The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 113

For Amon, it was impossible to believe Fiora’s words “I’ll handle it well on my own.”

How could he trust someone who had never shown trustworthy behavior in the first place?

‘Well, she’s better than my first impression of her though.’

He wasn’t referring to when he met her outside with Diana, but rather her behavior shown at the academy.

The Fiora he saw then was the very definition of an arrogant troublemaker.

That’s why he had felt so frustrated and desperate when her employment was decided.

‘But for someone like that, she’s surprisingly behaving quite normally. Whether she’s being careful or there’s another reason, I’m not sure.’

Because of this, Amon could form a hypothesis that ‘she’s not a troublemaker.’

‘Maybe she acted up deliberately to avoid staying in this hellhole of an academy after seeing its true nature.’

It was quite a credible hypothesis.

As mentioned, she was normal when she was with Diana.

Moreover, didn’t Anar’el also say that her being a troublemaker was false?

‘And as the biggest evidence…’

He glanced at Fiora, who was trembling while holding the curriculum documents.

She was seriously conflicted.

She was wondering whether to be grateful for the prepared curriculum or to burst out in anger at Amon for getting under her skin even in such moments.

‘See this! Was she really a troublemaker? At this point, if she were, she would have torn up the documents and thrown them in my face, maybe even spat at me!’

It meant she had the basic human decency to weigh feelings of gratitude against anger.

And just as Fiora was about to make a big decision after trembling and contemplating for a while, Amon took out a new teacup and said,

“Hey, Fiora.”

“…Grr! What is it?”

“Just sit down first. Let’s have some tea.”

When Amon suddenly poured tea into the cup, Fiora’s eyes filled with suspicion.

‘Did he poison the tea?’

Seeing Amon smile gently as if he were harmless, Fiora became convinced.

‘He must have poisoned it! Taking this chance to get rid of me!’

Amon accurately saw through Fiora’s inner thoughts.

“There’s no poison, and if you don’t want to drink, just listen to what I have to say.”

“…Why didn’t you poison it?”

“You’re showing the exact same reaction as someone else.”

Amon, who had been sipping tea from his cup, spoke up.

“There’s something I’ve been feeling about you recently, and I’d like you to be honest.”

“…?”

“You just pretended to be a troublemaker because you didn’t want to work here, right?”

Fiora’s eyes widened.

Amon had accurately seen through her intentions.

“H-how did you…?”

“You were completely different when you were with Lady Diana, and even at the academy, your actions were very different from your first impression.”

“…”

“Until just now it was just a guess, but seeing your reaction, it seems I was right.”

Finally finding someone who understood her, Fiora’s eyes welled up with tears.

And she thought that perhaps Amon might become her savior.

Fiora began to beg with tears in her eyes.

“Then, senior. Please help me. I want to go home.”

“You want to go home?”

“Yes! I never intended to work here at all. Grandmother just said I only needed to briefly attend an interview…”

“Hmm…is that so?”

Amon stroked his chin with sparkling eyes.

‘But what should I do about this?’

Amon absolutely! Under no circumstances!

Had any intention of letting Fiora leave this place!

‘She might be the only normal person in the academy. She might become my only colleague. And she’s asking to leave?’

Not a chance!

Even a sheet of paper is lighter when carried together, and isn’t rolling through hell better with two people than alone!

Amon spoke with a genuinely apologetic face.

“Fiora, I’m really sorry, but as a regular teacher, I don’t have that kind of authority.”

“Ah…”

At those words, Fiora came to her senses belatedly.

Although she had desperately clung to hope for a moment, she knew she couldn’t leave this place.

If she ignored her father, the family head’s thunderous command and returned home, she didn’t know what terrible future would await her.

“Of course…you’re right.”

Seeing Fiora dropping her head in resignation, Amon sighed and said,

“Come on, come on. First, sit down.”

“…”

“That’s right. Have some tea too. It’s chamomile tea, great for calming the mind and body.”

Looking at her carefully sipping tea with a sad face, Amon spoke.

“First, let me ask. Why don’t you want to work here?”

“…”

“You can be honest. I’m curious about this as one person to another, putting aside our positions as senior and junior teachers.”

At Amon’s cunning persuasion, Fiora sighed and said,

“…There are many reasons. This academy is practically ruined, isn’t it?”

Amon’s heart ached.

He couldn’t deny it.

“Th-then what else?”

“Honestly, the seniors are a bit…”

Amon clutched his aching heart.

He couldn’t refute this either.

“I-I see. Any other reasons?”

“And…”

At that moment, Fiora closed her mouth.

Setting aside the previous reasons, her fundamental reason for not wanting to work here was because her grandmother Diana had asked her to ‘become friends with Amon.’

With that fact lingering in the back of her mind, she felt uncomfortable just facing Amon.

However, since she couldn’t say that, she decided to make up an excuse.

“I don’t think teaching suits me.”

“…Hmm, I see.”

Amon nodded with a benevolent expression, arms crossed, as if he understood everything.

And after a brief pause, Amon spoke with an utterly serious face.

“First, I’d like you to take some time before deciding whether teaching suits you or not.”

“…Pardon?”

“You haven’t been here that long yet. Besides, you’ve only observed so far and haven’t taught a class by yourself, so I think it’s a bit early to judge whether you have an aptitude for teaching or not. Ah, I’m not denying your thoughts about not having an aptitude. I just wish you’d watch a little longer.”

