Letter?
Siles was momentarily surprised, not understanding who else would be writing to him. He quickened his pace and took the letter from Lorenzo’s hand. Seeing that the return address on the envelope was the Central Cathedral of the Church of the Past, he immediately formed a guess.
Lorenzo looked at him with confusion, specifically eyeing the brooch. “Why are you… dressed so…”
He revealed a complicated expression.
Siles didn’t pay much attention to his expression. He raised the envelope in his hand and said, “Wait a moment for me; I’ll put the letter upstairs.”
Lorenzo shrugged. “Go ahead.”
Siles went upstairs again. He opened the letter, and as expected, it was the reward for providing the whereabouts of the apostate.
He quickly scanned the formulaic wording in the letter, then focused his attention on the amount of the reward.
Ten hundred-coin bills.
Siles quickly converted it—twenty months’ salary.
Siles: “…”
The Church of the Past was indeed wealthy and generous.
Siles sincerely thanked Antinam in his heart, then put the money into the bottom layer of his drawer. He finally felt that his wallet wasn’t so shriveled, and for a moment, his whole being felt more confident.
This directly led to him encouraging Lorenzo to eat more when treating him to breakfast.
Lorenzo looked at him suspiciously and said, “I feel like you’re in a good mood.”
“Indeed,” Siles didn’t smile, but his gaze was calm and his posture elegant, giving off a… relaxed and happy feeling. “I solved a very big problem.”
“What was it?”
Siles gave a casual explanation: “The topic for this year’s academic paper.”
“Oh, forgot you were still a formal professor. As a teaching assistant, I don’t have strict academic requirements.” Lorenzo casually took a jab at his roommate, then asked, “What do you plan to write about?”
Siles was silent for a moment, then gave an answer: “The wandering poets of the Sardinian Empire.”
“Oh!” Lorenzo was somewhat surprised. “Very interesting! I quite like that group of wandering poets.”
Siles asked, “You know about them?”
“I know a bit. You know that in recent years, the history community has started to become interested in the lives of ordinary people in history. The research has been very deep and detailed, so some cultural relics and ancient books from the past have also been reorganized and studied.”
Siles nodded, indicating he was aware of this.
“So, we found a file related to wandering poets.”
Siles’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help asking, “Can I borrow it to read?”
“Of course, it’s in the library. If I recall correctly, that file should be called…” Lorenzo recalled for a moment, “Report on the Population Strata of Kansas City.”
Hearing this unexpected title, Siles asked, “Is this an official report from the Sardinian Empire?”
“It seems so. However, Kansas City wasn’t within the territory of the Duchy of Constance at that time. It might also be from a civilian investigation agency,” Lorenzo said. “It mentions some wandering populations in Kansas City, including wandering poets, circuses, merchants, and the like.”
Siles nodded thoughtfully, then thanked Lorenzo.
“No need to thank me,” Lorenzo said with a smile.
After breakfast, they parted ways. Lorenzo had to go to Professor Dunlop’s class, while Siles went to the carriage station outside the school to mail his letters before returning to his office on the fourth floor.
There was still quite a long time before the appointed ten o’clock. Siles unbuttoned his suit jacket—considering the ritual [The Silent Heart], he didn’t take off the jacket. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot indoors.
He sat there, but had no time to worry about the temperature change; he just recalled a small detail he had noticed on the way there.
During ritual time, he could discover the existence of other Revelators through their unique blue glow. It seemed this didn’t happen during other Revelators’ ritual times; only Siles was like this.
And just now, among the students preparing for class in the main castle, he had inadvertently glimpsed a figure possessing a blue glow.
…A Revelator? Or a student?
Siles was somewhat curious, but he didn’t go out of his way to look for the person. He just felt that the Revelators in this world didn’t seem as secretive and rare as he had imagined.
He sat in the office for a while, feeling the dual influence of the ritual time and [The Silent Heart], which made his entire mind appear very clear.
He simply took out his lesson plans and continued preparing for class.
