Ligrin was now utterly sick of this time.
"50 seconds remaining."
He thought that if he became an education instructor, the first thing he would teach them is how foolish it is to cling to futile things.
"40 seconds remaining."
Since she didn't get what she wanted, the true winner of this bet was ultimately Ligrin Peddler, him.
"30 seconds remaining."
But if she gives up on question 10 now, he might be a little more lenient.
"20 seconds remaining."
It's not too late yet. If she gives up now...
"10 seconds..."
In the end, Lucia didn't give up.
Ligrin was completely fed up with her persistence.
'This is the worst.'
He shouldn't have accepted such a ridiculous proposal in the first place.
He shouldn't have even listened to it.
Lucia may have gained Ligrin Peddler as her education instructor, but his assessment of Lucia hit rock bottom.
'...'
In fact, Ligrin couldn't understand why he was so angry.
More precisely, there was no reason to be angry.
Whether Lucia acted foolishly, stupidly, or stubbornly, what did it have to do with him?
Even if he became her education instructor, he just had to teach the assigned amount in the allotted time and leave.
'…It's because I keep seeing such pathetic 모습.'
It's not pleasant to watch someone do something stupid.
'That's why.'
So, he should quickly end this silly test and get out of this room.
He was about to part his lips, thinking that.
Suddenly, Lucia's hand, which had been still, began to move.
And then.
"...I solved it all."
Ligrin's pupils shook.
She solved it? Really?
It must be the wrong answer, but he checked Lucia's answer to question 10 with a trembling heart.
And what awaited him was.
[Lucia]
A perfect answer.
His head was spinning. He couldn't quite grasp reality.
Could he have misread it?
But no matter how many times he checked, Lucia's answer didn't change.
In the end, he had to admit it.
"...Lucia. That's correct."
To the very end, he had been defeated by Lucia.
...It was a complete defeat, indeed.
A very miserable and pathetic defeat, one where he couldn't even compete.
All the daggers he had thrown at Lucia in his mind returned to him.
Now, it became uncomfortable to face each other in the same space, in a different sense.
So.
"Classes will begin tomorrow. The class schedule will be coordinated with Commander Aen Rixus and conveyed through the maid."
"Ah, yes."
"Then please leave. I will tidy up here and leave."
He sent Lucia out first.
Left alone, Ligrin stared blankly at the test paper before letting out a long sigh.
He leaned back in his chair, slouching.
"Hoo..."
A severe sense of fatigue washed over him as a result of the aftermath of the storm of emotions that had raged while Lucia was taking the test.
He rubbed his sore eyes and adjusted his glasses.
Then, he stood up.
He organized the books scattered on the desk and left the room.
Since he had an unexpected student, he had to prepare for the first class that would be held tomorrow from now on.
What would be best to teach first?
Based on the test, she was definitely smarter than her peers.
So, it would be better to start from a higher level.
And one more thing.
'I should also prepare for the qualification exam.'
Since she became his student, Lucia would naturally have to take the qualification exam.
Ligrin returned to his room, placed the books on his desk, and checked the calendar.
There were less than 3 months left until the qualification exam.
One person reflexively came to mind.
"The eldest young master will be returning."
The qualification exam was an important event for Rodbel, so Estio, who was required to live in the dormitory, was specially allowed to stay out during that week.
It was a privilege only possible in Rodbel.
'He'll be back 2-3 days beforehand, so I need to prepare in advance.'
"Hoo..."
A sigh escaped his lips involuntarily.
He had a mountain of work to do.
Even for him, it was a bit overwhelming to handle Lucia's classes on top of his already busy schedule.
Moreover, since classes would start tomorrow, he had to meet with Commander Aen Rixus to coordinate the class schedule.
At this rate, his body wouldn't last long.
In that case...
'I should talk to the Lord and reduce some of my work.'
Before that, he should first create the class materials for Lucia.
He rummaged through reference textbooks and busily moved around.
However, Ligrin didn't know.
That he was unknowingly smiling throughout the entire process of creating class materials for Lucia.
A quiet night where everything was shrouded in darkness.
Step... Step...
A figure wearing a black hood crossed the hallway.
The figure, standing at the end of the hallway, opened the tightly closed window wide.
Whoosh-
The hood fluttered in the sudden gust of wind.
The figure quickly grabbed the hood that was about to fall off and reached out of the window.
When the two hands, which had been tightly rolled together, were unfolded, a sculpture of a bird spread its wings.
"Deliver this to that person."
After putting a neatly folded piece of paper in the bird's beak, the bird flew away in an instant after a few flaps of its wings.
As soon as the bird disappeared, the figure closed the window and quickly went back the way it came.
As if nothing had happened.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
In the morning, she received swordsmanship and horsemanship lessons from Aen, and after lunch, she took Ligrin's classes in the afternoon.
After all the classes were over, the day quickly passed by, either reviewing what she had learned or reading books.
'Banshis is nowhere to be seen.'
Well, he would have to become a dog if they ran into each other, so he would desperately avoid it given his personality.
That wasn't the only change.
Besides, once she started receiving classes from Ligrin, the servants who had been watching her started to treat her well little by little.
Apparently, some of them even volunteered to be her maid.
One day, Marin suddenly came running and clung to her, crying and shouting.
'I'm the only maid for the young lady! Please don't abandon me!'
She was too busy trying to soothe her, telling her that it wouldn't happen.
In fact, she had no intention of having additional maids besides Marin, so she firmly conveyed her intention through Ligrin.
Let's not bother recalling the fact that Marin came running back crying again after learning that fact.
'Gelak Malrid was also kicked out.'
As the ledger revealed the fact that he had given bribes, the crimes he had committed also came to light.
In the end, Gelak Malrid, who was retried, was expelled from Rodbel with a large amount of compensation.
Since he was expelled from Rodbel with disgrace, Gelak Malrid's knightly life could be said to be completely over.
The mansion was shaken up for a while because of that incident, but it was quickly forgotten and regained its peace.
Since then, the Duke hasn't called her.
She recalled the Duke's last appearance.
'He looked angry.'
When she wished to take Ligrin's class for a day as a wish, the Duke's expression froze to a terrifying degree.
His eyes couldn't have been colder than that.
'He told me to say it myself.'
He must have been angry that she didn't know her place and wanted to take Ligrin's class.
'Ligrin somehow managed to get regular classes approved.'
Of course, she believed that Ligrin would take care of it, but she was surprised by the faster-than-expected handling of the matter.
She realized once again how great his influence was.
Everything was going very smoothly, like a sailboat riding the wind.
Now, there was only a week left until the qualification exam.
'The problem is that I still can't use mana.'
Aen and Ligrin had jointly conducted magic classes, but not a single drop of mana came out, let alone magic.
So Aen and Ligrin said that she might not have been born with mana.
'Whoever it was, they really sucked it all out well.'
'Sucked it out, what do you mean...'
'Literally, someone scraped and stole all of your mana. The current you is, well, just an empty shell.'
The Evil God had clearly said something like that when they made a contract in the Abyss.
That is to say.
'I do have mana inside me, right?'
The Evil God wouldn't have restored it after the mana disappeared.
Because it would be disadvantageous to undo the Evil God's seal.
That is to say, there is still mana left inside me...
Then why can't I use mana?
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