Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

054

Of course, just because I closed the door didn't mean Avril would leave.

I just needed time to compose myself from the sheer embarrassment and shame.

After a light deep breath, I opened the door again.

Avril was standing there holding the book, just as before.

The embarrassment did not go away.

“Why, why does something like that have to be published and circulated?!”

“Teacher Cassian, you don't know how great your own value is.”

“No, I don't need to know!”

Didn't he say something about investing as much as they were worth in front of the students?

But there's no need to include me in that.

When I looked at him with hazy eyes, he looked back at me with an expression as if he couldn't understand.

“I thought you fully understood your own value.”

“I know you've planted eyes in the academy and are monitoring various things, but isn't this different from that?”

“If you know your own value, isn't it only natural to put a price on that value now.”

He held up the book again.

It was a classic-style book intended only for nobles.

The outside was luxuriously decorated with a hardcover thicker than regular paper, and on top of that, the title on the cover was engraved and then gilded.

The outer border also sparkled with some kind of luxurious blue engraved pattern, which seemed to have been treated with a special chemical.

The contents of the book, which I glanced at, were also so brilliantly butchered that my writing served as the original text, with the interpretations of three others attached as footnotes.

He had created a specialized textbook that you would only expect to see in the Imperial Academy's library.

“It's too much! Besides, what I approved was a basic theory book, not my n-n-notes or something!”

“Of course, we'll sell that too.”

“Whaaaaaat?!”

Avril, as if it were a matter of course, took out another book from his tunic.

Unlike the previous book, this one had a more down-to-earth impression.

The cover was plain, and the binding method was also plain.

The content was also close to faithfully reproducing my writing, the only difference being that illustrations were appropriately inserted in between.

A book designed so that readers could follow the basics by faithfully imitating the postures.

Certainly, a book of that level might not be so bad…….

‘N-no! Don't be fooled!’

But the very act of making and bringing a book without my consent was the problem.

“Why did you proceed with that without permission!”

“That's why I came to get your permission. I figured having a physical copy would help you know how it would turn out.”

Unnecessarily competent and thorough!

I tried to suppress the surging shame and annoyance.

My head wasn't working well right now because I had consumed a lot of mental and physical energy.

I was at the point where I wanted to just get angry, say no to everything, and be done with it.

‘……But.’

However, before I could only care about my own feelings, I needed to know what Avril was drawing.

‘All the returners move with their own plans.’

Rozalin and Hati were busy moving here and there with their own plans.

Yuria, who seemed to be clinging to me without a thought, was tormenting herself, bound by her past life.

And Avril was endlessly investing here, engrossed in his work.

Honestly, it was to the point where I wondered if he needed to work that much.

Did such a person raise and expand the student body for no reason?

What on earth did he want?

I was curious about that.

“……So I'd like to hear a little explanation. If I have to give my confirmation anyway.”

At my words, Avril seemed to think for a moment, then nodded his head.

“Let's go inside rather than continuing to stand and talk.”

I invited him into my dormitory room.

The faculty dormitory was a detached unit, but it was designed as a small room not considering visitors.

What that meant was, if I had Avril sit in the chair, I would have to listen to him while perched on the bed.

Avril glanced around my room once, then turned his eyes to the notebook on the desk.

“Sword Aura.”

He must have heard about my training with Sordian.

“Teacher, do you know why we came here as soon as we returned to the past?”

“You said it was because of me.”

“The goal is correct, but the means are a bit different.”

Avril tapped the desk with his finger.

They were slender and delicate fingers.

“The Grand General never had a mind of her own. Logical, but blind. She's a person who came here looking only at you, and her life's goal is probably focused on saving you.”

Tap.

“Assisting her is Hati. He's seasoned in the mercenary corps and skilled in cunning schemes. His characteristic muscular build and bald head have a certain deceptive appearance.”

Tap.

“In fact, their thinking is also naive. They believe that if they protect the teacher, receive the teacher's education, and the core military forces become stronger, the world will somehow be saved.”

Tap.

“But I'm a little different.”

Thump.

The finger tapping the desk stopped.

The clouds drifted by.

The moonlight coming through the window fell obliquely on Avril's face.

“The world was ruined because of useless people.”

“Useless?”

“We who have returned know the future. At the very least, we know which trash will betray humanity or hold it back during the demon invasion.”

His eyes, bathed in moonlight, grew even colder and darker.

His gaze was blankly fixed somewhere on the wall.

Perhaps his eyes held the people who had passed before him in the past.

“Friends, family, society. In such games, it's okay to have some clumsy people. But in a project where the future of humanity is at stake, there's no need to take such trash with us.”

Thump.

The finger tapping the desk grew a little firmer, following his emotions.

“You said you wouldn't leave for the capital, but would teach your students in this space without discrimination.”

“My thoughts on that haven't changed.”

“Then you should change them. Make this educational institution more efficient, more widespread.”

“So you spread the rumors to the nobles. To gather more students.”

At my question, Avril let out a smirk.

“Students?”

Ah……!

No, Avril didn't want students.

“Knights. Nobles. You're gathering the adults.”

Even with just Bridget, Viscount Cestra had come to confirm for himself.

As my thoughts began to change like that, my head started spinning to the point of dizziness.

“……Hostages.”

The students were certainly outstanding.

But their limits were also clear.

No matter how talented Pan was, he was just an apprentice squire in the Western Desert Mercenary Corps.

