Chapter 1: Expulsion from the Academy
I, Werner Strout (Werner pronounced with a V), was sitting in the office of the President of the Mages Academy ー the world’s finest and top Magecraft Research Division.
“Strout, from tomorrow on, you have no job to do here.”
It was the President, the leader of the Mages Academy who spoke.
Werner: “Huh? Could you repeat that once more?”
I had to doubt what I heard just now.
I heard every word he said, but I had to have him repeat it just in case.
“Do you not get it? He’s saying you’re fired.”
The President’s right-hand man, the Director of the Magecraft Artifact Studies spoke with undisguised disdain and mockery in his eyes.
Werner: “Fired….you say?”
“That’s right. You’re fired.”
Werner: “For what reason?”
I was the Teaching Assistant of the Mages Academy’s Research Division.
I completed many administrative tasks and menial work forced upon me and also had to counsel, help, and guide students and worked through a full schedule.
In the morning, I would go to the lab, teach the classes and complete miscellaneous tasks, and by the time other faculty and professors are leaving in the evening, I would finally get a chance to do my own research.
I would develop new Magecraft Tools until the date on the calendar changed and finally headed home.
That was my day-to-day life.
I’m not one to enjoy bragging, but even I think I outdid myself.
“Why, you ask? Are you telling me that you really do not know the reason why you’re getting fired?”
Werner: “Yes, I don’t understand.”
“It’s due to your low contribution to the Academy.”
That…….I cannot understand at all.
Werner: “Could you be more specific?”
“The overall grades of the students you have guided are completely below standards.”
That’s because they placed all the students who were about to fail out of school under my care and responsibility.
Though they may have been failing and were completely neglected, I helped them reach the proper path to graduation.
I thought that was the task that was expected of me to perform.
To be frank, I do not enjoy educating.
But I couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning students who were struggling to reach their potential and had no other place to go and helped counsel them.
They were told by all other guidance counselors to [watch and learn] from others and continued to fail. But if you were to take the time to teach them properly, they were able to fully utilize their abilities and succeed.
But because their grades were so bad earlier, their overall grade at graduation may have been poor, but every single student was able to exceed expectations for their graduation thesis.
Werner: “Everyone was able to leave well-respected graduation research results. If their grades were poor, it was something that occurred before they came to me…….”
“Stop making excuses! That rebellious attitude is also what gives you such a bad reputation!”
The Magecraft Artifact Director spat his words out in outrage.
The Director has only taught and guided his favorite students and neglected everyone else.
That is why many students have failed classes and were sent to me prior to being expelled.
“During meetings, you always bring up unnecessary opinions and lengthen meetings…….and are you not aware that because of that, you are to blame for the increased inefficiency of this Academy?”
Werner: “I do not recall bringing up any topics that were inappropriate or unnecessary.”
“How dare you speak to us in such a manner! Is that how you were taught to respect your elders!”
I think I get it now.
They probably got tired of me directly requesting answers and clarity during meetings.
That’s why after my Master retired, they decided that this would be the best opportunity to expel me.
My Master is the very first President of this Academy, and is a renowned historical figure of this Academy ー Professor Kay.
He was someone that the current President would never be able to speak out against.
Basically, my Master was an inconvenient eyesore.
They probably thought poorly of me since I rarely followed their orders exactly as they intended and wanted to expel me at some point.
But with my Master and Professor, Kay, around, they were unable to make a move.
Werner: “I understand. If that’s the case, then I will remove my things from the lab immediately.”
I was a Teaching Assistant only because my Master asked me to help out.
With my Master retired now, there’s no reason for me to continue working at the Mages Academy.
“Hm? What are you talking about? You are fired. You’re not permitted to enter the research laboratory.”
Werner: “In the lab, there are several things I developedーー”
But before I could finish my sentence, the President looked at me in surprise and horror.
“Are you telling me that you are planning to take those with you? Didn’t you develop those Magecraft Artifacts with the Academy’s budget, and now you are treating it as if they are your own proprietary property?”
