“Let’s see. Timmy.”
“...Here.”
“Ellie.”
“Here...”
“Allysa.”
“...Present.”
Everything had an order. Each person had different mindsets and ideas, having different ways of thinking.
Davey thought that education itself would not be a problem, since the students were still growing up and were still at the stage where they could absorb knowledge. However, if they had been denied their own way of life, they would be forced to face the situation as a problem and use their last resort.
Davey came out to the school grounds with the students in his class. He ignored the students’ suspicious glares and continued to scan through the names on his roster.
“Molly.”
“Yeees~”
“Loisa.”Discover new chapters at novelhall.com
“Yes.”
Since this appeared to be Davey’s rule, the students still answered whenever he called out their names. They were unwilling, but none of them ignored him.
“Josiah.”
Davey eventually reached Josiah’s name, the student who was branded as the troublemaker.
Hearing no answer, Davey looked up and called out, “Josiah Frances.”
Amidst the silence, one of the bespectacled students raised her hand carefully and said, “Uhm... Instructor? Josiah’s not here.”
Davey turned and looked at the bespectacled girl. Then, he turned to the other side of the grounds where there was a large flower bed and said, “You won’t have another chance after this. Are you not going to respond? Josiah Frances.”
“...How did you know that I was here?”
“Can a teacher even be called a teacher if he doesn’t know what his students are doing?” Davey answered nonchalantly.
A pretty girl with black hair and a calm expression appeared from behind the thick overgrowth.
“Josiah?”
“Goodness, it’s really Josiah.”
Josiah Frances was a 4th Circle expert mage who seemed to be hailed as an unprecedented genius in the current Shakuntala Academy.
Mages of the 6th Circle were said to be equivalent to Sword Masters who dealt with the sword. However, if one looked at their percentage alone, it could be said that the growth of a mage was much lower than other occupations. With such unfavorable circumstances, it would certainly be surprising to see a sixteen-year-old girl reach the 4th Circle Expert level.
The problem here was that almost all of the academy professors were around the 4th to 5th Circle. Needless to say, it was understandable that Josiah had to think whether she truly needed to attend these classes as a student or not.
‘In that regard, I can say that Winley is very amazing.’
—You sister-loving bastard.
Winley, who was only fifteen this year, had reached the 4th Circle by studying magic through books alone. She did not even take classes in this academy to have reached such a high level.
If Winley was a genius then... In fact, Davey wanted to deny that fact. However, considering the fact that she had reached the 3rd Circle at fourteen, Winley could definitely be considered to be among the ranks of geniuses.
“Hmm... I’m a little bit interested.” Josiah squinted at Davey as she walked forward, still sporting a bored expression on her face. She said, “I was told that our new instructor is similar in age to us.”
“And so?”
“That’s why I am here. I’m just a bit curious. And just like I expected, it’s very interesting.” Josiah looked Davey up and down before continuing, “I don’t even feel any mana from you, so how are you calling yourself an instructor?”
Josiah’s words caused a stir. How ridiculous, right? To find out that the instructor who would teach them magic lessons did not have enough mana to even be considered a 1st Circle mage?
“Jo... Josiah! No matter what you think, he’s still an instructor...”
“Don’t we follow the rules of competency and skills in this place?”
“Even so...”
“Don’t you understand that this is the reason why those guys from Class A look down on us?”
This was something that Davey had heard from Celvice earlier.
They were students in Class F because their magic level was F-class. It was, in fact, very disgraceful for someone to be labeled as a student of Class F when they were studying in this academy where skills and abilities were what mattered the most.
“Watch that mouth of yours, Josiah. Just because we lost the Magical Confrontation does not mean that we’re individually incompetent.”
“That’s right. Besides, you did not even participate in the magical meeting last time, no? Why are you blaming everyone here when you’re the very uncooperative one? We did not even have enough people to fight back then.”
The students all gritted their teeth as they criticized Josiah. They were revealing their thoughts and feelings.
“What’s the point of being called a genius and having a lot of circles? In the end, you still failed and were sent to Class F because you can’t even fulfill the attendance!”
Balrog was very famous among the mages because it was a monster completely immune to magic below the 5th Circle. And so, due to the risks and dangers that they posed, there were records about their race having been exterminated under the leadership of the Pallan Empire once before.
“You must have seen a lot of records about them in the ancient books, right? This is very overwhelming and shocking, no? You can count on the fact that chicks like you will be burned to ashes the moment you get caught by this guy.”
