Ch.11Tutoring (2)

“…Excellent.”

Sonia spoke flatly. She clenched and unclenched the hand holding the wooden sword while nodding her head.

“To reach this level in just three months is commendable. At the very least, you should be able to avoid failing.”

This much was enough. The original goal was just to train enough not to fail.

Eidel put down the wooden sword as if throwing it away. She sighed. Her hands were tingling. Her muscles were screaming.

From her calves up, there wasn’t a spot that hadn’t been cut.

Eidel put a mint candy in her mouth and gulped down a sports drink. Seti could only stare blankly at her.

“How…”

Seti muttered unconsciously.

Having learned a bit of swordsmanship herself, she knew. The movements Eidel had just shown were not ordinary. The realm of a master. Or perhaps a madman.

‘Even though it was just practice, she beat Sonia.’

Sonia was an android specialized for combat. It couldn’t be helped. To deal with a rogue like Eidel, one needed to have basic fighting instincts.

And Eidel had just parried Sonia’s sword.

Her thoughts didn’t linger long.

‘It must have been luck.’

Seti concluded it was just a fortunate accident.

Eidel hadn’t been holding a sword for long. Three months at most. She lacked the fundamentals to show any meaningful performance.

Even if it had somehow been possible, there was no guarantee she could replicate that physical performance in the exam.

In the end, it’s a battle won by students who have been consistently practicing since long ago. Momentary tricks don’t work in the Stellarium entrance exam. The admissions officers aren’t fools.

“Hey, little sister!”

Eidel approached with a teasing tone. Hot air and sticky sweat smell. Seti frowned and stepped back.

“Don’t come close, you’re filthy.”

“That can be fixed with a shower… But more importantly, did you see? Wasn’t I pretty good just now?”

“No, not really.”

Seti replied curtly. But Eidel didn’t mind. She seemed to be in a good mood.

“Sonia, you know what day it is today? I’m ordering chicken!”

“Sigh… young master.”

Sonia scratched her head while gripping the wooden sword. Then she lightly struck Eidel’s head with it.

Thwack!

There was a dull sound like hitting a drum. Eidel groaned and shuddered.

“I don’t recall saying anything about ordering chicken.”

“What? That’s different from what we agreed on!”

“There’s no need to order and pay expensive delivery fees.”

Sonia continued as she dusted off her hands.

“Take your time cleaning up. It takes quite a while to fry chicken.”

Sonia brushed back her hair and turned to walk away. Her expression was subtly human-like. The corners of her mouth were raised so slightly that it would be imperceptible unless one looked carefully.

‘W-what….’

Seti’s face went blank with shock.

‘What exactly happened between those two…?’

She stared blankly at Sonia before turning her head.

Eidel was quietly tidying up.

None other than that Eidel.

***

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ sends mild praise for your training.]

[— You have received a donation of 500 Pron!]

Cartesia, the outer god of wisdom, seems to want me to crush the forces of the other outer gods as soon as possible.

Well, the outer gods aren’t exactly on good terms with each other either.

Anyway, it’s good news for me.

I invested about half of the Pron I received into ‘Thought Acceleration.’ As a result, I now possess computational speed comparable to a machine. It felt like having a supercomputer mounted on my head.

[— ‘Thought Acceleration (+790%)’]

Now I can think and make judgments about nine times faster than an ordinary person. This ability was a big help in blocking Sonia’s sword strikes.

This should be enough for the time being.

I munched on the chicken Sonia had fried while thinking about what to do next.

“This should be enough for the practical exam. Now I need to prepare for the interview. I’m thinking of hiring a tutor, would that be okay?”

Sonia nodded and said:

“For interview content, it would be best to learn from someone who has already passed. Do as you wish, young master.”

I inwardly rejoiced. I was satisfied that I seemed to have gained Sonia’s trust sufficiently over the past four months.

After thoroughly wiping my greasy hands, I picked up my tablet. I browsed through tutoring sites. Even in the novel, the interview content was described as confidential. Therefore, I needed to directly persuade someone who had taken the test to learn the approach.

“Wow.”

