Chapter 2: Opening Ceremony (1)

[It’s a fight!]

“…Ngh?”

I was abruptly jolted out of my reverie by the yells emanating from outside.

Looking at the time, it was around 7:30 a.m. It was right around the time when the students were about to arrive at the school. Since today was the first day of school for the new term, it was reasonable to hear them yelling just now. They were most likely searching for a senior or a teacher to break up a fight.

“…I am going to sleep.”

But it doesn’t suggest I should make a special endeavor to find them.

It was too much of a hassle. When I was about to lower my eyelids again in preparation for another restful sleep, a flurry of footsteps burst into the empty classroom.

“―Teacher Kanaki! I knew you were here! What are you sleeping so peacefully!”

“Oh… Arti, is that you? Your energy is fine in the morning, but unfortunately, I’ve been up all night. I’d appreciate a few more hours of sleep before the staff meeting begins.”

I plopped down on the desk again, apologizing, but Arti paid me no mind.

“Come on! Let’s hurry up and go! The outside is just too dangerous!”

“Um, did you hear what I said?”

And you know what, that was not a good sentence, right?

Arti, who dashed out of the classroom and ran briskly away, seemed to have no doubt that I was coming after her. With this, I can’t refuse her.

“…Sigh, it can’t be helped.”

If I had simply stayed in bed, it would have been fine, but Arti would have subsequently reacted negatively to that. I was a benevolent teacher, in principle.

“―So, I’m going to be gone for a bit.”

In the back corner of the infirmary, toward one of the beds with the curtains closed, I gave my word and started running after Arti, who was ahead of me.

■■■■■

I was led to the school gate by Arti. Even though it was still early in the day and the number of students coming to school was sparse, there were plenty of students there for once.

The root of the problem was the two first-year students’ physical confrontation, which blocked the school gate.

“Take a bite out of this!”

One of the fighting students pointed his palm at his opponent. His body gave out a faint glow, and there were multiple lights flowing across the bracelets, which were copper in color and could be seen from his sleeves.

“’Flameblade’!”

A blade formed by flames, slightly larger than the palm of his hand, eventually emerged in his palm.

“’Thunder’!”

The other student likewise aimed his index finger at his opponent, seemingly determined to not be outdone. Soon, the ring on his finger began to sparkle, and electricity shot out from his fingertip like a serpent’s tongue.

“Hey, hey, fighting with magic… even this year too?”

At this time of the year, fights amongst freshly enrolled first-year students were prevalent. And every year, a fierce battle involving the use of magic broke out among them invariably.

Arti turned to face me while I was pondering the reason that private fighting employing magic was strictly prohibited.

“Look, teacher! Hurry up and stop!”

“Be sensible, please. I am a school nurse, you know. Treating students injured by this kind of thing is my responsibility, and preventing such injuries from happening in advance is the work of the teachers of the Department of Magic and the members of the Public Discipline Committee…”

“But Teacher Kanaki also works in education! Someone will suffer injury if nothing is done!”

“Leave it to me when that time arrives. I will quickly and efficiently heal them.”

“That dependability is exactly the kind of thing is needed right now!”

The two simultaneously unleashed their magic as if taking Arti’s whining as a cue.

However, the magic that was let loose did not collide with each other.

All of a sudden, a girl landed at the area of the magic collision, aimed her palm at each of the two incoming spells, and intercepted them with Mana Wall magic that she had deployed.

“―Both of you, that’s enough.”

The girl in the school uniform was the one who, in a voice that was clear and distinctive of a young girl, broke up the fight with dignity.

Her appearance matched the same girl who has recently been the subject of endless rumors among the staff.

“Princess Karen Ortesia…”

The person in front of us was a princess of a country, Arti murmured in a trance.

The First Princess of Kingdom of Ortesia. She held that title. In addition to being intelligent like the king and possessing aesthetic beauty like the queen, she was also said to hold the greatest talent for magic. She was a prodigy, of course, and received top honors for admission to the Selbeth School of Magic.

The saying “heaven does not grant people more than one talent” was proven wrong, and she would undoubtedly play the lead role in a novel if it were written about her. And she has become one of the seeds of my current headache…

The princess was now glaring at the two students who had wasted her time with a harsh, chilling expression on her exquisite face.

“You are not allowed to use magic in private combat as a student of Selbeth. ―You there, by the looks of you, you must be a teacher here. Why didn’t you put a stop to them right away?”

Eh, were you referring to me?

I was also the target of the princess’s accusations evidently. Arti, who was standing next to me, spoke up to break the silence as I stood there scratching my head and mulling about what to do.

“U-Um! Teacher Kanaki tried to stop them, but he’s a medical magic teacher so…”

Perhaps unable to bear the sight, Arti offered a helping hand, and I inwardly raised a thumb toward her.

The likelihood of persuasion would be higher in this case if a third party spoke in place of the individual in question.

Nonetheless, such tricks proved completely ineffective with the princess at hand.

“What does it matter that you are a school nurse? Before each of you has your own area of expertise, you are all general teachers who instruct and guide your students. I’m afraid you won’t feel secure in the event that you are hurt in the future if you can’t even settle a private fight of this magnitude.”

