Chapter 195: Turn of the century Academy (1/2)

Chapter 195: Turn of the century Academy

There’s liveliness.

Or more like, blood lust?

The Academy I have been long absent for, has a strange atmosphere.

The stone paved path that goes from the main gate to the first school building gives an atmosphere of rich people attending this Academy.

The outdoor facilities that are used for practical skill classes and the field are basically at the far side where the dorms are located, so this part is in essence, not that rough.

And yet, right now I can slightly feel a fighting atmosphere, and I could hear shouts with fighting spirit, even if it was low from here.

Is it the effects of the variant incident?

I made the lectures of Jin and the others be mainly about the reconstruction of the outside district, so I haven’t really come to the Academy often, and I don’t know the current situation.

I had Shiki come to the Academy a few times, but there were no reports regarding this atmosphere.

Well, it may have gotten slightly noisier, but if the motivation has increased in the students, there should be no problem.

I will quickly contact the office department and do the procedures for my class. After that, I will just check on Jin and the others, and then, I don’t have any other plans for the day.

No, since tomorrow I have class, even if I don’t meet them when I look around, there’s no problem.

Going to the office department should be enough.

The longer I stay, the more chances there will be for the Academy Principal to call me.

“Thank you for your hard work~”

“!!”

The first school building is the place where the guests, guardians, and the contractors normally come to.

The students themself don’t go there often, but the school building is always neat, and the maintenance on it is fast.

In the case of this Academy, the school building that the students frequent, is also quite high grade, like one step higher.

This first building can be considered the reception room of the Rotsgard Academy.

I have been here frequently, so I went straight to the office department, and spoke out.

In an instant, the people at the reception room look at me all at once.

W-What’s going on?

“Uhm, I am the temporary teacher Raidou. I have come here to present the contents of my class and to change a part of it, so I want to finish the formalities…” (Makoto)

“You finally, finally came, Raidou-sensei!”

“Eh?”

“I contacted your assistant Shiki-san several times to have Raidou-sensei come, but at those times, I was always rejected, telling me that you were doing business in others towns. Seriously, I was troubled!”

Aside from the person that immediately came to speak with me in the reception room, several others came to the room as well and approached me.

Glaring, smiles that had been relieved from tension, and there were even some that were sobbing; there were way too many reactions.

Just that, I could nod at the words of that person who said that everyone was troubled.

“I am sorry for being absent all this time. I was called by the Gritonia Empire, and when I left, there was a matter that felt like it might serve as a new business you see. Uhm…I judged it was best if it was as fast as possible, so I left again. I did leave a notice of my temporal leave, didn’t I?” (Makoto)

I did ask Shiki to do it after all.

“It is true that we did receive it. Anyways, this…”

What was given to me was a brown envelope.

It is quite big and thick.

When it was given to me, I caught sight of the contents for a bit, and it seems like it is all documents though.

But if they are giving it to me in this way all piled up, I don’t think it is something urgent.

It is fine to just confirm the contents of it slowly.

“Let me tell you this, everything in there are documents that have to be urgently confirmed.”

…

Seriously?

…All of this?

“Also…”

Soon after, I was given another brown envelope that had the same thickness, filled almost to its limit.

One after the other.

I have six now.

“Next, there’s documents related to the Academy’s internal affairs, and they have been put together at the neighboring room of the temporary teacher’s office. We were told that those documents can’t be checked unless Raidou-sensei sees them first, so I requested Shiki-san about it.”

“…Why in the neighboring room? It is always left at the desk of the office, right?” (Makoto)

“…About that…”

“Yes?” (Makoto)

“Because it couldn’t fit all.”

“Hah?” (Makoto)

“The office is used by other teachers as well, so at the current state, it would fill up around one third of the room in documents. There are also claims because of the lack of answer, so it is not like everything is related to different matters, but classifying them all from our side would be difficult. It took our all just to sort them by date.”

‘I also have other work, you know?’, are the kind of eyes I was making.

“There’s a nonstop flood of enquiries and thought transmissions, not only from the Academy’s foreign affairs, there’s also from the town, and from other countries. A percent of office work is responsibility of Raidou-sensei, in the current office department.”

You are kidding, right?

“…”

I have no words.

I only gulped down.

“The temporary work regarding the reconstruction is also a lot, and we are like this. You must have understood after seeing this, but this is a grave situation for the office department. But you finally came. The arrangement of the documents and the processing of it, from today on, please work on them as you steadily bring them back home.”

“…Y-Yes.” (Makoto)

“And about the formalities for the class, I will hear the concrete contents of it.”

“Increase in students, and…” (Makoto)

“!!”

What a big reaction.

“The limit of classes I have—” (Makoto)

“Can’t do.”

“Eh? Uhm, you should be able to reduce the amount of classes, right?” (Makoto)

“Can’t do.”

“I just have to request for an increase in students and take out the request applications, right? By cancelling the temporary stop of it.” (Makoto)

“Yes, that’s possible. Actually, I have already received a special exception to increase the students participating in your class, so I would like you to please increase it to the present limit of 80 students.”

