G.T.O. (3)
Let’s do it.
When I looked at it coldly, there was no choice but to admit it was the right move, and in the end I decided to go through with it.
Of course, it wasn’t because I was lusting after the five Priority Negotiation Rights.
They’d certainly help me recruit assault parties more easily than other guilds could manage, but even if that hadn’t been the case, taking my time to size up the rookies was one of the things I’d wanted to ask Cha Heera for anyway.
Just being able to check first who had talent and who didn’t was a huge advantage for me.
It was a chance to openly go treasure hunting.
What surprised me a little was Red Mercenary’s choice for these new recruits.
“We’re going to have all of them train, assault party or not. Of course, we’ll pay a little more attention to those guys, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“You’re not giving them special treatment? Is that okay? Then what’s the point of having Priority Negotiation Rights, sis?”
“Darling, I’m Cha Heera. Do you really think I’d go out of my way to cater to a bunch of chicks who just joined? The ones who should be watching their step are those chicks, not me.”
“I guess so…”
“Last time, during the Tutorial Dungeon, your party was a special case, and Blue was in a rush, so Lee Sanghee gave you special treatment. That isn’t how it usually works. To me, assault party or survival party, they’re all the same greenhorns, and it’s better to teach them properly once and for all. I’m not about to let anyone say we botched this year’s rookie education…”
“I didn’t know you were even worrying about that sort of thing.”
“You do know how much Blue got flamed last year, right?”
“Huh?”
“They were too busy recruiting your party to bother with rookie training, so they ran it like garbage. Sure, each guild and clan gave them another round of education afterward, but from the outside it looked like a complete mess. And they didn’t listen worth a damn, so they went charging into the forest and came back with an even higher death rate. Embarrassing the whole city, no less. We can’t have that happening again, can we?”
“Aaaah…”
“Red Mercenary has to be perfect, always. That’s exactly why I called our Second and Sun Heeyoung…”
“What? Really?”
“If we’re collaborating, we might as well do it properly.”
Thinking back on the conversation we’d had a few days earlier, I couldn’t help but nod.
Starting with the fact that she planned to train the assault party together with everyone else—that was exactly the kind of thing Cha Heera would do.
Honestly, I still hadn’t even seen the assault party, so I couldn’t judge how capable they were, but the fact that Red Mercenary wasn’t in a hurry to recruit them suggested they probably weren’t anything spectacular. Of course, they’d get some special treatment behind the scenes, but the fact that they weren’t being rushed made for an amusing sight.
They’re completely different from Blue last year...
Unlike Lee Sanghee, who had practically been shoving herself in our faces as if the building were about to catch fire, this was a completely different atmosphere.
Of course, if I thought about the situation back then, I could understand why Lee Sanghee had acted that way, but… the temperature difference between then and now was so extreme that it felt bizarre.
What surprised me most was that they had invited Jung Hayan and Sun Heeyoung as instructors.
I knew Red Mercenary’s priest and mage lines weren’t exactly stellar, but their squad was not exactly weak, either.
They’ve even got people like An Gimo...
Even though they had high-level mages and priests of their own, the fact that they’d still called in those two made it seem like they really did want to wrap up this Tutorial Dungeon training as a true collaboration with Blue.
That left a strange smile on Jung Hayan and Sun Heeyoung’s faces.
It wasn’t because they were with me, but because they’d apparently found teaching more fun than they’d expected.
They’d opened the training camp a few days ago, and Jung Hayan and Sun Heeyoung, who were in charge of the core subjects, had already finished their first classes.
Seeing how well they seemed to be doing, it was clear they were in a good mood.
It was only natural for me, trapped here to clean up after this mess, to wonder what had happened.
Watching Jung Hayan eat her meal with obvious satisfaction, I found myself feeling unexpectedly cheerful too.
Finding something she could focus on was good news on my end as well.
As for Sun Heeyoung, I’d always figured she’d like this sort of work anyway, but seeing a faint smile on her lips too made me think we’d done the right thing by bringing her in.
“You look really happy, Heeyoung.”
“Oh, did I? I was just remembering something from the past…”
“Hmm?”
“I stood at the lectern for a short while before.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I had to stop because of personal circumstances, but it feels strange and new to be doing something similar again.”
Actually, that suits you.
It was new information, but for some reason it fit her image perfectly.
I found myself nodding without meaning to.
Of course, the image of her doing relief work for an organization like a social welfare group or UNICEF suited her too, but the sight of her standing at a lectern in glasses was also a perfect match.
“I wanted to be a teacher when I was in elementary school too, Oppa!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
I can’t picture that at all...
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t imagine Jung Hayan as a teacher.
“That… seems like something you’d be really good at.”
“Really?”
“So… how was class?”
“It was better than I expected, Oppa. Hehe…”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I don’t really understand why people don’t get it. There were actually quite a lot of people who looked like they were trying hard, though.”
“They don’t understand?”
“Yes. No matter how much I explained it, they just didn’t seem to understand. I tried to make it as easy as possible, but it felt like not a single one of them could follow along… Still, most of them were nice.”
“How were you explaining it?”
“Just, you know, do this and then do that kind of thing… I told them to try feeling mana, but they just couldn’t feel anything at all.”
I could only think, This isn’t going to work.
From the start, Jung Hayan and ordinary people saw the world from completely different angles. No matter how much passion she poured into her lesson, fewer than one percent of the people there would likely understand what she was saying.
