Circe thought of herself as a genius.
She was only in her mid-30s, and considering that ordinary mages barely reached Rank 6 in their 50s, she was objectively a genius.
At the same time, she was the youngest professor at Grandis Academy, the most prestigious academy in the kingdom, had succeeded in several major research projects, and was steadily carrying out her plan to achieve her life goal.
That was certainly the case, but…
How did things turn out like this?
'Ugh… my head…'
If she had to choose the worst time in her not-so-long life, it would undoubtedly be her childhood, but…
The second worst was what she was experiencing right now. It was all because she met a certain devil.
A life where she subsisted on bean sprouts and potatoes, ate boiled potatoes and water for lunch, and couldn't afford to pay for dormitory maintenance, let alone enjoy a meal out or any luxuries.
Of course, the salary at Grandis Academy was at least five times higher than that of other academies. Even with a 98% salary reduction, she could live comfortably enough if she saved. She also had some savings.
But Circe wasn't alone.
To be precise, she had too many expenses.
'I have to keep donating to the Holy Kingdom… and I need money to acquire test subjects… and for life magic research… and I need to acquire more pawns…'
Her ultimate goal was to move to the Holy Kingdom, and to do so with a high-ranking position.
She chose Grandis Academy as a stepping stone for that. Because of the 'custom' given to magic department professors, the high salary, and the prestige of being the best in the kingdom.
She acted the part of an honest and kind genius female professor on the outside, but behind the scenes, she created various pawns using life magic.
She was slowly proceeding with her plan, as she still had to stay at the academy for a few more years.
Then, since the Holy Kingdom blatantly coveted her improved healing potion research, she used the 'custom' to hand it over to them, but…
'A mistake… it was too big of a mistake.'
Because of that, she ended up meeting the devil. Honestly, she was incredibly unlucky.
Wasn't it a custom that had been overlooked for decades? And a Finance Director who had been in office for only a year was trying to overturn it? I was already a professor here when you enrolled in the academy! Get a grip on reality!
…But that Finance Director was the one who had the best grasp of reality. Because that monster, the Headmistress, was backing him.
Circe was a sacrificial lamb for the abolition of the custom. The plan she had been building for years could be completely ruined by a single word from the devil.
Circe had no choice but to cooperate with the devil while hiding her true intentions. And she became the enemy of all the magic department professors.
And her salary was even reduced by 98%.
'I'm short on money.'
The damaged reputation she needed to restore. To do that, she tried to use her pawns to cause a commotion with the summoning ritual, but even that was discovered because she lacked money.
She didn't have the money to buy an artifact to hide the mana of the summoning magic… and she didn't have the money to buy magic stones to draw the magic circle.
And that devil came to see her again and told her about a plan that would make her the target of hatred not only from the professors but also from the students.
'Damn him.'
Circe swore revenge, but she still prostrated herself at the mention of restoring a portion of her salary. It was because she was truly short on money.
Even for the sake of perfect revenge, she had to pretend to obediently follow the devil's words for a while. That's why she quietly went along with the plan to spread the hair loss agent, but…
'What was that?'
While researching and preparing the hair loss agent in the underground lab…
Strange memories suddenly flooded her mind.
It seemed like a very important memory, something that could significantly change the current situation if she could remember it.
But no matter how much she tried to recall it, she couldn't remember what it was.
No, rather, because of that, the component analyzer she was delicately manipulating stopped, and… uh…
And what happened?
What—
"Ah, Professor Circe. Are you awake?"
"Uh…"
"You're truly amazing. I wouldn't be able to be so carefree and just lose my voice. Because of you, Professor, this plan was completely ruined."
"…Wh-what?"
"So, Professor."
"...."
"Naturally, you'll have to pay the price, right? The salary increase is canceled, and additionally, your salary will be reduced to 99%."
"…Cough."
Ah.
Let's just faint again…
***
Oops, Circe fainted again. She did use it a lot… didn't she? She hasn't used it much yet, has she?
