***Greg***
When I emerged from the Saint's Tower, what greeted me were…soldiers and armies?
"…"
What the heck? What's an army of succubi and incubi doing here at the streets of the Saint's Tower? Did a war start while I was gone?
As I walked past the gates of Alexa's tower, I could feel the stares of the incubi soldiers on me. Of course, it was expected. Unlike most of the people I see on the road, my ears were round, as I am human. Demon ears were pointed, though shorter than those of the elves. In any case, as the Conclave was only on the other side of the avenue that dissected the city, I hurried to get to the demon school, not wishing to attract any unwanted attention to myself.
But, as it turned out, my efforts were in vain. The Biorno army had surrounded the Conclave, and built fortifications to strengthen their positions. I won't call it a 'siege' just yet; they were still allowing goods to go in and out of the school. However, the incubi soldiers were inspecting the people who passed their checkpoint.
"…"
Well, it's not like I did something wrong to them. Though, if the push came to the shove, I might be forced to use my god-powers once again to scare them off.
"Papers, please?" an incubus sentry asked for my identification the moment I reached their checkpoint, placed some distances away from the Conclave's gate. Not wishing for a fight (and the soldier was polite anyway), I complied, though I could feel my heart as if it was about to burst. "So you are Greg Santos, a human scholar at the Conclave, eh?" the young sentry looked at my face, carefully scrutinizing my features to make sure it matched the description on my papers. "It's pretty rare, but we do get human scholars here from Chersea occasionally. Anyway, you may pass, Sir."
"Thank you!" I smiled with relief as he handed me back my documents. And I also took the time to ask the sentry what's going on.
"Where were you in the past few days, Sir Scholar?" the soldier asked as if I just said something outrageous. "Don't you know that your previous head scholar and our overlord, Emile Biorno, was murdered by a student?"
Blood drained from my face as his words sunk unto me, "W-What? Why?"
"We don't know as well, Sir Scholar. Our lords are inside, talking with the new head scholars about surrendering the murderer to them. And we're told to surround the Conclave for the meantime, probably to force the new head scholars to comply to their demands."
"I…I see…"
"Ah, in any case, Sir Scholar, please continue on your way. Our captain might see me talking to you, and I'd get reprimanded."
"Alright, thank you for what you said. Please stay safe, brother," and with that, I crossed the proverbial 'no man's land', and headed to the other side, where the soldiers from the Goblin Legion welcomed me.
----------
***In one of the classrooms of the Conclave…***
Although the new school administration wanted normalcy to return to the Conclave after the recent tumultuous events, one could still feel the effects of those tragic incidents. For one, a number of faculty members were removed, after being implicated in the Dormitory Massacres. The vacated subjects were distributed among those who remained, as a 'stop-gap' measure to the lack of teachers. Of course, the demons didn't take that lightly, for they were used to teach only one subject matter when they come to class.
"…"
And with the disappearance of the Special Scholar who started the reforms, the members of the faculty reverted to their old ways of teaching, leaving some classes without a mentor. The 'stand-off' between the Goblin-Usarved army and the Biorno forces outside didn't help the situation either, for the teacher-applicants were afraid to come because of fears of a renewed conflict close to the Conclave.
One of such class was the Junior Math subject of Lady Srexe, Tama'lee, and Nari. Well, in their case, their teacher the Lady Scholar Irene Capaldi, was elevated into the position of Head Scholar. As such, she passed her subject to another colleague, who was a literature teacher, and had no prior training in Mathematics aside from two-digit arithmetic. The result was their class often had 'self-study sessions', which didn't improve the scholars' skills and knowledge.
"Boring…" Lady Srexe heaved a sigh, as she watched the military stand-off from the windows of her classroom. "I wonder when will the Special Scholar suspend the classes; the Biornos are strengthening their positions around the school, after all."
"Don't say that, Srex," Tama'lee rebuked her. "If the Special Scholar suspends the classes and sends us home, then it must mean that war is returning! Tama'lee doesn't like war!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry for saying that, Tama…but I think you misunderstood me. It's just that, it's pretty boring nowadays. Tests suspended, and we don't even have an idea when will we graduate the juniors."
"At least, Srex gets to eat properly than before," the orc countered. "The Special Scholar implemented some good reforms in our school. Tama'lee finds it easier to study now when the Conclave supports her, instead of meting out punishments for every mistake done."