E-Eighty?

Are you crazy?

Even in Japan, a class was less than half that number.

I don’t even have a teaching qualification, so there’s no way I would be able to teach that amount of people.

It is a class where there’s the risk of injury since they are practical lessons. The major premise is that it has to be limited to a number that Shiki and I can manage.

“…Please don’t say the unreasonable. Even if I say increase, it would be around double of the current state. I was thinking of increasing it to around 4-5 students.” (Makoto)

Things like: ‘Impossible.’, ‘Too few.’, ‘Blood will be raining, you know.’, ‘How irresponsible.’, were what they were saying.

“That kind of number is like throwing a pebble in the water, Sensei.”

“Even if you say that, it is my limit after all. I don’t want to be a teacher that lets his students die after all. More importantly, why can’t you decrease the number of classes?” (Makoto)

Shiki did say that even if they die, we can somehow manage.

…’Even if they die, we can somehow manage’?, what kind of somehow?

“If I had to put it in one word, it is the consensus of the Academy.”

“Consensus?” (Makoto)

“Students, teachers, and the factions that are related to management, have stated that it is acceptable for Raidou-sensei to increase the percentage of work in this Academy, but they don’t want you to reduce it. Even though it is a situation where there is a fight for authority, this one point has been approved by them all. We can tell from the large amount of documents, that the students have taken an interest in the teacher after all. And that’s why, it will be incredibly troublesome to have you do the opposite of that.”

“Even if you say it is troublesome…” (Makoto)

I don’t care about those circumstances.

In the first place, I have no intentions of getting involved as a teacher for more than once a week.

Actually, I came here to make it twice a month.

“If you want to reduce the number of classes no matter what because of personal circumstances…”

“Yeah?” (Makoto)

“Please ask that when I am not in charge.”

“…Ehm…” (Makoto)

“The employee that approves that right now, would definitely get fired. Finding employment is hard, you know?”

T-That’s truly none of my business.

“Are you telling me to have someone, who’s prepared to be fired, do it?” (Makoto)

I don’t mind though.

“We do understand that Raidou-sensei is not doing this because you want to. That’s why…can you at least maintain the current status quo, please?”

The eyes of the person in charge glitter.

Don’t cry!

“Maintain it huh.” (Makoto)

“It will be delightful to increase the number of students, but there’s also unreasonable requests we are unable to take, you see. If possible, can I ask you to please stay as a temporary teacher for once a week?”

“I…will return to the company once and think about it. Then, please resume the acceptance of applications for the class. Ah, right. Do you know where my students Jin, Amelia, and the others are?” (Makoto)

I try asking without much expectations

I do have prospects of where they could be, like the self-study outdoor fields.

“They are at the cafeteria.”

“I see. I will go around randomly and… Cafeteria?” (Makoto)

An unexpected answer came.

Why does this person know?

“Yes. Lately, at this time, there’s a variety of things happening in the cafeteria.”

“Variety of things?” (Makoto)

“A variety of things.”

“…For now, I will go check. Thank you.” (Makoto)

Cafeteria huh.

So the lunchtime has been shifted.

I have placed the documents in a big suitcase, so it is hard to walk.

Well, I know where they are already, so I will just head straight to the cafeteria.

The gazes of the students that are frequently turned at me had strange liveliness as always.

The scent of food from the cafeteria grew stronger, and yet, the gazes didn’t change.

“Now that I think about it, even when it is already pass lunchtime, there’s still a set meal that’s still available. It might be good to eat that before leaving.” (Makoto)

While having a carefree thought, I enter the cafeteria.

Jin and the others are…here.

At a long table of the cafeteria, they were having their lunch as they face each other.

…While having a gallery at their surroundings.

Why is there a gallery when eating?

Envy and bloodthirsty gazes were being poured at them.

Maybe because of that, there aren’t many gazes turned my way.

I am slightly grateful.

“You are open, Jin!!”

“I am not.” (Jin)

*Baki*

Without even looking back, Jin did a backhand fist towards the face of the hoodlum that suddenly attacked him from behind. The fist caved into his face and the hoodlum is send flying back into the crowd of people.

“I’ve got you!”

“What did you get? How bothersome.” (Amelia)

Amelia evades the flashing dagger that was aimed at her, and thrusts the hand that held a fork.

Suddenly, a scream resounds.

What’s with this turn of the century spectacle?

“Sif-senpai, please go out with m—”

*Bon!*

Even if it was small, a clear sound of an explosion resounded. A love confession that would soften this atmosphere has been shot down.

The one confessing has gotten an afro in an instant and falls speechless.

In a lot of meanings, he was a brave one.

“…”

Sif said nothing.

H-How cruel.

Nevertheless, what a hard to approach atmosphere.

There’s most likely a bounty placed on Jin and the others.

If it’s in this Academy, the unreasonable demands of the powerful nobles and merchants are normally approved, so it is possible.

And in reality, I had previous experience of suffering at the Academy Festival.

