From Genevieve, I learned a lot about the school. She told me that, unlike in normal schools, instead of the traditional grading system, students need to accumulate academic points instead to proceed to the next year level.
One needs to procure a minimum of 1000 academic points per semester or 2000 academic points per year. You won't necessarily fail if you can't get 1000 points in a semester, though you'll be retained if you can't accumulate 2000 academic points after a year.
You can gain academic points by attending classes and working for a job. You can also take as many as 3 extra classes outside of your course, and those extra subjects also give you academic points. Just like Genevieve, for example, she took guardianship as an extra-curricular class during her third year.
I have also learned that, just like in the real world, I don't really get to choose the course that I want without giving it any thought. Here, you also need to pay a tuition fee every month. The lowest tuition for a course is 100 copper coins per month, or about 2 bronze coins and 200 copper coins per school year. The amount also grows as you advance to a higher year.
It turns out that the only purpose of the scholarship grant I got was so I get exempted from paying the required 5 bronze coins. But since I got picked for guardianship, my scholarship has proven to be pretty useless altogether.
As for the course that I wanted, botany, the monthly tuition is 200 copper coins. That's almost a month's rent!
I wanted to opt for another course instead, fearing that this one would be too expensive, but Genevieve convinced me otherwise. She told me that since I have her as my guardian, it is part of her responsibility to aid me in my studies.
So for an entire year, I won't have to worry about anything. Instead, my focus is to work and study hard so that when my guardian graduates, I will be able to stand on my own two feet.
This made me feel pretty thankful that I was chosen for the guardianship. Without it, I would have faced the bitterness of my reality.
"Here is your syllabus. Indicated there are the core subjects and electives that you need to take during your first year. And here is the list of professors handling these subjects and their respective class schedules. You can choose whichever professor you like and arrange your own schedule. Or we can arrange it for you; it's your choice," informed the young registrar in front of me.
"I'll just arrange it myself," I politely answered.
I don't see any working adults within the registrar's office. According to Genevieve, most of the shops and facilities at the academy are managed by students. Even registration is managed by students as well. Only when certain difficulties arise does the administration get involved.
Basically, the student government handles everything. And I heard that in the academy, the student government has a similar power to that of a country's government.
"Alright, here is your ID card. Make sure to hand this to your professor on the first day that you attend the class so the professor can record your name in the system as their student—otherwise, you won't get any academic points when you attend their class. Also, take a look at the electronic numbers in the back." She flipped my ID card over and showed me a tiny chip at the bottom with 000.00 indicated on it. "The points you gain, whether from working or studying, will be indicated here. You can't register for classes without this ID, nor can you apply for work. So you better keep this safe. "
Even after we left the registrar's office, I was still staring at my ID. From the looks of it, it is no different from a normal ID. So I wonder how it will record my academic points. The registrar even said that it records my points in real time.
"If you had laser eyes, you'd have bored a hole in your ID by now," Genevieve pointed out.
"I'm just wondering how this card can record academic points in real time. And how can the professor scan this? There isn't a quick response code anywhere."
"Oh, professors are given a special device invented by the academy's old generation of geniuses. Each ID card has a unique low-frequency electrical wave. The device registers this electrical wave in its system, and from it, the professor receives your data. From this same wave, professors transmit academic points to your ID card in real time," Genevieve patiently explained as we walked out of the building.
My eyes lit up at the info. This academy is simply amazing! No wonder their graduates are sought after. Whoever made this system is a genius! Genuis!
"My, my! What do we have here? "
Genevieve and I stopped on our track when a tall and slender woman with a very sophisticated face blocked our way. Besides her is a girl who's probably a freshman like me. Like a protective mother, Genevieve stood in front of me and gave the towering woman an indignant look.
If her purpose was to hide me from the latter's prying eye, it's pretty useless. She only stood as far as that model-like woman's shoulder.
"Go away, Erin," Genevieve growled. The woman called Erin raised an eyebrow in response.
I could see the sparks of electricity as they gazed at each other. It's clear that they aren't fans of each other.
Erin's eyes traveled from Genevieve to me. I was taken aback when her eyes, which seemed to look like vipers' earlier, suddenly turned soft. She gave me a smile that made her face look pleasingly beautiful—like that of an angel.
Erin's eyes lingered on my face before going back to Genevieve. "So this is the child you stole from me," she spoke.
Genevieve's ears turned red. "What..what stolen! I got her fair and square, you know!" My so-called guardian defended herself, obviously flustered.
Now why does this scene look extremely familiar? I'm sure I've seen this film before.
