C85: Spirit Studies Class (1)
Elisa, who was staring at Rudger's test paper, was very surprised.
"Hmm? This, maybe……."
After muttering something unintelligible, she quickly pursed her lips, picked up her pen, and began to solve the problems.
Wilford, who was watching the scene, quietly backed away. It was unusual to see Elisa, the president, like that, so he didn't want to interrupt her.
If it's her ability, it'll take less than five minutes to finish it all. But Wilford's prediction was wrong.
This is because Elisa showed no signs of ending even though it was more than five minutes after she started solving Rudger's test questions.
Ten minutes.
15 minutes.
Twenty minutes have passed like that.
Even then, Elisa focused on the problems by endlessly teasing the pen point like a person possessed by something.
'Has the president ever held on to a problem for so long?'
Wilford was inwardly taken aback by such an unexpected situation. Elisa would always write down the answers to the questions on the spot while looking at the test questions submitted every semester.
It was a kind of evaluation of teachers in Theon. And all that assessment was made entirely by the president, Elisa herself.
Elisa preferred to solve the test questions given by the teachers herself since she was also a wizard with a great passion for learning.
It was a pleasant experience just to look at the problem in a new way she was unaware of. Occasionally, in the case of easy questions she would just skim over them but she never took more than 5 minutes to solve the questions even for the 4th and 5th grade exams, which are very difficult.
Even the difficult questions that made her head throb didn't impress her much. Maybe that's why Elisa was feeling bored these days.
So when she saw so few interesting things she would be too preoccupied with them, just like right now.
Elisha recalled the previous her, when she was still learning and was eager to explore the unknown of magic. The sense of accomplishment and pleasure when you finally succeed, even though you feel hopeless about the knowledge you see for the first time.
It took Elisa 30 minutes to solve Rudger's test questions, but it was also because of her desire to slowly savor the delicious dishes, although Rudger's questions were demanding in the diversity of thinking. Of course, it would have taken at least 15 to 20 minutes, even if she did her best.
"It's amazing."
"Are you finally done?"
Wilford, who was waiting, asked in a surprised voice.
"I'm sorry, I made you wait."
"Ha ha. No, I'm glad, it's been a while since I've seen the president so motivated."
"Well, that's true."
Elisha did not bother to deny that she was absorbed by the problems. She thought these were really good problems. While demanding a solid foundation, it asks for diversity of opinions and a flexible way of thinking.
There were many pitfalls while solving the problem, but even when she saw them, she felt more pleasant than annoyed.
"It's really amazing. These problems were created by a new teacher. I want to let other teachers solve them."
"Is it that good?"
"Mr. Rudger is such a boring person that I thought he would just give ordinary questions for the exam."
Elisa shrugged her shoulders.
"I was mistaken."
Come to think of it, Rudger showed magic beyond basic common sense. Wasn't this the [source code] magic that he demonstrated to his students in his first class? Magic that enables magic to be implemented at a high speed by making it ridiculously fast. It was something that couldn't be created by ordinary people.
"It was a flawless test paper."
"Compared to Chris' test questions?"
"There's no comparison. Serious exploration and respect for learning and a means to boast of one's knowledge. Putting them on the same line is an insult to one side."
Chris Benimore tried to prove he was superior to Rudger Chelici with the test questions but Rudger didn't care about Chris Benimore in the first place. He didn't even respond to his brawl, he just did the best he could.
Indeed, can this be seen as a fight?
"If you ask Chris to solve this, his expression will be quite impressive."
Elisa smiled playfully like a child, imagining what would happen sooner or later.
Wilford shook his head at the sight, saying, "I can't stop you."
* * *
Rudger put the test papers in his suitcase. Since he finished the test as the first batter, he will be able to take it easy and grade it for the rest of the test period.
'I've put a lot of effort into this question, but I'm also curious about what the students wrote.'
Will the students who usually listened to the class perform well? How many unexpected incorrect answers would the students who did not study properly give out?
As a teacher, he had a strange expectation. Although it was a false identity, Rudger felt his own nature in his work.
On his way back to his dormitory, Rudger found students gathered in front of him.
'Have they finished their test? Oh, is it a practical test?'
Rudger was quite familiar with the person who was leading the fifty or so students. The first thing he saw was pink hair that shines under the bright sunlight. She was kind to everyone and always smiling, like a princess from a fairy tale. It was Selina.
'It must be a test for the Spirit Studies class.'
Selina was in charge of the specialty {Spirit} in the summoning series. Spirits are the embodiment of the energy of nature that exists in Mother Nature. Spiritology is the study of borrowing their power through communication with such spirits.
As a result, the theoretical part was all about the history of spirituality, and in fact, most of the conducted classes were practical classes. From how to summon the spirits, to the contract with the spirits, to how to communicate with the spirits and use their powers.
It's still the beginning of the semester, so even if it's a test, it won't be that difficult.
"There are no spirits around the students. Is the first test making a contract with a Spirit?'
Since there are only a limited number of people who can learn Spirit Studies, the test itself was focused on absolute evaluation rather than relative evaluation.
Even if you are an average student, you will be able to pass if you succeed in signing a contract with a lower spirit.
As Selina was thinking she saw Rudger getting closer.
"Oh, Mr. Rudger!"
Selina greeted him with a smile.
