Two weeks had passed since then and Patrick had been going to school for one week.
I was soaking my feet in the footbath of the mansion. I let out a sigh after hearing the report from Claire.
“There have been three times Patrick was seen yelling at a girl. Two of whom were made to cry. Him flaunting his social status has become a problem….”
“Unfortunately, it seems he doesn’t seem to care about that.”
“Haa, he even made some girls cry.”
“He needs to be taught how to treat a commoner kindly.”
“Ah….I see. ‘As a commoner, it’s only natural for you to be beneath a nobleman!’ He’s educating them by kindly yelling at them.”
She was trying to lighten the mood with a poor joke, but…..this is serious.
“Also, the two men that Patrick brought with him are causing problems as well.”
“…..What kind of people are they?”
“His steward and knight. They’re both around the same age as Patrick. As for their personalities, they feel like if you defy them, it is the same as opposing Patrick. Do you get what I mean?”
“….Doesn’t that mean he should be kicked out of the school?”
“The way we treat commoners is unusual in this world. Patrick is treating them poorly, but in comparison to the way other nobles treat commoners, he isn’t nearly as bad. If we were to kick him out now, I’m sure it would be troublesome later.”
“Guuu….”
It failed. I should have made it clear that he couldn’t use his status in any way. I should’ve had him sign an agreement stating that he was equal to any commoner in the school.
The next time we enroll any other nobility, they will definitely sign something similar.
“Haa~, I’d love to stay in the footbath all day.”
I gently sway my feet in the footbath. I don’t know what kind of minerals are in this hot spring, but I feel like my entire body is being healed. I can feel the heat coming up through my feet and warming my entire body.
It’s a great feeling to be relaxing in this room with my feet in the footbath.
“Wait, otouto-kun? Are you trying to escape from reality?”
“Don’t say something like that. Sometimes, it’s just nice to take some time to relax in the hot springs~”
“Why does your voice sound like a spoiled child when you say that?”
“Mu~u, Claire isn’t kind at all.”
“I understand wanting to take a break, but right now the most important thing is Sophia and the other students. So, you shouldn’t be complaining about anything right now.”
….She’s right.
I’m sure Claire has a lot to deal with on her own as the substitute head of the family. She’s become incredibly reliable before I even noticed. I can’t let her down here.
I hit my cheek and turn to Claire.
“I’m sorry, Claire. I came to my senses thanks to you.”
“No, you’re fine, otouto-kun. So, are you thinking of a solution?”
“Well….Even if there are eyewitness reports, there have been no complaints, right?”
“Yes, the report came from a teacher that was completely uninvolved in the incident. You’re not suggesting we do nothing, just because nobody involved has complained are you?”
“It’s the opposite.”
The teachers are Milli and Michelle. Even though they have both seen this happen, none of the students have complained.
“Because Patrick is a nobleman, all of the students just endure it. Things can’t be allowed to go on like this.”
“Ah, maybe there’s other things happening that none of the teachers have witnessed…..Maybe we can talk to each student and see what they have to say?”
“I think that’s a good idea. There doesn’t seem like there’s anything else we can do right now.”
I’ll leave the care of the students to Milli and Michelle.
After that, I need to find a way to prevent Patrick from causing more problems. If I could completely change the way he thinks, that would be best, but that won’t happen unless he’s reborn as a completely different person.
The only choice is for someone with the same status as him to force him to listen…..He won’t even listen to a single word of someone that is below him.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll have to start attending class with him.”
The next day the classroom was noisy. That’s because I stood next to Milli.
I had entered the classroom and was now standing at the front with Milli.
Not every student in the class has their own desk. Rather, the classroom more resembles a university. Every student was staring at me with an amazed expression.
Then, Milli began explaining to the class why I was here.
“— So from now on, Leon-sama will be attending class for a while.”
By the way, Milli added “sama” because there are students and Patrick around. Even though she is an employee, most people know that she is my mother.
Anyway, I give a slight bow to the rest of the classroom, but all of the students look tense or scared. I think they were more comfortable before I entered.
I’m guessing this is due to the influence of Patrick.
“Everyone, I will be participating as a student. You don’t need to be worried about my status as a noble.”
“If that’s the case, then….just Leon is fine. And I am your teacher after all. So, please call me, Milli Sensei.”
“T-that’s true. Milli Sensei, nice to meet you.”
As expected of Milli. I’d like to compliment her for her quick thinking, but — she really just wanted me to call her sensei. She’s trying to act casual, but she can’t hide how happy she is after hearing that.
And so, the first hour of the class started. Michelle uses a blackboard and chalk to teach the students how to read and write letters.
And the students were hard at work taking notes with a pen and paper.
One thing I should mention, the blackboard, chalk, and washi are not from this world. This world would’ve originally had some type of pen and parchment.
Before I even realized it, Alice had instructed the craftsman to make even more things from our world.
For the time being, we are only producing these things for use in the town of Muhle. If a student were to steal these items, I’m sure they could sell them and live comfortably for the rest of their life……For now, we don’t have any delinquent students likely to do that.
