Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

058

A Beholder is basically a seer, an observer.

The creature was given that name because it had a large eye embedded in the center of its round torso.

Below its body, long flesh-like strips, like nerve bundles, fluttered, and at the ends of them were small eyes.

“A hero of old killed a great magical creature and pulled out its eyeball. But it is said that he threw it away without properly disposing of it. The monster that arose from there is the Beholder.”

The legend associated with the Beholder contained all of its characteristics.

Among them, the key was that the Beholder was a monster derived from a magical creature.

It used magic.

“It basically uses levitation magic. It levitates about 1m above the ground. Its movement speed is slow. But it has magical abilities that can overwhelm that.”

The Beholder shot a heat ray like a beam from its eye.

It also shot flames and launched ice missiles.

A monster that could fire a barrage of various magic.

That was the Beholder.

“How many were there?”

“Five of them.”

Five Beholders.

The number of individuals was small, but one Beholder could easily handle twenty harpies.

For five such creatures to be gathered together, it was understandable that the swarm of harpies could not go further in.

“But do Beholders live in groups?”

“This is the first I've heard of it. Beholders are not reproductive monsters. They are born from the corpses of old monsters like basilisks, dragons, or cyclopes.”

Which means.

There were even more fearsome monsters inside this canyon.

“We'll have to walk a fine line.”

If we provoked the Beholders incorrectly, there was a risk of not just a harpy vs. Beholder confrontation, but also of disturbing the large monsters inside the Beholder habitat.

“I didn't look beyond the Beholders. Beholders usually set up alarm magic nearby.”

“This is enough. Anything more is not something students can handle.”

The information was sufficient.

“Let's go back.”

* * *

Returning to the dormitory, I just blinked my eyes.

And for good reason, because my home was gone.

“……?”

It was a situation that I, even after saying it, couldn't easily comprehend.

I had been away with Hati's group for only four days.

We traveled for a day and a half starting from a weekday evening to survey the situation, and there we spent about six hours wandering around collecting topographical information.

We rode back for another day and a half, and I was planning to lie down and rest in time for the evening, but.

“What on earth……?”

My dormitory looked as if a giant whirlwind had swept through it.

Not all the other dormitories were like that, only mine.

“What on earth is going on?”

I grabbed a carpenter who was passing by and asked.

The carpenter, upon examining my face, showed a pleased expression as if he had been waiting.

“Are you Teacher Cassian?”

“Yes, I am Cassian, but……”

“Good grief, is it okay for a person to leave their room like this! I waited here for three whole nights! Where have you been all this time!”

Why am I being scolded right now?

Anyway, since he's scolding me, I apologize…….

“Do you know how much my daily wage is? But I couldn't even work and was stuck here just waiting for you! A young man like you should be quick on your feet!”

Uh, um, I'm sorry.

So you're angry because you were supposed to be working and getting paid, but instead you were playing around while getting paid?

He seemed to be someone with a strong pride in his profession.

“Your house! Your belongings! They've all been moved over there!”

Over there?

I shifted my gaze to where the carpenter was pointing.

It was a little away from where the faculty dormitories were gathered.

Wasn't that originally an empty lot with nothing there?

“Just go and see.”

Since he told me to go, I'll go, but…….

With a reluctant expression, I dragged my tired body and trudged on.

What on earth was going on.

As I was walking for a while, I noticed the instructors of classes C, D, and E moving in a group.

Without realizing it, I stealthily moved to the side of a building to avoid them.

‘The rumors about you are already widespread. They say you're an instructor who's all talk and theory, with no real ability, right? If you were pushed all the way here even after graduating from the Royal Academy, your abilities must be obvious…… haha, don't try to leech off us for our class information, just do your own thing.’

The sharp words they had thrown at me came to mind.

As much as I believed in myself and the students who believed in me, those words didn't hurt as much as they used to.

I just didn't want to run into them and hear more insults.

“……Is he really the Goldline brat's lover?”

But it seems I can't avoid insults just by physically avoiding them.

The open criticism just turns into backbiting.

“Just how much ass-kissing does he have to do to get his house changed? And he's the only one.”

“Doesn't it not make sense? His swordsmanship is poor, he dumps his classes on the students and leaves his post. What's so pretty about a person like that?”

“I heard he went to survey the habitat in advance with the security team? I mean, if the mercenaries went, they went, but what's he going to do there?”

“Maybe cheer them on. The kind that was effective on that precious brat.”

I could hear the teachers giggling amongst themselves.

So it can be seen that way.

I wasn't angry.

Because if Avril had really changed my dormitory and built a new building on his own accord, as they said, that would be unfair discrimination.

From the perspective of people who don't know the situation, it's only natural to be angry.

‘He did say something about my dormitory being small back then.’

Avril's actions were completely unpredictable.

I couldn't tell if he was doing it for me or to screw me over.

Just as I was sighing and about to take the long way around.

Their topic changed to the students.

“I heard the Class F students are all bewitched too?”

“They've only ever been in a backwater village, so would they have ever met a proper teacher? They're just blind.”

“What's really strange is that they took all the students from the Empire into their class, right? Do they want that much attention?”