What a dirty way of speaking that affirms the other person’s thoughts while expressing his own!

Fiora dropped her face and nodded slightly.

“Well, honestly, I don’t think teaching suits me either.”

“What? You, senior?”

Fiora tilted her head.

Didn’t he seem very skilled when teaching?

“I just work hard at it. You heard about my circumstances briefly last time, right?”

“Ah…yes.”

When the war with the Gunter Coalition broke out, Amon had expressed his willingness to participate and roughly shared his circumstances.

“That’s why I work hard at it, regardless of whether it suits me or not.”

Fiora’s eyes trembled.

Suddenly, Amon seemed very mature.

‘Ah, that’s a lie.’

Amon thinks teaching suits him so well that he can’t imagine himself as anything but a teacher!

Born to be a teacher! A human born to become a teacher!

Amon, who defined himself that way, spoke softly.

“Well, those are my circumstances, and yours might be different. Still, I sincerely hope you’ll take some time to observe.”

“…Yes, senior.”

With this, Fiora would now think ‘Even Amon, who isn’t suited for teaching, is working so hard!’ and thus would hesitate a bit when trying to run away from this place!

Amon spoke with a vile smile.

“And you said you don’t like the seniors, your colleagues.”

“Th-that’s…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Amon spoke as if whispering in a small voice.

“Actually, I feel the same way.”

“Wh-what?”

“Did I look like I got along well with those people to you?”

“…No.”

Amon snickered and continued speaking.

“Anyway, I’m not going to tell you to ‘try to get along with them’ or ‘how can you be picky about people at work.'”

“What? Then…”

“I’m not going to tell you to endure it either.”

Amon sipped his tea and pointed at Fiora.

“They don’t like you because they misunderstand you as a troublemaker, right? Just clear up the misunderstanding. I’ll help you.”

“S-senior…”

“Then their attitude towards you will change too.”

Tears welled up in Fiora’s eyes.

Unlike how she had seen him until now, Amon felt incredibly reliable at this moment.

And seeing Fiora overcome with emotion, Amon hid his face behind his teacup and smiled a chilling smile.

‘Heheh, she’s halfway there.’

Then it was time to drive in the final nail.

After downing his tea in one shot, Amon put down his cup and said with a serious face.

“And about the academy going downhill. I won’t deny this either. Because it’s true.”

“…”

“If you’re going to work somewhere, you’d naturally want to work at a successful place. It’s natural. Honestly, I think the same way. However…”

Amon spoke with blazing eyes.

“I want to restore this place, Amonis Academy, to its former glory with my own strength.”

For his own advancement!

However, that inner thought didn’t reach Fiora.

“Ah…!”

Only his passion reached her!

Amon spoke with a serious face.

“For that, I’m doing my best with what little strength I have.”

Why wouldn’t she understand?

After her employment was decided, Anar’el had praised Amon until her mouth wore out.

His dedication to the academy! His effort! The crystallization of his sweat!

Of course, she didn’t believe those words entirely.

In Amon’s annoying attitude towards her, she could hardly find even a fragment of the wonderful and great teacher Anar’el had spoken about.

‘But even though I haven’t seen much, I could desperately feel that one thing – that he truly cares for the academy and the students. Starting from his attitude towards the students.’

Therefore, Fiora felt sincerity in Amon’s words.

Indeed, it was sincere.

Because he sincerely wanted to restore the academy and teach the students well to advance in life!

“So, Fiora.”

Amon spoke while lowering his head.

“As you said, everyone will think of it as a shabby and failing academy. But I’m working to change that thinking. So, will you wait a little?”

Amon tensed up as he said this.

‘If it were me, I would have fallen for it completely. But the problem is that other people aren’t as kind and pure as I am.’

Therefore, he anticipated Fiora saying ‘I don’t want to.’

‘Now then, how should I persuade her after that…?’

“I’ll wait.”

“…Huh?”

At the unhesitating answer, Amon doubted his ears as he looked at Fiora.

“What did you just say…?”

Fiora spoke while nodding slightly with her face down.

“Yes. I’ll wait.”

“Uhh…”

He hadn’t expected her to fall for it so quickly?

Could it be that Fiora was also a kind and pure person like himself!

Clearing his throat, Amon decided to try pushing his luck a bit more.

“Ahem! Well then, could you help me?”

A cunning scheme to pull in a normal person as a colleague, like a snake slithering over a wall!

Not knowing his inner thoughts, Fiora answered without hesitation.

“I’ll try my best.”

When Fiora suddenly changed her attitude like flipping her palm and became cooperative, Amon rather felt suspicious.

‘What’s her sudden ulterior motive?’

Having badly messed things up more than once while pretending things were going well, deep anxiety appeared on Amon’s face.

‘But well, this time should be fine! Because Fiora is normal!’

Amon smiled gently and extended his hand.

“Thank you! I look forward to working with you, my junior!”

* * *

The head of the Pendorean Duke family, Royce Vald Pendorean, was worried about how his daughter was doing. He was a strict but loving father.

‘There shouldn’t be any major problems but…’

Duke Pendorean looked out the window.

Through the starry night sky, he seemed to see his beloved daughter’s smiling face.

“Yes, it should be fine. As long as that child’s bad habits don’t show up.”