"Hmm…yeah, it's good. With the Special Scholar on the helm of things, I did expect our lives to get a little easier than before. However, I never foresee that it would become this light; it felt like we're not doing anything at all!"
"Still better now compared to when the Lord Biorno is the head scholar!"
"Eh, I just hope this will continue; it'll be bad if, for some reason, we go back to the old rules. That dead incubus' policies suck, big time!" Lady Srexe looked around the room, and then asked the orc, "By the way, Nari's skipping class today?"
"Huh? Tama'lee saw Nari earlier, though. Nari told Tama that she will follow to class later."
"Mm…probably she's busy with something…"
Just as Lady Srexe was about to doze off, the door of their classroom opened, and Nari came rushing in. The ruckus she caused alarmed her classmates, and the werewolf headed straight to the table where her friends were.
"Nari!" Tama'lee greeted her, "Srex is looking for yo—"
"Help me!" Nari blurted out in-between her panting. Everyone inside the room could tell that the werewolf ran to that place as fast as she could, and as for a young lycanthrope such as her, it was an exhausting feat.
Lady Srexe and another classmate helped the werewolf to a chair, which was brought by Tama'lee. Then someone gave her cold water, which she downed in one gulp.
"What's the matter, Nari?" the goblin asked, "Why do you need our help?"
"Read this!" Nari gave her a piece of crumpled paper.
The goblin girl did as she was told. It was a letter, from Nari's parents, telling her to come back to their city of Fangborough as soon as possible. Failure to comply would force them to send their servants to fetch her, whether or not she likes it.
"You're going home?" Lady Srexe asked. "What's wrong with that?"
"I don't want to," Nari replied, shaking her head.
"Why?"
"War," was the werewolf's curt answer.
"Huh?" it was Tama'lee who reacted this time. "What does Nari mean by that?"
"The assassin is my kin," the lycanthrope explained. "My clan is preparing for war."
"W-Wait…" one of their classmates quipped, "…will there be fighting again?"
"Biornos demand blood," Nari told them. "But my kin won't oblige."
"So you're being called back to Fangborough to serve in your clan's army?" Lady Srexe raised that point.
The werewolf nodded, but she added further, "Serve as a future mother."
Everyone listening nearby was bewildered when they heard that. Some of them even asked Nari to repeat what she said, for they thought they misheard her words. But the lycanthrope reiterated the purpose of her 'homecoming'.
At that moment, the other Tambaras in their classroom joined the conversation. Like Nari, they were all distraught, for they also received letters asking them to return to Fangborough.
"It is true," one of the other werewolves backed Nari's statement. "All of us male Tambaras are being drafted into our army, while the females are to be kept in a safe place, away from the fighting. They are to ensure the survival of our people, in case the war goes against our fortunes."
"But Nari…" Tama'lee protested, "…Nari is still young and small! Nari can't be a mother yet!"
"It's our clan's rules…we can't possibly break it!"
"I don't want to die in battle! I don't want to go to war!"
"I want an orc to connect with, not a fellow Tambara!"
Lady Srexe was silent, listening to the explanations of the other despairing Tambaras. Well, as a member of the Goblin clan, it's not like she couldn't understand the 'unbreakable' rules that every demon folk had honored since time immemorial. Nevertheless, there's something within her that stirred and was revolting. Although the goblin girl grew up in Cherflammen and was aware of the other clans' practices that she didn't agree with, this was the first time she felt she could do something about those.
She took a deep breath and announced, "Alright, stay here Tambaras. I'll ask for help."
However, her classmates only looked at the goblin girl with disbelief. Tama'lee asked her, "What can Srexe do? This is a time-honored tradition!"
"Heh, trust me," Lady Srexe grinned, "But even if you guys don't, I would still use all of my options to fight. Wait here and despair; I'll come back with something, at least!"
----------
**Greg**
"Achoo!"
"That was a powerful sneeze, Lord Santos."
"I told you, just 'Greg' is fine, Lord Gracchio," was my reply to my colleague's comment. Ever since I came back from Alexa's tower, I hadn't got any rest. Tons of letters from various demon clans requesting that their children be repatriated to their cities were sent to my office. They never hid their intention to have their kids enlisted in their militaries, in anticipation for a conflict.
