Three days later.
Shiga, accompanied by an Elven female teacher responsible for academic affairs, made his way to the training field. Today, he would meet the students of Class 13, the class he was responsible for, and give them their first physical fitness lesson.
As he walked, Shiga turned his head, glancing around. Although he had taken a rough tour of the academy the day before with Fyria, everything here still felt new and fascinating to him.
Back in his tribe, he had shown his talent from a young age and was trained in the warrior camp, where he also received basic education in reading and writing.
The schools he remembered were places where trainees would shout slogans while running or practice sparring with wooden sticks on the training grounds, with the entire camp echoing with the mighty roars of Orc warriors.
But here, he saw magnificent and beautifully designed buildings, students in neat uniforms, boys wearing neckties, and girls in long skirts with pleated edges, walking in groups, carrying books. A gentle breeze blew through the garden, swaying the roses and violets.
It was truly an eye-opener for him.
The only issue was the attitude of the people here towards him.
From a distance, he saw two Elven girls walking out of the teaching building, chatting and laughing. As soon as their eyes met his, their expressions froze, and their smiles quickly faded, replaced by growing fear.
Then, they both quickly turned around and rushed back to the building, glancing back at him in fear, as if worried he might suddenly chase after them. One of them ran so fast she tripped on the stairs and stumbled.
Not only that, but Shiga also noticed many eyes from the nearby buildings, peering out of the windows. It seemed like the students were gathering by the windows, discussing him.
"Wow, he's huge. His arms are probably as thick as my waist. No wonder they're the kind of race that uses all their brainpower to grow muscle."
"Tsk tsk, bet that job requires arms that big..."
"Do you think the academic director will be okay walking alone with him?"
"She should be more worried about herself. If she runs into him, I don't want to think about it..."
"Why is he allowed to walk around so casually on campus without a chain or anything?"
"Who cares? Don't look at his size; one spell would knock him down."
...
Shiga couldn't hear the full content of these discussions, but he could tell from their attitudes that his arrival wasn't exactly welcomed by the students.
Although the propaganda during the war had painted a bad picture of him, this kind of reaction was still a bit surprising to Shiga.
And it didn't seem like it was just the students.
He shifted his gaze to the Elven teacher walking beside him, and as soon as she realized he was looking, she visibly flinched.
"This academy is really big. It takes at least five minutes to walk from the dorms to the training field," Shiga casually remarked.
"Yes..." The teacher forced a smile.
"The facilities are really well-equipped. With this scale, it's no wonder it's the top academy in the Alliance. I can see you've really invested a lot in education," Shiga said politely.
"Of course, after all, the new era has to be led by the younger generation," the teacher awkwardly chuckled.
"Can I ask you a few questions, miss?" Shiga asked.
"Of course. I'm here to answer any questions you have about the academy," the teacher replied courteously.
"Why have you been keeping such a distance from me?" Shiga asked, noticing the teacher had been walking more than five meters away and constantly eyeing him warily.
"Please, please don't mind it!" The teacher hurriedly waved her hands. "I just... I was late this morning and didn't have time to wash up properly. I'm a bit untidy, and I was afraid you might think it rude..."
No, deliberately keeping this distance is even more rude, Shiga thought.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're shaking," Shiga asked with concern.
"I'm fine, fine, I'm just a little cold since I didn't dress warmly enough this morning..." The teacher forced a smile.
"But you're sweating on your face," Shiga pointed out.
"Is... is it? Ah, haha... I was rushing this morning and didn't even have time to dry my face after washing it," the teacher quickly wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Your face is still red," Shiga observed.
"Fresh and energetic!" the teacher responded nervously.
"What's with the redness then?"
"Anti-cold wax!" she quickly explained.
It's almost May and summer is approaching, why are you still using wax?
Shiga thought to himself, these Elves are really delicate.
"Ah! Look, you can see the basic academy's training field from here!" The teacher desperately tried to change the subject.
Shiga looked ahead and indeed saw the wide, level training field through the fence, with students walking around on the field.
"Thank you for showing me the way, miss. I'll go prepare for my class now..." Shiga said while turning to look beside him, only to realize the teacher had already disappeared.
He turned around and saw her quickly running away, shouting over her shoulder at an unusually fast pace, "I have some errands to run, good luck with your work today! Goodbye!!"
It's clear she's avoiding me… No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. She could just be feeling a little unwell, maybe even a stomach ache?
Shiga watched her retreating figure with some sympathy.
At that moment, he heard a calm bell ring. Yesterday, Fyria had explained to him that there would be a preparatory bell five minutes before the first class each day.
The students on the training field had already started to line up. It seemed like these were the students of Class 13, ready for their physical fitness class.
Not bad, their discipline seems alright, Shiga thought to himself.
Just as he was about to walk over, he suddenly caught something in his peripheral vision, and a chill ran down his spine.
He turned to look and saw a dove perched on a nearby tree, staring directly at him.
As an experienced warrior and hunter, Shiga was very sensitive to being watched, whether it was by humanoid creatures or wild animals.
This dove gave him an uncomfortable feeling, though he couldn't quite place why.
After a moment of thought, he bent down and picked up a small stone from the ground.
The dove seemed to sense something and flapped its wings, ready to fly away.
But it was too late. With a flick of his strong fingers, the stone flew in a trajectory that was almost impossible to follow, striking the dove perfectly and killing it instantly.
Shiga casually caught the falling bird, weighed it in his hand, then stuffed it into his waist pouch.
I'll roast it later as a little snack, he thought, as he made his way toward the training field.
Meanwhile, in the principal's office, Fyria was staring at a dimming crystal ball, her face filled with frustration as she rubbed her forehead. "What is that idiot Orc doing?"
Today was Shiga's first day as a teacher, and of course, Fyria was worried about potential issues.
As the new principal, she had a lot on her plate, but even so, she had quietly sent a familiar to keep an eye on Shiga, so she could intervene if he caused any problems. In a sense, this was also a form of her looking out for him.
However, before the class even started, Shiga had already treated the familiar as prey. The last image the familiar's eyes sent to the crystal ball was of Shiga flicking a stone at it, and then the crystal ball's image shook and disappeared.
"Trying to use a familiar to spy on him is harder than I thought. His instincts are incredibly sharp. Even I failed to ambush him back then," a lazy voice suddenly echoed in the office.