Chapter 226 : Chapter 226
Chapter 226
The atmosphere among the students had shifted.
My classes had always commanded high focus.
Students concentrated on parsing the meaning of every word I said, taking notes as if they refused to miss a single character.
They sat with wide gaps between them, drawing their swords and moving their bodies throughout the lesson.
When that wasn't enough, they'd form long lines after class to get their questions answered.
'But this is a bit......'
It wasn't just good focus—it felt like they were staking their lives on every second of class.
Students were afraid to so much as blink, and the moment something wasn't clear before an explanation finished, hands shot up.
And when someone raised their hand, others would glare as if it were disrupting class, while still others ignored even that and stayed locked in concentration.
'The enthusiasm is good, but I can't figure out why.'
Could it really be because of the final exam evaluation?
I had mentioned it to Jacy and Shasha.
That I'd probably need to go to Aislard around final exam season.
'Are you taking students again?'
'It'd be nice to have them, I guess? But it's genuinely dangerous there......'
'Do you have a benchmark in mind?'
'They'd need to be skilled. At least Sword Expert level. If there are a lot of enemies, we'll need to fight seriously.'
'Then that's roughly the top hundred students by ability.'
'Is it?'
'Yes, understood!'
After that they'd huddled together whispering and disappeared.
'Nah, no way. Students wouldn't get competitive over something like that.'
There was a reason I'd set Expert as the benchmark for this expedition.
First, Avril was operating his own mercenary force.
Sure, we'd dealt with most of that force back in the Empire, but that wouldn't erase Avril's reserves entirely.
As a formidable warrior himself, he'd rebuild and come back whenever he pleased.
The second reason mattered more.
'The Underground Magic Tower.'
Blue Light had said the Empire was always Aislard's second-biggest customer.
And the first was the Underground Magic Tower.
The Underground Tower had been targeting me from the start—sending assassins and making various moves.
If they learned we were mobilizing this time, they'd almost certainly prepare.
'No—they'll definitely prepare.'
Abrahal had said Merea was a profoundly fair person, albeit in a twisted way.
If she told us where Avril was.
Avril would also learn that we were coming for him.
'I should request support from the Holy Kingdom and bring Yuria too. Pan and Rozalin, and this time I'll take a generous number of Firestorm mercenaries and Crownhardt soldiers and knights.'
This wasn't just any destination—it was treacherous terrain battered by blizzards.
Trained professionals, not ordinary students, were needed for a place like this.
"Therefore, when we plant our foot, the pivot and the body's center of gravity......"
Well, planning aside, the most important thing was still class.
Students focusing intently on lessons was never a problem.
I resumed the class in good spirits.
***
"Empire-born study group recruiting!"
"Study group for Kingdom of Namress students! Triban Kingdom accepted too!"
"A study group led by the team that passed the midterms! One success guarantees future success!"
"Our study group includes a freelance knight with an Imperial Grade 2 Academy certified teaching license!"
"Past exams available! A commentary guide compiling insights up to Adept! A complete answer key for Cassian's new problems! Annotated by three Adepts!"
An unprecedented study-group craze swept through the Academy.
One hundred slots for selection.
Counting Special Class members and those at roughly Sword Expert level, about thirty spots could be filled.
That meant the remaining seventy would come from the student body.
"Can I join your study group? I'm the third child of an Imperial marquis house."
"Can you verify that?"
"Here's our family seal."
"Mm...... fine. Welcome. Since seventy spots are up for grabs, let's fill every one of them ourselves."
And elsewhere.
"I'm from the Kingdom of Namress."
"What, just another orphan drifter?"
"My parents said they came from the Kingdom of Namress."
"Mm...... all right. Unlike those Empire purists over there, we're an inclusive study group. But you need to show us passion and dedication."
"Yes! Don't worry—when it comes to diligence, I'm the best!"
Scenes like these were playing out simultaneously across the Academy.
No amount of individual effort could make enlightenment come quickly.
Well, maybe after ten or twenty years.
But what mattered now was speed.
They needed to share ideas, discuss realizations, and push that speed as high as it could go.
Of course, enlightenment didn't come easily just because they tried.
They weren't Cassian, after all.
But there was a substitute.
"Um...... Pan. Would you like to study with us?"
"Pan. Won't you join our study group?"
"Pan! You're more than qualified for our group!"
A Cassian-lite was available.
Countless study groups approached Pan to recruit him.
Analyzing swordsmanship and instantly finding areas for improvement.
Among all the disciples, it was a skill only Pan possessed.
"You could become an honorary Imperial citizen!"
"You have the makings of a frontier leader for this era! Whatever your current status, if you're a noble with a brilliant future, what's the harm in joining the aristocratic study group now!"
Even the most exclusive groups were willing to make an exception for Pan alone.
Pan turned them all down with casual indifference.
