novelraw Chapter 43 : A Sudden Field Trip (1)
Chapter 43 : A Sudden Field Trip (1)
Chapter 43: A Sudden Field Trip (1)
Morning had just broken.
Tomorrow, the entire Ed Branch School—including Class 1—would be entering summer vacation.
But the atmosphere in the Headmaster’s office was not bright at all.
Correspondingly, the scenery outside the office, reflecting Ed Etar’s mood, was anything but ordinary.
“Headmaster, I was informed by Teacher Ever that an invitation arrived from the Nohill Family.”
“What kind of invitation?”
“For all Class 1 Fire Element students. The Nohill Family is promoting an open field trip.”
This was the very reason.
An open field trip.
It was a cultural practice that had existed in the Magical Society since long ago.
It meant inviting student mages—mainly those of commoner origin—to their family estate for a tour and hospitality, in order to inspire and motivate them.
However, the period in which this culture had been most active—and then disappeared—was during the era of the former Archmage, Archis Eimer.
In the current era of the Archmage Draco Tyrant, not a single family had promoted an open field trip in 300 years.
And now, in such a situation, they were inviting Class 1—not even an upper class like Class 5 or above.
Class 1 had Artel.
The fact that the Nohill Family was suddenly promoting such an open field trip was interpreted as the family head personally wanting to see Artel.
“Has this matter been reported to the Draco Family?”
But an open field trip was not something a family could freely carry out on their own.
The procedures had changed after the Archmage shifted.
Alarize Petra and his Disciple, Archis Eimer.
When these two were Archmages, such trips could be carried out voluntarily and freely, but in the current era, permission from the Archmage’s Family was required.
This was the reason the culture had disappeared for 300 years, leaving no family willing to step forward.
“Yes.”
“And the response?”
“It came immediately. They were actually positive. They seemed ready to award a commendation, saying the Nohill Family was contributing to reviving a culture that had nearly gone extinct.”
Former was Etar’s biological son and the adopted son of the Draco Family.
The fact that he was Etar’s biological child was highly classified, known only to a very small handful of people.
Therefore, Former’s official affiliation was with the Draco Family, and the Draco Family’s main house had already contacted Vice Headmaster Former.
“Strange. The Draco Family should have long since known of Artel’s existence. And yet they approved it so willingly?”
“With the Draco Family already having granted permission, there’s no way to block it. And if we did block it, that would look even more suspicious.”
“I know. But still, why would the Nohill Family—a Fire-element family—suddenly…….”
“I found it strange too, so I looked into it briefly. According to Teacher Ever, it seems there was a slight conflict with Artel.”
“What kind of conflict?”
“She doesn’t know the details. Teacher Ever didn’t see it firsthand.”
“Then is it because of that conflict……? No, even if it were, a family head wouldn’t get involved in a children’s scuffle.”
There was absolutely no reason to do something so demeaning.
If that truly were the reason and it was later revealed, it would be the Nohill Family who ended up humiliated.
Etar considered every possibility he could think of but found no convincing reason.
“Well, we have to send them regardless. When is it?”
“Tomorrow morning, the first day of vacation.”
“Who will be the chaperone?”
“The Nohill Family will send someone.”
“No matter what, we can’t send only students. Who will accompany them from the school?”
“There are no plans. It was all arranged suddenly today…….”
“I don’t think Professor Nide is suited. It would make more sense for someone in charge of the school to go…….”
Etar tapped his fingers, sifting through the candidates.
Then his gaze stopped on Vice Headmaster Former.
“You go.”
“……Yes?”
“The Nohill Family is a Fire-element family, yet they don’t listen to me. They act more like they’re part of the Draco Family, so it would be best if you went. It’ll avoid suspicion too.”
“But I’ve never met the Nohill Family’s head.”
“I can’t go. That would be even more suspicious. And since the Nohill Family is friendly with the Draco Family, you’ll fit the picture nicely.”
Etar was acting extremely cautiously to avoid the eyes of the Draco Family.
There was also the matter of having not sent a single student to the main academy for the past 50 years, meaning he was under heavy surveillance everywhere.
The only place he could act somewhat freely was the Ed Branch School he ran.
He didn’t go down to the Underworld unless it was for something truly important.
“Understood. Then once classes end today, I’ll take the students down.”
Former replied in a way meant to reassure him, fully aware of the situation.
Among the school’s administrators, he was the only one who could move freely, at least on paper, due to his Draco Family affiliation.
“Good. Just confirm what their intention is behind promoting an open field trip. Don’t do anything flashy or interfere unnecessarily.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
We had been spending peaceful days without points, and now tomorrow was the start of summer vacation.
But for point-less Class 1, the peace was only superficial.
Because……
“Try the practical exercise.”
“No.”
“What?”
“There are no reward points. Why would I do it? Vacation starts tomorrow anyway.”
It was currently Dark Element class.
Once the reward of points disappeared, students no longer had any desire to participate.
And with vacation starting tomorrow, their former obedience to the teacher had completely vanished.
Even Draco Walfis—who was the most feared of all elemental instructors—could only get this much reaction. I couldn’t even imagine how things were in the other classes.
