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I publicly administered a disciplinary action in the Teacher’s Office, and since it was break time, there were many other instructors present as well.

So I couldn’t help but notice Instructor Rilya glancing over here from her seat next to me.

She watched as Osnia left the Teacher’s Office, and perhaps feeling that the matter was concluded, she brightened up and spoke to me.

“Great job, Instructor Graham! I can imagine how flustered you must have been with a fight breaking out in the very first class. You handled it extraordinarily well!”

“It was nothing special.”

“Oh come on, you’re being modest! Anyone could tell it was your first appointment, but you managed on your own so well that I was almost tempted to step in and help.”

I briefly pondered Rilya’s words.

Did I do well?

I could have regarded Osnia using magic as a serious issue, but I didn’t. I thought that was the right approach.

Maybe other instructors had different perspectives, but this was my way. So, I figured I was simply doing what I thought was right and didn’t need any praise for it.

It was hard to accept compliments purely, and pretending to be humble also didn’t suit me, so I just nodded silently.

Then, a middle-aged male instructor sitting across from us spoke in a sickeningly smooth voice.

“Rilya, don’t you think it’s a mistake that students ended up fighting in the first place?”

“Um? Well, I suppose…”

“As instructors of Philion Imperial Academy, isn’t it our duty to prevent problems before they even occur, rather than just handling them once they arise? Saying you handled a little disciplinary action just sounds… well, off.”

What’s this?

I quickly perceived it as an unnecessary quibble. I was all too familiar with quibbles from my time in the military.

The instructor in charge of the first-year Diamond White class. I didn’t remember his first name, but I recalled his last name was Acheron.

Interrupting the conversation out of nowhere and only stating his own opinion, Instructor Acheron’s comment darkened Rilya’s expression. It was clear from her face that she was thinking, “Ah, this guy…”

Instructor Acheron stroked his mustache with a face slickened like he had butter on it.

“If it were me, I would have managed the students well enough to prevent fights from even happening. If they were our Diamond White students, there wouldn’t have been any issues from the start.”

“But Instructor Graham is teaching his first class today. I believe it will get better moving forward. I remember how nervous I was in front of the students at the beginning!”

“Of course, it would be that way for Instructor Rilya. Aren’t you a prodigy who graduated from Philion Academy early in just three years? Your excellence, as well as that of other instructors, is well-validated, but I wonder if Instructor Ion can really say the same…”

“What exactly are you trying to imply?”

I boldly asked since I was tired of the roundabout noble rhetoric. From experience, such conversations tend to drag on endlessly if left unchecked.

I looked directly at Instructor Acheron. He flinched under my gaze and coughed lightly before subtly averting his eyes.

“If I remember correctly, Instructor Ion has not received any formal education, has he? Am I right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then has he ever had a private tutor? Not just anyone, but a proper tutor from a noble family?”

“No.”

“Then are you saying his entire experience comes solely from military service?”

“Yes.”

“Ah…”

Instructor Acheron’s narrow eyes squinted as he sneered. It was clear he was looking down on me.

“Instructor Rilya, other instructors might adapt given some time, but doesn’t Instructor Ion not have any formal training at all? Who would be teaching whom here, I wonder?”

“I believe it’s not a requirement to have formal education in order to teach students, Instructor Acheron.”

“Even so, there’s a standard for the caliber of Philion Academy, isn’t there? If I’m not mistaken, Instructor Ion holds the rank of Captain. Hmmm… Captain. Well, that’s quite fast given his age, but I wonder if that’s truly sufficient… As a fellow instructor, I can’t help but be a little concerned.”

Instructor Acheron feigned concern through his words while his eyes contained a mocking amusement. Just a moment ago, he hadn’t even looked my way, but perhaps hearing about my background made him feel more confident.

If he wanted, he could have advanced further in the ranks. The Kalstein Marquis had offered him to do so multiple times.

But I wanted to wield a weapon and fight directly on the battlefield. A major shouldn’t be fighting alongside soldiers in the frontlines. It was something I could do, but if I had, people would have definitely looked at me strangely.

If I were to run around the battlefield with a rank way too high for my own good and no subordinates, rumors would spread one way or another. I didn’t want to stand out like that, nor was I particularly ambitious about promotions, so being a major who could execute operations on their own was just fine for me.

And I didn’t feel the need to explain that to Instructor Acheron.

As I silently listened, Instructor Acheron’s sneer seemed to grow even more pronounced, perhaps thinking I had run out of things to say.

