon!”
Bang~!
However, despite Ramilion’s burst of laughter, Felix responded casually, shrugging his shoulders. She gave him a look of pure contempt, as if disgusted, and immediately grabbed her hat from the table, walked out of Felix’s office, and shut the door.
“…Hah, fine.”
Left alone in the office, Felix muttered while resting his hand on his waist.
“You don’t even know the basics of magic? That might have been true in the past, but things are different now.”
Flap, flap-
Soon, Felix sat down at his desk, opened up the notes he had brought from home, dipped his pen into the ink bottle, and quickly began writing in the empty spaces of his notebook.