Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 348: The Wolf Beyond the Fence (1)

Ludger’s special lecture on summoning magical beasts spread through Seorn like wildfire.

Every single student who participated had successfully summoned a magical beast.

Just as it is natural for a baby to eventually take its first steps, for a mage, summoning a magical beast was something that would happen sooner or later.

But if that time could be drastically shortened—

That changed everything.

At Seorn, magical beast summoning wasn’t taught until the third year.

Even then, it took at least six months to a year to learn properly.

Yet Ludger’s lecture shortened that time by several times.

Of course, in the early stages of the lecture, complaints were rampant due to the harsh training.

Students who normally avoided any form of physical exercise were now covered in dirt and sweat, so it was only natural for scathing comments to flood [Akashic Record].

Rumors even spread that Ludger’s special lecture would fail because of it.

There were even people who fanned the flames behind the scenes, making the rumors spread like wildfire.

‘It was supposed to go that way. How the hell did it turn out like this?’

When the rumors were overturned shortly afterward, the impact was just as great.

Hugo Burteg sat in his private office, sighing heavily.

He had deliberately tried to sabotage Ludger’s lecture, yet Ludger had successfully pulled it off as if to spite him.

Hugo couldn’t understand it.

No, after succeeding so many times, shouldn’t he have failed at least once?

How could someone remain so utterly unaffected despite all the jabs thrown at him?

‘And the fact that even those pampered noble brats adapted to that barbaric class is unbelievable.’

If summoning magical beasts required exhausting physical training, the first to rebel should have been the noble students.

They were children who had lived their entire lives wrapped in fine clothes, eating fine food, and receiving fine treatment.

They were supposed to be birds soaring in the sky, not worms crawling in the dirt.

And yet, those “birds” had dirtied themselves without complaint, running through the mud.

That class had even included the Third Imperial Princess, the children of the Duke of Lumos, and the Mage Tower’s prodigy, Julia Plumehart.

Not one of them raised an objection to Ludger’s teaching?

Did Ludger Cherish learn some kind of hypnotism?

Fine. Even if he generously conceded that point—

He had even ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) pressured a few students to cause a disturbance in Ludger’s class.

But none of them followed through.

‘This makes no sense.’

Ludger Cherish—was there truly something about that fallen noble?

Hugo simply could not understand why the students genuinely followed Ludger.

For him, education was not about sincerely teaching someone; it was merely a tool to secure his own position.

And now, Hugo faced a bigger problem—his plan had failed.

‘I confidently promised him I could handle this. What the hell am I supposed to say now?’

Ludger Cherish.

Even now, Hugo ground his teeth just thinking about him.

That man had toppled the delicate balance Hugo had maintained, as if walking a tightrope.

With overwhelming, undeniable skill, Ludger had claimed his position and left a scar on the noble faction that would not heal.

Hugo still hadn’t forgotten the humiliation of having to cut off the noble faction’s “tail” with his own hands.

That was why this plan had to succeed.

‘What do I even tell him now?’

Once again, Hugo had failed, and now he could only feel despair.

Since Ludger had risen to the position of Head of the Planning Department, Hugo’s faction had been in decline.

No one followed a man who had lost their trust.

Though Hugo still had a fair number of supporters, compared to before, it was a pitiful amount.

But having once tasted power, Hugo refused to give it up.

The sweetness of power was like a strong drug to the brain.

And once the threshold was raised too high, it eventually broke a person’s mind.

Hugo was no different.

He wasn’t the kind of man who could compromise or let go of what he held.

If he lost something, he had to regain it.

No—he had to seize even more to feel satisfied.

Thus, Hugo had chosen to rely on outside help.

Specifically, on the major financiers who invested vast sums into Seorn every year.

He had contacted them.

And they had welcomed him gladly.

After all, as long as the Headmaster held Seorn’s power firmly, it was difficult for them to intervene directly.

They needed a proxy to act in their stead, and Hugo was perfect for that role.

Just then, the crystal ball on Hugo’s desk flickered with light.

Finally. It was time.

Hugo swallowed hard and poured mana into the crystal ball.

He spoke with a forced smile.

“Ha-ha. I didn’t expect you to contact me so suddenly.”

[ I heard you failed. ]

The blunt words made Hugo’s throat tighten.

Cold sweat trickled down his cheek from the tension.

Silence weighed heavily in the office.

He had to say something.

“N-no, it’s not a complete failure. There’s still time left, so—”

[ I have ears that hear and eyes that see, Mr. Hugo. You’re not the only one loyal to me, you understand. ]

The voice beyond the crystal ball was calm.

It didn’t even sound angry about the failure.

That only made it more unsettling.

What if they had never expected anything from him in the first place?

Hugo, who had once been the leader of a faction, had to swallow his pride to bow his head to someone.

But if he wanted to regain his former position, he had to do anything.

So he had lowered his head and sworn allegiance.

And despite all that, things had already gone awry.

“N-no, I can do better next time.”

[ Of course you can. Why else do you think I supported you from behind and gave you funding? ]

“Y-yes, of course.”

