The afternoon class began, and I wanted to jump straight into making perfume with holy stones… but first came theory.
「Holy stones. Leave them in water for a day or two, and it gains some purification effect. Adjust the concentration yourselves depending on the scent. The benefits are not just unifying the fragrance, but also removing toxins.」
「「「「……」」」」
「One warning. Soak them for seven days and seven nights, and even plain water becomes holy water. But handling holy water falls under the church’s domain, so do not make or use it. Absolutely not.」
You might wonder why I even mentioned it. Accidents happen. Someone could unknowingly create holy water and use it.
Better to know than not.
If they know, they won’t make it by mistake.
Especially since permission came partly from Teresa’s trust. I refuse to cause her trouble or turn the massive church organization against us.
「「「「Yes!」」」」
「Sensei went through the trouble of getting permissionn! We won’t waste ittt!」
The students replied energetically.
Well, in this short time as their teacher, I have come to understand their characters well.
I trust them. That is why I can rely on people like Riito-san and Teresa.
「Now, start the practical work… If the back is bothering you, say so. I will kick them out immediately.」
「Kicking us out when we’re being quiet is dangerous! Boo boo!」
No surprise there… They sit in the very back row, all in a line, staring with grinning smiles. It makes everything incredibly awkward.
Aina, Sorte, Renge, Wendy, and Shiro—five in total.
They really came to observe…
「Sensei, they’re not bothering us at alll!」
「And they have permission, so it’s fineee!」
Exactly. I wield no real authority here, and it is not as if Iris’s influence is at play, yet permission was granted somehow.
…When I checked with the teachers if it was truly okay, they smiled gently and said family observation is allowed. After that, I could say nothing more.
In fact, the teachers mentioned they would love to watch the class themselves if they had time.
The fact that the Second Alchemy Department is so fired up has apparently become a hot topic even among the faculty.
I keep insisting I’m not doing anything special, but everyone just goes 「Sure, sure~」 and refuses to believe me.
If they actually came to watch, they’d see I’m barely lifting a finger right now. I might even get scolded for slacking…
「My liege wielding the pointer… somehow… it looks good…」
「Hmm. A little more dignified than usual.」
「Haa… wonderful. I want to become a student too and have Master teach me all sorts of things…」
「Teach you what exactly…? Why does everything Wendy says sound lewd…?」
「Ara, Sorte-san. Isn’t it because your own desires make you imagine indecent things? How improper.」
「Improper!? Anyone looking at your melted face right now would think the same thing!」
「…I don’t mind if the students are fine with it, but stop making a fuss. They’re all distracted because of you. And you lot, stop eavesdropping and focus.」
They were saying in the cafeteria they hadn’t heard enough yet, so their interest clearly hasn’t faded.
Good grief… The moment I warn them, every single one straightens her back like a perfect honor student.
Which means, as usual, I end up with nothing to do.
The students know that someday they’ll have to manage everything themselves, so they try not to rely on me during the actual synthesis stage.
Growth comes fastest when they experiment and struggle on their own.
A teacher’s job is to point the direction and lend a hand only when they stray or hit a dead end.
That’s exactly the right amount… but it leaves me with nothing to do.
「Master! Why are you slackingssu!」
「…I literally have nothing to do right now. Stop heckling. And you girls can stay normal. Don’t listen in.」
「「Normal is finee?」e」
「Yeah. Just act like always… Oi. Why are you clinging to me?」
No sooner had the words left my mouth than a double side-attack slammed into me at the lectern.
“Like always”… Ah, so that’s what they meant by “like always”…
「It’s time for the usual smell checkk!」
「Sniff-sniff timeee!」
「You guys… Weren’t you the ones blushing like crazy when I smelled you just the other day? Already forgotten?」
It’s fine if they want to tease me, but they always end up blowing themselves up instead.
