After spending about ten minutes with Set, Rei headed toward the headmaster’s office as he had been told the previous day.
Set had begged for more attention, wanting to play, but Rei had been hired as an instructor.
He could hardly skip work on his very first day, so he reluctantly parted with Set as he walked through the academy grounds.
Set’s sad cry as he left the stable still lingered in his mind.
If possible, Rei had wanted to spend a little more time with Set as well……
(Well, even if there are classes, I won’t be busy the entire day. I can just go hang out with Set whenever I don’t have a class. ……Though that’s unfortunate for the horses.)
Set was staying in the stables used by staff.
A few horses used by the instructors were also kept there.
Whether privately owned or borrowed from the school, those horses shared the stable regardless of distinction.
However……sharing a roof with Set, who could easily be called an absolute ruler to them, clearly caused the horses considerable stress.
(Getting used to Set before the stress breaks them……would be best, I guess.)
Just like in the stables of the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.
Walking through the school while thinking of Set, Rei noticed numerous gazes fixed upon him.
(What is it?)
Puzzled, he strained his ears.
「Hey, who is that guy? If he isn’t wearing a uniform, he can’t be a student here, right?」
「He’s quite short. A girl? A guy? If he’s a guy, he must be a kid.」
「Hmph, another lowborn entering this prestigious school.」
「Hey now, should you really be saying that? If he isn’t in uniform, he’s probably someone invited as an instructor, not a student. Talking about him like that……」
「Well, there are plenty of people here who can’t shake their sense of privilege.」
「So he’s the light, huh.」
「Huh? Where did that come from all of a sudden?」
「No, from what I heard, that person is a shining light among mages. Well, I only overheard Teacher Samarun saying it, though.」
「Then do you know who he is? Tell me.」
「No, unfortunately I don’t. I only heard a little of what Teacher Samarun said. Besides, he’s wearing that hood, so you can barely see his face.」
「Useless. Teacher Samarun is easy to talk to, isn’t he? You should have asked him properly.」
「No way. Talking to Teacher Samarun in that state would just be a waste of time.」
「Anyway, not wearing a uniform means he isn’t a student here, right? Then he must be an instructor.」
「An adventurer or a knight? Judging from his appearance, he’s probably an adventurer……even though he’s smaller than us?」
「Well, it might not be for actual combat, but magic theory. Considering what Teacher Samarun said, wouldn’t that make sense?」
Such voices reached Rei’s ears.
(I see. ……Well, with so many students wearing uniforms, it’s unavoidable that I stand out without one.)
All the people gossiping about Rei were students dressed in blazer-like uniforms.
With shared elements in design across male and female versions, the uniforms seemed fitting for an officer academy owned by a ducal house.
(Though there are naturally some who flaunt their privilege.)
Rei wanted to smirk at the scornful look directed at him by someone who felt like a Keep in the making, but he held back and headed toward the school building.
Seeing Rei enter the building housing the headmaster’s office, the students grew noisy once more.
Leaving the students behind, Rei stepped into the school building.
Several students wondered if he might be a trespasser, but quickly discarded the thought, as no intruder would ever walk in so brazenly.
Directing their gazes toward the building Rei had entered, the morning gossip was largely dominated by talk of the unfamiliar person who appeared to be an adventurer.
「Welcome, Rei-dono. Did you sleep well last night?」
Entering the headmaster’s office, Rei was greeted with those words from Erinde, who had been checking documents at the executive desk.
As an Elf, Erinde possessed an androgynous appearance that made it impossible to tell whether they were a man or a woman, just like the day before.
Naturally, someone’s appearance would not change in a single day, but having wondered if a change of clothes might reveal something……Rei felt a trace of disappointment as he nodded.
「Yeah. I slept well. Though it wasn’t better than the Dusk Wheat Pavilion.」
「Hahaha. That makes sense. The Dusk Wheat Pavilion is one of the finest luxury inns in Gilm. The food there was especially delicious.」
Erinde spoke like someone who had personally visited the place.
(Well, Elves live much longer than normal people. It’s only natural they’ve visited more places than I have.)
Putting aside the fact that he was nearly ageless himself, Rei listened as Erinde spoke.
「Now then, starting today, I’d like you to serve as a mock battle instructor, Rei-dono……though even so, I can hardly ask you to take on every student in the school.」
「……This is a bit late to ask, but how many students are there at this school?」
One of Erinde’s eyebrows twitched, showing slight surprise at Rei’s question.
「Oh? Samarun didn’t tell you?」
「He showed me around the school, but didn’t mention anything about that.」
「Honestly, that man is hopeless. You see, this officer academy is a four-year institution. Each year has around two hundred students on average. That means there are nearly eight hundred students in total. If you include instructors, administrative staff, and servants, nearly a thousand people live here.」
Erinde spoke in a proud voice, but Rei found something strange as he spoke up.
「You said nearly two hundred instructors and staff……but the dormitory I’m staying in isn’t that large.」
「Ah, about that. There is another staff dormitory besides the one you’re staying in, Rei-dono. In addition, some people rent homes instead of living in dormitories, while others commute from their family residences in Gracial.」
「……I see.」
While nodding, Rei wished he could have rented a house or stayed at an inn instead of the staff dormitory……
That way he could have played with Set whenever he wanted, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
(If I stayed at an inn, we would be even further apart during classes than if he was staying in the stables here.)
