The First-year Teachers

"Just what did you say?"

Ophelia frowned upon hearing that Mika admitted his defeat.

"I could ask you the same. Isn't it obvious that I lost?"

"Huh? Are you perhaps mocking me?"

"And it seems like you're trying to take pity on me!"

Angered by the other, the two clashed their foreheads.

"I've used up all my power back then! With my rusty sword, I won't be able to deal damage!"

"Are you trying to protect my pride as a S rank with that kind of an excuse?!"

Their foreheads rubbed fiercely against each other with their annoyance towards the other increasing.

"Your pride? I couldn't care less about that! I'm just stating the truth so just accept your win already!"

Ophelia frowned even more.

"Geez! I lost and that's it, okay?!"

"No, you- Ugh!"

Having had enough of this discussion, she slammed him down with a punch on the head.

She turned her back on him and created an oval portal that was big enough to fit a person in it.

"I'll go out first. This gate will close after you enter it."

She looked back for the last time.

Mika was on the ground holding his head in pain.

She put a small glass bottle, which contained green liquid in it, on the ground.

"Drink this healing potion before you leave."

A gentle smirk crept on her face.

"I'm looking forward to the next few years…" she said quietly.

Thus, she excused herself and vanished.

There was a moment of silence.

But that silence did not last long.

[Congratulations, you have cleared the quest.]

"How many times do I have to say it? I've lost."

[You will now receive the following reward: The right to change a quest once.]

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

[If you ever find yourself in a position where you are dissatisfied with a quest, you may use this right to request a change. However, you cannot decide what will be changed.]

"…"

It did not matter anymore. He had to accept this.

[Do you know who Ophelia Ross is? She can use S-rank-level lightning magic and in addition to that, she possesses one of the 66 relics. She may be still a bit young but even then, she fought in countless battles.]

[She has more battle experience than you. If she says that you've won, then you've won.]

"…"

Mika was lying on the ground as he stared into the dark emptiness above him.

"It still feels bitter…" he grumbled tiredly.

An hour passed until Mika finally left the grounds and returned to his inn.

In the meantime, Ophelia, who finished taking a quick shower and healing herself with a healing potion, sat with three other people at a big round table in a conference room of the academy.

The people at the table all wore the same attire as Ophelia. A golden robe covering their torsos' upper halves and white military uniforms beneath it. In addition, they all had the same amount of badges on their chests.

The room was filled with silence as the people went through the documents they had in their hands.

"Hey Ophelia, are you okay? You look more tired than usual."

A woman with the same age as Ophelia stood right beside her.

She had long golden hair, whose ends were wavy, and like a puppy, she stared with her light blue eyes at Ophelia.

"We're working right now. So get back to your seat, Cindy."

Ophelia tried to hush her away with her hand.

"Gosh, don't be so cold! Can't I worry about my bestie?" she pouted childishly.

Hearing that, Ophelia's face reddened in embarrassment.

"Wha-"

"Ahem!"

The man, who seemed like he was in his forties, cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner to signal them to be silent.

"Ms. Ross is right. We still have a lot to do so please return to your work, Ms. Werensten."

It was Erwin Linster, who called out Cindy Werensten for her behavior.

He had a crafty body and black hair that was slicked back. He wore glasses, but those did not help to make his overall facial expression less intimidating.

"You don't have to be so uptight, you know? No wonder that you're still single, Mr. Four-eyes…" she muttered annoyed.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Erwin slammed the table with his hands aggressively.

"No… Calm down, Erwin… She's just a child stuck in a woman's body…" he talked to himself as he gritted his teeth.

"Hey! Who are you calling a child?!"

While Ophelia sighed at the sight of her colleagues bickering again, the fourth person in the room just peacefully drank his cup of tea.

"Can you take your fighting somewhere else? This is a place for working."

"B-but he started it, Ophelia!"

"What?! You damn brat!"

"We're not the only ones in this room."

"?"

"Hm?"

Ophelia massaged her forehead with her fingers. It was both embarrassing and uncomfortable for her to be seen involved in such a silliness by the fourth person.

With her eyes, she signaled to the person across from her.

Following her eyes, Erwin and Cindy turned their heads to the person.

Erwin's eyes widened and he straightened his posture.

"M-Mr. Arma! I deeply apologize for showing you something so pitiful!" Erwin apologized anxiously as he bowed his head.

"H-hey, you! Apologize, too!" he ordered Cindy.

Then, the person put his cup down.

"Haha, no need to apologize! It's quite entertaining for me to watch you interact with each other! Is this what they call youth nowadays?"

Despite just having taken a sip from his cup, his voice still sounded sore.

Ralph Arma.

He was a man, who was well over 80 years old. His grey beard was as long as his grey hair that reached the end of his robe.

Compared to Erwin, he was scrawny and had wrinkles all over his body.

In his hands was always his wooden staff, which supported him when he was walking.

"Ahem…"

This time it was Ophelia, who cleared her throat.

"Back to the initial topic…"

Everyone's gazes fell on her.

"I assume that everyone went through the class assignments of the new students. So the only thing left to discuss is to decide which class every single one of us wants to teach."

Erwin was the first one to give his opinion.

"Well, since Mr. Arma and I decided last year, you two can choose before us this time."

"Then, I want to go first! I want to teach the red class!" Cindy stated energetically as she raised her hand.

"The red class? As you got the right to choose first, why not choose the golden class?" Erwin asked.

"The golden class? You're joking, right? That would be too much pressure for me… I mean, I can't even imagine myself surrounded by those types of students…" she explained as she scratched the back of her head.

Erwin sighed.

"Fine… What about you, Ms. Ross? Do you want to teach the red class, too? Or do you want to teach the golden class?"

Ophelia looked at the list of the members of each class.

She made up her mind a long time ago, however, it could not hurt to see who was in which class.

"This year's black class will be quite flooded with students, huh?"

"Yes. If it wasn't for a certain person taking on such a ridiculous bet, the class wouldn't be so stacked, of course."

"Hey, four-eyes! Don't bully my Ophelia!"

Ophelia grinned from one ear to the other.

"Well, I guess I must take responsibility for my mistake." she declared carefreely as she shrugged her shoulders

"…"

"What?! Ophelia are you sure?!"

Even the laid-back Ralph turned stern at her comment.

"Yes."

"You do know that that class is just a place for the bottom feeder of this academy, right?" Erwin warned her in spite of instigating her in the beginning.

The class for the unqualified ones.

The class for the inept mages.

"I, Ophelia Ross, …."

She put her hand on her chest as she made her declaration.