Page 186

After Sharin’s ridiculous comment, she thankfully calmed down.

Setting aside the absurd promise we made, my real work as a teaching assistant began in earnest.

At Zerion Academy, a teaching assistant’s role is similar to that of the student council.

Preparing supplies at the professor’s instruction.

Responding when incidents or accidents occur among the students.

Because of that, the TA work itself wasn’t all that difficult.

But—I had underestimated Vikamon’s appearance way too much.

In front of the TA office entrance—

There was a huge pile of letters.

Originally, this box was meant for leaving opinions or requests directed at the TA office.

But somehow, it had become my personal suggestion box.

I picked out only the letters with my name on them and went inside.

As I entered, the noisy TAs fell completely silent.

Understandable.

Just like how it’s hard to get into Zerion Academy, it’s also not easy to become a teaching assistant.

TAs all have to pass exams to get their position.

There’s a reason the seniority system exists among them.

Especially being the personal TA of Professor Vega—it’s a very difficult thing to achieve.

While students might think of Vega as a lazy professor who just drinks every day, to TAs, she means something entirely different.

She’s the professor who’s worked at Zerion Academy the longest.

Because of that, the connections she holds can completely change a TA’s future.

Everyone wants to be her personal assistant.

And I suddenly appeared and snatched that position.

Of course they wouldn’t be happy about that.

So, whenever I walked into the TA office, silence would fall like this.

I didn’t mind it much, since I could understand their feelings.

I just went in and got my work done.

Professor Vega, by nature, is the type to take care of her own responsibilities.

She may drink every day, but when it comes to work, she’s sharp as a blade.

So as her TA, I didn’t have much to do.

At most, I just organized documents.

‘Come to think of it, what should I tell Aisha?’

She was my morning training partner.

Then all of a sudden, Hannon (me) had to go to the Panisys Kingdom.

Aisha, who took pride in our training, would be confused.

‘Should I just tell her the truth?’

Maybe because so many people already know who I really am now—

Revealing my identity doesn't feel like a big deal anymore.

‘Maybe it’s because I have more people who understand me now.’

That’s a good thing.

Next time, I’ll casually tell Aisha.

I want to keep training in the mornings anyway.

“Hey.”

At that moment, a TA spoke to me.

I looked up to see a TA scowling fiercely.

Dark red ponytail and intense features.

I remembered he was one of the senior TAs.

His name was Karan Sirel.

“Yes, TA Karan.”

When I responded, Karan pulled out a chair and sat in front of me.

“I’ve been applying to be Professor Vega’s personal TA since way back.”

Being connected to Professor Vega can change your future.

So it seems Karan had been applying consistently for the role.

“But no matter what I did, I could never get the spot.”

Karan slowly stroked his chin and looked me up and down.

“But now I think I get why.”

He sneered.

“If this is the professor’s type, what can you do? So, how’s life with Professor Vega? Enjoying yourself?”

I looked straight at him.

Still, he didn’t stop smiling.

He was clearly mocking both me and Professor Vega.

Saying that the only reason she made me her personal TA was because of my looks.

Even with the insult toward the professor, the other TAs remained silent.

Karan was from the Sirel Count family.

Though he was low-ranked among the direct line, he was still direct blood.

The TA position is usually filled by commoners or low-ranking noble children.

Karan’s tyranny had been going on for a long time, and no one else could stop him.

Karan locked eyes with me.

“What? Say something, Vikamon. You’re not mad, are you? You took my spot, remember? You don’t get to be mad. Vikamon.”

He deliberately left out my surname and said my name twice.

After the incident with the Third Princess, Vikamon had been kicked out of the Niflheim Count family.

Karan was clearly aware of that and was purposely bringing it up.

In other words, “You’re not a noble anymore—just a commoner.”

“You should at least be grateful the Third Princess pardoned you. Instead, you steal someone else’s position just for your looks? Man, privileged people are the worst, aren’t they?”

Karan looked around as if trying to get agreement from the other TAs.

They reluctantly nodded.

Now I understood why the other TAs hadn’t approached me.

Karan had obviously been threatening them not to associate with me.

But I didn’t feel much anger toward Karan’s actions.

The anger that had vanished early that evening had left no ember behind.

I had become immune to all criticism.

I was now criticism-proof.

I do feel sorry for taking the position of Professor Vega’s personal TA from someone else.

For someone, it’s a major opportunity.

It should go to someone who really needs it.

But one thing is for sure.

“Is being ugly something to be proud of?”

Even if I don’t get angry, insults deserve to be returned with insults.

My past was filled with endless criticism.

Even Isabel’s sincere attempt to kill me—I’d lived through that.

Karan’s insults were like a toddler throwing a tantrum by comparison.

And the reason Karan wasn’t chosen as Vega’s personal TA is clear.

He just demonstrated it himself.

Professor Vega has an exceptional eye for people.

Karan blinked.

He clearly hadn’t expected that kind of comeback.

