Top Instructor of a Third-Rate Academy

Chapter 194

"Where did you just pluck that kid from? Impressive."

"I did not pluck him."

The one who had brought Chamson was not me but Latrine.

Then, did Latrine have a good eye for people?

'Probably not.'

If she had, she would not have struggled that much during the group assignment process.

No — rather than struggling herself, she was more the type to make others struggle.

"Is he settling in well?"

"Oh, anyone from the military is an automatic thumbs-up."

Well, I suppose I had nothing to worry about.

"Keep him close and teach him the sword."

"Yessir! Do not worry!"

Rozalin laughed like that, then suddenly began scrutinizing my face from various angles.

"Why?"

"But what made you suddenly decide to make demon extermination the final exam?"

That was a fair question.

About a year and a half ago.

I had clashed with Avril over the idea of mobilizing students to deal with demons.

Mobilize students, of all people, to deal with demons?

I could not drive students into that kind of danger.

"Did you compromise because of how bad things have gotten?"

A year and a half from then.

The world had grown chaotic.

Demons — which had not even appeared in large numbers — were completely destroying smaller nations, starting with the Kingdom of Namress and the Belmein Kingdom.

In a situation like this, the pretense of worrying about student safety did not hold.

"You are right about that."

But that was not the reason I was having students go on demon extermination.

Pretense was not a bad thing.

Especially when it was a professor thinking about students — that was absolutely necessary.

A person who gambled with students as their chips was not qualified to be a teacher.

That was just a lunatic.

The reason I had made up my mind was simpler.

"The students' skills have improved."

Demons were undoubtedly strong, but our students' abilities were not shabby either.

No — they were quite excellent.

"Every small helping hand is needed right now."

Even now, large and small demons were endlessly appearing across the world.

Each time, countless people died, were injured, and lost their homes.

Even just one or two small demons was enough to do that.

What those people needed was not some grand rescue.

Help at the level of our current students.

Just that much could save their lives.

"That is true, but dropping us into the midterm boss role out of nowhere? You could have at least consulted us."

"Oh, that. It is better for you to directly experience the manpower you will need when you go on demon extermination."

"......Huh?"

Rozalin's eyes went wide, as if to ask what that meant.

Why was she reacting like this?

"You did not think I was going to send students off to face demons without any escort, did you?"

"Well no, but — are you not going yourself, Teacher?"

"I need to stay and look after the school. More students will fail the midterm than pass, you know."

I could not leave that many students unattended without a makeup evaluation.

At worst, if fifteen hundred out of two thousand failed, next year's freshman class would have to accommodate roughly twenty-five hundred students.

'The numbers are already huge — that would be nothing short of hell.'

So I stay at the school.

And the students who served as midterm bosses would form teams with the students who had beaten them and move out to deal with demons.

"Since you will have fought them directly, you will know their patterns, habits, and weaknesses precisely. That should make fighting demons much easier."

"Then do not tell me the criteria for choosing midterm bosses was......"

People who could hunt a demon alone.

Or people who, with a bit of support, could hunt a demon.

That was how they had been selected.

"No, what do you — uh...... T-Teacher. Then what if, hypothetically, the students beat the Spear God? That cranky, unhinged old geezer would have to lead students on a demon-hunting mission?"

That was certainly a problematic scenario.

But I was not overly worried.

"Do you really think the students could beat the Spear God?"

At my counter-question, Rozalin shut her mouth.

The Spear God's skill was directly proportional to his eccentricity.

No matter that a group had ten students and showed excellent skill, breaking through the Spear God would not be easy.

"The students will probably target people like Bridget, Eleveth, Freizia, Sordian, or Kantaros. Among those, they are most likely to go for Sordian, Kantaros, or Chamson."

People who were not official Akarind Academy students, who were older, and who appeared somewhat weaker compared to the other figures.

But most of those people had military experience, had wandered the world as knights, or had experience teaching and guiding students as instructors.

In other words — people who could effectively lead a demon raid.

"Teacher, you had it all planned out. As expected, the demonic brain——!"

"So you too, do not push yourself too hard. Once you think the students have cleared a certain bar, go easy on them a bit."

"Aww...... that is admissions fraud, Teacher."

"? I am the teacher of this course, so how is it fraud......"

Rozalin nodded as though she fully understood and withdrew from the study.

No — she was about to withdraw.

As though she had just remembered, she turned back and asked.

"But Teacher. Just in case — what if the students and the knights join forces and actually beat the Spear God?"

No way.

I let out a small laugh.

"In none of the group combinations I have seen would that happen. But if by some chance it did......"

I briefly imagined that future.

If the students really did beat the Spear God.

"Would that not be a good thing in its own way? It would mean students of tremendous skill had blossomed their talent through their own strength."

"Talent...... hmm, I have a feeling the aftermath would be unmanageable......"

Rozalin left with a suspicious look to the very end.

Oh, come on.

Could such students really exist?

Of all people, this was the Spear God.

There was no way.

***

"Let us target the hunchback — the old man, the one who does not even attend class. We have to take him down."

At Zelta's proposal, the students stared at him with their mouths hanging open.

Most of their gazes questioned his sanity.

