Chapter 121
"Well then... could you all introduce yourselves one by one?"
Clael pretended not to notice the stares directed at him... especially the eyes filled with jealousy and hatred from the male students, and asked the students to introduce themselves.
"Let's start... from the student at that end."
"Ah, yes. I'm Jonny Joren."
Starting with the male student sitting at the end, each of them stood up in turn and introduced themselves.
Clael had received a list of students enrolled in theology beforehand... but since he didn't know their faces, he began matching the names he memorized with their appearances.
The introductions proceeded without any particular problems.
Even the students who seemed to harbor hostility toward Clael didn't say anything overtly, and just gave their names plainly.
"Abrus Pick."
However... among them, one male student gave him a particularly cold look.
"Abrus Pick. My father is a bishop at the Grand Shrine. Just to be clear... he was against your recognition as a Saint."
"............"
"I agree with my father. That's all."
After saying what he wanted to say, the male student who introduced himself as Abrus promptly sat down.
It was a statement that could only be taken as a provocation. The other students also looked surprised.
(So he's Bishop Pick's son... He seems like a rather uptight guy.)
Clael knew the man who was likely Abrus's father.
Bishop Abram Pick. One of the influential figures at the Grand Shrine in the royal capital.
They had only spoken two or three times before, so their relationship wasn't particularly close, but Clael didn't have a bad impression of him.
(He's not a bad person... just inflexible.)
He was the type who valued seniority and disliked seeing young people surpass their elders and rise in status.
Basically, he was a kind and responsible person—just overly serious, but clearly a good man.
(That seriousness makes him unpopular with younger folks... If I hadn't had my past life's experience, I might've disliked him more too.)
"Alright. That will be all for the introductions. Now then... shall we begin the lesson?"
How far the lessons had progressed before summer break was written in the curriculum Clael had received in advance.
Apparently, the previous female teacher had properly prepared the handover documents before eloping, so Clael didn't seem to have anything to worry about.
"Please open your textbooks to page fifty-seven. In today's lesson, we'll begin with the miracle of dragon slaying performed by Saint Luculnaire."
Clael read from the textbook and wrote key points on the board as needed.
Recalling the classes he had taken as a student... and applying the tutoring techniques he had used with Reina, he occasionally mixed in trivia to keep the students interested.
Even so, for students who looked sleepy, he made sure to ask questions to maintain a certain level of tension.
"In other words, Luculnaire was recognized as a Saint for slaying the dragon here... Now then, can anyone explain why the land where he slew the dragon is called 'Argven'? Sabour?"
"Eh!? Ah, um... I don't know."
"Alright, can anyone else explain? Yes, Lady Yurina."
"The dragon Luculnaire defeated had transformed into a human, and that human's name was Argven."
"Yes, very good. Well done."
Clael nodded in satisfaction and glanced at the clock.
"Alright, that's all for today's class. At the beginning of the next class, we'll have a short quiz on today's material, so make sure to review thoroughly. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to come ask. Well then..."
"Instructor Burn, may I?"
Just as Clael was about to have the class leader give the dismissal call, a hand was raised—Abrus Pick, the student who had made that snide remark earlier.
"I have a question. A new theory recently proposed by astronomers suggests that this world is a sphere that revolves around the sun—what are your thoughts on that, Instructor Burn?"
The question Abrus posed had absolutely nothing to do with the lesson.
(And the content of this question... he's clearly trying to mess with me.)
In this world, the heliocentric theory had only recently begun to be proposed.
In medieval Europe, it might've led to witch trials... but things hadn't gotten that extreme here, and some shrines were beginning to accept the idea.
(If I say I support heliocentrism, he'll accuse me of denying the traditional teachings of god. If I reject it, he'll mock me as ignorant for ignoring the rational basis scholars have presented. In short, he's picking a fight.)
He was clearly disliked.
Could it be that Abrus also had feelings for Reina?
(It'd be easy to shut him down with a "Don't ask unrelated questions," but...)
If Clael chose that route, Abrus would probably sneer and say, "So you ran away because you couldn't answer a student's question."
He was truly looking down on him.
(Sorry to take up the other students' time... but I guess I have no choice.)
"I support the heliocentric theory."
Clael answered with a gentle smile.