Prologue: The Storm Returns

It had been a mere week since the great upheaval—later known as Fejite’s Worst Three Days—had drawn to a close.

At the Alzano Imperial Magic Academy, peaceful days had once again begun to flow, restoring a sense of normalcy.

Of course, the scars left on the students’ hearts by the recent events were deep, far from fully healed.

Yet, at the same time, by overcoming those hardships together, the students had achieved remarkable growth.

And that growth extended even to a certain ability-wielding girl who had once denied her own happiness for the sake of others—

“…Yeah, I get it. But that doesn’t mean everything’s gonna go smoothly… The world ain’t that sweet…”

Lost in aimless thoughts, Glenn suddenly opened his eyes.

In an instant, his vision was filled with a vast, endlessly clear blue sky.

Warm sunlight poured down gently, shimmering with scattered reflections.

A pleasant breeze softly caressed his hair and body as it drifted by.

A peace so serene it made the recent upheaval seem like a lie—

“Still… if it’s those kids… I’ve got a feeling they’ll be just fine. They’ll build the shining future I couldn’t achieve… the dream I couldn’t fulfill…”

It was as if the world itself were blessing Glenn’s premonition.

The sky, the sun, the wind—they all continued to watch over him with infinite gentleness.

“…And so, that’s why this old geezer’s handing everything over to those sturdy kids who’ve grown so much, while I take a nice nap right here!”

Glenn lay sprawled grandly across a bench in the academy’s courtyard.

In short… he was slacking off.

“Tch… what’s with this ‘emergency assembly’ nonsense? Bet it’s just the headmaster or some bigwig council members rounding up the students to drone on with some self-important speech. Ain’t got time for that!”

Grumbling to himself, Glenn yawned, sat up, and glanced around at the quiet surroundings.

As expected, his eyes caught the lingering traces of the fierce battle that had taken place.

The flowerbeds—usually bursting with vibrant blooms, and the lush green lawns of the garden, were now marred with gouged earth and scorched patches, reduced to a pitiful state.

The academy buildings to the east, west, south, and north were steadily being repaired, but the scars of destruction still stood out vividly in places.

Though the sight was painful, it carried no sense of desolation or tragedy.

Butterflies danced over the half-ruined flowerbeds, and the scorched grass and trees were already sprouting new leaves, with signs of life stirring everywhere.

The sound of hammers repairing the buildings echoed ceaselessly throughout the day.

The Alzano Imperial Magic Academy was now pulsating with vigor, moving toward rebirth.

“Man, why not just keep the school closed until the buildings are fixed? Yaaawn… The first term’s almost over anyway, and we’ve got a long vacation coming up… So serious…”

For a moment, Glenn vaguely recalled all the events that had occurred since he’d started as an instructor at the academy—the incidents of the first term.

Thinking about it… honestly, nothing good had happened.

Every month, he’d been dragged into bizarre incidents without a moment to catch his breath. On top of that, Celica’s mansion, where he’d been freeloading, had been obliterated in the recent upheaval. From a life of luxury in a grand estate, Glenn was now, quite literally, homeless.

“Damn it, Celica… What’s with that ‘I’m heading out for some business, so do whatever you want—stay in a hotel or something until the mansion’s rebuilt’ nonsense!? As if I’ve got the cash for a hotel lifestyle! Ever since I came to this academy, it’s been one disaster after another!”

Glenn gnashed his teeth in frustration, but…

“Still, starting from the second term, my dream life’s gonna kick off… Heh heh heh…”

Chuckling to himself, he pulled a slate-shaped magical calculator from his pocket.

“You see… I’ve finally set in motion the long-planned ‘Project: G’! If this plan succeeds, I… I’ll…!”

Overcome with emotion, Glenn leapt to his feet and shouted to the heavens.

“I’ll get paid without having to work a single day—!”

A terrifying plan—codenamed ‘Project: G.’

Some time ago, using Celica’s money, Glenn had secretly purchased a magical puppet called a “Copy Doll” from a certain magical workshop. The plan was to transform the doll into his likeness, program it with his behavioral patterns, and let it handle all his teaching duties while he slacked off. For Glenn, ‘Project: G’ was nothing short of a dream come true.

patterns into that ‘Copy Doll’ bit by bit was worth it…!”

That said, letting the ‘Copy Doll’ take over his classes right away felt risky.

So, for now, he’d activated the ‘Copy Doll’ in a test run, sending it to the emergency assembly currently being held at the academy arena to check its performance.

If this test went well, Glenn’s dream of “getting paid without working” would take a massive step forward.

“In that last battle, those kids taught me something… the strength to face a tough future. So, I’m not giving up on my ‘dream’ either… for the sake of a shining future!”

In stark contrast to the students who had grown through overcoming hardships, Glenn hadn’t matured one bit.

“Alright, let’s see how things are going at the assembly…”

Glenn deftly operated the magical calculator in his hands.

As he traced several runes with his finger on the slate’s surface, a string of glowing letters danced across it.

The ‘Copy Doll,’ currently disguised as Glenn and waiting at the great hall, would transmit the visuals and sounds captured by its magical sensors to this device in real-time.

In response to the command, the crystal embedded at the top of the slate glowed faintly, projecting a rectangular window-like image into the air above it.

The projection revealed the scene inside the academy arena, where the emergency assembly was currently underway.

The vast arena was packed with students from across the academy, and at the far end, on a raised platform, stood a lone man, as the projected image clearly showed.

“Huh? So this is what my stand-in, the Glenn doll, is seeing right now… Wait, what?”

Glenn’s eyes locked onto the man on the platform in the projected image.

“…Huh? Who’s this guy? Was someone like him at this academy?”

As Glenn tilted his head at the unfamiliar figure, the man suddenly began to make a shocking announcement to the entire student body.

“This is abrupt, but—Headmaster Rick Walken was dismissed from his position yesterday.”

“…What?”

“As of today, I, Maxim Tirano, am the new headmaster of this academy. All of you, take note.”

For a moment, Glenn stood frozen, unable to process the meaning of those words, simply staring in stunned silence—

“Whaaaaaaaat—!?”

The moment comprehension hit him, his absurdly loud scream was swallowed by the sky.

Even through the projected image, the students could be seen thrown into utter confusion by this sudden personnel change—

—And so, a new storm of turmoil began to sweep over the academy, raising its curtains once more.