After-School Classes (1)
The next day. The weekend had ended, and an ordinary weekday had arrived. I woke up as usual and was getting ready to head out when I ran into Jane in the front yard.
“Good morning, young master.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“I’ve prepared the carriage right away.”
“Mmm.”
With those words, Jane took the lead and guided me forward. I had expected her to be flustered, but contrary to what I thought, she was acting exactly like her usual self.
Hmm. What’s going on? Was yesterday just a dream I had?
-Master. There’s no way. Stop denying reality.
Yeah. Thanks for bringing me back to my senses.
I answered Jukchang-i’s jab and followed Jane’s guidance. Soon after, an awkward silence hung inside the carriage.
“......”
“......”
We never really talked much in the carriage anyway, but today the silence felt even heavier. Or was that just my imagination?
Feeling unnecessarily awkward, I simply stared at the scenery passing by the window.
-Master. If it’s that suffocating, why not use Mind Reading?
It feels like a waste to use it on something this trivial.
-Master, you can’t use it on the other two yandere candidates anyway.
Well… that’s true.
The two yandere candidates were none other than the student council president and the imperial princess. The princess was currently at the palace, so running into her was impossible, and the student council president was always busy and worked in a different building, making it difficult to meet.
Looking at it that way, using it once doesn’t seem so bad.
-Right? Master? So hurry up and do it already!
I had a reasonable suspicion that this little guy was just curious himself, but I decided to set that aside for now. Honestly, I was curious about her true feelings too!
Having sorted my thoughts, I naturally turned my gaze toward Jane. The moment I activated Mind Reading, her inner voice rang in my ears.
Haa… Why did you stop there yesterday? You should have gone all the way. Next time I’ll make sure to take you right to the brink of death by climax.
Huh? But why are you looking at me? It’s making me embarrassed for no reason. Ah. Please don’t stare at me like that. It makes me want to kidnap you again like before.
Young master, I love you. I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you.
No. Fuck. I feel like I shouldn’t have used it?
I hadn’t expected much, but sure enough, she was showing classic yandere behavior. Even now, her eyes were gradually filling with madness in real time.
I really must have been out of my mind yesterday.
-Why? What was it like, Master?
The yandere just did full yandere things.
-That’s a perfect explanation, Master!
Just as Jukchang-i was showering my explanation with praise, Jane spoke.
“We have arrived, young master.”
Her expression was completely different from the thoughts I had just heard. I stood up and stepped out of the carriage, then headed not toward the classroom but the chairman’s office.
A short while later, we reached our destination. I turned my head and gave an order.
“Jane. Wait here.”
“Yes. Understood, young master.”
Ignoring Jane as she bowed politely, I was about to knock on the door when a voice came from inside first.
“Come in.”
It was the chairman beating me to it. Without hesitation, I opened the door.
Inside, an elderly man with pure white hair and a beard came into view.
“It’s been a while, Elric.”
I bowed my head and answered.
“Yes. It has been a while, Chairman.”
“Hehe. There’s no one else here, so call me Master.”
“What Master? You only taught me for a short time as a tutor.”
“Even so, a master is a master.”
Hein von Haberz stroked his long beard as he spoke, then asked a question.
“So, what brings you here? You’re the one who always avoided me.”
The Elric before I possessed him had indeed avoided Hein von Haberz. The reason was simple: the man was basically his natural enemy. Given Hein’s authority and power, there was nothing Elric could do against the chairman. His strength was on par with an archmage, and the fact that he held the position of chairman at the Imperial Academy said everything. In reality, he was practically a higher being to Elric.
Anyway.
“I wasn’t avoiding you. We simply didn’t run into each other.”
“You deliberately only went to places I wouldn’t visit.”
“It was a coincidence.”
“You’ve gotten quite shameless while I wasn’t looking. So what’s the main reason you came?”
Hein narrowed his eyes. I spoke directly.
“Master. Is the hero I’m teaching this time Sai?”
“?!”
For a split second, Hein’s eyes widened in shock. It was only natural for him to react that way. The fact that Sai was the hero was known only to the emperor, the pope, and the chairman himself.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems I’m right.”
“How did you find out?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”
If I said ‘It was written in the novel,’ he would obviously treat me like a lunatic.
“Just assume that only I know for now.”
Of course the other regressors probably knew too, but I swallowed those words. Hein let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo… From the look on your face, you seem certain.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I’d like to ask where you learned it, but it doesn’t look like you plan to tell me. Anyway, yes. The hero this time is indeed the Sai you’re teaching.”
Hein readily admitted it, then stroked his beard and asked another question.
