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An Otherworldly Scholar - 201
🕑 Added 2025-02-08 01:09:19 +0000 UTCI followed the aide into the main building of the Imperial Academy.
My eyes wandered through the place. The corridors were crowded with students dressed in black robes and martial clothing. Novices and Cadets. Behind each door was a classroom in the form of an amphitheater with a capacity of a hundred students. Some teachers wore the Library’s robes, others elegant suits and dresses or simple military attire.
The Academy’s curriculum was a mystery to the outside world, but the surroundings spoke to me. The number of books, parchment, and quills each student carried around made me think the academic aspect of the Cadet’s formation was just as strict as the physical preparation. The presence of Novices also pointed in that direction.
Imperial Knights weren’t just super-specialized club wielders.
“Interesting,” I whispered to myself.
The letters we received at the orphanage didn’t mention the kids' classes. The Silence Hex also prevented them from writing down sensitive information, and we didn’t push them to talk about anything in particular. Maybe we should have done it. I just realized the actual extent of the things we didn’t know about the kids' daily lives.
Ralgar’s words still echoed in my mind.
Imperial Cadets are psychopaths.
We exited the main building, and the aide guided me through a gallery overlooking the courtyard. Students hunched over books on the picnic tables and gazebos while others sat in groups by the shadow of the trees by the corners. Everything seemed normal, almost like a regular university—another clue. The Academy seemed to understand that rest was as important as hard work. Most stress must be concentrated during exam season, and those falling behind wouldn’t be resting in the backyard.
I fed [Foresight] with mana and scanned the student faces. None of my kids were in the courtyard. Most students were young, between fifteen and eighteen, but a few were in their early twenties. The Cadet course lasted three years, and those who endured the process were knighted. I wondered if the older ones were teaching assistants.
Across the yard was a building that resembled a clump of greenhouses—a massive gilded metal structure with glass windows and a blue dome. The glass was opaque, but I could see hints of figures moving inside.
A white manor stood by the side of the dome, connected to the main building by a long corridor. The interior reminded me of Versailles. The walls were white and decorated with golden patterns. Windows from floor to ceiling let the sunlight pour in torrents. Statues held plates full of multicolor lightstones. The ceilings were painted with nature and mythological motifs, and even the tiles on the floor were a work of art.
Despite the decor, the atmosphere was oppressive.
[Foresight] told me I was in danger.
The aide paled. I quickly noticed the streams of mana flowing around us. The room was so dense my mana sense could barely see anything beyond a few meters. At first, I thought it was a concealing spell, but then I realized it was the presence of the people around us. We came across a woman with tan skin, and the alarms in my brain went off. The amount of mana rushing through her body was terrifying. The aide pressed against the wall, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and the woman.
I restrained myself from using [Identify] on her.
“Don’t worry about Lord Astur. His control is near perfect. You won’t feel the slightest discomfort.”
The aide opened a door for me, and we entered a waiting room decorated just like the corridors. There was a tea table with metal chairs that imitated vines. Paintings of famous men and women I didn’t recognize covered the walls. Opposite the windows was a map of the kingdom carved into a massive wood slab. The path between Ebros and Tagabiria was open on the map, meaning it was either brand new or a couple hundred years old.
The room wasn’t empty. Around the tea table, three middle-aged men dressed in black robes with ornate stoles were having a heated discussion. Sitting on the couch, encompassing two seats, was a mercenary with a long beard. Near the windows, two tall and muscular men wore the colors of House Osgiria.
“Wait here,” the aide said.
The atmosphere was oppressive. Mana swirled around the Osgirian knights, almost visible to the naked eye. I toned down my mana sense, but the sensation of being inside the same room as a violent predator remained. A question drilled through my brain. Could any of them defeat me?
The aide returned a minute later.
“Lord Clarke, the Grandmaster will receive you right away.”
The mercenary jumped to his feet.
“I’ve been waiting an hour for an audience!”
The Osgirian knights shifted in place, their faces far from pleased.
“That’s Lord Astur’s wish,” the aide said, signaling me to approach.
I gave the mercenary a quick apology and entered a small antechamber with a liquor cabinet and a pair of chairs. Massive oak double doors with reinforced iron bands loomed before me. Was Lord Astur protecting his study from a battering ram? The aide opened a smaller utility door near the wall.
“Are you aware of appropriate etiquette?” the aide asked.
“I don’t put my elbows on the table,” I replied, entering the room.
