Chapter 26: Alvis
The man had only asked because he had been given Axel's enrollment form just before entering the classroom and had not yet had time to read it.
When Axel nodded, the man pulled the sheet out, glanced at it briefly, then said in a cold, flat tone, "Introduce yourself first."
Introduce himself?
Axel thought for a moment, then answered with complete simplicity.
"My name is Axel. That's all."
He genuinely did not know what else to say in front of a room full of strangers, so he chose the shortest path possible.
The moment he finished, the classroom fell into a strange silence.
Quite a few children turned to look at him, their eyes full of curiosity, confusion, and obvious unspoken questions.
That's it?
Even the man at the front paused for a second, then lowered his gaze and finally began reading the information sheet properly.
When he saw the line showing Axel's Doriki result, a faint trace of displeasure flashed across his face.
Zero.
His brows drew together almost imperceptibly.
Another child relying on family background?
That thought crossed his mind as he continued reading.
Then his eyes stopped on one specific name.
Garp.
His expression changed just a little.
After a moment, he folded the paper away and turned back toward the class.
"I am Marine Lieutenant Alvis," he said. "And since we have a new student today, I will repeat the rules of this classroom."
The title made Axel inwardly pause.
A Marine Lieutenant.
That was not some insignificant rank. In the outside world, an officer at that level could easily be the strongest person in an entire region. Compared to men like Bluejam, who had once felt almost impossible to overcome, a Lieutenant was on an entirely different level.
And yet someone like that was teaching children.
Marine Headquarters really was extravagant.
At the front, Alvis continued.
"My rules are simple. In this classroom, you obey orders."
His voice was not loud, but it carried an oppressive force that made the room grow even more silent.
"Perhaps some of you are here because your talent exceeds that of others. Perhaps some of you are here because your families hold rank in the Marines." As he said that, his eyes flicked toward Axel for the briefest moment. "But that means nothing to me."
He rested one hand on the desk in front of him.
"In my eyes, there are only two kinds of people."
His gaze swept across the class.
"Those who have value."
"And those who do not."
No one spoke.
No one even breathed too loudly.
"The only ones I acknowledge are those with the potential to uphold justice. Everyone else is meaningless."
There was no hesitation in his voice.
No concern for the damage those words might do to the confidence of the children sitting before him.
To Alvis, that sort of consideration clearly did not matter. If someone could not withstand even this much pressure, then in his eyes, they were not fit to carry the word justice in the first place.
Axel, seated below, found himself listening more seriously than he had expected.
The other students, on the other hand, looked far more familiar with this treatment. Judging by their tense shoulders and rigid backs, Alvis's style was not new to them. Even so, fear still hung over the room.
Then Alvis's expression hardened further.
"This is supposed to be an elite class," he said.
Bang.
His fist slammed down on the desk.
The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.
"And yet in a class of over thirty students, there is only one person I can currently call qualified!"
The children visibly stiffened.
"The rest of you should be ashamed."
His eyes were sharp now, almost burning.
"And that one qualified student isn't even here yet."
Axel could feel the emotion in his voice.
Not just anger.
Something deeper.
Urgency.
Frustration.
Longing.
"I will not entrust justice to weaklings," Alvis said hoarsely. "Do you think people like you can protect anyone? Do you think justice can be upheld by lazy, soft, cowardly children?"
The words fell like blows.
At that exact moment, a voice rang out from outside the classroom.
"Report!"
A boy stepped into view.
He had long, thin limbs, a somewhat unusual face, and a strange style of clothing. The moment Axel saw him, he recognized him.
Binz.
Alvis closed his eyes for a moment, as if suppressing his irritation. When he opened them again, the scar on his face made his already severe expression seem even harsher.
"Binz," he said. "You're late."
His tone carried real disappointment.
"What's your excuse?"
Binz stood straight and answered honestly, "Sorry, sir. I overslept."
The whole classroom seemed to tense further.
Even Axel could tell that Binz was different from the others. Not in status, but in the way Alvis looked at him. There was expectation there.
Approval.
Or at least, the shadow of it.
