A cool breeze brushed against the skin, prompting everyone to wear thicker clothing as the temperature began to fall. Brown, withered leaves drifted down, signaling that summer had ended and autumn had begun.
The students of Aetherion Academy had also returned, as the summer break was finally over.
An academy with towering, magnificent buildings and excellent training facilities. Swordsmanship, magic, alchemy, politics, strategy this was the place where students from all corners of the world gathered to learn.
And here as well began the story of someone who only wished to live quietly and lazily, yet was forced to
become a professor.
"I will teach peacefully… and lazily."
But that was nothing more than a wishful dream. For he would be teaching a class infamous for its talented yet high-status and deeply problematic students students who would shatter all of that professor's plans.
"Is even such a small dream impossible?"
He cried silently in his heart before the academy gates. How was he supposed to live peacefully with such troublesome students?
Inside a fairly spacious room, large enough for a professor's bedroom, sunlight streamed through the window, bringing warmth and energy something uplifting for most people, but not for him.
A man, 183 cm tall with a well-trained physique, stood before a mirror. His eyes were crimson, and his electric-blue hair, tied behind, reached his shoulders.
He stared at his reflection, expressionless. The distant voices of students passing through the academy echoed faintly he could hear them.
"Why is this happening to me?!"
He collapsed, weeping.
"I only wanted a quiet and peaceful life after reincarnating, and after waiting for twenty-one years, I finally had it! So why did Father and Mother force me to become a professor?! Why?!"
His voice echoed beyond his room, drawing the attention of nearby students and professors.
"I just wanted to be lazy and live peacefully after graduating from the Academy, that's all. But why did I return here a year later not as a student, but as a professor?! Why me? There are plenty of students and alumni from my generation! They're better than me,so why me?!"
The man crying on the floor was Ard Le Ventias, youngest son of Duke Ardan Le Ventias and Duchess Isabel Le Ventias members of a great noble house famed for its swordsmen and military strategy, second only to the Emperor within the Empire.
Ard was a reincarnator. He was now twenty-one years old, meaning he had lived in this world for twenty-one years.
"I want to go home."
This world was the continent of Tarthahar, the second largest continent, ruled by four great empires. The empire Ard lived in was the Pathlight Empire a prosperous land of fertile soil and orderly seasons, known for its mountains and strong religious devotion.
"I want to go home."
And Aetherion Academy an academy that had existed for six centuries. A neutral institution, loyal to none, devoted only to educating students of all races and backgrounds.
"…Could you be quiet? You're making my headache worse and making me want to cry even louder."
…
"That's better."
Ard felt his headache ease slightly. He stood up and wiped his nose---
"I said be quiet!"
Ard finally rose and prepared himself. He dressed and pinned a brooch that marked him as a professor.
"Alright!"
Taking a deep breath, he left his room and walked through the academy corridor toward the classroom he would teach.
The long hallway was lavishly decorated, lively yet ordinary. Students of many races and backgrounds passed by. Ard walked calmly, gaze forward, one hand in his pocket.
"Is he the new professor?"
"Where? Who?"
"Open your eyes and look!"
"Oh… I know!"
"Oh yeah? Who is he?"
"He is…"
*Serious*
"Who?"
"A professor."
"I KNOW THAT!!!"
Soon, the voices turned into cries of pain and sounds of impact. Ard heard them even as he walked away but simply thought,
"Seems those two are close friends."
Of course, they were not. Ard was merely being overly positive to calm himself on his first day back.
Ard arrived before the classroom door.
"That's quite far…"
The moment the door opened, a grand classroom greeted him.
Tiered rows of seats rose toward the back, as if the room itself ascended like invisible stairs designed so every gaze would focus on the front.
The students were already seated calmly. Ard stepped forward to the professor's desk at the center, his back to the large blackboard.
He looked ahead calmly, radiating superiority yet inside, he sighed heavily.
"I want to go home."
From the moment he saw them, he already felt tired. Their talents were extraordinary humans, demons, beastmen alike.
So why did Ard feel lazy?
Because he knew they were not only talented but also problematic. They were all his juniors from when he had once been a student here.
* * *
Inside another room, with a desk piled high with documents, shelves of books, and a large window behind it, a woman sat facing the sunlight.
Her silver hair shimmered under the light. She wore a fitted outfit, sitting casually.
Another woman entered green hair, professional demeanor and greeted her respectfully.
"…Not like you."
"What do you mean?"
"The fact that Rachel came to my office this early isn't that strange?"
"No. You're overthinking, Headmistress Elisha."
The silver-haired woman turned her chair, resting her chin on her hand, smiling.
"…Am I that old?"
"You are old."
"Coughs blood."
"You are 413 years old."
"Coughs blood."
"You are merely an old grandmother with a smooth face."
"Coughs blood."
"…You are cruel, Rachel."
"I am only stating facts."