After ten days on the road, my patience was running low.
Lord Astur’s chambers were as refined as the rest of the building. The walls were covered in bookshelves. Planetary systems rested behind showcases. Half a dozen bronze telescopes rested under the windows. A collection of swords and polearms hung from the wall behind the desk at the back of the room. It was the room of a warrior and a scholar.
Lord Astur left his quill aside and smiled. I understood why Lyra had a crush on him. His curly blonde hair framed his delicate and sharp features. His skin was smooth, without a single scar, and his silver eyes seemed to look through me. All his body seemed to give off a faint golden light. I wondered if traces of elven blood ran through his family tree.
Before I could notice, I was doing a deep bow.
“Ignore the formalities. You know who I am, and I know who you are. Come, take a seat. You must be tired,” Lord Astur said.
Even his voice was pleasant.
I sat across the desk.
I fed [Foresight] mana, but Lord Astur was a blank piece of paper. I couldn’t read him. He examined me from head to toe before speaking.
“So, this is the famous Robert Clarke. I was dying to meet the person who managed to charm Adrien. The royal pup has traveled the continent further than anyone. He doesn’t fall for just anybody,” Lord Astur said, amused. “I don’t want to sound rude, but at first, I didn’t understand all the fuss about this Scholar from a distant marquisate. Then, I met your son and your daughter.”
I was on guard.
“Are they in trouble?” I said.
Lord Astur raised an eyebrow and pulled a stack of documents.
“Trouble? Firana has been consistently among the first in her class, and Wolf is a born leader despite his Class,” he said, pushing the files across the desk.
I read the headings: Firana Clarke and Wolf Clarke. Now I understood why he thought they were my biological children. This begged the question of how they managed to legally change their surnames. Did the System honor whatever civil registry they had in Ebros?
“Just to be clear. Are they not in trouble? Are they going to be expelled?” I asked.
Even good students got in trouble from time to time.
Lord Astur laughed, genuinely entertained.
“I guessed you were a strict father, but come on, cut them some slack. They are two of my best students. I would fight any instructor that wanted to expel them. Their potential is enormous.”
I breathed in peace for the first time since I got the letter. I felt a little bit of pride even. However, my calm lasted an instant before turning into suspicion.
“If the kids aren’t in trouble, why am I here?” I asked.
“To discuss their activity, their performance, just as the letter said.”
Lord Astur opened a hidden door behind his desk and pulled two crystal cups and a bottle of an amber liquid. He poured generously and handed me a cup. The smell of hard liquor reached my nose. Lord Astur raised his cup. I barely touched the glass.
“Where do you think the kingdom's strength comes from, Robert?” Lord Astur asked, retaking a seat.
The people waiting outside wouldn’t be happy with the tangent.
I decided to humor him and get through this once and for all.
“Unity. A kingdom is strong if everyone rows in the same direction,” I said without giving it much thought.
Inner conflict could plunge a place like Farcrest into chaos. Everyone had to work to keep the city safe from the Farlands, from the most humble farmer to the strongest combatant. Monster Surges were too dangerous to waste resources elsewhere.
Lord Astur shook his head.
“I’m not talking about philosophy, Robert Clarke,” he replied.
As he seemed to enjoy listening to his voice, I waited for him to continue.
Lord Astur channeled his mana, and an army of little people appeared on the desk. There were a hundred of them. The detail of their clothing was near perfect. I could barely tell it was an illusion.
“These are the people of Ebros, our strength, you might say, but a third of them are kids without a class, powerless and unproductive,” Lord Astur said, pushing thirty-three little illusions aside. “We have sixty-seven left, but fifty of them are trapped between Lv.1 and Lv.29 and will never surpass Lv.30.”
The realization slowly crept upon me.
“A level twenty isn’t weak by any measure,” I said.
“How many level twenty warriors do you think you can take in a fight?”
I tapped the glass, deep in thought.
The answer was obvious.
“I don’t think a level twenty can hurt me as long as I have mana to defend myself,” I finally said. The fight against the Shepherd girl and the three bandits had been painfully easy. Even if there were a hundred, I could have easily dispatched them.
“Exactly! Eight out of ten people can’t even hurt you. Do you think the kingdom’s strength comes from them? Surely not,” Lord Astur said, pushing the little figures aside. Only a small group remained. Seventeen figurines. “Then, we have those between levels thirty and forty—sixteen every hundred people. With swarm tactics and an advantageous position, they might defeat a lone Lv.40, but the trade would be extremely inefficient. A Lv.50 can probably deal with a hundred Lv.30.”
