# "Go out to the hallway."
It's my third day at the Academy, and I haven't attended a single one of his classes yet.
"You didn't bring a pen this time. Go out to the hallway."
"I can just borrow one."
"No. Coming to class without a pen shows you have no intention to study. Don't borrow one—go out to the hallway and reflect on your actions."
Kicked out of the classroom for not bringing a pen.
"You're four minutes late."
"But there are others who came later than me!"
"Then they can join you outside."
Kicked out to the hallway for being just four minutes late.
"You didn't do your homework."
That bastard throws me out to the hallway for not doing assignments, humiliating me in front of everyone and excluding me from class.
What infuriates me most is that he prepares separate homework just for me.
"Due to Truller's poor behavior, I've prepared a special assignment just for him."
"What...?"
"Write a full page about the Empire's economic growth and submit it by tomorrow."
He was being disrespectful without any fear of insulting the future Emperor.
Back then, I was so angry that I didn't do the assignment.
'How dare he... Who does he think I am... giving me extra homework...?'
With contempt, implying that all you could do as a temporary professor was deduct points for not doing some trivial homework, I handed him an empty notebook.
"Hmm... you didn't do your assignment?"
"That's right. Go ahead and deduct points for attitude. I have no intention of attending class while receiving such unfair treatment."
I stood with my shoulders squared, making my position clear, but...
"I see. Then I'll deduct points for attitude and increase the assignment to two pages."
"...What did you say?"
"And please wait in the hallway. I have no desire to teach a student with poor conduct."
That damn bastard was quick to assign endless homework and kick me out to the hallway.
How dare he...
How DARE he!!
How could he look down on the future Crown Prince of the Empire like this?
That so-called economics professor showed no change in expression while being disrespectful to a strong candidate for Crown Prince. I couldn't understand how he wasn't afraid of the consequences, acting so arrogantly.
"I'll kill him..."
I can't understand why this damn economics class happens twice a day, and Shartia always has a sign saying [On business trip] and is absent.
"Haah..."
Truller, filled with rage, slammed his fist on the desk and looked at the clock.
Economics class is tomorrow at 11 AM.
It's currently 2:10 PM, so if he started the homework now, he was confident he could finish the 24 pages of overdue assignments.
Yes.
I'll give in just this once.
Economics class is the only time I can build a connection with the pink-haired woman, so I'll play along with that bastard's scheme just this once.
When I become Emperor, I'll have his head cut off, and once I build influence at the Academy, I'll have him dismissed. Just this once...
*Rustle*
Truller opened an empty notebook and said to his waiting aide:
"From now on, I'll dictate 24 pages about the Empire's history."
"I'll do it for you, Your Highness..."
"No, that bastard will surely check my handwriting, so I'll write it myself."
Truller's pen began to dance across the notebook, filled with anger.
"Recite."
"..."
"I'll write it down."
Truller moved his pen diligently with a sinister smile.
"Hehehe..."
The pink-haired woman's name was Yuria, wasn't it?
According to my investigation, there were rumors that my brother had his eye on that pink-haired woman. If I took her from him, it would create an interesting situation.
After being released from disciplinary action and returning to the Academy, my brother's expression when he saw the woman in his younger brother's arms...
"I'm looking forward to it."
I could barely contain my excitement.
Of course...
"How many pages do I have left?"
"Twenty-three pages, Your Highness."
"Haah..."
The homework seemed endless.
*
"I wish I could do the things..."
What class should I teach today?
"...that I want to do."
As I walked toward the classroom, I smiled slightly and began planning today's lesson.
"What should I teach now..."
I suddenly felt great respect for teachers who prepare lessons every day.
Of course, once you get used to it, you can naturally connect previous materials with new ones. But I was feeling limited in creating lessons for each class without having built up systematic information.
"Hmm..."
I'm worried.
"Maybe I should just tell an old story."
With a heart full of concern, I opened the classroom door and smiled as I felt the gaze of the Second Prince, who was sitting with perfect posture.
'Oh...'
I was curious about his expression, which was different from usual.
'Today feels different.'
Normally, Truller would have an expression like he'd bitten into something foul, dreading the moment I called his name, but...
*Thump*
Today, his proud expression seemed to be asking me to call his name, which somehow sparked my competitive spirit.
"Troller—no, Truller."
The moment I called his name with anticipation...
"Yes."
Unlike usual, Truller walked up with a loud response, stood before me, and slammed a stack of notebooks onto the desk with a "thud!" before smiling.
"Oh..."
"Twenty-four pages. I wrote five extra pages."
Judging by the dark circles under his eyes and his somewhat proud smile, it seemed he had completed the assignment perfectly, leaving no room for criticism.
"Well..."
"You're not going to tell me to leave the classroom for writing five extra pages, are you?"
"Of course not."
I smiled slightly at his hostile words and waved my hand. No matter how discriminatory a professor I might be, I couldn't say harsh things to a student burning with academic passion.
So...
"Did you do it all yourself?"
"Yes. I wrote every single page with my own hand."
"That's impressive, but you should speak more politely. I'm not your friend—what's with this casual 'yes'?"
"I understand."
"Well then..."
Truller smiled while looking at his notebook. He was smiling as if challenging me to find fault with his work, waiting for me to criticize his efforts, but...
