There are no classes on Atlas’s first day of the new term.
In the class where Frondier was assigned as well, there were only self-introductions with him and the students, and they were dismissed early.
Yet even in that short time, Frondier was quickly imprinted in the students’ minds.
Along with Elodie, who had come in with him.
The two of them—both strikingly good-looking and far too young for teachers—drew the eyes of nearby students wherever they passed.
It was the same when they walked the corridor, and the two happened to meet while coming from opposite directions.
“Hello, Elodie.”
“Yes, Frondier. Nice to see you.”
They exchanged brief, simple greetings and very friendly smiles as they passed each other.
If their familiarity were exposed inside Atlas, it would become a hassle. Hence the setup that they were meeting here for the first time. The same went for Pielot.
Frondier became a teacher with the design of the three-dimensional map as his achievement, and Elodie put forward her success with the three-element combination.
As for the three-element combination, Elodie had actually completed it long ago last year, but on this continent it was even rarer and more impressive than on Falind. The four-element combination did not even have a properly established concept.
Therefore, although Frondier drew considerable attention, he still could not surpass Elodie. All the more so since Frondier handled theory classes.
Students are more interested in practicals, and Atlas, subtly or not, impressed upon them that practicals mattered more.
For Frondier, that was just as well. He became a teacher for the sake of investigation and information-gathering anyway. Standing out offered no benefit.
“...This is a bit inefficient, though.”
Only when he checked the class materials distributed in the faculty room did his thinking shift a little.
“Hey there, Mr. Frondier.”
As he was going over the materials, a middle-aged man approached.
“Mr. Giotto.”
“Having a teacher this young and handsome really brightens the faculty room. Hahaha.”
“Thank you.”
Giotto gave Frondier’s shoulder a couple of light taps and made idle banter.
“Your three-dimensional map design—it looks truly fascinating. Is something like that really possible?”
“There’s already a company that’s begun production following the schematics I completed.”
That was true. Of course, Arald had handled various negotiations. Once its practical utility was verified, Frondier was able to become a teacher.
“That’s truly impressive. Hm, but say...”
Giotto leaned a little closer.
“That teacher Elodie—the one who came in with you this time.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Do you perhaps have any connection with her?”
“Hardly.”
Frondier answered neither too fast nor too slow. It ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ was something one might suspect. But it wasn’t so. His timing and words conveyed the whole.
“You’re the same age, and both became teachers for remarkable accomplishments. Plus, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.”
“Hahaha. I can’t say much about looks, but Atlas is a splendid place, isn’t it? There are plenty besides me who want to be here. I was simply lucky enough to become a teacher this time. I’m sure it’s the same for Ms. Elodie.”
“I—Is that so? I suppose so? Haha, if you were acquainted, I was hoping you might introduce—”
Just then, as Giotto lowered his voice suggestively,
“Oh my.”
Elodie, passing by, seemed to catch their conversation and stopped.
“Please retract that statement.”
“E—Elodie?”
A tidy yet firm voice. Giotto flustered at Elodie’s words.
Perhaps worried she’d overheard his request for an introduction, but Elodie’s gaze was fixed on Frondier.
“Retract it, Mr. Frondier.”
“What do you mean?”
“‘It was luck,’ you said. That might be true for you, but not for me.”
Elodie looked down at the seated Frondier with merciless eyes.
“I became a teacher at Atlas with a clear and solid qualification. I didn’t stumble into it by luck, like you.”
“Oh? ‘Stumbled into it,’ you say.”
“Isn’t it true? A mere three-dimensional map—there’s no certainty it will truly help the continent. It’s still not properly complete.”
“And you’re saying yours isn’t like that?”
“Obviously.”
Elodie frowned as if even his asking back was unpleasant.
“For a mage, succeeding even once at the three-element combination guarantees a future. But I went further and secured stability for a more reliable success.”
“Admirable indeed, but it can’t be something only you can do. As a teacher, shouldn’t you be able to teach it to your students?”
“I will teach it. Even if not every student can do it. A teacher is meant to be a model for students. There’s meaning enough in their striving to follow me. What about you, Mr. Frondier? Do you have the ability that would make students trust you and follow?”
Frondier’s and Elodie’s eyes collided in midair. Giotto stood there, watching awkwardly.
“...Hmph.”
When Frondier kept silent, Elodie turned her head away.
Then she said,
“I understand that you like to put on humility, but don’t try to drag me down in the process. I’m not someone who got in on luck.”
“Very well.”
Elodie left. Watching that, Frondier sighed and shook his head.
“As you can see, there’s no such thing as familiarity. Somehow I got on her bad side.”
“I—I see.”
Giotto now looked at Frondier with a hint of pity in his eyes.
***
“So later on I see your true ability and realize my own arrogance, I change my attitude, and then we get along—that kind of story, right?”
“Where exactly did you read that?”
“Not read, it’s just... that’s how these things go.”
And what exactly always goes that way.
I looked at the grinning Elodie and said,
“That’s not the story we’re going to have, Ms. Elodie.”
“Eh.”
“You and I will be on bad terms forever. Until we leave this school.”
At my words, Elodie’s mouth fell open as if in shock. Her expression dimmed as if she’d swallowed despair through that open mouth.
