Chapter 13
“…Haa.”
I walked slowly down the hallway, sighing repeatedly.
My head was completely filled with thoughts of Rex. Everything else was hazy, as though covered in fog.
I had spent the entire morning reading through and memorizing information about the students over and over. Yet the only thing that had properly stuck in my mind was their three names… No, in this world, I suppose they weren’t three-syllable names. In any case, all I remembered was a single line of names.
‘We said we’d talk later, didn’t we?’
Still, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. I was relieved that Rex didn’t seem to hold any resentment toward me.
It would be nice if he still thought of me as a friend, like he had back then.
‘…No.’
I immediately shook my head from side to side. At this point, I should be grateful if he remembered me merely as someone from his childhood.
We had already come too far for me to call us childhood friends. And I was the one who had pushed him away, after all.
I resolved once again not to expect too much.
“…Phew.”
I sighed again. This time, however, I deliberately inhaled and exhaled deeply. It was half a breathing exercise.
That was because I had arrived in front of the classroom.
R3 Building, Room 405. It was the third building in the academy’s R complex. Since the other practical-combat instructors had all headed to the R buildings as well, it wasn’t particularly strange that Rex had been assigned a classroom in the same building as me.
But I never imagined he would follow me even though this wasn’t the direction he was headed….
‘No. I said I’d stop thinking about Rex.’
I took another deep breath, then placed my hand on the classroom door.
-Clack.
The door opened smoothly. I had heard that the R building was somewhat old, but its hinges were smoother than I had expected. I didn’t know whether it was simply well maintained or enchanted with some sort of magic.
When I cautiously stepped inside the classroom, all four pairs of eyes turned toward me at once.
Three unfamiliar gazes, and one familiar one.
“Teacher Haru!”
Miriam, seated on the left side of the front row, raised her hand high and called out cheerfully.
The blonde girl seated beside her on the right side of the front row opened her eyes wide and whipped her head around.
‘That girl is Miss Charlotte.’
As I confirmed her face, I repeated her name in my mind. Skipping breakfast to hammer her personal information into my head had paid off.
‘She uses standard lightning magic. She’s the daughter of the Valliere family, famous for its mastery of lightning magic.’
I looked at the two girls in turn and answered.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Miriam. And you too, Miss Charlotte.”
“…How do you do.”
As befitted the daughter of a noble family, Charlotte seemed slightly startled and flustered when I called her by name right away, but she still bowed to me with perfect decorum.
‘A warm tickle is starting in my chest.’
We exchanged brief greetings. I had remembered her name ahead of time and managed to make a good first impression.
It was a trivial thing, but for some reason, a sense of fulfillment welled up inside me.
My complicated feelings settled, replaced by a greater sense of ease.
‘…Good.’
Taking the opportunity, I turned my gaze away from her and addressed the two students seated in the back row.
“And Kariya and Miss Roxanna, too. It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Ah, h-hello….”
“….”
The girl who greeted me in a barely audible voice was Roxanna Gatling. Kariya was the male student who silently straightened his posture.
It was a little awkward not to receive an answer, but I decided to let it go, thinking that at least he had straightened up. Perhaps he was just very shy.
In any case, it was a relief that everyone’s first impression seemed kind and gentle.
“First of all, welcome to Practical Class E. For the next two years, until you graduate, I’ll be assisting and guiding you in your work as apprentice knights….”
I paused for a moment, held my breath, and quietly drew up mana.
-Click.
The chalk lying beneath the blackboard rose into the air by itself.
“Whoa!”
Miriam opened her eyes wide and cried out. The other three did not shout, but they too directed visibly astonished gazes toward the blackboard, just like Miriam.
With a pop, the chalk’s cap opened, and it began to scribble across the blackboard of its own accord.
Haru.
After writing that single word, the chalk closed its cap again and carefully lowered itself back beneath the blackboard.
-Tock.
“…My name is Haru. I look forward to working with you.”
I gave a slight bow and completed the greeting I had ‘prepared.’
‘I practiced like hell for today.’
It had started when I became completely captivated by the feat Principal Ludwig had demonstrated on my first day at the academy.
The moment I saw him float a teapot through the air without touching it and tilt it to pour tea into a cup, I thought that I wanted to do it too… and before I knew it, I had begun practicing recklessly, determined to use it when meeting my students for the first time.
After a month of grueling effort, I finally managed to pull it off about three days before the entrance ceremony.
I used wind magic to manipulate the chalk with minute precision, writing my name on the blackboard and greeting them without touching it.
‘Honestly, that was fucking cool.’
I kept a faint smile on my face and thought to myself,
‘Since I went to all the trouble of practicing it, it would be a little disappointing if everyone just ignored it….’
“That’s fucking awesomeee!!”
Miriam did not disappoint my expectations.
“That’s the thing Principal Ludwig does, right?!”
As the other three gazed at me with eyes full of awe, Miriam’s eyes sparkled as she made a huge fuss.
“Yes, well.”
I nodded with a faintly smug smile.
“Hey, Teacher! Did you practice that? That’s seriously amazing….”
“You there.”
That was when it happened.
“Haven’t you been speaking far too rudely to the instructor?”
Charlotte, who had been staring at Miriam with a displeased expression for a while, suddenly began berating her in a cold voice.
What are you doing, girl?
=
…And now we’re back to the present.
“What? Yeah, come on! I’ll kill you, you bastard! Come to think of it, you didn’t answer when Teacher Haru greeted you earlier either, you rude little shit!”
“Was I obligated to?”
“Of course you were! As a student of this academy, you ought to show the instructor proper manners…!”