"Fair and square, huh? ""Like you didn't give me the wrong deliberation date because you knew I stood a better chance of becoming her guardian!"
"Ha! It's not my fault that you are gullible! "
"What did you say?!"
The two of them are slowly gaining the attention of the surrounding people. I didn't want people to think that I was related to them, so I slowly moved to the side while hiding my face.
"My child does not deserve a gullible guardian like you!" screamed Genevieve.
Huh? What child is this woman talking about? I'm just 4 years younger than you, you know! Aren't you a bit too immersed in your role-playing?!
"Hey." I was jolted when a girl suddenly spoke beside me.
It was that same girl who arrived with Erin. She has short black hair and is wearing round glasses, which seemed to look really big due to her very small face.
She reminds me of a shy puppy.
"Hello," I said.
Both of us awkwardly stood there as we watched our guardians growl at each other, like two territorial cats.
"I guess we're both dealing with a crazy guardian, huh?" I broke the silence.
"Yeah."
"I'm Lizelle, by the way."
"Ashley."
"What course are you enrolling in?"
"Fashion and Apparel."
"I'm studying botany."
We fell into an awkward silence once again. Erin and Genevieve are still yelling at each other.
"I think our guardians will be arrested for disturbing the public peace," Ashley pointed out. As if on cue, three men headed in their direction. Two of them were wearing uniforms similar to those of the guard that I first met when I came here. while the guy in the middle wore a black suit and had this distinct aura of a politician.
His every stride exudes authority and confidence. He was walking two steps ahead of the two student police. The man is, honestly, illegally handsome. He emits this kind of aura that makes everyone in the vicinity want to give him their attention. When his forehead creased and his brows furrowed, instead of making his face less appealing, it actually made him even more attractive!
This is one of those times when I feel the extreme unfairness of the world. Like how? Why!!! Why not me as well? I think I deserve to be that attractive too!
"That's Leandro Kings!" Ashley suddenly exclaimed, almost giving me a heart attack. I was taken aback when I saw her eyes twinkling, like she saw the love of her life coming her way. Gone was the timid girl who barely talked.
"..."
"He will be in his third year this year and is the current student council president. He's the only student who won the presidential election during his freshman year in the entire history of the academy! He also got re-elected during his second year and is most likely going to win the election once again this year!" She spoke, her voice full of excitement.
Leandro had a displeased look on his face as he looked at the two women, who were probably the only ones who did not notice the former's arrival. They were still immersed in their fight and were currently yelling incoherent insults at each other.
"It's you two again?" Leandro spoke dryly and sighed. He motioned to the two officers beside him, and they moved to pull the two women apart.
"Hey! Let me go!" screamed Erin.
"Ouch! That hurts! " Genevieve dramatically whined, though the officer was actually being very gentle.
I can't help but mentally slap my forehead. How did I end up having such an embarrassing guardian? Well, the big question is, how is it possible that the two of them passed the guardianship examination!!?
"Is it really that hard to not fight every time you see each other?" Leandro scowled while massaging his temple.
"Shut up, Lea! This bad blood has existed since time immemorial. It will only cease once one of us perishes!!"Erin spat, her voice full of hatred.
Ah, no wonder they are enemies. I thought my guardian, Genevieve, was the eccentric one, and she just happened to piss off the angel-faced Erin–which led to their long-standing feud. But it looks like I'm wrong. The two of them are actually, to put it nicely, equally unusual.
"Uh-oh," Ashley muttered beside me. I looked at her and was confused to see the frightened look on her face—even more so, when I saw the same reaction from the surrounding students.
"What's going on?" I was tremendously puzzled. The surroundings fell into an uncomfortable silence, like that of peace before a coming storm.
"Eren just said the forbidden word," Ashley answered in a hushed voice.
"Is "time immemorial" a forbidden word? Or is it bad blood?"
Ashley shook her head while looking in a certain direction. I followed her gaze and was startled to see Leandro with an extremely red face. He looked so pissed, like he was going to snap at any moment.
Erin realized whatever she said, and she was panic-stricken. Even my airhead guardian had a look of horror on her face. Yet, I still don't know what the forbidden word was!
Eren faked a cough. "Ehem, Leo, my handsome boy! I didn't see you there! Hehe, how's life? I heard you're running for the presidency again this year. Congratulations in advance! I'm sure you'll win again."
I was too stunned to speak. I've never seen someone act this shameless in my entire existence!
But as expected of a seasoned politician, Leandro did not burst into anger. Instead, he smiled—a smile that makes one's skin crawl. A smile that tells you, "Your entire life is screwed."