I’m going to go insane.
‘They said I can’t use the faculty research office.’
…No, that part doesn’t really matter. The real Ruins Wayne was hired as a temporary professor to begin with, so it’s not like I can complain!
But they won’t even let me into the lodging facilities? At this rate, I can’t even go retrieve my severance pay!
‘Should I just get rid of this damn Pride?’
「You are Pride too, you idiot.」
‘Ah, my mistake. To get rid of Pride, I’d have to take out the Demon King first.’
「You’re the Demon King’s subordinate, you know.」
Ruin rubbed his brow as if trying to block out the voices. He wasn’t going to do anything reckless, but it was true that this situation was becoming troublesome after resigning.
‘If I want to collect my severance pay, I must get into the faculty research building.’
Which meant he needed a permanent position.
In that case, he could just use the usual method.
‘Let’s get rid of the permanent professors.’
「…What?」
Firefly’s eyes glinted seriously.
‘Making one of them disappear won’t be enough to matter, so maybe around 50 of them—’
「That would put the school into an emergency shutdown, you lunatic.」
Ah, that would be a problem. If I can’t get in, that’s a problem too.
What to do, then?
‘There’s no other way but to use someone in power.’
Just as Ruin was seriously considering it—
“!”
A sweet jasmine scent filled the administration office. As he turned his head, he saw a breathtakingly beautiful woman wearing a pure white blouse with long fluttering sleeves, a large cravat, and a high-waisted blue skirt.
“President.”
The president smiled brightly, as if pleased.
“You’re here already. That was quick.”
As she entered, the assistants rushed over with a contract in hand. They quickly led them to seats and served tea.
Ruin narrowed his eyes at the strong aroma coming from the Wedgwood teacup. It was a blend of tea leaves with several citrus notes, but among them, he caught the scent of lavender.
‘Thorough.’
It was lavender, but subtly different.
‘Scismug herb. It completely relaxes the nerves.’
It might be a considerate gesture for a nervous new hire. But still—
‘Are they trying to loosen me up so I’ll release my magic power?’
Most spies conceal their cursed energy when infiltrating. But if they relax too much, it can leak out like an exhale. It was a common rookie mistake.
But he wasn’t an amateur, and this much was nothing. Ruin drank the tea without concern.
The president tilted her head slightly as she observed him closely. It seemed she wasn’t getting the reaction she expected. Then, she subtly slid something toward him.
“The discussion over your appointment dragged on a bit.”
Appointment?
Ruin’s eyes gleamed—rare for him.
‘Could it be? A permanent position? Is it?’
“Before the final result is out, could you check the contract first?”
Playing games, huh?
But only for a moment—Ruin laced his fingers together. In the world of spies, a “delayed result” wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It meant the outcome was still undecided.
And a good spy changes those outcomes. So, pretending to look at the contract, he subtly brushed his pinky along the scroll.
Innate Racial Skill: [Shadow King’s Sight] activated.
The structure of the contract flooded into his mind instantly, and he let out an inward laugh.
‘This woman.’
He’d thought it was cute how she was playing coy after already deciding to hire him.
‘So this is the real test.’
Of course—it made sense. The contract was enchanted with a trap spell.
[Trap in the Letters]
A spell that triggers a confession effect just by reading the words. In short, by reading the contract, Ruin would unknowingly start spilling the truth.
Rigging the contract like that—what a nasty trick.
She must’ve been aiming for a moment to catch me off guard after I had relaxed..
‘So this is the final test, then.’
Luckily, the spell was only triggered by specific characters. These types of spells needed subtlety. If the entire contract was enchanted, the target would definitely sense it.
‘She must’ve only embedded the trigger in a single character or word.’
All he had to do was avoid reading that part.
The ginseng plant nearby sighed in exasperation.
「How are you going to avoid the trigger if you don’t know which character it is?!」
‘Fair point.’
Judging by the president’s smile, she clearly intended for him to read it.
“There’s also your salary listed. Please check to see if it’s acceptable. Any issues?”
“None in particular.”
The Shadow God shouted as if struck by inspiration.
「Oh! That’s it! You don’t have to read it! Just pretend to read it!」
“But change Article 3, Clause 7 of the affiliation section, Article 5, Clause 2 regarding on-campus activity reporting, and Article 9, Clause 1 for emergency reporting. The wording and dates are slightly off.”
「YOU READ IT?!」
When the hell did he read all that?!
The president’s eyes narrowed as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“One last question, if I may?”