In the week before school started, Siles hadn’t been able to arrange all the courses properly, only prioritizing writing the lesson plans for the first few classes. After school started, he was terribly busy and had absolutely no time to sit down and properly organize his lesson plans.
Now, taking this opportunity to write lesson plans, the progress was surprisingly smooth, and he even reorganized the class content for today and tomorrow.
He spent over an hour pushing the lesson plans forward by a significant chunk.
At ten o’clock in the morning, Jules and Dorothea walked into the office together.
“Good morning, Professor,” Dorothea greeted first.
“Good morning, Professor,” Jules followed immediately.
Siles looked up at them, paused slightly, then said in a low voice, “Good morning. Wait for me a moment. Your book lists and teaching assistant application forms are already on the coffee table; you can take a look first.”
The two acknowledged this, then sat on the sofa and buried their heads in filling out the forms.
Siles finished writing a lesson plan, looked back, and saw the two leaning awkwardly over the coffee table to write. He became thoughtful and asked, “Is it uncomfortable to write like that?”
Both apprentices looked up. While Jules was still stammering, Dorothea already said, “Yes, Professor. But it’s okay, there isn’t much writing needed.”
Siles remained noncommittal, just nodding: “I understand.”
He pushed his chair near the coffee table and let them finish filling out the teaching assistant application forms first. Subsequently, he pointed to the book list: “This is your assignment for the coming period.
“In one semester, you will receive three such book lists; I don’t require you to finish reading them in a short time, you can manage your time freely.
“However, I require that every Thursday, you must give me feedback on your thoughts after reading a portion of the book list. I will follow up on your progress in real-time.
“Additionally, by the time the second book list is placed in front of you, I hope you will have already decided on your thesis topic for this semester.”
Both apprentices nodded seriously.
Siles then said, “Alright, now you can look at this book list. If you have any questions, you can raise them now.”
Dorothea finished reading the book list first and asked, “Professor, can we find all these books in the library?”
There were many books and papers on it she hadn’t read!
“Yes,” Siles said. “Finding the papers might be a bit more troublesome; you can ask the librarian for the journal catalog.”
“I understand.” Dorothea took a deep breath.
She suddenly thought that the professor in front of her—her former senior—was indeed very excellent and outstanding. How many of the complicated books in the library had he read? How many did he remember?
Dorothea felt her confidence take a slight hit, followed by a surge of fighting spirit.
Jules’s tone was somewhat cautious: “Professor, are all of these… books related to the Silent Era?”
Siles mused for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes. Jules, I hope you understand one point: although literature related to Antinam only appeared in the Era of Mist, literature itself has a long history.
“And any ‘human’ part in literature cannot bypass the literature of the Silent Era.”
“I understand, Professor.” Jules nodded repeatedly. He summoned up his courage and said, “I mean, to what extent do you wish for me to involve Silent Era literature in my thesis?”
Siles was slightly surprised to hear this question. He answered, “That still depends on your thesis title. The ‘human’ part in literature related to Antinam… I think that is just a chosen topic, not the title of the thesis.”
Jules nodded thoughtfully and quickly said, “I get it, Professor. I will refine this topic further.”
Siles smiled slightly. He said a few more words on this topic: “Jules, wanting to research the ‘human’ part doesn’t mean simply listing those parts involving humans is enough.
“You need to explore why these texts appeared in literature related to Antinam, what thoughts and concepts they are rooted in, and why these descriptions and ideas didn’t appear in the past…
“In any case, literature is something inseparable from society, economics, culture, and politics.
“What the Era of Gods, the Era of Faith, and the Imperial Era were like; what the Era of Shadows and the Era of Silence were like; and what the Era of Mist we are in now is like… different eras will breed different literary works.”
Jules and Dorothea listened attentively.
They might have vaguely understood this from various channels before, but now, they derived this answer directly from Siles’s words.
This was, of course, the function of a mentor.
