Subscriber of the Gods-Chapter 297: The Start of the Second Semester

“I can’t believe it.”

Whiskers Manor.

Count Whiskers, upon receiving the plaque sent by Princess Evangeline, had a pleased expression.

“A new pillar.”

He had heard that Ethan’s goal was the Twelve Families.

Even when Marquis Dren died and Wilas Dren came, he thought the situation was going in the wrong direction.

It would take a roundabout path, but he thought it would take time.

Because Count Whiskers himself knew best how strong Wilas Dren was.

Even in the days when he was hopefully managing the territory, Marquis Wilas Dren was a tremendous figure.

The stories he heard were all so astonishing that they made his mouth fall open. He was a brutal man that one should never clash with and should pull out even if slightly entangled.

But in the end, Ethan had won even against that Wilas.

He didn’t know what method Ethan used or how he fought.

But what was important was that he won. Without anyone getting hurt at that.

“Now it begins, Father. Because I have to return to the Academy now. Father and the Chief Administrator will have to work harder on the overall management.”

“Hmm.”

Count Whiskers let out a groan.

“And you’ll likely be promoted soon. It would be good to prepare for a celebration party in advance.”

“Promotion… I will become a Marquis? Accomplishing what even our ancestors couldn’t… You’re saying I did it? It’s thanks to my son. It’s all thanks to my son!”

“Father played a significant role in my astonishingly rapid growth. It’s not entirely my doing.”

Even at Ethan’s words, Count Whiskers just grinned.

“This is just the starting line, right? Becoming one of the Twelve Families isn’t the goal but one of the processes.”

Count Whiskers spoke to Ethan while laughing.

This was enough. The title of Marquis and a seat in the Twelve Families acknowledged by Princess Evangeline.

This much was enough to proudly boast to his ancestors even when he died and met them.

But it wasn’t.

‘If he was satisfied, I was going to let him fully feel the satisfaction and newly motivate him.’

There was no need for that anymore. Count Whiskers was already looking higher.

He was looking at the same place Ethan was looking.

“Still, we should celebrate. It’s the result we’ve achieved.”

“We should, shouldn’t we? I can take it easy for about 5 years, can’t I, Ethan?”

“……”

Ethan fell silent.

“It was a joke.”

Count Whiskers quickly left his seat.

***

Ivecar Academy.

The day of the start of the semester.

Numerous students were attending school. Despite the short break, quite a few had changed.

“Long time no see.”

“It’s been a while.”

The first ones he encountered were Yuna Garnet and Mason Yellowd. (+)[1]TLN: I forgot to tell you, I decided to change Yeld family to Yellowd. My bad. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Mason’s appearance had completely changed. He had fully immersed himself in the training he received from Ethan Whiskers throughout the first semester. ꭆáŊO͍ВЁŝ

His confident gait proved Mason’s current state.

“What the, why is this guy so big? He got even bigger.”

Ron Bears, who created a huge shadow just by standing, greeted the two briefly.

Ethan’s three prized students gathered in one place. All three had a distinctly different appearance from the first semester.

“Who’s that guy?”

“It’s him.”

“Ah, that problem child?”

At those words, Mason looked back. The nickname “problem child” was Mason’s nickname, but after meeting Ethan, Mason hadn’t heard that nickname for quite a long time.

So he wondered who was calling him that. But they weren’t calling him.

“Is he back?”

Mason narrowed his eyes and looked at him. It seemed the problem child who had taken a leave of absence had returned this semester.

“Look, the teachers are coming!”

“I must take Teacher Ethan’s class this time.”

The student called a problem child stared at Ethan intently, then soon smiled. As if he had found a new toy.

***

“How have you been?”

“Teacher Ethan, you’ve been amazing since the training session? I heard a lot about it.”

“I was really surprised.”

Ethan’s fellow teachers spoke to Ethan, their eyes shining at the events that took place after the training session.

“I did do some amazing things, but I was lucky.”

“Can you become one of the Twelve Families with just luck? This is truly a remarkable feat!”

Ciron Ramsdale spoke excitedly.

“You’ve completely changed too since the training session, Teacher Ciron.”

“Ah, you noticed, haha.”

