Volume 3: Shining Royal Tournament
Chapter 1: Open Class of the Hero King
[Time gradually passes…]
[The vacation ends, and you return to a normal yet fulfilling school life.]
[Exams pile up, Student Council duties, part-time work to earn pocket money. While thinking of ways to escape the mountain of troubles caused by Disaster With Women, you also have to plan how to arrange a sweet date with Morgan during the next vacation…]
[And as summer arrives, temperatures continue to rise, adding even more heat, chaos, and restlessness to the busy school life of youth.]
The calendar pages flipped day by day.
Time had already moved into mid-June.
During the morning homeroom meeting, chalk dust floated in the beam of light by the blackboard, while the ceiling fan above the classroom creaked as it spun endlessly.
"…That's the situation,"
Finn-sensei, who had returned to Britain Class not long ago, used a ruler to point at the activity schedule on the board.
"Everyone, don't let the long vacation just now make you slack off. There's still an exam waiting for you at the end of this month! Of course, under my wise guidance—by the great Fionn mac Cumhaill himself—I believe our class will once again splendidly take first place across the entire grade, hahahaha!"
The students below only listlessly slumped over their desks. The stifling heat in the classroom left everyone lacking energy.
Especially those sitting near the windows, among them Mochizuki Eikou, who were taking the full brunt of the sunlight shining straight in.
Summer had arrived faster than they had imagined. The heat lingered in the air, the low hum of electric fans, the sticky sensation of sweat clinging to the skin, the distorted ripples of air above the sun-scorched pavement—everything reminded them that the long-awaited summer, once it truly arrived, was actually rather uncomfortable.
Even Finn-sensei's long-winded lecture sounded sleepier than usual.
"Has that narcissist up there finished talking yet? Even hogging the break time should have its limits…"
Eikou muttered under his breath.
Hearing the noisy sound of France Class next door being dismissed, everyone began to fidget, their minds focused solely on rushing to the school store to buy a cold drink to cool off.
"Ehem, I'll just add a few more words,"
Finn-sensei on the podium continued talking nonstop.
"The next period is PE Class, and it's also the monthly regular health check for students. After the checkup, hurry back to the classroom, because right after that there will be an Open Class hosted by our class."
"Open Class?"
Eikou froze upon hearing this, propping himself up and sitting straight as he looked at him.
"Why is there suddenly an Open Class? You didn't mention anything about it before."
"Ha ha, actually I only found out today myself."
Finn-sensei replied.
"You should all know about the Hero King from Uruk, who has very strong financial backing, right? He is an important investor of Chaldea Academy. Today he suddenly wanted to visit our school to discuss new energy technology with Babbage-sensei, and at the same time take a look at the students' learning situation—'to let this king inspect the teaching quality of you mongrels!'—that's what he said."
(Note: Wait, I thought Gilgamesh was a student...)
"So that's how it is. Goldie had nothing better to do, so he ran over to our school to show off."
Eikou nodded.
"More or less. Coincidentally, our class's recent performance has been pretty good, and I've just finished my training and returned, so the school entrusted me with the important task of this Open Class."
Finn-sensei said in a serious, meaningful tone.
"This Open Class is quite important. I hope that later you will cooperate well with me. The attendees won't just be Hero King Gilgamesh, but also many teachers of the school: Babbage, Arjuna Alter, and even Scathach…"
"To put it simply, if we mess it up, our class will lose face badly, and I may very well be suspended!"
"I see…"
Eikou nodded, sinking into thought.
Just imagining the Hero King barging into their class to audit the lesson was enough to foresee complete chaos and mayhem.
All the male students in the class fell silent for a moment after hearing this, almost simultaneously thinking of the same thing.
"Hypothetically speaking… if Finn-sensei were to be suspended, would that mean Artoria-sensei would come teach us instead?"
Eikou tried asking with an extremely serious expression.
"Judging by your tone, it doesn't sound hypothetical anymore, but more like it's already reached the stage of planning. But unfortunately…"
Finn sighed and shook his head, an unprecedented seriousness appearing in his eyes.
"If you disgrace yourselves during the Hero King's Open Class, how could the school let it slide so easily? At that point, Scathach will very likely be put in charge of your class. When that happens, don't even think about extracurricular activities like the School Festival or Culture Festival. The entire class will be sent to the Land of Shadows for Spartan training until graduation."
"..."
The entire class shuddered at once.
The period of merciless training under Scathach during the review week before the last midterm exam was still vividly etched into everyone's memories.
Although it could not be denied that she was a beautiful, sexy, and highly popular female teacher, her Spartan-style teaching was absolutely no joke. Compared to her, Finn-sensei's tolerant and easygoing teaching style was clearly far more beloved by the students.
If Scathach were really to take over in the future, and even teach continuously until graduation…
Just thinking about it for a moment was enough to make one's scalp go numb.
Especially for Eikou, who was maintaining a secret relationship with her, he always felt that this situation was already no different from some kind of Play.
"Now you understand, right? If I get suspended, I'm afraid you won't have it easy either."
Finn-sensei waved his hand and continued. "In other words, right now we're all in the same boat of fate. Let's seriously face the Hero King's Open Class together!"
After saying that, he glanced at Eikou and called him out by name. "Especially you, Mochizuki Eikou."
"What about me?"
Eikou asked in confusion.
"I looked through your file, and there's a note saying that back when you were in Kindergarten, you once beat your senpai Gilgamesh until he cried. That caught my attention."
Eikou showed a bit of pride. "That proves I was amazing even as a kid!"
"You're already someone who frequently causes trouble in class, and on top of that you have old grudges with the Hero King. I'm truly worried that you might do something disrespectful. This concerns my career, the school life of the entire class, and even the operation of Chaldea Academy itself, so you absolutely must not create any more trouble for everyone, do you hear me?"
"Don't worry, sensei…"
He waved his hand with an impatient expression.
"I'm not the type of student who likes fighting and causing trouble. How could I possibly have the time to go looking for trouble with others? During the Open Class, I'll definitely cooperate obediently with the teaching and absolutely won't cause problems for you."
"Hahaha, then that's good!"
Finn-sensei immediately broke into a bright smile.
"If you all perform well, I'll go ask the school to approve an Off-campus Activity and take the whole class out to the suburbs for an outing."
"That's awesome!"
[The upcoming event will be Finn-sensei's Open Class, at which the Hero King and other teachers will all come to observe.]
[This concerns the safety of the entire class, and even the whole school, so no one wants to cause trouble—let alone become the sinner who drags the whole class down.]
[Because Finn-sensei emphasized it over and over again, everyone ended up missing their precious Break Time. Just as he announced dismissal, the bell for the next class rang…]
[The next period is PE Class, which is also Health Check day.]
…