"Eh?!" xN
Everyone in the workers' office was stunned at first, then looked at each other and burst into smiles.
"No way."
"Yeah, if he weren't a noble, how could he use magic?"
"That's right. Teacher Dak is really down-to-earth, joking with us like this."
The murmurs made Dak realize that none of them actually believed him.
After thinking for a moment, Dak glanced down at the luxurious white suit he was wearing.
'So that's why.'
Dak himself wasn't fond of wearing such restrictive clothing.
He wore these clothes just so that the students would assume he was a "noble," making it easier for him to teach when he first arrived at the school.
After all, these students probably wouldn't want to be taught by a commoner—that would make them feel like they were beneath a commoner.
You could say—
The reason Dak was so respected by so many students at the magic academy now had a lot to do with this suit, especially at the beginning.
But now, things were different.
The students had already come to understand his teaching ability and realized just how far below Dak they were in terms of strength.
Although nobles were all without exception proud and had strong egos, many of them were able to accept their own shortcomings with grace, even when facing a commoner.
Some noble families taught their children: "Boldly acknowledging one's shortcomings is a fundamental quality a noble should possess."
One clear example from the original story was Guiche de Gramont, son of the Marshal of Tristain.
When the protagonist Saito Hiraga first appeared, Guiche looked down on this commoner.
But later—
Saito exposed Guiche's two-timing behavior, which enraged him and led to a one-on-one real-man showdown.
At first, Saito was being completely beaten up, until he grasped the sword and activated the power of "Gandálfr," defeating Guiche.
Guiche then immediately acknowledged his defeat and recognized Saito as a friend, later helping him multiple times.
Taking this into account, Dak didn't mind revealing that he wasn't a noble now.
If one were to really argue about status—
There was truly no one in this world with a status higher than Dak's.
"You all know that I'm someone from another world, right? You've probably heard the students mention this rumor?"
Dak looked at the respectful and humble expressions of the people in front of him and felt a bit uncomfortable.
The class divide between nobles and commoners in this world was even more rigid than Dak had imagined.
Trying to change that wouldn't be something that could be done in just a year or two.
Back on Pokémon Island—
Most people showed him great respect as well.
But their behavior wasn't humble or servile—they would even occasionally offer small gifts out of genuine respect.
As for these people, their reverence was more toward Dak's "noble" status; they likely didn't hold much sincere respect in their hearts.
"Umm… yes."
The group exchanged glances again, then one of them responded somewhat nervously.
They were afraid Dak would think they had been eavesdropping.
"In our world, everyone is equal in status. You could say that everyone is a commoner. There's no concept of nobility."
"Really?"
As soon as Dak finished speaking, Shesta, who was standing closest to him, asked with curiosity.
The girl's black eyes sparkled with hope and yearning.
At sixteen, she was at an age where she was easily swayed, so whether what Dak said was true or not, she was inclined to believe it.
"Mm, really."
Dak nodded solemnly once more and took off the cloak on his shoulder that symbolized his identity as a "noble" and "magician."
"Teacher Dak isn't a noble?!"
"He's not a noble but still knows magic—this is amazing!"
"I remember hearing the Duke's daughter say before that in Teacher Dak's world, everyone can learn magic."
"So even without being a noble, you can still gain the respect of those nobles."
Once Dak set aside his "noble" status, the entire mood of the workers' office lightened up—it wasn't as stiff as before.
The group started chatting freely, and a few younger boys and girls even mustered up the courage to gather around Dak and ask him all sorts of questions.
Dak didn't mind and was happy to chat with them for a while longer.
You could say—
From this moment on, Dak had already become an idol to this group, giving them a little more confidence when facing the noble students.
Later, Dak was even invited to stay for dinner.
In reality, the meal consisted of some milk and rather tough bread slices, along with a bit of steak and cloyingly sweet butter.
This was already quite a good dinner for commoners.
Only those working at a magic academy funded by countless nobles could eat such a "luxurious" dinner.
Initially, they worried that Dak might look down on the meal.
After all, as a teacher, Dak could eat in the staff cafeteria and enjoy all sorts of nutrient-rich meat and vegetables.
But Dak showed no sign of disdain at all, which eased their minds.
In truth, Dak didn't find the meal particularly enjoyable.
It wasn't tasty—just edible.
