Chapter 6: The Sword Suits You Better Than the Bow (2)

The first day of academy life was beginning.

The students gathered in the classroom before the entrance ceremony could barely contain their excitement.

And who could blame them? This was the prestigious Imperial Academy.

And not just any classroom - this was Class A, the elite section.

The entrance exam's brutal competition rate. Not only passing that, but scoring high enough to be placed in Class A - the difficulty of such a feat was self-evident.

Having overcome such obstacles to finally be recognized as true elites, all that remained was the reward.

Studying under the finest teachers, receiving the finest education, advancing toward the pinnacle. Everyone believed without a doubt that such a future was destined for them.

'But there are no absolutes in this world.'

Let's teach these privileged brats, born into noble houses and taking success for granted, the truth that life never goes according to plan.

I began walking forward.

Click, click went my shoes on the floor. Naturally, all eyes in the classroom turned to focus on me.

Normally, my role would be to give a brief self-introduction and then escort the students to the auditorium for the entrance ceremony. But that would be far too ordinary.

First impressions are everything in relationships, after all.

I immediately scowled and sneered at them.

"What a bunch of low-class fools. Was it really so difficult to sit quietly and wait for a few minutes?"

An insult before even a greeting.

Add to that the fact that the Iron-Blood Duke hadn't shown up and instead some other professor had, and confusion painted everyone's faces.

Though they kept their mouths shut, their expressions clearly asked 'Who the hell is this guy?'

I kindly revealed my name to such students.

"I'm Ryan, your new professor. Being a commoner, I have no family name. I'll be teaching you lot from now on, so make sure to engrave my name in your minds."

As soon as the introduction ended, the murmuring grew louder.

A new professor with no experience. And a mere commoner at that - they clearly didn't like the idea of being taught by someone like me.

'The latter probably weighs more heavily.'

Though the Academy claimed equality as its motto, I'd already noticed that subtle discrimination would be rampant throughout the school.

Well, without that, we couldn't use the cliché of 'nobles looking down on the commoner protagonist before getting taught a lesson.'

Thank goodness this was an academy story. Just declaring myself a commoner made public opinion plummet so easily - I could barely hold back my smile.

"...Professor, even so, you can't-!"

But perhaps the effect was too good? A boy who'd heard the insults directed at me jumped up and shouted.

That righteous personality. A face so fair he could be mistaken for a girl. Add to that the special circumstance of entering with top scores despite the handicap of magic insensitivity.

A boy who seemed like the protagonist in every way, trying to defend me.

Seems he felt a kinship as a fellow commoner. But I'd just accept the sentiment this time. I cut off his impassioned speech before it could even begin.

"...I believe I told you all to be quiet. It seems you lot completely lack the ability to learn. Drastic measures will be necessary."

I frowned again.

The dark circles under my eyes from not sleeping a wink last night due to stress helped create a fierce expression.

"Take out your primary weapons."

A command delivered in the most oppressive voice possible.

Even the protagonist who tried to defend me hesitated at the sudden demand, but I paid such reactions no mind.

Scribble scribble, I made a show of noting down those who didn't comply, and the process moved along swiftly.

Having collected all weapons in an instant, I declared shamelessly without changing expression:

"These are confiscated. Incompetents like you would only rely on these items beyond your station, never properly developing your skills."

Whether magic spears, divine swords, important family heirlooms, or whatever else.

As of this moment, they were all confiscated.

"Until you properly qualify yourselves, you'll gain experience using weapons that suit your level."

In exchange for arbitrarily taking their treasures, what I handed them were worn-out pistols.

This act, practically robbery, wasn't something the students would quietly accept. A blonde boy with an unpleasant look stood up from his seat.

"Are you joking right now?!"

I glared intensely at that student.

Though the boy flinched at my murderous gaze, I had no intention of retaliating.

"Do you have some complaint about my teaching methods?"

"T-that's..."

"Then do as you please. I have no intention of forcibly keeping those who wish to leave. I'll ask Professor Scott to transfer you to Class B."

After all, my goal from the start was to dump all of Class A's students onto Professor Scott.

It's fine for me to act outrageously to get myself fired, but having innocent students get wiped out by the final boss because they couldn't receive proper lessons would be a disaster of epic proportions.

After working so hard to act like a terrible professor, they should quickly realize I'm a rotten lifeline and switch over.

With such thoughts, I tossed the weapon to him.

The student stood dumbfounded holding his spear and Scott's note saying he could transfer to Class B if he wished, before hesitantly walking away.

The first step is always the hardest.

This should significantly lower the hurdle for the next deserter.

"I assume you're not so dim-witted as to not know where the auditorium is. I don't have time to waste giving directions, so find it yourselves. Those quitting should take their weapons and leave."

I announced only the essential information so the students wouldn't feel pressured by my presence, then took my leave.

The students' expressions were completely different from 5 minutes ago.

Confirming the thoroughly frozen atmosphere one last time, I could finally be certain.

This match was my victory, without question.

*****

As soon as the professor left, the classroom erupted into chaos.

The topic of discussion was, naturally, Ryan's outrageous behavior. Given how extreme his attitude had been, the backlash from the students was considerable.

Let's all go to Class B together.

We should petition the principal to change our assigned professor.

