Victor's presence alone crushed the room into silence. Every student held their breath, too scared to move.
Once the chaos settled, Victor finally spoke.
"Now tell me—what happened?"
A civilian student standing in front stepped forward.
"Erika showed up flaunting her noble title and humiliated us on purpose! One of our classmates got caught in her magic and vanished without a trace!"
The remaining civilian students echoed him. Erika hurried to defend herself, and the scene dissolved back into disorder.
"Silence!"
The uproar died instantly.
Victor rubbed the space between his brows. No matter the world, arguments were always this damn annoying.
"Is that true, Erika?" he asked, impatience dripping from his voice.
Erika forced herself to calm down. "I didn't humiliate anyone. I was practicing a teleportation spell. That unlucky guy walked into the spell circle the moment I lost control—that's why he disappeared."
Naturally, the students didn't believe her. But with the professor present, none dared voice objections.
Vega leaned close to Victor's ear and whispered, "I checked. The teleportation circle sent him into another dimension."
"Doesn't matter. I'll handle it."
Vega's single eye glinted. A thin wisp of black mist drifted out from beneath his wings.
Victor understood. He activated Mage Hand, and six glowing spell circles materialized in the air.
"Sixfold casting… again?"
Erika stared. Victor's effortless mastery of multi-casting—especially at this level—was terrifying.
From behind, Vega flicked a few runes into the array. Six threadlike black sigils wove themselves into the formation.
The spell circle erupted in crimson light.
Blending with the sunset glow, it illuminated the entire Arcana Hall.
Everyone squinted against the blinding radiance.
When it finally faded—
A voice broke the stunned silence.
"Is this… the Arcana Hall? I'm back?"
The missing student looked around, eyes filling with tears.
"I'm back! I'm really back!"
Students blinked open watery eyes. Once they recognized their long-lost classmate, the civilian students exploded into cheers.
Even Erika froze, stunned that Victor had reversed her flawed spell so easily.
"So this is… a Tier Three Mage?"
She muttered it under her breath.
Victor, seeing the matter settled, turned his cold gaze on her.
"Erika. Apologize."
The demand made Erika bristle.
She was already frustrated—why should she obey Victor?
Why!?
Yes, he'd fixed her mistake, but she wasn't wrong on purpose. That idiot should've watched where he was going!
Besides, everything in her life had taught her—
Nobles do not apologize to commoners.
Victor saw her stubbornness and raised a brow, voice dripping with disdain.
"You make mistakes but refuse to apologize. Weak in skill, weak in character."
"This is the so-called education of House du Croy?"
That hit the civilian students right in their hearts. Nothing pleased them more than seeing an arrogant noble get put in their place.
Their eyes lit up in fiery admiration.
Erika's emotions flared, but she forced herself to swallow it.
Victor was right—the one at fault was her.
She could not bring shame upon her family.
Her chest rose and fell with a large breath. Finally, she stepped forward and bowed deeply to the "unlucky guy."
"I apologize for my negligence."
The commoners stared. Seeing the proud noble girl bow, they couldn't even muster a taunt.
They were all the same age, after all.
The unlucky student—Jack—finally recovered from his panic. Face flushed, he accepted the apology.
"I was careless too. If I'd paid attention, none of this would've happened."
Victor lifted a brow. Now he was satisfied.
A peaceful campus. Much better.
But apologies weren't enough. If you messed up, you learned from it.
He glanced at Erika. "Follow me to my office."
She lowered her head without a word and trailed behind him.
The two slipped out under the students' stares.
Immediately, chatter exploded.
"Oh my god, he's so hot! Do you guys know who he is?"
"He looks like a teacher… probably a new one!"
"Sixfold casting! Six! I've never seen anyone pull off that many! No way he's a normal teacher!"
"I'm in Class One. He's the new professor—Professor Victor. He taught us this afternoon!"
"A professor?! No wonder he's so strong! But he's way too young for that!"
"I hope he gives a public lecture soon. I'm signing up the moment he does!"
…
Victor, walking away, heard none of it. Erika followed behind him, with Victor's assistant, Henny, at her side.
They arrived at the Mage Tower and teleported into Victor's office after identity verification.
Victor drew a small formation with a flick.
Erika's hairpin appeared in his hand.
He handed it to her.
Erika blinked, stunned. She never expected him to return something of hers.
"Take care of your own belongings. And don't pull stunts like that again."
