Chapter 16: Currents under clear waters

There are many things in life that are both expected and unexpected. As the class of 1B is heading for their last subject, let's now see things in a different perspective.

On a separate floor for the teachers, Rebecca Yeil was spending her time arranging her class schedule. In fact she didn't need to do them as she had done it a night before, but there is nothing bad if she rearrange them again.

This year is a bit different from the previous ones. For one she is assigned in the first years instead of third years, and second instead of her usual class of basics of combat magic she's teaching magic language this year. This kind of thing hasn't happened to her since ten years ago. She wonders what sort of things this will bring her.

This school was never one to make changes if they didn't see the need for it. Seeing how stubborn it is with how things are, without a strong reason teachers of her caliber are better off not moved from her post. So she was left wondering what happened.

She can see it's not the students who had the problem. They are still too lacking to cause anything devastating to the school. It's not the system itself as far as she knew, her years of service made her have a privilege of knowing internal news early and so far she hasn't heard any abnormalities. So what went wrong?

"Rebecca!" Dylan Willows greeted as he got closer to her. Grey eyes showing his joy.

"Dylan. You're done with the class 1B right?" Rebecca asked her fellow teacher. There were some reviews she got from the other subjects teachers, but to make a proper evaluation all feedback is needed to be collected. She had to ask each teacher how her students were during their first meeting.

"Yep. They are an interesting bunch." Dylan laughed as he remembered the introduction activity they did a while ago. He then took a seat on the chair next to the female teacher, it's his work desk.

Taking a leaflet the female teacher had given him a while ago, he checked if he filled everything that needed to be filled. "You will be having your hands full for this year. I can see that you fully intent to have them fear you."

"Well it's my usual tactic in teaching. Everyone in this school knows my ways in disciplining my students." Rebecca said as took the leaflet from the other. She then affirmed that the survey was satisfactory. Afterwards return her attention to her lesson materials.

"Like I said it will be hard on you. One child from what I saw is fearless. She had good instincts even when I made myself as friendly as I could, her guards were never down ya know." He amused himself with his memory of the black haired girl's clear blue eyes when she introduced herself. "Not to mention you got some troublesome ones. Their last names are a clear indication of their families' might."

"I see no problem with that. Fearless students are a little better than a coward." Rebecca said as she noted the observation of her fellow teacher, that child will need some specialized method to make them recognize danger. It wouldn't do good if she was too fearless that she'll rush into troubles head on.

Leila who was being planned: ....no need. In fact I can teach that to you myself. Khelly needs that more than me.

"What I need is a smart one, a child who knows how to assess the situation. For things like family backgrounds, please those cannot move me if we indeed base on that. If they intend to find trouble on me, I'll have them out of my class and school itself when the time comes." The female teacher said as she took out a notebook that is intended for her advisory class. She then wrote some things on it as she ignored the man beside her.

" I pray for your students then. By the way do you have any idea how the pilot class of the new subject will be?" Dylan changed the topic. "Your class was chosen in that program right?"

"They'll be fine I guess. And as you said the brats of my advisory will do fine. Probably a little better than most." Rebecca said not at least worried. "If the class cannot hold on with some suffering they should just drop out earlier. As the year goes on, things will be harder for the weak. This place had no tolerance for those people." More accurately this country is not kind to us magic users.

Saying that the atmosphere becomes heavy at once. Nobody wants to talk about it, but what can they do? It is indeed in the rules.

No matter how outstanding a child is, if they don't have what it takes they will ultimately lead despair to themselves. The country needs more manpower, people with abilities to hold the country high. Even if it sounds cruel, they can do not a thing about it.

Decades ago, Country EA was a mighty county with many colonies all over the world. For a time they had been the central power of the world. The golden age that many people still take pride of and talked about.

But as times went by, everything was changing. One by one the colonies had freed themselves from the country's control. And wars happened too that truly brought blows to their military and economic strength. So it's not surprising that the country was trying their best to once again stand at the peak of power.

Luckily magic has always been a part of the country's culture. Although it was not recognized for many centuries, the popularization of magic gave them hope. Now it was corporated as one of the key components of the educational curricular, and it's standards are ridiculously high. Even if you fail to reach them, they cannot truly be left alone without any prospects by the scope of government's power.

