"T-thank you for the advice," Princess Thelma replied.
After listening to my explanation, Princess Thelma calmed down a bit and gained an understanding of abnormal magic. With strides full of confidence, she entered the registration room, and I saw a checkmark appear next to her data on my tablet screen.
Her match was scheduled to take place in ten minutes. I figured I would watch from the spectator stands again. Checking Princess Thelma's match details, her match was assigned number 1978. I headed to the corresponding match venue and watched from above.
Before long, the match was underway. Princess Thelma appeared visibly nervous as she stepped into the arena. Her opponent entered as well. The two fought evenly at first. Princess Thelma did not seem to be applying my advice initially, continuing to force the use of elemental magic.
At one point, she glanced up toward me sitting in the spectator stands. Cornered and on the verge of defeat, the princess seemed to recall my words. In the next instant, the blade of her sword began to glow with a strange luminescence, abnormal magic. Princess Thelma's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback by how smoothly she was able to channel that power.
Princess Thelma discovered her true strength and wielded it freely. Shifting from a purely defensive stance, she launched a series of skilful offensive strikes. The Sovereign sword in her hand seemed to blend seamlessly with her, and in the end, she secured victory in her very first match.
The expression on her face was radiant with joy. Occasionally, she glanced toward where I sat watching in the stands. News of Princess Thelma's initial win gathered a small crowd of instructors interested in observing her.
Even though the seats around me remained empty, the other instructors kept their distance upon seeing my halo. I gave them a puzzled look. "Come on, it is already the year 2100, are you still amazed to see someone with a halo different from yours?"
They offered no response and continued to maintain their distance.
Only a female instructor with shoulder-length black hair carrying a camera approached to stand beside me, snapping photos of Princess Thelma.
"Hey, is it not forbidden to secretly take photos of the royal family?" I asked, reminding the female instructor beside me.
"Are you part of the royal family?" she asked.
"No," I answered casually. "Just giving a friendly reminder."
"Well, I am," the woman produced a press identification card indicating her status as a member of the royal family. "This is my part-time job. King Drach is very eager to hear about his daughter's progress, you see."
I inspected the press card and confirmed it was genuine. While I had no authority to verify it, since she asked me to look at it, there was no harm done.
"Gina, is it?" I handed the card back to her.
The two of us refocused our attention on Princess Thelma's match. Throughout the rest of her bouts, Princess Thelma effortlessly overpowered her opponents. Her face beamed with satisfaction, nearly brought to tears of joy.
To my surprise, she looked in my direction and bowed her head slightly. Princess Thelma appeared to be expressing her gratitude toward me. Now was the time to step forward and offer to become her instructor.
I jogged down the stands' staircase and made my way toward the waiting area. A large crowd of instructors had already gathered, searching for prospective students to train. I spotted Princess Thelma emerging from the arena tunnel, instantly surrounded by eager instructors.
I joined the throng, waiting for my opportunity to approach her.
"Get out of my way! I do not want to be trained by any of you!" Princess Thelma's voice echoed in anger. "You only want me now because you realised I am strong!"
Catching sight of me standing among the instructors, Princess Thelma ran straight toward me. "Thank you for your advice! I am so grateful to you for helping me pass my tryout!"
"You are very welcome," I replied, giving her a warm smile.
"Would you be willing to become my instructor?" she asked, hesitation in her voice. "I hope you have not filled your student quota yet..."
"Of course I would." I brought up my tablet and asked her to scan her fingerprint onto the screen.
[Yogiri Team]
Thelma Clara, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Open Class.
Now I was officially her instructor. Princess Thelma looked overjoyed. "For the first time, I have found joy in my own strength. Thank you, Instructor."
"You are welcome. May I get your phone number?" I asked. "So I can notify you about training schedules once the tryout period concludes."
"Sure!" Princess Thelma took my tablet and typed her phone number into it, saving herself under the name Thelma C. She then took out her own phone and sent me a text message.
"Alright. All set, see you next week, Instructor!" Princess Thelma appeared full of energy.
"See you next week!" I replied, watching Princess Thelma run off. Who would have thought that someone I expected to have a gloomy personality turned out to be so cheerful? It seemed that when I met her earlier, she was simply overthinking her tryout match.
[1 Student registered, you still need 4 more to fill your quota.]
"Alright, who else wants to join my team?" I muttered to myself, glancing toward the match monitors set up in the waiting room.
People around me looked on with bewildered expressions. Whether they were puzzled or amazed by seeing me successfully recruit Princess Thelma, or simply curious about someone with abnormal type magic, I could not tell. I decided to check out other ongoing matches.
While scanning the monitors for an interesting student to recruit, I was approached by the girl I had helped while running this morning, accompanied by another girl who looked remarkably similar to her. The difference was that one had blonde hair styled in a ponytail, while the other had long, flowing light-blue hair. The two were almost identical, except the blonde one had a slightly flatter chest while the blue-haired one was slightly fuller.