Ciron smiled sheepishly.

“Teacher Iris, you’ve also increased your mana quite a bit in a short period of time. Moreover, your mana feels much more refined than during the training session.”

“I had a tough time. Teacher Ethan, you noticing it, this makes the hard work worthwhile, doesn’t it?”

Iris smiled brightly. Ethan then looked at Nadia.

“As for Teacher Nadia…”

“Ah, I’ve been busy with many things. Hmm… There won’t be much change, haha.”

Seeing Nadia’s awkward laugh, it seemed the Tschernkastel family was definitely in turmoil.

‘It’s time for the Chancellor Tschernkastel’s condition to worsen.’

A big change would occur in the Tschernkaste family, the Twelve Families house that produced the Chancellor.

As the Chancellor’s condition worsened for some reason, a void would be created, and this would make the factional fights within the family even more intense.

Just like the Marquis Dren family, the succession issue was ultimately the most troublesome problem within aristocratic families.

‘There’s nothing good about leaving the Tschernkaste family as is. Because it’s highly likely to have a negative impact on the newly minted Twelve Families Whiskers house. So it’s best to help Nadia and firmly bring Tschernkaste to our side.’

The various powers they possessed would surely be helpful to the Whiskers family.

‘Especially things like magic fortresses.’

“Let’s talk separately later. I have something urgent to tell you.”

Ethan spoke quietly so only Nadia could hear. At those words, Nadia showed a surprised expression, then soon nodded.

Behind Ethan, who greeted his fellow teachers, a teacher passed by.

“Teacher Claudie.”

When Ethan greeted him, Claudie stared at Ethan intently. He paused for a moment to choose his words, then soon spoke.

“I should congratulate you. Teacher Ethan, the good fortune that has come to the Whiskers family, congratulations.”

After saying that, Claudie sat down.

“Teacher Claudie seems to have become sharper.”

“He’s become more like a sculpture.”

He was originally a very skinny-looking handsome man. But now he looked as if a great artist had sculpted him, with a appearance that would be difficult for even a blacksmith of Goldhand’s caliber to touch.

“He must have been greatly stimulated during the first semester.”

“I’m so looking forward to this semester. There’s also the biggest event at the end of the second semester.”

“It’s different this year, this year!”

The Academy Exchange was scheduled for the end of the second semester.

Last year, except for Claudie, there were no teachers who stood out at Ivecar, but this year was different.

Ethan Whiskers and his fellow teachers were also showing quite excellent performances, and Duty, the teacher of magic who competed with Ethan, was also working hard in many ways for this year’s Academy Exchange.

“All teachers, please gather in the auditorium.”

At the words of the head of the Knight Department, all the teachers gathered in the auditorium in groups of three or five.

‘It’s not just the students who have changed.’

Now that they were all gathered, it was clear. All the teachers had changed.

‘Because they all saw.’

What kind of things the new teacher Ethan had done during one semester.

Above all, they saw with their own eyes how he transformed Mason Yellowd, whom Claudie had given up on.

‘They can’t help but be motivated.’

Students change depending on what the teacher does.

Everyone was motivated by the change Ethan directly showed.

“Ahem.”

The principal of Ivecar Academy appeared. He slowly walked up to the podium, looked around at the teachers one by one, and made eye contact.

Then he smiled as if satisfied.

“I don’t think the level of our Ivecar teachers has ever been this high. Everyone was stimulated and used that stimulation as a driving force. You’re all excellent.”

The Ghost Sword, the principal, grinned.

“I don’t think I need to ask if you had a good break. You’re all showing it with your current appearance.”

The Ghost Sword spoke.

“Various events are scheduled for the second semester. The most important event is the Academy Exchange where academies interact with each other. Depending on the progress of classes in the second semester, we will select the teachers who will represent the Academy and participate in the Exchange. There’s something the principals of each academy newly discussed this time. We decided to increase the number of participating academies by one more.”

‘Newly increased?’

Currently, a total of four academies participate in the Academy Exchange. Each one was a prominent academy on the continent.

“The newly participating academy is a place called Vogue Academy. With the participation of this Vogue Academy, it will be an Academy Exchange of an unprecedented scale. So everyone, please work hard in the second semester. Because if we win this time, what we can gain will be tremendously big.”

