Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 293: The Unshared Secret (1)

The World Tree known to the public is said to be a sacred tree worshipped by the elves.

But that was a relic of an old, outdated legend.

In academic circles, it had long been concluded that the World Tree was actually the surviving sapling of an ancient species that had existed on this continent since a time immemorial.

Of course, that didn’t diminish the World Tree’s significance compared to the past.

After all, a tree that could grow large enough to cover an entire forest was a marvel in and of itself.

Especially one that, unlike ordinary trees, barely consumed mana—no, in fact, granted vitality to its surroundings—and wouldn’t burn even when exposed to fire.

That’s why the elves still revered such trees as sacred, and humans, in turn, were eager to study them.

But even if it was dead, to think that a World Tree existed beneath the Empire’s capital?

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Aileen, the First Princess.

She chuckled softly at the way they were all looking at her, clearly expecting an explanation.

“Looks like everyone’s hoping I’ll tell them more, but unfortunately, I don’t know that much myself. I only just received the report a short while ago.”

“Even so, it’s quite strange.”

The one to speak was the Sixth-Circle mage wearing an iron mask—Iron Mask Roteron.

“A World Tree is not something that can exist so easily. Especially not underground.”

“A World Tree is still just a tree.”

“It’s an ancient species. A World Tree doesn’t grow just because you plant a sapling. It requires extremely specific conditions and a matching environment. But you’re saying there’s one underground? That’s preposterous.”

“Well... it’s not entirely impossible, either.”

It was Loina who picked up the conversation from Roteron.

She looked significantly better than before, likely having recovered a good amount of her mana.

“I-I mean, if the conditions are right, in theory it could be cultivated.”

“But that it would be beneath the capital, no less—that’s what’s strange. Normally, when a tree grows, it pushes toward the sky, and that...”

“That’s why we say it’s dead. Isn’t that right, Sir Passius?”

Aileen turned to Passius as she posed the question.

Passius sighed inwardly, thinking, Are you pushing this onto me? but still gave a nod.

That was precisely what he was brought here to do.

“Yes, that’s correct. At least from what I could confirm, it was undoubtedly a dead World Tree.”

Gasps spread across the room.

There was no reason for a Royal Guard to lie, so his word carried weight.

And in fact, what Passius said was true.

It was just that no one here knew there was a deeper story behind it.

Ludger, watching the situation unfold, was inwardly pleased.

‘Looks like Hans passed along the intel properly.’

Before Ludger had gone to rescue civilians—

He had pulled Passius aside to give him a final instruction.

—Sir Passius.

—Yes, what is it, Mr. Ludger?

—Once this situation is over, a lot of people will gather to assess what happened. They’ll also want to investigate what the Liberation Army was doing inside the underground waterways.

—Naturally.

—I’ve sent someone into the underground. He may not seem trustworthy in manner, but his skills are reliable. He should be bringing back intel soon.

—Oh? Where should I find him?

—District 3 of the residential area near Central Square. One man, one woman.

—That’s not very specific.

—They’ll stand out. Especially the woman.

Ludger had added one more thing with a faint smile.

—Besides, with your abilities, I doubt you’ll have trouble spotting them.

Ludger had been absolutely right.

While waiting near the designated location, Passius saw a pair appear.

The man looked utterly unremarkable—someone you could pass by anywhere.

But Passius, as a master-level knight, sensed a peculiar beast-like scent from him.

The woman, on the other hand, immediately drew the eye.

She was undeniably beautiful, but more than that, she was an elf with an unusual, magnetic air.

Just as Ludger had said, he recognized them at a glance.

Passius made contact with the two, relayed Ludger’s message, and received the intelligence on his behalf.

It was all done on the premise of mutual agreement.

For Ludger, it was more convenient if Passius, a Royal Guard, presented the information instead of doing so himself.

After all, he was technically just a humble instructor.

In short, Hans and Bellaruna had obtained the information, passed it to Passius, who then presented it to Aileen.