"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked them both.
"Um... allow me to introduce myself. I am Tsukinose Chia, and this is my younger sister, Shia. We both passed our tryout matches today, and we were wondering if you would be willing to become our instructor?" The blonde-haired girl asked me.
Well, this was great news, I could fill my quota quickly this way.
"Thank you," I handed them my tablet and asked them to scan their fingerprints. "Please include your phone numbers as well so I can reach you."
"Understood!" both of them answered simultaneously.
[Yogiri Team]
Thelma Clara, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Open Class.
Tsukinose Chia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Water Elemental Class.
Tsukinose Shia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Fire Elemental Class.
"Yay! We finally found an instructor, Big Sister!" The younger sister with blue hair appeared cheerful.
"Yes," the elder sister with blonde hair answered calmly.
"Are you two twins?" I asked them.
"Yes!" they replied together. "Twins born ten minutes apart."
"Thank you for choosing me as your instructor. See you next week," I replied, offering them a smile.
"Yes!" the light-blue-haired sister replied happily.
"Very well," the blonde-haired sister replied in a calm tone.
After they departed, I remained in the waiting area searching for whom to recruit next until late afternoon. Eventually, today's tryout matches concluded, and all students who had yet to secure an instructor gathered in the waiting room.
I opened their match recordings one by one to select candidates who caught my eye. Naturally, those with obvious talent had already been snatched up by other instructors. I was reminded once again of my teacher's words.
Everyone possesses potential, it simply depends on finding the right mentor to draw that potential out. I approached the remaining unrecruited students one by one, offering them a spot on my team.
However, the moment they saw Princess Thelma's name on my team list, they declined, not wanting to share a team with Princess Thelma. For whatever reason, they chose not to elaborate. I also tried recruiting male students, but none showed interest in joining my team.
I approached a female student sitting alone, whom no other instructor had approached. "Good afternoon, I am Instructor Yogiri Klausmann. Would you like to join my team?"
Her sombre expression lit up with joy the moment I made the offer. "I would love to!"
The slender girl with long waist-length black hair featuring subtle grey highlights at the tips accepted my invitation. I handed her my tablet and requested her fingerprint scan.
[Yogiri Team]
Thelma Clara, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Open Class.
Tsukinose Chia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Water Elemental Class.
Tsukinose Shia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Fire Elemental Class.
Dellila Marcus, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Water Elemental Class.
"Do not forget to add your phone number as well," I reminded her.
"Right away." The girl entered her contact number. "Thank you so much for offering me a spot."
Dellila looked as though she was about to burst into tears. "Sob, I am so moved that I actually found an instructor! My performance during the tryout match might have been poor, but at least I gave it my all."
"There, no need to cry. I will see you next week for training after your regular classes end." I gave her a gentle headpat. "Do not worry, I will help you unlock your full potential and make everyone who passed on you regret their decision."
"Thank you! See you next week, Instructor."
This was troublesome, every single person I recruited was female. Why did none of the male students want to join me? Sitting down to review Dellila's match footage, her performance was not bad at all. She utilised ice as an advanced magic application rather than relying purely on basic water magic for attacks. Why had no one picked her up?
Granted, she appeared to tire easily, struggling to maintain her footing and nearly getting cornered multiple times by her opponent.
"Klausmann," Lady Selia's voice called out from behind me. Beside her stood a female student wearing a school uniform adorned with a first-year badge.
"Yes, Lady Selia?" I replied, standing up to greet her. I took her hand and gently kissed the back of it.
"My, I am touched, you truly are a gentleman," Lady Selia blushed slightly. "I checked your roster and noticed you are short by one student. I am entrusting my niece to you."
The pink-haired girl walking beside Lady Selia extended her hand to greet me. "Sesil Ingwyn Ernburg, pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure to meet you," I replied, returning the gesture. "Yogiri Klausmann. Is there a specific reason Lady Selia wishes to entrust her niece to my care?"
"She did not click with her previous instructor. The moment I mentioned you, she agreed to transfer. Strictly speaking, this should be her second year, but because her former instructor suffered from a severe skill issue when training my niece, she failed her debut match four times and was forced to repeat her first year," Lady Selia explained.
[Yogiri Team]
Thelma Clara, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Open Class.
Tsukinose Chia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Water Elemental Class.
Tsukinose Shia, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Fire Elemental Class.
Dellila Marcus, Pre-Debut, Year 1, Water Elemental Class.
Sesil Ernburg, Maiden, Year 1, Wind Elemental Class.
"Thank you, Lady Selia. With this, my roster of five students is officially complete," I said with a smile.
"See you next week, Sesil."
"Understood," Sesil answered softly.