The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly

Chapter 120 - A Slap for Every Penny Found (2)

After a series of loud thuds and crashes, the door finally creaked open.

"Come in."

Ismera was fully dressed now, even wearing a cloak despite the summer heat.

Her face was flushed, and beads of sweat clung to her forehead, with strands of hair stuck to her cheeks.

"Vice-Headmaster, is something wrong?"

Merilda asked, noticing the unusual scene. Ismera gave an awkward smile and shook her head.

"No, nothing at all. Please, come inside."

The newly created Vice-Headmaster\'s office was extremely simple.

A personal desk, a bookshelf, a round table for meetings, a cabinet, and a single potted plant.

In the Great Forest, everything is shared—even men—so the concept of personal property is almost nonexistent among elves.

That’s why, when Ismera had showed up with her things to move into the dorm yesterday, she only had a small bag.

And since the academy provides everything necessary for her duties in this office, none of the items here belonged to Ismera.

As Merilda looked around, she remarked.

"It feels very different from the Headmaster\'s office."

I couldn’t agree more.

Kirrin’s office looks like it’s one step away from being raided by the prosecution, just before they shred all the important documents.

Her desk is piled high with papers awaiting approval, and the room is a chaotic mess, with items scattered all over the place. It’s a disaster.

Not to mention that Kirrin often leaves the window open in her office, hoping to escape the overwhelming workload—sometimes causing piles of papers to topple over in the breeze.

Her method of escape is to jump out the window and pretend she’s out of the office.

Even though Ismera handles more of the workload, it’s Kirrin who ends up looking like she’s drowning in work, which is honestly pretty hilarious.

"By the way, what brings you here, Student Merilda?"

As she served tea, Ismera asked the question.

"It’s about the private lessons. You remember, I mentioned it last time."

I answered for her.

"We agreed to discuss it after the competition, and today seemed like the right time."

"That’s right. I agree."

Ismera glanced at me with a warm smile, but quickly shifted her expression to a more composed and serious one.

"So, Student Merilda, have you given it some thought?"

As she sat across from us, Ismera asked, and Merilda nodded.

"I’d like to study under you, Vice-Headmaster. The competition confirmed it for me. I’m better suited for theoretical disciplines rather than combat."

"You’ve made a wise choice. I’ve always wanted to teach a student like you. Let’s work hard together."

"Yes, Vice-Headmaster."

Ismera extended her hand, and Merilda shook it, smiling.

It was essentially a done deal from the start. This was just a final confirmation between both sides.

A few brief words were enough to wrap everything up.

As we sipped tea, we discussed how Merilda’s private lessons would proceed.

Unlike Knightley, who is combat-focused, Merilda’s lessons would be held in the Vice-Headmaster’s office as theory tutoring.

We had already reported everything to the Headmaster, and the plan was to make an official announcement to the students.

Each field would select one top student, with one assigned to the Head Combat Professor and another to the former Head Theoretical Professor for advanced training.

Additionally, if any other students met the criteria later, they too could become private students.

This approach would prevent any accusations of favouritism or corruption.

Besides, there weren’t any students at the academy who could match Knightley or Merilda’s level anyway—except for Hindrasta.

Being a polymorphed dragon, Hindrasta’s physical abilities were superhuman. The only downside was that, surprisingly, she didn’t seem particularly bright.

To put it more accurately, she didn’t really understand the ways of the human world yet and had a tendency to charge ahead recklessly.

There are things that could be solved with a bit of thought, but she usually prefers to bulldoze through them—probably an innate dragon trait.

After all, why would a mighty dragon bother spending time and effort adjusting to the whims of mere humans?

That might explain why she doesn’t have a single friend at the academy and always moves about alone.

Though I heard that many of the lower-ranked students worship her like a goddess and follow her around.

But Hindrasta treats them with the indifference of a ray towards the remoras stuck to its belly.

During the competition preparations, the only social activity she engaged in was getting somewhat closer to Knightley and Merilda, which formed her sole human connections at the academy.

"Let’s start the lessons next week, Merilda. This week, I need to get familiar with the new duties, and it’s going to be hectic."

"Understood, Vice-Headmaster."

After agreeing on the schedule for the private lessons, Ismera smiled and said.

"Well then, you can go now."

As Merilda and I stood up to leave, Ismera suddenly shot me a sharp, disdainful look and spoke in a cold voice.

