Chapter 33: School Regulations
While the rest of the class listened attentively, Axel stood out like a stain on clean paper.
He rested his chin on one hand and gazed out the window as if the lesson had nothing to do with him.
Ian noticed him almost immediately.
At first, he chose not to interfere. He was only filling in for a week, so there was no need to make things unpleasant over a little inattentiveness. Besides, Axel looked young and delicate, and Ian did not want to come down too hard on what appeared to be a little girl on his first day as a substitute.
But half a lesson passed.
Then more.
Axel remained in exactly the same posture, looking out at the training grounds like someone admiring scenery instead of attending class.
Ian finally could not endure it any longer.
Was his lesson really that dull?
Trying to preserve his dignity, he called out in a mild tone, "You there by the window. What exactly are you looking at?"
Axel did not react.
He was too absorbed in training his calculations to notice.
Ian's smile stiffened.
He raised his voice a little. "The white haired student in the second to last seat in the back row. We are in class. Please pay attention."
Still no response.
Now the rest of the class had begun to notice what was happening. One by one, the students turned their heads toward Axel, then back to Ian.
Ian felt the heat rise in his face.
It was one thing to be ignored by a student.
It was another thing to be ignored in front of the whole class.
Was this child pretending not to hear him?
That thought instantly made him lose patience. He slammed a hand onto the desk with a loud bang that made several students jump.
This time, he shouted.
"The white haired one in the back! I'm talking to you!"
The student sitting beside Axel finally nudged him with an elbow and whispered, "The teacher's calling you."
Only then did Axel come back to himself.
He lifted his head, blinked once, and pointed at himself with a faintly puzzled expression.
"Me?"
Inside, he could not help sighing.
He had just been on the verge of success. A moment more, and he might have completed the energy transformation he had been trying to stabilize. Instead, he had been dragged back by a shout.
Still, he stood up and looked toward Ian.
Ian stared at him with restrained irritation.
"Didn't you hear me?"
Axel answered honestly, "I didn't notice."
That answer caught Ian off guard.
It was so direct that it robbed him of the satisfaction of being angry. If Axel had acted stubborn or disrespectful, Ian could have scolded him freely. But this blunt sincerity made things awkward. After all, he was an adult. Could he really keep pressing the issue with a child who claimed she had simply not noticed?
He cleared his throat and tried to salvage the situation.
"Pay more attention next time. I'll let it go this once since you're a girl."
Axel's expression changed immediately.
"Teacher, I'm a boy. And I was paying attention."
The classroom went dead silent.
Ian nearly choked.
This child really was trying to kill him.
He forced the twitch in his face down and kept his tone as gentle as he could.
"Oh? Then tell me what I was just teaching."
Axel smiled.
He had not responded earlier because his attention had been wrapped around his calculations, not because he had ignored the lesson entirely. Even while training, he had still absorbed the lecture.
So after a brief pause, he answered smoothly.
"The symbol of the World Government represents the four seas and the Grand Line, as well as more than one hundred and seventy affiliated nations. It symbolizes the unity of the whole world. Among its member kingdoms are Alabasta, Dressrosa..."
Ian raised a hand at once.
"That's enough."
He could already tell Axel was not bluffing.
This child really had been listening.
Or worse, he had been distracted and still listened better than most of the class.
Ian turned away, grabbed the chalk, and began writing on the board to conceal his expression.
"I know you were paying attention. Sit down."
Axel sat back down without another word.
Ian decided then and there to end the topic.
Because frankly, what else was there to say?
He had singled the boy out, only to discover that even with his head tilted toward the window, he could still answer flawlessly. Continuing would only embarrass Ian further.
So he pressed on with the lesson, though his mood had clearly soured.
When class ended, he left abruptly.
The moment he was gone, Axel was surrounded.
"You were so cool just now!"
"How did you do that? You looked like you weren't listening at all!"
"Compared to Alvis sensei, I actually think Teacher Ian is pretty nice."
Ever since his strength had been exposed and his identity as Garp's grandson had spread, Axel had gradually become the center of attention in class. During breaks and training, students naturally gathered around him.
Before Axel could answer, Ain stepped forward.
"I don't think that's the right way to treat a teacher," she said seriously. "Axel, you should show him more respect."
Her words made a few of the students purse their lips, but none of them openly contradicted her.
Binz, who was standing nearby, nodded as well.
"I think so too."
He was not taking sides. He and Ain were both Axel's friends, and he was simply stating what he thought.
Axel did not argue with either of them.
Perhaps, in that moment, he really had gone a little too far.
So he shrugged and said, "Fine. I'll try not to argue with him again."
At almost the same time, Ian returned to the classroom. The unpleasantness from earlier still seemed to linger on his face, but he said nothing about it. He merely opened his book again and continued the class according to schedule, as if nothing had happened.
This time, he kept all interaction to the bare minimum.
He was only here as a substitute, after all. There was no reason to build any deeper relationship with the students.
After the classroom portion ended, practical training began.
The sun outside was harsh, the heat already pressing down heavily on the training grounds. Ian led the class outside, told them to run ten laps around the field, then turned and headed back toward his office without the slightest hesitation.
The students watched him go.
Then they looked at each other.
And the dissatisfaction that had been simmering all morning finally started to boil.
Ain was the first to be hit by it.
"Ain, you just said we should respect teachers. But is that teacher respecting us?"
"Exactly. In class he just read straight from the book. Then he throws us out here in the heat and goes back to the office to relax. How is that anything like Alvis sensei?"
"Yeah. If he acts like that, why should we treat him respectfully?"
Because Ain had been the one defending Ian earlier, the others instinctively turned their frustration toward her.
Ain lowered her head, her cheeks turning red with shame.
She had genuinely not expected Ian to behave this irresponsibly. Binz opened his mouth as if he wanted to help her, but under the pressure of so many voices, no words came out. He had only recently become close to the rest of the class, and facing that much criticism at once made him instinctively retreat into silence.
"Enough."
Axel's voice cut cleanly through the noise.
Everyone turned toward him.
"If you want to criticize someone, criticize the teacher," he said flatly. "What's the point of ganging up on your own classmates here? Aren't you embarrassed?"
The others instantly quieted.
Strength spoke loudly in this class, and Axel had more than enough of it to make his words carry weight.
Still, they were children. Even if they stopped arguing, they were not good at hiding what they felt.
One of them muttered, "So what are we supposed to do? Just keep training?"
"Yeah. We're roasting under the sun while he rests in the office. It's not fair."
"Why don't we just go home and tell our parents? Most of them are Marines anyway. They can ask the school to change the teacher."
That suggestion quickly caught several people's interest.
But Axel shook his head.
"It won't work that fast. Even if you complain, it won't be dealt with until after the New Year. That's how the school rules work."
The students fell silent again and looked at him.
Axel continued, calm and matter of fact.
"Teachers here have absolute authority over classroom arrangements. As long as what they order doesn't exceed the students' physical limits, the school usually won't interfere."
One of the boys clenched his fists.
"So we're just supposed to accept being pushed around? Isn't that the same as ordinary people getting oppressed by pirates and having no choice but to endure it? I hate that feeling."
Axel understood exactly what he meant.
But that did not change the answer.
"In theory, yes," he said. "Right now all we can do is follow the teacher's orders and continue training. There's no real room for resistance."
.....
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