Chief Instructor? What kind of position was that? They weren't even paying him extra for it. It was probably the same as last time—they'd assign a few instructors as his assistants and have him responsible for the whole thing. Lorist shook his head and didn't think much of the notice. He decided to go back to his room and check the calendar to see how many days remained until next month. The academy duel was the most important thing right now. Even though he was confident, he couldn't afford to be careless—he needed to adjust and maintain his physical condition.
Tomorrow was February 15th, twenty days until next month. He should try to arrange everything for the Combat Force Awakening Class within ten days and hand it off to his deputies, leaving himself a full ten days of rest... Staring at the elegant copper calendar hanging on the wall, Lorist fell into thought.
When he had first transmigrated to Galentea, the thing Lorist was least accustomed to was the date system. Like Earth, Galentea had twelve months in a year and twenty-four hours in a day. The difference was that a single month in Galentea had thirty-five days, making the year a whopping four hundred and twenty-three days long. This caused Lorist, who had been studying accounting back on Earth, to make frequent errors when calculating date-related problems. He kept unconsciously using Earth's calendar, and once his accounting instructor flew into a rage over Lorist's calculations, dressing him down in front of the entire class: "Five days left? Where did those five days go? Did a dog eat them?"
What Lorist found most ridiculous was that Galentea used two calendars. The first was the Elven Calendar, supposedly devised by the elven race over ten thousand years ago. It was simple—every month had thirty-five days, with three extra days designated as holidays. The first fell between the end of December and January 1st, called Rest Day, colloquially known as December 36th. The second was May 36th, also called Bathing Day, when everyone was required to take a bath. The third was September 36th, known as Harvest Day. These three were universally recognized holidays across Galentea.
The romantic, nature-loving elves didn't use numbers to name their months. Instead, they called each month after the flowers that bloomed during it: January was Thornbriar Flower Month, February was Camellia Month, March was Begonia Month, April was Jade Lotus Month, May was Peony Month, June was White Orchid Month, July was Jasmine Month, August was Sweet Osmanthus Month, September was Phoenix Tail Flower Month, October was Hibiscus Month, November was Golden Chrysanthemum Month, and December was Red Plum Blossom Month.
The elves' habits had driven the then-Lorist to distraction. He was already making errors with the dates, and these floral names only made things worse. It was simply outrageous. Until one day, while half-asleep, Lorist suddenly realized with his meager astronomical knowledge from his previous life that if Earth orbited the sun once every 365 days, then what was so strange about Galentea completing its orbit in 423 days? It just traveled in a slightly larger circle, that was all. From that day on, Lorist never again confused Galentea's dates.
The second calendar was the Magical Calendar, devised by the great mages during the age of magical civilization—the most precise calendar of all, consisting entirely of cold, hard numbers. The months from one through twelve were simple and easy to remember, but the days within each month were troublesome, because most months had different lengths. January had thirty-four days, February had the fewest at thirty-one, March had thirty-six, and September had the most with a whopping thirty-nine days.
The humans of Galentea weren't romantic elves, and mages no longer existed, so a precisely calibrated calendar was of little use to ordinary people. Instead, they combined the Elven and Magical calendars—using the Magical Calendar's months, the Elven Calendar's dates, and assigning the number thirty-six to the three Elven holidays that fell outside the regular dates. This became the Universal Galentean Calendar that Lorist now had hanging on his wall.
In his memories, the original owner of this body, young Lorist, had left Northland on June 21st ten years ago and arrived in Morant City on August 8th before enrolling. The carriage journey had taken over fifty days—quite the distance. In other words, by August 8th of this year, the former young Lorist—now Lorist—would have been exiled from the Northland family for ten years and out of contact for nearly seven. He wondered how things were back there. Maybe he could take a vacation this year and visit? He remembered there was a Black Mud Swamp near his hometown, home to a magical beast called the Iron-Spine Bay Crocodile, whose hide was highly sought after for leather armor. Perhaps he could go undercover, organize a mercenary band, and check things out?