“You idiots.”
Walfis, sounding resigned, used somewhat harsh language toward the young students.
Then he trudged down from the platform, and as he passed by me, I asked,
“Where are you going?”
“Enjoy your vacation. I see no need to teach brats like you.”
‘What a personality.’
Even though there was still plenty of class time left, he simply walked out of the classroom.
“It’s vacation!”
“Should we start packing?”
“Let’s do it!”
The moment Walfis left, the students jumped from their seats like they were throwing a party, excited only about vacation.
‘What a mess. This isn’t a matter of age.’
Compared to the innocent young students of my previous life……
The difference was vast.
After the Darkness Element class ended, I went straight into the Fire Element class.
The Fire Element class was no different from the Darkness Element class.
No, if anything, it was even worse.
“Today, the magic we’ll be learning is…….”
Even though Ever proceeded with the lesson while reading from the textbook, not a single student opened their book.
“Haaam.”
“Ugh, why are we even doing this?”
Instead, they openly yawned as if their mouths were splitting apart, or even threw snide remarks at the teacher.
Even I felt that the students had crossed a line.
Could the atmosphere really change this drastically overnight just because a single point had disappeared?
Besides, Ever had always approached the students warmly.
Many students felt comfortable with him, and among the seven subjects of 1st Class, Fire Element had been the one with the closest bond between students and teacher.
But that closeness melted away as if set aflame, leaving behind only disregard.
‘They say the value of freedom changes depending on the attitude of the one enjoying it.’
It meant that the reason students had followed Ever so well was ultimately because of the points.
Looking solely at the current situation of 1st Class, its freedom was of such low quality that it was practically trash.
Tap.
In the end, even Ever—who had always been so passionate about teaching—gave up and closed the textbook.
“Perhaps it’s because vacation starts tomorrow, but everyone seems quite excited.”
He forced himself to hold back and maintain as kind a demeanor as possible.
“Yeees!”
“Alright……. Let’s just spend the rest of the time in self-study.”
He sat down on the platform’s chair and stared blankly up at the ceiling.
“Teacher.”
But then an unexpected person, Hapert, called out to him.
“Yes?”
“There’s something important, so why aren’t you telling us about it?”
Something important……?
“Ah, right. That’s true.”
As if it had suddenly come to him, he hurriedly stood up and clapped his hands to draw the students’ attention.
“Tomorrow morning, you will all follow the Vice Headmaster and take part in something called an Open Visit to the Nohill Family—the family of Student Hapert here.”
Open Visit.
To me, it was a word I hadn’t heard in quite some time.
But for some reason, it didn’t feel very pleasant.
The moment I heard the term, I reflexively glanced at Banshi.
Banshi’s expression was strange, but her reaction wasn’t much different from mine.
“Student Hapert, could you come forward for a moment? Since some of your friends don’t really know what an Open Visit is, it would be good if you explained it yourself.”
Hapert then stepped down to the platform and began explaining.
“An Open Visit is basically like granting you, who have no families, a favor. You should consider it an honor that you lowborn are being invited. Understand?”
Hearing that, I shook my head.
‘Where does he get off omitting all the important parts and twisting the truth?’
It was impossible to tell whether he truly didn’t know the essence of an Open Visit or whether he was deliberately describing it that way.
I glanced at Ever, who was standing beside him, and his face was a mixture of pity and discomfort.
That meant Ever knew the true nature of it and that Hapert was explaining it incorrectly.
“Hapert! The fact that we were invited to the Nohill Family…… what does that mean? What are we supposed to do there?”
A student who had been hanging around Hapert’s group before the second duel asked the question.
“There’s nothing to do. Just eat lots of good food and look around the family estate.”
For a moment, small cheers of “Ooh!” spread through the classroom.
Students were well aware that being allowed to tour a family estate was a considerable privilege for commoners.
But according to the standards of my previous life, the target of Open Visits had been limited to higher classes—5th Class and above.
1st and 2nd Class were basic.
3rd and 4th Class were intermediate.
And 5th and 6th Class were advanced, considered upper classes.
Among them, the commoner mage students were especially chosen for Open Visits, with the stated purpose of inspiring magical motivation and ambition.
But that was only the ‘surface reason’.
In truth, it was an opportunity for the family head to personally check whether there were any mages worth bringing into the family.
Inviting 1st Class students to an Open Visit didn’t feel pure at all.
“I made a very difficult request to the family head, but he readily agreed. So you should feel proud to be in the same subject as me.”
With confidence overflowing, Hapert swept his gaze across the classroom.
He continued explaining without pause.
“And you know, this is kind of a tip I’m giving you: if you manage to please the family head, you might later become a mage of the Nohill Family. So make sure you act properly. Got it?”
“Really?”
“A family mage doesn’t lie.”
“Ooh!”
Then the moment his eyes met mine, he didn’t look away—he suddenly curled up one corner of his mouth.
“It’ll be very fun. Look forward to it.”
‘Oh? Could the reason you proposed the Open Visit be…… because of me, Nohill Hapert?’
Looking at him, I asked myself that question with certainty.
If not, there was no reason for him to glare at me with such an arrogant smile.