Dorothea couldn’t help asking, “Professor, according to what you said, is the shift from ‘divine’ literature to ‘human’ literature a destined thing?”
Siles pondered on this question for a moment: “I cannot say… destined. First of all, the fall of the Gods in the Silent Era was something no one expected. You should be very clear about this point as well.”
Both nodded.
Siles added, “However, I can still say that the appearance and growth of ‘human’ literature was destined.”
“Why?” Dorothea said, troubled.
Siles looked at this young girl. He thought of this student’s thesis topic—hymns. He couldn’t help thinking that this was indeed a student very interested in the relationship between God and believers.
Siles sighed slightly in his heart.
With his perspective from Earth, he could discuss this issue from many, many angles, but that would be too beyond his current identity. He was just an ordinary Professor of Literature History.
So Siles gave an answer from his professional field: “Don’t forget, there are materials indicating that as early as the Imperial Era, fictional texts like bedtime stories existed.
“In addition, travelers sitting around campfires, telling stories that were true or false—their narratives contained fabricated, fictional elements. This is also an image that appears in many works, and this fictionality is recognized.”
Dorothea paused slightly, suddenly feeling a bit at a loss.
“When literature was first born, it had such functions and effects. The things those words pointed to did not actually exist in this world.”
Siles stopped Dorothea’s rebuttal.
He said, “I mean—to give an example, suppose you are describing an item at hand.” He casually picked up a pencil from the table. “Like this pencil.”
Dorothea nodded, indicating she understood. Jules stared intently at the pencil, wondering what he was thinking.
Siles said, “You used various methods to describe this pencil: shape, details, writing feel. In short, you tried your best to make this pencil fit its reality.”
The two apprentices listened very seriously.
“But, for your readers, can they really know that what you are portraying is this pencil?”
Dorothea paused slightly.
Jules blurted out, “They can’t see this pen!”
“Yes.” Siles said approvingly. “Readers cannot come to your side and truly see this pen. And this pencil, in the process of future use, will gradually wear down, no longer looking like it did when you described it.”
Dorothea said in a daze, “So, we can never—”
“What we portray is only that pencil appearing in that textual space,” Siles said. “This is literature. Any literature possesses a fictional nature. Even biographies and news have a certain fictionality, it’s just that you believe they describe reality.”
For some reason, Dorothea shuddered at Siles’s words.
Her face, usually confident and radiant, became somewhat pale due to Siles’s string of words.
She gritted her teeth and suddenly asked, “Then, what about the ‘God’ part in literature?”
Siles smiled slightly and answered this question: “What do texts describing ‘God’ have to do with God?”
Dorothea trembled because of Siles’s cruel words.
Siles’s tone became gentler. He said, “You never considered this question before, did you?”
Dorothea was silent for a moment, her expression softening a bit. She looked at Jules, who seemed not to quite understand why Dorothea’s reaction was so severe.
Dorothea nodded and said, “Yes. I never considered… that human praise for God essentially has nothing to do with God.”
Siles nodded as well.
Dorothea fell into silence. After a moment, she suddenly said, “Professor, can I understand your meaning from this angle?”
Siles looked at her, and so did Jules.
Dorothea bit her lip, looking a bit uneasy, but she finally said, “Humanity, using literature, challenged the discourse power of God!”
The office fell into a long silence.
Finally, Siles suddenly laughed. He said, “Dorothea, I am very gratified that you could think of this angle. You are an outstanding student.”
Dorothea received praise, but an unspeakable timidity spread in her heart, as if the moment she said those words, something inside her withered.
After a moment, she slowly said, “That is because of your guidance, Professor.” She said sincerely, ” Relying on myself alone, I could never have thought of this point. I always thought literature was just literature.”
Siles said, “You can keep your own viewpoint, Dorothea. Everyone’s path is different.”
Dorothea shook her head; she simply said, “You persuaded me, Professor.”
So Siles said nothing more.
Jules looked left and right, not understanding what profound topic they were discussing.
