The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly

At this point, Ismera started to have some wild imaginings.

Could it be that the Imperial Palace is considering Dian as the next headmaster?

No matter how she thought about it, there were too many suspicious points.

Ismera had heard through various channels that the Imperial Palace was searching for a replacement to oust Kirrin.

Due to the Emperor, they had endured for several years, but with the first graduating class coming out next year, the Head of Imperial Security Bureau could no longer ignore the situation.

So, secretly, Ismera had been expecting that she, who also served as the vice-headmaster, would become the headmaster.

But what a surprise. Instead of the famed hero Sir Linus, whom everyone had been talking about, the one who came was a scruffy, unruly human man with brown hair she had never seen before.

Upon arrival, this man dismantled Kirrin’s steadfast academy management style, created the commercial district, and brought in wild horses from who knows where.

And all of this was supported vigorously by the Imperial Palace.

Moreover, now, he brought a plan that was far superior to any that Ismera and the esteemed professors of the Theoretical Department had devised.

At first, Ismera thought Dian was someone like Kirrin, who had connections with some high-ranking individuals, which is how he became the Head Professor.

But now she saw that this man was exceptionally skilled.

He wasn’t the kind of person she had thought he was. Clearly… clearly there was something more.

From any angle, Dian seemed to be the next headmaster prepared by the Imperial Palace.

Since Kirrin had the Emperor’s protection, it would be burdensome to replace her immediately, so they assigned Dian as the Head Professor first to slowly take over the academy.

Then what about me…?

Looking at Dian and Kirrin, it seemed like flames of a dragon’s breath might shoot out from Ismera’s eyes at any moment.

Contrary to Ismera’s burning anger, Kirrin was all smiles as she adopted Dian’s plan as the basic template.

Dian’s plan included details from the Combat Department and had established overall issues, so it only needed the Theoretical Department’s areas to be included to be nearly complete.

The meeting concluded with the administrative director being called in to discuss the budget and other needs for implementing the plan, and preparations were set to start that afternoon.

“Professor Ismera, you should visit the infirmary. Divine healing will help you recover your energy.”

As they left the headmaster’s office, Dian suggested, but Ismera shook her head.

“Thank you for your concern, but I am fine. It is inappropriate for a professor to visit the infirmary during working hours.”

“Come on, let’s go together. I’m tired too from staying up late last night, so I could use a buff.”

“A buff? What’s that? Ah! Let go of me!”

When Dian suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled, Ismera panicked and tried to shake off his hand.

However, Dian’s grip was so strong that she couldn’t resist and had to be dragged along helplessly.

“I’ll go on my own, so let go! My wrist hurts!”

“Oh, sorry, sorry.”

When Dian released his grip, Ismera rubbed her wrist and glared at him before striding towards the infirmary.

Normally, she would have put on a mask of emotions, but she was extremely tired from working overnight, and the speculation that the Imperial Palace was pushing Dian as the next headmaster had mentally overwhelmed her.

As a result, her true nature had unintentionally come out.

But Dian, who had already figured out everything about Ismera, followed her with a smile, unperturbed.

“Hello, Priestess. We’d like to receive some treatment.”

“Are you injured?”

As they entered the infirmary, Priestess Maya stood up to greet them.

“We’re not injured, but both of us stayed up all night, so we were hoping for some fatigue recovery.”

Dian’s words made Ismera look at him in disbelief.

It was no wonder. Dian had gone home a little after midnight, while Ismera had stayed up all night by herself.

“Please lie down here. I will imbue your body with holy power.”

When Dian and Ismera each took a bed in the treatment room, Priestess Maya began to manifest holy power.

The golden holy power enveloped their bodies with its characteristic warmth, and Dian unknowingly began to feel sleepy.

While Priestess Maya turned her back to Dian and used holy power on Ismera, Dian started to doze off.

A little while later.

“Dian. Dian!”

Someone shook him awake, and when he opened his eyes, a dark figure was looking down at him.

“Headmaster?”

“I’ve been looking for you. What are you doing here?”

“I was receiving divine treatment. But why were you looking for me?”

“Didn’t we agree to have some cake to celebrate?”

Only then did Dian remember jokingly telling Kirrin to treat him to cake for making a good plan.

“Get up quickly. I’ll buy you cake.”

“You just want to eat it yourself, don’t you?”

“Get up!”

Without responding to that, Kirrin grabbed Dian’s arm and pulled him up. It seemed to be true.

“Uh, Professor Ismera… want to come with us?”

“I don’t eat cakes with milk in them.”

“Sorry.”

Embarrassed by the unusually sharp response, Kirrin glanced at Dian.

