Running Away From The Hero! Chapter 36

Published at 3rd of February 2023 03:45:16 PM

RATH 36

TL: Eevee

5. Welcome to the summoner's school. (6)

There's so many of them. There's just too many documents.

“Currently, people are watching over our academy to the extent that they are heralding a new age of summoning.”

That's One **ece(1) for you. Just because I used a slightly-edited version of the speech it started a new wave of piracy, no, summoning fervor.

Now if we had a protagonist character shout “I'm going to be the summoner king!” then that would be the perfect scenario!

Well, still.

“First, it will probably be good to filter out those with insufficient magic power first.”

Whether there really was a new storm or not, but along with those with the talent, too many kids without any talent also applied.

Since even kids who would have submitted their applications to Mercaria sent them into us complete with perfect office worker formatting, that should say it all.

With a base of a contract with a summon, and using the abilities of the summon, comparatively speaking, summoning uses less mana than magicians or battlemages, but just because you're using less doesn't mean that it's okay if you have little mana.

Even though the summoner can control the automatic supply of mana if needed, when summoning the summon itself, that process takes up a significant amount of mana.

And from there if you want to bring out the power of the summon then you need mana again.

As an example take No.17's Surtr who normally acts as a sandbag, when he's manipulating fire then No.17 supplies mana to Surtr, and Surtr uses that mana to create fire.

Maybe if my goal was to contract low-ranking summons, but to achieve my goals of making contracts with high-ranking summons then I don't really need as much mana as my old disciples in Howling, but at the very least I need kids on the level of your average magician.

“Mmm… how about this one?”

“Hm. His magic power seems slightly lacking, but his experience seems to be decent. Pass him through the first round for now, it would probably be better to pass him on to Maroon or Professor Aruhan.”

-Wiing? Discrimination?

-Kids good at close combat are exceptions.

The applicant that the other lecturer had brought was a commoner, but he had qualifications as a C rank mercenary.

If you were C rank at 18 years old then that means you're at least better than normal.

Of course since his mana seems to be lacking it seems like he'll have a hard time forming sword ki, but becoming a C rank despite being a commoner means he's probably seen his fair share of mayhem.

If we hand him over to the army lecturers, and link him up to the imperial armory then he should be useful fighting potential.

-But, owner? Those armory contractors, aren't they all forced conscripts?

-Not forced. Since the condition of a contract is enlisting. Enlist first, contract later.

The imperial armory.

Filled with all sorts of famous weapons and armour for the course, it's a place with many magically enchanted weapons and armour, the empire succeeded in tying these equipment with their soldiers as summoner and summon.

Thanks to that, a bunch of soldiers who could use all sorts of weapons and armour in battle were born!

And if you were to talk about a peculiarity, this wasn't a contract between a summon and a summoner, but a summoner and the empire, and so the summoner is automatically enrolled into the army.

And after this, they are trained and work as imperial army officers.

Meaning, a summon that guaranteed enlistment!

Thanks to that, even though they get all sorts of perks, that's why not many people follow the summoner's path.

-So this is why owner brought in the mister army men!

-The empire's military is a great workplace with a 100% employment rate after all!

Among the four great academies, no one ever asks about the employment rate after graduation.

Conversely, that means if we do it right, we can appeal with employment rates!

If we get anyone hired into the imperial palace we can say, [000 of Yugrasia Class of 000, employed by the imperial palace! Employment rate 100%!] is the overall plan.

And the best way to realize that plan was to have No.17 come to us…

-'Course not. I'm saying it because you're my owner, but if owner wasn't my owner then even I wouldn't stick around. Even tho' the kid doesn't know that owner's owner, but since you look similar 'nuff, running away would be natural.

Although nothing she says feels at all serious with that short tongue of hers, but reality is reality.

Although we've already gone through over 600 applications, No.17 is nowhere to be seen.

Hoho, this cute kid.

If she'd come I would have given her relatively preferential treatment and had her on the student council this year, student council president next year on the top-speed elite course I had prepared for her.

