Chapter 199 : Chapter 199
Chapter 199
I moved to the Chairman's office wearing a grave expression, accompanied by Gwen.
Gwen, as a core figure of Akarind Academy, understood the severity of this situation well.
Perhaps that was why this time, at least, she did not tell me not to go.
She only sighed.
"I am worried about the students."
I understood what she meant.
Word of the World Eater had not yet spread to the students, but that would not last long.
After all, Akarind Academy City was now a massive hub of circulation.
The Goldline Merchant Guild supplied goods, and countless prospective auditors visited.
Because of that, there were inevitably mercenaries to fill the security gaps, information guild agents seeking passing intelligence, thief guild members, and so on.
Countless transients flowed in and out endlessly.
Rumors would spread quickly.
The moment they did, students would grow restless and start leaving the school.
"That is exactly why I am permitting your departure this time. Your credibility with the students is second to none."
Gwen looked at me with a serious expression.
"The fact alone that you have set out will be enough for the students to calm their anxious hearts and focus on class. You are that kind of figure to them."
Chairman Gwen was as steadfast as ever.
How to put it.
Her title was Chairman of the Academy, yet she prioritized the students — the Academy's members — over the Academy itself.
"I know. This World Eater or whatever it is — they say if we do not stop that brainless demon now, the Empire will fall. Telling you not to go would make me the demon."
Even while grumbling that it could not be helped, warmth was threaded through her words.
Perhaps that was why.
"I will train substitute personnel to conduct classes at a minimum level while I am away."
I was able to say, lightheartedly, what I had been mulling over on my way to the Chairman's office.
Gwen, having heard me, furrowed her brow as though asking what I was talking about.
"Did you not hear that this is urgent? You need to leave immediately, and you are dawdling here?"
"The training will take time regardless."
This operation could only succeed if all five hundred knights raised their skill and moved as a single body.
The knights had only been taught the basics so far.
I needed time to bring them up.
"Moreover, given the stakes, I cannot afford to teach sloppily."
The Crownhardt Ducal House's knight force was to become the force that protected Akarind Academy going forward.
And beyond that, it would transform into the force that defended the Belmein Kingdom.
If I taught them half-heartedly and we failed to slay the World Eater, losing forces in the process, the losses would be catastrophic.
"I have already organized the groups into units of ten for the midterm, with exam formats and targets already set. If I do not teach properly, the midterm itself will be a mess."
Students were ruthless.
There were students whose homeland was the Empire.
But conversely, there were also many for whom the Empire was someone else's problem, or who outright hated it.
If students found their classes ruined and their Academy life wrecked by a situation that had nothing to do with them —
"Could such unethical students truly exist? No — should they not be disciplined?"
Gwen frowned.
Of course, such thoughts were wrong.
But the human heart did not move according to ethics and morality.
Young students' hearts even less so.
Within human nature, thoughts could roam freely.
"I will take responsibility and train successors before I leave. Do not worry. My colleagues are all capable."
I told Gwen warmly.
"Including you, Chairman."
"That is kind of you to say, but I cannot. You know, right? The Chairman's work is incredibly busy. Find a good colleague."
Teaching not students, but teaching methods and pedagogy.
***
True to my word to Gwen, I visited my fellow professors.
And was turned down by virtually every one of them.
"A two-thousand-person mega lecture? You split that into ten-person units and made two hundred groups? And you turned that into a midterm evaluation where they fight who doing what now?"
Freutche, after hearing everything, called me insane.
"I cannot."
"These are serious times. Considering ability, there are only a few people I can trust."
"I appreciate the trust. Which is why I am saying this."
Freutche snorted.
"You trusted me and handed it off, and then I produce garbage results? That is not happening. But this is a situation where taking the job means death. Only you can do this. Give me something within the realm of reason."
"......"
So unreasonable that it was beyond the realm of reason......?
When I looked at him skeptically, Freutche let out a sigh.
"Honestly, I want to help. I know what was discussed in the meeting. I am not saying this without understanding why you are going or what the situation is. But think about it. It is not just your class that has grown. All of ours have."
Fair point.
As Freutche said, the instructor workforce at Akarind Academy was currently overloaded.
Supplementing from the Goldline Merchant Guild and various auditors had not been enough.
"Then can you not just merge the lectures you teach into one big one?"
"......This is why geniuses are impossible."
Freutche bared his teeth and snarled.
He seemed a bit angry. Why?
"If it were that easy, I would have done it already!"
"Is it hard?"
"Get out!"
After that rejection, I visited Isadora's office.
Isadora Silvarena, former Qantaii.
Calling it a "job" was a bit odd, but in any case.
Isadora was one of the instructors whose fortunes had shifted most dramatically at our Academy.
None other than the Wolf King himself had come to express gratitude and propose an alliance with her.
On my advice, Queen Charlotte had placed Isadora in a key position — strategic advisor and Supreme Commander of the Belmein Kingdom.
"So...... I am very, very, very, very, very busy, mine liege......"
"You have the most teaching assistants. Starting with the staff the state assigned."
Isadora shook her head rapidly.
So rapidly that her head left afterimages.
"That doth not resolve the matter. Above all, these personnel are all novices."
The Belmein Kingdom had been nearly annihilated by the sudden appearance of the Iron Eater.
The circumstances of its appearance had been so freakish that all the key personnel who had led the kingdom were killed.