Siles looked deeply at Dorothea—glancing at the blue glow on her body—and then looked at Jules: “Jules, do you understand my meaning with the pencil example just now?”
Jules pondered for a long time before tentatively saying, “Because, when literature was born, it was essentially humans releasing their…” He got stuck on choosing the word for a long time, and finally said, “Will? So human literature is destined to have the upper hand.”
Siles almost subconsciously thought of the Will attribute in the RPG—and he indeed relied on this attribute to resist the Out-of-control Time Trace.
So he smiled: “Yes, Jules. This is also a question you need to pay attention to and think about when writing your thesis.
“Why do so many ‘human’ elements appear in literature related to Antinam?
“This is probably the root confusion that makes you want to study this phenomenon, and you thought the root of this problem lay with Antinam and the Era of Mist.
“But humans embedding their own will in literature started a long, long time ago, not starting from Antinam or the Era of Mist.
“Literature, whether it’s symbols and patterns carved on stone walls a long, long time ago, or the exquisite paper in modern bookstores, is essentially individual humans thinking, writing, and recording.
“Those Gods who were once high above were also objects of their recording and portrayal.”
For some reason, although the previous sentence “What does it have to do with God” was more deafening, after this class ended, Dorothea was more impressed by Siles’s gentle sentence, “Gods were once also objects recorded by humans.”
With a mood of trance and contemplation, she bid farewell to Siles along with Jules and left Siles’s office.
It was nearly twelve o’clock.
Siles ended the class a bit earlier to let the two apprentices go eat earlier. Afterward, he relaxed a little.
Although he spoke with fervor in class, it could almost be said to be… some kind of stress reaction. And he thought his reaction and tone in class were indeed a bit excessive.
He actually didn’t plan to have such an in-depth discussion about the essence of literature and the relationship between man and God with his apprentices at this time. He thought that should be something further in the future.
However, the heavy blue glow on Dorothea made things abruptly turn in a direction that caught even him off guard.
…Dorothea was actually a Revelator!
And the blue glow on her body looked even richer than what Siles had now. That was at least a potion of 10% purity.
This seemingly proud and confident young apprentice seemed to have very powerful strength.
As a newly initiated Revelator, Professor Noel couldn’t help but sweat for himself. Fortunately, Dorothea didn’t discover that Siles was also a Revelator.
Based on Dorothea being a Revelator, and her previous suspicious obsession and curiosity about the relationship between man and God, Siles generated many, many thoughts.
But in the end, he chose to discuss this topic slightly seriously in class.
He didn’t know how effective it was.
He just thought—Old Gods are things of the past.
Yes, this was his thought, and also the root of his various thoughts just now.
The reason Old Gods were called Old Gods was because They were Gods who had already fallen. Their fall was recorded in history with certainty and was irrefutable.
Even if there were still Old God followers attempting to resurrect the Gods, but… Siles thought, that must be futile.
He carried this confidence.
…Okay, it was because the ending in the original RPG script was like that.
In the RPG script he played, the ultimate goal of the apostate was to resurrect the Evil God. However, whether he succeeded in holding the ritual or failed, the ending was the same—the God never had the possibility of revival.
Although the RPG script was far from the real world, Siles always maintained this concept and never wavered.
He sat there, spaced out for a while, then stood up, cleared his mind, took the two teaching assistant application forms, and went to an office on the other side of the fourth floor, where Professor Atlee was sitting.
“Good afternoon, Professor Atlee.” Siles greeted the old professor politely. “I’m here to deliver two teaching assistant application forms.”
Professor Atlee looked serious: “Your teaching assistants?”
Siles nodded and added, “Also my apprentices.”
Professor Atlee nodded and said, “I understand.” He thought for a moment and said, “Next Wednesday, your club application form will be sent to your office. You have a week to select club members. Remember to hand the list to me earlier.”
Siles paused, only then remembering the club matter. He really had too many things on his plate.
“Thank you for the reminder,” he said. “I will.”
Professor Atlee nodded again.
