Running Away From The Hero!

RATH 33

TL: Eevee

5. Welcome to the summoners' school. (3)

#1 Their story: The student council president's story.

"Ah right."

"What?"

"I left something in the student council meeting room."

As I was packing my bags to prepare to head home for the holidays, I remembered that I had left behind some things in the stuco meeting room.

Well, since they're personal things there's no reason why anyone would take them, but since I might as well take them back while I was returning home anyway, I said that to my roommate and went back to the academy for the first time since final exams…

"Why is it under construction?"

Even if I look like this I'm still the student council president.

If there was a construction scheduled I would have been notified, but I'd never heard that there would be construction work done during the holidays.

"It can't be…"

I heard that the academy could close down any day, but did that become reality?!

We wouldn't be seeing a new dean shouting "Yugrasia is dead! It's not here anymore! But not as a school of summoning, but the school of 000, we will live on as 00 Academy!"(1) as soon as next semester starts?

"Oi, are you a student?"

"Huh, uh, yes I am."

Just as I was wondering what new subject the academy would teach, I felt someone tap my side and I turned around, but no one was there!

Thankfully it wasn't a ghost, but I met something that was even harder to meet than ghosts.

"What's the matter?"

"Ah, I left something in the stuco room…"

"What, so you're a member of the student council? You're acting about as rude as you look?"

When I looked a bit further down, I saw a head at around my waist-height.

Ah, of course it isn't a child.

This person's probably at least a few decades older than me.

With a slight exaggeration, arms that were as thick as my waist, a brown beard that came from his chin all the way down his chest.

And a height that barely came to my waist. Anyone would think of a particular race when they saw this.

Indeed. The people fixing the academy were none other than dwarves!

To think the dwarves that were hard to see even on imperial projects were doing construction work on our academy!

"What are you looking at? First time seeing a dwarf?"

"Ah, yes it is…"

"Oh, really?"

The dwarf was slightly taken aback at my answer for a second before he laughed uproariously and thumped my side.

"Hahahaha, well true, you do see the majority of our race are stuck in their workshops instead of out and about. Now now, your academy, it's transforming into something beautiful, so you can have great hopes for it."

"Re, really?"

After listening to the dwarf, it seemed that the one who hired the dwarves was indeed Yugrasia.

Thank goodness.

It seems that nothing's changing, next year at least.

Surely we won't be learning something else with just the name kept as Yugrasia, right?

Just as I thought that another thought came to me.

Just why were dwarves working on our school?

"Is a member of the imperial family transferring in?"

Wondering if the legendary imperial princess was coming or something, I picked up what I was looking for and went back to the dorms.

But due to the unexpected meeting with the dwarves I didn't pay enough attention to my surroundings at the time.

If I'd looked closely, I might have suspected something.

When they were renovating the academy, just why was the majority of the work focused on the windows and exits.

And why were the dwarves moving countless steel pillars while working on those areas.

But by the time I realised, it was already too late.

***

-Owner? Isn't the one who started something meant to be the busiest? Owner's way too free?

-I'm not free. It means that work is proceeding well.

The one in charge of a project does not move himself!

It's definitely not like I'm just playing around or something!

Even if I look like this I invited several lecturers, made contact with the dwarves to renovate the school, filed away paperwork with the dean even in this very room. Although of course all I did was stamp the final seal of approval.

"So next week is the beginning of enrollments?"

"Yes, Professor Nicerwin."

When I asked the dean about the enrollment period that made up the majority of the documents we were stamping, he answered in the affirmative as he also stamped documents beside me.

Enrollment period.

A month before the opening of the empire's holy lands of education that were the Four Great Academies, for a period of one week the schools were opened up to the public.

To put it simply, test even a stone bridge before you cross?

It was a time period where the parents really looked around with lit eyes to see just what place the school they would be sending their children to for the next four years, what kind of teachers and students were there at the place they would be sending their kids off to.

"The place we need to beware of the most is Marcis."

"Very true. They have a lot of parts that overlap with us…"

Summoning and magic have many parts that overlap with each other.

No, if you look at the big picture one could argue that summoning is actually a subset of magic.

Especially since there are a lot of cases where the rearguard pure firepower magicians that focus purely on output have contracted summons to protect themselves.

And because of that, our greatest enemy is Marcis!

"The important thing is how many outstanding talents we can obtain. Since we're only taking in 1/4 of our normal enrollment. We need that people with that kind of spectacular talents."

"That's true. This year…"

-The tuition fees are five times, would talents show up? Heck isn't that just a scam? Why are the number of students decreased fourfold, but the fees by quint?

-If they're nobles even if it was ten times higher the ones who would come will come. And the latter because a lot of money's been spent.

The Made in Black Anvil that I always relied on was always outstanding, but the problem is that they are seriously expensive.

Because of that the school funds are already at their limits.

And to make up those funds we need to raise fees.

-And, later on owner secretly goes yum yum?

-Of course.

It's hard right now because we really are on the verge of bankruptcy, but once things get better I can ask the dwarves for a discount, and I can secretly sneak away the difference in price myself.

Since as long as talks are done with the higher ups the dwarves that are actually on the project know nothing either. And so, a beautiful world unfolds where even when no one is disadvantaged money still flows into my coffers!

