"Um, teacher, shouldn't we memorize this part?" [Adnan].
The male student, who wears a glass but has a firm body for a boy his age, shyly asks Master Merlin in my very first history class at school.
"Nah. My job here is not to help you memorize, I mean that's part of my job, but you can do that yourself at home. My real job in teaching you all history and philosophy is to make sure that the lesson behind it is embodied in your soul, in your mind. Anyone can memorize what happened, and it's not that difficult, but to take a lesson from a battle, to use a quote from a great philosopher of the past as a guide in your everyday life, to prevent the same mistake from happening by knowing and learning from the past, that's why I'm standing here" [Merlin].
Master Merlin, or as she wanted me to call her at school as Teacher Merlin, started talking about the recent war that happened between the Empire and this kingdom. There's a lot of noise in the class, with the consensus being that the Empire is the big bad evil guy.
"But what if the reason for what that old Emperor Justin is doing is just to make his heir tougher?" [Merlin]
"?" [Kara, Mara]
"I don't understand, how can ruthlessly forcing your son to start a war do that?" [Neloufa]
"Well, this old bearded man has several sons and daughters, each of whom is sincerely waiting for his last breath to ascend the throne. By forcing his heirs to go to war, he can not only expand the empire, but also weed out the weak link in his heirs, leaving only the strong. But, I'm nothing but a humble teacher, surely I can't use some magical kaleidoscope and use some sort of higher connection to come to a conclusion, so I'm just guessing" [Merlin].
So she's using a kaleidoscope to spy on the Empire, which is rather unexpected coming from Master Merlin. I used to see her lazing around most of the time, telling me not to slack off.
(She is Diana's master, and I have a feeling that dear mother put her in our class on purpose to teach us as well) [Kara]
(Agree) [Mara]
"Dear Kara and Mara, don't whisper to each other or I will tell little Amleth, I mean Queen Amleth, about this" [Merlin].
"So you really are acquainted with Aunt Amleth" [Diana].
"Oh, I am nothing but a humble teacher from the middle of nowhere, how could I possibly have a connection to royalty" [Merlin].
(This just confirmed our suspicions) [Kara, Mara]
Our discussion goes on and on, even discussing Brother Nar and Sas, even Mrs. Jean's name was mentioned. Huh, Mr. Randy actually plays a role in the war? This is surprising, so why is he not in the parade? If he actually held the front line during the initial attack, he should get the same glory.
"Hey Diana, what does your brother like back home?" [Adnan].
"They spoil you like their little princess, right?" [Marianne]
"Or maybe they forced you to train with only one hour of sleep?" [Tio]
"It's actually both. They play with me a lot, but their training is no joke either. I remember swinging a hammer nonstop from morning until late at night just to get the right stance" [Diana].
"That's surprising, Mr. Nar didn't really force me that much" [Neloufa].
"Ohh, believe me, he will..." [Diana]
Hearing this, Neloufa, who is sitting next to me, visibly swallows and looks worried.
"Now, since there are thirty minutes left before the end of class, I will make sure that each of you will choose a club. I'm going to go through the list of clubs our school has and tell you the advantages and disadvantages of each. I'm sure most of you are already in one, but for those who aren't, believe me, whether you like it or not, I'm going to make you join one" [Merlin].
"That's..." [Diana]
"Just think of it as tough love coming from this nothing but a humble teacher who greets the sunshine every morning with nothing but motivation and spirit to teach you all." [Merlin].
(Coming from you... I'm not convinced) "Ouch" [Diana]
"I can tell what you're thinking, sweetheart" [Merlin]
"Meany" [Merlin]
I guess that's partly my fault too, but she used some telekinetic spell to actually pinch both of my cheeks super hard, making my cheeks look like a pair of fresh looking tomatoes.