Chapter 12: Education (3)

“Child! What are you saying! Hitting?”

Did the Guild Master say something like ‘children learn through beatings!’?

Seeing Monk Jamyeong’s fierce glare, the Guild Master hurriedly explained.

“We don’t teach children by hitting them.”

They had been discussing what kind of education she’d receive and how she’d be taught.

Who would’ve thought the girl would suddenly ask, “You can have classes without meeting in person?! Then you won’t hit me? Can you educate without hitting?”

Even the Guild Master seemed quite flustered, rambling uncharacteristically.

But the girl just tilted her head at the adults’ reactions.

“If I do something wrong, I should be hit.”

Before the adults could respond, the girl repeated words she’d heard in the basement.

“Awakened are all arrogant and selfish, thinking they’re something special. So violence is used to ingrain in them that they’re just human too.”

These were phrases that not only the girl but all the students in the basement heard like rules.

The eerie content didn’t match her articulate speech and cute voice that tickled the ears.

Of course, it wasn’t just talk.

-“Ah! Truly, here is a child chosen by the almighty God!”

The girl herself had been beaten with “love” many times, told not to sin anymore.

Until she helped Mia escape, Mia had also suffered such violence.

It was also common knowledge that they took female believers of a certain age to unknown basements, saying they’d show them God.

The Guild Master and Monk Jamyeong, who had been arguing, fell silent at the girl’s testimony.

They’d felt it for a while, but this child…

Sometimes her way of speaking resembled cult members.

Moreover, she wasn’t just reciting memorized sentences, but clearly seemed to empathize.

She truly believed in these absurd things.

“Isn’t that right? God gave us this power, so using it to show off or for our own benefit is blasphemy, isn’t it? Just like fallen angels had their wings taken away, we might lose our power someday too, right?”

Her round eyes sparkled as she added “ahem” for emphasis.

She looked back and forth between Monk Jamyeong and the Guild Master, as if seeking agreement.

“Haa…”

In the end, the two couldn’t hold back their sighs.

Where should they even start fixing this?

Talking at length now wouldn’t have any effect.

Knowing it would just lead to another pointless argument, the Guild Master chose to avoid it.

“I’ll have my guild members quickly deliver the materials needed for the lessons. I originally planned to just greet the monk and leave, but it seems time is almost up.”

“Mister? Did you also use that power selfishly…”

The girl, noticing her words were being ignored, hurriedly voiced her dissatisfaction.

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve been keeping you too long, busy as you are.”

With Monk Jamyeong’s support, the conversation couldn’t continue.

“Ahem, Haein. Take care of the child for a bit. I need to go purify the contaminated area with the Guild Master.”

“Yes! I won’t let anyone touch a hair on her head!”

It was a rather rushed ending to a situation that seemed unsolvable.

*

Afterward, Monk Jamyeong returned and gave his planned fundraising lecture as scheduled, and a day passed.

The Guild Master hadn’t made empty promises; early the next morning, a heavy box arrived.

“Huff, huff… gasp…”

“Here, have some water.”

Of course, there was no delivery service to this mountain, so a Chungseong Guild member had carried it up personally.

The monks were the first to get excited.

They poured out as if something big had happened, welcoming the package.

Though they didn’t know what the Guild Master had sent, the child would finally receive proper education!

“Finally, our little one will get a proper education.”

“Mm. We can trust the Chungseong Guild’s lessons.”

The monks, who had been serious after hearing about the Gate contamination, now smiled broadly.

Soon, they wouldn’t have to hear the child call them heretics anymore!

Above all, though she’d panic at “heretical methods,” she always firmly grasped what was taught.

Who knows, with proper education, such a child might become one of our country’s top geniuses?

“Everyone, prepare yourselves. Be careful not to give the child strange prejudices. And tap the wooden blocks silently during lessons.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Right. Haein, go. Go and take responsibility for teaching the child about this ‘internet lecture’ thing.”

“Yes! I’ll be back!”

Monk Haein hurriedly headed to the girl’s room, carrying the huge box.

He was so excited that veins bulged over his swollen muscles.

The same veins the girl had asked about, saying “Wow! If veins stick out like that, what if you get cut by a knife?”

Feeling goosebumps, Haein quietly tiptoed to surprise the girl.

He slowly opened the door.

With no outdoor activities allowed due to Gate contamination, the girl was sprawled out on the hard wooden floor, apparently bored.

“Ugh, is it okay to be like this?”

She wiggled her bare feet, rolling left and right.

Beside her, the white dog and yellow dog were curled up asleep.

The sparrow family repeatedly flew up and landed as the girl moved.

Seeing this peaceful scene, Haein unconsciously chuckled.

Startled by the low laugh echoing like in a cave, the girl sat up.

Reflexively, she blurted out the greeting she’d gotten used to in the basement.

“Um… How can I help you?”

