556 – Soothing (1)

The long and short week break has passed. It’s time for students and professors alike to return to class.

However, the aftereffects of the war continued for quite some time, and there were quite a few students who slacked off during class.

The same goes for professors. The aftereffects were so serious that even Marlboro openly said he didn’t want to teach.

It was nothing but war. The prince’s head rolled around in an instant, and a fountain of blood gushed out from his neck.

Although there are many students who have directly defeated beasts or monsters, there are few who have experienced seeing someone die in front of their eyes.

As a result, there were still many empty seats in the classroom even after the class started. The professors did not specifically point this out.

“I’ll be honest with you. I hope you take this experience well.”

“··· ···”

“Because someday you might have to experience it yourself instead of just seeing it. You’ll get to experience it a little bit when you move up to third grade.”

Marlboro spoke in a complex but firm voice. There was nothing wrong with what he said.

The embers of war still linger in many parts of the world, not least in the East, but in the Empire of Matra and the Empire of Granada.

These two often have armed conflicts along their borders. As times are what they are, these ‘minor’ conflicts are not considered wars.

Moreover, if you advance to the third year, you will be subjected to ‘real-life’ rather than ‘practical training’. Starting from small things like subduing thieves, to various requests, etc.

As Marlboro says, it might be better to take it as a kind of trial version.

“It is still difficult to conduct classes normally, so free training will be given in the afternoons for a week. After that, normal classes will be conducted.”

“······What about the midterm exam?”

A student asked, “The midterm exam is usually replaced by experiential learning.

However, experiential learning is in a state of disarray. It is difficult to get a proper grade because of the war.

This is a situation that even the professors could not have foreseen, so they sighed. However, even in this situation, it is mandatory to give grades.

Marlboro seemed to think for a moment, then answered in a complicated voice.

“The midterm exam scores will be based on the scores given during the mid-term field experience. I guess that’s the best we can do.”

“··· ···”

That would be the best. Even if it’s disappointing, there’s nothing I can do about it.

It was literally an unexpected situation and nothing short of a disaster.

To be honest, I should be thankful that I came back alive and well.

Someone was kidnapped and couldn’t complain. Other students would know this too.

“Shivar was even kidnapped, so what······”

At that moment, Kara next to me seemed to be thinking the same thing. She was mumbling in Tatar so only I could understand.

By the way, I wear my ring like a necklace. I haven’t planned on showing it off yet.

Actually, this is also just showing off, and since everyone who should know already knows, it doesn’t have much meaning.

It’s just to keep Grace from getting upset.

“So, are you consistently conducting theory classes in the morning?”

“I plan to do that. However, there will be some accelerated courses included to keep up with the progress. If I miss class in the future, I’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

The morning theory class was conducted in a class-based manner. Of course, even though it was a class-based one, I didn’t feel much of a difference.

The most important thing was practice rather than theory. And there weren’t many of those practices until the final exam.

I guess it was because the overall atmosphere had become depressed and there was a mountain of things to sort out.

“Professor, when was your first practical training?”

“It was 15 years ago, I think. Did you know that I was a non-academy graduate?”

“Huh? You’re not someone who graduated from the academy?”

“I was an adventurer. Back in my day······”

Even though it was a theory class, it was mostly filled with Marlboro’s past history. The students are still suffering from the aftereffects.

Rather than just theories, it might be better to share your own experiences so that you can grow mentally.

And Marlboro’s past was quite eventful, starting out as a commoner and rising to the position of professor at the Academy.

In some ways, it could be said to be a model of self-made success. Thanks to this, not only commoners but also nobles paid a lot of attention to it.

“The most dangerous thing on the battlefield is not a powerful enemy. It’s an incompetent ally. And even incompetent people who are diligent are no less troublesome.”

“··· ···”

“Most of you probably don’t think you’re incompetent. But remember, most of those who take your orders do what you want.”

“That’s right.”

Kara nodded in agreement with Marlboro’s heartbreaking story. She must be the one who sympathizes the most here.

In reality, incompetent and diligent people are likely to cause disasters. The point is that they themselves do not know.

“More than anything, people tend to be generous to themselves. Especially the higher up you go, the more reluctant you are to admit your own mistakes.”

“Professor, have you ever met someone like that?”

“We’ve met countless times. Where are you living now…?”

“So, Professor, how did you prepare when you met an enemy you couldn’t defeat?”

This was a question from a student. At the same time, quite a few eyes were focused on me.

It sounds like he’s trying to get me to listen, and I can’t be mistaken. Marlboro gave me a strange look, too.

At this, Marlboro seemed to think for a moment and then tilted his head. His reaction was ambiguous.

“Well, there are times when the situation itself is hopeless, but there have never been instances where the enemy itself felt that there was no answer. You should avoid encountering such situations in the first place.”

“What if it can’t be avoided?”