I'll use my family's influence to get him fired.

A complete mess with everyone just shouting their own opinions.

Watching this scene, one girl spoke up.

"Everyone, do you really think that professor did all this without any thought behind it?"

A calm, measured voice.

Yet that simple statement ended the commotion.

This was inevitable, as the girl was the most noble person present - Sylvia Leonhardt, the Empire's Second Imperial Princess.

"He's an Academy professor. Moreover, one assigned to Class A over the Iron-Blood Duke himself. If you find his actions completely incomprehensible...

Perhaps rather than the other party being strange, it would be more correct to think that you failed to understand his true intentions."

An absolutely reasonable statement. The girl boldly met everyone's gazes as she picked up the gun.

"Take a look at the gun we received earlier. You'll immediately understand what I'm talking about."

Words from none other than the Imperial Princess.

Everyone followed her instruction without hesitation, and...

It took less than 3 minutes for exclamations of shock to burst out everywhere.

The complex internal structure constantly transformed, making it impossible to grasp its true form. Even if broken, it would automatically repair itself and immediately return to its original state.

This was clearly no ordinary worn-out pistol.

"Unlike guns that automatically absorb and fire magic power, this one won't fire unless you manually control all the magical power yourself."

Precisely flowing magic power through the narrow circuits.

Make even a small mistake in control and the fragile circuits would immediately burst. But slow down too much and the power weakens, so you need to be both precise and fast.

"This... isn't this the same principle as magic enhancement?"

Such words escaped one student's mouth.

Thankfully it seems there are some with working brains, the princess thought as she gave a small smile.

"Since even small mistakes can be life-threatening, magic enhancement is only taught to top students among third years. But... what if we use this?"

A technique that dramatically enhances physical abilities by infusing magic power into the bloodstream.

While magic enhancement was difficult even for the Academy to teach since operational mistakes led to organ damage, this changed things.

The gun's circuits - extremely delicate and constantly changing shape like blood vessels.

Practicing flowing magic power through these would naturally lead to understanding the principles of magic enhancement.

Everyone's faces were once again painted with shock.

Being able to safely and easily learn a technique like magic enhancement - not a single person present was unaware of how valuable that was.

"B-but then why didn't that professor explain this to us? If he'd just properly explained, everyone would have accepted without complaint."

Just one thing remained puzzling to all - why Professor Ryan had shown such strange behavior. But that too didn't last long.

"That was surely to distinguish between students who properly follow instructions and those who don't."

Practicing magic enhancement through these guns would surely lead some students to become overconfident. Thinking they've mastered it enough to try the real thing.

But what if they make a mistake then?

Something irreversible would immediately occur.

"...You mean he acted that way out of concern for us?"

Without filtering out those who don't follow instructions and act on their own, there could be casualties.

Ryan's oppressive attitude came from worrying about his students' safety more than anyone else.

"Damn, and I didn't realize..."

The student who'd talked about using family pressure to fire Ryan flushed red. The other students looked no different.

Everyone had misunderstood that professor's intentions.

How could they brazenly hold their heads up after responding with insults instead of gratitude to someone looking out for them?

The atmosphere instantly grew solemn.

Watching this scene, Sylvia pondered briefly.

'How much of this was that professor's intention?'

She'd noticed the other party had no ill intent when the Saintess showed no reaction to such outrageous behavior.

As soon as she held the old pistol and flowed magic power into it, she immediately realized this was training equipment for magic enhancement.

But just one thing...

She absolutely could not fathom that professor's thoughts.

Sylvia explaining the professor's purpose to the other students was mere whimsy. She could have chosen to silently head to the auditorium.

In that case, Ryan would surely have been in a difficult position. He might have actually been fired.

But the professor left without any hesitation.

Did he think getting fired didn't matter as long as it was for the students' education?

Or... had he predicted she would react this way, and that the evaluation would completely reverse, cementing his position more firmly than before?

'Either way, he's an unfathomable man.'

Where did such a big shot suddenly appear from?

How did he manage to create twenty such guns?

While nothing could be known for certain, if there was one thing she could say with confidence...

It was that life at the Imperial Academy would become quite entertaining thanks to that new professor.

*****

The imminent firing.

Heading to the auditorium while trying to hold back a leaking smile, I saw a familiar face in the corridor.

Silver hair, black eyes, and horns.

Principal Zion's appearance was unmistakable.

Though I wanted to avoid getting involved with the madwoman who promoted someone who'd insulted her tea to her face, it seemed she spotted me first.

Zion waved happily and approached me.

At this point avoiding her would be impossible. Better to make the most of this situation.

'Besides, there was something I wanted to ask anyway.'

A staple cliché of academy stories.

The illusionary demon beast that raids during the entrance ceremony to test how students handle emergencies.

I'll find out when it appears and make a huge fuss about it. When someone who acted so high and mighty trembles in fear at an illusion, their reputation will plummet.

With that in mind, I asked Zion.

"At what timing is the illusionary beast raid planned for this year's entrance ceremony?"

But Zion's reaction was somewhat strange.

A moment of silence.

Then her eyes began sparkling with excitement.

The girl grabbed my hands tightly and exclaimed.

"An illusionary beast raid! What an excellent idea!"