The Academy’s Professor is Overpowered!

Dawn, the next day.

I woke up and sat on the side of the bed. The curtains let a bit of morning light pass into the room, and the music from the gramophone boomed loudly.

A sigh left me. It was peaceful.

How different were these days from back when the war still raged on? Sleeping would have been a nightmare back then if not for the Wizard from the Hero Party…

Times like these made me remember my friends. I wonder if they were doing alright, everyone in the hero party too. Their letters were far too infrequent.

I stretched my hands above my head and shimmied my toes. It was really peaceful.

I had nothing much to do today. Gladwin and the rest of the civil servants would update me when they had more information on the groups and their movements.

Though I shouldn’t, I was hoping some of those criminals made their way inside the academy so we could have some fun, but well.

I sighed and pushed myself off the bed.

Another slow, peaceful day had begun.

A kind of day that I could only wish for these last eight years.

Only wish for.

***

Lumine Ador stood in front of me. The silver-haired priestess of the Lunar church wore a simple white blouse and a long, pleated blue skirt. She had her hair tied in a bun as she excitedly—her face still stone cold—looked around the flower gardens.

I watched her with the camera in my hands. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes away.

What was this…? Was I just seeing things or was my skill Lumine Meter finally updating? I could swear I saw dog ears drooping out of Lumine’s head.

Come to think of it, if Iaso was the picture of a cat, then Lumine seemed like a dog. I would have said another cat with how quiet she was, but Lumine lacked the quality of being a tad insufferable.

That’s right, she was a Japanese Spaniel, the middle ground between cats and dogs.

Lumine tilted her head as she looked my way. I shook off the thoughts and reached into my coat. “If you want to take pictures, Lumine,” I said. “You have to dress the part.”

I pulled out a beret and slapped it on her head. It was perfect for her hairstyle. Next, I reached into another pocket of my coat and pulled out a fake mustache.

Lumine looked at it and shook her head, but I couldn’t compromise on this detail. It was very important. We had to look like true auteurs now that we had the grand responsibility of handling a low-quality yet inventive camera.

Lumine shook her head further frantically, she was intent on not wearing it, but I was prepared for this.

“Haha!” I laughed an evil laugh and reached into my coat again! This time, I pulled out another beret and mustache and wore them myself.

“Pfft—” Lumine snorted as she looked at me. She covered her mouth, holding in her laugh.

“Don’t be so hasty to laugh!” I said. “You’ll wear your mustache too!”

Or so I hoped. But she didn’t fall prey to my peer pressure. In the end, I was the only one who had to walk around with the beret and the mustache.

My first order of business was to teach Lumine to click pictures.

I let her grab the camera and pointed at the flower field.

“We have barely used any, but this has enough film for a hundred or images. We should start with a picture of the flowerbed you’ve worked hard on.”

Lumine flipped the camera in her hand.

“It’s 200 gold, by the way.”

She flinched and changed her grip. Just a mention of the price was enough to make her treat it like an idol of god.

Lumine lowered her head.

“Anyway, taking a picture is pretty simple. You just point the camera at your target and press the shutter button here.” I showed her the button and guided the lens to the flower field. Lumine was too stiff to have full control of the camera.

But this much was enough, she looked to be having fun.

Lumine carefully pointed the camera at the flower from where she stood. She had no regard for camera angle or the lighting, it was pretty endearing to see.

The first one, she could take herself.

The girl tapped the shutter and held it that way for thirty seconds. Once it passed, she let go and turned to me. It felt as if she would hop in excitement, but she didn’t.

I smiled at Lumine and praised her.

“Good! We’ll be able to see this very well when the film is developed.”

She looked happy. I was glad the proximity was paying off in some way.

“Remember, the best photographs are candid. Take them when no one expects it. Alright, now let’s go and get some photos in!”

And while we are at it, let’s go make sure Lumine doesn’t have a hard time in the classroom.

***

My plan was rather simple. I will use the images as an excuse and drag Lumine around to the people of our classroom.

Her image was pretty solid in the class—a girl that doesn’t speak. And when spoken to, act’s haughty.

If someone could act haughty in the presence of people like Ier and the Saintess Candidate, I would like to meet them. By all means, Lumine was not rude but misunderstood.

But the world wasn’t kind. If things continued, the classroom’s opinion of her would change into that of a person who thinks too much of herself. Then to that of a person who always gets in trouble, and eventually to that of a person who was a total asshole.

It may be her fault, it was definitely a problem with her communication, but that doesn't mean we disregard what caused it.

If she was not comfortable speaking, she was not comfortable speaking. Whatever path she chose, I planned to help her. If my presence could ease the wounds from the war even a little, I was happy.

Today, we would go around and take pictures with most people from our Black Rose Classroom. They will stick around because I was the one calling them, and when they see Lumine diligently doing her best to take pictures, they would all be impressed and have a gentler opinion of her.

That was the plan.

Until it got ruined before we even met the first person.