“For example, I myself graduated from Philion Imperial Graduate School holding a Ph.D. Moreover, what about my family? The Acheron family is a prestigious count family of the Empire, and my brother honorably served as a senior officer in the Imperial Army during the last war. Growing up in such a distinguished family—”

I had no idea what reason Instructor Acheron had for holding a grudge against me, but the answer was simple. Just ignore him.

I had been directly appointed as an instructor by Headmaster Heinkel. That fact alone meant that Instructor Acheron could do nothing. Questioning my appointment would equate to questioning Headmaster Heinkel’s judgment.

He could spread dirty rumors behind my back, but such rumors would amount to nothing. They wouldn’t impact me at all.

By the way, Acheron.

That name sounded oddly familiar. It felt like a distant memory just out of reach. It wasn’t something very important, but I was sure I’d heard it somewhere.

And then it hit me.

“Oh, the one who got killed by goblins?”

“My brother—wha, what? What did you say? Goblin?”

As soon as I said the three letters “goblin,” Acheron’s expression went pale in an instant.

In the Imperial Army, there were plenty of incompetent nobles who strutted around, and Colonel Acheron was just such a case. What’s more, he was a man who had no abilities but dreamed big, so at the beginning of the war, he pushed to make achievements by recklessly leading his soldiers into fights and got himself isolated, as expected.

When I arrived to rescue the isolated unit, only the unit on the brink of annihilation remained, but the commander was nowhere to be found. In a desperate attempt to save himself, he had thrown his soldiers under the bus to buy time.

If he had run away and survived, that would have been one thing, but Colonel Acheron was later found dead at the hands of goblins just days later. The place he had hidden to escape just happened to be a goblin den.

His body, a plaything for goblins, was brutally tortured and killed before being left naked outside the den—truly a disgraceful end for an Imperial Army officer.

The Kalstein Marquis had scoffed, saying, “What a pathetic death.” I had heard that his family had tried to cover it up somehow.

“Wha, what are you talking about? Goblins? My brother died heroically fighting against demonic races! Where on earth did you hear such? Such nonsense?!”

All I had said was the word “goblin,” but Instructor Acheron was in a frenzy, jumping up in shock. He turned ghostly pale and started stammering excuses like someone who had just gotten their guilt revealed.

The other instructors looked at each other and whispered.

“What do you mean goblins? What’s that about?”

“Wasn’t Colonel Acheron supposed to have died fighting demonic races? No way?”

“No! That’s not true! How can you say such absurd things…! Instructor Ion! Say something!”

“I have a class soon, so if you’ll excuse me.”

I ignored his words and stood up, leaving him behind.

As I exited the Teacher’s Office, Rilya followed closely behind.

“Instructor Graham!”

I intentionally slowed my pace. I had to reduce my stride significantly to match her short legs.

Even so, Instructor Rilya nearly trotted down the hall to catch up with me.

“Whew… you’ve gotten pretty far. Is it because you have long legs?”

“Do you have something you need to discuss with me?”

“Uh, um, I just wanted to walk with you a bit.”

Since I had no particular reason to refuse, I nodded nonchalantly.

We walked side by side down the hall.

Instructor Rilya was gauging my reaction before cautiously opening her mouth.

“Don’t mind what Instructor Acheron said too much.”

“I’m not concerned.”

“Really? Well, it does seem like Instructor Graham is the type to not let things like that bother him. Someone who quietly gets the job done even under pressure, I guess?”

I wasn’t quite sure what type that was, but Instructor Rilya seemed satisfied with her own assessment and nodded to herself.

“Is there a reason Instructor Acheron feels that way?”

“Hmm… It’s probably because Instructor Graham is in charge of the Opal Black Class.”

“Is that really all?”

“If the Opal Black Class hadn’t been established, the Princess, I mean, Student Elizabeth would have been assigned to the Diamond White Class. He lost the honor of being the tutor to the Princess right before his eyes… I suppose he thinks along those lines?”

Indeed.

This year’s new students were exceptionally impressive. In addition to the Princess, there were also the granddaughter of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army and the son of the Empire’s Chancellor. Teaching them directly seemed to be treated as a significant honor among the nobility.

Had there been no Opal Black Class, they would have naturally been assigned to the Diamond White Class. But since I couldn’t exactly take it up with the Headmaster, perhaps he was taking his frustrations out on me.

The establishment of a new class wasn’t just a topic of interest for the students. The instructors felt it too.

I had a weary premonition that such events would frequently occur moving forward.

“So what about the goblins, then?”

“I’ll pass on commenting.”

And it seemed for a while, Instructor Acheron would be troubled by some unsavory rumors.

 

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