And to think she'd run with her family as an excuse.

-I will use her as the sacrifice to reveal the splendour of Yugrasia's progress.

-Uwii, so petty. My owner's so petty!

No, you dolt!

They say that a wise man's revenge is not late even after ten years, but since I am not a wise man I take it immediately!

“Ohh! The Letia family's Miss Aris!”

“Pass, a hundred percent pass!”

But in the hopes of 'maybe, just maybe,' I kept searching through the documents for No.17's name when I heard shouts from a corner.

If it's the Letia family, then it's one of the empire's famous Ten Great Families.

And the girl called Miss Aris is that family's oldest daughter. Meaning.

-Owner's baiting finally hauled in a big one! Poor kid!

-It's all fine if we give her a splendid summon!

I'd looked through roughly 300 applications but there was no one on that level.

The highest was a Count.

And even then the majority of those kids fell short of standards, and to think an eldest daughter of a Ten Great Family came!

-I'll contract her with the best summon so we can use it for promotion!

-So cool! My owner that doesn't think of the students first, but prioritises profits is so cool!

Even other than that I found a few noteworthy individuals that might be of use.

We succeeded culling the second round of applicants to 300, then 100 truly outstanding students out of those.

And now, around a month later.

“My peers, do you want freedom!”

-Freedom!

“Then, follow me!”

-Uwooooooo!

With the student council at the head, this world's first-ever student rebellion began.

#3 Their Story: A certain student council president's story.

“You are a child loved by the spirits.”

The person who said so smiled as she stroked my head.

An elf, who was said to have been loved by nature from their creation, said that to me.

Since I was little, something was always beside me.

Sometimes it was warm, sometimes it was cold, sometimes it was comforting.

And when I was small, when I went with my dad on family business, the elf I happened to meet there told me that they were spirits, and she told me that I would become a brilliant summoner in the future.

And believing that, I enrolled in Yugrasia, and believing the words of the elf who was said to only speak the truth, I showed the qualities of a brilliant summoner, and of them, an elementalist, I rose to the title of student council president.

But, the evaluation of the Yugrasia I went to was the lowest.

The school that was once called one of the Four Great Academies had been slowly declining even before I enrolled, and once I became stuco president I tried my best to reverse it, but it still couldn't be done.

But.

“Do you mean, the Book of Summons that is said to contain all my knowledge? If you want it then I will give it to you. Look for it. Everything I know about the world's summons, are recorded in that book!”

At the pre-enrollment speeches where, if you included the year before I enrolled, I'd watched over for four straight years and still had no idea why they just kept repeating what was essentially the same speech four times, the legendary summoner Professor Nicerwin Ain's speech was the beginning of a new chapter in Yugrasia's history.

With one of the Ten Great Families, the famous Letia Family's Lady Aris as the beginning, many ranking houses sent their children to Yugrasia.

And from there, instructors from the military that the lecturers and even nobles with links to the military alike would be surprised to see, an elf that was so hard to see, and even a gnome that supposedly hated being involved in the human world were among the new teachers.

During the student council meetings, we used to half-jokingly debate about how long it would take for Yugrasia to close down, but such discussions had long since disappeared.

Really, just one person changed Yugrasia so drastically.

…Was what I had thought.

Without realizing just what it was that had undergone the most drastic changes.

The day I realised that was the third day into the new semester.

It was a normal day as the school began to settle into the first proper lessons.

“Wow, did you hear Professor Muam's lecture earlier? Wow, seriously, as a contractor of a Spirit King, he's totally on another league with the teachers we've had so far! Totally!”

Spirit Kings, which had fixed numbers.

And the summoner of the Spirit King of Water who was a major deal among those showed us a new world of Spirit Arts, and before the final bell, we were all discussing our amazement at the lessons today as we waited for our homeroom teacher to come in.

-Ahh, this is a school-wide announcement. Could everyone please take their seats. I repeat. This is a school-wide announcement. Could everyone please take their seats, and listen to the announcement.

