Chapter 184: Dead Poets Society (8)

“This concludes the class. Are there any questions?”

The teacher’s voice from the class echoed past the waiting room. The lecture hall was large enough to accommodate several hundred people. They used something called Sound Amplification Magic to project their voices, which was probably why I could hear him from this separate waiting room. It seemed the people at this academy valued hearing voices clearly but didn't care much for soundproofing.

“Yes. Go ahead, student.”

I reviewed my lecture materials one more time. For my part, I had to be extremely careful with my words, as I couldn’t let this heroic tale lead to the logic that mermaids and beastfolk should be annihilated as well. If the academy students showed a favorable attitude toward mermaids or beastfolk, then I would subtly deliver the message I had originally planned: ‘Conflicts between races should not be resolved with extreme violence.’

“Earlier, I saw someone being carried out from the direction of the staff room. What happened?”

The student's question cut sharply. I could hear the other students murmuring, curious. I couldn't see the lecture hall, but I could vividly picture the teacher's flustered expression.

“Ah, in fact, Teacher Hamilton, who is in charge of history, uh... he rolled down the stairs and is in critical condition. So for the time being, the history subject will be taught by a guest historian instead of Teacher Hamilton.”

Teacher Hamilton was, fortunately, still breathing. I thought he was dead after one forehead flick caved his forehead in, but he wasn't. As I cast Heal on the collapsed Hamilton and explained the cause of his accident to the other teachers, they nodded their heads and quickly understood.

The middle and high school division teachers were mostly commoners. That was the case for most subjects, except for the truly important practical ones like swordsmanship or magic. The place where the academy’s academic research was conducted was the ‘University Division,’ and the middle and high school teachers had a status equivalent to that of graduate students who balanced research and teaching in this division.

The term ‘graduate student’ meant that if I smashed his head in for stating that a nobleman’s wife deserved to die, no one would side with him. If the sacrifice of one person meant no one would dare to intervene with my week-long lecture schedule, couldn't that be considered a good thing for everyone?

“Who’s Hamilton?”

“You know. The skinny teacher.”

The students showed almost no emotional reaction to the sudden news. It seemed they found the fact that the history teacher’s name was Hamilton more surprising than the news that he had been shattered. After a long moment of murmuring, the teacher’s flustered voice came through.

“Excuse me... everyone. Could you please be quiet?”

“So what about the assignment Teacher Hamilton gave us? There was something we had to research by next week.”

“Since it will be replaced by a guest scholar’s lecture, it will be difficult for us to check the assignments. We will process all assignments as submitted.”

Cheers erupted. It seemed Teacher Hamilton was not a very beloved teacher. Seeing them happier about not having to submit an assignment than about him being in critical condition after rolling down the stairs proved it. A hint of melancholy tinged the teacher’s tone, but there was no one on these grounds who would understand a researcher’s sorrow anyway.

“Everyone, this concludes today’s mathematics class. After a ten-minute rest, there will be a guest lecture by the hero who subjugated the Ain in the North and defeated the Demon King, High Priest Peta Lusius.”

“You mean that King of Sex High Priest?”

“The High Priest who’d copulate with a beast as long as it has a hole? I requested Sir Hero as my first priority, who called a guy like that?”

“I heard Sir Hero declined because his wife is about to give birth. I picked him as my second priority, too.”

“Me too, me too.”

The murmuring continued. Anyway, King of Sex… it was the most overt and fucking shitty nickname I had heard since coming to this world. Should I just kill them all? My mace was thirsty for blood, but I had to hold back. My opponents were the precious children of noble families. The moment I killed them, for any reason, a storm of blood would sweep across the entire kingdom.

After reviewing the document one last time, I rose from my seat. The ten-minute rest was already over, and the teacher came to call for me, trembling. I picked up my documents and patted the teacher's shoulder. Standing before the lecture hall door, I checked my condition once more. No blood spatter, no wrinkled clothes. I looked in the mirror; my expression was perfect. I gave a slight smile and opened the door.

The moment I entered the lecture hall, the boisterous noise stopped and everyone stared at me. I stood at the podium and began to lay out the materials I had prepared. The students’ eyes were filled with curiosity and vigilance. I spoke.

“Hello. I am Peta Lusius, Southern High Priest of the Archdeity Church. I am delighted to have this opportunity to share my views with the students of the academy, which boasts the highest level of education in the kingdom.”

I gave a slight nod of my head in greeting. The students leaned back in their chairs or chattered amongst themselves, but the reaction wasn't so bad. I had expected a vulgar question like, ‘High Priest, have you had sex with a mermaid?’ the moment I walked in, but it seemed they had some manners, befitting children of noble families.

“Today, I would like to talk about the ‘tale of military merit’ from the North.”

I placed the materials I had prepared on a mana-powered panel. According to the instructions I was given beforehand, placing the material on this panel and pressing a button would create a screen-like image in the empty space for the students to see. When I pressed the button, just as they said, the sketch of an Ain I had drawn myself floated in the air.

“Most of you have probably only heard rumors about the Ain and never seen them in person. Who are the Ain? They are vicious beings armed with scales as hard as steel and tainted claws. They possessed intelligence equal to humans and lived a tribal life.”