"That is a joke, right? Tell me it is a joke. Otherwise I am going to assume you are a mole sent from another group."

Who was the Spear God?

He was someone whom even Teacher Cassian himself had praised, saying the old man was better than he was at handling a weapon.

"I do not know what world you are living in, but do you know what epithet that man carries? The Evil Spirit of Goldline, they call him. He is not a man with a human heart!"

The knights scolded Zelta as well.

They did not know the skill level of Akarind Academy students in detail.

But they knew well of Hati, who led the Firestorm Mercenary Guild; the Spear God, a retainer of Goldline; and Kantaros, who bore the title Iron Wall.

Of those, the strongest and most eccentric old man was the Spear God.

"With that old man's personality, the moment he even hears we are targeting him, he will pick a fight!"

And that eccentric personality was itself a problem.

Suppose they got absurdly, ridiculously lucky and scraped out a victory.

Given his personality, he would insist the victory was invalid and come at them mercilessly.

A match against an opponent who would not acknowledge his own defeat.

Just thinking about it was exhausting.

But Zelta thought differently.

"I think that is the trap."

"The trap?"

"Think about it — is it not strange? Look at the midterm bosses. It is as though they have dangled easy targets as bait, telling us to go for them."

Zelta pointed at Chamson's name.

"This man only recently awakened, so his Aura is still immature. His experience is shallow and his skill lacking — that is what I have heard from the knights. Is that correct?"

"......Ahem."

"But what happened? Ten knights who charged at him got obliterated on the spot."

The knights and soldiers only repeated awkward coughs, their discomfort plain.

There was no rebutting what was true.

"From the beginning, our Teacher was never someone who gave easy assignments."

There had been such a time.

Cassian himself was embarrassed by that past.

"And yet obvious choices like these have been laid out? It is all a trap. For example, these people who are familiar to students."

Zelta excluded Kantaros, Sordian, Freutche, and the groups of Freizia, Bridget, and Eleveth.

Those were the very candidates Cassian had expected to be targeted.

"This is a midterm evaluation. Scores will be split. Teacher is probably looking at a future we cannot see. Most students will undoubtedly pass. What matters is not passing — it is the score."

Cassian had actually thought most would fail.

Three groups at most.

He had even entertained the possibility that not a single group would pass.

A prediction that, apart from the comment about seeing the future, was entirely wrong.

But who was the person saying these things?

The Demon's Strategist.

The prized disciple of Cassian, of whom it was said even demons learned strategy from him.

Little Demon Zelta.

The people were drawn into his words as if spellbound.

"That leaves us with Pan, Hati, Rozalin, Duke Crownhardt, the Spear God, and Teacher Cassian."

The remaining figures were brutally formidable.

"First, exclude Teacher Cassian. There is no way to beat him."

Everyone nodded in unison.

"Rozalin must also be excluded. That woman is genuinely insane — provoke her wrong and you might actually die. Pan is the same. His face may be innocent and handsome, but what is inside is truly deranged."

"Is it that bad?"

A knight who had not properly gauged the two asked.

"Both of them can hunt a demon solo. They are at the level of Sword Expert, and even if all of us ganged up, we probably could not win."

"To that extent......"

"Hati is the same. Throughout history, bald men have always been strong."

With that, Zelta excluded all three names.

"That leaves Duke Crownhardt and the Spear God. Just those two."

"We cannot attack Duke Crownhardt."

"If it were Teacher Cassian, he is more than capable of placing Duke Crownhardt as a test of your loyalty as defectors, but......"

That had not been his intent in the slightest.

Cassian had simply acknowledged Duke Crownhardt's prowess.

It was an outrageous slander.

"So the only one left is the Spear God."

At Zelta's words, students, auditors, knights, and soldiers all let out a simultaneous murmur.

His logic was flawless.

"Fine. Let us say everything you have said is correct. But how on earth do we beat the Spear God?"

Cassian had, when announcing the midterm, laid down conditions.

One was creativity.

The other was the sword.

Students had to devise a strategy Cassian himself had not thought of, and results had to be achieved through fair contest alone.

Victories through ambush, poison, or any other foul play were not subject to scoring.

And at precisely that point, Zelta smiled.

"What did Teacher Cassian say? Did he not say the sword?"

Zelta's faith in Teacher Cassian was akin to fanaticism.

He cherished every word the man spoke as though it were scripture.

"The sword — not the spear. That is the hint. So we propose a bout with the Spear God on the condition that he uses a sword."

"Oh, ohhh......?"

"The Spear God uses a spear because of his physical limitations! A Spear God wielding a sword is nothing more than a slightly hunched old man, no more, no less! We can win!"

The bizarre logic won people over.

Now only the final hurdle remained.

Who would bell the cat?

"But will the Spear God really give up his spear and fight with a sword?"

"There is a magic word for just such an occasion."

And the next day.

Zelta went to the Spear God with a supremely confident expression.

"Let us have a bout. But on the condition you use a sword, not your spear."

"What?"

The Spear God stared at them as if he could not believe his ears.

And Zelta uttered the magic word.

"Chicken?"

"......Kids these days are genuinely fearless — no, beyond fearless."

The Spear God's fuse was lit.