Running Away From The Hero! - Chapter 5.03

Chapter 5. Welcome to the summoner’s school. (3)

Useless teachers got fired, and useful teachers got scouted in. Because of this, everyone became busy, one way or the other.

-So why are you slacking around?

[I am not slacking. Those at the top simply tend to not do anything.]

I, along with the vice principal and the principal, began to take a look at a pile of documents laid out in front of us. What is this, you ask?! It is the crucial bit of information that would prepare us for the upcoming war!

A month before new students actually apply to the schools they want to go to, the students visit the four schools in the capital for a total of three days.

Since these are the schools the kids would be stuck with for four years straight, it is essential that they check it out first!

Well, a lot of them probably made their choice about what school they’d like to go to, but there are cases where a fraction of these people change their minds after the three day event. That’s going to be essential for us.

“We’ll have to be careful of Marcis.”

I feel like I said this before, but magic and summoning is similar. No, if you were to look at it from a slightly different angle, you might as well say that summoning branched off of magic.

Because of this, Marcis was this school’s primary enemy!

“It’s good that Marcis is taking in an unusually small amount of students this year.”

“Right… a student blew up half the dorms last year, and it looks like the school is still repairing the buildings.”

Good talents aren’t always good. If problem kids have talent, they cause all kinds of trouble, and sometimes the school becomes unable to take care of these problems.

“Doesn’t matter. Now, how many students will we take in for this year?”

“Normally, we take in 400, so…”

The two people in front of me stared at me with expectant eyes. Normally, Yugrasia took in about 350 to 400 students, but they took in 320 last year. Since they said there was a lot of space…

“100. That should be good enough.”

“…Shouldn’t we take in about 200?”

“No, 100 is enough. Are the professors ready?”

“We’ve recruited the 2 of best of our graduates, Muam and Arhan, in our ranks. Not only are they the best summoners the school produced in recent years, they are also very well known in the summoner’s world as well.”

“Graduates… We’ll have to get about three more of them before the school starts. Ah, you said these people were knights?”

“Yes. They’re both elders in the summoner’s association. They might be knights in name, but they’re actually closer to being soldiers.”

“That’s good. Then, could you please ask the two if they could recruit some of their friends to join this school?”

“Understood.”

Like this, I slowly made everything work the way I wanted it to, and thus my plan came to fruition. And, at the very next day, at 11AM…

“That’s quite a lot of people.”

Inside the supersized auditorium that the four schools often used to host competitions were thousands of people trying.

“These schools can be said to be the future of the empire, so it’s obvious that lots of nobles would try to come in.”

“Hm… I didn’t think people like the imperial treasurer or the duke to be here, though.”

“Both of them graduated from Mercaria and Arucia with full marks. It’s already well-established that they come every year to scout new graduates.”

“…Do they take anyone from our school?”

“…No…”

-Pls, have some mercy. You’re making the principal cry.

Yeah, I know. As a man who used to be someone who ran one of the best schools in the continent, seeing his school crumble down to nothing must be quite sad.

“Things will change from now on.”

“…Professor…”

It’s been said that that summoners are usually quite emotional… the principal didn’t really seem to be the exception to that rule, it seems.

The treasurer, the duke, and several other nobles started by giving speeches regarding the future of the empire, and the importance of students. Then, the principals from different schools came up to appeal to all the different students in the auditorium, and talked about all the people they produced over the years.

-Everyone seems quite excited about this.

[Just the parents. The kids are probably bored to death.]

The principal of Mercaria, who used the imperial treasurer as a representative to talk passionately about the school, and the principal of Arucia, who praised the duke endlessly about his sword skills to the point of making the man embarrassed, weren’t too bad. Hoho, Marcis, however? They brought over the master of the Magic Tower, and talked about how magic was great, and how much money they had… it was embarrassing. If I were to give an example of how bad it got…

“We, the school of Marcis, are being funded by the Magic Towers, and all the ingredients we use in our experiments can be acquired at less than the market price. Also, the teachers will be hand-picked by all the different masters of Magic Towers in the Empire, and they will do their best in order to pass on all their knowledge to their students! Magic is a great scholarly subject that leads to great things. And precisely because of that, we need great students filled with passion and motivation!”

You might be wondering why a speech like that might be boring, but… consider the following. The other schools all basically said what that man said before him. Mercaria talked about cheaper textbooks, and something about intelligence being something that cannot ever be surpassed… Arucia pretty much said the same thing as well.