I was going to wake her up right away, but seeing her hair falling out, I felt pity and stopped.
'I should talk about the hair loss agent compensation and building repair costs later.'
If she still had money left, I would take it all, and if she didn't, I would use her as a research slave.
Still, she would be more focused on developing the hair loss cure for her own hair, so it would be a win-win situation, wouldn't it?
I left the unconscious Circe in the corner and walked towards the Headmistress.
"Headmistress, what about silencing the others?"
"All the magic department professors, including Dean Billend, have agreed to keep quiet. Honestly, they showed a shameful side of themselves in front of Miss Chloe, so if they have any conscience, they'll remain silent."
"That's not enough."
"What?"
"If those bastards had any conscience, they wouldn't have let only Chloe and me in there. Talk to them separately and tell them they'll all get a 50% salary reduction if they reveal anything."
"Weren't the magic department professors already penalized after the custom incident?"
"It's half of that."
"Aha."
I could trust Dean Billend, but not the other magic professors. It was safest to just put a safety measure in place in the form of a salary reduction.
However, that wasn't the real problem.
"Then… Finance Director."
"Yes, Headmistress."
"What about the festival…?"
"…Haa."
Yes, the problem was the festival itself.
I was going to cancel it altogether, but after being persuaded by the Headmistress, I changed it to holding it for a day or two and then canceling it midway, and prepared the hair loss agent distribution plan as justification.
But that was all for naught because of Circe's trolling.
"Don't we still have some hair loss agent left?"
"Over three-quarters of it has already evaporated and been purified. And since there was already a leak…"
"It would be suspicious if a similar accident happened again."
Although we used the students' confusion and the festival as an excuse to silence the professors, if another incident occurred with the same hair loss agent, anyone would find it suspicious.
In the first place, Circe's lab was currently in shambles, and Circe herself, who was supposed to cause the accident, was unconscious and in a bad state.
I had no choice but to admit it.
Looking at the Headmistress, who was desperately trying to suppress her rising smile…
I finally surrendered.
"Let's do it, the festival."
"F-for the whole week?"
"For the whole week."
"Yay!"
There was no time to come up with a new plan now.
Still, we could manage this year's festival with the money from exchanging the artifacts the king gave us, the compensation from Moneybags Julius, the reduced salaries, and so on.
Seeing the Headmistress jumping for joy like a child, I couldn't help but think how childish she was.
Anyway, wasn't it okay since she looked about the same age as me? Strictly speaking, she was acting her age, wasn't she?
…I tried to escape reality by having useless thoughts, but it was futile.
"Then we don't have to visit all the areas on the first day! We can slowly look around for a week!"
"What?"
"We promised to go to the festival together yesterday, didn't we? Originally, we only had one day, and only the evening at that, so I was diligently planning a route to visit as many places as possible in a short time!"
Unfold
The Headmistress unfolded the map of Grandis Academy that was folded in a corner of the room, and the traces of the 'route' she mentioned were clearly visible.
With the academy divided into three areas – magic, martial arts, and administration – the shortest routes were drawn, centered on the places where festival stalls and events were concentrated.
It was a bit frightening to see how she had calculated everything, including obstacles that could waste time, crowd density, and the time to spend in each festival area.
The Headmistress, her eyes sparkling, grinned and drew a new route.
"A week is plenty of time! I've rarely been to the festival myself, but I've watched it many times from the Headmistress's office! What I recommend is…!!"
"H-Headmistress."
"At the very least, we have to go to the club headquarters building where the student council room is! The martial arts tournament is a bit low-level, but it's quite entertaining!"
"Headmistress."
"And the highlight is the magic explosion event on the last day of the festival—"
"Headmistress, I'm sorry to interrupt your excitement, but…"
"Ah, I should listen to the Finance Director's opinion too! Where do you want to go first?"
"I can't go."
"…What?"