A question? If his answer was off, he’d probably be rejected on the spot.
“Of course. Ask away.”
“Why did you apply to this school, Mr. Ruins Wayne?”
Ah, so that’s where this is going?
The Shadow God sounded panicked.
「Is this okay?! Isn’t this a trap to make you confess?!」
Ruin remained indifferent.
‘It’s fine. I know where the magic is embedded.’
「You know?!」
Ruin’s eyes narrowed.
The answer was simple.
If you had to embed a trap in only one word, where would you place it? Easy.
‘You’d put it in the one section everyone is guaranteed to read.’
But people’s reading habits vary—some skim, some are thorough. Some pretend to read. So where would anyone, no matter who, always look?
‘Their salary.’
Exactly. Even the laziest reader would check how much they’re being paid. No one’s that stupid.
Even a spy might glance at it out of curiosity. That’s why Ruin, who deliberately avoided looking at the salary section, answered with a smile.
“I applied to this school to catch the Firefly.”
“!”
The president looked genuinely shocked by the unexpected answer.
“The Firefly?”
“Yes. There’s no place more serious and competent about hunting the Firefly than Haven, is there?”
Just look at their ridiculous slogans. Bastards.
“So I thought—if I’m truly determined to catch the Firefly, I have to work at Haven. Forgive me for saying so, but I’m desperate to catch them.”
「…Holy crap.」
‘Keep your voice down before I shove you in a bottle.’
The president was at a loss for words. Truthfully, she had been convinced that Ruin was a spy. And for obvious reasons—
‘Ruins Wayne came through the main gate?’
He was notorious even among high society as a man abandoned by the gods. Just one look at his face, and no one would believe he had high luck stats.
He was known as a coward and a harbinger of misfortune. So of course she thought he’d enter through the side gate—especially since, for someone like Wayne, the toll fee was pocket change.
‘But he walked straight through the front gate.’
Naturally, she assumed he had used some trick to bypass the demon detector—classic spy behavior. She was planning to detain him and investigate how he managed it.
But then he passed her interview. And now this…
‘Could he really be… the real deal?’
While she stared blankly, Ruin spoke.
“President?”
“Ah!”
She quickly straightened up, flustered. But she still seemed in disbelief as she asked again.
“I apologize. But… would someone with such convictions be satisfied with the money we offer? Are you sure?”
Ruin smiled inwardly, as if to say, Just as expected.
“Just as I thought—it was the salary.”
Why else would she end with a question practically designed to make him mention his salary? There was a confession spell embedded in that part.
Now, the issue was how much they had written down.
‘There’s no way they wrote zero, right?’
…No, actually. If they had planned to bait someone, they might’ve put something truly ridiculous.
That’s why Ruin replied,
“Honestly, I’m fine working without pay. Haven is a place worth it, and I only wish to do my best teaching students so they can catch the Firefly.”
「Pfft!」
Should I kill that ginseng headed bastard?
Still, it wasn’t a lie. Salary or whatever, even a hefty one wouldn’t come close to the value of a single sliver of retirement funds.
‘Hmm. Was that a decent answer?’
And yet… for some reason, the ginseng head who checked the salary was snorting and chuckling strangely. Still, it didn’t seem like a bad answer.
This sort of thing—his boss… no, the progenitor god—should really give him a hint about. but pride gods had garbage personalities and tended to leave their creations to fend for themselves.
‘Or maybe as a high tier god, they’re restricted from interfering…’
「Interesting. Go on.」
Yeah, it’s all just to entertain himself, huh.
Ruin clicked his tongue, but he didn’t care. He’d always gotten by fine on his own. Judging by the president’s expression, it looked like the right answer anyway.
As proof, the president looked quite surprised.
“I didn’t expect you to say that. It’s an honor for Haven.”
And then she said something unexpected.
“Then I’d like to offer you a contract as an associate professor. Is that acceptable?”
“!”
Ruin’s eyes widened.
Associate professor!
‘The terms just shot up!’
Originally, “Ruins Wayne” had only been offered a non-tenure-track position. Basically, a part-timer floating from place to place.
‘And even that course was set to be canceled.’
Considering most start as part timers, this was an exceptional offer.
It was clearly thanks to Ruin’s recent answer. As proof, the president was now writing “Associate Professor” into the blank section of the contract.
“In fact, it was agreed that if you passed through the main gate, you’d receive half the accumulated toll. If you sign the contract, you’ll get that toll plus a bonus. Salary-wise, it’s at full professor level.”
