After the faculty meeting ended, Lyr remained in a state of total confusion.
Without having any idea how it had happened, he had somehow become a teacher at the Royal Academy.
‘They said I could come back and have a good rest, so why did they make me a teacher here?’ Lyr still could not believe it.
When he was preparing to return, his parents told him to rest well and focus on his recovery. ‘Who would have thought they had arranged this for him?’
Sitting on a bench, Lyr scratched his hair repeatedly until it was as messy as a bird’s nest. This drew strange looks from passing students; in their eyes, Lyr was a complete eccentric. Had it not been for his decent attire, they might have instinctively mistaken him for a beggar who had wandered in from somewhere.
After thinking it over and failing to understand why his parents would make such an arrangement, Lyr eventually let one hand drop to his side. Staring at the lines on his palm, he fell into deep thought.
‘It couldn’t be that they made this decision because my mana became unstable after that incident, could it?’
That was the only reason Lyr could think of.
Several months ago, the border region had encountered a disaster-level event that caused heavy casualties to the army. In the end, Lyr had relied on the Thunder Spirit Sword to penetrate the heart of the crisis and eliminate the source of the calamity—a young girl who called herself a witch.
The Thunder Spirit Sword was a longsword rumored to have been blessed by the Thunder Fairy and had been passed down through House Geno for generations. Even now, Lyr did not understand how that sword had been able to pierce through the magical vortex the girl had conjured.
Furthermore, whenever he looked back on it, Lyr could never forget that when his sword pierced the girl, there was no resentment in her eyes. Instead, they held a sense of relief.
From that moment on, the mana within Lyr’s body became extremely unstable, leaving him in a weakened state for the majority of the time. Parallel to his physical and mental frailty, Lyr, who used to be proficient in high-tier magic, would now become breathless and feel like he might collapse at any moment just by casting a mid-tier spell.
Lyr had been unable to find the reason for this change. His parents assumed he was simply exhausted from recent events, which was why they told him to come home and rest.
To be honest, in the eyes of ordinary people, being a teacher was actually a good job. A position at the Royal Academy, in particular, was a dream job for many. However, Lyr had little interest in it.
At his core, he preferred adventure. As for becoming a teacher, he felt it was inferior to his previous work in the knights’ order.
In the knights, he could occasionally encounter new and exciting things. As a teacher, Lyr felt as though he was being imprisoned within the academy’s walls. He truly could not imagine himself becoming the pedantic type in the future.
‘If I had known, I never would have said I’d rather die than be a teacher.’
Those were words Lyr had spoken back when he was a student at the academy. He had not expected the boomerang to strike back so quickly.
He silently made up his mind. Regardless of what his parents were thinking, he had to go and explain things to Lulong so he could resign from this job.
Since Lulong had been able to finalize the appointment so easily after just glancing at a letter, Lyr felt that getting himself out of this situation should be just as simple.
‘Right! That’s what I’ll do!’
Lyr finally felt a spark of motivation. He had already spent many years at the Royal Academy and had been desperate to graduate as soon as possible so he could explore the world. If he had to spend the rest of his life here, Lyr felt he would have nightmares every single night.
While Lyr was brooding, an ill-timed commotion broke out nearby.
“Isn’t this Lady Yilu? I heard you still go out every night to play adventurer and return in a total mess.”
Two noble ladies blocked Yilu’s path. One of them held an open folding fan, using it to partially hide the mockery on her lips. The contempt in their eyes was blatant.
The faint anger in Yilu’s gaze and her cold expression served as the perfect seasoning for their ridicule. Faced with their taunts, Yilu said coldly, “Move. Don’t block my way like a pair of tactless stray dogs.”
“Stray dogs? What insolent words.” The noble lady with the fan snapped it shut with a loud *clack*.
When she realized Yilu was alone, lugging several large bags herself, a smirk played on her lips. “Why is Lady Yilu alone this year? You don’t even have a single servant following you. You look so pathetic—should I have my servant help you?”
*Tsk.* Yilu could not help but click her tongue.
The noble students staying here all had servants behind them carrying their luggage. In contrast, Yilu walked alone. Even those who did not know her looked at her strangely, viewing her as an outlier.
“Can’t you handle even this much, Lady Yilu? Don’t forget, you already received one major demerit after you took it upon yourself to use magic to injure someone at the academy. If you do it again, you might have to leave the school the moment the semester starts.”
Hearing this, Yilu closed her eyes briefly to control her emotions, but her brow still twitched with uncontrollable annoyance. If not for that previous incident, she never would have allowed them to behave this way in her presence.
Seeing that Yilu offered little reaction, the two noble ladies lost interest.
“Oh, forget it,” the other noble lady said, feigning a persuasive tone. “Ever since that incident with her brother, Lady Yilu’s family has declined significantly. They probably can’t even afford to hire servants anymore.”
“True. The Shiya Clan is now just a bottom-tier family. Perhaps one day Lady Yilu won’t even be able to enter the Royal Academy.”
“To be honest, Lady Yilu, I preferred your former arrogant self. This current look doesn’t suit you at all; you’re as submissive as a declawed cat. It’s almost pitiful.”
“Hahaha, let’s go. Let Lady Yilu move her things here all by herself.”
The two turned and walked away with mocking laughter.
Behind them, Yilu’s fists tightened unconsciously. She could endure them talking about her and mocking her for a moment, but their insults toward her family ignited her fury.
Yet, just as they had said, it was because of similar incidents in the past—instinctively using magic to hurt others during conflicts—that she had already been given a major demerit. That was exactly why those two dared to be so brazen.
Mid-thought, Yilu’s gaze fell upon a stone near her feet.
‘Since I can’t use magic, I certainly won’t let you off that easily.’
Yilu leaned over and picked up the stone. Carrying all of that pent-up rage, she threw it at the two women ahead of her without the slightest hesitation.