Alvis spoke slowly.
"You are one of the very few students here whom I consider qualified to uphold justice."
That alone made several students lower their heads.
"Which is exactly why your laziness is unacceptable."
His eyes narrowed.
"Justice must never be absent. And it must never be late." His voice dropped lower. "Late justice often arrives only after tragedy."
Binz did not argue.
"Yes, sir."
"Go to the training ground. Run until this class ends."
"Yes, sir!"
Binz saluted, then immediately turned and ran.
The classroom remained silent.
No one dared even whisper.
Even the children who were already afraid of Alvis seemed more cautious now than before. It was obvious that his mood today was worse than usual.
Alvis let the tension linger for a while before speaking again.
"I do not need cowardly students. Cowards cannot uphold justice." His gaze swept over the room. "If any of you believe you cannot remain in this class, then leave."
No one moved.
"Better yet," he continued, "those without potential should leave on their own."
His words were merciless.
"Talent matters. Some of you will never catch up to others, no matter how hard you struggle. That is the cruelty of the world." He placed a hand against his chest. "In this world, weakness is a sin."
The final sentence hung in the air heavily.
Then Alvis turned his head and looked directly at Axel.
"You."
Axel met his gaze calmly.
"If you intend to stay in Marine Headquarters after my evaluation, then there is only one thing you need to do."
His voice was ice cold.
"Become stronger."
That was all.
Then he added, "Axel. Come outside with me."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked out.
Axel stood up and followed.
The moment both of them left the room, the classroom burst into restless whispers.
"Lieutenant Alvis was terrifying today."
"He's always terrifying, but today was worse."
"That new student is definitely in trouble."
"Did you see him, though? He's kind of cute."
"I know, right? I kept glancing at him earlier."
"I think he noticed."
The whispers overlapped and tangled together, but Axel did not hear most of them. He followed Alvis down the corridor and into a quiet, secluded corner where no one else was around.
Then Alvis stopped.
He turned around and looked straight at Axel.
"You should withdraw."
The words were blunt enough to make the air feel colder.
Axel did not answer immediately.
He wanted to hear the reason first.
Alvis went on.
"I respect Vice Admiral Garp greatly. He has protected justice more times than I can count." His expression remained unchanged. "But that respect does not extend to you."
He pulled Axel's evaluation sheet from his coat and held it up.
"Your Doriki is zero. That means you have no measurable potential."
Axel remained quiet.
"So I do not want you in Marine Headquarters."
That answer might have sounded abrupt to someone else, but Alvis clearly saw no need to dress it up. In his view, truth was more useful than courtesy.
Finally, Axel asked, "Why?"
Alvis looked at him for a long moment before replying.
"With Vice Admiral Garp's influence, it would be easy for you to enter the Marines." His voice remained calm, but there was something heavy beneath it. "But that would be meaningless."
He stepped closer.
"If someone like you joined, then in real combat you would only become a burden. You would slow down your comrades. You would create openings for the enemy. You would get people killed."
His gaze drifted slightly, as though he were no longer looking at Axel at all, but at a memory.
"I joined the Marines because of my family background too," he said quietly. "And when I first entered, I was weak."
The words came more slowly now.
"I caused trouble for the people around me."
His fingers curled slightly at his side.
"And when it mattered most, I could not protect the people I wanted to protect."
That was the core of it.
There it is, Axel thought.
This isn't really about me.
Not entirely.
Alvis had seen something. Lost something. Failed somewhere that still haunted him.
And now he looked at Axel's zero and saw another future burden.
Another liability.
Another person who would stand in the wrong place and make someone else pay for it.
"So," Alvis said at last, "I'm telling you to leave."
Axel listened quietly.
And understood.
But understanding did not mean agreeing.
After a moment, he gave a small smile and replied, "I don't want to."
For the first time, Alvis's expression shifted.
"You don't want to?"
Axel nodded.
Alvis stared at him, then said, "Then I'll say it more clearly."
His tone sharpened.
"You are one of the lucky ones. Because of your background, you can stay here inside Marine Headquarters, far from pirates and battlefields."
