Searching For Andromeda

Disgusting.

At least Lucian was awake. Lucian scanned the whole cla.s.sroom. This was one of the things in archaeology that bore him.

Indoor lessons.

It was like he was back in middle school! Lucian didn"t know how he would think about it. It was probably worse than that. Right now, they were studying History to the most hardcore extent. It was like he was on a tour bus being shown monuments of historical significance. And like any other tour guide, Professor Oswald was a piece of sh it. He taught with the speed of a sloth, spoke in a speed of a sloth, walked in a speed of a sloth.

He was a sloth.

Lucian didn"t know how he would be able to keep his eyes open. He started to list down the things that kept him awake. It wasn"t much—actually, there are only two.

Games and Ephraim.

Don"t get him wrong. Ephraim kept him awake not because he was "Ephraim". It was because he was annoying to the point that Lucian would lose his appet.i.te for sleeping. That never happened before, well, at least until Ephraim.

" . . . in the relative order of post-Napoleonic Europe . . . the middle-of-the-road of theory reimbursed to the impression of war as a coherent, partial instrument of national policy. This style was best expressed by the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz in his famous cla.s.sic, On War." Oswald explains. "Now, can someone tell me what "On War" is?"

A student raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Pablo."

"It is, er . . . also known as Vom Kriege, Sir. It"s mostly about . . . military strategy, I think."

"Right," Oswald exclaimed lazily. "In Clausewitz"s cla.s.sic strategic essay, he accentuated the uncertainty under which all generals and statesmen work—also known as the "fog"—and the predisposition for any plan, no matter how simple . . . to go awry."

Lucian yawned once more.

"Mr. Guerrero," says Oswald. "Perhaps you could give us your opinion regarding Clausewitz, considering you seem to be bored. Do you, perhaps, studied this lesson beforehand that you no longer are interested in listening?"

Lucian blinked, "no, no, no, it"s not like that, Professor!" He said. "Er, I was just uh . . . yeah. Yawning."

"Because?"

"Because I"m sleepy . . . ?"

Someone chortled from the back.

Even Ephraim was staring at Samuel with the pretense of curiosity as he held back his laughter.

Oswald narrowed his eyes as he slid both of his hands to the pocket of his lab coat.

"Now do tell, Mr. Guerrero," says Oswald. "What do you think of Clausewitz"s Vom Kriege?"

"V-vom Kriege?�� What the h.e.l.l was that? Lucian wasn"t listening at all. He was replaying the movie of the Avengers in his head. How in the world is he going to answer Oswald"s question?

"Well . . . war, strategy, bad." Lucian exclaimed.

"Don"t speak in weird haikus, Mister Guerrero,"

A number of students weren"t able to hold their laughter back. Ephraim himself had broken his pretense with a wide smile. Lucian grunted and messed his dark hair.

"Well, er . . . Avengers." Shoot! Did he just say Avengers?

"Avengers?" Oswald asked.

Lucian wanted to hit himself. He was still having a hungover with the scenes playing in his head. It was impossible to get rid of, especially when Oswald was the teacher.

"W-well, I was thinking of comparing Clausewitz"s b.u.m cruise—"

"Vom Kriege," Oswald corrects.

Lucian pointed his index finger. "Right! Vom Kriege."

Oswald closed his eyes. "Alright, keep going."

"I was thinking of that Vom Kriege as avengers. Well, the first part since Infinity War isn"t out yet." Lucian exclaimed. "Well, as said by you, Sir. War has many uncertainties. No matter how powerful a nation is, or how many soldiers are dedicated to serving their country, "and the predisposition for any plan, no matter how simple . . . to go awry" is definitely like Avengers . . ."

"Go on," Oswald nods slightly, gesturing Lucian to explain further.

"You see, Avengers" protagonists harbored a huge success—defeating the antagonists and all that . . . but I have the feeling that Infinity War wouldn"t be as much." Lucian explained.

"So what does that have to do with the lesson?"

"It has everything got to do with it," said Lucian. "That"s exactly the point of the movie. The uncertainty of war itself. As you"ve said before, Professor, if I could recall correctly, going to war is equivalent to thinking about all of the factors to consider to win, right? This b.u.m cruise—"

"Vom Kriege . . ."

"Vom Kriege!" Lucian said, "the new movie is so uncertain. We"re getting the feeling that they won"t even win! So that could be applied to Clausewhatchamacallit-witz"s Vom Kriege. Everything is uncertain. We wouldn"t know for sure, because of course, the factors to consider are just endless."

"Alright, sit down Mr. Guererro," Oswald exclaimed. "You need to work more in expressing your thoughts. Your mind is a bundle of mess right now."

Lucian sat back to his chair, but before he could drift back to the movie in his mind, the professor made him look back affront.

"But despite the mess in your mind, Lucian," says the professor. "You hold a lot of ideas in you. And that"s what makes you a befitting archaeologist. To be able to apply the past to the present is a very good ability to possess. I haven"t thought about things that way, so that is what makes you distinguishable, Mr. Guerrero."

Lucian was flabbergasted. Did the boring professor just praise him? That was rare.

"Well, all of you are unique because each of you have your own quirks," Oswald said. "I can tell that this batch of UHE"s archaeology graduates would bring glory to the academy and the world itself," he says meaningfully.

"Well, back to the lesson," Oswald exclaimed. "Karl Marx ascribed conflict not to the comportment of countries but the cla.s.s structure of the social order instead. To him, wars ensued not as an often voluntary instrument of state policy . . ."

Lucian yawned.

Well, he guessed that he would need to unleash an hour"s worth of yawn before he could bring glory to the academy and the world.