The culinary development of this world definitely couldn't compare to that of the world of seafaring.
Even compared to the shinobi world, it was quite backward. Many basic seasonings were missing.
Though there were some special ingredients here that couldn't be found in other worlds—
Adding them directly didn't improve the taste much. Perhaps in the hands of the great chefs from the seafaring world, they could become excellent seasonings.
This showed that this world at least had potential in culinary talent.
Luckily, Dak wasn't a foodie and didn't have high demands when it came to food. To avoid making the others uncomfortable, he simply ate a bit more.
The other workers couldn't tell what Dak was truly thinking and genuinely relaxed around him.
They chatted freely at the table and told Dak many stories about what had happened at the academy.
At first, Dak thought they'd just be idle gossip, something to listen to for fun.
But unexpectedly, some of it turned out to be quite useful.
These workers had the most contact with the noble children—some of them had even been servants at noble estates before joining the academy.
From what they told him—
Dak gained a general understanding of the various noble families in Tristain.
As he expected, most noble families in Tristain were relatively gentle and treated the commoners in their territories well.
However, there were a few exceptions who were downright twisted, always coming up with strange ideas and having terrible reputations among commoners.
One particular count's second son even liked to prey on underage girls.
Dak memorized the names of these families.
There was no need to wait—he'd eliminate these nobles in the next few nights.
By the time the news reached the commoners at the magic academy, it would be at least a month later—hard to associate the acts with "the teacher who stayed at the academy all the time."
At the same time, this experience made Dak pay more attention to the commoners.
Some information could only be known by the commoners—nobles might cover for one another.
That was something Dak had overlooked.
Although Dak believed that Long, as the leader of the Gekko Army—a force built on a "commoner" foundation—shouldn't make such an obvious mistake...
He decided it was still worth reminding him: valuable information about the nobles of Albion could be gleaned from these servant commoners.
...
August 29, Sunday.
Two days had passed.
The academy staff who used to bow when they saw him now greeted him warmly.
Some young people even came to his morning class—not to attend the first Ice-type Magic class, but the second Familiar Breeding class.
Probably because on Saturday—
He had told Shesta that perhaps in the future, his world might be connected to theirs, and people could travel between the two worlds.
Previously, Dak had also told them about the popularity of Trainers and the cultural dominance of Pokémon on Pokémon Island.
Naturally, these boys and girls, full of fantasies about exploring another world, had started preparing for their future journeys.
As for the older staff members, they didn't come.
One reason was that they didn't believe they could ever travel to another world.
Another was that even if such a portal did open in the future, they felt they didn't have the energy to go exploring.
Now, Dak's Familiar Breeding class had become one of the school's most popular courses.
The attendees ranged from first-years to third-year students, teachers, and staff, and occasionally even visiting nobles from Tristain who came to check on their children would sit in on the class.
Every weekend morning, dozens to over a hundred people gathered in Westley Square.
And today was the day he was going to teach everyone the Rock-type weather move "Sandstorm."
Among the four major elemental magic attributes—
Fire and Earth were the most common ones among nobles.
These two elements represented high-damage blazing spears and solid defensive shields, respectively.
They appeared frequently among the right-hand men of the royal families in the Six Kingdoms, with people like Guiche's Marshal father and Chuluk's mother, Duchess Zelprecht, as examples.
Wind and Water, on the other hand, were more like royal elements.
Wind represented sharp aggression and dominance, while Water stood for gentleness and control.
Representatives included—
Wales, the last royal bloodline of Albion.
Tabitha's father, the former heir of the Golia royal family, and Tabitha herself.
And in the original story, Louise, who became the second heir to the throne of Tristain after losing her Void magic and reawakening her magic attribute.
All these "royals" awakened Wind-type magic.
Interestingly, almost all these Wind-type royals faced great obstacles and hardships in life.
In contrast, Water-type royals generally had smooth and straightforward paths to kingship, mostly succeeding by direct inheritance.
Representatives included—
The future Queen of Tristain, Henrietta.
The King of the largest kingdom, Germania—Decker.
And the King of the kingdom of Trzemania, Belguard.
As for the current leaders of Romania and Golia—Pope the Thirty-Second and Joseph—both were Void users.
Void symbolized uniqueness and destiny.
(End of Chapter)
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