[HOMEROOM SESSION]
Those two words were written largely on the board, as our teacher cleared his throat before he began to write something else underneath it.
[Morgan Lafleur]
"Greetings, everyone! My name is Morgan Lafleur and I will be your teacher from now on. And yes, I am your homeroom teacher."
…
The young boy standing in front of me—in front of the whole class was my teacher. Yes, my homeroom teacher…
Did I just make a bad first impression…?
This year looked bleak…
"If you don't know, the homeroom teacher assigned at the first year will always be your homeroom teacher until you graduate from Basic Level's Special Class 4, to better assess your growth and help you improve."
…Teacher, did you just read my mind?
I changed my mind, yup, it shouldn't be 'this year looked bleak'—it should be 'these 4 years will look so dark'…
Oh, how good, Lyra! Why must trouble always come after me? I just want to live a peaceful life…
In the beginning, how could they assign such a young teacher to be our teacher?
"Sensei!"
As the class went into silent, Luca bravely raised his hand.
"Yes, is there any question?"
"Yes, I'm sorry if this might be rude, but you look so young and I'm wondering…"
There's a slight pause.
"…Ah, of course."
Our teacher snapped out of it and finally looked at us with understanding eyes.
Morgan-sensei, it's not just me! So, you would forgive me, right?!
"Ah, my hair. No wonder. So, to answer your question…," Morgan-sensei put his hair at the back of his ears—and, voila, his ears are pointed!
"I am a dwarf. My real age? It's a company secret. However, I am indeed your real Sensei… and not a Senpai, okay?"
He smiled as he explained things but I could sense how he put an emphasis on [not a Senpai] part as his eyes darted at me.
U, uhhh… Like I said, it was a misunderstanding…
I lightly bowed my head, hoping that he'd interpret that gesture as an apology.
"Okay, first of all! Welcome to Harmonia Academy and congratulations on entering the special class! You are all the chosen children of this year, so let's clap our hands first thing first!"
We clapped our hands obediently. Some of the kids even cheered out in their happiness.
"Second, let me brief the essential rules of our school. First and the foremost—equality. You may say your full name and your family's status, but when you're interacting with one another, drop any kind of different treatment based on status. So, if there's any of you who acts bad with the excuse of your family's high social standing… please, by all means, report them to me and Sensei will definitely punish the bad kids!"
As if to make sure the kids understood he was serious, he made a tapping gesture with his teaching stick and put on a scary face.
…I thought the dwarves were quite childish, just in line with their appearances…?
I might need to revise my prior knowledge.
"Then, you need to know that Harmonia Academy is full of unique and potential students—and often, their peculiarity attracts bad people… So, please, do not reveal any of the school's strange and unique things to outsiders, especially to those who seem bad. You can tell only your closest ones and fellow students here. You don't want to have your friend kidnapped because you carelessly tell people about their uniqueness, right?"
What a weird rule, but it indeed has some… facts.
Tolerance and secrecy—ah, yeah, they are the codes of this academy.
Though I doubt children around my age could really adhere to them, but well, the security in this academy is top-notch, so there hadn't been any major incident happening.
"Moving on to the next important thing—your schedule. I will distribute this paper to you, so make sure to read it well."
When Morgan-sensei delivered my paper to me, I awkwardly smiled at him, and his expression didn't change. Is this a good sign that he has decided to let the past be bygones?
My attention is focused on the paper next.
[ Day 1 - General Knowledge (Math, Science), Home Economics
Day 2 - Social Studies: Geography & History
Day 3* – Magic, Physical Combat, Elective (Music, Arts, Literature)
Day 4 - Moral & Etiquette, Physical Education
Day 5 – Reading, Practical Classes or Adventure ]
Day 3 seems so packed… Wait, there's a star next to it, so will there be some explanation…?
"Okay, pay attention to Day 3, you will see a star there."
…Sensei, do you really have some kind of mind connection to me?
"You have to take at least one of the three: Magic, Physical Combat, or Elective. You can even take all of them. They are held at different hours, so you can take them all without any worry. You can also stay in to practice more if you only choose one out of the three."
I read carefully the lessons provided in Elective: music, arts, and literature.
…Okay, I will just take magic and physical combat classes.
"Lyra, which classes are you taking?" Luca asked.
"Magic and physical combat."
"Ah, same with me."
"Eh? I'll only take physical combat, Luca," Kiri added.
"Ah… Guess I will be the only one alone… I'll only take Elective… it will be arts…," Iris looked a bit disappointed…
"Uh, should I take it, too?" I began to contemplate.
"N-no! Taking two are already tiring for you, right? I'll be fine!"
Iris quickly shook her head as she looked at me in a worry.
Well, I don't think it would be a problem with me having one lifetime's worth of experience and lessons stored in my head, but to be honest, I'm not that interested in any of the Elective, so well…
"Ahem! Can I talk again?" Morgan-sensei, whose existence was kind of forgotten because the students were noisy due to Day 3's menu, cleared his throat and started to talk again.
"Your teacher for Day 1, 2, 4, and 5 will be… me! At least for this year. For Day 3, your teachers will depend on the classes you take. Hmm, okay, I shouldn't be bombarding your small and cute heads with more information, so that's it for now! More explanation will be given when the real classes start. Now, can I have your introduction?"
Which means, I will be meeting Morgan-sensei a lot. Morgan-sensei, you are not a petty person who'd hold such a grudge against a little girl like me… right?
"My name is Kiri Elsworth, just call me Kiri… Nice to meet you," Kiri briefly introduced himself in front of the class, bowed down, and quickly went back to his seat.
…Poor Kiri, he became the first to come up and introduce himself!
Some who recognized the name [Elsworth] gasped.
They seemed to realize who Kiri is and speculate something else… which will be confirmed soon as Luca's already standing in front.
"My name is Lucius Aideen seo Navarrete, but just call me Luca. Nice to meet you!"
Yes—an uproar happened so quickly as Luca's identity was confirmed.
"We're in the same class as the crown prince?!"
"Oh my, my parents often say that if I make some foolish blunders in front of the royal family, my mommy and daddy will be in trouble!"
"Whoa, is this the real life?!"
Noticing the uproar and uprising tension, Luca clapped his hands.
"Hey, hey, remember the school rule? Nothing is going to happen! I'm just your classmate!"
His expression already showed his disappointment. Ah, well… Luca, you can't expect them to just be calm and say, "Oh, the crown prince's here. As expected. Howdy, Luca?"
…Ekh, which means, it's my turn now!!
"I'm Alrescha Lyra Hartmann, please call me Lyra. It's nice to meet you and I hope we all can be good friends."
I can hear the other kids' reaction, and they're like…
"Eeeeh, her eyes are of different colors?!"
"It's the Hartmann, of course it's natural for them to have hete… hete… I forgot, but Papa has told me about it once."
"Eh, everyone from her family's got different eye colors?!"
"Whoa, we have the crown prince and his future-knight aide… and now we have one of the four dukes' daughter here? This is [Special] Class, indeed!"
I can only smile stiffly and sit down. Iris turned even more timid because of the other kids' uproar before her turn…
Forgive us, Iris!
"My name is Iris Soreil, and uhm… it's nice to meet you!"
Her voice was small but by the time she said [it's nice to meet you], it sounded like a shout for Iris' size!
Ahaha, speaking of her shy personality, that's just so adorable!
I feel the impulse to hug her right here, right now, at this very moment, but I shouldn't be asking for more attention and trouble on my first day at school.