“Maybe he's planning to get into politics later. He should be focusing on education, but instead he's trying to get some scraps……”

“It's just pitiful for the kids.”

“It is not pitiful.”

I didn't mind them insulting me, but I couldn't stand them criticizing the students.

Of all people, the students.

Their startled gazes turned to me.

“As you said, it's true that I have been a bit insincere and have been receiving various special treatments. So, while criticism of me is fine, please stop criticizing the students. Aren't they students who still don't know anything?”

“A-ahem.”

One of the teachers, looking embarrassed, turned his gaze away, his face blushing.

His face was youthful, and he seemed even younger than me.

But it seemed that only one of them knew shame, as the middle-aged female instructor and the bright young male instructor began to get angry with a brazen attitude.

“How petty, eavesdropping on other people's conversations!”

“Did we say anything wrong? Huh? Is it a crime to say what we saw and heard?”

“Honestly, it's a fact that you're ruining the students' future. This is a legitimate criticism.”

“If you're going to argue while talking about the students, you should mind your own conduct. What great thing are you doing, wandering around.”

“Teacher Cassian. Now that it's come up, let me tell you, if you have no ability but a high ego and are too greedy, your end will be sordid. You might not know because you're still young, but I've seen many people end up like that in the Empire.”

In any case, once the grade evaluation begins, they and I will face off in skill.

If I win then, everything will be resolved.

But nevertheless.

“You said something wrong.”

There were parts that I just couldn't let slide.

“The students may be young, but they live their lives with sincerity in their own way.”

I too had only seen the students as young.

I had acted, considering them only as subjects to be taught and people I had to protect.

But the result was disastrous.

Rozalin was disappointed in me and decided to drop out, and other students, including Pan, almost missed the opportunity to realize their potential.

“If they are lacking and inadequate, it is the teacher's duty to teach them that. Not to mock and ridicule them for being foolish.”

The two's faces flushed as they fumed.

The man's hand, which was on his sword, was fidgeting so much that it was clearly visible, as if he were about to challenge me to a duel right now.

“It seems we're both inadequate to be called teachers, but sneering loudly in someone's absence looks pathetic.”

“You……!”

“Uh, um, I admit it. That's right. It is.”

Finally, the male instructor exploded and threw his glove at me.

And as if waiting for it, Rozalin stealthily squeezed in between us.

With a slapping sound, the glove stuck to Rozalin's cheek, and as if by magic, the glove slid down slowly.

Rozalin's mouth was smiling.

“Oh. My. Goodness. What. To. Do. I. Seem. To. Have. Accidentally. Been. Hit. By. The. Glove.”

Judging by her stiff and awkward tone, it was clear that she had been eavesdropping from somewhere far away and had intentionally jumped in.

So I quickly grabbed her arm.

“Uh oh……”

It was instantaneous.

Rozalin's sword, which I didn't even see her draw, was gently pressing against the male instructor's Adam's apple at close range.

Goosebumps rose on the skin where it met the sharp sword.

The young male instructor couldn't even react.

The same was true for the two instructors who were watching from the side.

If I hadn't grabbed her arm and stopped her, would she have stopped the sword?

‘……No, let’s trust her.’

I pulled Rozalin, and Rozalin retreated a couple of steps without resistance, stepping back towards me.

Even at that moment, Rozalin's sword did not leave the opponent's throat.

It was an exquisite sense of distance.

“Wh-wh-what is this……! T-to draw a sword on an instructor inside the academy! You, who are you! Judging by your uniform, you seem to be a Class F student!”

Ah, so these people still don't know who Rozalin is.

Hearing the middle-aged instructor's shout, a mischievous smile appeared on Rozalin's lips.

It was a more genuine smile than when she had just lifted the corners of her mouth earlier.

“You were the one who threw the glove at a student first, weren't you, instructor? Don't bully our teacher. You idiots.”

Having said that, Rozalin sheathed her sword and, as if for show, pulled my arm.

The male instructor, as if relieved, lost strength in his legs and sat down on the floor.

He looked as if he had lost his mind.

“At least our teacher has never once insulted us in front of us, no matter how inadequate, stupid, clueless, or disobedient we are, even if we bully and persecute him.”

Did you guys torment me that much?

I felt a little sad at the newly realized scene of my past education.

“Let's go quickly, sir. You must be tired, you should go to your new dormitory!”

“You knew?”

“Ahem, who am I. When a new building is built, of course I get contacted too.”

She glanced at the three instructors.

Their faces were red and blue, but none of them had any fighting spirit in their eyes.

The elegant sword draw that had happened the moment the glove was thrown.

None of the three instructors had noticed that sword, and that must have made them hesitate.

I deliberately approached the three people, who I wished would disappear quickly, and gave a small bow.

“I apologize for my disciple's rudeness.”

“Ack, sir?”

Rozalin slapped my arm a few times as if to ask why I was doing such a thing.

But I wasn't finished yet.

“So I hope that one day, you will be able to apologize for being rude to my disciples.”

After I leave, will they come to their senses and be ashamed of themselves?

They probably won't.

They'll start gossiping about what just happened again.

I didn't want to be like them.

“Let's go.”

I turned my back on the three people and walked away.