Chapter 216: Herbalist Class
Since Professor Tito changed his main class to the third year’s Class S, that class also fell under Rucian’s responsibility.
However, the third-year students no longer attended classes. They were dispersed into the field across various provinces to experience the actual Liners’ jobs and missions.
Some were undertaking missions to increase their Liner rank, others returned to their previous jobs before enrolling in the academy. A few were even trying completely new careers.
Consequently, Rucian had been cooped up in his room, managing the official documents for the Class S third-year students who were preparing to leave the academy temporarily.
The amount of paperwork was overwhelming. His head felt like it would explode.
To make matters worse, every time he met another assistant professor or staff member, they would tell the tale of the two new human boys from the Class S who defeated Maul.
He hated it. He utterly condemned it.
"Your choice will never be wrong, Professor Langga. I know your eyes can see a talented person just from the first sight. Now, you bring such a talented student to our academy."
Rucian heard Professor Tito’s voice from outside, speaking gently but full of passion.
Rucian’s face changed drastically. "I’m the one who serves and does his work, but he only ever praises that human," he muttered, dissatisfied.
But when the door opened, revealing a gray-haired old man with a bright, smiling face, accompanied by a handsome young man, Rucian kept his expression neutral, unable to show his annoyance.
"Alright, I’ll head back to my room now. Let’s have tea together another time, Professor Tito," Langga said with a warm smile, looking like a grandson parting with his grandfather.
"Yes, yes. Just call me. I am always free to have tea with you."
The door closed. The old man turned, his gaze meeting the busy Rucian.
"You did a good job, Rucian," he said.
Rucian raised his head and offered a kind smile. "My pleasure, Professor Tito."
Tito walked past Rucian and entered his own room.
When that door closed tightly, Rucian’s face changed drastically again. But he didn’t say a word.
...
Exiting the floating stone in the Club Tower, Gara walked toward one of the classes down the corridor.
Entering the room, he saw not many people were there yet. Gara didn’t look clearly at the interior, focusing only on finding a place to sit. As always, he chose the third-row desk near the door.
After settling down comfortably, he finally had time to check out this class— the Herbalist Class.
On the wall, a few paintings of leaves, flowers, and a whole herb body were displayed with their names and uses.
There were also two big windows. A breeze came and went, keeping the room at the right temperature.
But the scent in this class was definitely different from the others. The herb’s scent was quite strong.
"It smells good, though," Gara murmured to himself.
Gara turned his head.
In the back, three large shelves stood, full of a variety of herbs. "That’s where the smell comes from."
In front of the shelves, a few students were looking at the herbs curiously.
"Oh!" Gara instinctively turned his head back to the front. One of the students there was... "A druid," he whispered.
As a druid himself, he had never met others outside of his children. It was a completely new experience, and he was slightly scared.
All of his effort to move from one place to another was because of druids. Meeting one of them in this setting felt weird.
Gara braced himself. ’He doesn’t know you, can’t smell your scent either. Don’t be afraid. Maybe... We can become friends—No! Not until my children’s scent is masked...’
Gara only came to his senses when a stream of chattering voices was heard from outside the class.
The source of the commotion flowed into the room. In the center of the voices, Vania with her ginger hair stood out.
Without realizing it, Gara let out a heavy breath. Yesterday, he hadn’t had a class with that girl, and it had felt so good.
’As an herbalist, I really want to attend this class. I hope she doesn’t make trouble.’
He truly didn’t want to deal with another annoying person. Luckily, Vania, who was seated proudly in the first row, didn’t notice him.
Not long after, a small girl, around the height of Gara’s chest, walked into the class. She was carrying heavy books, making Gara want to help her.
But the girl, or perhaps the woman, stood up at the class podium and greeted everyone with a warm smile, "Hello, everyone. Welcome to the herbalist class. I’m your teacher, Aura Linera. Just call me Professor Aura."
In his seat, Gara’s eyes widened, but he quickly composed himself. He had almost created a problem in his first encounter.
’Never judge a book by its cover,’ Gara reminded himself inwardly. ’This world is different. Races, shapes... everything is different.’
Meanwhile, at the podium, the professor was explaining what they would study in the class. Staring intently at the front, Gara tried not to be distracted by his professor’s appearance.
Besides being short, Aura Linera had red skin and pointed ears— an unusual combination.
’Is she half like me? But she got all of the features of her parents. Meanwhile me— my biological father’s gene was too strong.’
Against his will, Gara found it difficult to focus. But he tried.
Dozens of minutes later, he was finally focused completely on the lecture.
"We can find herbs in nature. They are a part of nature. Actually, nature always assists us. Our job is to discover everything that nature offers us.
But, herbs are not just lifeless objects that can’t defend themselves. In the wilderness, there are many toxic herbs. And you all have to be very careful not to make any contact with poisonous herbs."
"You can read the general characteristics of poisonous herbs here." Aura distributed a parchment to her students, who were not numerous— only about twenty.
The parchment also fell into Gara’s hand. The content was quite similar to what he already knew.
But, his forehead furrowed deeply. He raised his hand. "Professor Aura, is there a general way to handle poisonous herbs so that we don’t get poisoned when we want to use them?"
Hearing her student’s interesting question, she smiled warmly, "Why do you want to know how to handle a poisonous herb?"
"So that I can use it when I concoct a herb remedy," Gara answered, matter-of-factly.
But his answer made a few students in the front row chuckle. And Vania openly jeered, "How can someone like him be a Class S student? Clearly, poisonous herbs are toxic and useless. That’s why we must be careful not to pick the wrong herb."
...