“Princess. I am afraid I will have to treat you in that scenario.”

At this point, a female student who had been standing back like a follower―a girl with a face like an oriental―took a step forward. Ortesia finally let go of her stern demeanor and adopted a smile akin to the Holy Mother.

“Thank you, Fina. But as of today, I am now enrolled here as a student likewise. I’ll accept it as a gesture since I don’t think it’s appropriate to treat me differently just because I’m a princess.”

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“Hah, please pardon my outburst of opinion.”

What was this?

The exchange that took place in front of my eyes between the royal family and their attendants left me feeling bored to death.

It had been a while since I arrived in this world, but this was the first time I had actually encountered such a person.

“…Is there anything the matter?”

“―No, I am simply delighted that we have another dependable first-year student this year.”

“Oh, thank you. Teacher, I hope you will be as dependable as I am.”

With a smooth sarcastic smile, Ortesia went straight into the school building with a student who looked like a follower. As she passed by me, her hair was fluttering in the wind and the scent of gardenias wafted through the air.

A seemingly fascinating first-year student has also joined the school this year.

“―”

“…?”

I sensed a glance on my cheek as Fina, a student who resembled a follower and was accompanying Ortesia, passed by me.

“…”

But it lasted only a fleeting second. When I turned my head, the gaze disappeared, and the two of them were gone into the school building.

■■■■■

The dean of the Selbeth School of Magic was delivering a monotonous speech during the entrance ceremony while looking at a piece of paper in his hand and rambling on.

I rubbed my eyelids and stifled a yawn, trying to suppress the impulse to fall asleep.

“You look very sleepy.”

Xenia Marius, who was standing next to me, spoke to me in a whisper.

“Well, I had some things to deal with yesterday. Aside from that, it’s become a conditioned reflex for me these days to crave to sleep at the sheer sight of the dean’s face.”

Just like Pavlov’s dog, I added in my mind.

“Indeed, the dean’s talks are always dull.”

Xenia was the second-youngest teacher, after me, among the faculty.

As an alluring woman, her mature and sexy appearance has earned her high popularity among her students apparently. The only flaw in her character was that she was an alchemy geek and would talk about the wonders of alchemy in class while inattentive to her students.

“Even so, aren’t you in a tough spot, Teacher Kanaki?”

“What do you mean?”

“The class you teach. You have to oversee the first grade in addition to serving as the school nurse.”

“Ahaha… Well, the teachers are short-staffed this year.”

I offered Xenia a bitter grin as she lowered her eyes in compassion.

Due to a teacher shortage in the first year, I was assigned the responsibility of teaching homeroom even though my primary role was to tend to injured students in the infirmary. Accordingly, the hospital assigned a nurse to work in the school infirmary under the pretense that she was my assistant, but the workload was still excessive.

“…That’s all because of the cases of the disappearance. It really has made things raucous in this city, hasn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

As Xenia said, there have been a number of disappearances in the City of Seal. The culprit has yet to be discovered and the stationed troops have been struggling to find the culprit. Furthermore, on the list of missing people was also the instructor who was meant to be in charge of my class.

The dean was still continuing the speech. I softly looked at the girl in the front row who was listening to it.

Princess Ortesia, who had also given a speech as a representative of the new students, listened to the dean’s speech without making the slightest movement. Even the faculty members’ eyelids would naturally droop as they listened to the dean’s speech.

How could she be so serious? If only she weren’t in my class and didn’t adhere to the ideals of the competency-based approach.

At the prospect of the misfortune that awaited me and the never-ending talk of the dean, a sigh left my lips.

■■■■■

“Teacher Kanaki! Didn’t you yawn when the dean was giving us a speech earlier?”

I was halted in my tracks as I made my approach to the classroom by a female whose energy seemed to have taken shape.

“Oh, Arti. You were on the same page with me during the ceremony earlier.”

“Oh, Teacher Kanaki, you were watching over me! I’m so happy!”

It was meant to be a retort, but when she was so pleased with her broad smile, I let out a sigh.

“Seriously, why are you sighing? You have the most miserable look on your face.”

“Arti… well, you’re certainly not directly involved.”

My impending first homeroom with my students was the real cause of my faltering steps.

Every student in the class will be meeting each other for the first time at this time, and our own Princess will obviously be present in the homeroom.

When I received the class roster for the first time in the morning, I unconsciously cast my eyes upward. Why was the name of the Princess in my class, as if she were a pinch hitter?

“It didn’t particularly bother me that the Princess thought less of me, but it would be disastrous if the rest of the class did the same. The worst thing that could happen to me would be if the class entirely lost coordination. That’s why I thought I should get a firm grip in the first homeroom…”

“I see, it seems like you are prone to be underestimated based on your face…”

“Arti, when you say it, it’s fifty percent more convincing… but yeah.”

I took a deep breath out and changed my mind right then.

After tightening my tie and adjusting my jacket, I flashed a smile at Arti.

“Now that I’ve spoken my true feelings to you, I feel a bit better. I’ll focus on doing what I can right now. Thanks for listening to me.”

“…No problem. Good luck, Teacher!”

Arti’s encouragement drove me to resume my walk down the corridor.

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