CH 29

Chapter29 - Introduction

The next morning…

After finishing breakfast as usual, Lou, Fran, and Adelaide got ready to go to the school.

They had to introduce Lou to the rest of the staff in preparation for the spring semester starting tomorrow.

“Off you go, Madam, Francesca-sama.”

Zeimon saw everyone off as usual.

But when Lou passed by at the end of the line, he whispered hushedly.

“Hey…when are you going to do kumite with me?”

“Zeimon!”

The moment Zeimon whispered, Adelaide’s voice rang out.

Zeimon shot a glance and saw Adelaide smiling and looking at him.

“Y-Yes! Madam, uh?!”

Zeimon replied loudly, but then faltered…

Looking closely at Adelaide’s face, he noticed that only her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.

Oh, no!

With that realization, Zeimon reflexively struck an upright pose.

Seriously, angry Adelaide was quite scary.

“Zeimon! I understand how you feel, but Lou is very busy right now. Have a sense of propriety.”

“U-U-Understood! Certainly, Madam! I-I’m so sorry!”

A bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

With his apologies echoing in the air, Lou and his company boarded the carriage.

***

8:30 a.m…

The carriage arrived at the school, without any incident on the way…

As usual, the knights on guard duty were on their posts.

The three first went to the Chairman’s office on the fifth floor.

Adelaide spoke with a smile.

Kelturi’s friendship with Lou had shattered her image.

“Excellent. Lou, I’ve already introduced you to Vice-Principal Kelly and the new girl, so today I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the staff, if you don’t mind.”

Of course, Lou’s introduction would not only be as a staff member.

She would also make sure to inform them of his position as Fran’s follower.

“Roger that.”

Lou replied calmly.

They had a brief discussion about precautions…

And then the three boarded the magic elevator and descended one floor below to the fourth floor.

First, they went to the vice-principal’s office where Kelturi was supposed to be.

They were going to ask her if she was willing to be present as the vice-principal during Lou’s introduction.

Earlier, Lou had been walking behind them, but now that he was also the guard, he naturally took the lead.

When they reached the vice-principal’s office, they found that Kelturi was already at work.

“I’m going to introduce Lou to the staff, what about the vice principal?”

Kelturi smiled when Fran told her what she wanted.

“I will be there.”

Perhaps it was because of Adelaide’s presence, but Kelturi’s attitude was incredibly courteous.

Even though it was hard to do with Lou around, she must have thought it was her job.

Thus, four people moved to the staff room.

Kelturi said…

She told the members who were on duty yesterday about Lou.

Lou, as was his habit, used his magic to determine the exact number of people currently in the staff room.

When they arrived at the staff room, Kelturi stood in front of the door and bowed to Adelaide and Fran, trying to take the lead.

But Fran stopped her with her hand and shook her head.

“Hold on. I’ll be the first to enter the room.”

Smiling, Fran gently knocked on the door of the staff room and took a breath before opening it.

Adelaide smiled, too.

Fran was continuously changing.

She had never been this proactive before, even in such trivial matters.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Fran’s loud greeting rang out.

The staff inside looked at her in shock.

One of them was Adeline Colette, who was introduced to Lou, but her reaction was the same as the rest of the staff.

“G-Good morning!”

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

After a short pause from Fran’s greeting, the staff stood up and greeted one after the other.

Kelturi, who had been watching, clapped her hands and then called out to the staff.

“Everyone, on the recommendation of Acting Principal Dumer and I, Eltvara, I am pleased to announce that we will be welcoming a new staff member this spring.”

When Kelturi said this, the staffs’ gazes fell on Lou.

“For now…he will be a temporary teacher for one year. The person some of you heard from me yesterday is here in person, so let me introduce him again. This is Lou Brandell.”

After Kelturi announced Lou’s name…

Lou greeted everyone, loud and clear.

“My name is Lou Brandell! I have no experience as a teacher, and am unfamiliar with the job, but I’ll do my best and look forward to working with you!”

Fran was stumped when she heard Lou’s greeting.

What?

So Lou can greet people properly?

What a surprise!

“Now, Acting Principal Dumer, please explain the rest…please.”

Kelturi noticed Fran’s surprise, so she left the rest to her with a hint of sarcasm.

But Fran was not to be outdone.

She exhaled and said clearly.

“Thank you, Vice Principal. Everyone, Lou is the one who helped me some time ago when I was attacked, demonstrating his wonderful magical talent. It just so happens that he is also acquainted with Vice Principal, Eltvara.”

The staff had already heard the news of Lou’s rescue of Fran.