No matter how excellent Bridget's abilities were, he wouldn't be able to hold a clear advantage in a spar against the current graduating class students.

No matter how excellent Rozalin's swordsmanship was now, it was no match for when she would have the body of an adult who had trained for another 4-5 years.

‘But the demons will start appearing from next year.’

To prepare for that, he gathers people, and at the same time, takes the students themselves as hostages so they can't hold them back.

To make good use of the useful people.

And perhaps as a safety measure to prevent the useless people from moving on their own.

“So you took Bridget……”

“Don't worry. I didn't do anything. So, these two books, I need to distribute them a bit throughout the capital and the rest of the world.”

……Does my theory, my book and swordsmanship, have to become such a tool?

“What if I refuse?”

Avril smiled.

“Then we'll move on to Plan B, C…… probably around D.”

His finger was no longer tapping the desk.

I quietly closed my eyes, thought it over, and then answered.

“You may publish them.”

“Oh-ho.”

Rather, at my answer, Avril's eyes lit up as if he had become interested.

“It seems you've had a change of heart.”

“……To be honest, I'm still not sure what you're thinking.”

Avril probably hadn't told me everything he was doing.

There would be other parts of the plan that I would find out about later.

But.

“You called them hostages…… but they're also a defense measure.”

Probably this winter.

The first demon, the Giant-Block, will appear nearby.

And by next spring, the demon that killed me will also appear.

Besides that, there was also the risk factor of Berlis at the school.

An ambiguous figure, it was unclear whether she was an ally or an enemy.

If the nobles and knights were to gather here and build a defense when those events occurred.

“Fewer students will get hurt.”

“An ideal theory, just like you.”

Avril leaned back in his chair, looking bored.

“Please make it so as much as possible. I will permit the publication on that condition.”

Avril stood up from his seat without a word and turned his back without a farewell.

Instead, he glanced around once more and said something rather strange.

“It's small.”

“……?”

“An instructor who can write a book like this should have a room that befits his status.”

What's with that sudden, out-of-the-blue comment.

But Avril didn't answer this either and left the dormitory.

As he left, I laid my upper body on the bed, just as I had been sitting.

I had been writing for a while, but not only was my train of thought broken, but a wave of fatigue washed over me, probably because I had used my head so intensely in the middle.

The effect of having been on the verge of death by fatigue from shame earlier probably also played a part.

‘Still, from tomorrow, I can properly see the students.’

Then I'll slowly build up the basics with these students again.

Since there are many students from noble families of the Empire, I should also absorb their swordsmanship and supplement my basic swordsmanship.

And now that the basic swordsmanship and aura are almost ready.

‘I should also write the intermediate swordsmanship.’

Basic, intermediate, advanced, and even expert.

I need to accelerate the writing of the swordsmanship theory books, which are organized by level.

‘I still lack data to handle Sword Aura.’

Sordian, Pan, and Rozalin had all failed to manifest Sword Aura in the end.

I needed more diverse cases to understand why their attempts were failing.

For that, I needed to closely track and observe more students, recording and researching their thoughts and movements.

‘Just thinking about it makes me excited.’

I should go to the library more, write more books…….

Excitement, anticipation, and the desire to do new things were all mixed together in a complex way.

And the next day, at the faculty meeting.

“The last final evaluation was good, wasn't it? So how about using monsters for this year's freshmen's grade evaluation on a large scale as well? Since the number of divided classes has increased, we can do it as an inter-class competition. Hahahaha.”

“As expected of the Chairman, your idea is excellent! It's a method that we can't possibly follow with our common sense!”

“Hahahaha, this is all because I've been contemplating a more educational study every day!”

The chairman spewed more nonsense, as if he wouldn't allow such soft education.

“Excuse me, Mr. Chairman……?”

A flustered Gwen tried to stop the chairman, but.

“The students' potential is truly great! They didn't just face orcs, but even high orcs! This is all thanks to Teacher Cassian who created a good education! And also thanks to Teachers Quantai and Gwen who worked hard on the education!”

Gwen turned her head so fast it made a whooshing sound and started to glare at me fiercely.

Your name was also mentioned in the chairman's praise just now……?

“But I noticed the test time was a bit long last time! Let's shorten that!”

“Ooh, it seems the Chairman has another good idea!”

“And our territory has also expanded a bit, hasn't it? Hearing from the lord, during the process of pioneering the territory, he said there's a flock of harpies in a canyon about five days' journey east from here! Let's send the students there and evaluate their strategy, tactics, swordsmanship, and situational response ability all at once!”

Harpies, those humanoid monsters with wings instead of hands?

Is he really talking sense right now?

“Mr. Chairman, is there any reason to push the students that hard? Aren't these students freshmen who have just enrolled!”

This time, unable to just let it pass, Proichena and the other teachers also tried to argue against the chairman's words.

But the chairman just smiled his characteristic hollow smile.

“There are a lot of people this semester.”

His eyes shone benevolently.

“The reason so many parents suddenly entrusted their children to us is probably because they viewed the value evaluation we did at the end favorably. We must follow the parents' intentions well.”

“No, that's……”

It seemed the chairman was consistently out of his mind.

“So, the teachers in charge of the freshmen in the Basic Class, please work hard~.”

I had no choice but to spend the next month creating a curriculum and designing an educational process that would push the students just like during the final evaluation again.

My small and precious intermediate theory book, my comfortable reading, my Sword Aura…… farewell.