"Could you filter them a little?"
"That would distort the facts."
"…I'm too lazy for this. So about Ard?"
"…I cannot hide anything from you."
"Just a guess~"
The Head of Aetherion Academy, Elisha II a woman of long-standing legacy and monumental history. She was the one who served as the mediator between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm during the Great War a century ago.
She was also the one who brought equality among all races, ending the oppression and discrimination imposed by the dominant race humans. Elisha II led a massive revolution across the world, declaring:
"They are the same as humans. Only their forms differ."
In the past, slavery had been considered normal among the strong. It was also one of the major causes of endless bloodshed across the continents due to constant racial wars.
Elisha II, already serving as the Head of the Academy at the time, had grown sick of the stench of blood wherever she went.
At last, she proposed a treaty for all races. Naturally, it did not go as smoothly as she had hoped. Even though Elisha offered what she called a "gift" peace and equality every race regarded her as nothing more than a madwoman.
From the perspective of each race, slavery was normal. Being told to treat others as equals shocked and angered them. To them, it was no different from treating cattle as humans.
When her peaceful words were rejected and mocked, Elisha was forced to step onto the battlefield and challenge all who opposed the abolition of slavery across every race.
Representatives from every race answered her challenge and fought her.
But what followed was tragic for them.
Every representative was slaughtered by Elisha, along with the armies they brought. Thus, the greatest war in history was carved into legend with Elisha as its central figure.
And it was then she earned the title:
"Arbiter of Silence."
"Kyaa~ how embarrassing!"
Rachel thought quietly, letting out a soft sigh.
The world would surely be shocked if the woman who slaughtered every racial representative and led a global revolution possessed such a personality…
She then continued, her face returning to seriousness.
"Is it truly alright to place the Young Lord I mean, Professor Ard in that class…?"
"You worry too much."
"Of course I worry," she sighed. "You know what the students of that class are like, don't you…?"
Elisha rose from her chair and walked toward the large window behind her. Standing there, she gazed outward. From that vantage point, the entirety of Aetherion Academy was visible the swordsmanship training grounds, the Magic Tower, the Alchemy building, the cafeteria, and students going about their daily activities.
"Yes. I know."
"Then why assign Professor Ard to teach that class?!"
Rachel's voice rose slightly, filled with worry and demand for explanation.
"Rachel, you asked whether I know what those students are like. Very well let me ask you the opposite."
"…But you still haven't answered my question."
"You will find your answer within my question."
Elisha turned back toward Rachel with a gentle smile, her silver hair glowing against the sunlight. Rachel fell silent, waiting for the question Elisha was about to ask.
"Do you know who Ard truly is?"
"…Of course I do. He is---"
"No. Not that. Not who he is by identity… but who he is as a person."
"
…As a person…?!"
Rachel jolted, as if struck by sudden realization.
Meanwhile, Elisha walked toward the bookshelves lining the side of the room. She took one of the neatly arranged books and began flipping through its pages with graceful fingers.
Ard Le Ventias was once a student of Aetherion Academy. However, he often suffered discrimination for one simple truth he was neither the biological child of House Ventias, nor was he human.
Because of this, Ard was frequently bullied within the academy. Countless insults pierced both his heart and mind. His parents grew worried about him and even spoke directly with Elisha. Though Ard was not their blood-related child, he was deeply loved by them.
Despite the humiliation he endured, Ard accepted it calmly because it was a fact that he was not human. Most of the time, he responded only with a few quiet words that left his tormentors speechless.
But it was a different story when the insults were directed at his parents.
Ard showed no mercy toward anyone who spoke ill of them. There was even an incident where he brutally beat a professor who had said:
"Duke Ventias must be a fool to raise a child like this."
Five internal organs were shattered. Bones were crushed.
Even if Ard was called a demon's child or worse his talent and intellect stood far above most races.
"So there is no need to worry, Rachel,"
Elisha said calmly.
"Yes, the students in that class are problematic, but they are also gifted and powerful. However, Professor Ard is… how should I put it someone who does not need to be worried about.
Whether they are a noble princess of human supremacists, a racist demon noble, a beastman who despises both races, an elitist elf of the ancient race, a half-blood vampire, or even a traumatized girl of a minority none of them will be a problem for Professor Ard."
Elisha spoke with quiet confidence, smiling faintly as she gazed at Ard's portrait within the book in her hands.
Yet Rachel was still not fully convinced. Concern lingered within her heart.
But her worries… would prove to be unnecessary.
* * *
Back in the classroom
Cold sweat ran down every student's face. Some fainted. Their eyes fixed forward.
At Ard.
Behind him two massive eyes manifested. A blood red aura erupted violently. Papers and hair flew as if in a storm yet this "wind" crushed their lungs and suffocated them.
What was happening?
Why was Ard releasing an aura as if he intended to kill his own students?