There was nowhere else to escape. The only way for the students to survive was to run forward. Stuck in such a ridiculous situation, the students were dazed and thoroughly confused.
“Let’s switch it up. Run twenty laps. What does that mean? It means you have to be prepared to die. Run or die. Let’s see what is the conclusion, you dying or the Balrog’s summoning time running out? Ah, just to let you know, you’re free to fight the Balrog to death.”
They wanted a face-off, no? Then, their wish was Davey’s command.
Baaaam!!!
The Balrog, a gigantic skeleton covered in flames, jumped out of the spatial crack and slammed its fist down on the ground.
—Graaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The students turned pale as their ears rang from the Balrog’s roar. As their surroundings shook from the Balrog’s every step, they had no choice but to take two steps back in fear.
The Balrog obviously released a great pressure into the surroundings. It would not be strange for the students to lose strength in their legs and for them to collapse onto the ground right now.
However, the students continued to creep away. They did not know if they would even have the courage to run away, let alone fight against a balrog.
“No one will come to save you. You said that you’re in Class F, right? From what I heard, you guys are notorious for failing your classes in the academy. If that’s the case, then why would they care about some of you dying?”
Josiah threw a fit and shouted at Davey, “Is that something a teacher should say...?”
“A teacher?” Davey asked, a vicious smile plastered on his face. “I clearly remember you saying that you won’t accept someone without a mana circle as your teacher. So, how come I’m a teacher now?”
Josiah’s expression turned ugly at Davey’s rebuttal. She snapped, “I will absolutely not let you go.”
“You can only say that after surviving this. Move it.”
As if suddenly receiving orders, the Balrog began moving toward the students.
The first one to come to their senses was Josiah. She realized the direness of their situation and screamed, “Everyone, run!!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaack!”
“Kyaaaaaaaack!”
The students were all crying, snot and tears running down their faces. However, despite their unsightly expressions, they still ran and ran without taking any breaks.
—A wicked man...
“Human beings have to be driven into a corner through an extreme situation to reveal their true nature.”
—In the end, you still are no different from your teacher.
“Not at all. At least, I’m not driving them to their real deaths.”
Davey stepped away from the running track, leaving behind the screaming students who were running for their lives. Once he stepped away, the Balrog that was releasing a tremendous amount of pressure suddenly disappeared from view.
Yes, the Balrog had been a mere illusion.
In the first place, there was no Balrog. What Davey had done was block the running track so no one could come to this area. Then, he casted a 6th Circle mass illusion magic on the students.
“At the very least, I did not leave them with nothing and let a real Balrog chase after them until they died.”
It was true that Davey had been chased by a real Balrog that had been intent on tearing him apart. Back then, he had only been a rookie learning to feel the mana in the air.
In the end, an illusion was still different from reality.
—Don’t tell me...
“Not only that, but he even meticulously placed a holy buff on me so that my legs would not collapse from fear. Although he made it so the Balrog only had half of its original speed, the distance between us was so narrow that I could feel the heat emitting from its body on my back.”
Davey was even kind enough to cast an overall physical protective magic on the students so that they would not sustain any injuries whatsoever. And since the others could not see the Balrog running after them, the students just looked as if they were running on the running track—a very common sight to see in an academy.
All things considered, Davey could definitely be considered as a kind teacher.
“How is it?”
Perserque glared at Davey. She looked like she was already done with Davey’s grin as she mercilessly tugged at his cheeks.
—In the first place, I don’t think this stupid running lesson has anything to do with magic.
“Why not? The best way to know how an individual’s mana was activated, distributed, and moved is to push one’s heart to the limit by doing an extreme cardio exercise.”
Davey did not know about the others, but for him, when teaching someone else, he believed that one should not cram their students’ heads with simple theories and lessons. He believed that the first thing one should do was to identify the students’ capabilities and individual characteristics. Only by finding out those things would he be able to find the most efficient way in teaching.
“Even if we don’t have much time, everything would be useless if we don’t prepare well. Remember that, Perserque.”
—At the very least, I am certain of one thing.
Perserque said firmly.
—You are just as crazy as your teacher.
Perserque might not know it, but it had been her father, the father who she missed and respected so much, that had ranked first when it came to teaching Davey using crazy and idiotic methods.
As the thought of Ares appeared in his head, Davey felt a flash of anger. He thought, ‘I should have set fire to Ares’ quarters before I came back here.’