Lord Astur pushed the sixteen figurines to the side.
At the table, only one little person remained.
“This one person, Robert Clarke, can defeat the other ninety-nine. The strength of a kingdom is the small group of those above level forty. Unfortunately, only a few can reach those heights,” Lord Astur said. “Don’t you agree?”
There was a problem with Lord Astur’s logic. A single high-level warrior could deal with tens or hundreds of mid and low-levels, but a single high-level warrior couldn’t be everywhere. During a Monster Surge, numbers were required to defend a city. High-level warriors dealt with the high-level monsters, while the low-level warriors dealt with the low-level monsters.
“A single warrior can’t defend a city from a Monster Surge, my lord,” I pointed out.
Lord Astur shook his head like he was talking to a little child.
“Monster Surges aren’t the greatest menace to our kingdom, Robert Clarke,” he said, pointing at the little person that symbolized those above level forty. “Other nations are. More precisely, the high-level combatants of other nations. Monster Surges are comparatively cheaper to deal with. They can be stopped by the remaining ninety-nine.”
The last part rubbed me the wrong way. Thousands of orcs died in the previous Monster Surge, and so did hundreds of guardsmen, even with the support of the royal army.
“The marquisates deal with the Farlands while we deal with the rival kingdoms here in the capital,” Lord Astur said.
I didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking, but I couldn’t just stand up and exit through the door.
“I don’t see how this connects to Firana and Wolf’s Cadet performance,” I admitted.
Lord Astur offered me more liquor, but my glass was full.
He leaned forward, and for an instant, instead of the Grandmaster of the Imperial Knights Academy, I saw the Wendigo, the Lich, and Janus.
“It is rare for siblings to become Cadets, Lord Clarke. It is even rarer for the two of them to pass with flying colors their first and second year. Not even Lord Herran can attain that accomplishment, and he sires between three and six new redheads yearly,” Lord Astur said, smiling at his joke. “You are special, Robert Clarke. Your children not only possess potential but also know how to fully utilize it. That’s rare. More often than not, potential gets wasted.”
Lord Astur assembled all the little illusory figurines, and the one representing the Lv.40 population turned red.
“I know why Adrien likes you and why your kids perform better than the others. It took me a while to realize. You have a knack for bringing out people's talent,” Lord Astur said with a winning smile.
He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t entirely correct. Education wasn’t about talent. When Ash first grabbed a sword, he was marginally more skillful than a caveman with a club. After two years of intense practice, he was well on his way to surpass Firana’s fencing, even at a younger age. It wasn’t a matter of talent but time, discipline, and a bit of guidance. Most top performers have been practicing since they were kids, whether in a competitive environment like sports or non-competitive environments like art. A good teacher had techniques to help their students progress.
I didn’t correct Lord Astur’s mistake.
Still, I felt like the walls were closing upon me.
“It pains me to say our methods at the Academy aren’t perfect. Every year, dozens of talented Cadets fail. Imagine how powerful the kingdom would be if we tapped in that wasted talent,” Lord Astur said, moving his hand over the table. Another little person turned red—two red ones among ninety-eight blue ones.
My mind raced.
“I already have a deal with Prince Adrien,” I said.
“And Prince Adrien is on a diplomatic mission,” Lord Astur replied.
Your lifeline is a hundred kilometers away.
A shiver ran down my spine. Even if he didn’t mention it, Astur had a leverage I couldn’t fight against. Firana and Wolf were still Cadets. A word of the Grandmaster would suffice to make their last year a living hell, or even worse, expulsion.
I emptied my glass and returned it to the table. Whisky. My father would’ve loved it.
Astur had me against the ropes, but the kids only needed one year to graduate, and Prince Adrien had to return to Ebros sooner or later. Astur’s advantage was only temporary. I could dance to the tune of his song until it was my time at the piano.
I sighed.
The very thought of spending a year away from the orphanage hurt my soul, yet the idea of teaching at a magical school began to take hold in my mind.
“Let’s talk about my fees,” I grinned.
“Your fees?” Astur asked, trying to sound surprised.
[Foresight] caught a crack in his facade.
“You want me to teach at the Academy, am I wrong?”
“You are not wrong. I just didn’t expect you to agree so easily.”