I explained in detail everything from the lifestyle of the Ain, to the process of their invasion of the North, and the annihilation of the Ain there. Perhaps because I was a good speaker, even the children who had been fooling around were soon focused on my story.

The children expressed admiration when I described skinning the Ain, they cheered at the story of me charging in wearing their skins, and they wore looks of relief when I got to the part about beating them all to death. I put my materials back into my bag and concluded the class.

“Yes. That is all. We must not forget the tragedy that occurred in the North. We must not forget the deaths of the Ain, either. A conflict between races that reaches an extreme is, after all, inevitably resolved by death.”

When I finished speaking, the children exchanged glances. After some hesitant fidgeting, hands went up and they began to clap. It wasn't applause for a good lecture. It seemed to be a perfunctory clap for a guest lecturer. After the applause died down, I gave a light bow and said.

“Are there any questions?”

It felt like I was digging my own grave, but a question session was necessary. A student with glasses in the front row seat raised his hand. When I gave him the designation, the student adjusted his glasses, looked down at his notes, and spoke.

“High Priest, you spoke about racial conflict taken to an extreme. I am curious about your position on the recent disputes with the beastfolk and the mermaid attack problem on the Western Coast.”

The question was of a higher level than I expected, and it was exactly what I wanted. I glanced at the teacher standing beside me, who was acting as my assistant. The teacher nodded at me with a pale face. Once I had established discipline with a single forehead flick, he couldn't even think of stopping me.

“The dispute with the beastfolk is ultimately a territorial problem. The dispute with the mermaids is our responsibility. Beastfolk are intelligent living creatures, and so are mermaids. Just as we don’t resolve land disputes with others by killing our opponents, I believe we must seek a way to coexist. Because we are all people, are we not?”

Another student raised his hand. When I gave him the designation, the student asked.

“Why do we have to live with the beastfolk? Is it to use them as slaves?”

What kind of question did I just hear?

“Because they are people, too.”

“Why are beastfolk people? Aren't they just beasts? You killed the Ain, so what’s the reason for sparing the beastfolk?”

“The Ain were vicious enemies who attacked us with the intent to kill, while the beastfolk are merely in a dispute with us over their homes. When I interrogated the Ain in the North, they said they attacked to offer us as sacrifices to the dragon living in the northern Dragon Mountains. The reason I say we should give beastfolk and mermaids the treatment of people is because we bear responsibility for their struggle.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Another voice cut off the flow of questions and answers. My gaze drifted upward. At the very back of the lecture hall, a familiar student was looking down at me in a defiant posture, his legs propped up on a desk. All the students' gazes turned toward him. I asked.

“James Lionel, correct? I’ve heard you’re a promising martial talent at the academy.”

James Lionel. The boy who had been napping in the academy yard was now attending my lecture.

“You just have a thing for beastfolk and mermaids, don't you? I hear you have a mermaid wife and even a beastfolk as an escort. How can we trust someone like that telling us to get along? I can’t trust a person like that.”

“The fact that I have a mermaid hybrid for a wife is irrelevant. This is simply logic based on the doctrine of the Archdeity Church.”

“Someone like you doesn’t know reality. Have you been to the Eastern Plains Region? It’s a mess because of those bastards from the Church of Love supporting the beastfolk. Coexistence? How are we supposed to coexist with beasts that eat wild animals alive?”

James Lionel seemed to hold a particularly deep animosity toward beastfolk. The teacher approached me and said in a small voice.

“Young Master James Lionel is already past the age of graduation, but he is only attending these guest lectures because of the attendance days required for graduation. He is currently receiving knight training in the Eastern Plains Region under his uncle, Count Adore Lionel of the Lionel Family, so he is very sensitive about the issue of coexistence with beastfolk. It would be best to avoid discussing this topic...”

“He’s short on attendance days?”

“It is common for those from knight families. Lord James is, well, an adult, and the Lionel Family has a very... uh, close relationship with the academy, so I would hope you would refrain from a confrontation... please.”

“I see.”

I looked at James Lionel again. He saw me smiling and spoke as if disgusted.

“What! If you have something to say, say it!”

“You’re receiving knight training in the Eastern Plains Region?”

“Yeah!”

“And yet you still don't know the good points of beastfolk. How pitiful.”

“What?”

“I promise you. I’ll probably have a reason to visit the Eastern Plains Region, and when I do, I will properly teach you what’s so good about beastfolk.”

“Hilarious. Go ahead and try. I'll stake my family’s name on it. If you succeed in convincing me, I’ll even champion the beastfolk human rights movement.”

The argument ended there. I would now have to settle things with James Lionel again in the Eastern Plains Region. A smile naturally formed on my face as I thought of the plan forming in my mind. I'll turn him into the kingdom's number one zoophile.

With that argument over, there were no more questions. I opened my mouth to conclude the class.

“Everyone else, think carefully. Why would I, Peta Lusius, who devoted a lifetime to a celibate life, marry a mermaid? Why would I have a beastfolk woman as an escort guard? There are things you cannot see if you view them as slaves. There are emotions you can only feel when you face them as people. Their passionate love! That fiery...!”

“Class is dismissed!”

The teacher shouted with a pale face. Interrupting me right at the good part.