mtlumby2d Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115. Head of the Admissions Office
Logaris froze for a moment. “What title? ‘The Most Handsome Man in the Northern Territory’?”
“Oh, get lost.”
Sylvia swatted him irritably, then straightened her expression.
“Saint Arcadia Academy. Honorary Lifetime Professor.”
The moment those words were spoken, Logaris’s expression changed.
That was his alma mater, and also the highest academic institution in the kingdom.
The legend he had left there had still not been surpassed.
“The academy produces a large number of graduates every year.”
Sylvia spoke patiently, her tone full of temptation.
“Even the lowest-ranked students would be fought over outside the academy. They understand theory and have solid foundations. With a bit of training, they would become the best magitech engineers.”
“But they’re arrogant. They wouldn’t even glance at an ordinary recruitment notice.”
“But if…”
Sylvia’s fingers tapped lightly against Logaris’s shoulder in a steady rhythm.
“If the invitation came from their idol—the legendary ‘youngest professor’ himself?”
Logaris understood.
This woman wanted him to use his reputation.
“So you want me to go to the royal capital? To the academy and poach people?”
Logaris’s mouth twitched, and he shook his head like a rattle drum.
“No. Not going. Don’t even think about it.”
If he went back, those old professors would probably transform into nosy relatives on the spot, interrogating him about everything between him and Sylvia.
“Really not going?”
Sylvia did not rush him.
She simply pulled a letter from her pocket and waved it in front of him.
“This is a message from Aaron. He said he has already contacted several young lecturers and graduates in the royal capital who are dissatisfied with the current situation. As long as someone influential takes the lead, they’re willing to come to the Northern Territory and give it a try.”
“Aaron?” Logaris rolled his eyes. “That kid’s a traitor too, helping you scheme against me.”
“And there’s more.”
Sylvia did not let up.
Instead, she turned her gaze toward Cicero across the table.
“Mr. Cicero, I remember that when we negotiated our terms, one of the conditions involved your daughter Emily’s education?”
Cicero, who had been watching the drama unfold, immediately sat up straight.
The amused expression on his face disappeared, replaced by the anxious urgency of a father.
“That’s right! Your Highness still remembers!”
Cicero rubbed his hands together eagerly.
“Emily is a clever child. Ordinary schools aren’t worthy of her. I’ve dreamed of sending her to Saint Arcadia Academy, but… the admission threshold there is far too high. It even requires recommendation letters from famous figures…”
At this point, Cicero suddenly turned his head.
His eyes gleamed as he stared at Logaris.
That look was even more desperate than Sylvia’s.
“Professor!”
Cicero grabbed Logaris’s hand directly, his voice filled with heartfelt sincerity.
“You’re a lifetime professor! I’ve heard even the academy’s headmaster gives you face! If you could personally take Emily to the royal capital and help her complete the enrollment process… I’d be willing to donate my entire lifetime salary!”
“Lord Logaris! For the sake of the next generation! For the future of the children!”
Logaris’s mouth twitched.
The mountain of fatherly love pressing down on him felt rather heavy.
He was the kind of person who yielded to kindness but resisted force.
If Sylvia had used her authority to pressure him, he might have stubbornly resisted.
But Cicero was pleading on behalf of his daughter with that desperate expression of “please help us, benefactor.”
How could he refuse?
“Well… not exactly…”
Logaris struggled for one last attempt.
“I might go, but I can’t handle everything by myself. Recruitment is complicated. There are presentations to organize, interviews to conduct, forms to fill out…”
“Don’t worry.”
Sylvia snapped her fingers.
“I’ve already arranged your team. Aaron will serve as your assistant and handle the errands. As for funding, Grayson has approved a special talent recruitment fund. You can fill in the amount yourself.”
“And…”
Sylvia leaned closer and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“Weren’t you always talking about developing that ‘new magitech internal engine’? The Northern Territory doesn’t have all the materials you need, but the black markets in the royal capital have everything. This trip counts as an official business trip. The materials you buy will be reimbursed from public funds.”
Logaris’s throat bobbed.
Publicly funded research materials.
Those words were almost equivalent to telling a dragon, “Here is a mountain of gold. Take as much as you want.”
“Sigh…”
Logaris let out a long sigh and slumped in his chair like a deflated balloon.
He knew he had fallen into this woman’s trap again.
And this time, he had willingly jumped into it.
“Fine, fine.”
Logaris waved his hand weakly.
“But let me make this clear. I’ll only handle the publicity and the technical screening. All that social maneuvering and arguing with those old fossils? Don’t drag me into it.”
“No problem!”
Sylvia’s smile instantly blossomed, bright enough to raise the temperature in the hall by several degrees.
She turned to the attendant outside the door and gave an order.
“Go prepare travel arrangements for Professor Logaris!”
“And inform everyone that the Northern Territory’s first ‘Saint Arcadia Academy Resident Head of the Admissions Office’ has officially taken office!”
Logaris covered his face.
Hearing that ridiculously rustic title made him want to crawl into a crack in the ground.
Head of the Admissions Office…
If his old colleagues heard about this, they would laugh their teeth out.
“Oh, right.”
Cicero delivered another blow at that moment.
With an apologetic grin, he leaned closer.
“Professor, Emily has quite a bit of luggage. Could she ride in your carriage? Don’t worry, she’s a very well-behaved girl. She’ll even peel oranges for you!”
Logaris looked around at the entire room of people scheming against him and rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Fine! Let her ride along! I’m already on this pirate ship anyway!”
The meeting in the Council Chamber continued.
Sylvia moved on to the next issue.
“We have money now, and we have hope for talent.”
Her gaze moved across the map of the Northern Territory before settling on a dull gray region marked with dense farmlands.
“But the Northern Territory still faces a major problem—our agriculture is terrible.”
Grayson frowned as well.
He pushed the agricultural production report toward the center of the table.
“Your Highness is right. This cursed place spends half the year buried under snow. Aside from chewing on those throat-scraping Stoneheart Potatoes, the people rely on imports from the other three territories for almost all their grain.”
Stoneheart Potatoes.
They were famous throughout the Northern Territory.
Their yield was enormous, and they were extremely resistant to cold.
Even if tossed into frozen soil, they would still sprout.
Their only flaw was their taste.
Boiled, they felt like chewing wood shavings.
Roasted, they were like gnawing on chalk.
Long-term consumption also caused constant stomach acid.
Yet this miserable crop was the staple food that sustained tens of millions of civilians in the Northern Territory.
“Can we improve it somehow?” Sylvia looked at Logaris. “Even if it just becomes… slightly more like actual food?”
Logaris was spinning the steel pen in his hand, which had already grown warm.
He rolled his eyes.
“I specialize in magitech engineering, not farming. The Harvest No. 1 potion was already my limit. That could only increase yield, not change flavor.”
Logaris propped his legs on the table.
“If you want to turn rocks into bread, you need a real botanist, or…”
“Or someone who was born knowing how to do it.”
Lilith, who had been quietly sitting in the corner in a daze, suddenly spoke up.