“Principal.”

As soon as the Ghost Sword’s words ended, Teacher Iris raised her hand.

“That Vogue Academy… isn’t it an academy in the Demon Empire?”

Everyone had a doubtful expression. They clearly knew the name Vogue Academy.

There are also prestigious schools in the Demon Empire.

The Twelve Families don’t simply refer to the nobles of the Holy Empire. It was a name that meant the twelve stars supporting the entire continent.

The Demon Empire also had the Twelve Families houses called the Four Great Demon Families, and the prestigious nobles below them.

“It was the school that one of the Three Gods attended, right?”

The Three Gods above the Twelve Families.

The academy where Sword Tower master, Demon God Spear, one of the Three Gods, studied was none other than Vogue Academy.

“Is a Demon Empire academy participating in this Exchange?”

A teacher asked with a surprised expression. It had been 10 years since working at Ivecar. During that time, there had never been an exchange with the Demon Empire.

It was natural. The Demon Empire was basically an enemy nation.

A powerful nation represented by the survival of the fittest and the rule of the strong.

Beyond that, the Demon Empire and the Holy Empire had been constantly at war.

Currently, it had reached a lull, but this was literally just a ceasefire. Due to such circumstances, exchanges with the Demon Empire itself were blocked.

So they couldn’t help but be puzzled by the sudden news of Vogue Academy’s participation in the Exchange.

The Emperor wouldn’t allow it.

How did it happen?

“That’s a good question.”

The Ghost Sword, who had expected such a question, took out a piece of parchment from his bosom.

It was a map.

“Vogue Academy is an academy of the Demon Empire, but geographically, it is located across the Holy Empire. So people from the Demon Empire can go there, and people from the Holy Empire can also go there. In principle, that is. But in terms of location, it is much more convenient for those from the Demon Empire to come and go, so the nobles of the Holy Empire didn’t send their students there.”

“Then why all of a sudden…?”

“Their principal came to meet me in person. He directly attended the meeting and talked. Vogue Academy has been called a prestigious school in the Demon Empire for a long time, but because of that, it is rather in decline, he complained.”

By continuously maintaining its position as a prestigious school, it had become slack.

As the water began to stagnate, a rotten smell arose, and the principal of Vogue Academy, who saw the competitiveness gradually decreasing, drew his sword.

“He said he also received permission from the Emperor of the Demon Empire. Likewise, he received permission from our Emperor as well.”

Thanks to that, Vogue Academy was able to participate in this Exchange.

“Vogue Academy, which has maintained the first place in the Demon Empire for a long time. This Academy Exchange will be really fun.”

The Ghost Sword laughed heartily, but the teachers couldn’t just laugh.

‘The event happened faster than I thought.’

Vogue Academy’s participation in the Academy Exchange was supposed to happen after quite some time had passed.

‘This is rather good.’

Now he understood Emperor Cairodias’s words telling him to become a master. Teachers and students from Vogue Academy would come in large numbers to this Exchange, and they were all members of families that were prominent in the Demon Empire.

It was the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills.

‘It will be the most definite entry pass to the Demon Empire.’

“Don’t worry too much. The safety issue has been definitively resolved.”

‘There was a reason the principal kept smiling. This Exchange, the scale is the biggest ever.’

In this Exchange of the biggest scale ever, Ivecar had definitively prepared a strong hand.

‘Because we’re in contention for the championship. We can’t help but be happy.’

They would be able to show the prestige of Ivecar Academy for all to see, so they would naturally smile.

‘The teachers will have a hard time.’

“Phew… This, the scale has become too big.”

“If we make a mistake there, it’s not just a problem within the Holy Empire. It’s a disgrace to the Demon Empire side as well…”

It was definitely a burdensome position.

“But at the same time, if we do it right…”

“It’s an opportunity to become famous within the two empires. Definitely, the reputation…”

Ciron Ramsdale spoke and laughed, “Hehe.” He seemed to be painting a rosy future in his head.

“Everyone, work hard for our Ivecar! And Teacher Ethan. Teacher Ethan, let’s talk for a bit after this is over.”

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