Inside the classroom.
A cluster of red, white, and brown heads leaned together, staring intently at the timetable laid out on the desk.
——
Morning:
Swordsmanship — Ghislaine
Afternoon:
Free time
Evening:
Etiquette — Edna
——
That had been the schedule before today.
But now, several new entries had appeared beside it.
——
New Additions:
Offensive Magic — Rudeus
Water God Style Swordsmanship — Allen
Healing Magic — Sylphy
Arithmetic — TBD
Reading & Writing — TBD
History — TBD
——
Edna stood calmly to the side, her expression soft as she looked at Allen.
He, in turn, was observing the "chaotic scene" playing out before him—Eris kept drawing arrows from Rudeus's name to Sylphy's on the timetable, only for Rudeus to snatch the pen back and write his own name again. The cycle repeated endlessly.
With the way things were going, the young lady's patience was nearly gone.
It was obvious from her raised eyebrows, clenched fists, tapping toes, and the cracking sounds of the pen she was gripping.
But Rudy, fired up with determination, was totally oblivious. He was one step away from having the word death stamped on his forehead.
"At present, we have too many newly added instructors. I'm quite worried whether we can fit everyone into the daily schedule. If we try to cram all lessons into the afternoon, it would be highly unbalanced. Also, the young master passed along a message yesterday—although you are all teachers, considering your ages, I must still serve as your etiquette tutor. Um, are you listening to me?"
"Yes. I'm just worried someone's about to get beaten to death."
"...?"
"Don't mind it. Please, continue."
"So technically, the only full-time instructors are Ghislaine and myself. I need your help to reorganize the schedule. At the very least, all etiquette classes should have everyone present."
Allen blinked, then glanced at Ghislaine, who stood expressionless beside Edna.
Though right next to them, Ghislaine's gaze was fully fixed on Eris's hands with great interest.
Her face was full of focus.
As if she were gauging the moment when Eris would "draw her sword."
She might not be a joker in personality, but in certain ways, she was worse.
Jokers just wanted fun—Ghislaine wanted to see if Eris's swordsmanship had improved. Or Rudy's funeral. Hard to say.
Allen blinked and withdrew his gaze, looking at Edna.
"Correction—only one full instructor."
"...?"
"Ghislaine needs to join reading and writing classes. As a student. Arithmetic too. So that leaves only you as the actual instructor."
Edna was stunned for a second, glancing up at the much taller Ghislaine.
The latter turned, looking bewildered, just in time to hear Edna's cheerful agreement:
"Good point."
Before she could react, Allen grabbed Eris's raised fist with one hand and pulled over a chair with the other, signaling for Edna to sit across the desk. Only then did he sit down, spreading out the paper and thoughtfully stroking his chin.
Rudeus tried to take the seat to Allen's right—only to be yanked away by Eris's claw-like hand.
"You—!"
He looked at her firmly planted figure now occupying the seat. She raised her eyebrows at him defiantly.
"What? Got a problem?"
Rudeus almost snapped back, but suddenly remembered where he was—at the Boreas estate. And she was the Boreas ojō-sama. He was just a hired tutor. The only one she didn't particularly like.
If he got thrown out, Paul would never let him hear the end of it.
Even if Allen would probably stop something like that from happening...
Still, Allen had seemed rather avoidant toward this "house" yesterday.
Better not to cause trouble.
"...Well played."
Rudeus grumbled and took the seat on Allen's other side—
Only for Sylphy to sweetly say, "Sorry, Rudy," as she gently "pushed" both him and his chair to the other side of the table, placing him across from Edna.
All done effortlessly—
Because she'd used a wind spell.
Rudy blinked in surprise, staring blankly at Sylphy.
She smiled shyly.
"Sorry, Rudy. I want to sit here... is that okay?"
He nodded reflexively.
But the reason for his stunned reaction wasn't her pushing him aside—after all, Sylphy clinging to Allen was nothing new.
It was because—
After one night, Sylphy had somehow changed.
Before, her gaze was always fixed on Allen. Yet when Allen looked back, unless something urgent was going on, she would tremble and avert her eyes.
Whenever she made requests, she could act normally with Rudeus. But if it involved Allen, she often hesitated to express herself openly—especially after arriving in Roa. Her body language had become increasingly uncertain, more gestures than words.
Now?
Whether during breakfast or while organizing the schedule, her eyes stayed focused on what needed to be done.
No longer clinging to Allen's every move.
As Rudeus pondered this—
From across the table came the sounds of pens scratching against paper and overlapping voices.
Allen, holding his pen, muttered as he wrote:
"Okay, first we lock in etiquette class for every evening. Swordsmanship and magic require daily practice, so we'll place them in the afternoon—split between before and after tea. Mornings, when everyone's alert, we'll divide into two blocks for reading and writing, and arithmetic."
"What?! I don't wanna learn reading and math!" Eris immediately protested.
"Rejected," Allen replied without even looking up.
"Ah?!"
"Reading and arithmetic are very important, Eris. Let's just give it a try, okay? You're amazing—you'll pick it up easily, I'm sure," Sylphy turned to her with a warm smile.
"Well, if you say so!" Flattered, Eris's ego was satisfied. She crossed her arms and agreed on the spot.
"But this way, we won't have time for history class. What if we alternate etiquette and history in the evenings—two days etiquette, one day history?" Allen proposed.
"That might... affect my pay..." Edna said hesitantly.
"I can give my portion to you, Edna-sensei," Sylphy said sincerely. "We're the reason you have fewer classes now. And two gold coins is too much for me—I have no use for it."
"No need. From what I understand, the salary is monthly. Skipping a few classes won't reduce it." Allen still didn't look up.
"I see."
Rudeus blinked.
Now he understood what had changed about Sylphy.
Whether it was the beastfolk girls lining up this morning, Eris's interruptions, or Edna's comment about wages—
She didn't wait for Allen to take the lead.
She responded to each situation herself.
She was trying to solve the problems before they could trouble Allen.
Which meant—
Whatever had been bothering Allen yesterday...
She noticed too.
And overnight, it had affected Sylphy in some way.
Enough to change her behavior today.
Thud—the sound of a pen hitting the table snapped Rudeus out of his thoughts.
He blinked, looking up.
Allen had apparently finished writing the new schedule.
He pushed the paper forward, gesturing for everyone to see.
Rudeus shook off his thoughts and looked down.
Only for his face to stiffen in horror.
——
Morning
Arithmetic — Rudeus
Reading & Writing — Rudeus
Afternoon
Magic — Rudeus / Sylphy
Swordsmanship — Ghislaine / Allen
Evening
Etiquette — Edna
History — Rudeus
——
He stared dumbfounded at the repeated appearance of his name next to arithmetic, reading, and history.
Then slowly looked up at Allen.
Only to find him gazing at Ghislaine and Eris with a peculiar smirk.
Teaching the illiterate and innumerate elite of the Holy Land?
If Roxy were here, this task would clearly fall to her.
But since Roxy wasn't here...
This highly challenging job could only go to his dear brother.
Very reasonable.
(End of Chapter)
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