第１２６５堀：ためらいと決断 (Part2)
"Right. Enough agonizing over this. Once we establish a tentative number of exchange students, the necessary personnel will become clear. I want everyone’s input."
"Understood!"
With that, we finally began the debate regarding the intake of exchange students.
Our initial, provisional proposal was to divide them into four groups—Rogari, If, the New Continent, and Zurable—with 100 students each.
To be perfectly honest, however, the consensus quickly shifted to the realization that 100 per group—a grand total of 400—was simply impossible.
Well, that was to be expected.
Without any established know-how, accepting such a large number would guarantee a breakdown in management.
Therefore, we had to start as small as possible.
We needed to aim for the minimum viable number to ensure ease of management, clear identification of issues, and swift resolution.
"If we are aiming for the minimum, we must consider the number of major powers. There are five in Rogari, six in If, three allied major powers in the Haiden New Continent, and one in the Zurable New Continent. Therefore, it would be best to accept a multiple of six, the largest number among them."
Indeed, Samantha was right.
Otherwise, some major powers would be left without any exchange students at all.
That would defeat the entire purpose of the exchange program.
"Hmm. Samantha is right, but if we take the minimum multiple, that would be twelve, meaning only two students per country. What do you think of that?"
"Indeed, as Cleena says, that does feel quite low. Wouldn't it be difficult to draw out potential enemies with such a small sample size?"
"Yes. I believe Fiora’s point is quite sharp."
"She’s got a point there..."
There was no denying the validity of Fiora’s observation.
If we prioritize security, we should keep the numbers low, but that would leave no room for hostile elements to reveal themselves.
Yet, if we carelessly increase the numbers, we risk exceeding our management capacity.
As I pondered how to resolve this dilemma, Yayui timidly raised her hand.
"Hmm? Do you have an opinion?"
"Y-yes. I... I don't think there's any need to accept so many from the very beginning, is there?"
"..."
The room fell silent, as if time itself had frozen at her words.
"U-um, did I say something strange?"
Faced with the silence, Yayui began to fluster, clearly worried she had committed some grave social error.
"That’s it!"
"Eep!?"
Our sudden, synchronized reaction caused Yayui to freeze in shock, but we pushed forward, ignoring her surprise.
"Of course. Yayui is right; there is no need to welcome a large number of students from the start."
"It stands to reason. We can start with a trial run and increase the numbers gradually. That will give us the time we need to prepare."
"Hmm. That’s for the best. Let’s start with three to five students per country. That means a maximum of thirty students per continent—five times six. Across four continents, that’s 120 students. A reasonable figure."
"That sounds excellent. With about thirty students per class, we can separate the classes by continent. It will make identifying problems much easier. It seems we were being too greedy from the start."
Everyone nodded at Fiora’s words.
It seemed that, without realizing it, I had become obsessed with achieving results in a short period.
Trying to accept so many at once would only invite chaos.
Slow and steady was the way to go.
"In that case, we’ll need a homeroom teacher from each respective continent for every class, plus a teacher from Weed. We can discuss assistant teachers separately, but two homeroom teachers per class should suffice."
"That sounds good to me! Then we just need to figure out the subject teachers. But that will depend on what we decide to teach, won't it?"
"Um, I think we should include the subjects that are absolutely essential for them to learn."
Just like that, the discussion accelerated rapidly.
It seemed the numbers would be settled more easily than I had anticipated.
I should be able to consult with my wives by tomorrow.
Sometimes, the sheer volume of work can be daunting, can't it?
But in this world, all you can do is tackle the tasks right in front of you.