258: The Battle Maiden Wants to Study Abroad (21)
Smoke billowed, making the location of the commotion easy to find.
Sauté had kicked back a magic bullet, destroying the wall of the school. At the same time, another bullet flew at the female student. Flapping his wings, Sauté blocked it with his chest. With unsteady feet, he struggled to stay upright.
“Teacher Sauté!”
The female student shouted.
“G-guh…!”
“It’s still standing despite all that?! What’s with that chicken demon?!”
“Look, it can’t move anymore! Finally! I’ll finish it off!”
Pushing the guards aside, Gunther rushed forward. Despite knowing he was being targeted, Sauté stood his ground. He was protecting an injured, incapacitated student behind him.
The student behind him screamed. Jill gritted her teeth.
“—Well done, Sauté.”
Seemingly having heard her voice, Sauté collapsed. At the same time, Gunther fired a magic bullet, but Jill deflected it with her barrier. Her hair and the hem of her clothes fluttered at the blast.
The injured female student clung to Sauté. Without even glancing at the guards, Jill knelt down in front of her.
“Teacher…! Teacher Sauté…!”
“Sauté is alright. He won’t be defeated by something like this. Are you hurt?”
“It’s just a scrape… When I entered the school building, everyone started chasing me…”
Which should’ve been prohibited by school rules. But the female student was sitting outside the school building.
Without explaining any further, the female student began sobbing as she held the fallen, bruised Sauté. Jill stood up and called out to Gunther, who was frowning at having missed his attack.
“What is the meaning of this, Mr. Gunther? Why would you prevent this child from entering the school? Did she break any school rules? Even though she was outside the school building!”
“That student hid by clinging to the wall of the school building. Need you even ask? Rats are prohibited from using the facilities. Since she used the wall of the school building, it counts as a violation of the rules.”
He was nitpicking! Seeing there was no point in arguing, Jill calmly replied.
“So, according to the rule, the Blue Dragon Class isn’t allowed to use the school building?”
“Indeed. Do remember that this is a military academy. Those who violated the rules are punished severely. That’s how it is in the military.”
“Certainly, sometimes, soldiers are trained to obey even the most unreasonable of orders. However, if they refuse to comply…”
Jill approached Gunter and slammed her fist against the wall of the school building behind him.
First, a circular crack appeared. Just as Gunther’s smile twitched, the wall collapsed.
“The superior officer who gave those unreasonable orders usually ends up killed in action.”
“…!”
“Didn’t I tell you to leave these students to me?”
As Jill threatened, Gunther paled, then his expression became bitter.
“D-do you think you can get away with this…?! This is why, people from the home country are…!”
“You can always report me to the home country? See if they can fire me.”
She provoked him with a sneer. For a moment, Gunther turned serious and snorted.
“Hmph. As if your home country will take our complaints seriously!”
“Isn’t it because you don’t want them to know how you’ve been treating the Blue Dragon Class?”
“You’re just trying to ruin the education system and research we’ve developed over the years!”
Jill became silent. With so much distrust toward the Rave Empire, it’d be difficult to negotiate.
Something must’ve happened in the past…
She couldn’t imagine someone who hated the Rave Empire would be appointed as the principal of this particular military academy. There must be a reason for his being so assertive. Either someone was behind him, or he was just that skillful.
However, the political field wasn’t Jill’s domain. Sighing, Jill turned to her students.
“Help her up. We’re returning to the classroom.”
“Generally, the students of the Blue Dragon Class are the same no matter where they are. They never study or put in any effort.”
She couldn’t just agree with that? Jill stopped as she turned her back to them.
“That’s because of the environment. Not only are they not receiving a proper education, but they also aren’t allowed to ride dragons. What are they supposed to learn or try?”
“It’s the opposite. They haven’t received them because they don’t study or try.”
“Poor grades and bad behavior are the result. It’s not the same as not studying or trying.”
“…That’s enough, Teacher. There’s no point in arguing.”
Lutiya called out coldly. Gunther stroked his beard.
“Oh, look who it is—the worst of the bunch. Our resources are wasted on him! He acted spoiled and was lazy, so he was abandoned.”
Lutiya was expressionless. However, he was holding Sauté, which the female student handed to him. But that wasn’t all. Lutiya was the first to try to help the female student. He never did anything praiseworthy, but he tried to protect those who were hurt and oppressed by adults.
“Water, fertilizer, and effort are all limited. If you spend time watering and fertilizing flowers that won’t grow, you’ll only hinder down the growth of other the flowers. That’s harmful, don’t you think?”
All the students turned their faces away without arguing with Gunther. But they weren’t ignoring him. They knew better than anyone that the adults abandoned them because they weren’t good enough.
So, they never rebelled and said, “We aren’t sewer rats!”
They laughed, hurting themselves and thinking, what’s wrong with being a sewer rat?
“You do have a point, Professor. In emergencies, you have to be sparing.”
Help those you can and abandon those you can’t. That kind of judgment was necessary on the battlefield.
But not here.
“But right here, you can spend time watering, fertilizing, and tending to them, right?”
Some of the students turned their heads towards her direction. Feeling their gazes on her back, Jill looked back at Gunther.
“Professor, in my opinion, you’re just trying to excuse your laziness. You’re justifying why you couldn’t raise them yourself.”
“S-such a bold statement! Well, what about you?!”
“I can do it. I will make these kids stronger than the Gold Dragon class.”
Gunther’s eyes widened. Lutiya, who was about to leave, stopped and turned around.
“…Ha, do you even know what you’re saying? Stronger than the Gold Dragon Class? As if! There’s no way such a thing is possible!”
“Then, if I succeed, will you treat those kids the same as other classes?”
“I told you there’s no way! There’s no point in arguing, this is just ridiculous.”
“Are you running away?”
“What?!”
“Alright, then how about this?”
Roger leisurely cut into the tense atmosphere. As usual, he was elusive and unnoticeable. Jill frowned.
“Teacher Roger, where have you been up until now?”
“I had some personal business to attend to. Anyway, about what you were talking about earlier, I have something perfect for you. The Class Match is in two months. What do you think of having the Blue Dragon class go against the Gold Dragon class as the opening act?”
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