“Absurd. Strout never had any morals, but to think that he would outright declare to steal the Academy’s property publicly.”
The Director also spoke with the utmost mockery he could muster from the bottom of his heart and looked at me scornfully.
The budget I received for developing new Magecraft Tools was practically nothing.
In a month, it would be enough to maybe eat one lunch meal.
Almost 100% or to be accurate, 99.9% was paid out of pocket.
During my days as a student, I received some royalties for Magecraft Tools I developed, so I am not lacking money, so that is fine, but….
And after I became a Teaching Assistant, the Academy has taken 100% ownership of all the Magecraft Tools as their proprietary property. Their reasoning was because I developed these while I worked during my work day.
But in fact, the development of these Tools were done outside of typical work hours.
Werner: “I believe that I have contributed significantly to this Academy with my Magecraft Tools developments.”
“What? You think your measly research has contributed that much?”
“How ridiculous to see someone who can be so arrogant! He believes that developing a Magecraft Artifact that any student could have done is a contribution to this Academy!”
Looks like nothing I say will be taken seriously.
Werner: “..........I understand. I will leave everything in the lab.”
“Of course you will.”
“They say the ambition of thieves should not be underestimated. I now see why.”
And with that, I had to leave all my research notes and partially developed Magecraft Tools, and I was expelled from the Mages Academy.
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The President and Director smirked vilely at one another.
All of Werner’s Magecraft Artifacts were wonderful and brought in an incalculable amount of wealth to the Academy.
But the more the Magecraft Artisan raised his fame, the more fragile the Director’s position became.
The President as well did not enjoy the fact that the direct disciple of that abominable Professor Key was becoming more and more well known.
The two had mutual benefits in aligning and agreeing with Werner’s expulsion.
“Strout is a fool, but he does make profitable Magecraft Tools.”
“Yeah, as long as we have his research notes and the partially developed Magecraft Tools…….”
“We’ll be able to acquire an enormous profit. Of course, I’ll record that the President was also part of the development team.”
The President of the Academy and Director of the Magecraft Research Division planned to register their names on Werner’s newest Magecraft Artifact developments.
As Werner was doing, if they register the Academy as the proprietor of the new tools, they will inherit royalties.
But if they register their own names, they will personally acquire an ungodly amount of money.
That was their plan.
And it was not long until they found out that their plot would be much harder to execute than they could ever imagine.
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CHONKY Notes LiT (Lost in Translation)
“Watch and Learn” (見て盗め) ー The more accurate translation would be “watch and steal.” In Japanese culture, this is a philosophy more commonly found in many artisan fields such as cooking or other forms of arts. Basically, instead of someone spoon feeding you step by step on how to do something, new recruits and novices were demanded to continually do menial tasks and as they stole glances at their seniors’ work, understand how things are done, and during their off time, practice what they learned. This does encourage pupils to think for themselves and pay attention to their work environment, but on the other hand, it’s a time consuming process (which is part of the training to see if you’ll stick it out), and can lead to hostile work environments and severe bullying. It is somewhat effective in identifying those with natural talent and those without (guess who gets bullied?), and it goes without saying that sitting down and teaching someone step by step what to do doesn’t always transmit knowledge properly (you can’t teach someone that’s not willing to learn). Like most things, there should be a balance between having students figure stuff on their own and learning from their teachers (in my opinion).
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A Non-Combat Magecraft Artifact Researcher ー actually was an extroadinary S-Rank Mage～ Though he worked overtime without compensation and contributed greatly, he was labeled as incompetent and was fired
Written by: Ezo Gingitsune
https://twitter.com/ezogingitune
Illustrations by Tomozero
Translated by: ChonkyTL
Japanese Title:
非戦闘職の魔道具研究員、実は規格外のSランク魔導師～勤務時間外に無給で成果を上げてきたのに無能と言われて首になりました
作者: えぞぎんぎつね
イラスト: トモゼロ
Original Source Link:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6749gs/1/
Book 1