[ But this is troublesome. Ludger Cherish’s class was a success, and the internal discontent that had been growing is now gone. ]

For both Hugo and the financiers, the recent field trip terror attack had been a golden opportunity.

Seorn had done nothing wrong, but they had a legitimate excuse.

No students had died, but many had been injured.

And the Headmaster had been forced to adjust the academic schedule hastily, which had stirred things up.

What better chance could there be?

[ Originally, I planned to pressure from the outside while shaking things up from within. But now, I’ll need to change tactics. ]

“What do you mean by changing tactics?”

[ There’s nothing complicated. We’ll threaten to cut the funding. ]

“Is... is that possible?”

[ Mr. Hugo Burteg. Do you think I’m the only investor involved in this? ]

Hugo flinched at that.

The person he was speaking to might have been a single financier, but there were many investors who supported his will.

Seorn wouldn’t shake just because of one man.

But two major financiers? Or even more supporting forces?

That would be a different story.

“... Are you saying there are more?”

The laughter that came from beyond the crystal ball was enough of an answer.

Hugo swallowed nervously.

“... But why are you going this far? Aren’t you already making considerable profits as Seorn’s investor?”

Investors supported Seorn in exchange for benefits.

They gave money, and Seorn provided appropriate returns.

[ Mr. Hugo, investment, in the end, is all about getting something back. ]

“Of course.”

[ Investing large sums to gain proportional profits is fine—it makes you a decent investor. But do you know how to become a great investor? ]

“What? Well, I’m not sure...”

Hugo knew some things about investment, but compared to the person he was speaking to, he was nothing.

[ You devour them. ]

There was amusement in the financier’s voice.

[ Respecting the other party, exchanging benefits, cooperating—it’s nice, it’s ideal. But too complacent. To be truly great, you make them yours entirely. No giving, only taking. ]

Hugo froze inside.

This man wanted to seize Seorn entirely, to have it in the palm of his hand.

‘No... but if we work together, it’s not impossible.’

Swallowing Seorn whole at once would be difficult, but gradually exerting influence was certainly possible.

Breaking through the first barrier was hard, but once a crack was made, widening it was easy.

[ You’ll hear some interesting news soon. When that happens, I expect you to stir things up nicely from the inside. ]

“Yes, understood.”

Their secret transaction ended quietly.

* * *

For the first time in a while, Ludger shared a meal with his fellow instructors.

“Mr. Ludger, it’s been so hard to even see your face lately.”

At Merilda’s playful remark, Ludger simply nodded.

“Indeed.”

“How’s the magical beast summoning lecture going? Manageable?”

“Yes. The students are following along well.”

“Don’t be so modest. Students doing well doesn’t automatically mean success, right? Isn’t that true, Ms. Selina?”

“H-huh?” 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Suddenly dragged into the conversation, Selina, who had been quietly eating, flinched.

Merilda pretended to be curious.

“You teach spirit summoning too, right? I thought you’d relate, being in the same summoning field.”

“Oh, that... well...”

Selina finally realized how she was supposed to join in on the conversation.

But before she could speak, Bruno interrupted.

“More importantly, have you heard the news? Things are getting noisy outside Seorn.”

Selina closed her mouth again.

It was rare for Bruno to be the one to bring up a topic first, which immediately caught everyone’s attention.

“Noisy? What do you mean?”

“Because of the recent field trip terror attack, quite a few investors are planning to withdraw.”

“What? The investors?”

“They say this might affect the budget allocations for the latter half of the year.”

Budget allocations?

That was no small issue.

Instructors required a certain amount of budget for their classes.

Selina, who taught Spirit Studies, might be fine, but Bruno, who handled golems, or Merilda, who taught curses and disenchantment, would find it troubling.

Alchemy, enchantments, and other material-heavy classes were even worse.

‘Budget issues?’

Ludger decided to check the situation when he returned to the Planning Department.

* * *

After finishing his meal, Ludger headed to the Headmaster’s office before going to the Planning Department.

The Headmaster had summoned him.

“You’ve heard, haven’t you?”

“About the investors?”

Elisa asked directly, and Ludger explained what he had heard.

She shook her head with a troubled expression.

“Because of what happened, more hyenas are trying to take a bite, and it’s giving me a headache.”

“Can’t you just ignore them?”

“This time it’s not that simple. It’s not just one major investor—three of them are putting pressure on us.”

Three?

No wonder it would be difficult to fill the massive hole in the budget.

“What are they demanding?”

“They want the right to interfere with Seorn’s internal affairs.”

“They’ve lost their minds.”

“Exactly. But if I don’t comply, they’ll pull out entirely. So I’m at a loss. Even I can’t fight money itself.”

The reason she had called Ludger wasn’t to ask for a solution—it was more to inform him, as the Head of Planning, of the situation.

“Will you comply?”

“I’ll have to stall for now and negotiate. Since they’re coming at us this strongly, I can’t completely ignore them—at least not unless we have alternative investors ready...”

“Hm.”

Ludger thought for a moment.

The answer came quickly.

“You can ignore them.”

“...Excuse me? What do you mean?”

“I mean I can find new investors.”