“So, what do you plan to do? If you’re thinking of using Sai, don’t even dream about it. I won’t stand by quietly, and neither will the imperial family or the church.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I only came because I have one suggestion.”
“A suggestion?”
He looked puzzled. To help him understand, I brought up the incident from the previous practical class.
“You must already know, Chairman. During the last practical class, a monster went on a rampage.”
“Yes. And I know you spanked the Saintess candidate Sena’s rear end while ‘educating’ her.”
“That’s not…”
It was truly unfair. Anyone listening would think I did it because I wanted to.
-Master, didn’t you enjoy it a little?
Shut up. I didn’t.
After silencing Jukchang-i, I cleared my throat and continued.
“Ahem. There seems to be a serious misunderstanding about that part, but anyway, do you know why the monster went berserk?”
“Hmm. I was actually thinking about that very issue. Did you find something out?”
“Yes. The one who caused the monster to rampage in the last incident was a demon.”
“What?”
The next moment, Hein frowned deeply. He narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. More precisely, this is what caused it.”
I took out the crystal orb known as a ‘Fold’ from my subspace pouch—the one that had driven the monster into a frenzy. Seeing it, Hein nodded with an understanding expression.
“I can certainly feel demonic energy from it.”
“Yes. Anyway, please keep this, Chairman. It’s useless for me to hold onto it.”
“I see. So what does the mastermind behind the last incident have to do with the hero?”
Well, looking at it alone, there wasn’t much connection. From what I heard, they had simply caused terrorism to test things. However, there was no need to tell the full truth here. This was the perfect moment to sprinkle on some MSG.
“Yes. The reason the demons caused that terrorism was because they targeted a place where the hero might be.”
“......”
“That’s why I’d like to suggest holding separate after-school classes for my class.”
“That could cause problems if done poorly, Elric.”
The next moment, he frowned and rubbed his temple. It was natural for him to react that way. The moment after-school classes were announced, the students would revolt and parents might oppose it as well.
However.
“It’ll be fine. If we produce results, no one will have anything to say.”
“Yes, that’s true. But why should I believe you? I appointed my only disciple as the academy’s top professor. Yet all you’ve done so far is act like a good-for-nothing, haven’t you?”
Ugh. When he hit me with cold hard facts like that, I had nothing to say. Even though I wasn’t the one who did those things, it was undeniable that the original owner of this body, Elric, had acted like a complete idiot. Still, I had a counterargument.
“I have nothing to say if you put it that way. But you must have heard about the recent growth in my class. That we’re growing faster than the other classes.”
“Yes, I’ve heard the rumors. But no matter how you look at it, it’s only at the level of ‘fast,’ isn’t it?”
Merely being ‘fast’ might be enough to convince the students, but it wasn’t enough to silence the parents’ objections. After all, most of their parents were nobles.
Even if I’m a duke’s son, there’s a limit.
Unless I was the head of the Vandesar family, even I couldn’t run wild against all the nobles. Besides, the chance of me becoming the family head was extremely slim anyway.
“Yes, as you said, Chairman, ‘fast’ alone isn’t enough. However, I haven’t even begun teaching them seriously yet. If I put my mind to it, I guarantee I’ll make the hero completely different from the other students.”
“Hmm…”
“Just look at the hero’s current state. Sai’s power right now is barely at the level of an ordinary student, isn’t it? Considering the current era, we need to raise him quickly.”
On the surface it looked peaceful, but in reality the Empire and the Demon King’s army were keeping each other in check on the front lines. In a way, it was the calm before the storm.
When I waited for his answer, Hein finally opened his mouth.
“So until what time do you plan to teach?”
“Around ten o’clock.”
“Hoo… You really are a demon.”
Hey now, a demon? This level was basically standard in our hellish Korea—er, South Korea.
-Master. There’s a school that evil?!
Yeah. Where I lived, they were all like that.
-Just what kind of hell did you experience, Master?
You have no idea.
If I told him about the military, he would be even more shocked, but I decided to save that story for later. As I was conversing with Jukchang-i, Hein let out a deep sigh.
“Hoo… Then I’ll give you until the next practical evaluation. Elric. If you show me satisfactory results, I’ll allow you to continue the after-school classes.”
“Yes. Understood.”
As I was about to leave the chairman’s office after those words, something suddenly occurred to me.
Ah, that’s right.
A lightning bolt of realization flashed through my mind. I quickly spoke up.
“Chairman. I’ll be excluding the Saintess candidate and the princess from the after-school classes.”
“Hmm? Why are you excluding those two?”
“Well…”
Because the aftermath is obvious.
Leaving those words unspoken, I exited the chairman’s office and walked away—toward the students who had no idea that hell was about to descend upon them starting today.