They’re happy to start it, yet the moment they get an unexpected comeback they panic. And they never learn…
「T-That’s because sensei sniffed my chest without any hesitationn!」
「Today I didn’t put any on my chest, so it’s normalll!」
「Ah, I did put some on Cran’s skirt, so you can sniff thatt. It’s the butt sidee」
「What are you doing without permissionnn!? N-No way, sensei!」
「It’s unfair that only I got my chest sniffedd! Cran should get her butt sniffed tooo!」
「Gyaaaa! No pinning me downn! I absolutely refuse to have my butt smelleddd!」
Raz bent Cran forward at the waist, locking both of Cran’s arms under her own while forcing Cran’s rear toward me.
Cran struggled desperately, but with her arms restrained all she could do was wiggle her hips.
「Come on, sensei, don’t hold backk!」
「Sensei! This is exactly the moment you should hold backkk!!」
「I’m not doing it…」
It’s not just because Wendy and the others are watching. Sniffing a skirt, especially the butt area, feels fundamentally wrong.
If someone asked what the difference is from breasts, I’d be stumped, but the visual alone screams danger.
「Muu… I’m not satisfiedd…」
「Haa… haa… I’m the one who should be complainingg! What were you trying to make him dooo!?」
Cran, breathing heavily, snapped at Raz. Raz puffed her cheeks in genuine dissatisfaction.
The rest of the students continued working while giggling at the pair.
Everyone can laugh at Raz and Cran’s antics because those two possess terrifying focus when it truly counts.
…Though their balance between slacking off and concentrating is ridiculously extreme.
This is… well, business as usual.
But today is different.
「Those girls have gutsssu…」
「This is still class, right? It’s class, isn’t it? They’re just flirting, aren’t they?」
「Ara ara, they’re really showing off. I’m very curious about this ‘sniff-sniff time’…」
「Nice nerve. Promising material.」
「Muu… So bold… I’d like to learn from them, but isn’t it a little too much?」
We have observers.
Ugh… those stares are stabbing me…!
They’re all smiling, yet the mood is anything but warm and fluffy.
Still, Raz and Cran don’t seem to care about the gazes at all and keep clinging to both my sides.
「…If you live in noble society, you get used to stares like thatt.」
「There are way darker, scarier ones out thereee…」
They muttered in the tiniest voices, then noticed me looking and flashed dazzling smiles to play it off.
…So they’re not just cute.
As expected of nobles, pretty tough, huh…
The guide back then was cunning too, but this feels like a different flavor.
…More importantly, we’re in the middle of class.
「…Come on, you two, stop clinging and go do your alchemy.」
「Okay~! We’ll get serious in a bitt. But sensei, if you really have nothing to do, it’s fine to work on your usual stuff, you knoww?」
「No, that’s not how it works…」
「We’ll be good and call you if we need advicee? By the way, what do you normally make, senseiii?」
「Hm? I mostly do accessories and magic tools. Vi—…shoulder-stiffness-relief magic tools, and lately… I made a voice-amplifying accessory for Iris…」
Close call.
Talking about vibrators in front of innocent maidens is… no, wait, that one is a massage device. Yeah.
Modern people just misunderstand its purpose. It’s originally a massager. Totally safe!
「Ah, Father was raving about that onee!」
「It’s a huge topic in the military tooo! They say it’s revolutionary for giving orders and drillss. Who would’ve thought sensei made ittt!」
「Military…? Father…?」
「Yepp! Our Father’s a big shot in the militaryy!」
「He doesn’t go to the front lines anymore, though! But apparently he has been famous as demon instructors since foreverrr!」
Demon… instructors…?
Haa… fuu… Calm. Stay calm.
They’re nobles, so of course their father could be high-ranking military officials.
That happens.
Demon instructors, huh…
「Senseii?」
「Sensei?」
And now the daughters of the demon instructor are glued to me, arms around me, looking up with sparkling eyes.
Raz is pressing her softness against me so perfectly I can feel every curve. Cran, with fewer curves, has a much larger contact area and is practically fused to my side.
…If their fathers saw this….
『You bastard… letting my precious daughters cling to you…? Very well. Pistols at dawn! 』
or
『Hoh… Bold one. Let’s see how long you last under this demon instructor’s training… 』
I can already hear the gravelly voices.
Right. Knowing really is power.
Time to dodge the danger before it arrives.
