Chapter 1: The Stagnant Class Enrollment

When I’d first arrived at Fiddich Academy and had immediately become an upper-level instructor, it seemed like my peers and pupils had viewed me as some abnormal entity. However, once I’d begun teaching my sorcery classes, their opinions about me had demonstrably changed as we’d exchanged ideas.

The fundamental issue that plagued the school still remained, though. There was a firm, deep-rooted belief in a school hierarchy with nobles at the top. Due to my personal convictions, I couldn’t let that slide, so I’d already resorted to slightly forceful methods in an effort to solve the problem.

Recently, a fellow upper-level instructor by the name of Foar had approved of my skills as a sorcerer. As a result, both students and instructors had been spreading the word about my class, Introduction to the Fundamentals and Applications of Sorcery. Although I’d initially felt relieved that I was certain to get more students in my class, unfortunately far fewer showed up than I’d expected.

On my first day of class after Foar’s change of heart, only one new student came. The next class, two more joined. On the third day, I got one more, for a total of four new students. To break it down further, two of them were from the middle school division, and the other two were from the high school division.

Although people on campus looked at me less like I was an alien now that Foar’s attitude toward me had softened, clearly his endorsement alone wasn’t enough to get all those cautious of me to drop their guards.

“I wonder why so few new students have showed up,” I said to Elisa.

She shook her head in sympathy. “I-I’m not sure! But it seems like all classes are experiencing a drop in students!”

Strath swallowed the piece of bread he was eating