Then his eyes narrowed.
"But you're also unlucky."
He glanced back toward the classroom.
"If you had been placed somewhere else, you might have had an easy childhood. A comfortable class. Gentle teachers. A harmless future."
His gaze returned to Axel.
"But you ended up here."
And then he said it plainly.
"You ran into me."
To another child, that speech might have worked.
To Axel, it only made the man seem more human.
More wounded.
More stubbornly trapped inside his own grief.
So Axel answered him the only way he could.
"Then let me ask you something."
Alvis frowned slightly.
Axel continued, "Why did you join the Marines in the first place?"
The question caught him off guard.
For a few moments, Alvis did not answer.
Then, slowly, he said, "Because I wanted to protect justice."
His eyes grew harder.
"And because I refused to give up, I'm standing here now."
"That's my answer too, then."
Alvis fell silent again.
Axel looked at him directly and said, "If you didn't give up just because you were weak once, then why should I?"
The words landed.
And before Alvis could respond, Axel added,
"Besides, is Doriki really the only standard?" His voice remained calm. "I'm not weak."
That was the important part.
Doriki measured one kind of strength.
It did not measure all of them.
It certainly did not understand vector manipulation.
After saying that, Axel turned and walked back toward the classroom.
Alvis did not stop him.
He just stood there, silent, watching the child go.
A short while later, Axel returned to his seat.
Not long after that, Alvis came back in too.
He stood at the front of the room, looked over the students, and said, "Class is over. Head to the training grounds and practice on your own."
For a second, the classroom was stunned.
Then the children nearly exploded.
Lieutenant Alvis was ending class early?
He was actually letting them go train without lecturing them for another hour?
Some of them looked ready to cheer, but with Alvis still standing there, they barely managed to suppress themselves.
As a teacher, he clearly had the authority to decide how the class would proceed. Even so, this was the first time he had dismissed them like this instead of grinding them into the floor with words and drills.
Alvis did not linger.
He seemed to know his presence alone made everyone tense, so after speaking, he turned and walked toward the door.
The moment he left, the classroom erupted.
A chorus of excited voices burst out at once as the children rushed toward the exit.
Some glanced Axel's way, perhaps still curious about what had happened outside, but his expression was too calm and unreadable, so none of them actually came over.
Only Ain did.
She approached with her usual familiarity, hands behind her back, eyes bright with curiosity.
"What did Teacher Alvis say to you?"
Axel looked at her.
"He didn't say much."
Ain puffed her cheeks slightly, clearly unconvinced.
"That doesn't explain why he suddenly let everyone train on their own. Usually he works us to death."
Axel thought for a moment, then said with perfect seriousness, "Maybe it was my invisible aura."
Ain stared at him.
Then she laughed.
Not politely. Not quietly. She genuinely laughed.
"Hehehe... invisible aura?" She wiped at the corner of one eye and leaned a little closer. "Come on, tell me the truth. What did he actually say?"
Axel considered hiding it, then decided there was no point.
"He told me to drop out."
Ain's smile faded.
"I refused."
Her expression changed.
Not to pity.
To understanding.
"Is that so..." she murmured.
Then she looked toward the door where Alvis had left.
"Still, it's not really the teacher's fault."
Axel glanced at her.
Ain's voice softened.
"You know about what happened to Admiral Zephyr's family, right?"
Axel nodded slightly.
"I've heard of it."
Ain continued, "Teacher Alvis was there too. His family was killed on that same island, right in front of him."
Axel fell silent.
So that was it.
No wonder the man's words had sounded like they came from a wound rather than a doctrine.
Ain lowered her gaze.
"That's why he became like this. He believes weakness is a crime because he once experienced what it means to be powerless."
She looked back up.
"He's not angry because he hates you. He's angry because he hates pirates."
Axel understood.
Or at least, he thought he did.
To watch the people you wanted to protect die right in front of you...
There probably was not much in this world that could hurt more than that.
TL: Check out my newly released fanfic:
Transmigrated into The Legendary Mechanic
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