“Ha, look at the little saint.”
“What did you say?!”
“Fine, let’s really fight, then! Those mismatched scars on your face were getting on my nerves anyway. Perfect timing—I’ll tear open the other cheek so it looks nice and even!”
“Good. Then I’ll rearrange that ugly mug of yours completely. Make it just as unpleasant to look at.”
“D-don’t fight… please….”
As the atmosphere instantly turned icy, Miriam gave an awkward laugh and fired back, saying, ‘I’ve known Teacher Haru for a long time.’ Charlotte refused to yield and countered, ‘That’s none of my concern. As students of the academy, behave with proper manners.’
During their long argument, Kariya, apparently unable to endure it any longer, drew everyone’s ire by muttering, ‘Fuck, you’re fucking loud.’
Before we knew it, Miriam and Charlotte’s one-on-one argument had turned into a three-way melee.
Meanwhile, Roxanna desperately tried to stop them from the middle of the fray in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s, and I slowly began to develop a headache.
-Sssip.
I silently inhaled.
I tapped my soft uvula twice, temporarily infusing it with mana, and then….
“Fine. You’re really coming outside with me. I’ll smash you.”
“Just what I wanted. Hey, blonde girl over there. You come out too.”
“…It’s come to this, so it can’t be helped. I didn’t intend for this, but I suppose I’ll have to demonstrate my skills….”
“Everyone──!!”
I shouted.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“…Hic.”
The noisy classroom instantly fell silent, as though a typhoon had swept through it, and only Miss Roxanna’s quiet hiccups echoed through the room.
“…Phew.”
I let out a quiet sigh. I would have preferred not to raise my voice if possible.
One shout should have been enough. Hoping they would finally understand, I spoke calmly.
“What do you think you’re doing on the very first day?”
“…Sorry.”
“You, to the very end….”
“Miss Charlotte, that’s enough.”
I stopped Charlotte, who seemed ready to charge in headfirst. Charlotte glanced back and forth between me and Miriam with startled eyes, then bit her lip in silence and stepped back.
“Miriam.”
“…Yeah.”
“‘Yeah’ isn’t an answer, is it?”
“…Yes.”
However, I had no intention of completely crushing Charlotte’s spirit, so I decided to give Miriam a light warning first. Fortunately, Miriam was merely lacking in tact, not slow to understand, and she obediently followed my words at once.
“All right.”
I nodded.
“I think Miss Miriam knows what she did wrong.”
“…I’m sorry, Instructor.”
“It’s all right. You can just call me Teacher.”
I shook my head as I spoke.
Then I turned away from Miriam.
“And, Miss Charlotte.”
“…Yes, Instructor.”
As I looked at Charlotte, who answered with perfect decorum, I paused for a moment to think.
How should I deal with this girl? I felt that I needed to be a little firmer with her than I had been with Miriam.
I didn’t know whether she had been raised under a strict family tradition, but she seemed to place rather great importance on rules and discipline.
“Even if you try to stop me, I’ll stop her myself.”
“….”
“It’s good to admonish a friend who’s made a mistake. But even advice given with good intentions shouldn’t turn into a fight, should it?”
“I will correct that.”
Charlotte bowed her head at a perfect right angle as she answered. I grimaced inwardly. Why was she so rigid? It was unnerving.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“…I apologize.”
“You don’t need to apologize twice.”
I gave her one last light admonition, then turned my gaze toward the third problem student.
“And… Kariya.”
“….”
“Are you not going to answer?”
This one was the biggest headache. The other two at least answered me, but he seemed determined not to respond at all from the very first day—as if he were trying to pick a fight with me.
The other two had at least listened, but this one had refused to answer from the start and even tried to fan the flames during the fight. I hardened my expression and addressed him.
“You didn’t even try to stop the fight—you egged it on from the sidelines. And you casually threw around vulgarities.”
“….”
“You must have made Miss Roxanna, who was watching from the side, terribly uncomfortable.”
“…Is that a problem?”
Kariya, who had done nothing but listen in silence, finally spoke in a low voice.
“Of course there is a problem, Student Kariya. The fight….”
“You’re from the East, aren’t you?”
Kariya rudely cut me off mid-sentence. I suppressed the anger rising inside me and answered quietly.
“…I am. But what does that have to do with—”
“You know about the ways of the East, don’t you?”
The ways of the East.
Put simply, it was an idiom or proverb meaning that when a conflict could not be resolved by any other means, you settled it with a straight-up fight.
Looking at this delinquent who was trying to apply that principle here as though it were only natural, I spoke quietly.
“Student Kariya. This isn’t the East.”
“….”
“And even in the East, I was taught that if a problem can be solved through dialogue, there’s no need to resort to violence.”
“Then why are you wearing those clothes?”
Kariya suddenly threw out an unrelated question. What did he mean, those clothes?
“Excuse me…?”
“I mean Eastern attire. If you refuse to acknowledge the ways of the East, why are you wearing those clothes?”
If he disliked the ways of the East, he could simply wear the academy’s designated uniform. Kariya muttered the next words in a displeased tone.
…Oh.
So, right now.
Was he picking a fight with me, saying that if I refused to follow the ways of the East, I shouldn’t wear these clothes either?
“…The ways of the East, you said?”
I said it quietly.
I knew. I knew it wasn’t a very mature way to behave. It might be a mistake—not for an instructor, perhaps, but for a master.
Still, I thought I was entitled to be this angry.
These clothes—my
master—
you went and messed with them.
“All right. If that’s what you really want, then so be it.”
I looked Kariya straight in the eye and said,
“From this moment on, we’ll conduct class outdoors.”