A sudden surge of homesickness washed over him. Well, he'd deal with it after August 8th. He had transmigrated into young Lorist and inherited even the homesickness embedded deep in his bones. Forget it—it had been nearly ten years. Once he had free time in the second half of the year, he could request leave plus his vacation days. That should be enough time for a round trip.
Lorist stood before the calendar, his finger tracing over the date of August 8th again and again, before finally making a decision in his heart.
...
"Good morning, Instructor Anfia. I'm delighted we get to work together again. With your help, I'm sure this Combat Force Awakening Class will go much more smoothly." The next day, Lorist arrived exactly ten minutes early at the instructors' office behind the former Yellow Ribbon Academy main auditorium—the venue for this Combat Force Awakening Class. The moment he stepped through the door, he spotted the famous beauty of
Two years ago, Instructor Anfia had been dispatched by the academy to serve as Lorist's deputy for the Combat Force Awakening Class. The two had cooperated very pleasantly.
"Hey, kid Lorist, you only have eyes for the pretty lady? Didn't you notice your big brother standing here?"
Lorist looked up and blinked. "Brother Marlin, what are you doing here too?"
The burly man standing before Lorist was none other than Instructor Marlin, who lived in Villa 34 in the Gold Instructors' residential area. Lorist had only visited him once after moving into his new home.
"And me too, Instructor Lorist. We meet again—how delightful." A deep voice interjected.
Lorist turned and quickly bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Senior Hughes. What brings you here as well?"
Another Gold Instructor, and a veteran one at that—Hughes Bordemiki, a Two-Star Gold Instructor who had taught at the academy for nearly thirty years. He was known for being fair yet not rigid, and was very popular among the students.
Instructor Hughes nodded. "Instructor Lorist, both Instructor Marlin and I have been dispatched by the academy to serve as Deputy Chief Instructors for this Combat Force Awakening Class, acting as your assistants. Just give us your orders. Instructor Anfia will serve as your administrative deputy."
A sense of foreboding suddenly washed over Lorist. He turned to Anfia. "Could you tell me how many people are in this Combat Force Awakening Class?"
Instructor Anfia gave a bitter smile and pointed. "There's a small door over there that leads to the auditorium's stage. You can take a look for yourself, Chief Instructor Lorist."
Damn it! That old fossil Levins had tricked him again! This was what he called "slightly more people"? This wasn't a Combat Force Awakening Class—this was practically a full-blown assembly!
Watching the endless stream of students flooding into the auditorium and packing it shoulder to shoulder, Lorist instantly understood why the academy had assigned two Gold Instructors as his deputies—it was to keep order.
Lorist returned to the office drenched in sweat, his face grim. "How many in total?"
Instructor Anfia handed over the thick stack of documents. "Eight hundred and seventy-nine. Here's the roster."
Waving the list, Lorist said with a bitter smile to Gold Instructors Hughes and Marlin, "Isn't the academy going a bit overboard? Eight hundred and seventy-nine people—if a normal Combat Force Awakening Class had forty students, that's enough for twenty-two classes, and two instructors per class means forty-four instructors total. Making me responsible for all of it alone is impossible, and even with the three of you, it won't work. This is completely unfair—they're asking the impossible. Maybe I should just resign."
Instructor Marlin and Instructor Anfia were stunned when they heard Lorist threaten to resign. If Instructor Lorist just walked away, who would clean up this mess? If things spiraled out of control and word got out, the academy's reputation would be ruined. They were about to try talking him out of it when Instructor Hughes calmly produced a document. "Instructor Lorist, the dean asked me to give you this. The first item is the guarantee letter you signed yourself, stating that if you refuse the academy's assignment, you will compensate the academy for double the damages. If you resign, the students outside alone would cause damage amounting to at least tens of thousands, and you'd be on the hook for..."
Damn! That unequal treaty he'd agreed to with the old fossil last year to go train at the Ruins Archipelago was coming back to bite him now! Lorist was furious, but then Instructor Hughes handed him back the signed letter. "The dean said he was just joking back then. You can keep this."
Instructor Marlin and Instructor Anfia panicked. If the guarantee letter was returned, Instructor Lorist would still walk away—what then?
