"Alright, we are back now. Army student's take care of the rhino's. Everyone else, take care of the wagon. Us teacher's need to report quickly."

What are we supposed to do with the wagon?

"Remember that we have a graduation ceremony after this. We will go ahead as planned. Since things are the way it is, the other classes will join you in the ceremony. It doesn't make sense to make them wait until after this whole thing dies down."

To think that our graduation would become a sideshow that would get treated as baggage that needs to be taken care of like this.

"Teacher, I know someone from the other class. We were supposed to report to a foundry after the ceremony. He wanted to enjoy a bit of time off because we were assigned the hell course. Does this mean that they won't go to the central island?"
"This would depend on the situation. They can wait until this ordeal passes through and decide whether they want to go to the central island or not. If they can't wait indefinitely then I suggest they take a little vacation themselves before continuing with whatever they have planned."

The one who asked that question was from the miner course graduates. It sucks that the field trip would be cancelled for his friend but I'm more interested in what miners do at the foundry. I thought for sure miners would rather pick a job at the mines. What would they do at a foundry?

"Wait here and do your assigned chores."
"Yes, Teacher!!"

Graduation, huh! This should be my final chance. I tried to build up the requirements before and during the field trip, I hope I can qualify this time.

"Hey!! You three, come and help already, so we can do our own preparations before the ceremony. Alchemist students, miner students, you each take care of a wagon."
"Eh? Why are you the one in charge?"
"Don't be difficult right now. We all want to rest. I even divided the teams for each course's student groups. This way you can manage yourselves. Do you want to be divided into mixed teams? I warn you now that if we divide into mixed teams then we as the blacksmith students will be in charge. This is our area of work and you miners and alchemists have no idea what to do. Do you want me to tell you how to make your potions!? No! Then don't tell us how to work in our field."

Go ahead and push her patience one more time, I dare you. Our class belle isn't one you could refute without proper thought. This is the very reason she became the class leader, she divides work properly and plans accordingly. That aspect of hers is the reason why she is relied on, and the fact that the rest of us are idiots or lazy in one way or another.

The close second leader type amongst us isn't close at all, he came from a family of scholars, and I don't know if it's because of that but he is a quiet one. I don't know why he didn't stick to the family business though. I guess this is the difference between us plebeians and a noble education trained person.

"....ah...umm...I'm sorry.... What were we supposed to do again?"

He backed off, huh. It was a smart move since they didn't have any way of winning the argument but I would have wanted to see them struggle a bit more.

"Tch, We don't need you to do anything fancy. The actual repairs will be done by someone else, just clean the wagon inside, out, and underneath. After that, just pull it into storage."
"...eh...ah...Thank you."

This should look unfair since we are divided into groups of our own courses. Our own course may not be directly involved in wagon making but we do understand how to make the parts needed to make one, while their class has nothing to do with it. However, cleaning up is a specialty of almost everyone in the dwarf continent.

We don't have fancy magic janitors like the one in the human continent. I don't know about the other continents but from what I can see, the human continent is rich in a lot of ways. Their academy is so prestigious that their students are cared for in the highest standards. Every cleaning, repairing, and gardening are left to a group of specialized maintenance crew that can actually use magic up to the intermediate level.

There is no such thing in the dwarf continent, though there is indoor plumbing, since cleaning using magic is heavy on the water. Rather than exhausting your mana, it is easier to just use the normal methods to clean. There is no such thing as a paid janitor in this school, only trained students to clean up their own mess.

"I'm done on this side."
"Me too."
"You there, bell bargain!! Don't forget to grease the axle!"
"Yes, ma'am!"

Too many people are working on a single wagon. The cleaning went by really quickly.

"Alright, we are done here. Larry and co, push the wagon into storage. Everyone else is free to do what they need to do before the ceremony. Don't be late!!"
"Yes, ma'am!!"

Great!! I want to finish packing some things before the ceremony. I might not need to depending on the assessment but I want to make a mad dash towards that remote village since the situation isn't that good right now.

I also need to shop for materials but that can be taken care of later, preferably when the others have already started to leave. I won't be able to hide my special ability otherwise.

"I'll go and see the army course. I want to check on my girlfriend and also see when the army plans to take action."
"Grrr, Still flaunting your in front of us!"
"Let it go, chatterbox."
"Tch, Fine, go, I have to report to my parents about what happened. Do you have anything to do, brill?"
"I'll go prepare for some things then go out to get something to eat."
"Then let's meet up later, I want to eat something other than hard bread and jerky too."

Business should be booming for victor during these times. I doubt he would join the army students in cleaning up the dragon's road, and even if he did, I doubt the army would even let him. He'll just have to get his fill in fighting the bandits that evacuated the dragon's road. He won't actively hunt them since even if he likes to fight so much, he will prioritize the safety of those he protects before anything else.