“Professor Ismera is a vegetarian. Let’s go ourselves.”

“Alright…”

After Kirrin and Dian left the infirmary, Ismera, left alone, pounded the bed in frustration.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!!

“Please keep quiet in the infirmary.”

“Sorry, Priestess….”

During the practicum, Priestess Maya treated a student who had sustained a scratch and then quietly returned to her desk to begin recording the patient log.

[Head Combat Professor Dian visited the infirmary with the elf, Head Theoretical Professor Ismera].

[Both of them came to receive divine treatment because they were extremely fatigued from staying up all night].

[During the treatment, the Dark Elf Headmaster Kirrin came in, took Professor Dian to a dessert cafe, promising to buy him cake].

[Seeing this, Professor Ismera displayed inexplicable anger, repeatedly pounding the bed in frustration].

# # # # #

After leaving the infirmary, we headed straight to the dessert cafe.

“Headmaster, welcome! Would you like your usual order?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As soon as we entered, the owner recognized Kirrin and greeted her warmly.

“Headmaster, is anyone else joining you today?”

“It’s just the two of us.”

“Then why are you ordering a whole cake? Are you planning to take the leftovers home?”

Kirrin flapped her ears sincerely, looking puzzled.

“Don’t we need a whole cake for the two of us?”

“Is that so…? Well, we did skip lunch, so we might be able to finish it.”

But earlier, the cafe owner had said this was her ‘regular order’…

“Thank you for the meal!”

As the entire cake was placed on the table, Kirrin picked up a fork.

“Mmm! It’s really delicious!”

Kirrin’s ears perked up like a rabbit’s as she took a big bite of the cake. How cute.

“I noticed Professor Ismera seemed really angry earlier.”

Kirrin spoke as she wiped the whipped cream from her mouth with a napkin.

“Was it because I cluelessly suggested having cake? Maybe if I had suggested salad, she wouldn’t have been upset.”

I laughed at Kirrin’s completely off-the-mark guess.

“It’s not that. She was upset because you adopted the plan I made.”

“Oh, is that it? Well… I suppose Professor Ismera’s pride must have been hurt.”

“She looked down on me and the Combat Department, but when she saw the plan, she realized it wasn’t what she expected.”

“That’s right. Professor Ismera is a pure-blooded elf with a high-level master’s degree. She probably thinks I’m an inadequate headmaster too.”

“She probably does.”

Nodding, Kirrin spoke carefully.

“Professor Ismera wants to be headmaster.”

“I know, but it won’t be easy. Politically speaking.”

“True….”

The reason the Second Princess hasn’t been able to remove Kirrin was because of the Emperor.

So, they brought out Linus as their trump card, and when that didn’t work, they opted for me as a backup.

When that didn’t work out either, they reluctantly made me a professor.

Now, Kirrin is in a secure position, and Ismera can’t overcome that.

If she could, the Second Princess would have recommended Ismera, who is close by, instead of the hero or a recluse like me.

Ismera’s credentials are too weak to break the Emperor’s stubbornness.

“I always feel sorry and grateful to Ismera…. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to endure.”

“I agree. Despite her true feelings, Professor Ismera is really doing her best.”

Kirrin sighed deeply.

“Haa…. How did I end up in such a precarious position…”

“In times like these, we call it a catch-22.”

“I’ve never heard that before…”

Feeling down, Kirrin let her ears droop as she gobbled up the cake.

# # # # #

With the academy’s final plan in place, preparations for selecting special students sped up.

One dormitory was set aside as accommodation for applicants during the selection period, and facilities like the dining hall and baths were prepared.

The faculty double-checked the test sites and scoring charts, while Kirrin wrote letters to various territories and cities.

The content was essentially, ‘The academy is selecting talented individuals, so lords and mayors, please actively recommend such individuals from your regions and cities.’

The letters, containing the selection plans, were sent everywhere with Orendi’s magic.

Meanwhile, Knightley visited once, but I had to apologize for being too busy and asked to meet again after the selection process.

Though clearly displeased, Knightley understood the situation and left.

Then a letter arrived from Linus.

He wrote that the baby had been born and he would invite me over in about a month.

Even in this world, newborns have weak immune systems, so they restrict visitors for a while.

I opened the accompanying box and found a bottle of radiant liquor wrapped in straw.

“Haha, this guy.”

Armand de Brignac. An extremely expensive liquor he had brought as a gift when he visited Brunswell before.

To casually send two bottles of this, how much is the Empire paying this guy?

I’ll save this and share it with the professors later.

A hectic week passed, and finally, the day of the special student selection arrived.