Siles hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “By the way, Professor, can I apply for two extra chairs in my office? Just having a sofa and a coffee table makes it inconvenient if my apprentices need to write at a desk.”
“No problem. Someone will deliver them to your office later.” Professor Atlee agreed readily. He looked at the calendar. “How about around nine o’clock tomorrow morning? I remember you have a class at ten.”
“Of course,” Siles replied. “Thank you.”
Professor Atlee forced out a dry smile, then continued to bury himself in work. Siles then bid him farewell.
He went back to the office to get his wallet, then went to the cafeteria for a simple lunch. Subsequently returning to the office to pick up his lesson plans, Siles arrived at the public elective classroom on the third floor on time.
It was still the classroom for his Tuesday public elective, and the students’ faces were somewhat familiar, though there were naturally many changes. Siles observed them calmly, receiving a completely silent classroom before class started as usual.
Now Siles was almost used to this atmosphere—so he was completely unaware of the even more serious, almost murderous atmosphere for this course. He naturally didn’t know that the matter of assigning a 5,000-word essay in the previous public elective class was known to the whole school.
And the students sitting here now all held a mentality of facing death with equanimity—Professor Noel would definitely assign a 5,000-word essay in this public elective class too! He definitely would!
Some students with weaker mentalities almost burst into tears when realizing this tragic fact.
For university students in this era, they went to university either to experience life or to improve their current situation. So, they were either relaxed with no pressure or busy all day long.
But regardless, they had to complete their assignments properly. Otherwise, failing a course or being held back would not only be shameful but also a waste of time.
Therefore, regardless of which type of student they were, their mood right now was very heavy.
Siles seemed unaware, just calling the roll step by step. During the roll call, he encountered a somewhat awkward situation.
On the roster, there was a very unfamiliar name that was completely unpronounceable in the language of the Duchy of Constance. He paused on this strange word for three seconds until the owner of the name stood up voluntarily, relieving the awkwardness.
It was a young female student whose facial features were distinctly different from the residents of the Duchy of Constance; her long black hair was braided into exquisite plaits.
She explained to Siles in stuttering Const Principality language: “S-sorry, Professor… I, come from, another country. My name, is, Kellogg.”
Kellogg was naturally the translated name of her name in the Constance language, sounding more like a transliteration. Siles mused.
He nodded to this foreign female student and said, “Okay, I understand, Kellogg.”
Kellogg looked very happy, even giggling a couple of times before sitting down.
Siles continued the roll call, but thought in his heart, Lafami University actually has students from foreign countries? If possible, would I have the opportunity to inquire about things outside the Ashless Lands from this student?
However, he probably had to worry about this student’s academic issues first.
After the roll call was completed, Siles was satisfied to find that no one skipped class this time. Compared to the Tuesday students, the Thursday students seemed to have learned their lesson.
Of course, Siles also found some familiar names on the list, such as Herman Grove.
When Siles called this name, he glanced up and noticed Herman’s expression was indescribably complex… Siles couldn’t help but feel a little confused.
Why did this young archaeology student look so strange?
Siles didn’t think much of it and quickly mentioned the grading arrangement for this class. Similarly, it was 30% attendance and 70% class papers.
“For the class paper of this course, because I major in Silent Era literature, the requirements will be slightly stricter.” Siles smiled slightly. “A 5,000-word essay, plus no fewer than ten references.”
The students’ expressions froze.
“Of course,” Siles added, “I will provide you with a book list.”
The students’ expressions looked as if he was bullying them. Siles thought secretly.
Maintaining the calmness of his expression, he continued, “Next, let’s enter the topic of the class.”
He turned and wrote the title of this lesson on the blackboard: Appreciation of Silent Era Literature.
“Literary appreciation is a very complex topic,” Siles said. “We can say that any reader’s experience and feelings regarding a book, as well as the corresponding evaluation, are completely different.”
The students forced themselves to focus and listen seriously to Siles’s words.
In this era, students who could attend university were basically young people who had passed the most basic middle school education, could read and write, possessed reading experience, and had a certain level of appreciation.
