The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 365: One Troubled Asley

Chapter 365: One Troubled Asley

Although the opportunity to speak came without warning thanks to Warren, I ended up telling everyone how much more powerful the Devil King had been compared to me when I and the Holy Warriors faced him. It was difficult to convey the message in a concise manner, but at least everyone seemed to take things seriously.

Catherine and Jacob listened especially carefully, perhaps due to them having worked closely with Devils such as Billy and Idïa for a long time. Quite unexpected, but also not really.

Then again, they’re human, not to mention two of the Six Braves — not the kind of people to side with the Devilkin, unlike Billy. Their reactions to all this new information were in fact of the expected kind.

Now, all that talking was hard enough, but the thing that ended up following that was… even harder.

“Whew.”

I let out a sigh once I was back in my room, and Pochi opened her eyes slightly, seemingly curious.

“Hmm…? Something the matter, Masterrr?”

“Oh, you know… just had some late-night brawling with Sir Charlie and Sir Argent. I’m tired as hell…”

“Aww, that’s cooooool~~”

And so Pochi closed her eyes again.

That doesn’t seem right. Is that all the reaction she’s going to give? I personally think it’s quite a big deal, at least…

??????????

The next morning, before going to the magic classroom, we showed up for a bit at the Adventurers’ Guild.

“WHAAAAAATTTTTT!? You fought Sir Charlie and Sir Argent!? Why didn’t you tell me about that, Master!?”

Oh, NOW she’s making the appropriate reaction.

When we woke up, I talked to her about it again, assuming that she didn’t remember me talking about it last night. Looks like I made the right move there.

“Well!? How did you lose to them, sir!?”

“What the hell!? I WON, God damn it!”

“You… WOOONNNN!?”

Holy shit, that falsetto…

For a second, I thought her voice was about to break the Guild building’s windows!

“W-who are you!?”

“It’s me! ME! What, you think I’m an impostor or something!?”

“You WOOONNNN!?”

Again with the falsetto.

It’s so… powerful that all the adventurers around us are blocking their ears. I proceeded to shut Pochi’s mouth and apologize to everyone on her behalf.

“Why didn’t you call me for such an important meeting!?”

“I did! Countless times! With Telepathic Call! But you were too freaking drunk to pick up!”

“Aww, it felt GREAT though! I mean, it did make my belly feel a bit chilly, but still!”

“God damn, that’s the one thing that’s so admirable about you!”

“Aww, that’s flattering, sir!”

“Yeah, unfortunately!”

“Aww, since you’re complimenting me so much, I’ll forgive you this time, Master!”

Holy shit, this Familiar is too far gone. She’s no longer able to detect any sarcasm — all she’s hearing is the word ‘admirable’.

I proceeded to shut Pochi up by jamming her mouth with my fist while thinking about today’s class. I’ve been looking forward to it because Minerva is the one who’ll be teaching.

She’s a woman of many achievements, having invented many novel applications of Swift Magic, magecraft, and even alchemy.

…What sorts of knowledge will she be providing to the rest of us? Now THAT is what I can’t help but look forward to.

Well, I mean, I’ve already had a few classes with her, but they were all about Swift Magic. We were done with that topic last time, though, and she said we’d be moving on to new content starting today.

??????????

“Good morning, Professor Asley!”

“Good morning, Professor Asley.”

Once I sat in my designated seat, two people showed up to greet me.

“Good morning, Anri and Claris. You really don’t have to call me a professor when I’m not teaching, you know.”

They were the first friends Lina made when she entered the Magic University.

They haven’t really changed much — Anri is as lively as ever, and her build is still on the petite side. Claris is the same as she’s always been, except even more graceful.

Both of them had been working as administrative officials for the War Demon Nation, but came over here immediately after Lina called them, or so I’ve been told.

“Ahaha! I wouldn’t feel right, you know, considering how much older you are! Besides, I’m also a lecturer here, so don’t worry about it!”