It was a comically convoluted chain of information delivery, but Ludger didn’t care—so long as the outcome was effective.

And it was.

“Sir Passius. Is that really true?”

“A dead World Tree, you say?”

Passius smiled bitterly at the suspicious stares sent his way.

“Yes. It wasn’t an ordinary World Tree. As I saw it, it was clearly dead—its color had faded to ivory, and only the roots and stump remained. The trunk was gone. Though that’s only my guess.”

Still, the fragment of the World Tree bursting through the wall of the underground waterway had been unmistakably real.

Passius relayed the information as if he had seen it himself, though he was only repeating what he’d been told.

A dishonorable act for a Royal Guard who held truth and honor sacred.

But because of his title, everyone took his words as absolute truth.

“A dead World Tree, huh... Still, even dead, a World Tree must contain vast reserves of lifeforce within.”

“If they had a cultivation facility, producing that volume of chimeras wouldn’t be so far-fetched.”

“Then this is worse than we thought. Who knows what else they’re doing with that World Tree...”

It was no longer a matter of whether the Liberation Army could pose a threat—they were already in motion, and the real fear now was what they might do next.

“Passius. Was there anything else you learned?”

It was Commander Lutus, who had been silent until now, who asked.

“Yes, Commander. The underground waterways are completely under enemy control. It’s a veritable chimera field. They’ve also fortified the area with traps and defenses.”

“Hmm. We’d be torn apart if we charged in recklessly.”

“Yes. But if we leave them alone, they’ll replenish their chimera numbers and repeat the same attack. Technically replaceable or not, it’ll be a huge drain on our side.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Passius drove the point home.

“There’s also the black mages to consider. With that many chimeras, their numbers must be large—and their skill level just as high.”

“Hmph. And what’s the Liberation Army’s current strength?”

“They have at least one executive among them.” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“A Liberation Army executive...”

It might have sounded unimpressive to refer to them that way—but that was far from the truth.

Some Liberation Army executives were Sixth-Circle mages.

“You must be referring to Lupholdt. A former Imperial war mage who deserted.”

Lupholdt, a high-ranking member of the Liberation Army.

The lack of a family name marked him as a commoner, but despite that, he was a mage who had risen to the rank of Lexuror.

Normally, a Sixth-Circle mage would be respected wherever they went, but Lupholdt had murdered his commanding officer and deserted the army.

Since then, he had joined the Liberation Army, wreaking havoc with terrorist attacks across the continent.

He’d been off the radar for some time, but who would’ve thought he was hiding beneath the capital?

Just as everyone began to ponder their next move—

“Excuse me.”

It was Casey Selmore again, her blue eyes fixed not on Aileen, who stood before her—

—but on Ludger Cherish, quietly standing off to the side.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Mr. Ludger Cherish.”

As her gaze bore into him, Ludger had no choice but to respond.

“Go ahead.”

“During my mentor °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° duties, I came across you, didn’t I? And with you was Sir Passius of the Royal Guard. Isn’t that right?”

At her words, everyone turned to look at Ludger.

As if silently demanding the truth.

Ludger clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘So that encounter is coming back to bite me.’

He’d even deliberately brushed it off at the time to avoid attention.

But now that the incident had erupted, it was only natural for Casey to bring it up.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

His answer sealed it.

Those around them looked at Ludger with visible curiosity.

Why had he been moving together with Passius?

The more perceptive among them even began to suspect that Ludger wasn't just working with Passius, but that he might have some sort of connection with the First Princess herself.

“In that case,” Casey said, “the two of you must have acted together. So why is it that only Sir Passius brought back the information?”

That was Casey’s true question.

If Passius had been out gathering intelligence, then surely Ludger must have done something too.

So why was he standing quietly now, while Passius spoke alone?

Even the mentors near Casey began to look confused.

Ludger had sent them warnings about the Liberation Army’s planned terror attack—detailing both their methods and even the type of gunpowder they were going to use.

