[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
Chapter 105 - Isra’s Great Forest (4)
I hurried to the eting room to share this good news.
I planned to announce Isra’s appointnt as Vice-Headmaster and celebrate it with everyone.
Vice-Headmaster—it’s not bad.
After all, the things Isra has been doing are all tasks that a Vice-Headmaster should handle.
Even if they couldn’t change the Headmaster because of the Emperor, creating a new Vice-Headmaster position specifically for Isra ans that even the Second Princess acknowledges her in her own way.
For Isra, who has been desperate to make an impression on the Second Princess, there’s nothing better than this.
As I headed to the main building, I thought about how happy Isra would be, and it already made feel warm inside.
Let’s be honest.
Isra is a good person.
At first, she was unlikable, but that was because of the innate arrogance of her elf race and the complex situation she was in.
As Kaiden said, her resentnt wasn’t directed at , Dian, but at the Head Combat Professor who suddenly appeared to block her path.
And although Isra is ambitious and wants to beco Headmaster, she’s not soone who only focuses on that to the exclusion of everything else.
She’s capable, works harder than anyone for the academy, and is incredibly kind and caring toward the students.
There’s even that charming contrast between her striking elven beauty and her prickly attitude toward .
“Good morning, Head Professor. A letter has arrived for you.”
As I entered the main building, a combat assistant handed a letter.
It was from Linus.
When I opened it, it said he wanted to go together to the Tiraellen Forest this weekend.
It’s one of the Great Forests of the elves that was burned down by the Demon King’s army, where Linus and I were deployed.
It’s one of the places Linus has been involved in rebuilding after the war.
Normally, I’d hesitate to decide right away, but today’s a good day, so I’ll go.
But that’s for later.
I waved the appointnt order and entered the eting room, shouting.
“Professor Isra!”
But Isra wasn’t in the eting room.
Normally, she’d arrive about twenty minutes early and glare at our Combat Departnt for arriving on ti like we’re insects.
Not only Isra, but none of the Theoretical Departnt professors were there.
That’s strange. This has never happened before.
Professor Isra has never been late, no matter what.
But now she’s late? Did sothing happen?
“Good morning, Head Professor.”
The Combat Departnt professors greeted .
“The Theoretical Departnt isn’t here?”
“Who knows? They’re unusually late today.”
Just then, the professors from the Theoretical Departnt entered the eting room and shouted.
“Has anyone seen Professor Isra?!”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
“Ah….”
At my response, the faces of the Theoretical professors darkened.
“Did sothing happen?”
“Well… Professor Isra didn’t co to work today.”
At this, a few of the Combat professors gasped in shock.
Isra not late but absent?!
That’s as unbelievable as hearing that the Demon King has been resurrected.
“She’s not in her office?”
“All we found on her desk was this….”
One of the Theoretical professors held up an envelope.
The word "resignation" was written on the front.
A resignation letter?! What on earth…?
“Did you check the dormitory?”
“We haven’t gone there yet.”
“Let’s go.”
We left the eting room and ran to the single dormitory.
Let’s see, Isra’s room is…
I checked the room layout on the first floor and headed straight to Isra’s room and knocked on the door.
“Professor Isra! Are you there?”
But there was no answer.
I turned the doorknob, but it was locked.
“I’ll climb through the window!”
Before I could break it open, Kirrin, who had followed us, ran outside and jumped straight up to the second-floor terrace.
She opened the door from the inside, and we hurried in.
“Professor Isra!”
The room was empty except for the bed and a small dresser.
“Could she have already left?”
Kirrin anxiously stomped her feet as she looked around the room.
“I don’t know. Elves usually don’t carry much with them.”
Elves have almost no concept of personal belongings.
They can get everything they need from the forest, and within their tribes, everything is shared with no private property.
All they carry are simple toiletries and a few changes of clothes.
Since elves have no body odor and don’t care about grooming, that habit likely remains to this day, so it’s impossible to tell if Isra has left the academy just by looking at the room.
But for the ever-punctual Isra to be absent suggests that she’s either left the academy or…
The lifeless expression I saw during the competition suddenly ca to mind.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Headmaster. Send soone to the security posts at all the gates imdiately to check the entry and exit records. And instruct all faculty mbers who aren’t teaching to search the campus.”
“Search the campus…?”
“Including unused warehouses and abandoned buildings.”
At my words, Kirrin’s face turned pale.
“You don’t think Professor Isra would….”
“We can’t rule anything out. Hurry!”
Kirrin and the other professors quickly scattered.
I rushed back to the main building and found Orendi.
