The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 4

Amon lay in bed depressed.

‘My life is over.’

The Academy is well funded thanks to the success of the King of Mango investment, but the Academy’s human resources are atrocious!

What’s the point of having money if you can’t have relationships?

‘Besides, those 2 gold were my blood!’

Two out of the three gold I own is gone, and I’m heartbroken.

And then, sitting at his bedside, the shattered Human Resource No. 1, Anar’el, who had come to visit him in his illness, said, panting.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Hmphhhhh…….”

“I can’t believe you’ve fallen so ill in one day…….”

“Uhhhhhh…….”

“Oh well, the healing spell didn’t work.”

How can magic work when the cause is mental trauma?

“You must be exhausted, take care of yourself, and here’s an Elvish smoothie made with the King of Mango prototype that arrived. I know you don’t like it, but force yourself to try it.”

Amon was suffering from a fever, so Anar’el had prepared a cold drink.

Amon’s mouth twitched at the sound of King of Mango, and he forced himself to open it.

“Has the headmaster tried it?”

“Yes. It’s really good, better than the ones harvested the way they’re supposed to be grown.”

Amon’s eyes narrowed as he looked from the smoothie to Anar’el and back to his taste buds.

‘Tastier. No way is this business going to go bankrupt.’

But he had a ray of hope!

Elves and humans might have different tastes, so he took a bite, just in case.

‘It’s ……delicious. This can’t be good.’

But why the tears?

“Oh no! How delicious does it make you cry? Wait, I’ll make more!”

Anar’el flies out of the room!

Amon drank five smoothies on an empty stomach by mid-morning.

* * *

During the late afternoon Amon made up his mind.

‘This can’t be happening.’

The principal didn’t answer.

What kind of a person would feed someone five smoothies on an empty stomach?

Even if she meant well for the academy, something human was missing.

‘But if I don’t eat it, she’s all tears, saying she’s been working hard on it…….’

Not that I felt sorry for her, of course.

In honor of the miraculous success of the Snail Race and the disastrous success of the King of Mango investment, I’ve been awarded a special bonus of one gold!

I gulped down the smoothie with a vengeance.

‘I’d give you more if I could, but I can’t spend the money of the academy as I please, I’m sorry……is that what someone who spent 10 gold on a snail race would say?’

Well, if you look at the results, it’s only for the academy.

I clutched the gold coins from my bonus and vowed to myself.

‘Anyway, there’s no way I can run away anymore. With this much money in the bank, it’s going to be hard to put the academy out of business.’

In other words, how can the principal control the academy and keep it running smoothly?

“To do that, we need the power of other teachers.”

Shouldn’t the academy at least fulfill its purpose of teaching students?

Amon got up and went in search of the teachers.

‘Yes, the last time I saw them, they must have been despondent because the academy had suddenly failed!’

Like today’s version of himself, he must have gotten drunk and slept off the stress of his disappointment!

Amon’s eyes widened as he found the staff room.

The same drunk he’d seen on his first day was staring back at him, sober.

“Eh? And you?”

“I’m Amon Drake, the new teacher.”

“Oooh, so it’s you, how nice to see you!”

The middle-aged man greeted me cheerfully.

“Well, come on in.”

“Yes, senior!”

“Hahaha, senior, good.”

The smiling middle-aged man introduced himself.

“I’m Marion Rumdom. You’re Amon Drake?”

“Yes. Baron Drake is my father, and by the way, Marion Rumdom…….”

A chill ran down Amon’s spine.

‘Marion Rumdom? Isn’t he a war hero?’

A wizard of a renowned martyrdom, he was famous for single-handedly destroying an entire enemy knight order during the Great War.

‘I heard he’d been missing since the Great War, but here he is.’

Marion, who had been staring at me, spoke up.

“Do you know me?”

“No, of course not. Why should I?”

Marion smiled sheepishly and shook his head.

“It’s all so long ago.”

Amon squeezed his eyes shut at the storied tone.

‘Finally, someone I can trust.’

It was the same Marion I saw on his first day, trying to drown my sorrows at the news of the Academy’s demise.

The Marion I saw now lived up to his name as a wizard, his eyes sparkling with fire!

He smirked.

“Anyway, I’ll take care of you in the future.”

“Yes!”

“Haha, I’m glad you’re bright.”

He laughed and picked up the water bottle on the table.

“Kahhhh, my throat is burning, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, yes.”

H gulped down the water and burped, reeking of alcohol.

“Ugh! I’m drunk!”

No, no, no.

“……Isn’t that water?”

“It’s alcohol. I enchanted it, take a sip!”

Amon rolled his eyes.

“……Why did you suddenly drink alcohol?”

“Ugh! It’s a long story. It’s from the Great War.”

“…….”

“After I defeated some of the knights with my magic, I couldn’t sleep that night. Their burning faces were vivid before my eyes.”

“……You’re trying to drown your guilt with alcohol again.”

So you have a story.

That’s why he said, “It was a long time ago.”

Marion, who gulped down his drink again, replied with a sigh.

“I’m drinking it because it’s delicious!”

No, no, no.

“I don’t usually drink alcohol, but the general gave me a bottle when he heard I couldn’t sleep, so I tried it, and it’s really good!”

“You didn’t do it out of……guilt?”

“What guilt?”

“You said you couldn’t sleep because you saw their faces.”

“I didn’t sleep because I was so excited! I’ll never forget the excitement of the battlefield!”

A chuckling Marion said, holding out his flask.

“You want a drink too?”

“…….”

“If you don’t, I’ll drink it!”

Amon walked out of the faculty room.

He heard shouts of “My bottle! My head! What are you doing, you asshole!” behind him, but he ignored them and kept walking.