"Having said that, the currently active summoners of the imperial army aside, I didn't know that that Sirs Muam and Harian would come either. I heard even the Association found it hard to call for them."

"I have some contacts with the elves, I saw some benefits from that."

"And their exploits are renowned. And even the two members of the army that are joining us, they are even Sergeants of the Summoner Corps, perhaps they might know some of the other army-related summoners as well."

"Yes, I talked with the two of them, and I asked them to meet up with summoners that retired from the army that stressed the same importance of education and told them to bring them as well."

"Hoho, indeed, Professor Nicerwin is always a quick on the mark."

As we diligently pushed down our stamps the dean and I started to unify our opinions.

Hm, as I thought, all according to plan!(2)

Now all that I have left to do is see how prepared am I to hook in some students, or more accurately their parents.

But what kind of people am I!

Am I not from a people where wherever there was a church's cross, during primary school, I experienced summer bible school for the sake of a single choco-pie!

And it was there I learned the word of Jesus.

-Become the fishers of men!-

-Dat education fervor.

A few days later, the enrollment period where here were nobles, there were nobles came along.

"But I never thought that the Duke and the Minister of Treasury would come in person."

"Ah, both of them are ex-honour graduates of Arucia and Mercadia. Even though they can't come every year, they try to whenever they can. And they take with them a lot of the graduates as well."

Oho, the fact that they take in a lot of talent means that they also probably fork out a lot of scholarship money to us as well.

Early support makes them easier to take along as well. Then let's see.

"Our academy's students…"

"…Huk."

Eh?

-Wiin? He cried! Owner made gramps cry! Our amazing owner that doesn't hesitate to attack the elderly!

Uh, no it wasn't like I knew it when I said it?

And I didn't think he'd cry straight away either!

No, to be precise he isn't crying yet! He's just sniffling!

"Huuk… there weren't. there were no students that the Dukes offered any scholarship money to our academy's students!"

-Now he really is gonna cry? A tear just fell!

-N, not yet! Still no count!

After he said that there were none in the past five years, when I so brazenly said that "next year will be different!" to the dean who was about to fully turn on the waterworks he looked at me with a look of respect that actually weighed on me a fair bit.

I get it so please, stop…

-Wiin? If it's that big then aren't the imperial family gonna show up? Princess could be here too? Get locked up right here?

-No, the princess isn't in the capital right now.

During the process of securing the summoners from the army I actually heard some news of the imperial palace.

That shut-in, no, the imperial shut-in that was the imperial princess moved herself to capture me.

It honestly gave me the shivers when I first heard of that, but right now it's good.

The further she gets away from me I am perfectly OK!

-The kids don't look happy.

-This is always a pain in the ass for the students.

The people were gathering for the speeches, but the students were making faces like they were bored out of their minds.

Of course, so did I.

No seriously, this was actually painful.

"We at Marcis have the backing of the all the Magic Towers of the Empire, and so we get materials for all practical courses at less than cost price. In addition, the Lords of Magic Towers over there will be sending around their best disciples of the Magic Towers to guide your children, and we swear that your children will be learning right alongside them of everything about magic!

Magic is the school that leads to greatness. We need those with the greatest passion and willpower, those that do not hesitate to take the challenge!"

Now, this is the third speech we heard, this time Marcis's.

Of course Marcis didn't make the same speech three times, but in the case of the first, Arucis, if you changed magic to swordsmanship, and Magic Tower and disciples to their rough equivalents, rest was more or less the same.

Same for Mercaria, they all made the same damn speeches as if they'd all had them edited by the same company or something.

Worse…

"We at Yugrasia have the backing of all the Summoners' Associations of the Empire, and so we get materials for all practical courses at less than cost price. In addition, our senior summoners will helping to guide your children, and we swear that your children will be learning right alongside them of everything about summoning! Summoning is the school that explores the great path of nature.

We need those with the greatest passion and willpower, those that will not hesitate to take the challenge!"(3)

-He betrayed us! The dean grandpa betrayed us! We trusted him! The man that's always crying for the academy, has the exact same mindframe as every other academy!

Wouldn't it be nice if they could all just pick a representative to shout our Four Great Academies!

To say nothing of the students, even some of the parents were starting to dose off, that's how boring and repetitive the speeches were.

The only parts that the students even remotely responded to were the respective student councils' presidents in between.

Amazingly enough our stuco president was quite popular. Does that mean our academy has hope as well?

"Next is Yugrasia's Professor Nicerwin Ain's speech."

And so a long dull time passed, and the final speaker that the dean had barely managed to scrape out, more accurately my speech time came along.

-Owner, owner's famous too?

-I'm quite famous.

-Totes. So famous that the imperial princess even destroyed the organization.

-That person, and Nicerwin is different!

-Wut, another me? Owner multiple personalities is dangerous!

As the metal bat and I exchanged the usual banter I moved up to the stage. Thousands of people are staring at nothing but me.

Ho, I only ever had kids looking at me before, now that there are adults mixed it it feels quite quaint.

Something's beating quite fast!

If I say the wrong things here then everything until now goes down the gutter!

"I'll be honest. Up to now Yugrasia, has had no merits compared to the other academies."

So let's start by pulling in some aggro.