Chapter 73

Chapter 73: The Teacher in Charge and the Lesson Content

We returned to the classroom and took our seats. Each seat had a paper with a name written on it, so I quickly found my seat.

My seat was in the second row from the hallway, all the way at the back. Ronnie was sitting to my right, and to my left was that unpleasant guy. Being next to someone like that was the worst.

There was a kind of basket attached to the side of the desk to put our bags in, so I placed my bag there.

After chatting with Ronnie for a while, a teacher entered the classroom. He appeared to be in his forties and had a sturdy physique, with a sun-kissed complexion that gave him a sporty vibe.

"Looks like everyone's here! I'm your homeroom teacher for this class, Steve Aubrey. You can call me Mr. Steve. I'll be teaching swordsmanship. Nice to meet you all."

He seemed like a rather straightforward person. It made sense for him to be the swordsmanship teacher. Despite having a last name, he didn't come across as aristocratic. His clothing was of high quality, but it was simple and practical.

"In this school, teachers are considered higher in status than students, so regardless of your background, you should address teachers with honorifics. Teachers, in general, don't need to be humble towards students. Well, that's often just a formality, though."

Is it even okay for teachers to say such things? But honestly, I might like his straightforwardness. He might be a decent teacher.

"There are a few things I need to explain, but let's start with self-introductions. When I call your name, please introduce yourself."

Self-introductions started in order of social status. The children of knights began introducing themselves.

They freely mentioned their names and what they were good at, but there were too many introductions to remember. I thought the same thing in Japan, but self-introductions don't seem to have much meaning. I had already given up on remembering names by the third person.

Instead, as I observed the children, I noticed that many of them had solid, well-trained physiques. Do knights often inherit their skills in combat? If so, it makes sense to teach their children swordsmanship. Occasionally, there were children with slender builds and fair skin. Perhaps their parents received the title of knight for reasons other than martial prowess.

There were also differences in gender. It seemed that fewer girls were trained in combat. However, there were a few clearly strong girls, so they must be aspiring to become female knights.

Well, all of these were just my speculations.

While I was making these speculations, it was finally the turn of the guy on my left. I would finally learn his name.

"Next, Salim."

"Yes. I'm Salim. I'm the eldest son of the Vokler Trading Company. My specialty is mathematics. If you ever need anything, please consider our company. I look forward to working with you."

So his name is Salim. Or rather, is he promoting his business here? He's quite composed. His smile now was in stark contrast to the disdainful expression he had shown me earlier. Is he an excellent businessman?

"Next, Leon."

It was finally my turn. I'm not particularly good at this sort of thing.

"Yes, I'm Leon. I'm good at mathematics and magic. I look forward to working with you."

Alright, I managed to get through it smoothly. In situations like this, it's best to stay inconspicuous.

"Last one, Ronnie."

"Yes, sir!"

Ronnie was so nervous that as he stood up, he bumped into his chair and then into the desk, making a loud noise. Well, he's definitely standing out now.

"Hey, calm down. It's just a self-introduction."

Mr. Steve said that, and Ronnie seemed to regain a bit of composure.

"Yes... I'm Ronnie. Nice to meet you."

That's all he said in a small voice before sitting back down. Can someone with this personality make it here?

"Alright, self-introductions are done. We're all classmates now. Let's get along from here on."

I'm not sure if we can get along. This class consists only of the children of knights, which is somewhat better, but there's still a significant gap between those with titles and those without.

As knights, they might feel entitled to bully commoners, taking out their frustrations on them. It might not be much better after all.

Even among commoners, it doesn't seem like we can get along, and it looks like a tough road ahead.

For now, he explained the lesson and handed out textbooks. The lessons would primarily be held in this classroom as a class. Four lessons a day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The last lesson would be a joint class, with all first-year classes participating. Recovery Day was a day off, so there were four days of lessons in a week. Out of those, two days were for swordsmanship, one for magic, and one for dance. Swordsmanship and dance were mandatory, but magic was required only for those with a magic power level of four or higher. Those without magic classes had free time.

"Alright, let's distribute the weekly schedule. It would have been easier if we had done this first."