There was one thing I discovered while scrolling down.

“Tutoring fees are ridiculously expensive.”

“That’s because you’re guaranteed a certain status upon admission to the academy.”

“But millions per month is too much, isn’t it?”

“If you pass, young master, you’ll gain that kind of prestige too.”

This is an even more serious credential-based society than South Korea.

Still, it’s a comfort that I’m from a wealthy family. I continued scrolling.

[Edward Meyer]

[Stellarium Academia Course, 1st Year Student]

Monthly recruitment fee is around tens of millions of credits. Still expensive, but half the price of other tutors.

[Part-time work at Ergos General Academy]

[Specializes in written and interview counseling]

Perhaps it’s cheaper because he also works as an academy assistant.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

My mind was already made up.

“You want to go with this person?”

“Yes.”

“The price is too low. Even his surname is one used in frontier planets. He’s surely either ill-mannered or lacking in skill. I don’t trust him—wouldn’t you prefer someone else?”

“It’s fine. I’m going with him.”

I opened my account, ignoring Sonia’s words.

I can confidently say there would be no disappointment.

***

There is an implicit caste system in the Federation.

People living within the ‘Aether Belt’ are like royalty. This is because the land value(?) there is exceptionally high. Representative families like the Rheinland or Adelbein all have their headquarters within the Aether Belt.

In contrast, people living in the frontier regions are treated as lowly.

The frontier is crawling with monsters and heavily influenced by outer gods. People living there easily go mad. There are many unexplored areas, so public safety is poor. Children can’t grow up properly in such an environment.

In other words, it’s essentially the slum of the universe.

Edward Meyer was born and raised in such a place. He was a freshman who had just been admitted to Stellarium last year.

‘Are they really doing this because I was born in a lowly place?’

Edward lamented his humble birth as he stared at the tutoring site.

His tutoring was open for recruitment, but no matches were coming in.

‘I can’t even pay next semester’s tuition with what I earn as an academy assistant….’

He was anxious.

Yet he couldn’t look for other jobs either.

There were no kind-hearted employers willing to hire a frontier-born boy who hadn’t even graduated from Academia yet.

So he kept lowering his tutoring fee. 90 million, 80 million, 70 million… all the way down to 50 million credits.

Still, no students requesting tutoring appeared.

It was because of his surname.

There are specific surnames given only to those from the frontier. They can’t be easily changed due to Federation law. Yet they stick like a tag, blocking one’s path at every turn.

‘I should just become someone’s adopted son or something…’

While Edward was lamenting and scrolling through the tutoring page:

[Student tutoring request!]

Edward’s eyes widened.

“Finally!”

He shouted with joy. Any student would do. He could pay next semester’s tuition now!

He quickly pressed the tutoring agreement button and clicked on the student’s profile.

[Eidel von Rheinland]

Edward’s smiling face crumpled like a poorly made kimbap.

“R-Rheinland?”

It was already surprising that a family among the galaxy’s TOP 10 prestigious houses had called him as a tutor.

But.

“Eidel Rheinland?”

The problem was that, of all people, he’d been matched with the ‘Rogue of Rheinland.’

Edward rubbed his eyes and stared intently at the screen. But the text didn’t change.

“Ah, of all people…”

Edward sighed.

Who is Eidel von Rheinland?

A notorious rogue known throughout the galaxy. Golden trash with a good family name but no substance.

The power harassment he would face was all too predictable.

“Damn, damn, damn!”

If he had known, he would have checked the name before pressing OK.

But mutual agreement had already been reached.

If he backed out now, the party breaking the contract would have to pay compensation. Edward didn’t have that kind of money.

“…Phew.”

Tuition.

His only goal was tuition.

‘Let’s not worry about anything else.’

Whether he gets cursed at or has a vase thrown at his head, he’ll endure somehow. He just needs to hold on until the 50 million credits hit his account.

Edward packed his interview materials and past questions. Since he also worked part-time at an academy, copying materials was an easy task.

‘Let’s see what kind of person this is. If they’re really trash, I’ll just teach them half-heartedly, take the money, and get out.’