The school-wide intercom that was rarely used in the past echoed out.

The people that had gone to the bathrooms began to return and sit down, and around three minutes later, we heard a voice that we hadn't heard to many times, yet was unforgettable despite that.

-Greetings, students. My name is Nicerwin Ain, a lecturer that will teach you from this year along with the other teachers.

At that moment, we heard people go “ooohhh!” from let alone our classroom, we could hear them from down the corridor as well. It was that Nicerwin Ain.

The legend of the Summoner's Association, the person who was said to have overhauled the academy personally!

The students' admiration of him was indescribable!

But it would take just ten minutes for that admiration to be smashed to smithereens.

-Now, the homeroom teachers of each classroom, please enter.

At those words, the door opened and our homeroom teacher came in.

Holding a thick pile of paper.

-Now, I believe by now all the homeroom teachers will have entered. Lecturers, could you please distribute the handouts.

At those words, our homeroom teacher silently handed out the thick white stacks of paper to us.

[The Basics and Concepts of Summoning]

What is this, this book title that sounds like a textbook. As if he could tell what we were thinking Professor Nicerwin answered us immediately.

-The handouts that everyone just received, was something to help everyone with their self-directed study. In addition, the people who cannot solve all the problems, cannot leave the school before 2200 hours.

In that moment silence spread through the classroom, no, the entire school.

We understood what was being said, but our heads couldn't take it in.

Including me, the majority of the students turned their heads to the clock on the classroom wall. Current time, 5 PM.

Until 2200 hours, meaning 10 PM, there were still five hours left.

-Ah, of course we guarantee your right to club activities. From 6 'o clock we will even provide dinner. The true self-directed nighttime study, or night study for short, will begin in earnest from 7 PM onwards.

No, that part wasn't what we were surprised about…

-As I promised to your parents, I will deliver the education that everyone wanted.

What bullshit is this. Is there a single student that would ever want this.

-I understand. That everyone is too embarrassed to speak out, that everyone has a strong passion for learning.

Although I am enthusiastic about learning that is more than enough with normal classes. I don't want to be locked up for a similar length of time in school.

-But, I am aware that there are always troublemakers anywhere you go. And so.

Drrrrrrrrrrrr

“Ea, earthquake?”

“What?!”

“What's going on!”

The moment the professor stopped speaking, the school began to shake. And at the same time.

Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam!

We heard a weird noise from somewhere.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

And with loud slams from right beside us, thick black lines began to appear on the windows beside us.

-I am aware that there are some students that may not wish to attend the self-directed night study. And so, since we guarantee our students rights and freedoms, we will allow it, if you can leave school by your own self-direction.

Those words and actions were different. The kids with the window seats had already told us that the black lines that had appeared were actually thick metal bars.

In the middle of the corridor there was even an extra wall that had appeared.

This, was a feeling that they would never let us leave school!

-Ah, and of course, we teachers will also give the students that don't wish to participate in self-directed study an opportunity to learn. We will provide theory in the question booklets we distribute in the beginning of every night study class. And for those students who don't wish to attend the night study classes, practical. application.

It felt like he was emphasising the practical application part a bit, or was it just me?

-The methods to not attend the night study sessions are simple. Using any and every method at your disposal, break through the teachers and exit the school. Once you leave the school building, no teacher will even touch you, and even if you return the next day, you will suffer no penalties. Like I have said, you are free to leave school whenever you wish.

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The current number of teachers at Yugrasia are small, but not even Yugrasia at its peak would have had the standard of teachers as we do now. And we're supposed to break through these teachers?

And even before that, in this famous school with a long history and tradition, would there ever be someone in Yugrasia that would give up the opportunity to learn and run away?

Of course not. If they are a student proud to be in Yugrasia!

And the next day.

“We have the first runner! Damn it, it's the stuco president Nerkia!”

“Do not lower your guard, Nerkia is a highly skilled elementalist!”

“Do you think we'll let you get away, Nerkiaaaaa!”

Of all the students in the school, I was the first to run away.

Chapter end