Inside Saint Silence Academy, Lulong returned to his room after finishing a whole day’s work.
“Opening the academy every semester is truly busy.”
The faculty meeting was just a simple formality, followed by many other meetings of various sizes.
The most important task among them was submitting this semester’s list of teachers to His Majesty.
It seemed like Lulong managed everything at the academy, but every semester, His Majesty would personally review the teacher list to ensure nothing was amiss.
To speak of the most special additions this year, it would undoubtedly be those few young teachers.
In the past, most of the academy’s faculty consisted of middle-aged teachers and several highly respected elders.
To make the system less austere, the academy had begun employing some younger teachers over the past few years.
This was intended to add new vitality and better handle the children of the nobility.
Among these appointments, Lulong had focused particularly on describing Lyr’s situation.
Lulong had told Lyr that his parents had already informed His Majesty, but that was actually a white lie meant to temporarily suppress Lyr’s hesitation so that he wouldn’t have a reason to refuse.
However, His Majesty was indeed aware of it now.
Lulong walked to his desk and pulled the letter from under a book, examining it carefully once more.
As his gaze fell upon the final seal on the letter, Lulong let out a deep sigh.
With the lacquer seal and stamp of House Geno, and given that it had been personally delivered by Lyr, there was no possibility of the letter being a forgery.
This served as further proof that the contents of the letter were true.
‘A young girl claiming to be a witch was slain by Lyr’s own hands, and the magic within his body subsequently became weak.’
There had long been rumors regarding the legends of witches, though most were ancient tales.
Legend said that the original witches were individuals who had reached the pinnacle of certain fields of magic, but for reasons unknown, each had fallen under a certain Curse.
This Curse would not weaken with the passage of time; instead, it would be passed down continuously.
It was transmitted from one person to another, and that infinite magic would follow the successor.
During his early years of study and travel across various countries, Lulong had seen a total of three such beings.
Two were already successors from several generations of witches, while the other was one of the original witches.
The Curse had granted her torment, but more importantly, it had granted her eternal life so that she might endure that torment forever.
Under the weight of different Curses, even those who were once noble would find their minds becoming exceptionally unstable, or even driven to madness.
Most importantly, among the many secrets of the Kingdom of Avaden, one was related to witches and could even be traced back to the original founding of the kingdom.
This was why Lulong’s expression turned solemn when he saw the contents of the letter.
‘Logically speaking, since Lyr killed that witch single-handedly, he should have become her successor.’
Snapping back to reality, Lulong could not hide his surprise.
He had specifically investigated Lyr’s background today.
When Lyr was a student at the academy, the talent he displayed was considered above average, but it should have been impossible for him to kill a witch on his own.
Moreover, this was the first time a witch had appeared in the Border Regions, and there had been no countermeasures or preparations in place.
The soldiers following Lyr had all been slaughtered by the Magic Vortex.
Only Lyr had charged deep into the center, reached the witch, and slain her.
Thinking about it, it seemed like a total fantasy.
‘Unless he himself is quite special.’
Lulong finally reached this conclusion, yet something still felt off.
‘It wouldn’t be surprising if his magic suddenly became powerful, but how could it have become weaker instead?
Furthermore, he doesn’t show any signs of being cursed.’
It was an unsolvable puzzle.
The letter contained no specific instructions for Lyr’s arrangement at the academy; instead, it requested that Lulong look into Lyr’s specific condition.
It just so happened that Lulong had arranged for him to become a teacher in a split second.
On one hand, there was indeed a vacancy, and on the other, it made it convenient for Lulong to observe Lyr’s situation.
After all, Lyr, the person involved, seemed completely unaware of his own condition or what exactly had happened.
This would likely require long-term observation.
Besides, how could he possibly allow someone who might be a witch’s successor to run around freely?
Such a person could be a disaster, or they could be a sharp sword.
“I need to write a letter to inform those two.”
Since His Majesty already knew about his spontaneous arrangement, the next step was to get in touch with Lyr’s parents.
Lulong wasn’t worried about Lyr being a teacher; after all, at first glance, Lyr’s appearance and temperament seemed quite suited for the profession.
It shouldn’t be too bad.
Just as he picked up his pen, Lulong felt something was wrong again, as if he had forgotten to arrange something.
‘Did I forget to provide Lyr with teaching materials?’
Students had textbooks, and teachers had teaching materials as well—this was essential, especially for a newly arrived young teacher.
At the very least, they needed to know what to teach.
Even if they weren’t great at it, they could follow the materials to ensure a smooth transition period.
Lulong’s arrangement had been made in the heat of the moment, and he really hadn’t followed up on that.
“It shouldn’t be a big problem.
I’ll just give them to him later.”
Everything had been arranged in a rush, and Lulong wasn’t in a hurry.
Young people always knew how to improvise.
On the other side, things were not unfolding as Lulong had expected.
Lyr lay in bed, tossing and turning.
Even now, he could hardly believe he was returning to the academy.
Back then, he had wanted so badly to leave the academy to venture out and see the world.
Now, the mere thought of returning to the academy as a teacher made him feel miserable.
Aside from his current path being the polar opposite of his thoughts and pursuits, there was also a sense of panic regarding the unknown.
After all, he neither knew what a teacher was supposed to do nor had he studied anything in that field.
He had only heard general descriptions.
To put it in terms he was familiar with, it was like a person who had never seen a battlefield suddenly being forced into armor and made to stand at the center of a conflict with a sword in hand.
He didn’t know what to do or how to respond.
These thoughts were like a waking nightmare in his mind, leaving him at a loss.
Getting up from the bed, Lyr felt exhausted, yet he wasn’t sleepy at all.
His physical body was worn out in reality, but his spirit was fighting against the established facts of his situation.
The two were in a standoff.
Lyr let out a heavy sigh.
‘I can’t sleep, not even a wink.’
It was truly strange.
Having grown accustomed to the noise of the Border Regions, he found that he couldn’t sleep in such a quiet atmosphere.
After thinking for a moment, Lyr simply got out of bed and threw on some clothes.
Following the moonlight streaming through the window, he walked out of the manor, wandering aimlessly as a way to clear his head.
Worried that others might see him in such a strange state, Lyr made his way to the backyard, where there was a pavilion.
In the past, whenever Lyr was bored, he would often practice his swordsmanship here or lose himself in his wild, imaginative thoughts.