Isn’t the wannabe Villain too cute?

**Knock**

"Come in."

As the grumpy voice of an older man responded to the knock, two young youths stepped inside the room, which by furniture looked like an office.

The two who entered were the most gossiped couple of the Eden Academy currently, Luna and Austin.

After having breakfast with Saya in Austin's room, they changed after taking a shower and arrived at the headmaster's office because of the summoning letter Austin found in the morning.

It was the first time Austin was stepping here officially since he never did something worthy enough to be called by the principal, but yes, he did receive a warning notice from the bearded mage.

A sense of reminiscence arose inside as he remembered how things changed in so less time.

The white-beard magician, Merlin, gestured both of them to sit as he also took the big chair at the front desk.

"Please have a seat."

After they sat, a set of cups plate along with a teapot levitated and landed on the table softly.

"What tea would you like to have?"

"Lemon tea."

Luna replied instinctively since she was already craving the tea she tasted in Xylex. She didn't expect it to be the same, but if it could be near to it, she would be delighted.

"The one from the Ramen shop, huh?"

Austin and Luna blinked at each other before the prior one asked slightly perplexedly.

"Have you been there, headmaster?"

Akiko's ramen shop was famous but not to the point where it could become a landmark. Merlin knowing about such a place and even so when the shop hadn't been started working for that long, made the discovery a little questioning worthy.

"I just stumbled at that place while observing the aftermath."

His words were entirely subjective, with lots of trails here and there.

Austin understood what 'aftermath' Merlin was talking about and how he could have 'stumbled' upon the shop, which belonged to a summoned being.

On the other side, Luna was...just waiting for her tea.

She doesn't like to use her brain much this early in the morning.

Merlin poured the content after it was heated into three cups before placing it with some fluffy bread toward the two.

"So, why did the busy headmaster have to take some time to invite me?"

Austin came to the end of the chase since he already had an idea of what it was about, and Austin also wanted to talk about it relatively sooner than later.

Merlin sipped his tea before nodding in admiration toward Luna's choice as he brought up the conversation he could only have with these two.

"You already have figured about this..."

**TAP*TAP**

As he spoke, he tapped his mage staff on the ground signifying the wormhole which was unknowingly opened yesterday.

"Can I ask what you saw after you infiltrated the office?"

Austin nodded before he peeked inside his memory to search for any evident fact he might have seen but failed to pay attention at that time.

After a minute or so, Austin spoke with a bit of uncertainty.

"Well, I did feel an unnatural remnant of mana presence, but it was faint enough that I wasn't able to discern the first chain of the spell. Other than that, I don't have anything else."

There are several circles drawn to cast a spell. The first mana chain is the first layer of magic that construct a structure of the magic formation.

What Austin felt was only the outer layer, which couldn't e used to analyze who the person was or what was his mana signature.

"Well, it's surprising you were able to catch even that since my mana detectors were just lying idly, and also the professors I have assigned this room to."

Merlin muttered under his breath as he thought of the two secretive guards the Capital has assigned to protect Headmaster.

"How the Eight Patch Seal got broken, old man? I am still surprised here."

Luna spoke in a neutral tone as she poured herself another cup of tea without minding the courtesy.

Merlin forwarded some piece of bread cake to his student before he responded to her not-so-curious query.

"There is a nemesis of everything. Mana seals aren't vulnerable to any kind of magic other than Curses. But this wasn't just a seal, so I presume it was a high-ranking mage engaged in the treason."

"Then what about Sicily? How come she was here at that moment?"

As Luna asked, she thanked Austin, who wiped the small chunks of bread from her cheek as she heard the older one speaking.

"I still haven't been able to ask her because of her condition. But I don't think it would matter."

Austin was staring straight, but his mind was spacing out for some seconds as he deeply contemplated about something after he finally got the time inside the office.

"Headmaster Merlin. Where were you, yesterday?"

Austin's query came so abruptly that the bearded mage became a little baffled, but he responded not so long after.

"I was called by Your Majesty for some confidential purpose."

"Hmmm...Headmaster, have you hired every professor after checking their background?"

As Austin's words left his lips and Luna's cake got dropped in her tea mistakenly, the room went silent for several seconds.

Not so long after, with a grim expression, the cols voice of Merlin reached up to the blog youth opposite him.

"Are you suggesting that someone from inside the school is involved?"

Austin, on the other end, wasn't bothered with such a tone as he spoke nonchalantly.

"I have an artifact planted at every corner of the school which lets me know if someone trespasses its boundary if they had even an essence of curse in them. Since it has a limitless range of tracks, no one, I repeat, even Monarch Level curse users, wouldn't be able to hide their presence. And from what you are telling me, I didn't sense any person carrying curse energy entering inside after you left, so what's left is..."

"....Insiders."

Austin nodded as the headmaster concluded right.

Merlin's wrinkle-weighing eyes were visibly spread wide as he heard such absurd deduction, which seemed plausible for some reasons.

It was hard to believe that such a ridiculous artifact really does exist, but Merlin didn't dare to sneer at Austin.

From what he had seen, Austin wasn't the regular person whom he seemed to be past six months. To take the youth's words lightly would be the last thing Merlin would allow himself to do.

After a brief pause, a sigh left the older one as he rubbed his eyes and brought up the request he mainly called Austin for.

"Austin, I know I am in no position to request something like this when I have treated you like that....but Austin, can you fulfill two requests of mine. And before you outright reject, please hear me out, what I have to offer in return."

Austin wasn't going to reject it before hearing it, but when the compensation was mentioned, the conversation became a whole lot more interesting.

Seeing Austin nod, Merlin exhaled deeply first before uttering the idea he has thinking about for a while now.

"Can you..teach the professors and students of Eden's Academy."

______________________

A/N: - Will continue the next chapter from this point.

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