The Chairman of Lyon Academy.
Karin felt like she could fly with joy at any moment.
‘See? You never know unless you try!’
Honestly, even she had been half-doubtful about her proposal.
A mere principal of a small, backwater academy daring to overreach? She expected to be ridiculed for her boldness, but she still decided to take a chance at recruiting talent.
And it worked.
The new professor who was the talk of the town, Riyan, had accepted the offer without hesitation.
With such a famous genius professor joining, our academy will finally make a name for itself.
Karin walked with a light, dancing step, lost in happy thoughts.
She was headed to the office of that annoying head of administration.
When she’d been tricked by a swindler who sold her a dragon egg that turned out to be a mere chicken egg, that man had mocked her endlessly.
There was no way she’d miss this golden opportunity to knock him down a peg.
***
Bang! Without knocking, she slammed the office door open.
Proudly, she puffed out her chest and declared, “You might want to take back that comment about my head being empty! Do you know who I’ve recruited this time? Riyan! Yes, Riyan! The hot topic of the academic world, the new professor!!”
By Karin’s calculations, the head of administration should have immediately fallen to his knees, crying with gratitude, begging for forgiveness for ever doubting her abilities as the chairman.
Once he’d exhausted himself from tears and apologies, she would magnanimously pat him on the back, and they’d throw a celebration party together.
She had even bought fireworks for the occasion.
They explode into rabbit shapes, and she was already looking forward to it.
However, the head of administration’s expression was… strange.
Her face paled, and beads of sweat began to roll down her forehead.
With a trembling voice, she asked Karin, “Did you say you poached a professor from the Imperial Academy? Are you out of your mind?”
The head of administration looked as though she might burst into tears as she frantically explained the situation to Karin.
Imperial Academy professors were responsible for training high-ranking officials of the empire.
They were entrusted with the empire’s most classified techniques and rituals.
And…
Poaching such a person could be considered a severe crime against the state.
“Quickly, retract the offer. I don’t care if you send a crow, an owl, or whatever! Just make it so that proposal never happened!”
At her urgent plea, Karin moved swiftly, scribbling a letter saying that unfortunately, circumstances had changed and to please disregard the proposal.
The pigeon took the letter and flapped its wings into the sky.
Had they been waiting for a reply all along?
Before long, the pigeon returned with a letter attached to its leg.
[Sorry, but I cannot accept that. I am determined to transfer to Lyon Academy, no matter what.]
Sweat dripped down the head of administration’s back.
She cast glances at the clueless chairman.
She could guess why the other side was acting like this.
“Just to be clear, you did use the special stationery for confidential messages when sending the job offer, right?”
“Of course! Didn’t I buy that special paper that bursts into flames as soon as it’s read?”
Karin’s confident reply.
The head of administration sighed and massaged the back of her neck.
“Do you really think that a professor, who has mastered even the most difficult space magic, wouldn’t be able to put out a small fire?”
“You should’ve used the proper stationery stored in the warehouse!”
The academy had plenty of paper that incinerated even concepts and ideas.
There was no need to ask why Karin had chosen the other one.
She probably just wanted to try it because flaming letters seemed cool.
“Now, they have solid evidence that we tried to poach their professor!”
The head of administration ruffled her hair in frustration.
It was obvious why Riyan was doing this.
It was a bribe.
He wanted them to make a more generous offer to keep his mouth shut.
Though the chairman might not be the brightest, she was obscenely strong.
Her academy, founded by a former mercenary king, had ample funds.
But their opponent was an Imperial Academy professor.
It would not be easy to offer a bribe that would satisfy someone like that.
They might end up blowing through ten years’ worth of the budget.
‘But… there’s no other way.’
There was no point expecting any subtlety from this chairman.
Once the investigation started, the truth would come out in no time, so they had to find a way to keep Riyan quiet, no matter what.
The head of administration bit her lip as she stuffed fifty large chests full of gold coins.
It was enough to buy three islands with ease.
The financial hit would be devastating, but she resolved to make the chairman responsible for earning the money back.
Having steeled herself, she sent off the chests.
***
The next day, she foamed at the mouth when the chests returned.
[I cannot be swayed by mere bribes.]
There was a single note attached to the unopened treasure chest.
The oblivious chairman, smiling brightly, wondered aloud if perhaps Riyan genuinely liked their academy.
“Get a grip, Chairman. We’re dealing with a professor from the Imperial Academy, an institution run by the great Founder Dragon himself.”
The Imperial Academy was a dream workplace with the best treatment, benefits, and honor.
No one could match its prestige.
Why would someone in such a position possibly want to come to Lyon Academy?
Even overconfidence had its limits.
“This is clearly a message. He’s telling us not to think we can silence him with this paltry sum.”
“Special measures are needed.”
She swallowed hard and sprang into action.
First, she doubled the amount of gold.
[Why do you keep sending me gold? I genuinely just want to move to Lyon Academy.]
The chest returned again, but this was still within her expectations. She immediately played her next card.
She doubled the amount of gold again.
This time, she sprinkled in some rare jewels that the chairman had discovered while adventuring through the desert during her mercenary days.
[How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t need these things?]
…She hadn’t expected him to reject even this, but it was fine.
This was still within the realm of her expectations.
Unshaken, she increased the proportion of jewels and sent the chest back once more.
The amount was enough to buy an entire city.
Who could possibly refuse such an enormous fortune that even the famously wealthy Golden Archipelago would envy?
[Is someone switching my letters midway? Why do you keep ignoring what I say?]
…The other person didn’t seem to be normal.
How was it possible that he wasn’t satisfied with so many treasures?
She couldn’t understand what the professor was thinking, but it was still okay.
So far, everything was still narrowly within the scope of what she had planned.
The trump card should always be saved for the final moment.
She still had the most precious treasures—artifacts that the chairman had collected during her time as a mercenary king.
Priceless relics.
She filled a large chest with them and sent it off once more.
She had now offered everything she possibly could.
There was no way this could be rejected.
It was impossible for this to be rejected.
[Please stop bombarding me with gifts. How many more times do I have to tell you to understand my sincerity?]
The message returned once again.
The response far exceeded her expectations.
The head of administration’s face was overtaken with shock.
“See? If he’s rejecting even this, he really must want to join our academy! He wasn’t thinking about taking a bribe at all!”
Chairman Karin reassured the head of administration not to be afraid, but there was no way to feel reassured.
“The problem is that he doesn’t want a bribe.”
If the person had been someone greedy for money, they could have solved the problem with their amassed wealth.
But if he truly was someone who didn’t care for bribes, what did Riyan want?
Why did he keep insisting that they didn’t understand his sincerity?
If he was someone so upright that he wouldn’t accept bribes, what kind of option would such a person present to those who committed a crime?
…To confess their sins and accept punishment.
Before I say anything, you should admit your wrongdoing yourself.
That must have been the sincerity Riyan was trying to convey all along.
Now, they had only one option left.
She placed a hand on Chairman Karin’s shoulder.
With tears streaming down her face, the head of administration opened her mouth.
“We… should turn ourselves in.”
[Lyon Academy’s misconduct exposed.]
[The new professor who revealed the truth, unshaken by bribes.]
[It was actually my own push to transfer; I even lied to protect the small academy’s principal.]
[The Founder Dragon takes action, vowing to step down if punishment is handed out.]
[Mercenary King Karin, moved to tears by the professor’s actions, says: ‘I will repay this grace once I finish my two-week sentence.’]
[A paragon of integrity and nobility. Who exactly is the new professor of the Imperial Academy, Riyan]