She pressed her lips together, accepted the hairpin, and lowered her head.
Victor sat naturally in his chair. Erika—rebellious as ever—stood stiffly before him like a student awaiting discipline.
Victor tapped a finger against the desk, then spoke slowly.
"Listen, Erika. Whatever bad blood we had before, this is the Royal Academy of Magic. Not your playground. I'm the teacher. You're the student. Fix your attitude."
"Magic is dangerous. If you can't fully control it yet, don't release spells in public areas. Today was only a basic teleportation spell. What if you'd been practicing a wide-range destructive spell?"
Erika said nothing, but her slight trembling gave her away.
If she truly lost control, it would've been a disaster.
Victor continued.
"You said something true in class today—teachers do have the duty to answer questions."
"But only when the student genuinely wants to learn, not when they're trying to cause trouble."
With that, he demonstrated the principles of teleportation magic and the advanced formation upgrades.
"Watch closely. I'm only showing this once."
Runes and formations danced across his fingertips. Erika snapped to attention, staring intently.
He showed her how to send an object to another dimension and retrieve it.
After the demonstration, he assigned her homework.
"Master this. Write a report. Give it to my assistant tomorrow morning—she'll deliver it."
Erika silently nodded and left the office.
Henny, who had watched everything from the corner, huffed once Erika was gone.
"Professor, you're really nice. Not at all like the rumors. But that Erika—I really don't like her."
She'd heard what happened in class. She knew Erika had challenged him on purpose.
Fortunately, Victor handled it easily and slapped her right back.
Victor didn't look at her. "If you were a minor and a man nearly thirty tried to flirt with you and confess, I'd say your resentment would be just as strong as hers."
Henny jolted. "That… really happened?"
Victor just chuckled, stood up, and ruffled her hair.
"Bring me Erika's notes and her speech draft tomorrow."
Then he teleported away.
…
When Erika stepped out of the carriage, a man stood waiting by the estate gates.
He had the same golden hair and eyes as her—the same noble bloodline.
Her proud father, Duke Levi.
Time had barely touched his handsome face.
"Darling, why are you home so late?"
He greeted her with a smile—until he registered her gloomy expression. The smile faded.
"Erika? What happened? Did someone bully you?"
"Tell Daddy. I'll make him pay."
Erika quickly stopped him. "Enough, Father. No one bullied me."
"I just ran into Victor. He became a professor today."
Duke Levi straightened abruptly, anger flaring. "That bastard! I'll have him fired tomorrow!"
He was venting, of course—trying to coax his daughter.
Levi knew Victor was monstrously talented, already a Tier Three Mage. Now that he'd joined the Royal Academy, he was under royal protection.
Unless the king spoke, no one could touch him.
But Erika didn't know that. She panicked.
"No!"
She explained what happened—leaving out the conflict with the civilians and only mentioning the classroom dispute.
Levi's expression eased.
Erika continued softly, "I really can't compare to him."
He nodded, understanding. "Then learn from him. Victor reached Tier Three at twenty. He clearly has extraordinary gifts."
"But you're my daughter. I know your talent better than anyone."
"Learn from his strengths. Then surpass him. I know you can."
Erika nodded obediently and returned to her room with her servant.
Once she left, Levi sighed.
No matter how much she suffered under Victor, he couldn't intervene.
He was a duke.
Everything he did had to align with the needs of the Empire.
A man in his position couldn't act like a child.
The Empire wouldn't allow it. His station wouldn't allow it.
"I'm sorry, Erika."
…
By the time Victor returned home, it was already deep into the night. He stretched in the garden—only to see a servant rush over.
"My lord, your sister requests your presence in the study."
The servant hurried off.
Victor frowned.
So late? That can't be good…
He opened the study door. Lia sat waiting, arms crossed, clearly furious.
"What is it?" he asked.
Lia shot him a scorching glare and slapped a document onto the desk.
"See for yourself!"
The table shook under her slap.
"So angry?" Victor muttered, glancing at her before picking up the bill.
It listed his recent expenses—massive spending on magical materials and another large sum mysteriously missing.
He, of course, knew where the money went.
Materials, spell advancement…
The first was explainable. The second—player-exclusive spending—was naturally untraceable.
But… was the household really this strapped for cash?
"Our territory's income has already been unstable lately—and you still spend money like this? Are you trying to drain us dry!?"
Lia stood and jabbed a finger into his chest.
"Explain. Now."