It was dire enough that even Queen Charlotte — the kingdom's ruler — had been a student attending the Imperial Royal Academy, hastily retrieved.
As a result, the people working under Isadora to assist her were less "assisting" and more "learning on the job" — and learning the most advanced strategy from an Imperial Military Academy graduate at that.
"It is truly beyond my capacity. I would rather prostrate myself and beg for your help. So please, please, seek another......"
She seemed about to drop to her knees and beg at any moment, so I quietly excused myself.
Sordian was a no-go, and every other instructor shook their head with a pained expression.
Even the department head — the one with the longest teaching career and the most talent.
"Since when does Akarind Academy run on seniority...... You are the most outstanding person here. Hmhmm."
This person had the audacity to flatter me to my face, leaving me speechless and forcing me to retreat.
After completing a full circuit of the faculty office, the sky outside was beginning to darken.
Hmm, what to do.
It was not as though there were no options at all.
The easiest would be to delegate teaching to the students.
'Pan, Rozalin, the Spear God, Kantaros......'
The students' skill and potential were outstanding.
Pan alone had an intuition for reading swords, much like mine.
He would instinctively catch flaws in students' swordsmanship and correct them.
Rozalin had experience devising strategy in the military.
The Spear God had a keen eye for the overall balance of offense and defense, and possessed knowledge of the body second to none.
Add Kantaros with his practical experience.
If the midterm exam targets personally taught the students, it could create more synergy than me teaching alone.
But this plan had a problem.
'Their ability is undoubtedly excellent, but the pedagogy......'
I imagined the Spear God teaching students.
'You fools! Cannot even block that? You are not worthy of crossing spears with this master!'
I imagined Pan teaching students.
'If you do this...... does it not just work? It just works. Mm. You can see it, can you not?'
I tried to imagine Rozalin.
I decided to stop thinking about it.
"Haah."
Ability and efficiency aside, the students' mental health would not survive.
That was not the educational philosophy I wanted.
Improving students' skills was important, but so was treating them as people with dignity and self-confidence.
'No choice.'
I would have to use the last remaining option.
I headed straight for my faculty office.
When I opened the door and entered, two people who had been working at their respective desks stood to greet me.
"Welcome back."
Jacy and Shasha.
Both my slaves — no, my teaching assistants in the graduate student sense.
"It seems both of you will need training. Follow me."
"......?"
I took the two of them to the training ground.
They seemed to have no idea what was going on, but followed me anyway.
'Then again, I have been neglecting my graduate students too much.'
What was a graduate student?
People jokingly called them slaves, but originally, graduate students were the crucible for passing scholarship to the next generation.
Not satisfied with Academy-level learning, they pursued deeper knowledge, and ultimately established their own theories to carry the discipline forward.
That was what a graduate student and teaching assistant was.
But how was I treating Shasha and Jacy right now?
Was I teaching them my swordsmanship?
'Both have reached the threshold of Adept, so it is not that I have not taught them at all...... but it is weak.'
That was a level ordinary students had also reached.
And what about education?
'I only have them assist classes — they have never conducted one on their own.'
Shasha had originally been a spy from the Goldline Merchant Guild, so it did not matter.
But Jacy was a talent I had scouted, who had aspired to become an instructor at this Academy.
After her students nearly died to the Harpy Queen, she had been voluntarily serving as my teaching assistant.
Leaving someone like her as just a TA was unkind.
'I need to change that, even now.'
When I arrived at the training ground, someone was already waiting for us.
Latrine.
"You are here."
"I was told you called for me."
"Yes. Starting now, I will be giving these two a special lecture on teaching methods."
At the news that I would be tutoring the two of them, Shasha and Jacy looked at me tensely.
"W-we are already receiving more than enough from the special class as it is......"
"This is not about the sword. It is a class on how to teach."
"Then why am I here?"
"Because while I teach these two, you, Latrine, will need to train the five hundred knights."
"......Me?"
Latrine stared at me with a furrowed brow, as though asking what kind of nonsense this was.
"Teacher Cassian. You are a master who can read an opponent's skill level and thoughts just by watching."
"Yes."
"Then you must know that I cannot handle a sword at all — that I am merely an administrative officer."
To be precise, "not at all" was an overstatement.
Looking at her hands, there were clear signs she had gripped a sword more than a few times.
She simply had not reached the level of using Aura or anything like it.
At the soldier level, Latrine could probably easily subdue someone on her own.
But that was not why I had chosen Latrine to lead the knight training.
"You have excellent observational skills. And you have watched Duke Crownhardt's form more than anyone."
"......?"
Latrine looked at me with an expression that said she did not understand.
And then, slowly, her expression began to crumble.
"You are in love with Duke Crownhardt, are you not? Your eyes and posture when you are with him were a dead giveaway."
"......?!"
"During swordsmanship drills and knight training, every time you stood near Duke Crownhardt, your heartbeat seemed to quicken a little, and a flush rose in your cheeks."
"W-wait!"
"Of course, since I do not sense any of the same from Duke Crownhardt, it appears to be a rather long unrequited love. Even so, as someone who has watched the Duke's swordsmanship up close the longest and most precisely, you, Latrine, would be able to train the knights well...... um, Latrine?"
"WAAAAHHH!"
Latrine ran away crying.
......Why?
"Demon. Truly, an absolute demon. The worst. The lowest......"
For some reason, the two remaining graduate students' glares had also grown extremely sharp.
Why?