"It seems like I won't be able to go with you, Headmistress."
Clatter.
The Headmistress, with a blank expression, dropped the pen she was holding. Her eyes wavered intensely.
Then, clenching her fists and biting her lip…
"…Who is it?"
"What?"
"Who are you… going with?"
As she looked up at me, well…
Her eyes were quite fierce. It was understandable if she thought I broke my promise… but my body was trembling with fear before I even realized it.
Is this the killing intent of a Rank 8? Honestly, I don't care about that.
It seemed like the Headmistress still didn't grasp reality.
"I'm not going with anyone. In the first place, you can't go to the festival either, Headmistress."
"W-what? What do you mean?"
"According to our original plan, the festival was supposed to be canceled on the second day."
"Th-that's right."
"So I didn't pay much attention to the schedule or document approvals after the second day."
"…Ah."
"Now I have to review and re-approve all of that."
Since the festival was supposed to be canceled midway, I didn't pay much attention to the tasks or documents after the second day and just roughly approved them. But that wasn't the case anymore.
Although it was quite late, I had to re-examine everything now to see if there was anything strange and cancel anything that was truly absurd.
And now, there was only one day left until the festival.
Even if it was fine until the second day, there were only three days left until the morning of the third day.
"Why are you spacing out?"
"Oh."
"Let's go to work. It seems like we won't have time to rest for three days straight."
Three days? We would be lucky if we even had time to sleep until the festival ended.
It was possible to secretly shove some of the work onto other departments like the Headmistress did yesterday, but even then, the workload was overwhelming. It was because the scale of the festival was huge.
The irony that although the plan failed and the festival was proceeding normally, I had no time to enjoy the festival because of it.
While the Headmistress was frozen with her mouth agape…
I bent down to find the festival-related reports from the pile of documents.
'Now that I've talked to Cassandra, I have to meet the protagonist as well.'
It seemed like I wouldn't even be able to leave the office, let alone meet him, until the festival was over.
As expected, a good festival is a dead festival.
Another all-nighter…
***
"Come this way! The Flame Magic Lovers Club is putting on a show with flame magic! We are not responsible for any injuries caused by explosions!"
"Special festival discount! One chicken skewer for one copper coin!"
"Let's go over there this time!"
"Martial arts tournament betting! Who will win between Lisha Claudia and Kaern Deste?!"
"Oh? Isn't that Rank 6 guy going to win anyway?"
"I heard he's not participating this time. He hasn't applied yet."
"Really?"
It was noisy and bustling.
Countless students, visitors, and merchants raised their voices. The streets of Grandis Academy, which boasted the size of a small city, were packed with people.
Stalls, specially prepared booths, magic performances, tournament arenas, and even presentations of inventions and theses.
The Grandis Academy festival was a place of joy, a place of meeting and exchange, and at the same time, a place of academics.
And in the midst of that bustling festival…
Ruth Spero sat blankly on a bench.
"..."
The festival. An event she couldn't properly enjoy before because she was focused on training.
But if she had to recall, there was one time she did enjoy it. It was during her third year, when she went around with Adam, saying it was her last year before graduation.
It was a short time, but an unforgettable memory, and at the same time…
…a memory that only brought pain now.
'…I knew it.'
However, what was tormenting Ruth now wasn't the memory of that day. It was ultimately related to Adam, but to be precise, it was because of what he said.
That the academy had discovered and arrested the professors' summoning ritual beforehand.
Those words she heard a month ago were very different from the 'past' she knew.
'The academy didn't know about the summoning ritual, and the Headmistress even apologized personally.'
What kind of change happened this time to alter the future? Ruth couldn't understand at all.
And at the same time, she felt a sense of doubt.
'In the end, none of the things I did… were actually necessary.'
She suspected that Chloe was connected to Circe. It was a misunderstanding. Chloe was only acting on Adam's request.
She tried to prevent the summoning ritual beforehand. It was meaningless. The academy had already taken care of it and arrested the professors.
