abcnovels
Chapter 229
Chapter 229
Chapter 229
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter:229 Temporary instructor (3)
***
The Academy’s Chancellor, Altman Bedepullity, had been feeling uneasy since morning.
“Ho, Howard… What do you mean by that now…!”
Altman asked, looking at the large mirror hanging on the wall.
This mirror was a magic tool created for long-distance communication. The mirror reflected the Emperor’s face, not Altman’s.
For the Chancellor of the Academy to be so informal with the Emperor.
It was something that would not have been possible under normal circumstances. However, Altman Bedepullity had been the Emperor’s personal tutor in his youth.
Thanks to that connection, he had the privilege of being able to speak freely when they were alone like this.
“I would like to hire Damien Haksen as an instructor at the Academy.”
The Emperor said in a calm voice. Altman felt a strong wave of dizziness.
“Sir, why are you not saying anything? Do you perhaps not know who Damien Haksen is?”
“How could that be? I know… I know very well…”
How could he not know?
He was talking about the winner of the Helian Tournament, held in honor of the founding Emperor.
These days, the Empire was abuzz with talk about Damien Haksen.
All of the past winners of the Helian Tournament had been knights of the Empire. All the citizens of the Empire took great pride in this fact.
However, the appearance of Damien had shattered the pride of the Empire’s people.
“Howard, Damien Haksen is a knight of the Apple Kingdom. Bringing such a man in as an instructor at the Academy is against tradition…”
“Sir.”
The Emperor looked at Altman with a deep gaze. At that expression, Altman felt a sense of foreboding.
The Emperor had been a stubborn boy. He knew that once he made up his mind, he had to do it to get his way.
When the Emperor decided something, he always made that expression.
“Those words have already been tiresomely repeated by my subjects.”
“…Then I suppose no matter what I say, you won’t change your mind?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Altman let out a deep sigh.
Altman was a benefactor of the Emperor, but he could not refuse an order.
“I understand. I will do as you wish.”
“Thank you very much for understanding my intentions.”
The Emperor nodded his head with satisfaction. However, Altman had no intention of simply following the Emperor’s wishes.
“Instead, I have a request.”
“Speak.”
“The Academy is a place of education. The founding Emperor established the Academy to provide an excellent education program for both nobles and commoners.”
The Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly. He had an intuition that Altman was about to bring up an uncomfortable topic.
“If Damien Haksen is found to lack the qualifications of an educator, I intend to dismiss him in accordance with the Academy’s rules.”
The Emperor looked at Altman without saying a word.
Through past experience, Altman could sense that the Emperor was now in conflict.
Altman decided to fan the flames of the Emperor’s conflict a little more.
“Howard. This is a request from your teacher. Please, do not forget the ideals of the Academy.”
“…Very well. I will not interfere with that.”
The Emperor replied reluctantly. Altman smiled.
“Then I will leave the rest to you, sir.”
With that, the communication through the magic tool ended. Altman called his secretary.
“We need to call a special meeting. Please gather all the professors in the conference room.”
The secretary replied “Understood” and left the study.
One hour later, the Chancellor met with the professors in the conference room.
“What’s going on, Chancellor?”
“What’s with the sudden meeting?”
The professors all had perplexed faces as they looked at Altman. Altman explained his conversation with the Emperor to the professors.
“What are you talking about? The Emperor wants to hire the knight of the Apple Kingdom as an instructor at our academy?”
“That’s absurd, even if it’s an imperial decree!”
As expected, the professors were outraged.
They were all proud of being professors at the academy and had lived their whole lives with that pride.
So, they couldn’t easily accept the Emperor’s order.
“Unfortunately, it seems the Emperor has no intention of backing down.”
Altman’s words caused the professors to sigh.
“On the other hand, I did get a promise that if Damien Haksen’s qualifications as an instructor are lacking, we can expel him from the academy.”
The professors’ faces brightened at his words.
“That’s good to hear.”
“That young man doesn’t know the meaning of education, after all.”
“His skills may be exceptional, but combat and education are completely different.”
The professors were greatly relieved.
“Then, Chancellor, how do you plan to test his qualifications?”
One of the professors asked. Since he had become an instructor by imperial decree, they couldn’t pick a fight. They needed a clear reason.
“Don’t worry about that. I already have a plan in mind.”
“What is it?”
The professors asked, and Altman smiled meaningfully.
“I plan to put him in charge of Class 13.”
The professors’ bodies trembled at his words.
“Oh, even so, Class 13 is…”
“Yes, it’s… isn’t that too harsh?”
The professors expressed their concerns, but some of them were very satisfied.
“Yes. If he’s received the Emperor’s special recommendation, he should be able to handle Class 13.”
“That’s right. He needs to have that kind of ability to convince everyone.”
Altman clapped his hands and said,
“Then, let’s consider it agreed upon. There’s no need to continue the meeting.”
And so, the special meeting that the Chancellor had hastily convened came to an end.
Two days later, Damien arrived at the academy.
***
“It’s enormous.”
That was Damien’s impression when he first arrived at the academy.
High walls surrounded the academy, which was the size of a city.
And around the academy, shops and inns had been built, forming a massive residential area.
It seemed they had gathered to do business with the students and staff.
“I heard it was a great place, but I didn’t think it would be this big.”
In his past life, Damien had never visited the academy. This was one of the Four Great Demon Kings cities created by Dorugo.
The Four Great Demon Kings were the greatest and most powerful undead created by Dorugo. Of course, that was excluding Damien.