"I'll think about it."
That was his eighteenth refusal.
After everyone had left.
Pan leaned back in his chair, sitting loosely, and gazed out the window.
An orange sunset stretched long through the glass.
Outside, the busy chatter of people drifted in.
With his heightened senses, he could pick out not just the words but the emotions behind them.
Students hating, envying, and resenting each other.
Gossip about how arrogant and standoffish he was, how insufferable.
Listening to all of it, Pan wore a languid expression.
"I hate this......"
Just a few months ago, the Academy hadn't been like this.
They'd banded together against the mighty enemy called demons, cheering each other on as they threw themselves into class.
Cassian's lessons were hard enough just to keep up with.
That's why it had been beautiful—everyone helping, pushing, pulling, learning together.
And now what was this.
And what was going on with Bridget......
"Maybe I should quit being a hero."
Pan said that and tipped his chair back.
The front legs lifted, and his body rocked lazily back and forth.
"What a load of crap."
Thwack—a half-full water bottle landed squarely on his forehead.
Pan yelped and toppled backward.
"What the—"
"Picked it up on the way. What's the security team's job? Patrol the grounds and handle cleanup. That's what."
It was Rozalin.
She stood over him with that characteristically vibrant smile.
"Why the death face? That's not like you."
"What is like me, then?"
"Oh. You can talk like that now? You really have gotten cocky. You never could've said that before."
Pan scratched his head and got up.
Standing side by side, their eyes were level.
Pan, hitting his growth spurt, was slowly getting taller.
When you grow taller, you get growing pains.
The heart was the same.
"Do I really have to protect those people? They're just...... pathetic."
To grow, the heart had to be wounded too.
In the past, that wound had been Cassian dying before his eyes.
Pan had inherited Cassian's will, and from that, forged a resolve harder than anything.
Rozalin studied him for a moment, then let out a long breath.
"It's because things are too peaceful. When the world goes to hell, this doesn't happen."
"Do people make up and come back together? Survive side by side?"
"No. All those kinds of people die, and it feels great."
"......"
Rozalin cackled and patted Pan on the back.
"Don't take it too hard. They're just the voices of the weak."
"But at this rate, they're going to end up hating the teacher too."
"If that happens, I'll personally beat them into the ground. Sounds like a joke? It's not. They're all dead. For real."
Rozalin took long strides forward.
"But seriously. Right now it looks disgusting, sure. But when the time comes for everyone to join forces, they'll all fight together. That's what humans are."
"Does the hatred and resentment end?"
"No. Once it's over, they'll trash-talk again, claw at each other again. That's also what humans are."
Rozalin sat on the windowsill and gazed at the scenery outside.
The sun had fully set, and a dusky sky crept in through the glass.
"People are like that. Don't trust them too much and don't get hurt too much. Trust something else."
"What do you trust, Noona?"
"Why are you even asking that?"
Rozalin hopped out the window.
Her movement was so light there wasn't even a sound on landing.
"Our teacher, obviously! What else is there to trust?"
Exactly.
Pan burst out laughing.
***
The Academy's mood seemed ruined.
What to do?
"......We're sorry."
Shasha and Jacy stood against the wall of the assistant office, hands raised, facing the wall.
"I thought you were making them compete."
"If you say a hundred slots, isn't that what it means?"
After I'd given them a piece of my mind, both had their lips puffed out in a pout, grumbling.
They were definitely going to go out drinking with Latrine again tonight.
But that was that, and what was done was done.
"Haah...... students clashing and disagreeing within an academy is common enough."
"Right!"
"But it never happened at Akarind Academy. That was what I really liked about this place......"
The two assistants bowed their heads.
I knew.
This wasn't the assistants' fault.
Strictly speaking, it was closer to mine.
As Freizia had said, it happened because I hadn't understood the shock and pain the students who'd been eliminated in midterms would feel.
This was exactly the kind of thing that had made me reject Avril's proposal in the first place.
'Competition doesn't end at competition. People resent those above and look down on those below.'
I'd experienced it countless times at the Imperial Royal Academy.
Entered first in my class, graduated first.
The illegitimate child of a famous Imperial ducal house, cast aside as a disgrace to the family.
Perhaps because so many factors combined, no group had ever accepted me.
I'd grown twisted, to the point of smashing a wine bottle over the head of a corrupt professor who'd colluded with students.
If Professor Hollians hadn't stepped in to shield me......
"All right. Let's do this."
I organized the approach in my head.
"You have a plan?"
Jacy, still standing against the wall, glanced at me cautiously.
I did. I had one.
Though there'd be some growing pains along the way.
"I need to visit the Chairman's office."
People split into factions and fought because they had too much leisure.
So I'd hold a training camp, work their bodies hard, and then open a forum for dialogue and reconciliation.
Nothing would go wrong.
Really.