No matter if you had the lowest affinity and ability of using Mana, you cannot escape the government's control over you. One may take jobs as normal people, but the moment the higher ups will call them they have no right to refuse. It's a real tyranny of deciding someone's life.

The aptitude test and the subsequent educational paths that follow after the child's life proves this tight control. As long as there is potential they had to follow what was laid to them like going to schools especially conditioned to influence the future magicians/mages.

Don't call upon human rights for these people's cases. That argument will only fall to deaf ears. The moment one becomes a magic user that ceases to be a normal human in the eyes of the law, therefore different sets of laws apply to them. And under these conditions, all who wield mana will not be able to do anything over the rules as this had been an ironclad thing ever since its establishment.

Due to this restrictive lives magic users lived, there are rebellions once in a while. But in the face of the country who had long expected them, they simply cannot hold long enough to spread their ideals. Instead of freedom they get more heavy chains that they had no more chances to have live a resemblance of a normal life.

Those who lived a life under the rules, they are better off. But still everything they have is limited in many ways. They cannot travel without any detailed papers that allow them, they cannot refuse an order from the government should their services be called, their whole family are to be monitored in ways privacy is almost nonexistent. Unless they have some sort of privilege to pull or abilities that exceed the scope that the government currently has, most magic users lived in shackled lives unknowingly due to the conditioning they all had since young.

"Hey do you think your batch of students will last long with how things are?" Rebecca said as she mulls over the sad memory. Flashes of her favored class and favored students all falling apart from all the things they all went through

"No one knows. All I can do is prepare my kids for the upcoming storms." Dylan sighed heavily. "At least this school recognized the need and made ample changes. I heard the other schools still haven't made changes over their curricular. Although the government hasn't passed a bill or law regarding it, any initiative is more than appreciated by the higher ups."

"Even if the effort was appreciated, ultimately producing the next powerful puppets are the country's Ultimate goal." Rebecca said carelessly.

"Hey don't say such a thing!" Dylan strongly warned his fellow teacher. He turned around to see if there are people who heard their conversations.

"Do you want to be punished for your words? Remember what happened last time? I don't want to see such a thing again." Dylan reminds her of a colleague who got ransacked over the same subject.

"Don't worry about it, they cannot touch me. If they do I'll be they won't be able to afford the consequences." Rebecca reassured the man.

"Are you sure you're not that indispensable?" Dylan was frustrated with Rebecca's indomitable spirit. "Even the oldest staff here had been taught a lesson for saying things that shouldn't be said.

"....well it's true that I am not irreplaceable, at this period or at least in a few years they cannot do anything to me." Rebecca acknowledged her weakness. "But contrary to my realistic and practical actions. I wish for some changes for the future. I hope not to make another set of war weapons which I will cry tears for."

Dylan sighs sadly over Rebecca's statement. Who doesn't want to have a free conscience? Unfortunately for those who choose the profession of teachers, they had to shape their contribution to the society as this.

"Let's not talk about it anymore. Who knows when that time will come anyway." Dylan said trying not to be too invested with their current topic. It's a load of landmines that he wishes not to step into at least for a long time. "Am I the last teacher you get to ask about your students?"

"I still haven't asked Nelson. His class with them is the last. So maybe I'll get to it in the assembly tonight." Rebecca said as she looked on her watch. "I'm sure his first class with them will end up late. He needs to gauge the brats well to make proper lessons for them. Who told him to take a pilot class."

"That guy. I don't know if he is lucky or unlucky to land himself on that subject." Dylan clicked his tongue and then smiled like a rogue. "It's his specialty, but I remember he left his old job because he didn't want to use it at all. I'm sure he'll have problems on the parameters the school will make him mind in teaching his students. I remember being in the same situation five years ago, I almost got bald ripping my hairs off my head. The whole administration was like breathing on my neck for the whole year I held the class."

"That interpretation is up to Nelson, you do not need to speculate about it." Rebecca was a little sorry for the guy. She also had the same experience and same complaints, but for her salary she just kept it to herself. "All we can hope is that the brats will survive him well."

"That I hope so too."