They were young enough, so they were bold enough to accept some fresh knowledge.
“First, I want to ask everyone,” Siles asked a question, “How do you all read?”
The students looked at each other, not knowing how to answer this question.
So Siles looked down and randomly picked a student’s name from the list to answer—he didn’t dare call Herman again. It was quite annoying for that baffling judgment to appear in class.
The student called was a boy with a terrified and blank face. He stood up tremblingly and whispered, “P-Professor… I don’t know either.”
Siles asked patiently, “Then when you usually read, are you used to reading faster or slower?”
The student thought for a moment and finally answered, “Faster.”
“Do you not doubt the content of the book?”
“Doubt?” The student seemed stunned, then tilted his head in slight confusion. “But why do I need to question the author? I am just reading.
“Or rather, when reading, I am accepting the author’s viewpoint. But after I truly finish a book, I will look back and think about the value and meaning of this book.”
Siles nodded and asked, “In other words, when you read, you believe the content of this book without reservation?”
This time the student thought for a longer time, and finally, he nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Thank you for your answer.” Siles said, asking the student to sit down, then asked, “Is there anyone whose reading style is exactly the opposite? During the reading process, does anyone habitually think, refute, and criticize the author’s viewpoint?”
Some students summoned the courage to raise their hands, and Siles picked one of the female students.
After standing up, she actively said, “When I read, I feel like I am ‘responding’ to the content of the text. Whether it is the rhetoric and usage of the words themselves, or the author’s thoughts and concepts, I will pay attention and think about them.
“So I always read very slowly. If it’s those popular novels, it’s a bit better; but if it’s a lengthy academic monograph, I always have to spend several times more time than others.
“Professor, which of these two reading methods do you think is better?”
Although the student asked which one was better, judging from her tone, she seemed tired of spending too much time every time she read.
Siles didn’t answer the question directly, just saying, “I hope you can get an answer you like after this course ends.”
He said a “liked” answer, not a “correct” answer.
The student sat down thoughtfully.
In the remaining class time, Siles didn’t continue to diverge on the matter of “reading” itself, but mentioned and introduced relevant literary works and writers of the Silent Era.
Siles kept an eye on the time. When the time reached 3:15, he ended his last sentence, said goodbye to the students, and left the classroom.
Thursday was finally about to pass.
It was still early, so Siles went to the cafeteria to pack a simple dinner to take back to the dormitory.
Lorenzo hadn’t returned to the dormitory yet; presumably, he was still helping out at Professor Dunlop’s place.
The ritual time of [The Silent Heart] was about to end, and Siles felt a sense of loss—for his lost two points of Will. Well, that didn’t belong to him anyway.
However, maintaining the ritual time all day made Siles’s perspective on the world change subtly. After discovering that Dorothea was a Revelator, he tirelessly observed whether there were other Revelators in the university.
Although he failed to find any.
Siles simply cleaned and organized the room, as well as his manuscripts and materials from recent days, then bathed early, washed his clothes, changed into loungewear, and finally sat at the desk to eat dinner.
With interest, he opened a popular novel to read.
This was purchased by him previously. He didn’t have much time before and could only skim through it roughly. Now Siles spent some time finishing it, as a reference for the novel he was preparing to write.
He was somewhat famous on Earth, yet he still needed to figure out the preferences of readers in the other world.
At about six o’clock, Siles heard someone walking on the stairs and knew Lorenzo was back. He was distracted for a moment, then continued reading.
For Siles, whose appetite had long been spoiled by Earth’s internet literature, the popular novels of this era couldn’t be called interesting; the information density simply couldn’t compare with the internet age. However, they had a unique flavor.
He carefully pondered the differences. That ancient, heavier, decent emotion and thought… He suddenly thought, to what extent is the difference between this world and Earth due to the existence of Gods and supernatural powers?
At seven o’clock, Siles finished reading the novel. Borrowing the thoughts he had just pondered, he listed the outline of the novel he wanted to write in one go.