Which meant Ludger had been tracking the remnants of the Liberation Army with Passius before the crisis broke out.

And yet now—

Ludger remained silent, while everything was being spoken through Passius.

It was unnatural.

It wasn’t as if one side had stolen the credit; rather, it seemed the other side was deliberately hiding their involvement.

“......”

Ludger silently met Casey’s gaze.

Her eyes were no longer teasing or playful. They burned with sharp intent, firm and direct.

She clearly wanted a proper answer.

And by bringing it up in this setting, she made it impossible for Ludger to avoid responding—knowing full well that if she’d asked him in private, he would never have answered.

‘So you’re using the weight of the moment to force me into speaking... tsk. How should I handle this?’

Ludger hadn’t expected to be the center of attention like this—it was mildly troublesome.

Still, he had plenty of excuses prepared.

He hadn’t ruled out the possibility of this line of questioning.

As he weighed how to respond—

Someone else spoke in his place.

It was none other than First Princess Aileen.

“I ordered him to.”

“Pardon?”

Startled, those nearby instinctively asked for clarification.

“I had already detected suspicious movements within the capital,” Aileen said. “So I dispatched knights to patrol the city.”

At this, both Veronica and Terrina gave subtle nods.

“But that wasn’t enough. So I decided to send others as well. One of them was my loyal knight, Sir Passius. The other was Instructor Ludger Cherish.”

“Why him?” Casey asked sharply.

Her pointed tone caught people off guard.

No matter how renowned a mage she was, wasn’t she being too disrespectful toward the Princess?

But Aileen simply smiled—as though she found the whole exchange highly entertaining.

“Because he was the most suitable.”

“He’s just a teacher.”

“You’re leaving out quite a few descriptors there. I’ll spare you the full list, since it’d be too long, but if we add ‘capable’ in front of ‘teacher’, I believe that alone justifies my decision.”

Aileen’s voice was pleasant, yet unshakably firm.

“Besides, since students might be in danger, it was only proper to pass the warning through someone affiliated with Seorn.”

That “someone” was Ludger Cherish.

And not just any teacher—he was the Director of Planning at Seorn, a far more senior post than regular instructors.

Given his rank, it was hardly unusual that Aileen might personally issue him a directive.

Still, Casey could instinctively tell that Aileen’s reasoning wasn’t the whole story.

‘There’s something going on. Between the two of them.’

Her sharp intuition sensed a faint, invisible thread linking Ludger and Aileen.

Why else would she assign a Royal Guard to accompany him?

And yet—there was no proof.

Not a single piece of decisive evidence.

The two of them were pretending with flawless consistency that there was nothing at all between them.

There was no room to press further.

Frustrated, Casey shot Ludger a pointed glare.

‘What did I do?’

Ludger grimaced internally, baffled at how he’d ended up catching the blame.

Aileen, meanwhile, only chuckled at the exchange.

She had, after all, stepped in seemingly to protect Ludger by claiming responsibility—but that was just contractual.

Her true intent had been to subtly provoke Casey in return.

Just as Casey suspected something between Ludger and Aileen, Aileen herself suspected something between Ludger and Casey.

‘She doesn’t let me rest for even a moment.’

To have people from his past gathering like this in one place—Ludger felt the beginnings of a headache.

At least it was just the two of them.

‘...Wait.’

Ludger’s eyes shifted toward Terrina Lionhowl.

A knight who had once pursued him relentlessly back when he was still working as a phantom thief.

Back then, she wasn’t even a division commander or master-level knight—but in just a few short years, she had grown immensely.

Looking at her now made this already uncomfortable setting feel even worse.

‘Hold on.’

A sudden realization struck Ludger.

‘Casey Selmore and Terrina Lionhowl... aren’t they close friends?’

Casey hadn’t revealed his identity yet, despite seemingly having figured it out.

Perhaps due to personal reasons, or pride, or some unknown motive.

But would she really keep that secret from her friend, Terrina?

‘...Don’t tell me?’

A chill ran down Ludger’s spine.