“That’s a really sad thing to say. ‘On bad terms forever.’”
“...No, that’s the setup.”
If you get hurt by scripted lines, it’s a problem.
But Elodie seemed unconvinced.
“So we’re going to keep doing it like this? With me sniping at you and saying mean things?”
“You handled it fine in the faculty room.”
“It felt like a piece of my heart was being scooped out every time I spoke.”
How dramatic.
I’m fine with it since I know it’s all put on, but apparently Elodie isn’t.
“It felt like my soul was getting sullied.”
“Think of it as a white lie. It’ll feel like your soul is getting cleaner.”
Besides, you didn’t even say anything that harsh. And in some measure, it’s true.
The three-element combination is more impressive than the three-dimensional map. The evaluation on this continent would be the same.
“I’d rather you be rated higher than me. The human sloth Frondier should always be properly sloth—”
“Frondier!”
Elodie suddenly cut me off and fixed me with a serious look.
“Don’t do that. Don’t use that nickname on yourself. Don’t pretend like that.”
“No, that’s the setup—”
“Even so.”
Elodie leaned in close.
“That’s not who you are.”
“...No, I mean—”
“Don’t.”
What is this, round two of the faculty room spat?
But Elodie’s eyes blazed with a refusal to allow any rebuttal, and I had no choice but to nod.
“O—Okay. Got it.”
“Good.”
Elodie smiled again, bright as ever.
Feeling oddly off-kilter, I went on.
“Anyway, since I’m teaching theory, I figured the first-day attention would taper off a bit.”
I looked over the class materials again.
For reference, where Elodie and I were meeting was the teacher housing.
Atlas is such a renowned institution that people come from all over the country, and teachers are no exception. The housing exists for those coming from afar.
Of course, Elodie and I each stay in our own lodgings; she’d come by now for a brief consultation.
Feels a bit like she just came to hang out.
“...Mm.”
I looked over the materials again and lost my train of thought.
Every time I see these materials, my plan wobbles a little.
“You don’t like those class materials?”
Elodie seemed to read me.
I said,
“From the moment I heard there were no powerhouses here on the level of the Zodiac, I suspected it—but it looks like their magical theory isn’t as developed as on Falind.”
Falind had the Monster War in the past. And further back—though uncertain—Ragnarök likely happened.
Because there were battles of that magnitude and desperation, humans grew stronger and warfare and magic advanced.
By contrast, even with demons present, the relatively peaceful Agoris doesn’t seem to have seen comparable advancement in combat. Nor in magic.
I teach magical theory at Atlas. It’s a bit strange that I, who learned a warrior’s training when I was a student, am teaching magic—but with my abilities, magic is actually what I can teach most effectively.
All the theories I’ve learned are woven into my Weaving, and magic, more than combat arts that demand overwhelming physical condition, training, and experience, suits the teaching of theory.
Which is why I can see exactly what level these materials are.
If I want to avoid attention, I can just teach them as-is. Then the students will quickly lose interest in me.
But whenever I try to do that, somehow,
“...I feel like I’ll get scolded.”
“Hm? By who?”
“By everyone who taught me. Especially Ms. Jane.”
Jane of Constel was the teacher who taught me to the end. From Frondier the human sloth to who I am now.
When everyone else grew sick of Frondier’s laziness and wrote me off, Jane alone treated me the same as any other student. Whether that was mere habit or professional pride, I don’t know.
When I first arrived in this world, the first voice I heard was Jane’s.
Having her as my homeroom teacher was one of the many pieces of luck I’ve had.
I learned from someone like that, and now, unintentionally, I’ve come to teach students.
“...Maybe I should try doing this properly. Just a bit.”
In the end, I considered a choice that wasn’t rational at all.
And at that, Elodie actually nodded as if she liked it.
“Mm-hmm, do that.”
“Were you even listening to me?”
“So what if you stand out? Are you worried they’ll reject all the materials because you’re too good a teacher?”
“No, well, that won’t happen.”
Maybe I’m overestimating the risks of standing out.
“Then I’ll get going. See you at Atlas.”
“Yeah. And if we run into each other there, don’t forget to treat me like you did in the faculty room.”
“I’d rather we didn’t run into each other.”
Elodie said, waggling her fingers in a wave.
Watching her recede a little, something occurred to me and I called out.
“Elodie.”
“Hm?”
“Are you okay?”
Come to think of it, Elodie had no need to go through this trouble.
Yes, following me was her choice, but if I ask whether what she’s enduring now is justified—the answer is no.
Elodie, the Empire’s most promising mage on Falind. If she’d simply continued on, she would have lived receiving the Empire’s highest treatment. No—she was such an overqualified presence that she could even choose not to live that way, anywhere she pleased.
So I worried.
Being overqualified anywhere means she’s overqualified for me as well.
Would she come to regret going through hardship she didn’t need to? She has a family, friends, a life she’d been living.
“I’m not okay.”
Elodie said.
She stopped walking, but didn’t turn her head.
With her back giving nothing away, showing only the faint line of a delicate chin, she said,
“Because you’re not okay, I’m not okay either.”
“...Huh?”
When I asked, not grasping what she meant,
“It’s nothing.”
Elodie brushed it aside, then turned to show me her face again, with a sparkling smile.
“Good night, Frond.”
