As their seats were located in one of the middle rows, Hiroki and his friends had a perfect view, not only of the stage but also of the other students. As Hiroki scouted the crowd, he saw all kinds of people. Men, women, humans, demi-humans, and so on. Some of them seemed to be already in their third year and others seemed to be in their first year, as they seemingly didn't know where to go and were nervously searching for an empty seat.
In the front rows were the newer students seated. They all had a very fascinating and interested look on their face, carefully paying attention to what is going on, on stage, even though the entrance ceremony hasn't started yet. Though there were also some new students that had rather nervous looks.
Very notable was that there were many females among the newer students. One might think that females normally would not want to train and learn how to fight, but it looked like in this world females were very eager to learn to fight and use their skills. Which could become dangerous for some men out there.
In the last rows were the older students seated. In contrast to the new students, they seemed to not really care about the ceremony and just talked among themselves. It was kind of disrespectful, though Hiroki could understand their behavior since they have already experienced this ceremony at least once or twice and he also guessed that the ceremony did not really vary over the years.
Taking a short glimpse at the abilities and levels of the older students, Hiroki mumbled: "Well, I guess they pass. Some of them have great potential. Unfortunately, all of them have to use their powers earlier than they might expect… what a pity."
He is interrupted by Gaia, who was sitting next to him, when he looked at her, she moved her head toward the stage, indicating to him that it was beginning.
Hiroki turned to his right, wanting to inform the others, but they were already looking in the direction of the stage, thus he turned his head away from them and focused on the man walking up on the stage.
The man walking on the stage was a rather young-looking man. He had dark red hair and blue eyes. From his muscular physique, one could already tell that he had to be some kind of swords master and had gathered much experience in combat over the years. He is wearing almost the same outfit as the students, but his blazer was resting on his shoulders as he held it with his left hand and his white polo shirt was clearly visible.
It was no lie to say, that even for his age he was still attractive, and thus many female students were lusting after him.
"Kyaaa!"
"Omg, he looks soo good."
"That's sugar daddy material."
"Should I approach him later and ask him if there is any particular way to improve my marks?"
As Eichi heard their reactions he frowned and complained to himself.
'Why do women always lust after the next best man that comes into the room… disgusting'
Although he thought so, Eichi was secretly jealous of that man, as he wanted to be the one the girls had the hots for.
He opened his mouth and to everyone's surprise, his voice was audible in the whole auditorium even though he wasn't shouting, but just talking in a normal tone. It was a sign of his power and experience. As many students experienced such power or magic for the first time, they were completely captivated and developed great respect for this man.
"Ahem, good morning to everyone present today. In the name of the whole professor collegium, I want to express how happy we are to see so many new students enrolling in our academy."
His deep and masculine voice took a short break. The auditorium got noticeably quieter.
The new students were whispering among themselves, trying to figure out how it was possible for the man's voice to be audible to the whole room.
Even the older students got more silent, though they still minded their own business.
The man continued as he noticed he still hadn't introduced himself.
"kough…I guess it would be best if I introduce myself first. My name is Nico Gladius and I have the honor to be this academy's headmaster for the second year in a row, though I also work as a normal teacher. You can call me Mr. Gladius or just headmaster."
He smiled after saying the last words, hoping to leave a good and friendly impression on the first-year students.
But after hearing his name, the new student went crazy.
"Whaaat?? Did he just say Nico Gladius?"
"No way, isn't he one of the strongest swordsmen in the whole world?"
"OMG!"
"I heard he got bored with his competitors back in his old kingdom and because of that he came here to our kingdom, hoping to find stronger challengers…"
Hiroki's friends were also surprised about the fame their new master already had accumulated.
"Does that mean he is some kind of celebrity?", Yasuo frowned in disbelief.
"Well, in some way yes, I guess", answered Gaia, though she didn't really understand the concept of celebrity, as she never was on the earth and had only heard stories about all the different celebrities from her husband.
"I kinda already had a feeling that he was strong the moment he went on stage. After hearing his name, I became certain that he was strong, strange… is there a connection between one's skills and his name?" asked Aiko.
Hiroki was enchanted by his friend's profound theories and grinned lightly; thus, he gave him a hint.
"That was a good observation Hiroki. I'll give you a little hint: It's called Nomen Omen or nominative determinism. But if we have Mr. Gladius as our teacher, then I'm sure that he will talk about that, as it is a big part of his kingdom's culture."
"Well duh, if you would pay attention to class just one time, then you would know that his last name means sword in Latin", Eichi made fun of his brother, "but what's stranger is why they have Latin names, I mean, aren't we in another world, how is that possible?"
Shin, Eichi, and Yasuo tilted their heads toward Hiroki, waiting for his clarification. Meanwhile, Gaia didn't really care about these little things and watched the stage.
Hiroki, who obviously knew how that was possible, didn't really want to tell them that, because he thought there will be a way better opportunity in the near future. Thus, he just answered: "Well, seems like in one way or another this world and earth are connected. Hmmm, how strange… We can talk about that later.
Ohh, look! The headmaster is speaking again."
With that being said, Hiroki had successfully avoided explaining this complicated topic to them. His friends had no more chance to talk as they had to turn their heads and look at the headmaster.