"Professor Dian, stay behind. I need to talk to you privately."

"Uh, sure. No problem."

After walking Merilda to the door and seeing her off, Ismera came back and locked the door behind her.

The stern expression she had worn just moments ago disappeared, and she flashed a bright smile as she ran over, sitting on my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I almost had a heart attack when Merilda suddenly showed up."

"Well, what were you thinking, doing that in your office during work hours?"

"I thought it was just going to be you."

"And what were you planning to do if it was only me?"

"Well, what do people who’ve already seen everything about each other usually do?"

With that, Ismera kissed me, biting and sucking on my lips while she threw off her cloak and began unbuttoning her shirt.

Sigh… Looks like there’s no helping this.

# # # # #

"That was amazing, Mister. Please, come again."

After checking both sides of the hallway, Ismera wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me another kiss.

"Ismera, no matter what, we need to keep work and personal life separate. If anyone catches us, you’re the one who’ll be in real trouble. I can afford to lose my job, but you can’t."

"I’ll be careful."

Despite her words, Ismera gave me another kiss. Then, hearing footsteps approaching from down the hall, she quickly switched to a stern expression and shouted.

"If you’re done, then get out already!"

"Yes, yes. I’m leaving now."

As I turned to leave with a grin, the owner of the approaching footsteps hurried over to me.

"Professor! Why is the Vice-Headmaster scolding you?"

It was Lina, the Combat Professor specializing in infiltration.

"Oh, it’s nothing serious. Just some minor things."

"I see. I just hope the Vice-Headmaster can ease up a little."

"She’ll relax once she gets used to the role. Anyway, where are you headed?"

"I’m on my way to class."

"Perfect. I was about to head that way too. Let’s walk together."

"Sure!"

Lina lit up with excitement and quickly linked arms with me.

It was probably an inappropriate scene, with a Head Professor and a regular Professor arm-in-arm, but Lina’s bubbly personality made it seem normal, like she was just a playful puppy.

The other staff members passing by barely batted an eye and casually greeted us as they walked by.

"Head Professor, there’s something I’ve been curious about."

Lina said, clinging more tightly to my arm.

"What is it?"

"How would you feel if someone knew your secret?"

"My secret? I don’t have any secrets."

"Come on, don’t brush it off like that. Just imagine it for a moment. Let’s say someone knew a secret you’d never told anyone before."

"Hmm, I’m not sure…"

Did I have any secrets? None came to mind.

Sure, my past in the Demon King Slaying Special Unit is something the Imperial Palace has kept under wraps, but everyone who needs to know already knows.

I don’t go around bragging about it, but if someone figures it out, I usually don’t deny it either, so it’s not really a secret.

"What if someone knew your secret and promised never to tell anyone? How would you feel about them?"

I tried to brush the topic off, but Lina kept pressing.

"What exactly are you getting at?"

"I’m asking how you’d feel about someone who knows everything about you but keeps your secret safe."

"Hmm, well…"

I glanced over at Lina and noticed her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Then it hit me. The time I followed Linus to the Tatarnok Village.

Somehow, Lina had tailed us and hidden herself, watching everything from the shadows.

She must’ve overheard my conversation with Linus and figured out that I was part of the Demon King Slaying Special Unit.

So, her question now is how I feel about her knowing that.

How should I respond?

Lina’s been a huge help to me.

When I first started here, she went out of her way to guide me. During the selection for special students, she even infiltrated the military academy to steal the plans for me.

And while we were preparing for the competition, she supervised the students’ practice sessions, lightening my load considerably.

"I’d be grateful to them, of course. It’s nice of them."

Better to give a positive answer. And honestly, I am grateful.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Keeping someone’s secret means respecting them. That’s something to be thankful for."

"Hehe, I see."

Lina giggled quietly.

"Besides being thankful, isn’t there anything else?"

"Hmm… What else could there be?"

As I pondered what to say to make her feel even better, I spotted something at the dessert cafe in the distance.

It was Hindrasta, her long pink hair styled in twin pigtails, scrutinizing the cakes in the display case as she stroked her chin.

What’s she doing there during class hours?

Could she be skipping class again?

"Lina, let’s talk more later. Good luck with your class."

"Oh, yes…! Understood!"

After parting ways with Lina, I headed over to Hindrasta.