The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

, I know you two were reluctant, but please perform your duties properly.”

“But Professor Trace… Aren’t our preparation duties supposed to be over yesterday?”

“I tried to get us general audience seats, but then Hornel… tricked us into working on another thing, you see.
Seriously, he’s such a slave driver.”

“Oh, so that’s what it was.
Consider that to be a display of Mister Hornel’s capabilities, then.”

Trace smiled as she stole a glance at Hornel, then turned on her heel and walked toward the backstage.

“Bah… isn’t it about time the people came in? Let’s hurry up and get back to-“

Just as Midors was about to finish his sentence, a loud shout came from the direction of the entrance.

“Hey there! Doin’ a good job here! Idéa! Midors!”

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The two turned around upon hearing a voice they recognized.
What they first saw was Tzar, jumping out of the bag on Lala’s back.
And then Bruce, who was giving Lala a piggyback ride.
Anri and Claris also noticed them, and were happy to see some familiar faces.

“”Sir Bruce, Sir Blazer!””

In the same manner as Bruce, Blazer appeared with Natsu on his shoulders, followed by Haruhana, Itsuki, and Ryan walking in behind them.

Midors, due to all the strangeness of the scene, had a drop of cold sweat run down his face.

“Hey… the hell’s going on?”

“Looks like a well-trained group.
Especially the man in the back – he’s crazy strong.”

Idéa seemed to have the same impression as Midors had.

Bruce and the others, after stating that they were here as visitors, greeted the two before passing by them.

“Please use this, sir.”

Claris passed Ryan a quill pen.

“Thank you.”

Claris blushed in response to Ryan’s gentle smile at her.
Anri, breathless from the disbelief of what she was seeing, nudged Claris with her elbow.

“H-hey? Claris, you doing all right?”

“Huhu, huhuhu… I must say that older men are quite fascinating… Like *Sir* Asley.
Like Sir Ryan here…”

Claris, enchanted, read out the name that had just been signed in the registration book.

Seeing such behavior, Anri continued to say, exasperatedly,

“Shouldn’t Asley be around the same age as us, though? I mean, I get where you’re coming from, but… Oh, looks like it’s about time.”

“Apparently so.
Let us get going.”

~~Magic University Central School Building, Nine O’clock in the Morning, First Day of the Fourth Month~~

By this time, all the bustle within the Maginasium had died down.

Particularly because, the Magic University staff, led by Headmaster Tangalán, were now all seated on the stage.

Irene, Trace, Lina and Hornel could be seen among them.

Following the lead of Lina, the Student Council President, the current students and lecturers stood up.

They proceeded to sing the University anthem in unison, accompanied by the melody from the piano.

“Lost our arms may be, we shall march on,

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Lost our limbs may be, we shall march on,

For wills of our ancestors, the passionate souls,

For hearts of might and magic, the lights of hope,

To the ends of the Black and White Chain,

Beilanea, Beilanea,

Ahh, our alma mater, of might and magic, of might and magic”

Although the students were singing in perfect unison, Bruce grumbled as he watched on from the back row of the general audience seating area.

“I don’t think I can bring myself to sing THIS out loud, man.”

　◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

After the University anthem was the introduction of the Freshmen’s homeroom teacher, Headmaster Tangalán’s ceremonial address, and then congratulatory speeches from guest speakers, which happened to be Dragan and Jacob this year.

During Lina’s welcome speech as the student representative, she not only gave a performance befitting of a Student Council President, but also displayed the great extent of her education in her form, words, knowledge, and experience – all of which surprised Ryan and the others greatly.

Reid and Mana shed a tear at the sight of their little sister’s eloquent speech in the spotlight, and Adolf had his face turn beet red as he kept his eyes on Lina.

Natsu and Itsuki’s eyes sparkled with admiration, and Lala was… asleep, exhausted from working the fields so early in the morning.

Reyna held Ryan’s hands as they both smiled, while Blazer and Bruce were moved to tears, the former keeping his voice down, and the latter cheering as loudly as he could.

Lina noticed them, of course, and did not miss the opportunity to reference it,

“Let us turn these voices of joy into a driving force for our lifelong pursuit of self-improvement,” she wrapped up her speech beautifully.

The applause she received was not out of courtesy, but a genuine compliment that shook the whole assembly, and emotionally moved Tifa as she observed from the Freshmen’s designated seats as well.

Then it was time for the Freshman representative, Tifa, to get on the stage.
Although she had enrolled under the alias of Tina, upon being assured of her safety by Lina, she had requested to correct it under the guise of it being a misprint.

It went without saying that Trace had been perfectly understanding and cooperative with the process.

Tifa’s sluggish and apathetic delivery of her speech has made the people think of her to be ‘unsophisticated’ as their first impression, but regardless, they encouraged her on with a wholesome round of applause.

The fact that she had a Familiar with her has attracted the attention of prospective attendants, their whispers of exciting speculation cropping up throughout the Maginasium.

Ryan and the others looked on with smiles of all their faces.

The ceremony ended without incident, and then, just as Asley and Lina had years ago, Tifa and the Freshmen followed Trace’s lead to their classroom.

Index