“We have to fight. What can we do? Oh, of course, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen during practice or exams, so don’t worry.”

Marlboro added that it is extremely rare in the world for there to be no answer to the ‘existence’ itself, not the situation.

It’s not common for someone with powers higher than a blue dragon like Lord or Rize to fight against each other, and it’s even rarer.

‘Well, there is no one more powerful than a man belonging to a country.’

There is a reason why Lords proclaims neutrality. If he had belonged to any country, that country would have naturally declared expansionism.

It’s a reassuring story for students, since there are so many monsters around me.

“More than anything, it’s cockroaches that make a mess of the house, not tigers or bears. If I were you, I’d befriend tigers and bears and exterminate cockroaches.”

That’s right. People don’t hate cockroaches, they fear them.

Well, it would be terrifying if a cockroach the size of a person appeared, but that won’t happen.

When most of the students agreed with Marlboro’s opinion, Luna raised her hand and asked a question.

“What if that tiger or bear poops?”

“··· ···”

This time it was time for Marlboro’s mouth to be shut. Luna’s mouth was working hard.

But surprisingly, it’s a realistic question. Not only will there be shit, but there will also be hair and other things going on.

Marlboro blinked, scratched his head, and opened his mouth.

“······I hadn’t thought of that. It’s an odd but very reasonable point.”

“Uh······ Thank you?”

“I was wondering why you were just sitting there.”

Luna expresses her gratitude in a relaxed manner, and Kara smirks at her.

Grace didn’t say anything, but she had an expression on her face that said, “Well, that’s okay.”

From then on, we spent time sharing various experiences of Marlboro and asking questions from students. In fact, there were no theory classes.

“Oh. And I forgot to mention this. If you’ve been through war or something similar, try not to ask if you’ve killed anyone. It’s basic human etiquette.”

Just before the morning classes were over, Marlboro made a request. You might ask, “Who would ask such a question?”

The problem is that there are many people who are ignorant of the ways of the world and only care about themselves.

It’s okay because our class has matured mentally after going through a big incident.

In fact, it is not a request to us, but rather a request to stop such people if you see them.

“It’s already this late. As I said, we’ll have some independent training in the afternoon. So-“

The morning class, which surprisingly felt short, has ended.

The students expressed their disappointment after hearing Marlboro’s story with great interest.

I also feel the same way. I know a lot about Marlboro, but I know little about its past.

All I know is that he was an enterprising man who started out as a commoner and rose to become an academy professor. He was also a father who loved his family.

‘I’m curious about other people too.’

I wonder what kind of past the other professors have. The only one I know is Lee Yeon-hwa.

She was originally the eldest daughter of a prestigious family, but she was active as a spy. She has probably been restored to her status now.

The same goes for Lee Yeon-ju. She has shed the weakness that she usually displays and is returning to her original personality.

Normally, it would be normal to drop out, but······ he just says he wants to go or something. It’s not a bad choice since it’s easy to understand the situation at the academy.

“Hey. Now that I think about it, didn’t the Tatar princess also participate directly in the war?”

“You know that, right? Your father is the King of Destruction.”

“It was hard just watching, but if we had participated directly······”

The aftermath of the war had quite an impact on Kara as well. Some students began to look at her with awe.

In fact, Kara is the only student who has experienced the horrors of war firsthand. She can no longer be teased as a savage.

“Oh, right. It makes people feel embarrassed.”

“Isn’t that okay? I’m sure there won’t be any more ignoring looks from now on.”

“I didn’t go to war to get something like that.”

Kara herself showed an embarrassed reaction. She seemed embarrassed to be scratching her cheek.

But her achievements are truly remarkable. Not only did she participate in the war and survive, she also gained public service.

I was a little curious to see this part. Originally, Kara wasn’t supposed to be in the Academy at this time.

Originally, the Tatar episode would have come first······

‘······Huh? No. Just a moment.’

Did the Tatar episode come first, or did the Eastern episode come first?

If the Tatar episode breaks out first, the Eastern episode follows, and if the Eastern episode breaks out, the Tatar episode follows.

If this happens, I think Kara’s future will naturally change. I tilted my head.

What should I say? I couldn’t shake the feeling that the route was not just one, but was divided into several.

The Soul World I remember was a true ‘game’, so of course it had to have many turns.

‘But this isn’t a game, this is reality. What is this?’

If you think about it deeply, there are more than one or two strange things. These are thoughts that came to me after going through several episodes.

But that thought didn’t last long. It was because of the person I ran into as soon as I left the classroom.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“uh······”

For some reason, there was a Sulwha wearing casual clothes, especially oriental casual clothes.

While other students questioned the appearance of the story, my group and I could not help but be dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Seolhwa looked around at us and spoke in a voice full of complaints.

“I’m bored.”

So please play with me.

It sounded something like this.