「Auuuu, why are you pushing us awayy!?」
「Muu, don’t push my foreheaddd!」
「Come on, let go for now, okay? And from now on I really think we should stop this. We are teacher and students. If anyone gets the wrong idea, we will all end up unhappy.」
Mainly me.
Especially me.
「Muu, it’s too late for thatt!」
「Uuu, the whole class is already used to ittt!」
Yeah, they are watching right now too.
Even though I keep pushing their foreheads, the two of them only grip tighter instead of loosening up.
So, this is the rebellious phase!? How troublesome!
「That is not the point! The problem is that young maidens are clinging to a man of marriageable age!」
「It’s just skinship! Muu… Does sensei… hate uss…?」
「If sensei says he hates it… I’ll stop quietlyyy…」
…….
The ultimate female weapon has appeared.
Being able to tear up out of nowhere is just too versatile.
This is definitely acting.
I know it is acting, yet…
「Haa… That’s unfair. Fine, I’ll be honest. I don’t want to be drilled by your military father! So please get off me!!」
Call me a coward if you want.
I already get tortured, I mean trained, by Renge and the others every day, plus whatever Fried throws at me!
Fried’s training is seriously, seriously harsh.
I don’t die, but it hurts and leaves me in tatters. It’s painful.
I’m enduring it with my life on the line because it makes me stronger, but adding demon-instructor hell on top of that? No way I can survive!
「「Fatherr?」r」
I nodded frantically at the pair tilting their heads.
Please understand! This is my sincere plea!!
「Ohhh. Ehehe. It’s fine. Even if Father sees, we’ll protect youu.」
「Father would never do anything to make us sad. We guarantee sensei’s safetyyy!」
「Really…? You promise? I really don’t want demon-instructor demon training…」
「It’s okayy! Sensei is a civilian, not a soldier, so Father won’t do anything like thattt.」
「Father never hurts people he’s supposed to protectt. So… we’re going to keep clinging from now on tooo!」
「…Wait, even without your father involved, shouldn’t we still hold back?」
Thinking calmly, why exactly am I being clung to like this?
A young male teacher being popular with students is a common rom-com trope, but I am definitely not a rom-com protagonist.
「Somehow, after studying scents, I got totally hooked on sensei’s smelll.」
「Me too! Am I a smell fetishist nowww?」
They lean in and sniff-sniff, faces melting into blissful stupors.
Stop sniffing! I’m at the exact age where I sometimes worry about middle-aged-man odor and miss having a search engine to check!
「I completely understand!!!」
Wendy, please don’t slam the desk and stand up…
Some kids got startled.
Someone almost dropped a test tube.
And please don’t make this any more complicated…
「Ahh… Master’s scent is the bestssu…」
「Hmm. Love lord’s smell.」
「When we sleep together, it makes me feel so safe.」
「Muu… I don’t have a nose nose as good as beastkins, but when my liege holds me, it’s irresistible.」
「Look! Even the lover-sans agreee!」
「Should we make sensei’s scent into perfumeee?」
「Please don’t… I’m begging you, don’t…」
What kind of insane choice is that from an outsider’s view?
Who would buy perfume that smells like one random alchemist?
If anything, bottling the fragrance you girls naturally give off would sell way better.
If it was 「This is Hayato’s…」 then yeah, it would fly off the shelves…
…Maybe I should pitch it to them later, worst case they just say no.
「All right, time to get seriouss.」
「Yep. Our very first perfume is just one step away from completion… and we’ve restocked sensei’s scent, so let’s do thisss!」
Once they’re satisfied, they peel off without fuss.
But they don’t interrupt after that.
Concentration mode has begun.
「…Shiro, Sorte, Renge. Your noses are sharp, right? Mind helping them out?」
「Hmm.」
「Roger that!」
「Fine by me. Beastkin noses are excellent. I can pick out even the tiniest off notes for you.」
Well, strictly speaking, the aesthetic sense of a beastkin nose is completely different from a human’s, but we all like the same delicious smells, so it’s fine.
Their noses are simply far superior to a human’s, so they should be able to detect sloppy scent traces with ease.
This will bring completion leaps and bounds closer.
Now then, I’ll look forward to seeing what they create.
Leave a Reply