Of course, as a teacher—and a 'proverbial' second parent—I will not accept such reasons. Not if I can help it. Fortunately, this land's kidnapping laws isn't well-defined compared to my old world.
While I did say that I won't act like an arrogant isekai MC who does as he please depending on his whim, this was a different occasion. I better play that card well. Still, reading and replying to these letters…
"…"
Well, it's not like I could do anything about it; I did ask the two other head scholars to forward such requests to me, after all.
Then I also received the news that Princess Noir—one of my best supporters and benefactors—left for Darkmoor after learning about the impending return of her brother. Yes, while Shevaun could also be relied upon, having the demon lord herself standing beside me felt more reassuring. Besides, though I don't want to think about it, the Usarved Princess was my 'access' to 'resources' if ever the situation turned for the worst. Now that she was gone, I had to 'make do' with the little that could be spared.
Man, this is so stressful.
And as if not to end my woes, there was this demand from the Biorno clan vassals that we hand over the student who killed the Lord Emile Biorno, as well as return the control of this school to a designated member they would choose. All of those over the threat of military action. The good thing was, the Goblin Legion under the Lord Tenguri and a detachment of Usarved army led by Shevaun Ilkes stood between us and them.
Got to be thankful I made prior connections, or the reforms we implemented would be wasted.
In any case, I called for an emergency conference with my fellow head scholars, Shevaun, the Lord Tenguri, and his wife, the Lady Baraquiel. My position about the issues confronting us was clear: the Conclave won't hand its students just to be drafted, and it would remain an independent institution of learning. However, to prop those ideas up, I needed military might. This was Cherflammen, and to speak to a belligerent demon clan on equal terms meant that one had to be prepared to fight a conflict, no matter how much we try to avoid it. So, the meeting was to ask my allies was could be done to secure more support from them, and coordinate our strategies.
"As my mistress ordered," Shevaun declared, "I and the Usarved army under my command would support the policies laid out by the Lord Head Scholar Greg Santos."
"The Goblin Legion would never abandon its member in the field," the Lord Tenguri followed. "And the Lord Kuro—I mean, the Lord Greg is an honorary legionnaire. My command would stand by him!"
"I'm an orc knight, and I support your ideals, Lord Greg, so you can count on my strength," the Lady Baraquiel said. "However, I can't say about my kin. I know that they're asking the Conclave to allow the orc students to return to Orcdwelt to be enlisted."
"Yes, it's true, milady," I confirmed. "And I'm grateful that you chose to side with me on this matter."
"You helped my daughter, after all, milord. And my husband would be long dead if you didn't save him and his goblins back in the Great Rising of the Dead. My life is the very least thing I can offer for you."
"Please don't say that," though I'm glad to hear those words, I don't want a mother to die and leave her family just for me. "You still got your daughter and husband to take care of."
"Ah, in any case, Lord Greg," the Lord Head Scholar Gracchio brought us back to the topic, "I admire your courage to stand up for what you think is right. However, as much as I wanted to throw my full support behind you, I still can't understand why do you have to go to these lengths just to protect our students."
"Yes, I agree with the Lord Gracchio," the Lady Head Scholar Capaldi aired her thoughts as well. "This is the first time in the entire history of the Conclave that it refused to release the students, even when the clan patriarchs requested it. May we know the reason of your policies for this matter, Lord Greg?"
I already expected that my colleagues would ask me that question. But, no matter, even if they raised that point earlier, I could still answer them. "I believe that is the state's responsibility to protect its future, which lies in its next generation. For short, the children."
"State, milord?"
"In your case, the clans," I reiterated. "Think about it. Why—in the first place—would you send your sons and daughters to learn?"
"Isn't it because for prestige?" the Lady Baraquiel replied. "I want Srexe to become a respectable member of our society."
I was taken aback by her answer. Well, thinking about it, I guess Alexa failed to make them understand the true purpose of a state-sponsored education. I couldn't blame her, though; she died a student back in our world, and even if she reached the adult years, I doubt if that girl would know. It was only taught to those who took education as their profession.
"Milady, aside from prestige, the greatest goal of education is to prepare the children—who will be the next adults—to become a useful member of their society. And it is a common thought that a society with useful members will function properly," I paused for their comments. But finding none, I continued, "With that in mind, we can say that to protect and invest in the students would mean we're protecting and investing in our future."