"Are you done with your exams? Come to think of it, you said your test was first, right?"
"Yes, I'm on my way home after finishing it a little while ago."
"Oh, I see. I'm just starting an exam."
"Is this a Spiritism Test?"
"Yes, would you like to take a look?"
Rudger, who was about to refuse, couldn't do it as she stared intently at him, because Selina was giving Rudger an SOS gaze.
'Are you nervous?'
Rudger understood why she asked him to come with her. This test must be the first for Selina and as a teacher, evaluating students can be a burdensome and stressful task. As a result, she turned to Rudger, who had already completed the exam, for help.
Rudger wasn't in charge of Spirit Studies, so he couldn't really help her.
'It's also true that she would feel relieved when at least a colleague is around.'
Normally, it was something that he would easily overlook and make an excuse that he was busy with grading. But he suddenly thought that they've been eating and talking together so far, and it would be cold to refuse her.
'No matter how fake you are, you're a teacher right now, it's not good to be hated by your colleagues.'
The aristocratic faction teachers led by Chris Benimore were already hostile to him.
Could he reject Selina who was popular among students and teachers so easily? If he did that his reputation that he worked hard on would be ruined.
'In fact, I don't care about my reputation.'
The important thing was that he was also helped by Selina, and he couldn't ignore her request. Thanks to her approaching him first, he was able to talk to other teachers.
"I will."
Selina's expression brightened noticeably as Rudger nodded while the students watched the two with strange eyes.
"What? Is Mr. Rudger coming?"
"What's the relationship between them? Are they dating?"
"I don't think so. It's because they're both new teachers."
"Oh, right. You like teacher Selina."
"What? It's not true"
Selina, who gained courage, opened her mouth while the students were talking among themselves.
"The exam will start soon, so let's all move! Let's finish fast!"
"Yes."
The students moved busily according to Selina's words.
Selina took the lead with Rudger followed by the students. The place that they arrived was the entrance of "Forest of Fantasy," one of the three forests of Theon. In it there are a huge flood of spirits, animals, and other ecosystems.
Forest of Fantasy was the largest among the three major forests in Theon. The risk level is level 3, and the general public is prohibited from entering.
However, compared to the other two forests with a risk level of 2 or higher, the Forest of Fantasy is relatively safe and it will not be a big problem as they stay at the entrance and don't go deep in the forest.
'In fact, I think this is a safe space because it's often used as a test site.'
Traces of humans were visible everywhere. Even the no-entry signs or guidelines made along the way.
Rudger lifted his head and looked up at the endlessly towering trees. Trees with thick roots like large pillars soared high toward the sky. Their height seemed to be over 10 meters.
Even though they haven't fully entered the forest yet, he thought that the inside of this Fantasy Forest would be so dense that it resembled the Amazon.
'Is that the Spirit of Light?'
Something was floating in the air, sprinkling a subtle light through the trees. Indeed, it is easy to notice the spirits from the entrance of the forest, perhaps because it was a forest full of vitality. Here it would be easy to sign a contract even for students who are not yet familiar with spirituality.
"I announced in advance that this test is about signing a contract with a spirit. You can use your magic to communicate with the spirit and become friends."
Selina acted as she spoke. She closed her eyes and activated her magical powers. A warm magical light flashed around Selina and the students exclaimed in admiration.
"Oooh."
"Wow. That's the ability of a spirit studies teacher."
Spirits hidden throughout the forest appeared one by one in response to Selina's magic. Some curious spirits flew into the air and wandered around Selina. In an instant, there were cute spirits around Selina.
The beautiful sight of a princess in the forest kept the students silent.
Selina, who opened her eyes, looked at the little spirits all around her and smiled benevolently, and then she reached out her hand towards the spirit that was like a pure white cotton ball.
"Hello"
"Ppiyong!"
The pure white cotton ball accepted Selina's greeting. Rudger also watched the scene silently.
"Hehe. You all saw it, right? It's not difficult. You just have to do it like teacher."
Maybe it was because her words gave them courage, the students immediately activated their magical power and attempted to communicate with the spirits.
Small spirits gathered around the students.
"Wow! It's working!"
"Oh, he's so cute"
"Hello"
The students' joyful shouts erupted everywhere. The scene where spirits and students gathered was quite pleasing to Rudger's eyes.
Not wanting to disturb them, Rudger stood a little far from the students.
"Would you like to try, Mr. Rudger?"
Selina approached Rudger and said.
He was going to ask how the students' tests were going, but shook his head when he saw about three assistants working hard to guide them.
"Thanks for the offer, but I refuse."
"What? Why?"
"I'm not very welcomed by the spirits."
"What? No way. The spirits are so nice! Let me introduce you to a cute spirit! It's the Spirit of Light who signed a contract with me a while ago, and I named it Pongpong!"
Selina said so and held out a ball of white cotton on her palm to Rudger but soon she opened her eyes wide.
"Huh? Pongpong?"
The spirit in her palm was shaking.
"Po, Pongpong? What's wrong with you?"
Selina immediately understood why the spirit was doing this.
'Are you afraid?'
It wasn't just Pongpong, the other spirits who wandered through the forest didn't approach Rudger either.
Rudger replied familiarly to Selina's bewildered look.
"I told you."
"What?"
"The spirits don't like me very much."