But Lorist took the letter and was stunned. What did the old fossil mean? He was letting him off this easily?
Instructor Hughes produced another piece of parchment. "This is the roster of Silver Instructors and
Instructor Marlin and Instructor Anfia exchanged glances in silent amazement. This was handing full personnel authority to Instructor Lorist! Just those twenty-four Instructor Assistant positions alone—how many students would strive and hunger for them? Even though the subsidy was only one Gold Forde per month, it was more than enough to live comfortably. If they performed well and were officially hired as instructors by the academy in two years, even a Black Iron Instructor earned three Gold Forde a month—that was both a stable and well-paying position.
It was easy to imagine that with the authority to choose twenty-four instructors and twenty-four Instructor Assistants, Instructor Lorist would quickly build a faction centered on himself at the academy. From then on, his voice and proposals would carry real weight.
The dean truly values Instructor Lorist. That was Instructor Anfia's thought.
Could there be some roundabout family connection between the dean and Instructor Lorist? Or was Instructor Lorist the dean's... That was Instructor Marlin's guess.
"That's more like it..." Lorist's anger turned to delight, and he stopped protesting. He took the list and picked up a pen, immediately marking and circling names.
"...Gold Forde as additional welfare subsidies, one hundred and fifty per month, to be distributed at Chief Instructor Lorist's discretion. Signing here makes it effective."
"Heh heh..." Lorist was very satisfied and accepted the document with a smile, beginning to sign. Still, he couldn't help but sigh. "How rare—the academy is actually being generous for once..."
Instructor Anfia beside him whispered, "I think I might know the reason. After word spread that every single student in every Combat Force Awakening Class taught by Instructor Lorist had successfully awakened their combat force, this year's enrollment numbers exceeded previous years by several times over, and every single applicant specifically requested Instructor Lorist as their teaching instructor. The dean announced that anyone enrolling in Instructor Lorist's Combat Force Awakening Class must pay double tuition, with a guarantee of combat force awakening. So everyone in that auditorium paid double tuition."
Lorist was speechless. No wonder the old fossil had been so generous and accommodating—he'd collected double tuition from all these students and made guarantees, and fearing that Lorist wouldn't try his hardest, he'd handed over both personnel and financial authority. Five Gold Forde per student, doubled to ten. For 879 students, that was an extra 4,395 Gold Forde. Even if this session only lasted half a year, the additional welfare subsidies for the teaching staff would only come to 900 Gold Forde, netting the academy over 3,000. Damn, that old fossil had calculated everything down to the last detail...
Lorist handed the instructor list to Instructor Hughes. "I've selected nine instructors. The three of you each select five more. Do the same for the Instructor Assistant positions—leave nine spots for me. Instructor Anfia, try to select female instructors and outstanding female students as assistants. I just went to the auditorium to have a look, and there are quite a few female students this time, so having female instructors in charge would be more convenient."
"As for the additional welfare subsidy—Instructor Hughes, Instructor Marlin, and I will receive five Gold Forde each per month. Instructor Anfia and the other instructors in charge will receive three each, assisting instructors two each, and Instructor Assistants one each. Any remaining gold will be set aside and distributed as bonuses to everyone after the class concludes."
Instructors Hughes, Marlin, and Anfia were all moved. No one had expected Lorist to so readily relinquish his authority. Instructor Hughes murmured quietly, "The dean was right—Instructor Lorist has always been impartial, judging matters rather than people, with no selfish motives..."
Lorist clapped his hands. "When the time comes, we'll go to the auditorium and meet the new students. Instructor Anfia, you'll explain our rules for this class—same as last year, formal classes begin in three days. All meals, lodging, transport, and accommodations for the students will follow our regulations. Anyone unwilling can go get a refund now. Once classes start, it'll be too late to second-guess."
"Instructor Marlin, please help Instructor Anfia check on the new students' accommodations and training grounds over the next two days. Instructor Hughes, you'll handle the personnel adjustments and assembly of the instructors and assistants. Classes officially begin in three days. I need to examine the new students' physical conditions, then divide them into classes. We'll discuss the instructor assignments then. That's all—let's go to the front."