self-work, self-profit || c. divus

「3」

When the final bell rang for students to return to their dorms, Pandora found herself at the Professors' dorms. It was not recommended for professors to leave the campus grounds while students stay, so professors of such prestigious academies were paid much higher wages to supplement their stay. Before she made her way to the Professors' dorms, she explored the campus a bit more. 

"I want to try visiting the other dorms when I adjust to this academy enough."

Wandering around without a clear goal of where to go, she decided to visit the parts of the campus that had nothing to do with her expertise. First, she made her way to the field where students struggled to keep up with the physical health professor, Vargas. With a build like his, Pandora was sure that she would not have already found it exhausting to travel from the classrooms to the grassy fields –- muscles like those, however, would certainly be eye-catching. 

Staring for too long had caused her no good. The physical health professor caught her gaze, and he immediately dashed with enthusiasm to her direction while she stood there, frozen in place, wondering whether she should run away from him or pretend his presence had never existed. It only took him a few seconds to catch up to where she was, and his loud voice was to be expected from such a large figure.

"Oho! You must be the new professor, which department?"

"Uh, science."

"So you're with Professor Crewel! Nice to meet you, Professor..?"

"Rhodonite. You are?"

"They call me Vargas, the carrier of such spectacular muscles –– but seeing you in person, how about trying out some body-training workouts to improve your focus seeing how you were looking around earlier..."

Pandora, the logical woman she was, understood the logic behind working out for the sake of a healthy mentality. Despite his enthusiasm for physical activity and his peculiar sense of muscles, she merely agreed with his opinion and promised to tag along with him when she had the time for it.

Now, she had to face the challenge of entering the Professors' dorms.

It was to no surprise that when she pushed open the double doors, the interior was much more comfortable than she had presumed. It gave off an antique vibe the moment her coral eyes glanced upon the lounge in front of her, stepping in to smell the fragrant wood from the bookshelves aligned and organised across the walls. On the side was a grand piano, perhaps for the professors who were more adept in music, and on the other side of her ear did she pick up the cackling of flames from the fireplace. 

The scent of strong coffee made her feel less restless.

"Oh, you've arrived, my new colleague!" The Headmaster's voice chirped from the second-floor wooden handrails, peering down from where she stood. Pandora did not quite like the way he stared from above, so her legs carried her up the stairs towards him. "Did that grand piano surprise you? It's Sam's, he's quite the professional with it! Most of the time we gather around to hear his performances while we sip on our coffee mugs, oh, especially during winter."

"Sam?"

"He's the owner of Mr. S's Mystery Shop. Since he stays there all the time, he often doesn't return to the dorms unless it's the school break."

"I see. What about the other professors?"

"Many of our professors are middle-aged, and so they all have young families. You don't really see any Professors at this time because the history and literature faculties all have meetings right now, but most of our staff actually reside in the town further into Crane Port to live with their families. While they have to wake up earlier to travel down here, they say it's worth it~!"