Justin… Becoming a Teacher?
“Of course, I don’t mean immediately. But in time, officially—”
“Hold it right there!!”
Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by Elina, rushing in with clear panic.
“Senior Justin is now an irreplaceable part of this village! If he left, the villagers would be heartbroken!”
“But keeping someone of his exceptional talents confined to a remote province like this would be a great loss to the kingdom as a whole. I do agree with your belief in maintaining local security, but ultimately, isn’t this Sir Justin’s decision to make?”
“Ugh…”
Hit with such a solid argument, Elina was left speechless.
Still, unwilling to give up, she weakly protested, “But…”
However, Heather didn’t ease up.
“Frankly, I’ve long found it puzzling. The embezzlement allegations spread by Hank Delant were cleared long ago, and yet you’ve chosen to remain in this backwater village… Even though you hold the title of Holy Knight—something fewer than ten percent of all knights can claim.”
—Wait a second.
Is this lecture now aimed at me?
… This could go on forever. Maybe I should steer things back on track.
“About this whole teacher thing… It’s not that simple, is it? Don’t you need some kind of special qualification?”
“You’re referring to the teaching license. But there’s no issue there.
Starting this year, the regulations have been revised—those whose abilities are widely recognized can qualify by passing a simplified test.”
“I-Is that so?”
Now that she mentioned it, I had heard back when I was stationed in the capital—
That the Academy constantly struggled with a chronic shortage of qualified instructors.
Teaching is tough, after all.
It takes not just knowledge, but experience—without both, you can’t properly handle a classroom.
Still… skipping all that just because someone’s “recognized”? That seems risky.
“We at the Academy would be honored if you became the very first teacher selected under this new system.”
“… The Headmaster is aware of this, right?”
“Of course.”
“In that case, I’d like to speak with the Headmaster directly.”
“Then we’ll send a carriage for you in the coming days. Please come to the Academy when you’re ready.”
“All right.”
It’s not like I’ve decided anything yet.
But I do want to hear more before making up my mind.
With that, I asked Heather to arrange a meeting with the Headmaster, and she agreed.
Now then…
Let’s see if I can somehow tie this into the village’s future growth.
What do you think about this chapter?
