Chapter 22: Early Morning at Luna Nova Magical Academy
Monday morning was the time for the regular morning assembly of Luna Nova Magical Academy.
At this time, in the slightly old auditorium of the school, all the students and professors of Luna Nova Magical Academy were sitting, but even so, there were actually only thirty students and four professors, including Claire.
"Alas, it is a veritable crisis."
Reiner sighed beside the rostrum. Usually, a normal magic academy had at least a hundred people in size, and in terms of professors, even if they were not a lot, every department would have one professor. However, the current situation of Luna Nova Magical Academy was that professors had to serve two to three departments concurrently, and the number of students was decreasing year by year.
In fact, when Reiner took over the school, several professors left the school. Most of these professors were poached by other academies. After all, it seemed that at that time, the school would still be abolished even if they stayed. So it was better to quit early.
The students were all girls. Luna Nova Magical Academy had a long history, so some families sent their daughters here to study; not only to learn magic knowledge but also to cultivate their etiquette as a lady. For these families, they didn't expect their daughters to become a mage, so naturally, they weren't picky about which academy their daughters were going to study in.
Reiner saw Sharon in the crowd. She was sitting with her roommate Evanna, discussing something in a low voice.
As the dean of teaching, Claire first gave a speech, summarized the general situation of last week, and made arrangements for some work plans for this week. At this time, this professor seemed to be trustworthy. Except, of course, the maid outfit she's wearing.
Claire had to dress the maid outfit for a week, but it seemed that she had gradually accepted this setting. As for the students, there were some comments at the beginning, but after getting used to it, there were no more discussions about the outfit.
"Principal, it's your turn next."
The president of the student council, Elymia, said to Reiner coldly. The brown-haired girl with a serious poker face seemed to look down on what Reiner had done before.
"Elder brother, thank you."
Reiner didn’t care about the other party’s attitude either. Changing his image couldn’t be done overnight. He stepped onto the podium and looked at Claire who had just stepped down. The dean immediately turned her face away, with a bit of anger. In any case, it was too embarrassing to speak on stage wearing a maid costume, it was all Reiner's fault.
When Reiner came to the stage, he glanced at the crowd first. Most of the students were lacking in interest. Only students like Sharon were looking at him, waiting for Reiner's speech.
Taking a deep breath, Reiner spoke. There was no notebook, because he had already drafted everything in his head.
"Dear students and professors, good morning. First of all, this is my first-morning assembly since I became the principal of Luna Nova Magical Academy. But in this assembly, I want to announce a sad thing."
The first sentence caught the students' attention, and Reiner paused before continuing.
"Luna Nova Magical Academy will be abolished soon."
"Huh?" "Wait what?" "Seriously?" "How could this be?"
Reiner's words caused a commotion among the girls. The concept of the academy being abolished was too far away for them, but the meaning of the word was easy to understand.
"As you can see, most of the school’s facilities are unmaintained due to lack of funds. The number of enrolled students has dropped sharply. Most of the professors have also left the school. More importantly, the school’s rating has been at the lowest level for several years. If we fail the review three months later, the school will be effectively abolished."
"Then if the school is gone, where should we go?"
The brave girl in the front row asked directly.
"According to the past examples, you will be assigned to other schools. Of course, since one school cannot accept all students, you may be scattered to several schools."
Although there were not many people, there have been examples of students from abolished schools forming small groups in new schools in the past, so this rule emerged later. Students from abolished schools must be assigned to different schools so they could integrate more quickly into the new community.
Reiner's words made everyone panic again. If the survival of the school was not immediately obvious, then the upcoming separation from a friend was a crisis that was close at hand.
Without calming down the auditorium, Reiner chose to let them digest the news.
Uneasy, sad, hesitant, this kind of atmosphere spreads among the students. These teenage girls after all were sentimental, and they were not profit-oriented nobles or introverted mages. Therefore, it was only after the emotion had seeped into everyone's heart that Reiner spoke again.
"However, fellow students, please pay attention to my words. If we fail to pass the review after three months, Luna Nova Magical Academy will be abolished."
Hearing these words of Reiner, the disturbing discussion of the girls immediately calmed down. The thirty girls all stared at Reiner, making the principal smile.
"As for the countermeasures to save the school, Professor Claire and I already have a preliminary plan. You will see the effect after a while. Here, I just want to say two things to you."
Everyone paid attention to Reiner's words, wanting to hear what he was going to say.
"The first thing, I will not interfere with students' choices. I know that some students' families are influential nobles. Instead of staying in such a school, it is better to rely on the power of the family to go to a better school. If you leave now, you may be able to catch up with the opening ceremonies of some schools."
His words made Claire change her face, wondering if this guy was crazy. How could he say such a thing! This was tantamount to making many students abandon Luna Nova Magical Academy. This kind of self-harming behavior was really stupid!
Claire resisted the urge of wanting to pull Reiner down forcibly, but an alchemy servant slowly flew over and brought her a letter, making Claire dazed for a moment.
The students were quiet, no one spoke, and no one left. Even if there were a few girls looking around, they did not speak because of the atmosphere.
"The second thing, I would like to ask all of you to write down what you want to do in the future or what you want on this piece of paper."
Reiner’s words made everyone noisy again. No one understood Reiner’s intentions. Such propositional essays similar to "My Dream" were not popular since their childhood, and now they were facing such a big crisis, why did Reiner let them write these things.
Regarding this, Reiner didn't have any explanation, just smiled mysteriously, and then announced.
"So, fellow students, please enjoy campus life."
At the end of the morning assembly, Reiner slowly walked off the rostrum. Facing Claire with a complicated expression, he shrugged.
Claire sighed, feeling helpless. She then handed the letter in her hand to Reiner and then spoke.
"This is the result of the paper review, and a lady is waiting for you in the reception room."