If that happened, Set might slip out of the inn’s stable and come looking for Rei.
Set could handle being separated from Rei for a few days, but considering the affection Set showered upon him, Rei could not rule out the possibility.
「Well, because of that, I couldn’t possibly tell you to conduct mock battles with nearly eight hundred students, could I, Rei-dono?」
「……I suppose I could do it, but it would waste a lot of time. If I focused purely on taking them down, they would likely be knocked out before they even knew what happened. That would defeat the entire purpose of a mock battle.」
「Indeed. That is why I want you to handle only the S Class for the third and fourth years.」
「S Class?」
「……Samarun didn’t explain that either?」
Their cheeks twitching as they asked, Erinde received a nod from Rei.
In truth, he had heard nothing about the classes.
「Honestly, his magic research is outstanding, and the students are quite fond of him……yet he has careless lapses like this, so I can never fully rely on him.」
Sighing at their troublesome subordinate, Erinde continued explaining to Rei.
「The classes at this officer academy are essentially divided by ability. Since they will become knights or adventurers upon graduation, making their ability clear to everyone is necessary, wouldn’t you agree?」
「……Well, I won’t deny that.」
「I’m glad you share that view. Some staff argue that classes should be divided without considering ability. ……At any rate, the division is modelled after adventurer ranks. Namely, S, A, B, C, and D. Five classes of forty students each, bringing the total to two hundred per year. Though some students drop out for various reasons, so it’s not strictly forty per class.」
「In other words, I’ll be teaching classes gathered from the top students scheduled to graduate this year and next year.」
「That’s right. ……What do you think?」
「I’ll leave that to you. I don’t know much about this officer academy, and I don’t know how to instruct students. However, I’ll need to check how capable each of them is before teaching them.」
「That would be a huge help to us as well. ……Now then, it’s about time for the fourth-year S Class mock battle class……」
Right as if waiting for Erinde to finish speaking, a knock came at the door.
「Perfect timing. ……Come in.」
「Pardon me.」
Entering the room with those words was a muscular man without a single hair on his head.
He was not particularly tall, but still taller than Rei.
Appearing to be in his thirties, he had a face intimidating enough that anyone would accept him as a mock battle instructor.
(Shaved? Bald? ……Probably shaved.)
Those were Rei’s first thoughts after seeing the man.
While an ordinary person would surely cower before such a face, Rei had encountered numerous men with intimidating expressions before.
Even Daska, the lord of Gilm, possessed a very stern face.
「You’re right on time. Thank you, Glink.」
「Not at all. ……So, is this the person you mentioned previously?」
「……Huh?」
Having assumed the bald man would speak roughly, Rei was taken aback by the surprisingly polite tone coming from him.
The man, however, seemed accustomed to reactions like Rei’s.
The man Erinde addressed as Glink bowed his head without showing any surprise at Rei’s reaction.
「Pleasure to meet you. I am Glink, serving as a mock battle instructor at this officer academy. It is an honour to meet you, Rei, you’re also well known as Crimson.」
「Ah, yeah. I’m Rei. Well, it’s only for a short time until spring, but I’ll be in your care.」
Polite words delivered from an intimidating face. Despite saying it was an honour to meet him, Glink showed no particular signs of joy, leaving Rei unsure of how to treat him, so he replied like that for now.
「I, too, look forward to learning from your strength.」
「It seems you two will get along well. Now then, Glink. Take good care of Rei-dono.」
「Understood. ……Well then, Rei. Shall we go?」
With those words, Glink prompted Rei to go with him before leaving the headmaster’s office.
Rei followed after him, leaving the office as well.
The two walked side by side down the corridor without exchanging a word.
Rei was not social enough to converse smoothly with someone he had just met, and Glink seemed like the type who disliked idle chatter.
Even so, feeling uncomfortable just walking along in silence, Rei asked Glink about the mock battles.
「Glink, right? Doing mock battles is fine, but could you tell me specifically how strong the third and fourth-year S Classes are?」
「Their strength? ……Let me see.」
Perhaps Glink had also been unsure of how to approach him, as he answered immediately once Rei brought up a topic.
That was only natural. Between Rei’s stance toward Glink and Glink’s stance toward Rei, the latter had far more reason to be cautious.
One was an adventurer with a title, while the other was merely an instructor at an officer academy, a massive difference.
「This is only a rough guideline, and there are big differences depending on the individual, but speaking in terms of adventurers, the third-year S Class would roughly be F rank, and the fourth-year S Class would be E rank.」
「Lower than I expected.」
At Rei’s mutter, Glink shook his head.
「There is a limit to what training alone can achieve with almost no real combat experience. Leaving aside the frontier, powerful monsters do not appear in this area. Of course, that does not mean there are none at all, but finding such monsters requires considerable effort.」
「That makes sense.」
Since coming to this world, Rei had travelled beyond the frontier of Gilm many times.
He understood that monsters appearing in such areas were naturally weaker and fewer in number compared to the frontier.
「However……some students have fought bandits rather than monsters, and I believe those students are considerably stronger than the rest.」
Hearing those words, Rei thought he might enjoy some somewhat interesting fights after all.