"Go back to your seat."
I smiled and said without even glancing at the notebook.
"What...?"
"Please sit down."
"Aren't you going to check...?"
"I already told you I'm not your friend."
"You're not going to check it?"
I smiled slightly and shrugged.
"I'm sure you did well."
"..."
Truller trembled with anger and said:
"You clearly said you would check it. You said no ghostwriting...!"
"Why bother checking? I trust your conscience."
"..."
"Go back to your seat. We need to start class."
*Thump*
The Second Prince stomped back to his seat, clenching his bandaged hand into a fist.
"Well then."
Let's start the class.
I picked up a piece of chalk and began the lesson.
"In our last class, we studied the general history of the Empire and its current situation."
"..."
"We discussed what positive economic impacts war had on the Empire, and how it affected other countries."
"..."
*Screech*
I drew a large mango-shaped circle in the middle of the blackboard and continued:
"As you can see, there are many countries in this land."
"..."
"This large mango-shaped circle is the Empire."
*Screech*
"To the right, that is, to the east of the Empire, is the Kingdom of Baltazar."
*Screech*
"To the south is the Qing Nation, and between the Kingdom of Baltazar and the Qing Nation is the Holy Nation, a sacred country."
With the sound of chalk scraping, the map of the Empire drawn on the blackboard was displayed in a way that was easy for students to understand as I continued my explanation.
"The exact location of the Beast-folk Nation is unknown, but based on known information, if we roughly draw its position..."
*Screech*
"It would be between the northern region and the Kingdom of Baltazar."
"..."
"As I mentioned in the previous class, the Beast-folk Nation's territory isn't large, and it's a kingdom made up of a small population."
Strictly speaking, this meant that the territory of those classified as a nation rather than a tribe was about that size, but not wanting to give complicated explanations, I smiled slightly and left the difficult explanations to the students' discretion.
Anyway.
The Empire's location was in quite an ambiguous place.
The sea to the west.
The Kingdom of Baltazar to the east.
The Qing Nation to the south.
And finally, to the north, lawless territories mixed with barbarians and beast-folk surrounding the Empire's territory.
Despite these adverse conditions, the Empire had the largest territory and was classified as a powerful nation with unparalleled hegemony compared to other countries.
Nevertheless, if we were to list the differences in strength...
"If we were to measure strength..."
I began comparing by drawing circles representing the colors of each country. I thought it would be easier to explain with pictures rather than with text that might be difficult to understand.
Brown.
"The Beast-folk Nation, which once waged a great war against the Empire, has weakened in power, so it's the smallest size..."
Blue.
"The Qing Nation, known as the country of spears, can be classified as this size because it has the Qing King, known as the Divine Spear. And..."
Yellow.
"This kingdom might be the most threatening to the Empire."
The Kingdom of Baltazar.
"The ruler of the Kingdom of Baltazar... that is, the Empress, possesses the power of both an Archmage and a Sword Master, making her dangerous."
After drawing the final white circle, I smiled slightly and finished my complex explanation.
The Holy Nation had the second-largest territory after the Empire and power comparable to the Empire, but thanks to its title as a "Holy Nation," it was pacifist and would not attack unless attacked first.
Having classified the strength of nations in the order of brown, blue, yellow, and white, I put down the chalk and posed a question to the students.
"Which of these has the strongest economy?"
Would it be the Empress's nation, where she can simultaneously use the powers of an Archmage and a Sword Master?
Or would it be the Qing Nation with its many excellent warriors?
Or perhaps the Beast-folk Nation with its unique racial powers?
The conclusion was simple.
"The Empire is the strongest."
With the largest territory and numerous troops, the Empire was currently the strongest nation. The Empire now had the power to wage war against three kingdoms.
"The Holy Nation, like our Empire, is a sacred country that has adopted the Goddess Religion as its state religion."
"..."
"It's a non-combative nation that aims for peace."
"..."
"In contrast, the Qing Nation and the Empress's nation have had numerous conflicts and have signed armistice agreements with the Empire."
Each country had its strengths.
Superior technology.
Overwhelming individual combat power.
And so on.
But the Empire, with everything combined, had the greatest strength among them.
I looked at the students and asked:
"What do you think is the way to become the king of 'economy'?"
"..."
No answers came from the students.
The silence was expected.
I only recently learned the answer myself.
I closed the book and said:
The simplest yet most difficult answer.
"To become the king of economy."
"..."
"You must be strong."
At this seemingly simplistic answer, snickers began to emerge from among the students. They muttered that even a child could give such a simple answer.
But, at least in this world, individual strength was the optimal ecosystem for achieving greatness.
Just as Darvav, Rowen, the Master of the Magic Tower, and many other powerful individuals in the Empire were protecting against invasions from other countries.
"There's an old saying that if something can't be resolved with power, it means you lack power."
"..."
"It's because we're weak. The reason why you and I are learning academics at this Academy is to become stronger."
I smiled brightly at the students and spoke. While it was good to sit here and use our brains, wouldn't we like to do something more meaningful?
"So today, we're having an outdoor class."
To become the king of economy...
"I'm going to run you ragged."
You need to get covered in dust.
"Until you want to drop out."