A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic

“Two transfer students will be joining your class next week.”

“…You are joking, right?”

The words assembled by the vice principal prompted me to inadvertently reply in a blunt tone.

“You! How dare you use that kind of tone with Vice Principal Sanson!”

At once, Tupel, who was by the vice principal’s side―a teacher from an aristocratic family who has constantly been haranguing me―burst into a rain of obscenities at me. That brought to my recollection that, in the midst of the chaos, I had forgotten to dispose of this person.

“There is no need for you to intervene, Teacher Tupel; I am speaking to Teacher Kanaki right now.”

“Y-Yes! I apologize!”

I mean, why were you even here?

My icy stare seemed not to have registered with Tupel, who stood erect in a relaxed posture.

“―So, vice principal. Is the mention of a transfer student some sort of joke? Due to a shortage of staff, I was hastily appointed as a homeroom teacher, and frankly speaking, I have my plate overflowing simply by being in charge of Ms. Ortesia, yet adding a transfer student to the mix, I am afraid my skill will not be up to the task.”

“Haha, as usual, you speak plainly, Teacher Kanaki. The part where you are not perversely obstinate is not something I dislike. But in this instance, you are the only one I can count on.”

“So what do you mean?”

The vice principal coughed once before lowering his voice and began to explain.

“It seems that the transfer student who will be arriving next week is the kingdom’s treasured child. He is a bodyguard, so to speak, dispatched to protect Her Royal Highness Princess Ortesia in the dark.”

“Heh. However, I heard from the people in question that the role of bodyguard has already been assumed by Fina Trinity, who is a follower of the Princess.”

“After the incident that occurred last month, there was a dispute in the royal court and there was even a proposal to send Princess Ortesia back to the country at one point. However, Ms. Karen’s father, His Majesty the current King, personally stated that he wanted to honor her wishes to the fullest extent, and in the end, the issue was addressed through a covert escort.”

“I see…”

The vice principal’s explanation was indeed a well-reasoned one. According to what Fina told me later, Karen had temporarily gone into cardiopulmonary arrest at the time of the incident with Matthias and Alice. Thanks to Matthias’ capriciousness, she was able to recover but had the people of the royal palace learned not only of Hunter’s attack but even of this development, their consternation would have been surreal. In fact, they would have unceremoniously sent Karen back.

Nevertheless, assuming that the vice principal’s account was authentic, this would prove to be a rather vexing story for me personally.

Resisting the urge to put on a sour face, I presented the vice principal with a mystified expression.

“I understand what you are saying… but as a homeroom teacher in charge of a class, I can’t just give preferential treatment to that student. There are other students to be concerned about as well.”

“There isn’t any issue there. The other party has already agreed to that, and the two transfer students are undeniably sixteen years old. Teacher Kanaki, you only have to keep in mind the facts of what I have just shared with you.”

“…Umm, I was wondering earlier, are there two transfer students?”

“Right. I have already received the necessary documents.”

Having said that, the vice principal took out two sheets of paper from his desk.

My eyebrow rose after accepting them.

“…They are siblings huh?”

“Yes, and they are both second-class magicians.”

The dizziness was overwhelming me. Even now, there were already two students who outranked me as a third-class magician, and now two more would be introduced to the class. After having established a rapport with Karen and Fina, and having nearly seized control of the class to a certain extent, the potential for being brushed aside by the students arose again.

Furthermore, what bugged me was their names. Shizuku Ido was the younger sister, whereas Shiryu Ido was the elder brother. In the Kingdom of Ortesia, these names were not so uncommon, but at the time, uneasiness crept into my mind.

“I will handle all the details, and Teacher Kanaki, you will be their homeroom teacher.”

“Ah, wait a…”

As soon as the matter was conveyed, the vice principal led Tupel away.

Exhaling a sigh, an increasingly habitual habit of mine these days, I shoved the two documents into my bag.

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“―So, those two transfer students are coming to your class next week?”

“That’s the way it’s going to be.”

On the evening of the day the vice principal imposed the duty of confidentiality on me, I promptly abandoned that duty.

A visitor was currently present in the small room of approximately seven tatami mats. The visitor scooped up the noodles from the ramen that was boiling in front of me and let them cool down in a lovely huff before eating them.

“Seriously, what’s the deal with the school these days? In the first-year alone, there are three magicians who are second-class or above. It makes us teachers lose our dignity.”

“Second-class magicians are equivalent to Senior Aldar in terms of skill, right? Even though they are first-year students, there are such two outstanding people… well, Fina is the same as well, but this year’s first-year students are terrific.”

“…But to be sincere, I believe that you could rival Fina now, Eto.”

“E-Eh!? There’s no way that’s true!”

Eto, whose cheeks had been loosened by the ramen, was caught off guard and dropped her scoop of noodles.

“No, you succeeded in knocking me out in that manner the other day. I don’t believe there is anyone in the world right now who can compete with you in the field of martial arts, much alone magic.”

The other day, when I was teaching martial arts to Fina at my seminar’s practice session, I tried a trial match with Eto, and the result went tragically awry. Since Eto herself had little experience in martial arts and she herself claimed that her body moved independently, it was my suspicion that the Philosopher’s Stone Matthias had used at that time had played a role. Since a large portion of Eto’s present body was formerly Matthias’, the most logical conclusion would be that she inherited his physical skills and capabilities straight from him.

“T-That kind of thing is just pure luck! Otherwise, how could I have won against you, Teacher?”

“You left me in shock at the time. I was terrified that I might lose one of my stocks.”

“I-I am sorry!”

Eto’s reaction elicited a smile from me, but I soon recalled the reality of the situation at hand, and a sigh erupted from my mouth. Slurping down my ramen with no energy, a concerned voice flew out from Eto.

“Um, Teacher, are the transfer students really that daunting?”

“No doubt. Numerous problems are already building up in my class, not to mention how they are impacting the power dynamics in the class. Things have finally stabilized since then, and I was finally ready to start working on resolving the problems.”

The truth was that the transfer students’ impact on my hobby—which I neglected to mention to Eto—was actually the most aggravating aspect. The reality remained that there were plenty of pressing issues accumulating in the class.