Chapter-04 · EP-056
Chapter 4: Awakening Within
Episode 56: When I came to school on Friday, the homeroom teacher had changed.
The morning after the incident where Murasakimura was attacked by Haijima, I was sitting in my usual seat in the classroom when, for some reason, Professor Jonouchi from the nurse's office entered instead of Majima.
The classroom buzzed with confusion, wondering what was happening.
"Alright, everyone, please be quiet!"
Standing at the podium, Professor Jonouchi began to explain the situation.
"Some of you may have already heard, but yesterday, Murasakimura-kun from this class was attacked and injured by Haijima-kun from Class B. Furthermore, the homeroom teacher of this class, Majima-sensei, defended Haijima-kun, the perpetrator, and, believe it or not, blamed Murasakimura-kun, the victim, and tried to have him expelled."
I knew about this because I was involved, but students hearing it for the first time let out surprised exclamations.
"Of course, such an outrageous thing couldn't be allowed to happen. Majima-sensei has been asked to leave this academy. Also, this incident could normally have become a police matter as an assault. Regarding the handling of Haijima-kun from Class B, the student council president, Kujo-san, spoke with his father, Baron Haijima, and it was decided to settle the matter quietly. Haijima-kun will transfer to a regular high school, and that will be the end of it. Is that alright, Murasakimura-kun?"
Prompted by Professor Jonouchi, Murasakimura thought for a moment, then answered briefly, "Yes."
"Frankly, Murasakimura-kun, you're not blameless either. Because you made remarks at the entrance ceremony that turned the nobles against you, there are many people who don't think well of you."
"…I'm sorry for causing trouble. I now realize that what I said back then was not a good way to phrase it."
Somewhat surprisingly, Murasakimura, who had been so confrontational towards nobles at the start of the school year, seemed to have changed his mind a little. I hope he's learned his lesson and won't cause any more trouble in the future.
Then, for some reason, Professor Jonouchi looked at me.
"And Ichinose-kun!"
"Huh? Me?"
"You need to moderate your behavior too."
"Wait a minute. What did I do?"
I didn't understand why I was being scolded and was confused.
"What did you do? You don't realize it yourself?"
"Huh? I have absolutely no idea."
"Haa. First of all, you caused an incident on your first exploration day by getting seriously injured, didn't you?"
"That was because Murasakimura pushed me…"
"Then, you said you were helping Hikaru Kujo-san from Class A and challenged the first-floor boss without permission."
"I heard screams, so I had no choice…"
"And then yesterday, you were involved in the incident where Murasakimura-kun was attacked!"
"I was just trying to help Murasakimura! I didn't do anything wrong!"
It was all false accusations! It's true I've been involved in several incidents in quick succession, but it's not all my fault!
"It doesn't matter who's at fault. Because you and Murasakimura-kun have been involved in one incident after another right after enrollment, now that Majima-sensei is gone, no one wants to be the homeroom teacher for D-Class."
"Eh? So we won't have a homeroom teacher?"
"Yes, but that would be a problem, wouldn't it? They're urgently looking for a new homeroom teacher, but until one is found, I'll be the acting homeroom teacher."
What? Professor Jonouchi was going to be our homeroom teacher instead of Majima?
Professor Jonouchi is kind, beautiful, and she helped us yesterday. Wouldn't it be fine if she just stayed as our homeroom teacher permanently?
I thought that, and apparently, I wasn't the only one, as several students said, "Professor Jonouchi, please become the official homeroom teacher of D-Class!"
"I'm happy to hear you say that, but I have my duties in the nurse's office. I'm sorry. So it will probably be for a short time, but I look forward to working with you all."
Lately, I've been partnering with Shiraishi and Mizuno in exploration class.
At the very beginning, we were instructed to form parties with various people to learn cooperation, but that was only at the start. Recently, almost everyone has fixed members.
Shiraishi and Mizuno don't complain when I go off on my own, which makes things easy for me. They also seem to find it easy and beneficial to party with me because I defeat far more slimes than other students. It's a win-win relationship.
"By the way, what's your score now?"
The "score" for the first semester of the first year is simply the number of slimes defeated per person. In the second semester, it's based on the number of monsters defeated on the second floor, and in the third semester, on the third floor.
After exploration, you sell the Magic Gems you obtained and divide the proceeds by the number of party members. That total number is your score. The quota for the first semester is 100, which is also roughly the point where you level up.
Mizuno answered my question.
"Thanks to you, I've reached 40. That's significantly higher than other classmates. Even higher than Murasakimura-kun and the others."
"But that's probably not interesting for Ichinose-kun, who's already level 2."
"Well, I'm just defeating slimes hoping for potion drops."
If slimes didn't drop potions, the exploration class would be almost pointless.
As we were having such a conversation, a party nearby involving Akaishi and others was having trouble.
"Sorry, Akaishi-kun, we're thinking of partying with someone else…"
"Ah, I see. You mean you want me to leave the party?"
"No, it's not like that, but we're going to team up with other people, so it ends up that way…"
"Did I do something to offend you?"
"No, it's not that…"
A bit curious, I watched the scene.
Then another companion spoke directly to Akaishi.
"Let me be blunt, Akaishi-kun. You got into a fight, and that's why there was trouble yesterday, right? We don't want to party with someone like that."
It seemed Akaishi was being kicked out of the party. Probably because they heard he punched a noble yesterday.
Akaishi, clearly told he was being expelled, furrowed his brow, looking troubled.
"Eep, d-don't get angry! It can't be helped!"
Seeing his face, the classmates panicked.
"No, sorry, I'm not angry. I understand. I'll find another party."
"Is that so? As long as you understand."
It seemed Akaishi had become alone.
Fortunately, my party had three members. There was room for one more.
"Hey, Aka—"
"Wait!"
Shiraishi pulled my arm.
"What's wrong?"
Shiraishi spoke in a whisper.
"You weren't thinking of inviting Akaishi-kun, were you? Don't. I heard he's a delinquent. If Ichinose-kun teams up with him, we'll leave."
"Eh?"
If Shiraishi and Mizuno left, I'd be left with just Akaishi. Then I'd have to find another person again, which would be a pain. It was the same for them, but they probably had other options.
As I hesitated, someone else called out to Akaishi before I could.
"Akaishi-kun, would you like to join our party?"
It was Murasakimura.
"Murasakimura…"
"We have three people, so there's exactly one spot open."
"Is that okay? I'm a dropout, unlike you honor students."
"What are you saying? If that were the case, all of us in D-Class are dropouts. But I don't think a single one of us is a dropout. Let's all do our best together as a class."
"Murasakimura… Thank you."
"I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for helping me yesterday!"
Sendo also joined the conversation.
"Nice to meet you, Akaishi-kun."
"Yeah…"
As for Enoshima, who was in Murasakimura's party and had been listening to their conversation…
"Ah, um, then Akaishi-kun's old party will be short a member, so I'll go join them instead… Well, then."
He seemed to have gotten scared of Akaishi and left the party.
At any rate, I was glad Akaishi found a party to join. Though Murasakimura and Akaishi seemed like an unusual combination.