Fortunately, Haein didn’t notice the subtle tone in her words.

Instead, he grinned as he set the box down in front of her.

“Kid, it’s yours, so you open it.”

“…Huh? Why is this mine?”

The girl was puzzled.

What could be in that cardboard box that made Monk Haein so expectant?

Ah! Maybe?

“Is this the house I’ll live in from now on?”

Though not big enough to stretch out her legs, it was just the right size for her to crouch in.

Unlike in the basement, it was a space she was grateful for, since she couldn’t pay for food.

“What? You’re not a cat, who’d give you a box as a house?”

Haein laughed as if it was a funny joke, but…

“Huh? Don’t people who’ve sinned and been abandoned by God live in boxes?”

He belatedly broke into a cold sweat, realizing it wasn’t a joke.

Seriously.

What kind of past did this kid have that every word she said was laced with traps?

Even the usually gentle-spoken monks had chilling conversations with her more than once.

‘To exert this level of pressure at such a young age, our kid really is a genius.’

His expectations rose even higher.

“No, that’s not it. Here, I’ll tear off the tape, so you check it yourself.”

Haein punched the box with a bang-!, crumpling it and ripping off the tape.

Inside the crumpled box was another fancy-looking box.

These were items the Guild Master had carefully chosen, sensing the girl’s tendencies.

“Hey, lying is bad. There’s no way this is mine.”

There’s no way such fancy items could be hers.

The flustered girl tried to back away, waving her hands and feet, but Haein had a strategy prepared by the monks for this situation.

“You gave something to the Guild Master yesterday, right? This is in return for that, so it is yours.”

“Ah…?”

The girl didn’t believe in receiving things from others.

However, she didn’t refuse fair trades.

As the monks had analyzed, instead of arguing, she started checking inside the box.

Ziiip-

The small box was full of mechanical pencils, colored pencils, notebooks, and books.

“How do I open this?”

“…Wow, they really sent something expensive.”

Inside was a premium laptop from Opal.

It was so expensive that even repairs would be burdensome for the financially struggling temple.

In fact, it was something the monks, who shunned materialism and luxury, should avoid.

The girl, stroking the laptop’s surface, exclaimed with trembling fingertips.

“Wow, it’s hard but soft!”

Well, as long as the kid likes it, that’s fine.

She’s not a young monk, just a normal rescued child.

This much luxury should be okay.

“You’ll use this for your lessons from now on.”

“Huh? How…?”

Haein, as if he’d been waiting for this, plugged in the charger and opened the laptop.

“You’ve never used a laptop before, right?”

“Laptop?”

As expected.

How could a girl who’d never seen a Buddha statue before know about such modern technology?

Fortunately, the Guild Master seemed to have anticipated this and included a friendly manual.

So he could just follow it and teach her.

“Look, this is called a laptop. When you press this button, the laptop turns on.”

As he pressed the power button, the Opal logo appeared on the previously black screen.

“Wow… Is it magic?”

To summon a jewel where there was nothing before!

This machine must be incredibly valuable!

“Monk Haein, if I keep pressing this, will more jewels come out?”

The excited girl reached out and rapidly pressed the laptop’s power button.

“Ah, no…!”

The screen flickered off and on again.

But the logo didn’t multiply just because she turned the laptop on and off.

Worried the laptop might break, Haein hurriedly added an explanation.

“This just brings up a saved image. It’s like a photo.”

“Aha! So nothing new actually appeared?”

“Phew… Y-yeah.”

He was already exhausted just from turning on the laptop.

But the real challenge was just beginning.

Apps had been pre-registered on the desktop for the girl, so it should be as simple as clicking, but…

“Click? What’s a click?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Of course, the girl holding a mouse for the first time wouldn’t know that.

In the end, Haein put aside all his remaining plans for the day and focused on teaching the girl.

“Look, this is what we call clicking.”

Click-

He pressed the mouse.

“And when you move it like this, this follows, see?”

He opened and closed an internet window.

“Now you try.”

He pushed the mouse towards the girl.

“Ah! Now I get it!”

Finally, the girl followed along well.

As if proving she wasn’t lacking in intelligence, she immediately brought up an internet window.

Then she read aloud the text she’d been curious about but had missed because Haein closed it so quickly.

“This lady does it for free! What does she do for free?”

“Ah, no, no! Shit! It’s nothing!”

Fucking hell!

The coarse curses he’d stopped using since becoming a monk came bursting out.

What kind of psycho set up this laptop to have that as the first screen?!

Haein hurriedly closed the laptop.

“Kid, j-just wait a moment.”

This wouldn’t do.

He picked up the laptop and went out to seek help.

Teaching the kid was fun and fun, but.

If something like “I’ll teach you about sex!” happened, he’d be beaten to a pulp so badly he couldn’t even be buried.

So he planned to pass this task on to the smart Monk Beopjin.

—