Well, thinking about it, I doubt any of them know the value of these items. I seriously doubt any of them know the paper they use to practice writing is worthy of being a gift to the king.
If I were to tell them the value……none of the students would feel like they’re worthy of using the paper. So, for now, we should keep that a secret. Soon we’ll be able to mass-produce the washi and then the price will severely drop.
By the way, Patrick doesn’t even seem to be aware of its true value.
I think the reason for this is that Alice acts like the paper is worthless in an attempt to hide its true value.
Both Patrick and his two followers were yawning out of boredom.
I was annoyed at first, but — If I think about it, Patrick is a noble. I’m sure he was already taught how to read and write before coming here. So this is entirely unnecessary for him.
It may be better to teach him reading, writing, and advanced arithmetic separately. As well as teaching him some more technical knowledge. Maybe I should think about it some more.
“Then, Leon, what is the answer here?”
“Buu!?”
My name was suddenly called out and I let out a strange voice. I was here to participate as a student, but I wasn’t expecting to actually get called on by Milli.
Hmm, the problem is — 98 x 97?
…..Eh, what? Weren’t we just practicing writing letters? Suddenly there are math problems appearing on the board that previously had letters. What is this?
“What’s wrong? Do you not understand?”
“Eh, no. Just a moment.”
Umm…..98 x 97? Well before that, I can just use the Indian multiplication method because the numbers are close to 100.
Umm……100 – 98 and 100 – 97 is 2 and 3 respectively, and add those together to get 5. Subtract 5 from 100 to get 95, multiply the 2 and 3 from earlier to get 6…..and together that’s 9,506.
“Is it 9506?”
When I answered with a question, Milli quickly wrote down the formula on the board. And soon, she arrived at the same answer as me.
“As expected of Leon. Well done using mental math. Everyone, applaud.”
Everyone in the class started to clap……Wait, what is this farce?
Of course, I’d know how to do that, I’m the one that taught the teacher. In the first place, it’s only been two months since the second group of students started. Have they already advanced enough to be able to do calculations?
“Alright, if you all take your classes seriously, you’ll soon be able to do calculations in your head just like that.”
They haven’t advanced at all! It is a complete farce — and Patrick is staring at me with terrible eyes!
Well, this guy was asked the same question and he wasn’t able to answer because he was yawning, I just grin at him.
“Leon? Just because you understand the material, doesn’t mean you can mess around in class.”
Ah, right. I’m sorry.
And with that, the lecture ended. Finally, we moved on to a practical lesson. We arrived at the practice wheat field — but it is the end of May.
Because we’re in a warm region, the wheat has already been harvested. The field with nothing planted in it spread out before us.
“Everyone, today we will scatter ash in the field. I explained it a little bit earlier, but this will make it easier to grow wheat here. Everyone, please be sure to spread it evenly.”
Milli gave a signal, and one after another, all of the students began taking ash and spreading it throughout the field.
By the way, Patrick was….not helping at all. This is the main reason this school even exists, but he doesn’t seem to care at all.
“He~y, Leon onii-chan.”
Sophia suddenly started talking to me.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you spreading ash with everyone else?”
“Well, why are we spreading ash anyway?”
“Didn’t Milli explain a little while ago?”
“Umm, Milli told us that ashes make the crops grow better, but she didn’t tell us the reason why.”
“….Ah, it’s like that.”
I was trying to teach them so many different things in such a short time period, but I wasn’t able to go into detail on any of these things. If possible, maybe we should consider turning the school into a two-year school.
“Well, the ingredients in the ash promote growth in plants. Rather…the ash is a countermeasure to weakly acidic soil. Do you understand?”
“So, the ground is acidic and the ash is alkaline? But it’s only a bit acidic?”
“….Eh, why does Sophia know that?”
“Well…..In fact, recently, Alice onee-chan has been teaching me various things.”
“Are you serious…”
As usual, she shows no prudence — When I saw Alice looking at Sophia, she quickly turned her eyes away. She seems to be able to guess what I’m thinking.
“So, what about subacidity?”
“Ah, right, well…..the rain mixes with the carbon dioxide in the air and it becomes weakly acidic itself.”
“Carbon dioxide?”
“That is…..if we keep going on like this, the conversation will never end. Think about it like this, if the rain were to become weakly acidic, what would happen when the soil absorbed the rain?”
“….it will become acidic?”
Sophia tilts her hide to the side. She’s really cute. I gently stroked her head after she gave the correct answer.
“Some crops can grow fine in acidic soil, but wheat is weak to acidic soil. So, by sprinkling ash over the soil, we neutralize the weak acid in the soil.”
When I looked up at Sophia’s face to make sure she was following along, she gave me a quick nod. She’s only eight years old, but she’s able to understand with just that explanation.
Maybe Sophia is a genius? No, I’m just acting like a doting parent — what a dumb older brother I am. It happened when I was thinking about these silly things.
“Insolent commoner, you need to learn your place!”
From behind me, I could hear Patrick’s yell, followed by a loud smack.
