The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 60

[To all the teachers currently employed at Amonis Academy by the Imperial Ministry of Education, this is a notice regarding the ongoing, highly confidential teacher evaluation system. We are informing you of your evaluations according to this system.]

Amon narrowed his eyes.

A highly confidential teacher evaluation system?

‘When exactly did they do something like this?’

But he quickly figured it out.

‘Right. Not long ago, there was an inter-academy competition, wasn’t there? The inspectors from the royal family attended at that time.’

It was probably then that they evaluated the teachers. Having deduced that, Amon continued reading the letter.

[Anar’el, Headmaster]

[Excellent – Encourage the current management to be maintained]

Upon reading this, sparks flew from Amon’s eyes.

‘What is this nonsensical evaluation?’

Anar’el is excellent? That’s impossible.

How could the headmaster, who insulted and mocked him as a fool, be considered excellent?

‘This is why people in higher positions get away with everything, always sticking together and profiting.’

Though it didn’t look like it at all, Anar’el, the head of Amonis Academy, was a high-ranking official within the Empire.

As mentioned, it didn’t seem that way, but it was a fact.

‘If I had to compare, she would be equivalent to nobles like earls or marquises. And I’ve heard that she has known the crazy emperor for a long time…’

That must be why Anar’el received the “excellent” evaluation.

Amon, who couldn’t hide his disdain for the widespread corruption within the Empire, moved on to the next line.

[Brestle, Vice-Headmaster]

[Excellent – Encourage the current management to be maintained]

Amon dropped his jaw.

‘What kind of crazy talk is this!’

Brestle, who had nearly ruined the academy’s finances for some wyvern oil, is considered excellent?

‘That dark elf almost destroyed the academy’s finances just to get wyvern oil!’

It was understandable that the headmaster would be at the center of corruption and scandal, but how could the vice-headmaster also receive such an evaluation?

‘Something’s terribly wrong here. Are the inspectors blind?’

Could it be that the vice-headmaster has some strong backing as well?

Sighing over the dark future of the Empire, Amon continued reading.

[Marion Rumdom]

[Serious Concern – Regular abstinence and self-discipline needed]

[Recommended Action – Salary cut and a written apology required]

Amon nodded.

‘Finally, a proper evaluation has come up.’

It seemed that even the inspectors with eyes like holes in a log could sometimes make sharp judgments.

Of course, since the academy was a rather independent institution, unless the headmaster took action, recommendations would be useless.

‘But the bad evaluations circulating within the royal court won’t have a good long-term impact.’

Even if no action is taken immediately, every journey starts with a single step!

‘Heh heh, senior Marion. You teased me so much, but this is your fate.’

The next evaluation was for Sloth.

[Sloth Pid]

[Serious Concern – Due to lazy tendencies, difficulty in fulfilling teaching duties]

[Recommended Action – Salary cut and self-reflection]

Amon smacked his knee.

‘Of course!’

Nodding as if he understood, Amon muttered.

“It seems like the headmaster and vice-headmaster elves were evaluated by blind inspectors, but Marion, my senior, was evaluated by someone who’s truly awake. This is the Empire for you.”

Amon, filled with patriotic pride, quickly turned his attention to the next section.

‘…So the last one is my evaluation.’

Swallowing, Amon took a deep breath before reading his own evaluation.

[Amon Drake]

[Excellent – Demonstrates a correct philosophy of education and diligently guides students. A promising young educator with great potential. Maintain current status.]

A tear rolled down Amon’s cheek.

“Looks like justice really does prevail.”

With such a truthful and fair evaluation, Amon muttered.

“This is the Empire.”

Though he didn’t like the emperor, Amon’s chest swelled with patriotism for the Empire itself as he suddenly re-read the letter.

Under his evaluation, something more was written.

[Teacher Amon Drake is awarded a reward and prize from the Imperial Ministry of Education.]

[Reward – 300 gold coins.]

[Prize – A pocket watch engraved with the Imperial symbol.]

300 gold coins as a reward!

No wonder his pocket felt heavy; the pocket watch was also included in the pocket.

‘A pocket watch engraved with the Imperial symbol…’

A black pocket watch, with an engraving of the dragon, the Empire’s symbol.

‘It looks incredibly expensive.’

Though he was dying to sell it, it was an item engraved with the symbol of the Empire.

And selling something given by the royal family would cost him his life.

‘I’ll have to be satisfied with the watch itself. It’s not like I’ll use it…but I’ll keep it as a souvenir for being recognized as a great teacher.’

With a satisfied face, Amon strapped the pocket watch to his waist but then furrowed his brows.

‘…Huh?’

There was something else written on the back page.

‘Why is there so much written here?’

As Amon read the writing on the back page, he widened his eyes in surprise.

[The 300 gold coins reward is given to all teachers listed, with the excellent teacher receiving it first, to be distributed equally among the teachers listed.]

[Thus, excellent teachers are awarded with a prize and honor, while those with insufficient evaluations are encouraged to make efforts in the future.]

[Imperial Ministry of Education.]

Understanding the meaning of the words, Amon hurriedly tried to tear up the letter.