Some might say that it had only been two months since she enrolled, that there was still a lot of time left.
But Ruth wanted to ask in reverse.
If the future had changed this much compared to what she knew in just two months, what would happen if more time passed?
No, in the first place…
Could it be that Ruth's actions themselves were actually causing harm?
'If I hadn't heard the truth from Adam, I would still be suspecting Chloe.'
She would have constantly harassed and threatened Chloe's life. And perhaps she might have even killed her under the excuse of stopping the future Chloe.
…Could she say there was no selfishness in that thought? Did she have no hatred or jealousy towards the Chloe who was by the fallen Adam's side?
She worried and worried for the past month. She only attended the minimum number of classes, ignored Mina's worried words, and spent the rest of her time cooped up in the dormitory.
She constantly felt self-deprecation, guilt, and a sense of worthlessness. Her emotions only worsened the more she felt them.
'He said he would contact me again about the student council.'
As if to accelerate those negative emotions, she didn't even receive a message from Adam.
Perhaps Adam was disappointed with her for some unknown reason and abandoned her.
She was afraid of the unpredictable situation. She resented her incompetence despite encountering the miracle of regression.
If only, if only…
'Maybe I'm not needed.'
Unlike before, she had power. She had money. But what was the point of all this?
Only dark emotions were reflected in Ruth's eyes as she sat on the bench.
Should she just kill Circe and drop out of the academy? Should she travel the continent and kill all the future villains?
Of course, since they hadn't done anything 'yet,' Ruth would be labeled a heinous serial killer. But it didn't matter.
Even if she stayed at the academy, she was just incompetent and pathetic.
Anyway…
"Ruth? Ruth, is that you?"
"…Your Highness?"
Ruth looked up at the sudden voice. Beatrice, who had approached at some point, was looking at her.
Ruth was about to tell her to leave her alone, but…
"Your Highness, those clothes…?"
"It's my part-time job uniform. It's just handing out flyers, but the pay is pretty good."
Beatrice was wearing a cheap receptionist uniform. It was already well-known within the academy that she was doing all sorts of part-time jobs.
A princess from another country who wasn't afraid of menial labor. This, along with the fact that she did various chores, including cleaning the toilet, during the deserted island midterm exam, garnered favorable attention.
Although some clicked their tongues, saying it wasn't befitting of royalty, there were also many who favored the fact that a Rank 5 mage and princess who overcame her chronic illness was working part-time.
'…Right.'
This change in Beatrice was also something Ruth didn't know about. It was probably related to Adam, but it was just a guess, and she didn't know exactly what happened.
With a self-deprecating chuckle…
Just as Ruth, who had made up her mind in a bad way thanks to this coincidental encounter, was about to get up from the bench…
"By the way, Ruth, did you hear? The student council president opened a fortune-telling shop!"
"…?"
"Although she's famous as a phony prophet, she's still a Rank 6 mage, right? A lot of people flocked to her for fortune-telling, but the student council president refused them all, saying that the first customer was already decided."
So what was she trying to say?
Although she felt sorry for Beatrice, who had initiated the conversation, she wasn't in the mood for small talk.
Ruth glared at Beatrice for a moment with that thought in mind, but she just chuckled.
"But the student council president said that the first customer was a 'student of the same rank.'"
"…!!"
"There's only one such student in the entire academy, right? And I have a reason to see the student council president. Could you perhaps take me with you, considering our friendship from the deserted island?"
"..."
"Yes? Please."
Fortune-telling, fortune-telling.
'It would be nice for it to be the last.'
After a moment of contemplation, Ruth nodded, and Beatrice, smiling brightly, reached out her hand.
Let's have my fortune told and say goodbye to Adam. And then kill Circe and leave.
Today will be my last day at the academy.
Ruth firmly believed that.
"Welcome, Regressor!"
"…What?"
Surely…
That's how it would be.