The day changed to Saturday. It was a holiday with no work at the school. This would normally be the case, but for this week, the midterm exam was scheduled for the following Monday. Teachers in charge of creating the exam questions who had not yet finished had to go to school and work on the questions.
“Ms. Elnet, it’s morning.”
“It’s a day off! Let me sleep a little longer!”
Elnet was woken up by Tia, but she still felt like sleeping due to a week’s worth of fatigue. The test questions were already completed, so neither Elnet nor Tia needed to go to work, and it was a holiday for them.
“Even so, it’s hard to get back to your normal routine if you mess up your sleep schedule. Let’s get up for now.”
“I have no choice…”
Tia’s words made Elnet reluctantly decide to get up.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. Let’s have an energetic day today.”
Tia said cheerfully, but Elnet was planning to refrain from going out today for safety reasons. She was convinced that contact from the other party would occur on either Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. The teacher’s dormitory housed many people involved with the school, including teachers. Having many eyes around made it safer and easier for guards to manage if she stayed home as much as possible.
“I’m not going anywhere today, am I?”
“Ehh. It’s a day off, and I wanted to go out.”
In the beginning, when they were paired up, Tia was hesitant, mindful of their difference in status. However, after a few days passed, they had developed a good rapport with each other. Tia could now speak to Elnet with the same tone she would use with a friend.
“So, I ended up spending the whole day in my room…”
As Elnet had said, the day passed without her leaving the dormitory at all. For meals, they had a dining hall in the dormitory, so there was no need to procure food from outside. When it was completely dark outside, Tia looked out the window, reflected on the day, and murmured.
“Are you perhaps not going out of the dormitory tomorrow either?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
“Even if it’s only for a few days, this is tough.”
Tia’s way of spending her holidays was to go out into town and wander around. Even if it was for guard duty, being unable to go outside for a whole day was a considerable stress.
“Oh? It’s a phone call.”
Just then, Elnet’s smartphone alerted her to an incoming call.
“Is it Rachel? What’s up? Hmm, I see… Understood. Then, I’ll visit tomorrow.”
Saying that, she ended the call and put down the smartphone. Judging by the conversation, the caller appeared to be Rachel. Initially, Tia was surprised to see Elnet talking on this strange device, but after seeing it used multiple times, she had become accustomed to it.
“Was the caller Ms. Rachel?”
“Yes, she said we’re having a study session tomorrow at Marie’s Bakery. Since I was invited, I have to go. Of course, you’re coming with us, too, Tia.”
“Ehh. For a teacher to participate in a study session with some students before a test… wouldn’t that look bad to others?”
“That doesn’t matter. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Don’t suddenly change your tone! Fine, I’ll go if I have to. I’ll go, right?”
Elnet seemed unusually happy about the invitation, and though Tia felt a little uneasy seeing her reaction, she decided to go.
“Actually, the Marie’s Bakery we’re heading to now, although it might look like a slightly unusual bakery from the outside, is probably the safest place in this country that I know of. So, I won’t need to provide any guard, and Tia’s safety will be guaranteed. I do have to supervise your studies, but you can order any food and drink you like. I thought it would be a good way to relax.”
“Ordering food costs money, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I have permission from the owner. Please eat plenty.”
“Just so you know, I’m not that big of an eater.”
The next day, on the way to Marie’s Bakery, Elnet said this to Tia. Tia wasn’t particularly picky about food and ate an average amount, but Elnet didn’t seem to think so.
Upon arriving at Marie’s Bakery, Elnet, as Teacher Arnet, studied together with Kent. This was a considerate gesture from Rachel. Josette and Caro, Kent’s fiancée and also participants in the study session, were persuaded by Rachel to express their gratitude for Elnet’s daily work and not to interfere with their interaction. Thus, Elnet’s enjoyable time passed in a flash.
“By the way, Ms. Rachel’s self-made reference books are amazing. The handwriting alone is beautiful, unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and the text is easy to read. And unlike copied manuscripts, there were multiple copies of the same book, which was surprising.”
“Ah, it’s because there’s a machine that writes characters called a computer, and then you can print what it writes using a machine called a printer.”
“Computer? Printer? I can’t imagine what they look like, but Ms. Rachel has some incredible machines.”
“The machines themselves are small. I think they were about this big.”
“What? They’re that small?”
On the way back after the study session, Elnet and Tia were talking about the day. The topic of Rachel’s reference books came up. They discussed the computer and printer used in their creation, and Tia was surprised by the size Elnet indicated. The size was about that of a tote bag. The printing machine at the school occupied an entire room, so compared to that, it was impossibly small.
“I was also surprised by the content. It contained many examples similar to those found in the test question collections for other subjects as well.”
“Ah, I was indeed surprised. I knew the answers, but there were many problems I had never seen before.”
Tia was surprised by the content of Rachel’s reference book because she had also seen example problem collections for other subjects. Elnet, who hadn’t seen the example problem collections for subjects other than her own, was surprised by the sheer volume of problems in the reference book.
“Tomorrow is finally the midterm exam. It will be tough for the teachers after the test, so let’s get some rest early today.”
“Yes, good night.”
They returned to the dormitory and, preparing for the next day’s exam, finished their early dinner. Elnet and Tia decided to go to bed earlier than usual. At this point, Elnet only thought of it as monitoring the test for a day, but she had no idea what a tremendous task awaited her the next day.
“Well then, please take your seats… is what I was going to say, but everyone’s already seated. So, we’ll begin the first period test. The question paper and answer sheet are separate, so take one of each and pass them to the back.”
So it was Monday, the day of the midterm exam. The students, with tense faces, were already seated in the classroom, waiting for the test to begin. In the back of the room, Tia watched Elnet’s proceedings.
“I’m sure you know this, but cheating is not allowed. You’ll be disqualified if you’re caught. Also, if there’s a part of the question you don’t understand, or if you feel unwell, please raise your hand quietly to call a teacher. Now, let the test begin.”
After Elnet gave a few simple instructions, the test commenced. The classroom fell silent, with only the sound of pens scratching on paper. During this time, Elnet and Tia patrolled the classroom to ensure no problems arose. Time passed, and they reached the final subject. A while after the last test began, the atmosphere in the classroom changed.
(They must be surprised by the essay-style questions.)
Elnet intuitively thought. The last subject was Tia’s specialty, and two essay-style questions had been added. The students taking the test appeared surprised by the unusual format. However, as they had been reminded to memorize the questions and answers in advance, the midterm exam concluded without any major trouble. Elnet and Tia, after collecting the answer sheets, decided to return to the staff room for a moment.
“Now, the really tough work begins. We have to grade these by tomorrow morning and post the class rankings along with the grading results from other classes…”
“You mean all of this by tomorrow morning?”
“Yes. We don’t have time to waste, so let’s get started.”
“Ugh, I want to go home…”
It seemed they had to finish grading all subjects for the class they were homeroom teachers for by tomorrow morning. After hearing the mind-numbing task from Tia, Elnet felt exhausted before even starting.