“Oh, please don’t mind her. Last night, she’s actually been agonizing over how to call you, but in the end, I suppose she couldn’t make the final decision–“

“Wha–!? W-w-w-whatever are you talking about, Claris!?”

Anri immediately covered Claris’ mouth with her hands.

At my side, Pochi is… grinning for some reason, and Anri’s face is turning red. Quite an amusing scene to look at.

And it seems that Claris is amused, too, going by the look in her eyes. She’s quite a force to be reckoned with when it comes to gossip, I must say.

–Man, this takes me back to my school days. I’ve only been there for a few months at best, but I did have fond memories of that short time — practically a drop in the bucket that is my long life. Still, it contained some of my most nostalgic moments despite having only been a few years since then.

As I was thinking about that, Lina, arriving after everyone else, took her seat next to me.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning, Lina. Cutting it close today, I see — is something wrong?”

Claris, still looking to be having fun — and with her mouth finally released from Anri’s clutch, proceeded to say,

“Actually, she’s been studying new makeup techniques. Earlier this morning, she was so caught up in reading a book on T’oued cosmetic culture–“

“Stop it, Claris!!”

This time, it’s Lina’s hands covering Claris’ mouth… but she’s still mumbling despite that.

Heh, this used to happen a lot back then, too.

“You’ve got to hear about this, Professor Asley! Just now, Claris was actually SKIPPING her way here, humming your name to some random tune the whole time!”

And so Anri revealed Claris’ secret. How am I even supposed to react to that?

“Whoa, Anri! You’ve got to tell me more about that!”

Huh, Lina is into this kind of gossip, too?

It’s strange that this, of all things, actually makes Lina look like a normal girl to me. She’s so extraordinarily talented and capable, after all, though I guess her achievements may not have much of an influence on her personality.

“I was doing that, yes. Is there a problem?”

“”HWUH–!?””

Despite blushing a little bit, Claris’ reaction is nowhere nearly as strong as the others. Now then, how am I supposed to react to this?

At my side, Pochi is trying her best to hold her laughter.. and she’s managing it badly so far. Like, she could lose it any second now…

While I was agonizing over what to say to them, someone came to my much-needed rescue, albeit unintentionally and quite suddenly.

“Hehehe… you seem to be quite a popular character, Professor Asley.”

Minerva said as she stood on the podium.

Whoa, when did she even get there? Surely I should’ve sensed her coming at some point, but no — it’s like she completely slipped past my perception.

Everyone seems to also be surprised by Minerva’s sudden appearance. Even Irene, as I saw in a corner of my eye, was at a loss for words.

All the class attendees stood up and saluted to her, who would serve as today’s lecturer.

Minerva nodded to us and waved her hand, prompting us to sit down.

“Now then, let us get started.”

“”Yes, ma’am!””

Everyone’s voices echoed through the venue, signaling the proper beginning of the class.

“Many of you must have been surprised by my supposedly sudden appearance. I would like to spend today’s time explaining how that is achieved.”

Huh, so she’s showing what we’d be learning first before teaching us. That’s one good way to pique everyone’s interest in the technique in question. It probably helps the teaching process go more efficiently, too.

“Let’s see… Mister Asley, please stand in front of me.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

I walked up to Minerva, and she moved to my side so that the attendees could see both of us.

“This time, I’ll use the technique only on Mister Asley here. Pay close attention, everyone. And Mister Asley, try not to lose sight of me.”

She’s confident enough in it to say that AND use me as the subject of demonstration. Everyone must understand that, too, as apparent from how they’re focusing their attention on Minerva’s every move.

I did so as well… or so I thought.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a random class attendee, and at that same moment, Minerva disappeared from my field of vision.

It’s like she just used Invisible Illusion… but she in fact did not turn invisible at all.

“This way, Mister Asley.”

I heard her voice calling from behind me.

Immediately turning around, I saw her face, cracking the usual mysterious smile.