judging by that pathetic sight."
Professor Banshee is a man who takes unusually strong pride in his class.
The cold anger in his voice, and the blatant disparagement in his intentions, had all the students in both Hot and Cold classes on edge.
"There was a reason why the Hot Class seniors gave out 'ice that doesn't melt well' made with magic. I keep putting it on the nape of my neck so I don't feel sleepy."
"Wow, I'm jealous. They used to hand out little metal sticks, and when you get sleepy, you poke your thigh with it."
"By the way, that Vikir guy is in trouble. He's going to get his ass handed to him by Professor Banshee on his first day."
"Ugh, he's screwed. I heard that professor gives you a group grade whether you do well or not."
"He just gave Ms. Sinclair 10 points for her attitude and 1 point for the entire Hot Class."
"It would be nice to have a top student, Hot Class."
"On the other hand, you're doomed from the start, Cold Class. All because of one stupid troll."
"How could you fall asleep at the beginning of class? Even the most nervous idiot can't...."
The students look at Prof. Banshee and give a small bow amongst themselves.
...Not a single person stiffened.
Except for Vikir.
"...."
The controversial Vikir is deep in thought, unaware of the attention being focused on him.
'Come to think of it, there was something off about all the guys I killed yesterday.'
He recalled the twenty-nine faces he'd snuck outside the Academy to assassinate before attending the OT last night.
Every single one of them had a distinctly demonic stench, and their 'faces' had melted away upon death.
It was the trait he most associated with the ninth of the Ten Corpses, the Nine Top Corpses, whom he was now pursuing.
'It's most likely that 'he' is involved, I'll have Sindiwendi focus her investigation on him....'
Vikir was making plans for the next demon hunt.
"...Vii, Vikir. Vikir!"
I feel Piggy poking me in the side, making me groggy.
The first thing I see when I open my eyes is Piggy's sullen expression and the fierce glares of my fellow Cold Class.
The first thing I saw was Professor Banshee's angry face beyond the giggles of the Hot Class students.
Then, with a crooked smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, Professor Banshee turned to Vikir.
"Vikir of Class B of the Cold Class, I see from your detention record that you already have a bad attitude. How in the world did you ever get into the academy if you've been dozing off since the first day of class?"
Professor Banshee's words brought sighs from the cold students and scoffs from the hot students.
It's clear that a single vikir will result in a deduction in the attitude score of the entire cold section, which will lead to a relative advantage for the hot students.
Then.
Something happened that shocked the entire class.
"I wasn't asleep."
Vikir blurted out.
"...?"
For a moment, Professor Banshee doubted his ears.
He hadn't seen a freshman talk back to him in the twenty years since he'd been on the faculty.
He'd seen plenty of students who cried or fussed over a point.
No freshman had ever dared to argue with Professor Banshee's waxen, pale expression and the grim aura of a warlock from Morg's Dark Faction.
Not even fourth-year undergraduates, not even graduate students, not even professors like him.
So Professor Banshee checked his own ears to make sure they were functioning properly and asked Vikir once more.
"You're not asleep?"
"No."
"That's a lame excuse, even though everyone saw you with your eyes closed?"
"My eyes were closed, but I wasn't asleep."
Then Professor Banshee's expression turned harder and harder.
At the same time, the faces of all the students were getting whiter and whiter.
Professor Banshee's smile grew even more crooked.
Then he spoke again in a sarcastic voice.
"I see, I must have misunderstood you, for you have branded a student who merely had his eyes closed as a lazy slacker."
"It's okay. You may have misunderstood."
"...."
Vikir's nonchalant response left his classmates, and even Professor Banshee, speechless for a moment.
For a moment, I thought, 'Did I really misunderstand?
…Poof!
Professor Banshee closed his mouth, and a terrifying sound emanated from it.
The sound of gnashing teeth made the students in the front of the room shrink their shoulders in unison.
Anything that comes out of a warlock's mouth should be taken with a grain of salt, but that was before the problem.
As if the temperature in the room had dropped a degree or so, Professor Banshee turned to Vikir and asked him his earlier question in a sharp tone.
"Alright, if you weren't dozing off, you'd be able to answer my question. I will do you a favor and remind you of the problem from earlier."
Professor Banshee glared at Vikir as if to say, "I'm going to repeat the problem from earlier."
"If you have memorized and understood my lecture so far, this should be easy for you to answer: name the places where the hunters of the barbarian tribe of Balak have engaged the armies of the Empire, and based on their locations, guess where their home base is."
When he had finished, he glanced from Sinclair, who was fidgeting in the front seat, to Tudor and Bianca, who were seated side by side behind him.
Professor Banshee glared at Vikir.
"Your classmates gave me some not-so-bad answers earlier, and you don't tell me that even those capable of coming up with their own answers have been taking my class with their eyes wide open, and you, who aren't even close to that level, have been taking my class with your eyes closed? Now, I expect an answer."
Professor Banshee left the lectern as if he had made up his mind and walked up to Vikir's desk.
It was his intention to take this opportunity to give the entire class a steamer clearance by frantically gnashing his teeth on one of the dullards.
But.
'Oh, so this is the kind of problem the youngsters at the Academy solve.'
Naturally, Vikir was not the least bit fazed, only amused.
For Vikir, a war veteran with decades of battlefield wear and tear under his belt, these problems are easier than tying his shoelaces.
The answers were imprinted in his flesh and bone, especially since his life depended on it.
Naturally, the depth of the theory is much different than just a fountain pen on paper.
However, Vikir was so familiar with the answers to these kinds of questions that he hadn't realized that Professor Banshee had deliberately given them to the students as a stunt.
So he made the mistake of answering the question over and over again.
"The places where the Balak and the Empire fought were the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 14th, 27th, 30th, 75th, 207th, and 306th heights of the Western Front, many of which are incorrectly characterized as basin and peak terrain, but in fact most of the battles were fought in the winter, when the ice and snow accumulated and melted. The warriors of the Balak are characterized as ultra-long-range snipers and guerrilla warriors, easily traveling great distances and high terrain, while taming wolves for mobility on the plains, so their settlements are expected to follow the general characteristics of nomadic peoples, and based on their movements, it's clear that they are located on high ground, deep within the jungle. Based on that map, I'd say the most likely location is the salt river to the west, between points A and B, and the waterfall area that borders the west coast."
Even military secrets, things that hadn't yet been reported to the academic community.
"It doesn't matter anyway, the natives of Balak have moved elsewhere since the Ahheman incident.
Even if they did, no one could get there.
Wild beasts, poisonous insects, dangerous plants, harsh terrain, and endemic diseases keep the Imperials out.
So Vikir came up with an answer that would not offend the natives of Balak.
... but.
Even as Vikir answered Professor Banshee's question, the silence in the room remained unchanged.
"?"
Vikir finally turned his head.
He looked up and saw a puzzling scene.
....
Piggy next to him, Tudor and Bianca across from him, Sinclair beyond him, and finally Professor Morg Banshee.
Everyone in the classroom, hot and cold, student and professor, was staring at Vikir with their mouths agape.