The Shining Diploma - 4
At last, the day had come.
The miraculous day that had seemed as though it would never arrive was finally here.
"Three years may be but a fleeting moment when measured against the span of a lifetime, yet that fleeting moment will remain forever in your memories."
Listening to the principal's speech, I quietly wiped the corners of my eyes. Teachers usually shed tears at graduations, and even I—holder of an honorary teaching degree—found myself tearing up. Was this the power that came with the title of teacher?
Of course that was complete nonsense. Ordinary teachers cried from the sorrow of parting with the students they had taught, while I was crying from the sheer relief of finally setting down the crushing burden on my shoulders. Even as empty flattery, you could not call these the same tears.
But what did that matter? Anyone who knew the pain and bitterness I had endured these three years had no right to mock my tears. Everyone ought to be applauding my devotion and sacrifice.
"Memories can become the stepping stones and the driving force that carry you down unknown paths. The three years you spent at the Academy will have been an irreplaceable experience in your lives."
Perhaps the principal shared a similar feeling; at some point his voice had turned calm and gentle as he continued the address.
It was an understandable reaction. With this graduation, those imported time bombs—Ryutis, Later, Tanian—would be returning completely to their homelands. If he did not feel at ease, that would have been the stranger thing. Once the ceremony ended he would probably celebrate alone with a bottle of wine.
"That experience may transform your lives completely, or it may simply remain a memory. How you make use of an experience that everyone shares equally lies entirely in your own hands."
At the principal's ceremonial words, the atmosphere among the graduates shifted ever so slightly. More precisely, the atmosphere among the common-born students shifted.
It really will change things for them.
To noble students, the Academy was nothing more than an ordinary preparatory social venue, a waypoint everyone passed through.
To commoner students, however, the Academy was a place of opportunity—somewhere they could forge tenuous connections with nobles and prove their own abilities. With an Academy diploma in hand, they could receive a decent reception wherever they went; it was as good as the highest chance for advancement a commoner could hope for.
Put bluntly, between an ordinary commoner who farmed or traded and a commoner who entered the administration or the military with an Academy diploma, who would live better? Unless the former possessed extraordinary talent and absurd luck, the latter won by a landslide.
"I sincerely hope that the experiences in your hands will make each of you even more beautiful."
With those words the principal bowed his head slightly.
It was a gesture of respect toward graduates who were no longer mere students but members of society—and a quiet prayer that those young adults would suffer fewer wounds and find greater happiness.
The graduates who had now been cast into the wilderness of society seemed to sense the principal's warm heart; they responded with thunderous applause.
...
Wilderness, my ass.
Most of those kids would spend their days as idle young masters of noble houses—the peaceful, unemployed life I so desperately yearned for yet could never reach.
Of course, nobles far from the line of succession would have to find work of some kind, but they would never get run ragged the way I did.
"Next, we will hear the farewell address from the Student Council vice president."
In any case, the moment the principal finished his brief exhortation and stepped down, the vice principal moved the program along.
With virtually every formal item of the graduation ceremony now complete, I quietly closed my eyes.
Well done, me.
I had survived these three years of hell.
Even without knowing the original story, I had somehow made it through.
Please let nothing like this ever happen again.
Three years at an academy was more than enough time for even the longest novel to reach its conclusion.
If something like "The Academy was only Part One and everything after graduation is Part Two!" ever unfolded, I was fully prepared to renounce the secular world and become a priest of the Eternal Blue Sky.
Seriously.
Club members with whom it had been miserable to share time and whom I hoped never to see again.
Yet the truth was that over three years both the bitter and the sweet sorts of affection had taken root, so we gathered one last time in the clubroom to exchange farewells.
"Knowing this is the last time, I find myself feeling rather wistful."
"Where there is a beginning there must also be an end. Do not take it too much to heart."
I answered Ryutis's words calmly. Strictly speaking, our meeting was one that should never have begun in the first place.
"That is true enough, yet the thought that we may never meet again is still a pity. If we had at least lived in the same country I could have gone to visit you."
A peculiar bitterness lingered on Ryutis's face even as he let out a short laugh.
Unexpected. He usually put on such an excessively boisterous front that I had assumed he lacked any human feeling; so the fellow did possess a measure of sensitivity after all.
"Above all, parting from Advisor-sensei is what I regret most."
"What?"
Sensitivity or not, the nonsense he had just spouted was beyond acceptance.
What possible grudge did he hold against me that he would hate to part ways? I had only endured because there was a three-year time limit; if I had been stuck with him indefinitely I would have gone mad long ago.
"As a knight, simply being able to spend time alongside the Continent's Best Swordsman is itself a profound source of enlightenment."
"...I see."
The explanation that followed finally allowed me to settle down. It had not been a grudge but simple respect.
I had worried for a moment that I might have undergone some dark evolution without noticing. If I thought of it as the same emotion mages felt when they went crazy over Trixie, it was not so strange.