The teaching assistants gasped in admiration. A full professor’s pay with less work and fewer responsibilities? What a sweet deal!
But for Ruin, the real prize was the professor’s office.
“Then… what about the office?”
“Ah, unfortunately we don’t have any spare associate professor offices right now. Would it be alright to assign one later?”
At that, Ruin’s brow furrowed slightly in secret.
‘No! The office is the most important part!’
His plan succeeded, but the reward was off!
‘What do I do? Is there a way to get an office immediately…?’
…There isn’t!
There were 1,323 ways to get a professor’s office—but not a single one would work immediately! Even the Firefly’s usually unshakable expression wavered slightly.
Ginseng Head let out a snort of laughter.
「Missing in action, as expected? Can’t even kidnap a professor for a year?」
Damn it! I wasn’t even on a mission, I avoided fighting just to relax! Just as Ruin was about to consider other options—
“Ruins Wayne, an associate professor?”
“!”
A man he’d never seen before entered the admin office. Mid-30s maybe? With seaweed-like hair and a stiff, extremely irritable expression.
The assistants froze. Their faces looked like they were bracing for a storm of blood.
“You’re giving a new hire associate professor status?”
“Professor Kallon.”
Kallon?
He’d heard the name before.
Unlike the others Ruin had seen so far, this wasn’t just another average hero.
‘Top-tier hero.’
Same rank as the President—a pillar of Haven, a full professor.
“Associate professors handle a completely different level of coursework. Wasn’t Ruins Wayne just a filler candidate for the interviews?”
Ruin looked at him with disgust.
…Do people usually say that right in front of the person involved?
“Promoting someone without verifying their skills—other professors won’t accept it.”
“Then Professor Kallon, why don’t you try passing through the main gate again? I’m sure the chairman would love that. Oh, oops, sorry—you already failed, didn’t you?”
A chill swept through the room. The assistants squeezed their eyes shut.
Ruin’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the tension between them.
‘Top-tier heroes clashing, huh.’
He didn’t know the reason, but politics here were clearly intense.
Then came a dismissive chuckle.
“Professor Wayne doesn’t match his paperwork at all—he seems like someone no professor would dare evaluate.”
The assistants, overhearing, let out a sigh of relief. Maybe there wouldn’t be a scene after all…
“Then how about we let the students decide? Why not assign Professor Wayne to Haven’s top course, Demon Hunting?”
…What? What did he just say?
“He seems to want a professor’s office, and the Demon Hunting course has a vacant one. Wouldn’t that be perfect?”
“But that course is reserved for associate professors…!”
To that, Kallon answered coldly.
“If he’s qualified to start as an associate professor, surely he can handle an advanced course.”
The assistants inexplicably froze.
But the president looked amused.
“Demon Hunting, huh. That position has been vacant far too long. It’s Haven’s most prestigious course, after all.”
Prestigious? The assistants just stiffened even more.
“W-Wait, even so… Demon Hunting is a bit much…”
Ruin tilted his head.
‘Demon Hunting?’
At first glance it looked similar to the general education course he was supposed to teach—but it was completely different. This one came with a professor’s office. He had to take it.
“Quite a few professors have already been kicked out of Demon Hunting, after all.”
Ruin immediately understood. This was Haven. The newspaper articles, the president’s cautious demeanor—it all made sense.
“They got kicked out because they were found to be spies, right?”
“Nope. They were driven out by the students.”
…What?
Sure enough, something was seriously off.
The assistants whispered among themselves.
“Aren’t the professors being too much? Trying to drive out a new hire on his first day?”
“Yeah… this is just harassing.”
The president beamed brightly.
“Haven has many talented students. The last few years have been impressive, and this year we have an unprecedented crop of geniuses. They’ve grown so capable that even professors struggle to keep up—and so they’ve started acting territorial.”
Territorial?
“They say they don’t need professors who are weaker than them. Professors who can’t even catch a Firefly can leave.”
Oh. The students had impressive standards.
They may be fledglings, but they had a keen sense of their enemies’ level…
“They claim they’ll be the ones to capture the legendary, top-ranked criminal—the Firefly.”
「Pfft. Heroes, huh? Getting mocked by a bunch of brats.」
“……”
Really? They think they’ll capture me?
With an amused smirk spreading between his teeth, Ruin said:
“Very well. I’ll take the Demon Hunting course.”
