Go Back, You Fool.

Maris Academy.

This place, which recruits students from the entire continent, has been repeatedly emphasizing fairness and equity without being bound by borders and races.

Of course, if you look into the details, it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly pursuing equality externally.

One of the representative systems of this policy is the ‘democracy’ carried out among students.

‘The sovereignty within the school comes from each individual student, not specific power holders, and every student has the right to be guaranteed their own freedom and dignity.’

Due to this stipulation specified in the school rules, Maris’s teachers were minimizing interference in students’ affairs as much as possible except for classes and events.

Selecting representatives with authority equivalent to teachers from among students in every election, and students voluntarily carrying out club activities in a prepared environment would also help foster autonomy.

And among the student organizations established under this management system, if asked about the most influential groups, everyone would unanimously mention two organizations.

The student council led by student representatives elected through school elections.

And the disciplinary committee in charge of maintaining security within the school under their command.

Among these, the disciplinary committee was a group that didn’t hesitate to use force to maintain security within the school.

As students gather from various places, the problems caused by so-called ‘problem students’ are beyond imagination.

-Crash!

Yes, the commotion that just broke out in a classroom was to restrain such individuals.

“Sean Goldrope. I’m going to detain you for violating 21 school rules, including violence within the school and bringing in prohibited items. Do you have any objections to this?”

Overturned desks and chairs and broken windows.

In such a chaotic scene, pinned against the wall with his collar grabbed was a delinquent-looking male student with blonde hair and tanned skin.

However, the two eyes visible through his twisted sunglasses were still full of composure.

“Well well, was our disciplinary committee head so bothered by friends just snacking after school?”

“If you’re talking about this snack, of course it’s subject to regulation.”

Waden quietly raised what he held in his hand in response to Sean’s sarcasm.

What he held was a cigarette with herbs rolled in paper, a product prohibited for minors in most countries due to its strong addictiveness.

Of course, it has to be regulated if a student uses it.

“What great sages we have here. Isn’t it tiring to live so bound by rules?”

“I’ll hear your excuses in the punishment room. Bring the restraints.”

“Yes!”

The committee members immediately sprang into action at Waden’s shout.

What they then put on the problem student were shackles made of a material with high mana absorption.

From the moment of wearing them, the use of mana would be greatly interfered with. Moreover, if one tries to forcibly use it, the mana balance would collapse, leading to a ‘rebound phenomenon’ where physical force tears at the body.

“…Tch, you brought an annoying thing.”

Sean Goldrope clicked his tongue and obediently followed the disciplinary committee while restrained.

This scene was clearly visible to other students as they walked through the corridor.

“A-Amazing, to subdue that delinquent so quickly.”

“As expected of a talent chosen by the student council president.”

“But his expression looks a bit scary…”

“Shh, what if he hears you?”

A scene where admiration, awe, and a bit of fear coexist.

But Waden didn’t pay any special attention to them.

He only extends his hand to those who violate school rules or harm other students. If they’re not targets, there’s no reason to be interested in the first place.

Conversely, he couldn’t show any leniency to students who caused problems repeatedly.

“Sean Goldrope, do you remember how many times you’ve been detained now?”

Despite showing his discomfort without hiding it, the problem student just shrugged his shoulders and snorted.

“Do you remember how many pieces of bread you’ve eaten in your life?”

“…This bastard.”

“Whoa whoa~ Calm down, friend. If you get too angry, it’ll ruin your skin, you know? Look now~ The area under your eyes is even darker than my skin? Seems like you haven’t been sleeping well lately, why don’t you take a vacation while you’re at it?”

Sean Goldrope kept running his mouth even while restrained.

If there weren’t regulations about minimum human rights guarantees for students, he might have torn that mouth apart right there.

“…As expected, I can’t deal with problem children like you.”

A value system that believes the value of life comes from fragmentary pleasure.

Those who claim that’s right and don’t consider others’ circumstances were the kind of people Waden, the current head of Maris’s disciplinary committee, hated the most.

Just like the student council president who appointed him to this position.

---

“Is Sean Goldrope being disciplined again?”

“Yes, he still hasn’t come to his senses.”

In Maris’s student council room.

When Waden, who visited there, put down the summary documents of this incident on the desk, the student council president who retrieved them quickly scanned the text with indifferent eyes.

“He really doesn’t get tired, does he? I’m worried that since the new semester started, the number of days he’s been in the punishment room might be longer than the days he’s attended classes.”

“He’s a trash that can’t be expected to reform. It will continue in the future unless he gets expelled.”

“You’re expecting too much. Even this time, he cleverly escaped the school rules by arranging separate perpetrators.”

“Rather than that, isn’t it because he’s from a high-ranking noble family of the Empire?”

“…Please don’t mention that part. The teachers claim they’re giving leniency to give students a chance.”

Maya Karis.

A woman with impressive neatly groomed blue hair and sharp eyes.

However, her complexion was even darker than Waden’s, who had the dignity of the disciplinary committee.

The mountain of documents piled around her succinctly explained the reason.