"So you mean, you're simply protecting this land's future then?" the Lord Tenguri raised that point.
Honestly, it was slightly different from my real goal, which was simply to keep the students from the dangers and horrors of war. But, seeing an opportunity to convince them that they were fighting for a just cause, I jump the goblin lord's conclusions. "Yes, you can say it that way, milord. See, Cherflammen is a 'dead, dry land'. One look at it, and we can say that it can't sustain life. However, this is where you live; trying to take back Chersea from us humans will cause bloodshed, possibly annihilation of one side. My question is this, would you like that to happen?"
"Truth be told, Lord Greg," it was Shevaun, "before I thought of humans as filthy, lowly barbarians. But then, when I saw how you changed the life of my mistress, my opinion transformed as well. We and you, demons and humans, can work together to progress."
"Yes, that's what I'm trying to achieve, Lady Shevaun. Cherflammen is a barren place, yes, but you can develop it to match Chersea. And for that to happen, we need to invest and develop the next generation. Teach them the merits of cooperation instead of competition, of peace instead of war. But, you can't teach a dead demon; hence, I strive to protect our students."
"See, I told you the Lord Greg only has our people's good in his mind," the Lady Head Scholar Capaldi said to the Lord Gracchio.
"A noble cause indeed, Lord Santos—I-I mean, Lord Greg," the former Discipline Prefect nodded. "But, if there are not enough soldiers for the armies, then how can the clans protect their children? Before we look ahead, isn't it proper to think of the present first? Without the present, there can be no future!"
"It's true, Lord Gracchio," I was surprised when the Lord Tenguri was the one who answered. "Nevertheless, an adult's responsibility shouldn't be passed to the children. After all, the deadly conflicts are caused by the stupidity and pride of the supposedly 'mature' minds. This is the guiding principle of the Goblin Legion—we train our soldiers hard, so they can properly protect our lands without sacrificing our children."
Well, it's my turn to be amazed. The Lord Tenguri's wisdom and experience as a military leader and a father was showing, and he gave a better answer than what I had in mind. The Lord Head Scholar Gracchio seemed convince as well, and he raised no further issues after that.
----------
The meeting took a bit long than I anticipated. Nevertheless, we already ironed out the contingency plans in case the fighting broke out. The Goblin Legion would not move from its positions, and they would be reinforced by the Usarved army. Meanwhile, the Lady Baraquiel would talk to her brother and the other orcs about my ideas, and try to convince them to put off their plans to conscript their children. As for our lack of teachers, I and my fellow head scholars agreed to review the Conclave's system and weed out the obsolete subjects to lighten the students' loads per grade level. That way, their education would be meaningful, and even less punishing.
However, there's that one thing that I had to deal with…
"The Lord Castrio Sargdhenerri is an honorable demon, but he is a proud one as well," the Lord Head Scholar Gracchio explained to me. "Though he said that he'd try to negotiate with you, if you're thinking of trying to change his mind, then you're in for a difficult time, Lord Greg."
"Well, I won't lose anything if I try," I countered. "If we can avoid conflict, then let's take that route."
"I'm coming with you then," the Lord Tenguri presented himself. "The Lord Castrio, though we didn't talk too much, is an old acquaintance. I may help in influencing his decision if I'm there as well."
"Thank you for the offer, milord," I told him. "Your efforts are greatly appreciated."
"You can't leave me here, Lord Greg," Shevaun also offered.
"I'd rather have you here, milady," the Lord Tenguri replied to her suggestion. "An Usarved presence in the territory of the Biornos won't bode well for us in the negotiations."
"Hm…on a second thought, I think you're right, milord. Very well, I shall stay in command here during your absence."
I'd really like to break, if I could help it. Nevertheless, with the tensions up, every second mattered. There's no time to rest; we wanted to negotiate with the Biorno clan vassals to prevent bloodshed. As such, we agreed to set out to the other camp once we adjourned. While the Lord Tenguri and I prepared ourselves, however, we heard someone knock on the door of the Head Scholars' Office.
The Lady Baraquiel called out to the person on the other side, "It's open! You may come in."
Soon, the door opened to reveal the goblin girl, Lady Srexe. She immediately stepped in the office, asking her mother, "Mom, where's the Special Scholar?"
