Chapter 68: The Third Lesson
The result was shocking.
W-What? No one left at all? None?
Even Magic Department Dean stumbled over his words. He had thought that having a third of the ss remain would be fortunate.
Ethan was saying there were zero dropouts.
All 50 students are staying for the ss? Seriously? Youre not kidding, are you? Wait, are you kidding? Hahaha, but to use the ss for a joke
Deans words prompted Ethan to shake his head.
Its not a joke, Dean. The students are pretty nice. After I exined how I would conduct the ss and showed them my skills, they focused on the ss really well.
* * *
Is that true?
But the kid who took the ss said that Teacher Ethan is teaching Magic Department sses.
Hes from the Swordsmanship Department! What kind of Magic Department ss is it?
Whats going on?
Rumors about Ethan teaching the Magic Departments Potion Manufacturing ss spread among the students.
Until just recently, Ethan had been popr for his Understanding the Sword Path ss.
But now, he was teaching Potion Manufacturing?
Thats just a baseless rumor, right? A Swordsmanship Department teacher taking up some kind of Magic Department ss?
Teacher Ethan is known for his swordsmanship skills, right?
Could it be that Teacher Ethan is spreading rumors in the Magic Department because hes jealous?
It was an unbelievable story.
Because of that, nobody believed it. However, a Magic Department student who attended the Understanding the Sword Path ss discovered the truth.
Is it true!?
What? Its true!?
The story was indeed that Ethan Whiskers had taken on the Potion Manufacturing ss.
Oh, no, wait, why? Why would he suddenly do that?
Could he be quitting Understanding the Sword Path?
Hes not quitting that, right!?
Its not that, is it?
Students taking the Understanding the Sword Path ss began to worry that Ethan might be quitting for some undisclosed reason.
At the same time, the Magic Department students who had experienced Ethans ss started spreading stories about him.
Why did he apply to the Swordsmanship Department? With his skills, he could have passed the exams for Magic or Alchemy Department without a hitch.
Then we would have the top teacher in our department!
Unusually, the opinions of the Knight Department and Magic Department aligned.
There was something different about Ethan Whiskers sspared to others.
Grandel, whats going on?
Did you attend his recent ss?
Although the Knight Department was essentially led by Mason from the Swordsmanship Department, the strongest sword master student, the Magic Department held power across multiple disciplines.
Grandel, a magic major, was asked by students from the Alchemy and Summoning departments about Ethans recent actions.
Yeah, I attended.
Grandels expression still seemed elusive. It looked like an excited expression, but in a different light, it also appeared somewhat nk.
Whatever it was, this wasnt the usual Grandel.
Who was Grandel Torf?
He was a student in the Magic Department, who excelled in Combat Magic and had shown outstanding achievements, standing as a rival to Mason from the Swordsmanship Department, and had garnered attention in the Magic Department.
And now he was disying this strange expression. If things were off before, they were now very off.
What on earth happened? Its mind-boggling enough for a Knight Department instructor to be teaching our departments ss.
Why did you all obediently stay for the ss? You were there too, Grandel!
This is a matter of pride.
.
Even in response to their words, Grandel only folded his arms, not offering any further exnation.
Grandel!
Im not deaf. I was trying to figure out how to exin this situation.
Exin?
Even Im still confused after witnessing it firsthand. If I just exin, will you all believe it so easily?
Grandel clicked his tongue.
Then, as if organizing his thoughts, he opened his mouth again.
Ill just tell you one thing. Why I stayed for the whole ss. Thats the part youre least likely to believe.
Grandel recalled the ss.
The students who attended this ss will never lose with their potion-making skills elsewhere.
* * *
Thus, the secret night at the academy was filled with stories about Ethan.
Great Thiefs Mastery.
Ethanpletely concealed his body and confirmed the instructions from the higher-ups of the followers of the Moon,ing from the outside.
Its begun.
The directive from the higher-ups of the followers of the Moon was to cause an incident during the parent observation ss of this department.
The target had already been determined.
Assassinate one of the departments parents through an incident? Hm.
Ethan pondered why this order had been given. There had to be some reason for an assassination order without any apparent cause.
It must be rted to their ultimate n.
Ethan was aware of the origin of Ivecar Academys downfall.
Students on a field trip were killed by followers of the Moon.
The academy took all the me. With students and instructors gone, only the shell of Ivecar remained.
But really. This on-site ss doesnt usually go well. The risk burden is too great.
The nobles gathered at Ivecar were garnering attention in various ways.
Higher nobles usually attract more enemies. On-site sses give those enemies an opportunity. No matter how skilled the instructors are, controlling the situation from outside the academy isnt easy. No, its not just not easy, its nearly impossible.
Even if the instructors worked diligently, controlling such arge number of students thoroughly was impossible.
Hence, on-site sses were effectively sses filled with risks.
And the risks were high, while the potential gains were few.
Its not like theres absolutely nothing to gain. Theres a unique charm to on-site sses. But if you attend an on-site ss to experience that charm and something happens, the instructor cant handle it.
And the principal couldnt be unaware of this.
The principal cant be unaware of this. And yet, they pushed forward.
Until now, Ethan didnt know the reason. In fact, he hadnt really tried to find out. What mattered was that Ivecar Academy had fallen.
However, he felt like he now understood why they had attended that on-site ss.
Does it all start from here?
If a parent were to die during this parent observation ss, the evaluation of Ivecar Academy would plummet.
Safety concerns would arise, and the nobles who had trusted the principal and Ivecar with their children would lose faith.
Of course, a single incident wouldnt shatter all the trust.
But the followers of the Moon would likely continue with these kinds of incidents during events, and they would seed.
The principal will grow anxious, and the academy will be shaken.
To alleviate this anxiety and demonstrate that Ivecar Academy was still solid, a significant achievement was necessary.
Someone rmended on-site sses to the principal.
Likely, some instructors proposed this sweet suggestion to the principal, who needed achievements, and the principal epted it.
Its mere spection but this seems to be the most likely.
Phew.
Yet, Ethan couldnt just prevent what the followers of the Moon were nning.
If he did that, events might take a different direction from what he knew.
And then all my merits would be diminished.
So, he needed to subtly intervene, and prevent the incident, while letting the followers of the Moons n proceed.
Intervene in such a way that different oues could be derived. And those oues could benefit me.
Ethan was lost in thought.
Yeah, that should work.
A perfect n formed in his mind.
* * *
Were nning to conduct the parent observation ss soon.
A teacher meeting.
The derations of the principal left the Knight Department Dean and the Magic Department Dean taken aback.
Isnt this a bit early, Principal?
At the assistant principals words, the principal nodded.
We n to do it a bit earlier this year. You all probably know the reason. We have a newly recruited teacher who is showing some promise. Just as the water is getting turbulent, the school is buzzing.
This wasnt an exaggeration.
Just the Understanding the Sword Path ss alone had caused amotion. Now, the news about Ethan taking on the new Potion Manufacturing ss was spreading and it was of no joke quality either.
Dean Dade, why did you snatch our teacher away?
The Knight Department Dean, Ricardo, looked really angry.