I had no choice but to be grateful that she wasn’t the only mage instructor.
“Is Heeyoung the same?”
“Yes. But I think that’s only natural. The assault party has usually already completed their first class change, but in the survival party, there are a lot of people who haven’t even done that yet. Not being able to feel mana or divine power… if you think about it, that’s normal.”
“Hmm…”
“Right now, we’re not teaching an advanced course. This is just a time to show them what priests and mages are. There’s even a chance that talented ones will change classes through this process, and if nothing else, I think it’s not a bad thing because it helps them decide their future path. That’s probably why Red Mercenary hasn’t separated the classes yet, right?”
“So, to put it simply, it’s enough to just give them a little taste here and there. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, Kiyoung. It’s like sending a child to piano lessons, taekwondo, and English academy… just letting them try the things they want one by one. Speaking of which, is today your first class?”
“Yes. There aren’t many lectures for my field, after all.”
“Oh? Oppa, let’s go together! I’ve got class too. Hehe.”
“Really? Then let’s do that. What about you, Heeyoung?”
“I don’t have any more classes today. Then I’ll see you afterward, Kiyoung. And you too, Hayan.”
“Yes.”
Truthfully, I wasn’t all that invested in the classes themselves.
After all, none of these rookies would understand alchemy properly anyway… though I’d definitely give a proper lesson during the advanced course, the more important thing was finding slaves who would work hard for Blue.
First I’d spend some time explaining what non-combat jobs and production-type alchemists actually were, then I’d cover the basics of Ramu Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy for those who had already changed into mages, and that would be that.
Class wasn’t difficult.
I glanced at the time and saw my turn was approaching, so I had no choice but to rise, putting my regret aside.
After a quick meal, I set off immediately.
With Introduction to Alchemy in one hand, I looked oddly composed, almost as if I were someone important.
For the first time, I thought I understood why Jung Hayan had looked so excited about teaching.
“What class are you in, Oppa?”
“C class?”
“Ah. I sat in on that one yesterday, and the kids were really nice. The average age there is a little younger.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But the percentage of mage hopefuls is pretty high, so everyone’s very motivated… Come to think of it, there are a little more girls there, but… grrrk.”
“Oh, but… doesn’t this really make us look like a teacher couple, Hayan?”
“R-right, it does! Hehehe… Yes! Hehe.”
Not bad, actually.
It seemed like there had been a bit of a crisis, but the situation was better than I’d expected.
It was my first time entering the training camp, too. Naturally, there were people training and building up their stamina out on the practice grounds.
The instructors watching from outside sent me a casual greeting, and I answered by giving them a slight nod.
I had no intention of staying long.
I kept glancing around, but there weren’t any especially noticeable people in sight.
“I’m over here, Oppa.”
“All right. See you in a bit.”
“Yes!”
Jung Hayan seemed to be in charge of B class. The moment she stepped into the quiet classroom, a noisy shout erupted.
“Good afternoon, Instructor!”
“Yes. Hello, everyone. Let’s begin class.”
It was a voice that didn’t sound like Jung Hayan at all.
For some reason, that dignified tone made me laugh under my breath.
Now that some time had passed since the training camp opened, it looked like she’d already adapted, having received various explanations during the process of getting everyone under control.
These new recruits seem decent enough.
It wasn’t an unreasonable thought. Compared to Blue, Red Mercenary seemed to have built a far more systematic system, so they already seemed to know how things were supposed to run here.
It was only natural that I felt a little anticipation. I passed B class and went straight into C class.
“Isn’t Sun Heeyoung’s instructor seriously pretty?”
“Yeah. But I think Instructor Jung Hayan is even more…”
“Ah, Instructor Jung Hayan is pretty too… She’s cute, you know. She’s basically the only thing making life here worth living.”
“So what? I heard Instructor Jung Hayan already has a boyfriend.”
The voices came from inside the classroom.
What was even more absurd was that even after I stepped inside, the two men were still in the middle of their conversation.
Of course, they did look at me and sit down, but unlike the next room over, where Jung Hayan had been welcomed with a thunderous greeting, there was no such reaction here.
Huh?
By now I’d already been inside this room for quite some time.
And yet the mood still hadn’t settled, which told me they hadn’t properly been informed about who was standing in front of them.
It was a pretty old-man way of thinking, but I couldn’t help feeling that way.
A few of them were sprawled face-down on their desks, while others were smirking openly at me. Absurd as it was, the feeling behind those expressions was unmistakable: contempt.
Didn’t anyone tell them who I am?
If that was the case, I could understand their chilly reaction.
Since most of them were hoping to become combat personnel, it was only natural that they wouldn’t care about production jobs.
I almost felt as though I could sympathize with the misery of being the teacher in charge of a niche subject.
Of course, what I felt was even nastier than that.
Those chicks’ eyes kept flickering with the expression that they were different from the person standing before them.
Hah...
I wanted to praise their adaptability for distinguishing combat jobs from production jobs so quickly, but…
They picked the wrong person to underestimate.
Wasn’t it said that when a person was too dumbfounded, they had no words?
After staring blankly ahead for a moment, I finally heard a voice from the back of the classroom.
“Aren’t you going to start class? Five minutes have already passed. So… should I call you the teacher in charge of non-combat jobs?”
It was a voice that sounded rude no matter who heard it.