-Boring…

[I’m falling asleep…]

They should’ve just picked out a single principal to talk instead or something. So repetitive… The students are probably dying of boredom right now. Of course, the parents are all carefully inspecting all the different schools.

“And now, Principal Keitaman will be giving a speech representing the Summoner’s School of Yugrasia.”

“We, the school of Yugrasia, are being funded by the entire summoner’s association, and all the tools we use in our studies can be acquired at less than the market price. Also, the countless graduates of the past will come to teach, and these teachers will do their best in order to inherit all their knowledge to the students! Summoning is a great scholarly subject that leads to great things. And precisely because of that, we need great students filled with passion and motivation!”

-…The principal betrayed us! I thought he would be special! I thought he might be different!

[We seriously should just hire one guy to say everything for all the schools.]

And when the vice principal basically said the exact same thing as the principal, I began to suspect that all the speeches here today was written by a single person. No, that can’t be the case, right? If a single person wrote that, he wouldn’t have the gall to just copy his speech over and over again…

“Next, professor Nicerwin from Yugrasia will be presenting a short speech for the students.”

Whatever, it’s time to go. I put my paper in the back pocket, and stood up. I already memorized everything. Just glancing at your paper for a moment might cast doubt in the hearts of parents, so it’s important that I speak with confidence. Sometimes, that can be the deciding factor when it comes to persuading others.

“I do not think that there are a lot of people trying to get into Yugrasia at the moment.”

The entire audience began to mumble when I said this. But then again, changing an adversity to an opportunity can only begin when one recognizes his problems.

“Last year, we weren’t even able to fill the quota for the amount of new students. Every wealthy household in this nation already knows a thing or two about summoning. If that were the case, it would be better for them to just go to Marcis to study summoning along with magic.”

It’s not just better. It’s fantastic. And because of that, Yugrasia’s about to collapse.

“That’s why we changed. We kicked out all the unmotivated teachers, and hired different experts both skilled and experienced. The students will change, too. Instead of taking in hundreds of students just for money, we’ll just recruit a hundred students who are truly talented.”

The audience began to mumble once more. “A hundred?” “How will the school run?” Stuff like that came out of a few people’s mouths.

“I promise you this. Our school will require the most amount of studying, and the highest tuition. Students will study from ten in the morning, all the way to seven in the evening. If need be, the professors will stay awake till dawn instructing all the students. At any time in the day, or night, the professors will be there to help the children.”

The eyes of the students seemed to rot away, and their expressions clearly seemed to say “I don’t want to go there.” But the parents are different! Their eyes are shining in delight! The ones who would send the kids to school are the parents anyway! The kids’ opinions are worth less than shit. Rather than appealing to the students, it is important to appeal to the parents instead!

“Classes will change as well. Normally, we would have one professor in charge of an entire class. But this year, we will have four professors working in one classroom. While a single professor lectures the class, the other three professors will be next to the students, always trying to assist them in any way.”

By doing this, it is possible to stop the students from doing anything else other than studying. Even the best teachers have a blind spot. I, the student who always sat at the back corner playing mobile games, can proudly tell you that it is simply not possible for a single person to monitor an entire class. But! With this, slacking becomes impossible! There can be no blind spots when there are four professors in the room! That isn’t all, of course. Some students feel that they would interrupt a flow of the class when they try to ask a question, so they choose not to do it. Having teachers to help you at any time will make it easier for students to ask questions.

“So please, do consider coming to the new Yugras…”

“Wait! Aren’t you Nicerwin Ein, the man who is known to have the most amount of knowledge regarding summoned beasts?!”

I smiled a dirty-ass smile inside when one of the parents shouted that out.

“Yes, I am.”

“So the information that you have regarding summoned beasts are in the school as well? I heard that you know all about them! Is it actually true that you have information regarding S-ranked beasts?! Also, does the summoner’s book that you claimed to have made… actually exist?!”

The best way to form a contract with a summoned beast is to know about the thing. The location, environment, and the objects around it all matter.

And strangely enough, most of the summoned beasts in this world are beings that appear in myths from my original world. Because of that, I know the general details regarding each and every one of them.

“You want the summoner’s book? You can have it! Search for it! I left everything this world has to offer in that book!”

The audience burst into an uproar as soon as I said that. The summoner’s book. It is said to be a book that is filled with my theories and my knowledge, a book that is unlike any other!

-I don’t recall you ever making that though?

[I should probably do it now.]

I’d probably be arrested if I didn’t make one.