"Alright, let's get down to business then," Shiga said, eager to get to the point. He reached out and took the folder from Fyria, pulling out the documents inside and quickly flipping through them.
"These are the documents for your appointment at the academy. There are Orcish annotations on them, but I assume you can read the Alliance's official language. After you finish reviewing them, just sign where needed. First, let me introduce the institution you'll be working at—the Central Moonlight Academy of the Silvermoon Kingdom." Fyria spoke in a formal tone as she began her explanation.
"This academy was founded by the Silvermoon Kingdom in the autonomous region of Moonlight City. It started as the White Tower Academy, which specialized in training mages. After the formation of the Three-Nation Alliance, it began offering courses to the member nations, expanding to include various other disciplines. Now, it has become a world-class academy offering programs in subjects such as magic, holy light theology, druidic natural sciences, and alchemical engineering. It is recognized as the pinnacle of higher learning by the member nations of the Alliance."
"So, what exactly will I be teaching here? A course on Orc culture theory, or will I be training warriors?" Shiga asked casually.
"Warriors are rare in the Alliance. Only a few humans and dwarves study the warrior path due to special religious beliefs, so Moonlight Academy doesn't offer any courses specifically on warriors. As for teaching Orc culture theory..." Fyria hesitated for a moment, looking slightly uncomfortable. "It might be difficult to establish that course immediately. We plan to wait until next semester to start it."
"Why?" Shiga asked, puzzled.
"Such a general education course would fall under an elective from the cross-disciplinary departments, and students can choose whether to take it. Trust me, Shiga, if you started teaching an Orc culture course now, I doubt a single student would choose to take it," Fyria gently shook her head. "After all, the war has just ended, and the public's sentiments are still... well, influenced by wartime propaganda. You can imagine how that's affected their perception of Orcs."
"True. At times like this, your impression of Orcs probably isn't great, which I understand. It's pretty much the same on our side," Shiga nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm glad you understand," Fyria forced a smile, feeling a little uneasy.
At that moment, Fyria was feeling guilty because Shiga likely didn't know how intense the Alliance's wartime propaganda had been. It had so severely demonized Orcs that now, in the eyes of the public, the Orcs' image had been distorted beyond control...
"So, what exactly am I supposed to teach then?" Shiga asked, not sensing any hidden concerns.
"We've prepared for you to try working with the students for one semester first. You'll be assigned to a class in the basic academy, where you'll teach a course called 'Physical Fitness and Discipline.' The aim is to improve students' basic physical fitness and cultivate a sense of teamwork and discipline. You can think of it as basic military training for new recruits. Many of the students from Central Moonlight Academy will eventually enter their respective nations' military or political sectors, so some of our courses and activities will have a military focus..." Fyria explained.
"Sounds great, I'm good at this!!" Shiga exclaimed, slapping his thigh.
When it came to teaching, his experience was primarily from training soldiers in the military, turning a bunch of raw recruits into a disciplined elite fighting force. This was his area of expertise.
"You'd better not think of this job as too simple. In addition to this course, you'll also be the head teacher for this class," Fyria reminded him.
"Head teacher?"
"You can think of it as being in charge of all the class duties and as the point of contact for any school business that needs to be passed down to the class," Fyria explained.
"Got it, so I'm their supervisor," Shiga snapped his fingers.
"Also, the class you'll be responsible for—Class 13—has some issues. It's a special, non-grade-based class that brings together students from the basic academy with the lowest scores," Fyria elaborated.
"Scores? What does that mean?" Shiga motioned for Fyria to explain further.
"Students can lose behavior points for breaking school rules or have academic points deducted if they fail their courses or show poor attitudes. When their scores drop to a certain level, they get a warning, and then they are assigned to Class 13. To put it bluntly, students in Class 13 either have terrible grades, violate the rules too often, or both. They're essentially students who are on the verge of being expelled and can't move up to the next grade," Fyria explained.
"Are you assigning me this class to discipline them, or are you just trying to make things difficult for me?" Shiga crossed his arms and asked bluntly.
"Well, if we had to assign you to a trial class, naturally, we'd prefer not to assign students from Class 13. But given the circumstances, that's the class you'll be starting with..." Fyria carefully chose her words.
Shiga understood now—if the students were given a choice, no one would want to take his class. So, if they were forced to pick a group to "sacrifice," it would be the problem students on the brink of expulsion.
"You're segregating them like this and treating them this way. Aren't you afraid they'll just give up and cause trouble? If anything goes wrong, it could affect the peace treaty," Shiga frowned slightly.
"From another perspective, they're already on their way out, so even if they cause some problems, they'll be easier to control," Fyria paused for a moment, then sighed deeply. "That said, personally, I think it's a bit wrong, both setting up Class 13 and making this arrangement for you. But I just took over this academy, and when the decision was made, much of the power hadn't been handed over to me yet. There are a lot of things that need improvement, but I need time."
"Well, I'll take this as a new challenge from the Alliance. I'm fine with it!" Shiga accepted it quickly.
"We don't have high expectations for you. Just focus on keeping order, and do your best... No, just don't cause any problems. In fact, the students in Class 13 have already shown signs of rebellion, especially after one student was assigned to lead them."
"Recently, they even managed to drive off a head teacher. That old teacher threatened to resign if they didn't let her continue with this class, so we had to transfer her to administrative duties," Fyria added, cautioning Shiga.
"It's fine. No matter how rebellious they are, I'll have them under control!" Shiga grinned eagerly. "I've seen all kinds of rookies in the military, including tough ones. Don't worry, I'll handle them!"
"I'm not worried they'll hurt you, I'm worried you might end up 'eliminating' them," Fyria said with a worried look. "Promise me, Shiga, when you get there, you'll be careful and know your limits..."
"Don't worry, I'm an expert in discipline," Shiga said with a smile, giving Fyria a thumbs up.
Seeing Shiga's confidence, Fyria became even more uneasy.
Is this really... going to be alright?