I couldn’t help but gulp as I stood on the dias, wondering if this was really some kind of trial where they would sentence me to some crime or something.

Also... I was holding onto my egg at the moment... And I could feel several of the stares directed at the egg in my arms.

I looked up at the Mahun woman in white robes who had been staring at me this entire time.

She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them before she finally spoke, "Student Aster. Thank you for coming here on such short notice."

I still wasn’t sure who she was so I just bowed my head slightly, "Umm... Could I know what this is about?"

Her eyes lit up, "Ah, forgive me. Things have been so hectic that I have forgotten we are not properly introduced. I am Vastraea Solis, the Grand Chancellor of Aerialla Academy."

Oh, so she really was who I thought she was.

I bowed again, this time lowering my head slightly lower than before.

"Forgive my earlier rudeness, Grand Chancellor. I was unaware."

"It is no fault of yours. However, I suspect you are wondering why you have been called here?"

I straightened myself, "Yes. Umm... Did I perhaps do something wrong?"

There was a soft murmur that spread throughout the hall as a few of the gathered professors seemed to have found my words amusing for some reason.

The Grand Chancellor also smiled at me, "No, student Aster, you are not in trouble. Unless you managed to do something you shouldn’t have done in just a single day of being here?"

"Well... I didn’t know you needed a permit to fly around the Academy and someone stopped me..."

"Ah... Fufufu~ You do not need to worry then. I suppose you were simply let off with a warning?"

"Umm... Yes, I was."

"Fufufu~ No need to worry, student Aster. We are not here to condemn you for flying in school. This is about your apprenticeship to one of the professors in this school."

Oh, so Katsuki was right all along.

Not that I doubt her but well... It really felt like they had called me here to persecute me with how everything was arranged, ok?

Also, I thought it might be because of me beating up those boys as well...

I nodded, "I understand, Grand Chancellor."

"Mmm... There are a few things we have to ask you first, student Aster. If you do not mind answering?"

"Not at all, Grand Chancellor."

"Very well. First thing’s first... Why are you here, student Aster?"

I blinked at her, not really understanding the question for a moment since it almost felt like I was being interrogated about my purpose here or something.

"I am here to learn," I answered finally.

"And what are you looking to learn, student Aster?"

That’s a rather odd question...

I mean... I don’t know what I don’t know, right? There’s so many things in this World that I’m still learning about for the first time and I just want to learn about everything I can while I’m here.

So I guess there was only one answer to that question.

"Everything."

The hall was filled with murmurs again as the professors around me started whispering to each other once more.

She nodded her head as though she expected that answer, "I see. And to clarify, when you say everything, you mean that you not only wish to learn and improve the skills and magic you already possess... But also to learn more skills and magic disciplines, correct?"

I nodded, "Yes, Grand Chancellor."

The whispers got a little bit louder amongst the professors where I could actually catch snippets of their words now.

"I heard she knows more than ten magic disciplines..."

"More than ten? Now I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not going to watch..."

"No wonder I heard shouting in the teacher’s lounge yesterday... They were really arguing with each other on who gets to take her..."

"She’s going to make a lot of waves in this school isn’t she?"

"I think she’s going to end up bringing a lot of trouble for us..."

"I knew it..."

I’m not really sure what most of them were talking about but I dared not look away from the Grand Chancellor since she was just staring at me the entire time.

She then waved her hand towards me, "I will also just ask in particular, student Aster... Is there any specific magic that you would like to concentrate on?"

I thought about saying either Umbramancy or Electromancy at first but... I decided against that and shook my head.

"I would like to learn everything that I can if that is possible."

"Mmm... I see. Very well then."

She finally broke eye contact with me to sweep her gaze across the rest of the professors, "As she has so decreed, I assume no one else has any objections to proceed with the original plan?"

The murmurs around the room were quickly silenced and it doesn’t seem like anyone was objecting.

The Grand Chancellor then nodded before turning back to me, "Very well. Student Aster, while we have discussed this amongst ourselves, whether we go through with this plan is still ultimately your choice and we will let you choose if you would like to go through with it. The Heads of Departments and myself have decided that you will be my own personal apprentice. But you will also be allowed to seek out any other Heads of Department for any particular subject you would like to pursue and be tutored in that subject anytime you want under them."

I tilted my head, "Eh? Wait... Then... What about my normal classes?"

"You may still attend them as per normal as some of the classes in the curriculum focus on subjects that are less specialised. But we can offer you an exemption from them if you would like to pursue tutorship under one of the Heads instead."

I blinked at her.

"Wait a minute... Doesn’t this also mean that I could basically pick and choose my classes as well?" I asked, feeling a sense of deja vu.

The Grand Chancellor nodded, "You are not wrong."

"Wouldn’t that be... I dunno... A little unfair or something? To the other students that is..."

"We reward excellence and judge based on merit. If there is another student who is able to achieve the same status as you, we would have also offered this same arrangement to them as well. Besides, this also means that the way you are tested at the end of the year is also different from all the other students too."

I gulped, "How different?"

"For you in particular, you will be tested by all the Head of Departments you have chosen to learn under in that year as well as myself. You will need to obtain the approval of more than half of your tutors that you are worthy of advancing in order to pass that year."

Ah... Which means if I were to just randomly go and bother one of the Head of Departments and just learn under them for a single day without committing to it... They could fail me because I didn’t show any good results that they deem were enough to show their time was not wasted on me.

So with this freedom of choice also came with the burden of performance as well and I couldn’t just randomly choose to do whatever I wanted without any consequences.

I looked up at her, "Does that mean I will also be learning under you as well, Grand Chancellor?"

"That’s correct. While I cannot promise you that I will be available to teach you at all times, considering my position and my duties, I am still a teacher here and I will teach you whatever I know if you choose to accept this arrangement. I will just let you know that this is the first time in the history of the school that a Grand Chancellor is taking on an apprentice from one of the first years."

Oh, so there’s also other students that are apprentices of the Grand Chancellor then, meaning I wasn’t exactly alone in this.

I’m still not sure how the curriculum of the school works but I guess having the ability to pick and choose my classes was definitely better than not having the ability to choose so I guess I might as well just accept this.

The Grand Chancellor uncrossed and crossed her legs again, temporarily distracting me with how her stocking clad legs were shifting in front of her.

"So... Do you accept this arrangement, student Aster?"

I nodded, "I accept, Grand Chancellor."

Her lips curled up in a satisfied smile, "Then it shall be so. From today onwards, I recognise student Aster as my personal apprentice. Student Aster is also allowed to approach any of Chairs of each discipline to learn under them with the condition that they would be her examiners at the end of the year. Are there any objections?"

The entire hall was silent.

"Then it is decided. I look forward to your performance in the coming year, student Aster."

Right... So... I guess that’s it?