Thinking of it that way is a little creepy, though.
And also a little irritating. The title of Continent's Best Swordsman had only recently been attached to me, yet this punk who claimed to revere me had spent the whole time acting like—
"I will never forget the consideration and teachings I received over these three years. Thank you for everything, Advisor."
Later's subsequent words of gratitude swept the thoughts away.
"That is far too grand a greeting. It is not as though I taught you anything."
"Teaching is not confined to academic subjects alone."
Unlike a certain redhead, that was a normal statement, so the corner of my mouth lifted.
Frankly, if they had known that what I called "consideration" had been tears of despair, dropping out would have been the correct choice—yet for those who had entered the Imperial Academy of their own free will, dropping out would also have been awkward. I could understand that well enough now.
"A bond that by rights should never have formed has been formed; it must be a connection designated by Enen Himself. Even after I return to my homeland I shall not forget you, Advisor."
Having spoken so, Later bowed his head to Trixie as well.
"As a mage, receiving the instruction of the Lord of Magic has been an honor that will never come again in my lifetime."
"I am simply glad to have been able to teach a prince of Yuven, a nation famed as a great magical power."
Trixie answered the courteous greeting with a soft smile and a bow of her own.
Was it just my imagination? Because these were final farewells, everyone was presenting only the warm, spice-free version of themselves.
They could have acted like this normally, you know.
...The thought crossed my mind for a moment before I shook it off. These people had stressed me out by their mere existence, not merely by their words and deeds. Even if they had spoken correctly and behaved with gravity for the entire three years, they would still have gotten on my nerves.
So for now I would simply enjoy this moment. After all, if the ending was good, even three years of suffering would someday be romanticized, would they not?
"There. Done. Unless you go around naked in the dead of winter, you should not catch so much as a cold."
Meanwhile I decided to pretend I had not seen Tanian bestowing blessings on the club members as a final gift.
"Third Rank. Care for one last game of chess before you go?"
"To insist on adding one more loss right up to the end—how diligent of you."
I would also pretend not to have seen Later, who to the very end had failed to break his undefeated streak.
He seemed to have gained something greater than a single chess victory, after all.
After the graduation ceremony ended, I sat blankly on a bench and watched the graduates head home one by one.
I too ought to have returned to the Olid family I missed so much, yet my feet simply would not move.
Is this a dream?
I pinched my own cheek.
It hurts.
So it was not a dream, at least.
This is not a dream.
The instant I recognized that the situation was reality rather than a dream, the corners of my mouth began to twitch.
I could scarcely believe it. I had never imagined that graduating from the Academy would bring me such good fortune.
I am to be a royal tutor of the imperial household.
It was an honor I had not dared to imagine even in my dreams, and I was still dazed. Was someone as insignificant as I truly fit to serve as a royal tutor, teaching the noble imperial bloodline?
With that thought I looked down at the letter of recommendation that His Excellency the Minister of the Inspectorate Ministry had personally handed me right after the ceremony.
"Charles Olid. Your true ability lies not in the valor you might display on the battlefield, but in the keen eye that accurately grasps an opponent—and in the attentiveness that allows you to match yourself to their level."
"Y-Your Excellency is far too generous!"
"No. This is the conclusion I reached after observing you for three years. If you feel it is more than you deserve, then trust my eyes and accept it."
The words of the Minister of the Inspectorate Ministry, who held me in higher regard than I held myself, brought another surge of emotion. I had received decent evaluations as a student in my own right, yet I had never expected such an appraisal from none other than His Excellency the Minister himself.
"You have experience dealing with royalty, so you should be able to handle members of the imperial family as well."
I had never imagined that three years of practical examinations spent being tormented by Ryutis would come back to me like this.
"Her Highness the Crown Princess is still young, so there will be little for you to do at present—but in a few years you will be busy. Use the intervening time to hone your abilities further."
"Yes! I will keep that firmly in mind!"
"I shall look forward to it."
Recalling His Excellency the Minister of the Inspectorate Ministry, who had vanished after those words, I felt tears welling up once more.
Father, Mother...
Your son has made something of himself.
I have reached a place I could never have touched through ordinary effort alone.
This is the glory of the family.
Roughly rubbing my increasingly hot eyes, I slipped the letter of recommendation into my pocket.
Becoming a royal tutor of the imperial household was not merely my personal honor. The proud name of the Olid family would rise along with it.
And perhaps—just perhaps—depending on how hard I worked, a new title might even be added to the Olid house.
I have to give it my all.
Thus I steeled my resolve. Thanks to the consideration of His Excellency the Minister of the Inspectorate Ministry I now stood at a starting line far ahead of others; repaying that consideration meant going even farther.
...Thank you.
At last I also felt gratitude toward Ryutis, who would be returning to Armein. Honestly, without him I would never have caught His Excellency the Minister's eye.
The process had been nightmarish, but the result was good, so that was enough.