Chapter 55: 54

“Problems? But you did remark earlier in the spring that the conflict issue with Ms. Ortesia that was upsetting you the most had been gradually fading and becoming better lately, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true… Now the issue is more with her behavior toward the other teachers than it is with me.”

“Oh… she is obstructing the class if it is an aristocratic teacher?”

Eto clapped her hands as her remembrance surfaced.

“Right. No, it’s not so much a disruption of class, but it still appears that she is studying on her own with little or paying no attention to the teacher… Were it not for Karen, I wouldn’t be so distressed, but her charisma is so contagious. Other students are under her influence, too, and it seems that the class is not progressing smoothly.”

Placing the blame on Karen only was, of course, unjustified. The other students who were on board with her were equally at fault, and in the first place, it was the teachers who were incompetent and only provided study materials to the extent that it let the students complete their own homework that was the culprit. The point was that Karen shunned classes from aristocratic teachers—those who entered the field through familial ties but lacked a passion for it—whom she felt were teaching in an unappreciative manner. Tupel was at the top of her list, and for that reason, the criticism he leveled at me was in spades. Being from a prestigious aristocratic family, he could never criticize Karen himself.

“I had the impression that Ms. Ortesia was a fairly mature person, so this takes me by surprise.”

“Well, her aversion to aristocrats is well-known. I would have laughed and forgiven her for this kind of behavior, but the other teachers are so uptight. They don’t seem to realize that their own teaching skills are flawed as well.”

For the sake of further developing students’ academic performance, upgrading the existing skills of the teachers will be imperative. Unless they were young teachers like me or teachers with a strong work ethic, though, many of them would rather stick with the status quo. Should students be encouraged to achieve results in the student knight tournament, the classroom aspect likewise needed to be polished at the same time. As things stood, the present situation of being dependent on Instructor Rivalz was not likely to alter for any length of time.

When I finished describing everything to Eto, she fixed her silent stare on me.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I don’t intend to be disrespectful if I say that you are unexpectedly passionate about education. Even the second-year students are responding favorably to your counseling sessions.”

“Unexpectedly… well, it may come across that way to you, Eto, who knows my backstory. Perhaps students other than you would regard me as a serious faculty member.”

I have always had a knack for portraying personalities. Psychopaths have often been claimed to be incapable of empathizing with other people’s sentiments, but in my case, this was not true. That was why I took pride in my counseling skills, and when a problem arose, I could put myself in the students’ shoes and figure out a solution.

In short, for me, Kanaki Taiga at school represented a “cast” as a person with mediocre abilities but a passion for education. It should be noted, of course, that I genuinely found my job as a teacher at a school of magic extremely fulfilling.

“I am basically a benevolent teacher, you know? And I’ve been cutting back on my sideline lately. With the loss of Mr. Matthias and Ms. Xe… Alice, I thought it was time for a change.”

The latter part was an outright falsehood. Eto’s feelings regarding my work were not positive, and I knew that. Hence, I didn’t want to strain her any further now that she was alone, and the fewer people who were aware of my secret, the better. Since Matthias has departed, my private contact with her will probably shrink in the future, so it should be conceivable that I could sweep it under the rug.

“―I-Is that true!?”

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Oblivious of this, a smile flashed across her face as if a bud was ready to burst into blossom. To her, who always displayed a reserved smile, this was a highly unusual sight. She must be extremely ecstatic.

I wondered what kind of face she would present if I introduced her now to the new pet that was sleeping in the infirmary.

An unholy smirk almost formed on my face as I pictured Eto’s reaction to that sight, but it was replaced by my signature poker face. A reassuring smile also swept over my face.

“Yeah. Though that being said, nothing is going to change out of the blue, so it will be a long time before I can fully step away from it… But rather than that, I am dealing with classroom difficulties right now. Aside from Karen’s problem, another one has been weighing heavily on my mind, though I am not certain about it yet…”

“I see… But in that case, I hope I didn’t bother you by barging into your room at such a hectic period of time.”

“Ah, no, that’s fine, I don’t mind at all. You have been listening to my complaints, Eto, and above all, since we have a mentor-apprentice relationship, I have to attend to my apprentice’s psychological aspect as well… You know, it hasn’t been that many days since then. You don’t have to push yourself too hard, okay?”

“…Thank you. But I am really fine. And Arti’s parents have been treating me very well.”

With no relatives following the incident, Eto obviously could not continue to reside alone in the mansion, and at one stage considered being entrusted to an orphanage. Yet, the person who was vehemently opposed to this was Arti, another victim of the same incident.

“Since you have nowhere else to go, come to my house!”

Even Arti was no idle young girl. To make such a proposition in the midst of the torment of remorse would have demanded remarkable courage. Eto, therefore, accepted the proposal and was now being cared for at Arti’s parents’ home. For my part, having the two of them there together for a period of time was a godsend with respect to the prevention of secret leaks.

Before long, it came to my attention that Eto had finished her meal, and her bowl was getting rather cold. Our conversation apparently had gone on for quite a while without our awareness. It would be undesirable for Eto to return home too late since she was being accommodated in a house owned by someone else.

“We have been chatting a little too much, haven’t we? Eto, it’s time for you to go home too. Let me send you home.”

“N-No, don’t worry about it. I will be all right on my own, so please get a rest. The student knight tournament has lately resulted in a number of injuries, and it’s occupying your time, too, isn’t it?”

“Ahaha… well, I suppose so. I’ll take your word for it then.”

True to what Eto said, the selection rounds that have been underway for the past week have been draining, and I would prefer to clear up any class matters before the arrival of the transfer students next week. Having sent Eto off at the door, I plopped down on my bed directly without even bothering to change my clothes.

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