Then, slowly, his jaw dropped and he looked at me in disbelief.

“…Ha. You crazy bastard. So you’re admitting you got in with your face?”

“I’m just saying I’m better-looking than you, at least.”

At some point, my tone had changed.

Karan noticed too—his eyebrows furrowed sharply.

He stood up abruptly, trying to assert his presence.

“Look at this punk, running his mouth.”

“What? You were running your mouth first. And honestly, I don’t think it was just the face.”

I looked him up and down, sneering just like he did earlier.

Dealing with faces is my specialty.

Getting under someone’s skin with the most annoying grin—easy work.

“…Handsome.”

From somewhere off in the distance, another voice piped up.

Vikamon’s face was a scam.

“This bastard.”

But it seemed to work perfectly on Karan.

At some point, Karan reached out and tried to grab my collar.

Naturally, I had no intention of letting him, so I dodged.

“Oh?”

Karan didn’t stop there and charged at me.

But I was someone who had trained through countless evasions in the past.

Even Ban, the so-called lazy genius, couldn’t land a hit on me.

Karan, who only became an instructor thanks to his family’s backing, could never catch me.

It’s a sad truth, but those with truly dazzling talent don’t stop at being an instructor—they spread their wings and fly.

Staying as an instructor for long just means you didn’t have the skills to go further.

“You get sluggish when you stay an instructor too long. Guess you weren’t picked for just your looks.”

“You son of a—!”

The training room was a mess before anyone realized.

Papers flew, chairs toppled over.

The other instructors didn’t know what to do and stepped back.

In that chaotic room, I stared at Karan with complete composure.

In contrast, Karan was panting heavily.

“You, you bastard...”

Then, red sparks began to spread around him.

Red lightning magic.

The exclusive lightning magic of the Sirel Count family.

Karan was a battle mage.

A mage who could use both physical and magical combat.

“I’m done holding back. You started this.”

Unfortunately for him, he had the memory of a goldfish.

Karan leapt at me, wreathed in red lightning magic.

His speed was on a whole different level from before.

His fist, wrapped in crimson electricity, shot toward me.

At this rate, my face would get caved in.

That was probably his exact intention.

So, I decided to go along with it.

My forehead moved toward his fist.

The moment Karan’s eyes widened, not expecting me to charge instead—

Crack! Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

Lightning magic exploded out from Karan’s hand and spread throughout the area.

The instructors screamed and hit the floor.

But there was one more person rolling on the ground along with them.

“Aaaaaaaaaargh!”

Karan rolled on the floor, clutching his wrist.

His hand had gone limp, as if the bones had been shattered.

Watching that, I casually rubbed my forehead.

My body had been reinforced with a steel-like frame.

Plus, I’d recently undergone things like the Heavenly Dragon Transformation, putting extreme strain on my body, so my durability had only increased.

At this point, my body can’t be pierced without some serious penetration force.

So Karan’s right punch?

It was inevitable.

His red lightning magic flowed into my body.

Sorry, but using lightning in front of me is about the dumbest thing you could do.

The red lightning magic was absorbed straight into Lightning Catcher and vanished.

In fact, Lightning Catcher crackled happily with a bit of current before calming down.

In the end, Karan’s fist was shattered while I stood unharmed.

I calmly walked up to him, now completely beyond human.

“Oops, my bad.”

“GAAAAAAAAH!”

And then, I “accidentally” stepped on his broken right hand.

No big deal—he’d get healed with holy magic soon anyway, so a few more breaks wouldn’t hurt.

Come to think of it…

Lately, I’ve been feeling more and more distant from kindness and restraint.

Maybe it’s the effect of the Veil Bandages.

While stepping firmly on Karan’s fist, I looked at another instructor.

“You’re from the Department of Holy Magic, right?”

“Y-Yes!”

She flinched at how brightly I smiled.

“So, can you fix it even if it gets more broken?”

“W-What? Uh, n-no, if it’s any worse, I… can’t…”

“I see.”

I lifted my foot off Karan’s hand.

He trembled, still clutching his mangled wrist.

The pain must’ve been more intense than he expected—it looked like it pierced straight through his brain.

“Oh, come on. That’s not worth whining over.”

You haven’t even lost an arm.

That’s when it really starts to hurt.

At my sincere words, the instructors stared at me blankly.

It was the look people give to someone clearly not normal.

“Instructor Karan.”

I called out to Karan, who was holding his arm.

He looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Let’s keep working together to make Zerion Academy a better place.”

Saying that, I extended my right hand to shake his.

Karan looked at me, dazed, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What’s wrong? Not gonna shake?”

I prompted him again, and he hurriedly extended his right hand.

His broken hand trembled as he reached for mine.

I shook his shattered hand without hesitation and gave his shoulder a friendly pat.

“There you go.”

Karan’s face turned ghostly pale.

Looks like it’s going to be a delightful time as an instructor from here on out.