Yeah he is mind controlling them. Probably wants old the sensei fired so they can use the monster girls. This manga is putting me to sleep tbfReading this while waking up doesn't help me remember or grab subtle things, is the Alchemy teacher doing mind control bullshit or something?
That's what it looks like to my half-asleep ass.
Didn't he also accept that sus alchemy teacher's help about getting the monster girls from Washio? How much of this plot was he filled in on? If he agreed to all of this, then his confusing tsundere act has just fallen short and revealed how much of a pos he is, and we still have no idea what the alchemy teacher's game is for reeling him in and how he's somehow involved with the dragon girl who's just a pos to everyone around her, including Washio.
I think someone earlier said it best, this arc is getting rather contrived with very little context to go on and it's getting annoying to where I just don't enjoy the fan service as much as I did at the start. I seriously hope we'll get some light shined on some of this bullshit within the next few chapters.