Amon was in tears.

One of the teachers had been identified as shattered Human Resource No. 2.

‘……Do I really need to check the other one?’

But human psychology being what it is, even if you know it’s going to end badly, you still have to check it out to get your intuition right.

Amon smiles a rotten smile as we enter the empty third lecture hall.

“Of course.”

The woman was sleeping in a sleeping bag, a towel over her face.

A step up from the first time he’d seen her.

Still, since he was here, she deserved to be greeted, so Amon approached her and opened his mouth.

“Excuse me.”

“Phew…….”

“I’m Amon Drake, the newest member of the staff.”

“Cooooo…….”

“Yes, it’s a pleasure. Goodbye.”

Dejected, Amon turned away.

At that moment, he heard a voice.

“Oooh, who’s there……?”

Awake!

Now we can talk.

Amon turned his head to see a woman with a towel looking at him.

“I’m Amon Drake, the new teacher!”

“Neneen…….”

“Excuse me, what’s your name?”

“Sloth……Pid…….”

The voice, mumbling in her sleep, gave me goosebumps once again.

“House Pid? Marquis Pid, a renowned swordsman?’

The Pid family, where the head of the family is a Grand Sword Master and all direct descendants of the family are Sword Masters?

‘Marion Rumdom, and this one, too. They’re all powerful people, why are they all like this?’

Sloth, who had been wriggling like a chrysalis, raised her upper half and yawned.

“Mmm, mmm……So what brings you here?”

“I just came to say hello.”

Well, I can’t say I’m just here to say hello.

And at that, Sloth said.

“No, I’m asking how you found me.”

“……?”

“Um, no. I think we’re done saying hello, right?”

Sloth, still sprawled out, pulled the towel back over her eyes and said.

“Good night.”

“Is that good night or goodbye?”

“Good night.”

“……eh.”

I turned away from Sloth.

“Oh, right. Junior.”

“Sure, senior.”

“You do realize you have class tomorrow, right?”

“What?”

I’ve never heard that before.

“I guess you didn’t know. Do you know your class schedule?”

“I know that.”

The academy’s curriculum!

‘Swordsmanship for the first half of the morning, magic for the second half. After lunch, general academics, and a short elementalism class late at night.’

This means that Sloth, a master swordsman from the Pid family, will teach swordsmanship, and Marion, a mage, will teach magic.

‘The other classes don’t have teachers, so it’s either take turns or none at all, right?’

Sloth rolled over and said.

“Then tomorrow you can temporarily take the swordsmanship class.”

“……?”

“It’s all~ experience.”

At that, Amon, who had been standing on the sidelines, said.

“Are you ditching work right now?”

“…….”

“Are you?”

“Oh, no, I’m just saying as a senior, it’s a good experience for the new guy.”

“…….”

Amon walked out of the classroom.

He had tied the straps as tightly as he could to keep her from slipping out of her sleeping bag, so he ignored the shouts of “What the hell! Let go! Let go!” behind him.

‘There’s a reason you’re sleeping in classroom three.’

Who knew that this would be a hint at the shattered human resource number 3?

“Shit, what am I going to do?”

I can’t see the future!

Tears blurred my vision.

“Mr. Amon!”

“……?”

Beyond my blurry vision, the principal was running toward me, waving.

“It’s good news!”

“Good news?”

Amon quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the principal.

The principal rushed over with her ears flapping and holding a King of Mango smoothie.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

* * *

Amon was at a tavern on a busy street in Amur, the city where the Academy was located.

There was a special bonus of 1 gold, and since he couldn’t keep his sanity, he came out for a drink.

“Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, …….”

“Sir, something bad must have happened to you.”

“Yes, that could happen……!”

The bartender offered Amon a drink as he choked back tears.

“I’ll buy it for you, just forget about it for tonight.”

“Thanks.”

Amon swallowed his drink, thinking, ‘This place is good business.’

The bartender handed him his empty glass.

“By the way, may I ask what’s going on?”

“Well, I’ve just been hired at Amonis Academy.”

The bartender let out a heartfelt sigh.

“Oh, my…….”

“The principal and my fellow teachers are all a bunch of crazies, so I’m not sure what to expect.”

“I don’t know what to say to console you…….”

“I mean, how can there be less students than teachers?”

Sighed Amon.

“I suppose we could try to improve the quality by bringing in new teachers, but even that will be difficult because of the imperial decree.”

“I suppose so.”

“Phew, if it weren’t for the imperial decree…….”

Amon stopped muttering.

“……If it weren’t for the imperial decree?”

“What?”

Amon jerked to his feet.

“Master.”

“Yes?”

Amon stared at the bartender’s back.

Behind the bartender was a poster that had not yet been removed: ‘His Majesty the Emperor’s Cup, Boys’ Competition.’

“So, there’s a boy’s contest being held by His Imperial Majesty in a few months?”

“Ah, yes. That’s why the Amur was all festive, and then the Academy was turned upside down and turned into a funeral.”

“……I see, thanks for the drink.”

Amon paid the bill and walked out of the tavern.

‘……Now this is really the only way.’

So much for his grand plan to take down the Academy.

‘Then I’ll have to find a way to live.’

The money is flowing, but it’s hard to hire new teachers without the Emperor’s decree.

After all, if there are no teachers, there can be no more students.

‘But what if I do well in the contest held by the Emperor?’

What is the purpose of an academy?

It’s to nurture students!

‘Maybe he’ll recognize that and rescind the recommendation to shut down!’

If that happens, everything will be fine!

They’ll give us money, we’ll get new teachers and students will come!

‘Okay! That’s the only way!’

Amon ran back to the academy, panting.