Third person POV
Shortly thereafter, the three of them went to the school while Lloyd was making lessons for tomorrow. Along the way, Maria was amazed on how well-built the school building was, and is now wondering who built it. Then, when they arrived at the classroom Lloyd was in, one of the guards knocked on the door.
"Come in," Lloyd said to them. The door was opened, and three of them entered in.
The door was opened, and three of them entered in.
"Sir, someone is here to apply as a teacher at this school," the second guard said to him.
Upon hearing that, Lloyd turned to his left, only to see that one was applying for that job is a young woman.
"Oh, hi there," he said, "are you here for the job?"
"Uh, yes, I am," Maria replied back. Seeing that he was just a young boy, she wondered in her mind, "Is he the headmaster of this school?"
But then, one of the accompanying guards said to her, "Ma'am, this young boy is the village chieftain here."
This statement causes the young woman from Kalelis to be shocked and was agitated by it then.
"This...This kid?"
"Yes, I am," Lloyd said to her happily as he stood up and walked towards her, "for almost a year now."
"You mean, you're the leader of this town or something?" Maria asked him.
(She saw Lewole as a medium-sized town.)
"Nope, the whole country," Lloyd answered back.
This causes Maria to even be more shocked than ever.
"So that means..." she thought as she stares at him, "...I'm speaking to the leader of this country?"
Later, at the headmaster's office of the school, Lloyd sat at the seat of the headmaster while Maria was sitting facing towards him. The two guards are near the door watching their job interview. Maria was a bit nervous about messing up in this interview. And so, their interview had begun.
Reading Maria's resume, Lloyd asked her, "So, your name is Maria Lestew, right?"
"Y-Yes," Maria responded back.
"You are a recent graduate from the University of Potma?"
"Yes, 3 months ago." "I see. You have a degree in Teaching, right?"
"Yes, I do. I am a scholar and had a master's degree."
"Okay then, what is your age?"
"I'm currently 24 years old."
Hearing her age, Lloyd thought, "She's older than me..."
But he focused back to the job interview. "Okay, let's go back. What subject can you teach?"
"I can teach Mathematics, Sciences, Geography, most of Literatures, History, and Language Arts. But I am good in Home Economics and Alchemy, too."
"I see then. That's a lot of subjects you know."
"Yes, sir, I loved studying when I was young."
"Okay, that's good. Me too as well. In fact, I never went to school."
This surprises Maria a lot, who went to school from a young age. "What? Why? Are you too poor to go to school or something?"
Because of that, Lloyd decides to tell her about his sad, neglected past and intended banishment from Langton.
A few minutes later, the young scholar was shocked to hear that, and she felt sorry for him. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Lloyd replied back positively, unfazed by his summary of his past as Nate Wole. "I already moved on in life, and even adopting a new identity."
"Oh, then what's your new name now?" Maria responded back.
"My new name is Lloyd Lewole."
Maria was impressed by his new identity. "Okay then. So, did I pass the interview?"
"Well, yes, you did," Lloyd responded with good news. "You're now hired, and you'll be the teacher and headmaster of this school."
"Oh, right, this school doesn't have its own headmaster, right?"
"Yes, I'm just filling in that position temporarily until we find one."
"Okay, if that's the case, I can do that."
"I'm happy to agree with that."
And so, Maria stood up. "I'll do my best to manage this school."
With that Lloyd gave her some papers containing the weekly schedule of the classes and lessons for tomorrow.
Luckily, it was written in human language so Maria would understand it.
After that, Maria asked him about the perks and benefits about being a teacher and headmaster and whether they are true or not.
"Oh, those?" Lloyd confidently answered back. "We guaranteed that for you. We'll be giving you a nice accommodation near this school and some food, potions, supplies, and whatever you need for free thrice a week."
Because of these numerous and generous benefits and perks, Maria couldn't accept them, but the young leader insisted back.
And so, Maria accepted it, and she and Lloyd shook hands as an indication that they made an agreement and that Maria was hired.
Not long after, Lloyd shows Maria her new home, which was a two-room unit in a tenement housing. That one is located on the second floor, just above the ground floor's businesses. The unit includes a bed, a desk, a table, two chairs, and a clay stove, as well as an extra room for storage. It has two windows offering a good view of the street below. The landlord, who is an Undead lion as a human, tells Maria that it was rent-free, not just because she was hired by Lloyd, but also, the country was not yet introduced to monetary coins. Seeing how decent and a bit spacious the unit was, Maria accepted her new home, but was afraid of her new Undead animal landlord.
"Don't worry, Maria-chan," Lloyd assured her in response, "he and the other Undead animals are now docile and nice, unless if you provoke them too much."
Hearing that Maria calms down and thanked the young leader and the Undead animal landlord for the housing.
"Yes, you're welcome, ma'am," the Undead animal landlord replied back.
"Enjoy your life here," Lloyd added happily and nicely added. "You may start by tomorrow. Just follow the schedule, okay?"
"Okay then," Maria responded.
And so, once her two new friends of different social classes left, she went inside her new home and unloaded her belongings, before resting on her bed in exhaustion and relief.
She finally got a job as a teacher, but also, the headmaster, at the new school.
The next day came, and she came to school for work, and conducted one of the classes for the morning hours, as per the schedule for the morning classes. Over time, she finds the weekly schedule strange, but very flexible. Even more strange for her is that the students at her school are free to take any class other than mandatory ones whenever and whatever they want without any pressure. She finds it very fair, and she uses her own teaching style to make the classes a bit more fun than plain and boring.
It seems that Lloyd's plan for the education sector had worked very well. But, as time passes, Maria starts to develop a crush on the young leader despite being older than him. It is because of Lloyd's kindness to her that makes her fall for him now.