“You still seem busy.”

“Yes, I’m busy. Just allocating club budgets is enough to make my head explode… It’s obvious that there will be an uproar everywhere if the distribution goes wrong.”

Maya pushed up her glasses to endure a headache as she threw down the documents.

Then she frowned severely while looking at the statistical data in front of her.

“Come to think of it, most of the problems that have erupted among students so far have originated from clubs.”

“That’s right.”

“Students dissatisfied with budget allocations staging demonstrations or inciting others, members who don’t get along having duels and turning several classrooms into battlefields, even going out to the city to plot suspicious things…”

“I don’t think it’s good to worry about problems that haven’t occurred yet.”

“It happens almost every year! Waden, you’re in the same grade as me, so you should know as much as I do, right?!”

Of course I know.

The two people who have entered their second year of high school this year have spent over 4 years in this school. It’s not difficult to identify the common points of problems that have erupted in each grade.

So the current concern is not groundless but inevitable.

As soon as club activities start in earnest, problems will erupt, and new problem children will be born among the new students influenced by it.

“…You’ll have a lot of trouble this year too.”

“Not just me? Originally, dealing with the problems I just mentioned is your job.”

“I’m already prepared for it. Isn’t it the same for you, Maya?”

“That may be so, but I’m human too. Ugh, damn it.”

Maya clutched her hollow eyes while trembling with stress.

While showing some faint sympathy for such Maya, Waden’s gaze turned to the corner of the office desk.

A single document placed separately among the piles of papers.

The name written in it was one that remained in his memory as well.

“…Dale Enberton?”

“He’s the top student of this grade. There was a lot of talk about him achieving top rank despite being from a commoner background.”

Maya answered immediately as soon as he showed interest.

At that time, she was already in work mode, stamping documents.

Very mechanical and disciplined work processing.

It shows how concentrated she is, but the fact that she answered immediately was something unexpected for Waden.

As if it was something that couldn’t be overlooked even from her position as student council president.

“But I heard that in the duel that took place the other day, he completely shattered the dome of the training ground.”

“The dome… You mean the windows?”

“Although the duel between the top and second-ranked students happens every year, shattering the dome itself was unprecedented in Maris’s history.”

Yes, because the windows of this academy boast durability that can withstand even attack magic used for military purposes.

If an ordinary student succeeds in breaking it, it could be said that it proves the danger that person possesses.

“What measures were taken?”

“Normally, considering that danger alone, it wouldn’t be strange if he became subject to expulsion or special management, but apparently there’s one teacher who this child follows, so it seems they decided to entrust him to that person for now. They even established a system allowing attendance from the infirmary for the student who prepared the documents for this…”

Attending school in the infirmary and marking attendance.

It’s special treatment unprecedented in Maris.

Generally, if a student causes problems, it’s basic to manage them strictly and impose restrictions or punishments accordingly.

“…You don’t seem to be paying much attention to it considering he caused such a big problem.”

“Of course. Unless they ask us to handle it, if it was decided at the faculty meeting, we can’t say it’s under our jurisdiction.”

“You seem to be paying quite a bit of attention for saying that.”

The moment Maya’s hand stopped briefly while organizing documents.

Then she paused her work for a moment and began to interlock her empty hands.

“It would be a lie to say I’m not anxious. With Sean Goldrope and others… It wouldn’t be the first or second time an incident occurred after showing leniency like this.”

The moment half her face was covered and the charisma of her eyes backlit by sunlight was emphasized.

Waden also pressed down the brim of his service cap and responded seriously.

“Then it would be good to have a talk at least.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s not a matter of being okay or not, it’s something we have to do.”

The student council president represents all students, and the head of the disciplinary committee commands to take responsibility for the students’ safety under that guidance.

This is Maris, where authority and rights equal to teachers are given to carry out that duty.

“Students, and even teachers, don’t always make perfect judgments.”

From the students’ perspective, it should be fully possible to give opinions to teachers as well.

---

“…For these reasons, we would like the custody of that child to be transferred to the disciplinary committee.”

The head of the disciplinary committee explained the circumstances politely yet firmly.

The reason seemed reasonable from my perspective.

“Well, I suppose it’s understandable to lack trust when a new teacher takes charge of a student of concern.”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Teacher. It’s just that managing problem students is our disciplinary committee’s specialty, and also because we’re worried that it might be burdensome for you to take on the task of managing that child in addition to your duties as a school nurse.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

Certainly, I have my duties as a teacher, and I’m in a position where I don’t know when Mariel might call me personally again.

As much as I can’t continuously manage that child, I was thinking I needed to find someone to entrust him to in my absence.

If the disciplinary committee performs that role, it would be good from my standpoint, but…

“Before I give you an answer, I’d like to ask something. If you take charge of that child, what do you plan to do first?”

“First, we plan to detain him in the punishment room and give him mental education to prevent additional problems.”

“Go back, you fool.”

The rejection came out immediately.

What on earth are you trying to do to a kid who can’t even bring himself to kill a bug?