I made a supreme effort not to roll my eyes, and we exchanged a glance of recognition. We both knew he would use the kids against me if necessary.
“Let’s talk fees, then. You won’t expect a Prestige Class to work for free, right? I might be the Caretaker of an orphanage, but I do that job for free to honor my father’s memory and because I’m good friends with the Governess,” I said, summoning my Character Sheet and turning it around.
Name: Robert Clarke, Human.
Class: Sage Lv.44
Titles: Out of your League, Hot for Teacher, Consultant Detective, Researcher of the Hidden, Master Tutor, Headmaster, Classroom Overlord, Golden Sage, Confidant, Favorite Teacher (102), Father Figure (2), Delinquent Reformer (5), Stalwart Mentor (7), Making the Difference, Role Model, Expert Mathematician, Expert Physicist, Adept Historian, Adept Linguist, Journeyman Biologist, Journeyman Orator, Novice Chemist.
Passive: Lv.6 Swordsmanship, Lv.1 Riding, Mana Mastery, Foresight, Master of Languages.
Skills: Identify, Magical Ink, Silence Dome, Invigoration, Mirage, Minor Aerokinesis, Minor Pyrokinesis, Minor Geokinesis, Minor Hydrokinesis.
Lord Astur was flabbergasted.
“The duration of the contract will be one year renewable by the end of each term. I don’t want to get in trouble with the royal family, so I require a unilateral dissolution clause,” I said with a wide smile. “Oh, and I want to teach a fresh batch of first-year Cadets. I want to figure out how good of a teacher I can be.”
Comments
Ben Bass
TYFTC! I too am interested about Ilya and Zaon, although they both might be intentionally flying under the radar and lifting up the rest of their class. Let’s see how Robert teaching at the Academy plays out and how irked Elencia will be when she finds out.
BigBadGhost
doesn't want to claim them as his children so they can be used as leverage too like wolf and firana
Paul McGlynn
Maybe Ilya Ilya'd them and has made the entire administration underestimate her and Zoan. Or maybe because since they didn't take on Robert's name, administration just thinks the Ilya and Zoan merely came from the same institute (and I believe the orphanage is now officially known as a fencing academy instead of explicitly as an orphanage), and that they don't have any particular relationship with the other kids or Robert. Then again, Rob was able to see that Zoan was a full-blooded elf back when they first met, and I think that Ilya would be less short and blue (hopefully not much, I love that gnomes have blue skin) if she could pass for half-human. Could be that he just doesn't think they could possibly be Rob's kids; especially since they aren't Zoan Clark or Ilya Clark.
I Dare Korval
I have to wonder why he doesn't seem to mention Zoan or Illya. True, they may not have taken on Rob's family name but surely by now everyone knows they came here together from the same place and trained together. Meaning Rob is not just successful with his "children" but is 4 out of 4 regarding all who were under his tutelage as well.
Matthew
I get what you mean, but I don't think it would be a problem. They've already talked about how nobles sometimes get imperial knights to train their kids. So they don't have an issue with people who know how the training works teaching people. They're just not allowed to talk about it.
Jouni Osmala
Rune weaving doesn't really help with that problem. He's supposed to create good candidates for the Academy which teaching methods he's supposed to keep secret. That isn't problem with hex, it's more fundamental conflict, that would be revealed even without hex.
Matthew
I'm thinking he could rune weave the secrecy hex, if not to remove it entirely then to just make it's target something stupid and/or non existent - "yes it's true, I'm sworn to secrecy, about Klingon mating rituals and fertility, my Star Trek fanfic production has taken a serious blow."
Jouni Osmala
And he really does want to avoid the secrecy hex because his deal with the prince requires him to actually teach outside academy.
Nope
Astur: “hehehe, I have him now!” Robert: *slams dick on table* “Here’s my character sheet, and these are my terms. Take ‘em or leave ‘em. I got shit to do.” Astur: *surprised pikachu face* That about sums up this chapter.
ElAyVee
Oh, I am sooo hyped! Also, if he is a teacher, will this means he gets access to the academy's secret curriculum?
Matthew
Dis gonna be good. I'm just imagining all the enchanted items he's gonna be able to access, and all the ultimately good, but disruptive and dangerous waves he's gonna make, purely by accident (I'm sure), in the meantime.
Weird_Medic
Great chapter. Eager to see how many shenanigans Rob can put himself through while at the magic school.
