Attendance… plz…)
….
One week later.
The selection process was over. The students had reported in.
Rimuru received his official appointments. He was now a First-Class Lecturer for General Education (Magic Circuits & Traits), a Third-Class Lecturer on Magical Contamination Risks, and, most importantly, he held two professorships.
He was the Professor of Hydro-Mancy (one of the five elemental foundations) and the authoritative Professor on the theoretical "Void" alignment within the Department of Imaginary Numbers.
Of course, those were just his primary titles.
On top of those, he was the Guest Professor for Witchcraft Trait Transformation in the Botany Department, the Honorary Professor of Fairy Tale Magecraft Research, the Honorary Professor of Phantasmal Species History in the Zoology Department, and about a dozen other miscellaneous honorary positions.
Every single one of them secured through a week of aggressive networking, backroom deal-making, and shameless schmoozing.
It's worth noting that he specifically volunteered to take over the Department of Modern Magecraft. His long-term plan was to eventually seize "Slur", the Academic City associated with the department, and either gift it to Reines or hoard it for himself.
He was the first person in nearly a century to actively ask for that job.
…
"Therefore, based on the transformation of magical attributes, we can deduce…"
Rimuru snapped the textbook shut. He tossed it casually to the side, where Boundless, currently mimicking a bookstand, caught it mid-air and hovered dutifully at his elbow.
"Right, that wraps it up for today," Rimuru said, offering the class a relaxed smile. "Theoretical knowledge is all well and good, but frankly, it won't save your life."
He extended a hand. A burst of water vapor hissed into existence, swirling into a dense, mystical fog that carpeted the lecture hall like a scene from a fairyland.
"However, practice consumes materials and mana, and it carries unpredictable risks. That is why mastering trait transformation and mana control is critical for any magus."
The fog danced around his fingers.
"At the very least, if you can generate water directly from mana like I can, you save a fortune on utility bills, don't you?"
Rimuru scanned the tiered lecture hall. Students were already packing their bags, but one hand shot up high.
"Put your hand down, Christina. I saw you." Rimuru chuckled. "If you have questions, come to my office or just walk up here. I don't like holding up the entire class's dismissal time to answer a personal query."
"See you all next week. Or, for some of you, next period. Let me see… yes, students of the General Foundations course, you don't need to leave. We're in the same room."
Rimuru flashed a gentle, practiced smile at Christina, then turned and strolled out the door first.
Only after he left did the classroom explode into eager chatter.
Including the group around Christina, the girl who had raised her hand.
"Professor Rimuru is so gentle! And cute!" A girl sitting next to Christina blushed, clutching her notes. "Though… don't you feel his theories are a bit… a bit…"
"Direct? Modern?" Christina finished for her, smiling. "I noticed it too. unlike other professors who love burying us in archaic terminology, Professor Rimuru prefers practical examples. And his applications lean heavily toward modern usage."
"Yeah… I mean, what other magus talks about saving money on water bills?" A male student passing by stopped to join in. "I heard he's from a major family, too. But he's so approachable…"
"I've heard his nickname," Christina said. She had clearly done her homework. "They call him a Lord of something…"
"The Fairy Tale Lord."
A cold, arrogant voice cut through their conversation.
The group turned. Standing there was a boy with stark grey-white hair and an expression that could freeze hell over.
"Also, instead of gossiping about the Professor… did you actually manage to complete the attribute trait exercise?"
"...Hey. What's with the attitude? Did you finish it?" The male student bristled, annoyed by the interruption.
The grey-haired boy didn't bother to argue. He simply shot the student a cold look, then casually tapped the glass of water sitting on Christina's desk.
Crack.
In an instant, the liquid solidified into hard, jagged ice, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
"...That's… amazing…" The girl beside Christina stared, stunned.
The boy was already walking away, tossing one last remark over his shoulder.
"Christina, was it? If you're planning to visit Professor Rimuru, I suggest you hurry. Otherwise… you won't even get a ticket in line. You'll have to fight a certain brat to get anywhere near him."
"Eh?! F-fight?"
…
The boy's warning wasn't baseless.
In just one week, Rimuru's reputation in the field of Hydro-Mancy hadn't just grown; it had crushed the competition.
There were already die-hard fans claiming that while other mages performed water magecraft, Professor Rimuru performed art.
It couldn't be helped. Compared to the traditionalists who focused on dry theory and raw power, Rimuru had the advantage of a modern mind filled with hundreds of anime and manga references. He had a library of imaginative applications for water magic that these kids couldn't even conceive of.
Just take a simple high-pressure water gun. Rimuru could spin enough theory and style around that one concept to fill a lecture.
Your magecraft might be stronger than mine, but it will never be cooler than mine.
As a lecturer for the Foundation courses, Rimuru was tapping into his past life. He had been an elite student forced to study marketing, business, and consumer psychology alongside finance. He knew exactly how to grasp the hearts of these eager, impressionable teenage magi.
Rimuru knew the score. Even if he didn't return home, his "era", according to the plot and his goal to save Human Order, wouldn't truly begin until the Holy Grail War seven years from now. If he succeeded then, he could solidify his status as a Magician.
But he wasn't satisfied with just that.
In the A Certain Magical Index universe, one of the three great pillars of world-building alongside Fate, there was a man named Aleister Crowley. That man used his personal philosophy to influence two-thirds of the world's magicians.
So, why couldn't Rimuru do the same?
….
+10 chapters on my p@tr3on: Kazuma_trash
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