These were the undead that would have been the core of the Empire’s invasion if it hadn’t been for Damien Haksen.
Their importance had diminished significantly since Dorugo turned Damien into death knight.
“I should hurry.”
Damien passed by the buildings and arrived at the center. He showed the imperial seal he had received from the Emperor to the soldiers guarding the castle gate.
The soldiers immediately opened the gate. Damien entered through the gate and went inside.
The appearance of the Academy was quite different from that of other cities.
One could see ancient-looking buildings here and there, and there were large playgrounds and training grounds where students could run around.
“Who is that?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
Naturally, the students’ attention was drawn to him. They began to show great interest in Damien Haksen.
“…Wait a minute, isn’t that Damien Haksen?”
Then someone recognized Damien Haksen.
“Damien Haksen? Don’t tell me it’s the guy who won the Helian Tournament?”
“I was there at the stadium that day, so I know him well! It’s Damien Haksen!”
The students all gathered around to see Damien Haksen. However, they did not approach him closely and watched from a distance.
“Ugh… What is that human doing here?”
“A knight from a small country like the Apple Kingdom becomes the winner of the Helian Tournament.”
Some students showed hostility towards Damien Haksen.
It seemed that they didn’t like the fact that a knight from another country had won the Helian Tournament.
Anyway, Damien headed to the Chancellor’s office in the center of the Academy.
“I am Damien Haksen. I am here to see Chancellor Altman Bedepullity.”
He told the staff on the first floor his business. The staff immediately guided Damien to the Chancellor’s office.
When he opened the door and went in, an old man with a long white beard greeted him.
“So you are Damien Haksen. I heard from His Majesty. I welcome you to the Academy.”
His eyes, expression, and tone of voice were all stiff. It was clear that he did not like him.
‘I never thought he would be so blatantly hostile.’
Damien was a figure who, in many ways, undermined the traditions of the Academy.
So he had expected that the Academy’s professors would not look kindly on him.
However, he had no idea that the Chancellor, a figure of authority, would openly show such hostility.
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
Damien said with a grin. His unexpected response made the Chancellor’s expression flicker slightly.
Damien didn’t care if the Chancellor liked him or not.
All he wanted was to stay at the Academy long enough to find that damn woman.
Sla.
As long as he could stay at the Academy while searching for that bitch, that was all that mattered.
“Why do you want to work as a swordsmanship instructor at the Academy? With your skills, there are many places you could find a job.”
In fact, working at the Academy was far from a path to advancement.
The Empire strictly guarded against the corruption of the Academy’s professors and teachers. They didn’t even allow them to take small bribes.
There was even a saying that if you only wanted money and power, you should not go to the Academy, and if you only wanted honor, then the Academy was the best place.
“I have long admired the Academy. I wanted to learn swordsmanship here. I would like to fulfill that dream, even if it’s just a little, as an instructor.”
Damien lied without even blinking. The Chancellor was not a member of the Extermination Squad. He couldn’t be honest and tell him he was there to find Sla.
“…There are many who admire our Academy.”
A look of pride appeared on Chancellor Altman’s face. It seemed that Damien’s praise had pleased him.
However, that was only for a moment. The Chancellor then looked at Damien again with a cold gaze.
“It is customary for instructors invited from outside to teach special classes. However, I do not trust you yet.”
“Are you doubting my skills?”
“How could I doubt the winner of the Helian Tournament? What I am concerned about is your teaching ability.”
There was an old saying.
It said that learning and teaching were completely different things.
It said that in order to teach 1, you need to know 10.
“In addition, the students currently enrolled in the Academy all have a sense of pride in being citizens of the Empire. There will be no one who wants to learn from you, a citizen of the Apple Kingdom.”
The Chancellor’s words also made sense. When he entered this place, didn’t many students show hostility?
‘They’re just being a pain in the ass.’
In fact, Damien didn’t really care.
This was because he wasn’t really trying to join the Academy, he just wanted to find Sla and that was it.
However, he needed to cooperate with the Chancellor in order to buy time to find Sla.
“How can I prove it to you?”
“There is one class that doesn’t have a teacher right now. If you prove your teaching ability there, I and the other students will trust you.”
“I’ll do that.”
Damien nodded readily. At that, Chancellor Altman’s eyes took on a strange glint.
“I’m warning you in advance, you might regret it. The class you’ll be assigned to, Class 13, is notorious for being a problematic class. Many teachers before you have given up on teaching them.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be a bit different.”
Damien said, thinking of the club he had stored in his subspace.
“Hmm? That’s strange… What’s with the sudden chill…”
The Chancellor shivered.
“There’s a midterm exam in a week. If the students in Class 13 get good grades in swordsmanship on that exam, I’ll trust you.”
“I understand.”
Then suddenly, Damien asked the Chancellor.
“What if the students in Class 13 don’t do well on the midterm exam?”
At that question, Chancellor Altman’s eyes turned sharp.
“An incompetent teacher is not needed at the Academy. I think that should be enough of an answer.”
***
After that, Damien went to the faculty dormitory and unpacked his belongings.
‘Well, it shouldn’t be too hard. I even rehabilitate Veronica.’
Damien had a lot of experience in this field. So he thought this would be easy too.
However, the moment he arrived at Class 13 the next day, Damien realized that he had underestimated them.
“…No one is here?”
Not a single student from Class 13 was present.
***
[PR/N- They are about to get bonk treatment.]
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]