The orc lady turned to us, and her daughter followed her gaze.
"What's up?" I greeted the goblin girl.
"Sir, it's a good thing that you're here!" without further explanation, she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door, "Come, you need to talk to the Tambaras in my class, especially to Nari."
"Srex," it was the Lord Tenguri, "I'm sorry, darling, but we can't spare you some time now. The Lord Greg and I have something urgent to do."
"But dad…"
"No, it's alright, milord," I reassured the goblin lord. "My priorities lie with my students; I'll come back for you after I dealt with their problem."
And with that, the Lord Tenguri had no choice but to let his daughter take me away. Good lord, just as they say…when it rains, it pours. Haa…when will these problems solve themselves?
----------
When Lady Srexe brought me to their room, we came upon her despairing classmates. She earlier explained to me about the letters they received, so it's not a surprise that they were all like that. Orcs, Usarveds, Tambaras, and other Biorno children, they hugged together in one spot of the classroom, crying their hearts out. Only the goblins were in a better situation, as their clan elders (like the Lord Tenguri) had the same hatred for child conscription as me. But I guess, when someone sees their friends sad, they'd be sad as well.
"…"
It was a pathetic sight, but it's not like I couldn't understand what they were feeling. I mean, even I would be like that if I knew that my folks would send me to a place where I got a good chance of dying.
These kids are just starting their lives—even if they live longer than humans. The fact that they are stressed shows that these students already experienced what it is like in the frontlines. Only those who haven't picked a weapon or killed a person are excited of going to war.
Well, in any case, everyone tried their best to keep their emotions to themselves when they saw me enter their room. They hurried back to their seats, but I told them they could be at ease.
"I heard about the summons you received," I began, "and, even though I'm human, I know your fears. After all, I've experienced fighting against my fellow humans, mindless undead, beastmen, and demons, too…members of the 'Knights of Cassandra David'. When I first killed someone, it's not a good feeling, and even now, I dread of battles and wars whenever I remember those events."
"Sir Scholar," one of the students finally spoke, "if we may be honest, we all went to the battles before. When the 'Knights' fought against the Usarveds, they tried to drag the other clans into the conflict, and we had no other choice but defend our kin. Of course, we will do it again, however, we'd like to avoid it from happening if possible."
"We saw our friends dying, and it's not a good memory!" another said.
"Yes, I got your points. You guys are forced into a corner back then," I heaved a sigh. "However, this time, as one of the new head scholars, I would try my best to resolve the issues surrounding the death of the Lord Emile Biorno without resorting to the use of military force."
"Special Scholar Sir!" it was the orc, Tama'lee, "Nari is running out of time! Her parents want her to come back to Fangborough to be a mother, and they are sending servants to fetch her."
I couldn't help but blurt out, "A what?"
"According to our classmates, whenever the Tambara lycanthropes are involved in a conflict, they'd often gather and enlist all their able-bodied males, and repatriate their females to a safe place known only to them," Lady Srexe explained to me. "There, they would be forced to connect with another male Tambara so that their future is secured in case many of their soldiers died on the battlefield."
The other Tambaras were nodding, confirming the goblin's words. I was left speechless.
"…"
I could only stare at Nari, whose small body and childish behavior I couldn't imagine of becoming a mother. I remembered some of my old students who got pregnant in their teenage years; it was not a good experience. I don't know about a demon's physique, but for humans, teenage pregnancy was dangerous, both for the mother and her child.
Well, setting that aspect aside, Nari was still young. She had a bright future ahead of her, and as such, she should be allowed to enjoy her life until she became ready to bear children. And for her clan to force pregnancy on her for the sake of their 'future'…
Wow…this is so fucked up.
"This is why I called you here, Sir," I heard Lady Srexe's voice. "You're our only hope in this situation."
"I…" various emotions were welling up in my chest. It's as if I wanted to scream and punch some clan elders in the face. Nevertheless, I had to be content with, "I'm not going to promise you success, but I'll exhaust every possible means to keep you guys safe."
"But Sir, what can you do?"
"For starters, I'm planning to close off the Conclave for all the clans, until a peaceful resolution to this crisis is found," I gave each of my students a head pat. "That means, no one is going in or out unless I say so. Can you bear with me, guys?"