Chapter 27 : Attendance, I will call you (1)
by AfuhfuihgsAll information uncovered in the Red Thicket area was to be kept confidential for the time being.
It wasn’t for any grand reason, but simply because the Kleppe Royal Knights would gather all the details from the investigation before making an official announcement.
Despite the fact that it was a large-scale investigation led by none other than Duke Crowflin himself, there wasn’t any significant information that leaked after it concluded.
“…Instead, another problem has arisen.”
Yet, curiosity around such a major investigation doesn’t die down so easily.
The reporters, eager to publish any story that would sell, found a way to create buzz out of this one, too.
Their strategy? Focus not on the “incident” but on the “person.”
This meant spreading exaggerated rumors about the heroes who participated in the investigation.
Of course, in this case, the rumors happened to be the truth.
- “Edgar Mulick proves himself once again! This time, against the high-level Hellhounds.”
- “Is the theory of Edgar being the fourth hero resurfacing? What’s the real story?”
- “Collaboration personnel from the Magic Tower unanimously agree: ‘It was an incredible level of water magic.’”
- “The birth of a Sword Mage? What are Edgar Mulick’s true abilities?”
“…Just where have you been, and what have you been doing?”
Once again, my name was making headlines in Kingdom Times and various other newspapers.
Ray let out a brief sigh as he looked over them.
Ever since I became an instructor, the reception room in my family’s manor had basically turned into my connection hub with the Fencing Department’s research office.
And with the recent surge in attention directed my way, that naturally led to a flood of calls to the research office.
In short, Ray, who was responsible for the communication crystal, was bearing the brunt of it.
I cleared my throat and apologized to her, feeling a bit awkward.
“Ahem. Sorry, Ray. It just… turned out this way…”
“The reporters from Kingdom Times are truly relentless. They won’t stop begging for an interview with you. As a result, the research office’s communication crystal never gets a break.”
“Those damn pests! I’ll contact the Fencing Department’s admin office immediately and block…”
“There’s no need to force yourself to comfort me.”
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
Does Ray have something like Insight?
Sometimes she seems to understand me so well that it’s almost frightening.
Anyway, we decided to set aside the much-discussed “Red Thicket” investigation and fully focus on preparing for the start of the semester and my new lectures.
“Here’s the list of students who signed up for Valut Swordsmanship this semester.”
Ray handed me a stack of folded documents on a small wooden board.
It contained brief profiles of the students who would be attending my class.
But the very first page already gave me pause.
“Enrollment is… forty-two?”
When the course was initially opened, the capacity was set at thirty, but now it had somehow increased to forty-two.
I was taken aback by this strange phenomenon, but Ray confirmed it calmly.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“When enrollment closed last time, it was definitely thirty.”
“There were many requests for additional slots, so it was naturally expanded. And even that number was after some filtering.”
…What exactly happened while I was out at the Red Thicket?
Shaking my head a few times in confusion, I asked her again.
“Ray, I may not know every academic regulation, but opening additional slots can’t be that easy, right?”
The course capacity is the maximum number of students who can attend a class.
That number is agreed upon with the administration at the beginning of the semester, and unless there’s a particular reason, it typically remains unchanged even if the class is very popular.
For instance, Instructor Akina’s Basic Swordsmanship and Draw Techniques is a major course with a capacity of one hundred, attracting a huge number of students each year.
However, additional slots are rarely opened because having over one hundred students reduces the effectiveness of the lecture, and it’s hard to find a suitable classroom for that many people.
Not to mention that Akina herself doesn’t accept more than one hundred students, so the class size always stays capped.
“Several considerations were taken into account. For instance, that both a class of thirty and fifty students are classified as a small to medium lecture, so a change wouldn’t make much difference. Another reason was that the initial capacity of thirty was only set because you expected fewer students to sign up, Sir Edgar.”
Ray explained these reasons in a calm manner that made them sound plausible.
Still, there was one mystery left unsolved.
“I doubt the administration would approve so readily.”
“Take a look at the student roster.”
At Ray’s words, I turned my attention back to the roster in the documents.
Valut Swordsmanship (New)
-Instructor: Edgar Mulick (Supervising Instructor)
Current Enrolled Students
- Miren Tilope
- Luna Britzel
- Sophie Kinia
- Kaela
- Shaun Ensiris
- Aileen Clover
- Reece
Aside from one or two familiar names, most of the students’ names were new to me.
The documents at the back of the list contained a summary of each student’s heroic traits.
As an instructor, I needed a rough idea of how talented each of them was.