"Do we really have a schedule? It would have made the earlier explanation much clearer if you had distributed it first."

The distributed schedule listed the days, times, and subjects. According to this, each class lasted one and a half hours with a twenty-minute break in between, and there was a one and a half-hour lunch break.

We have plenty of time for lunch.

The joint classes seemed to be in the order of swordsmanship, magic, swordsmanship, and dance. Other regular classes ranged from relatively easy subjects like math, reading and writing, history, and etiquette, to more challenging ones like economics and politics, which seemed more suitable for university students in Japan. There also seemed to be a class on magical tools. I thought magical tools required a significant amount of magical power to create, so is everyone participating?

Also, I wonder how difficult economics and politics are, even if they're translated as such by automatic translation. It seems like it might be tough to graduate in a year without working hard...

"In general, we'll have classes based on this schedule for the year, so be sure not to lose it. If there are any changes, you'll be notified by the previous day. Also, I'll come every morning about twenty minutes before the first class for attendance and announcements, so be sure to be in the classroom at that time."

This is like the morning meetings we had in Japan. It's making me feel a bit excited to be back in a student's role, even though it's in a different world.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Yes. If we need to change into appropriate attire for the swordsmanship class, where should we change?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that. There is a spacious changing room in the training area. There are individual lockers as well, so you can change there and store your belongings in the lockers."

"Thank you, I understand."

The serious-looking girl sitting in the front row asked the question. Having lockers with keys is convenient. I have a feeling that if I leave my belongings lying around, they'll either get stolen or tampered with in no time.

"Any other questions?"

No one else asks questions. Well, when you start living somewhere, you're bound to have questions.

"Well, if you have any questions later, feel free to ask. I'll be here in the class every morning. That's it for now. I'll bring the textbooks and locker keys, so wait a moment."

Saying that, Professor Steve left the classroom. I'm actually looking forward to getting the textbooks.

As I wait eagerly for the teacher, Ronnie speaks to me in a low voice.

"Leon, do you think I stood out too much?"

"Hmm? You mean during the self-introductions earlier?"

"Yes."

"Well, you did attract some attention, but I think it should be fine. But you should try to act a bit more confident. After all, you passed the entrance exam and are here legitimately."

"You're right. I want to do that, but I can't help feeling nervous... I've never met nobles before."

True, meeting nobles for the first time at the Royal Academy can be quite nerve-wracking. They're all nobles, and the thought of living among them for the foreseeable future can be intimidating.

I got used to it somehow, meeting the Townsends and even members of the royal family. How can Ronnie ease his nerves? I remember in Japan they used to say to imagine everyone as potatoes or something. And there was something about writing a person's name on your hand and "swallowing" it, right?

"I've heard that if you imagine everyone around you as potatoes, you won't feel nervous."

"Potatoes...? Why potatoes?"

"I don't know."

"Alright, I'll give it a try. And what about writing a person's name on your hand and 'swallowing' it?"

"You write a person's name like this and pretend to swallow it, but I'm not sure if it really works."

"I'll give it a try for now."

"Good luck."

Ronnie is writing a person's name on his hand and pretending to swallow it. He's whispering "potatoes" to himself. It's starting to make him seem even more suspicious...

Sorry, Ronnie, I guess I wasn't much help.

After a while, the teacher returns. He has a bunch of keys, and there are some staff members behind him holding textbooks.

"I made you wait. I'll hand these out, so come up and get them in order of the names I call."

And so, we received the locker keys and textbooks. The textbooks aren't too thick, but there's one for each subject. It's the first time I've had to carry this many books in this world.

"We'll collect these textbooks when you graduate, so take good care of them. If you lose them or damage them to the point they're unusable, you'll have to pay one silver coin per book, so be careful."

So, we have to return the textbooks. It makes sense since they don't have printing technology, and it must be quite a task to prepare this many books each year.

They probably replace damaged ones with new ones every year, and the new ones will likely go to Class A. The textbook I received is quite worn.

"That's it for today. School starts tomorrow, so make sure you're not late. Dismissed."