Chapter 223

By the time Rowan snapped out of his daydreaming, it hit him that what Alexis had suddenly brought up was most likely her plan to move out of his luxury cabin and go back to the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm.

But she had already changed her answer and turned back to the front, listening to the lecture with perfect seriousness.

That left Rowan feeling a little awkward. It wasn't that he, Rowan, was slow on the uptake. It was that the thought of Alexis moving out had never crossed his mind in the first place!

As far as Rowan was concerned, whatever landed in his bowl was never getting out again!

Still, now that Alexis had taken it back on her own, that suited him perfectly. The two of them silently agreed to pretend the whole thing had never happened...

Rowan went back to drifting off into space.

"That concludes today's Alchemy class. However, there is a major new development I must announce to all of you."

No one knew how much time had passed when Professor Crowler suddenly closed the alchemy notebook Professor Banner had left behind and addressed the entire lecture hall.

"A major development?"

Rowan came back to himself, raised an eyebrow, and muttered the words under his breath. As he remembered it, there should still be a while between the Spirit Gates incident and the arrival of the new students.

Not far away, Jaden, Syrus, and the others woke from their snoring with impeccable timing, just in time to catch the key information.

Then Jaden and his friends put on puzzled expressions, and like the rest of the students, turned to look at Professor Crowler.

"The major development is this! Chancellor Sheppard has important matters to attend to. He must go before the board of directors to report and sort things out, and he will be away from the Academy for some time."

The blond, mushroom-headed professor raised one finger, his face glowing with delight as he continued.

"Which means that I, Crowler, the highest authority on practical dueling at Duel Academy, will be taking over as Acting Chancellor for the time being!"

"The bald Chancellor is going to report to the board?" Rowan said, a flicker of understanding crossing his face.

Clearly he was going to report on the Sacred Beasts incident and hold a meeting to settle the specifics of future security measures. Besides Kagemaru, the old man who served as chairman, Duel Academy naturally had several other directors, such as Seto Kaiba, the Academy's largest shareholder.

"Looks like I'll need to talk 'business' with the old man sealed in my hands, and soon," Rowan muttered to himself.

After all, if old man Kagemaru never showed his face again and everyone assumed he was dead, his chairman's seat and his fortune might simply be carted off by somebody else for nothing. And wouldn't that mean Rowan the Benevolent had let someone else take advantage of him?

"But if that's the case, Acting Chancellor Crowler, there's no way you can handle all of it."

Just then, Chazz, that goofball seated near the front, spoke up with a question.

After all, though Professor Crowler could be a little unreliable at times, he did carry a great deal of responsibility. That was especially true now, with the situation what it was. Not only was he the highest authority on practical dueling, in charge of the practical exams, but he was also the regular instructor for the theory courses. Add Professor Banner's Alchemy class on top of that, plus an acting chancellor's daily mountain of paperwork, and there was no way he looked capable of managing it all.

Rowan looked toward the blond, mushroom-headed professor at the front of the hall and began to guess what was coming. He figured a new teacher was about to be brought into Duel Academy.

As it happened, Rowan remembered that there was a short Vice Chancellor who made a perfect comedy duo with this mushroom-headed professor, and he seemed to have joined the Academy right around this time...

"Mr. Princeton's question is an excellent one. The only flaw is the word 'acting' in 'Acting Chancellor Crowler,' which is completely unnecessary."

Professor Crowler wore the look of a man for whom everything was going exactly as he had foreseen, and he corrected Chazz in passing.

"Acting Chancellor Crowler, you forgot something too! I'm The Chazz, not 'Mr. Princeton'!" Chazz shot back, correcting him just as firmly.

"..."

"..."

The next second, the two of them glared at each other across the room, eyes throwing off fierce sparks! And before long, they arrived at a consensus!

You call me Chancellor Crowler, and I'll call you The Chazz!

Rowan and Alexis beside him both felt the corners of their mouths twitch.

Good grief. This tiny Duel Academy was home to a Sleeping Dragon and a Young Phoenix, a matched pair of geniuses. How could life here ever run short of silly entertainment?

"Back to the point! To share the load of my work, a new instructor will be handling part of it! Please welcome Vice Chancellor Bonaparte!"

As Professor Crowler's voice died away at the front of the hall, the door at the front of the lecture room swung open, and a short, plump figure waddled in.

He wore a baggy dark green outfit, and sported a small, curled brown mustache that looked just like a crooked merchant's, along with a dangerously retreating hairline. The effect was thoroughly comical.

In dress, hairstyle, and face shape, he could go toe-to-toe with the "Pot of Greed face" of the mushroom-headed professor!

Rowan was happy to dub him the "short, round Vice Chancellor."

"Greetings, students of Duel Academy! I am Vice Chancellor Bonaparte, oui!"

Listening to the short, round Vice Chancellor introduce himself, Jaden couldn't help but comment.

"This Vice Chancellor Bonaparte... seems to have a one-of-a-kind verbal tic, just like Professor Crowler."

One throws around "Mamma mia", the other adds "oui".

Especially once the mushroom-headed professor chimed in alongside him, Rowan felt a strong urge to say something himself.

These two were putting on a verbal tic duet right here...