Five knights were killed in the line of duty in this major incident…

By now, it was known throughout the royal capital.

Fran exhaled again and continued her speech.

“After witnessing ouu’s magic, I decided that it was fate’s way and the Creator’s way of guiding me, so I hired him as a staff member of our school.”

“…………”

As the staff listened in silence, Fran’s tone became a little firmer.

“Naturally, I consulted with the Chairman and the Vice Principal before hiring him.”

Fran looked at Kelturi as she spoke, putting emphasis into the “we discussed it thoroughly” part.

Meanwhile, Kelturi, whom Fran mentioned…

Displayed a complicated expression.

“One more thing. I’m sorry for the personal nature of this matter, but I’ve decided to have Lou be my servant as well. So, everyone, please take care of Lou Brandell.”

When Fran’s “introduction” was over and Lou bowed, there was a sparse applause from the staff.

There were a total of seven teachers in the staff room.

All of them were women.

The only two, who were absent, were a mid-level female teacher who was unwell and was on sick leave, and a male teacher who would be retiring next March.

This time, the teachers introduced themselves one by one.

The first to greet them was Cindy, wife of Count Calvin Ryan.

“I’m Cindy Ryan, the head teacher. You’ve already met my husband. He doesn’t say much, but he seems to like you a lot. Nice to meet you!”

Cindy was probably in her forties…

She had short blonde hair and a manly face that could be described as beautiful.

She was stocky and tanned for a woman, and her white teeth stood out when she smiled.

Fran seemed to be very close to Cindy.

She smiled and threw in.

“Cindy-sensei is a former Mage Knight of the kingdom who specializes in magical attack, magical defense, and, unexpectedly, divination.”

“Hold! What do you mean by unexpected? Fran-chan!”

Cindy seemed to have taken offense at the latter part of Fran’s introduction.

Of course, she wasn’t really angry and only smiled bitterly.

Next,

“Clotilde Baudrier. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lou-dono.”

Clotilde was short, and she was probably a little over 150cm tall.

She had short chestnut hair, and her chocolate eyes were like those of a squirrel, giving her a lovely face.

She was in her late 20’s…

According to her self-introduction, she was a former shinto priest and was good at magical defense techniques, especially healing and restorative magic.

She was also in charge of the Mage Tools Research class.

Next,

“I’m Oltance Ashar. I look forward to working with you.”

Oltance had chestnut hair and an average appearance, a seemingly docile and unassuming woman.

She was around her 30’s…but she also had a serious air about her.

She said she specialized in magical defense and divination.

In addition…

The twins, the Bois de Fleurs sisters, stood out from the crowd.

They were in their mid-twenties and had beautiful faces.

What stood out was that they had blue and chocolate odd eyes.

This difference in their odd-eyes was the only way to distinguish the sisters from each other, who were totally identical.

Although these sisters sounded and looked just like each other.

Their personalities and specialties were completely different.

“Cassandra is my rude elder sister, but I look forward to working with you, Lou-san.”

“Rene! Who are you calling a…! Who?”

While the sister Rene smiled and bowed, her sister Cassandra snapped at her.

The elder sister specialized in magical attack and summoning techniques.

And the younger sister specialized in alchemy, magical pharmacy, and the study of magical tools rather than magic itself.

Lastly…

“My name is Liliane Brulee. I specialize in summoning and alchemy.”

She was probably in her mid-twenties.

She had long chestnut hair, a beautiful face, and plump lips that seemed strongly attractive to men.

Her chocolate eyes were glued passionately on Lou.

Her slender frame was well-proportioned, and her incredibly huge twin mounds swayed provocatively when she bowed.

Lou couldn’t help but gape.

Liliane must know her charms very well.

She was smiling mischievously, perhaps trying to charm Lou.

When Fran saw Lou’s reaction, she felt a mild entanglement.

She wondered if men were attracted to women with large breasts.

What Lou felt, however, was completely different.

What did he think? He said something outrageous.

“Oh! You look like a cow…”

Simultaneously, Fran’s slap reached Lou’s cheek, and a dry snap echoed through the staff room.

“You, what are you saying! Lou! That’s disrespectful to Brulee-sensei… or rather to all women. Please apologize!”

Lou didn’t argue.

Regardless of his reddened cheek from Fran’s slap, he apologized properly to Liliane and asked for forgiveness from the other women.

Before the commotion could subside, Adeline Colette greeted him again.

While greeting…

Adeline was dumbfounded.

She realized that Lou had not misspoken out of insolence at all.

He was kind of a klutz…

Adeline had completely put herself on the shelf and somehow felt concerned about Lou.