He didn’t plan to write it very long; firstly, he didn’t have time, and secondly, it didn’t fit the needs of this era.
He looked at the large paragraphs of text on the scratch paper, his gaze distant.
For a moment, he thought he had returned to Earth, silently thinking about the content of his next novel under the dim light of the desk lamp.
But coming back to his senses, the summer night outside the window still reflected a strange scene. The world had changed, and he still didn’t know—in his short and insignificant life, whether he could find his home planet in this magnificent and vast universe.
Siles sighed low, feeling a bit of irritability rising. Perhaps because his life had tended to stabilize, various emotions couldn’t be suppressed this night.
He simply filled himself with work.
The novel outline was finished, so there were lesson preparations and lesson plans; even if the course content was settled, he still had an academic paper he hadn’t finished writing.
This night was still busy and fulfilling.
Early the next morning, Siles woke up very early. He thought about today’s schedule. It was Friday; he had a specialized elective class in the morning, and then nothing else until tomorrow morning’s meeting with Bertram Fenn and the mysterious Star Dust merchant.
Therefore, Siles chose not to continue the ritual of [The Silent Heart].
But based on the instinct of caution, he carried a small bottle of potion with him and pinned the brooch to his collar.
He didn’t meet Lorenzo when going downstairs, so he went to the cafeteria alone for breakfast and then to the office to prepare for class. At nine o’clock, Professor Atlee brought workers to move two chairs in.
Siles’s office was relatively small, so these two chairs could only be stacked and placed in the corner next to the low cabinet behind the desk.
Professor Atlee looked at the sofa and coffee table in Siles’s office and couldn’t help nodding, saying, “You are a very considerate professor.”
Siles smiled a bit embarrassedly.
For him, it was just a small effort, but for his apprentices, it could practically improve their class experience.
Having resolved the chair issue, Siles continued preparing for class. In just two days, the lesson plans for the several courses he was responsible for had advanced to the later stages. Siles began to think about the class assignment part—for the specialized elective, of course. There was no need to assign in-class work for the public elective.
The time on the pocket watch startled him. At 9:55, Siles appeared on time in the specialized elective classroom on the second floor.
The last specialized elective class was on Tuesday morning, three days ago. However, because Siles had experienced many things and learned a lot of hidden knowledge in these three days, he felt it had been a long time.
But seeing the students’ familiar faces, Siles quickly focused his mind on the class.
“Good morning,” he said in a low voice.
“Good morning, Professor Noel.”
Siles secretly counted the number of students and found that all 19 students had arrived, so he didn’t call the roll. There were fewer students in this class, so this method could be used. For public electives, he estimated he would still call the roll every class—maybe occasionally showing mercy for a few sessions.
Siles spent a little time in advance explaining the final grade distribution for this course.
The grade would ultimately be divided into three parts: attendance, class assignments, and class papers. Attendance accounted for 10%, class assignments accounted for 30%, and the final paper accounted for 60%.
Siles pointed out very seriously that as long as any student was absent from his class once without reason, he would ruthlessly mark “Fail” on that student’s transcript.
Hearing this, the students breathed a sigh of relief, feeling it was quite normal. After all, it was a specialized course; strict requirements and no skipping were normal.
Afterward, Siles mentioned information related to class assignments: “This class will study three authors. For each author, I will give a corresponding reading list, and you need to write a review of no less than two thousand words.”
Two thousand words! Three reviews!
That was already six thousand words!
The students’ eyes gradually went blank.
Siles continued nonchalantly, “As for the final paper for the class, you are all students of this major, so the requirement is: eight thousand words, no fewer than fifteen references. I will provide a book list related to the course for your reference.”
Eight thousand words, fifteen references… Specialized elective course!
The students were all stunned, looking at the handsome, slender Professor Noel on the podium. They felt dizzy for a moment, feeling that he was actually a devil wearing human skin.
…Even a devil wouldn’t be this ruthless