But there was no need to go that far.
Just by looking at the names on the list, I noticed something odd about my class.
“They’re all… nobles?”
“That’s correct.”
Aside from Kaela, whom I personally selected, and a few other commoners who didn’t exceed five in total…
Every hero enrolled in my class was a “noble hero” with a family name.
The reason the administration so easily approved the extra slots became clear.
And at the same time…
“…Oh.”
I had an inkling that this semester was not going to go smoothly.
“Well, I’ll be going now!”
A young mage hero was bidding farewell to the group who had come to see her off.
Her long, sky-blue hair and cute appearance stood out.
Along with her elegantly tailored attire and the unique emblem near her chest, it was easy to tell that she was from the Tilope Count’s family of the mage house.
With a face full of pride, she spoke to the companion walking beside her.
“I told you, Sister, didn’t I? He’s really amazing.”
No sooner had she left her family’s side than she repeated the same line.
Taneli Tilope looked at her younger sister with mild disapproval.
“Miren, have you even met that Edgar Mulick instructor before?”
“No? This will be my first time. The semester hasn’t even started yet.”
“…Then why do you talk like you’re close friends? You’ve told me this story at least a dozen times now.”
“Well, because you were so skeptical at first. You thought there was something off about that instructor.”
“…You weren’t wrong.”
It was true.
When Miren had first announced her determination to take Instructor Edgar’s class, Taneli hadn’t thought much of it.
But after a conversation with her close friend, Jane Mulick, she returned home and tried to convince her sister not to go.
In his days as a cadet, Edgar mulick had gained a notorious reputation as a delinquent and disgrace to nobility, to the extent that even his older sister, Jane, despised him and refused to acknowledge him as family.
One couldn’t help but wonder just how terrible a person he had to be for even his own sister to treat him that way.
Despite having proven his skills by hunting fifteen mid-tier monsters called Kelleil, there were plenty of other instructors in the Fencing Department who were stronger and had achieved better results.
There really was no pressing need to attend this new instructor’s lecture.
Or so she thought.
Just as she was using this reasoning to actively discourage her younger sister, another incident erupted in the kingdom.
The Kleppe Royal Knights’ Red Thicket Investigation.
And Edgar mulick, who participated as a consultant, once again demonstrated his prowess.
This time, he did so against a high-tier monster, the Hellhound, earning the full recognition of the knights and hero collaborators.
“That guy’s a monster. He took down the Hellhound effortlessly with some mystical swordsmanship—and even used water-based magic, too. Looks like a Sword Mage has finally emerged in the kingdom.”
One of those collaborators was Taneli’s senior researcher at the Tristan Magic Tower.
When he returned to the tower and gave his report, Taneli had to finally acknowledge it.
Edgar mulick.
The second son of a renowned magical family who suddenly switched to becoming a swordsman hero—turned out to be genuinely skilled in swordsmanship.
Winning the top spot in the instructor selection wasn’t a fluke, nor was it due to his family’s reputation.
“For him to have reached his Fourth Awakening at that age! Isn’t that amazing? And he’s a noble from a prestigious family, so he’ll understand our perspective so well. I’m really, really excited!”
Edgar mulick was already known among the public as a Fourth-Rank Hero.
It seemed Miren firmly believed in this too, clasping her hands with a hopeful look.
For some reason, this bothered Taneli, and she decided to play her last card.
“If you want a Fourth-Rank Hero from a noble family, there’s Instructor Akina. Why choose Edgar?”
“Sis! That’s different!”
At even a hint of slighting Edgar, Miren’s expression immediately shifted.
She placed her hands on her hips and explained.
“Instructor Akina comes from a family of pure swordsmanship nobility! Edgar’s from a magical family, and he’s a swordsman hero, practically a unique anomaly. Besides, I’m also a swordsman hero from a magical family.”
“Ah.”
That was why Miren had so adamantly admired Edgar all this time.
He was a swordsman hero from a magical family, recognized as one of the kingdom’s most skilled.
By learning from him directly, she hoped she, too, might undergo a similar transformation.
Her desire to enroll was rooted in that hopeful anticipation.
And, finally…
“Plus, Instructor Akina’s a woman, so, so…”
Her voice softened with a hint of embarrassment as she gave her last reason.
A brief silence filled with a faint laugh followed.
Taneli looked at her with deadpan eyes.
Edgar mulick was famous among the nobility as a handsome hero.
“…So, you’re basically taking the class because he’s good-looking.”
At that moment, any effort Taneli had made to understand her sister felt entirely in vain.
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