I'm more worried about chatterbox's family business though, since their endeavour to the central island would be delayed indefinitely. Unless they use more money to invite more guards, or travel together with the academy. Either way, they won't be able to move unless the army starts their attack.

"Ah, brill, wait a moment!"

Hmm? I was about to go buy some travel storage.

"What's wrong, victor?"
"When are you leaving for the village? If it matches my schedule then I can be part of the mercenary escort toward the village. It helps to be familiar with the way to it. You might hire me in the future and both of us might visit you in the future, so I want to see the things to encounter on the road there. It would help us not get lost too."
"It depends on my qualification test after the graduation ceremony. I will tell you by then."
"Ah, you still haven't qualified. Well, let me know later then."

It would be good to qualify but it doesn't make much of a difference if I don't. The course was only recommended to me and the main benefit for me is the knowledge to tell what kind of ore is which, where to find a certain kind of metal, and the increased bonus for mining. I can make do with buying ore and metal from merchants. I will have more time to work on smithing then.

Okay, chatterbox is reporting to his parents, victor should still be with his girlfriend, and I finished packing up my things. I guess I could start with cleaning the room. It wouldn't take me too much time to finish it though.

[Wind] [Fire]

First, get rid of the dust and garbage by collecting them using wind magic and burn them using fire.

[Water] [Wind] [Clean]

After removing the debris, I can get on with mopping the floor. Finally, I use [Clean] to make sure everything is clean. I could finish everything with [Clean] but it doesn't make sense to opt out of an opportunity to practice my magic control.

It's nice to have a safe environment to practice magic. I won't be able to do this once I relocate to the village. I have to save maybe a third to a fourth of my mana in case something happens at night. It's a good thing that my mana regenerates quickly. In case I run out, I should stock up some weapons to use for myself. I have better materials to work with now, so I can change the weapons I have now.

*Knock* *Knock*

Hmm? Who could that be? I'm not near the stairs and I didn't hear any bomb warning, so I doubt it's someone trying to find shelter?

*Open Door*

"What is it?"
"Ah, sorry, I didn't know anyone was here. I work for the school. Excuse me but are you from the graduating students?"

An orange goblin? Who? and 'school'?

"Yeah, I am and you are?"
"Like I said earlier, I'm from the school. I'm here to help the graduating students take their baggage downstairs to make it easier for them to go where they need to go after graduation."
"Oh, I see, then I would be counting on you. I already packed my luggage inside the room."
"I see, that would save a lot of time. Don't worry, I would handle them carefully. Please hurry to the stadium, they should start the ceremony soon."
"Soon? I thought I still had time though."
"Ah, Did your teacher not tell you? The ceremony will start later but they want the students assembled soon, so they know what to do during the actual ceremony. You know, to make sure the parents would get the best experience in seeing their younglings graduate."
"I didn't think about that, then I will be going ahead, I'll leave the luggage to you."
"Take care~"

That goblin seems suspicious, I don't have anything inside those luggage though. I keep most of my things in my storage, so I only bought those to hide my storage ability. It would be suspicious if they seemed light and empty, so I filled the inside with iron billets. I shaped them into bricks so I can fill it to the brim but even if they are filled to full, those things don't cost much.

I also reinforced the sides and welded the seams to make sure the items inside won't fall out. Unless you are a blacksmith or really strong, you won't be able to open that easily.

Let's say goodbye to the dorm manager.

"Good afternoon, Dorm manager Gau!"
"Oh, Good afternoon to you too. Isn't today your graduation ceremony? There is still a bit of time before it. Are you going shopping for travel supplies? You are starting your own workshop, right?"

As expected of dorm manager gau, to remember all of the students that live in the dormitory. I barely interacted with him that much and he knows that much. I'm sure he has access to our school records too, so it might be why he knows all that. However, to remember all that without looking at his notes is very amazing.

"Did the academy send someone to help the graduating students move their luggage?"
"Move luggage? Hahahahaha! Do you think the academy has the money to hire someone to do such a menial thing? I thought the school trained you enough that all the lazy bones in your body--- Hmm? I see. Tell me the details."
"I have luggage but most of them are just clothes and iron bricks. I doubt they could open it easily. Depending on their patience, they should still be at my room trying to open the luggage. I don't know how many there are but an orange goblin came to my room telling me that the 'school' hired them to help move luggages of the graduate students."
"I'll go clean up a bit. All the luggage they moved would be found down here in front."
"Thanks for all the hard work!"
"Go take care of what you need to do, I can handle this myself."

Like I thought, that was a robber. I can leave this to dorm manager gau, I'll go look around town a bit and shake off some nostalgia. I'll take a look at the prices and where to get the best quality at the same time, since I will do my shopping after testing for my miner qualifications.