‘Evidence! Let’s destroy the evidence!’

He had been awarded 300 gold coins with his impeccable educational philosophy, and there was no way he would share it with anyone else!

However, just as Amon was about to tear up the letter, his cheek began to twitch.

‘But if I tear this…’

If he destroyed the letter, he would have to suffer the mockery of Marion and Sloth, who had insulted him.

‘But… is it worth sacrificing 300 gold to get my revenge…?’

Torn between hoarding the gold and seeking revenge, Amon sighed deeply.

Buuuk-!

After tearing up the letter, Amon smiled slyly.

‘Yeah, insults will be forgotten one day. But 300 gold will stay.’

Gold is an unchanging, eternal symbol of wealth!

Thus, Amon, having decisively let go of his desire for revenge, tossed the torn letter into the trash can.

Clunk-!

With a loud bang, the door burst open, and Marion entered with a beaming smile.

“Amon! Did you see the letter?”

Marion was holding the same letter Amon had just read.

‘…Damn it! It wasn’t just for me!?’

Shocked but quickly hiding the pouch with the gold coins, Amon feigned innocence.

“Eh? What letter?”

“Heh heh heh! Don’t try to hide the pouch! Looks like you’ve already seen the letter.”

Marion stretched out his hand.

“Now, enough talk. Hand it over. 300 gold, right? If we split it, that’s 100 gold each.”

“…”

At that moment, Sloth ran in as well.

“Amon! Hand over my gold!”

“…”

“Hey, I was looking at a new sword recently, and now I’ve got this extra money. It was a little awkward to ask my family for money.”

“…”

Amon’s cheek twitched in frustration.

His colleagues, who had received terrible evaluations from the Imperial Ministry of Education, didn’t care at all and were only focused on the gold!

Judging by their actions, teasing them about their evaluations would have been pointless.

Amon, tears streaming down his face, shared the gold coins with the deadbeats.

“Hey, Amon. We’re short by three coins. Give me more.”

“…You’re just going to drink with it anyway.”

“If I say I’ll buy the drinks with my money, what’s it to you?”

“Hey, why are you secretly taking five coins from me?”

“…Sloth, you have plenty of money at home.”

“Plenty at home, not that I have a lot!”

A moment later Amon sat down with a face like a merchant who had been robbed by bandits.

He had been robbed, after all.

‘To lose 200 gold coins with my eyes wide open…’

Amon, trembling, tucked the now one-third-sized pouch into his chest.

‘At least I still have 100 gold left, so it’s a relief…’

It was at that moment.

“Senior Amon!”

“Ahh!”

Suddenly, Kai entered, and Amon panicked, clutching the pouch in his chest.

“T-This brat! Knock before you enter!”

“The… the door was open though.”

“Still!”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful, senior.”

Amon, glancing at the apologizing Kai, spoke.

“Did you come for your gold coins too?”

“Pardon? Ah, no.”

“…Tch.”

Amon sighed and spoke again.

“Well, there’s been some… stuff going on, and the Ministry of Education is giving out gold coins as a reward.”

Kai awkwardly smiled at those words.

“Stuff? What do you mean?”

“Just… stuff. Anyway, we’re supposed to share it among the teachers, but it looks like it’s only for the teachers on the list.”

“R-Really?”

Amon clicked his tongue.

“There was a secret teacher evaluation, but you weren’t around for that.”

“…I see.”

During the exchange event, Kai had not yet been assigned as a teacher. That’s why he wasn’t on the evaluation list.

“Anyway, that’s how it is…”

Amon sighed deeply from the bottom of his heart and took out the pouch.

“Well, it feels a bit off not giving you anything, so…”

“…Huh?”

Amon, his hands trembling, opened the pouch. He pulled out some gold coins and handed them to Kai.

“Y-You can have some too.”

“…”

3 gold.

Kai stared intently at the gold coins placed in his palm.

At this reaction, Amon’s jaw trembled.

“Is… is it not enough?”

“…”

“Do you want more…?”

Amon, trying to be generous, took out another gold coin and placed it in Kai’s hand.

Even then, Kai remained unresponsive!

‘So this guy is also a money-obsessed maniac…’

In the end, Amon, with tears in his eyes, took out one more gold coin and handed it to Kai.

Only then did Kai, now gripping all 5 gold coins, smile broadly.

“I’ll gratefully accept it, senior.”

“…Right…”

“Then I’ll be off now… Ah!”

As Kai turned to leave, he briefly glanced back at Amon and smiled.

“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. And that pocket watch, it suits you.”

With those words, Kai left the room.

Left alone, Amon stood still for a moment, tightly securing the pouch back into his chest, muttering to himself.

“Who’s acting all high and mighty when they didn’t even give me the pocket watch?”

Grumbling, Amon flopped onto his bed.

‘Anyway, I managed to keep the 95 gold safe. Adding the wages I’ve saved up, I should have about 100 gold in total.’

Thinking about the large sum of 100 gold he now had, Amon smirked.

‘Come to think of it, summer break is coming up soon, right?’

When he visited his fief before, he returned with just over 1 gold, but this time, he was going back with 100 times that amount.

“This is what you call a golden return.”