With that much interference, transgressions, moreover, harassment towards me; even if the person in question is dead, the punishment they were given was way too light.

This place is really scary.

The big nobles and merchants are also good at feigning innocence, and on top of that, they are underhanded, which makes it the worst.

When I go to Limia, I might have to meet with people related to that Ilumgand, and that makes me depressed.

It is the country that’s taking care of Hibiki-senpai, but for me, it is a target I would want to avoid.

“Sensei!!”

“?!!”

As I get closer to check the situation, Jin’s side called me out.

In response, the surroundings get noisy in an instant.

“I have been away for a while, and the Academy has turned dangerous, Jin.” (Makoto)

“You saw that just now?” (Jin)

“Yeah. Did someone place a bounty on you guys or something?” (Makoto)

When speaking to students, I speak the same way as I did with written communication, by talking indifferently.

Because there were harsh impressions like majestic, and weird, when I began speaking.

When I used written communication, the impressions it gave were indifference, composed, and unperturbed, so I am performing in my own way.

“No way. More importantly, it seems like you have resumed the applications for students.” (Jin)

Why do you know that already?

Are the rumors in school going at lightspeed?

While I was greeting the other students, Jin speaks about what I did at the office department a few moments ago.

“…You learned of it way too fast. Was it Shiki?” (Makoto)

“No, it seems to be information from a reliable source of the office department. Because of that, it has become like this after all.” (Jin)

“By ‘like this’, you mean the strange liveliness that’s surrounding the Academy?” (Makoto)

But I feel like the order of events is weird.

“It has been like this since that incident. The students that have begun to crave for power have become more active in practical lessons and real combat has been implemented. There was also an increase in temporary teachers and a reformation of the self-study system. The atmosphere of Rotsgard has changed quite a lot.” (Jin)

“Heh~” (Makoto)

Oops.

Be dignified, dignified.

With a stern expression.

“Because of this, there’s the hunted side. Just like this, there has been past occasions where they have surrounded us in this way, but…” (Jin)

Saying this, Jin looks at the gallery.

I’m surprised you can eat like this.

If it were me, I would prefer to endure going without one meal, rather than eating in this atmosphere.

“These guys seem to have learned about the increase in Raidou-sensei’s number of students. Just that, the most it will be taking is around five. And so, to show their own strength and to increase the slots available, it has instantly turned lunch into a thrilling event.” (Jin)

They even know the numbers.

How scary is the speed of rumors in Rotsgard Academy.

Walls have ears, and doors have eyes.

No, it is more like everything is made of glass.

“As a teacher, being evaluated so highly is something to be happy about, but…being too dangerous is troublesome. There’s other ways to show your strength.” (Makoto)

“Seriously!!” (Amelia)

From within my students that were silent, Amelia shouts loudly.

“Amelia?” (Makoto)

Slightly surprised, I call her name, and she hit the table hard.

“If you really wanted to stealthily have Raidou-sensei evaluate you guys, you should help out on the reconstruction work we are made to do everyday!!! And yet, you didn’t do that at all, and simply went to assault us… Just how much…You don’t know just how harsh it is, you bunch of idiots!!” (Amelia)

I did say that if you had free time from classes, you guys should help out with the reconstruction but, she was doing it everyday?

How diligent, Amelia.

*Ban!!*

Again, the sound of hitting the table.

This time was, Izumo?

He hit the table with a fist.

He is trembling. It must have hurt a lot.

“Exactly! Even though I am a magician, everyone says this: ‘How convenient’, ‘What a great help’. Dragging me around like a work-horse, and using my magic close to the very limit, they tell me that it was a reward and I, who didn’t have the strength left to oppose, was poured down alcohol and greasy food with no taste down my throat!! It was so harsh that I wanted to shout what kind of torture is this!! And yet, the important reconstruction is still not complete and there’s still a mountain of things left to do! To be envied by a bunch of bastards that just comfortably attend classes without helping at all, don’t joke around!!” (Izumo)

“A magician still has it better. When your magic power runs out, it is over, right? But me, I have to cast stamina and physical strength recovery magic, and they use me for heavy labour till the very limits of my physical and magical power! I have already learned how to make a simple house!!” (Misura)

After Izumo, Misura’s voice trembles.

As a defensive wall-type warrior, it is a given that he has high physical strength, and even if it’s unskilled, he can also use healing magic.

I have heard that in constructions, especially in the construction of buildings, they play an active role.

It seems like they have piled up a lot in them but, you two, if it was so rough, you should have just reduced the number to two or three times a week.

It wasn’t forced after all.

Counting Amelia as well, how diligent.

“If you are talking about physical and magical limit, I as well.” (Daeno)

…Daena too?

I have heard from Zara-san that he has been helping as a messenger and delivery of goods.

“But it is still nice for you Misura, you are still single, right? But me, once I return to my room, my wife tells me this: ‘Why do you always return so late?’, ‘Helping out in the reconstruction is not the work a student should be doing, so treasure your family a bit more’. Being super tired and returning in tears, I get those words. It gets to my heart…” (Daena)