The Combat Departnt professors and remaining assistants were just coming out.
“Head Professor! What happened?!”
“Orendi! Use reconnaissance magic!”
“I already did!”
When I looked up at the sky, I saw several hazy spheres darting around like ghostly eyes.
“The rest of you, start a detailed search.”
I quickly assigned search areas to the professors on the spot.
“The range is up to half a day’s journey from the academy based on elven footsteps. Assu she’s wearing ordinary clothes. The target is Professor Isra.”
They’re all battle-hardened veterans. Even with rough instructions, they understood imdiately and led their assistants off in different directions.
“Weaber! You’re coming with to the eastern forest!”
“Yes, Professor!”
Elves move extrely fast in the forest.
So it made sense for Weaber, an expert tracker, to head that way.
And if Isra left the academy, the forest is the most likely place she’d go, so I’m going too.
We crossed the eastern gate and entered the forest, where Weaber imdiately knelt and examined the ground.
“Head Professor. She was here.”
It didn’t take long for Weaber to find a trace.
A faint footprint barely visible to my eyes.
“It’s an elf’s footprint. It was made around dawn. There aren’t many races that leave such faint tracks of this size while walking. And among those, the only one at our academy is an elf.”
“If it’s a footprint leading from the main gate to here, then it’s not just a wandering male elf passing by.”
“Exactly. And male elves rarely co to shallow forests like this.”
We entered the guard post and checked the entry and exit records.
“Here it is. She left at dawn.”
Just as Weaber said, there was a record of Professor Isra leaving alone through the eastern gate around dawn. The stated reason was a walk.
Was it really just a walk? I doubt it.
Isra is always too busy with work to even think about taking walks, let alone exercise.
“There’s no sign she returned. It’s possible she entered through another gate, but it’s still best to continue tracking.”
“Right. Others are checking the other areas, so let’s keep following this trail. How far could an elf who entered the forest at dawn have gone by now?”
Weaber glanced at the sun and replied sowhat pessimistically.
“She might have already left the forest by now.”
“That’s incredibly fast. Still, let’s keep going. We at least need to know where she went.”
I instructed the sentry at the guard post to inform the others, and Weaber and I imdiately started running along the trail.
But tracking wasn’t easy.
It’s sumr now, the season when the forest is thick with growth, making it hard to move as we went deeper.
And elves move so quickly and lightly through the forest that the trail kept breaking off in places.
“This is tough.”
I stopped for the umpteenth ti, wiping the sweat off my face and looking around.
“Head Professor. I can’t see any more traces.”
Weaber, covered in dirt and leaves, shook his head.
“By now, Professor Isra has likely left the forest’s edge.”
Weaber wiped his sweat and looked east.
“Beyond that, there’s another forest. At this point, it’s impossible to track an elf in the forest.”
“Dammit…”
Of all tis to disappear, she does it just when she’s been made Vice-Headmaster.
We even had an appointnt to et today.
“Let’s head back.”
As we returned to the eastern gate, Kirrin and the other professors ran up.
“Dian! Did you find Professor Isra?!”
Kirrin pushed through the crowd, grabbing my collar and shaking vigorously.
"She's not on campus! Are you sure she went to the eastern forest? Did you find any traces?"
"The trail has gone cold. It's impossible to follow now. For now, we need to investigate possible destinations where Professor Isra might go and get there as fast as we can."
Back at the main building, we spread out the map and quickly discussed with the combat professors.
"Here's the Academy. The trail goes in a straight line from here to here."
"Hmph, to think one can go straight through the forest. Elves are truly impressive."
Kazadar clicked his tongue.
"There's no race that can follow a trail through the forest."
"So, what do you all think? What could Professor Isra’s intentions be?"
"She’s resigned, right? And the trail continued for a long distance. It doesn't seem like self harm, so it could be two things: either a job change or returning ho."
"If it were a job change, she would have headed towards the capital, not the eastern forest. Even if she went to another city, this route would be a big detour."
"Then it must be returning ho."
"Does anyone know where Professor Isra’s ho is?"
It was a foolish question. Isra's forest was burned down during the Four-Year War.
The academy's dormitory is Isra's ho.
"Or maybe which Great Forest she’s from?"
"I don’t know. She never talked about her personal life…"
"Hold on a second. I know where."
Kirrin, who had been lurking in the back, raised her hand.
"Professor Isra is from the Tiraellen Forest. I rember seeing it on her resu when she first joined a long ti ago."
The Tiraellen Forest...? Isra is from there? Seriously?
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
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