Exhausted

Although Ensen wasn't certain about the benefits both him and the system gained from being a part of the Supreme ranking, he was sure they were significantly impressive at the very least. While they obviously weren't necessary because of all the other systems ranked beneath them, it would surely simplify matters.

The problem with his missions was that they were rather long-term. Even though the first part of the chain mission with Leah lasted only three weeks, there was no telling how long the entire mission chain would take.

The main mission was simply a waiting game in reality. He needed to properly catch the students up, which didn't have a specific time as it all depended on how well the students learned. While he imagined it wouldn't be too long because of the rather decent talent ranking required to enter the school, it was still a hindrance although it was a necessary step.

Knowing that Alina would be going to be one of his students starting tomorrow, Ensen smiled.

Although he knew that this would most likely be the last student for a while, he didn't particularly mind. There were only two faculty members after all. Besides, while Gerhardt was a seemingly great English teacher, he spent most of his time either grading the students' work or back in his own world which left the majority of the other work resting on Ensen's shoulders.

It wasn't as if Ensen was ignorant of the massive stack of work that would be piling on his shoulder once he opened his Academy so he wasn't surprised by this. But it didn't change the fact that the massive amount of work certainly took a lot of time out of his day.

Knowing that he was slacking a bit on his work today, Ensen decided to spend the rest of the night trying to catch up. Finally, after 9 pm he managed to make decent progress

After picking up both Flora and the students from the orphanage, he arrived at school.

Ensen knew that Alina would be walking to school today so he wasn't worried about that front.

Getting out of the car and unlocking the front door of the building, Ensen headed to the staff room in wait for Gerhardt to arrive.

Behold, after a few minutes of resting on the couch Gerhardt had appeared.

Slowly standing up, Ensen walked over to him and greeted him. "Hey Gerhardt, how was your morning?"

Looking up confused, Gerhardt said in a tired tone before sighing "I… It's been rather busy Principal."

'He seems exhausted. Did he even get any sleep last night? Something big must've happened.' Ensen thought reasonably as he looked at Gerhardt.

"I understand… is it bad?" Ensen asked, trying to be rather vague to make sure Gerhardt would feel slightly less uncomfortable talking about it.

Looking downcast, Gerhardt said "... It's pretty bad. But don't worry, I'll keep coming here each day to teach my students."

As the room turned silent and awkwardness began to overtake them, Gerhardt said "Do you mind if I relax in here until my class after the break period, principal?"

"That's fine, you deserve the opportunity to rest. I'll leave you alone now then." Ensen said lightly before turning around and leaving the room.

Heading to the classroom, Ensen quickly arrived and entered the room. Scanning the room, he quickly turned confused when he didn't see Alina anywhere.

"Did anybody see the new student today?" Ensen asked.

"There's another new student?!"

"Just the people in the room."

"No."

'Hmm.' Ensen thought as the class had officially begun.

"Alright everybody, let's start off the class today with a simple math worksheet to start the day. While you guys are writing I will go look where the new student is. Maybe she got lost." Ensen stated before quickly leaving the classroom.

Passing by the staff room on his way to the front door, Ensen stopped for a moment and stared at it before shaking his head.

'No, he needs his rest.' Ensen thought as he headed towards his car.

Quickly hopping in, Ensen didn't really have a clue about where to begin. As such, he started with driving to the road and took a left, as turning right would lead to the city.

With an eye on the side of the road to make sure he was constantly checking it, he began to drive around slowly, however, there was no luck.

As minutes passed by and the allotted time for the students to finish their worksheets came closer and closer to ending, Ensen knew he needed to head back to teach. On the other hand, he had no idea where Alina went.

With Ensen getting even more worried, he was conflicted about what to do when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

Taking his phone out, Ensen quickly answered it.

"Who is this?" Ensen asked, doing his best to hold back his annoyed tone. After all, he could be searching instead of taking the phone call.

"Umm… hey Principal. I know I said I wanted to start today but… something came up so I can't come. Is that alright?" The voice said nervously.

As Ensen heard the voice on the side of the phone, he sighed as he thought 'So she was too busy then?'

"Principal?" Alina said over the phone in an even more nervous voice.

"Yeah, it's fine. Just remember to tell me earlier if you can't make it to class, okay?" Ensen said after a moment of consideration.

As the phone call finished, Ensen turned around and began to make his way back to the school. Luckily due to the lack of traffic, he had arrived back in the classroom rather quickly, just in time as the students were finishing up the worksheet.

Sitting down in the teachers chair, Ensen tried to focus on doing some work before he began teaching but he was too side-tracked with Alina.

The students finished the worksheet a few minutes later. Deciding to grade them later tonight, Ensen quickly announced to the class that the new student would be joining the class some other time before starting their lesson.

It went rather smoothly this time, although Warren seemed a little disappointed in the back for some reason.

As class ended, Warren and Brian scurried out of the room down the hallway.

"They do know there's music class now, right?" Ensen muttered as he saw them going down the hallway.

"Don't run down the hallway!" Ensen raised his voice to make sure they could hear him.

It seemed they did hear him as they slowed their steps considerably after that.

Music class started a few minutes later after and surprisingly both Warren and Brian had arrived on time. The class today was relatively simple, just some exercises for Ensen to grade and help them improve on.

After class had ended and their break had started, Ensen quickly headed to the staff room before starting his little teaching session with Leah.

Slowly opening the door, Ensen noticed that Gerhardt seemed to be passed out on the couch. Trying not to make any voice to wake him up, Ensen decided to come back a little later to wake him up.

Heading back to the music classroom, Ensen entered the room and noticed that both Leah and Anabella were here.

"Does Anabella want to learn the piano too?" He asked Leah, knowing that Anabella wouldn't want to speak.

Anabella shook her head lightly towards Leah.

"No, she's just interested in watching. Is it fine if she stays?" Leah said while looking towards Anabella to gauge if she had said the right thing.

Seeing her nod her head in agreement, Leah looked towards Ensen.

"That's fine, let's begin now though. I need to end a few minutes early today." Ensen said as he began his lesson.

Time passed by relatively quickly as Leah focused on doing her best to learn, Ensen doing his best to teach, Anabella doing her best to both read her book and pay attention.

As the lesson approached its end for the day, Ensen quickly excused himself before returning to the staff room.

Opening the door quietly again, Ensen walked in with silent feet as he pondered how to safely wake Gerhardt up.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to take a little precaution and stood a few feet in front of Gerhardt.

"Uhhh… Gerhardt, it's time for you to teach." Ensen said in uncertainty, unsure of what to say.

'... He's not moving.' Ensen thought as Gerhardt stayed completely still.

After a few more attempts of waking him up, he eventually succeeded.

As Gerhardt opened his eyes, he quickly scanned the room before locking his eyes onto Ensen.

"What time is it?" Gerhardt said, lacking his usual elegance.

"It's just about time for you to teach your class. I was going to wake you up sooner but… you were completely passed out. I thought I should've given you your rest." Ensen said.

"It's fine Principal," Gerhardt spoke as he slowly got up from the couch.