episode_0035

After holding Professor Mosan for an hour and persuading him, he withdrew the penalty.

He promised to look into the matter of Maseok a little more and inform us of the decision by next week.

He couldn’t give an immediate answer.

It’s probably because Professor Mosan can’t handle the work alone.

Even though he has a high level of authority among the professors as he is in charge of an entire grade,

this matter ultimately concerns the school rules.

If a professor can ignore the school rules at will, that would be a serious problem.

We understood, and that’s why we sat quietly and took the class.

＂I will teach you four things.”

Writing, reading, listening, and speaking.

Professor Mosan seemed tired as he scribbled on a chalkboard he brought from somewhere.

“…First of all, listening and speaking are not considered to be as problematic as the first two.”

That’s true.

Listening and speaking were the first things I wanted to learn when I was first transmigrated into this world.

It was more urgent than reading and writing.

If you can’t listen and speak right away, it can have a significant impact on your life.

I struggled to survive, and as a result, I grew enough to have basic communication skills in a month,

and within two months, I acquired the ability to communicate like a local.

Of course, I still don’t know difficult words that are not used in everyday life, but that’s a different story, so let’s move on.

Anyway, I have no problem with listening and speaking.

And with Astel’s help, communication is possible in some way.

As Astel and I nodded our heads like model students at the same time,

Professor Mosan drew a line with chalk on the “listening and speaking” written on the chalkboard.

“So, I will focus on writing and reading, which seem to be more urgent.”

Since listening and speaking are relatively okay for now.

Focusing on writing and reading first was not a bad choice.

No, it was actually a good choice.

It’s easy to end up in a situation where neither this nor that works if you try to do this and that.

It’s like saying you will solve the most severe problem one by one.

“First, since it seems that you won’t catch up quickly just because it’s urgent, let’s take it step by step.”

Saying that, Mosan erased all the writing on the chalkboard and began to explain how the kingdom’s writing and language were structured.

To cut to the chase, the kingdom’s writing was a slightly modified version of Hangul.

I felt it when Shasha taught me, but the feeling became even clearer when Professor Mosan started teaching professionally.

“…First, it’s much easier to remember by writing and speaking out loud than just listening without doing anything, so let’s try doing it one by one.”

“Yes-”

Professor Mosan fortunately didn’t underestimate our level,

and that day, we learned how to write our names and memorized a few simple words.

“First, before we finish today’s club activities, let’s set short-term goals.”

“Short-term goals？”

“Long-term goals would naturally be to learn all of this properly and use it freely, but I think that’s at least half a year away.”

I don’t know if it will be possible in half a year, but for now, let’s move on, and that’s what Professor Mosan wanted to say.

Instead of long-term goals that will surely become a boring fight,

he suggested creating short-term goals that can provide a sense of achievement quickly and use them as a driving force to move towards long-term goals.

“The first short-term goal will be to memorize 100 words.”

I quickly raised my hand to give my opinion on Professor Mosan’s short-term goal setting.

“Professor!”

“…Can’t you just stay quiet?”

“What does that mean to a cute student like me?”

Strangely, he seemed to be harsh only to me, and I felt that my judgment from before was correct.

A person’s character may be bad, but their temperament is quite good.

I’ve always been somewhat accurate in reading people.

Professor Mosan sighed deeply as he gestured for me to speak, not backing down even as I felt proud.

＂Setting short-term goals is about instilling a sense of achievement to drive towards long-term goals, isn’t it？”

“Yes…”

“If you achieve short-term goals, wouldn’t it be nice to have rewards besides just a sense of accomplishment?”

“Rewards?”

“Yes.”

Realizing how much you’ve grown and feeling a sense of achievement.

It’s a good idea.

But since it doesn’t accurately manifest as a number, it’s not easy to feel that sense of achievement as easily as it sounds.

There are many cases where you’ve clearly grown, but you overlook the fact that you’ve grown.

So, the thought of offering tangible material rewards.

If you receive substantial rewards,

You’ll be able to properly feel that you’ve grown enough to receive the reward.

“Each time you achieve a short-term goal, give rewards to make it clear that you’ve achieved it!”

“…Me?”

“You, Professor!”

Professor Mosan looked down at me quietly and nodded.

“…I don’t have money.”

I would have just given up if he had said something outright.

The response was so realistic that I looked at Professor Mosan with a cold, sharp gaze.

“…You’re a noble.”

“…I’m a noble without land.”

Professor Mosan ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

But still, would it be acceptable for a professor at an academy where all the nobles of the kingdom gather to have no money?

“…You’re an academy professor.”

“…You seem to be mistaken, being an academy professor is like volunteer work.”

“Volunteer work?”

“It doesn’t pay.”

I realized the harsh reality and backstory that doesn’t appear in the novel.

For some reason, at this moment, Professor Mosan seemed a bit small.

“Then, just pretend that when the time comes, I’ll pay you and you hand it over…?”

“…Sure.”

Honestly, Professor Mosan probably isn’t really poor.

But that doesn’t mean he needs to lie to us.

Considering his position, he’s probably not making much.

“For now, today’s club activities are over.”

Even though only an hour had passed, Professor Mosan declared that today’s class was over and left without hesitation.

His retreating figure somehow looked lonely, maybe it was just my imagination.

Astel and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders.

On a day when club activities ended early, on a day when my body felt unusually tired.

I wanted to just lie down and sleep, but

It’s rare for things to end quickly like today, so I decided to push myself a little harder and move on.

“I’m thinking of going to the swordsmanship club now, what about you, Princess?”

“…I’ll go with the Chief Steward.”

Looks like she doesn’t have much to do either.

I struggled to get up at Astel’s response and left with him.

I thought about going to find Shashana or Seina, but I felt like I would be scolded by that eccentric Chief Steward if I went to the library with a friend, and the Magic Research Department was inherently closed off to non-members.

The swordsmanship club seemed like the most welcoming option.

The swordsmanship club and the Magic Research Department are the two major clubs at the academy, each occupying a whole building.

They were known for not stopping anyone from entering or leaving.

So, I headed in that direction.

The scale was comparable to that of a typical school playground in reality.

As I opened the door in awe of its massive size, the sound of groaning could be heard all around.

A sour sweat smell pricked my nose.

Astel, who followed me, was expressionless, but he covered his nose with his hand.

It wasn’t that I was sensitive, but rather that the smell was truly repugnant.

I thought about just leaving, but since I had come all this way, I felt like I should at least see the faces before going. I gritted my teeth and endured.

If I were to leave immediately, it would be pointless to have come all this way feeling exhausted.

＂…Where is the prince？”

Navigating through the oddly focused gazes, I searched for Deron.

It didn’t take long to find him.

He looked quite tired as he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel in one hand, holding a sword in the other.

“The sword is heavy.”

It hadn’t been long since I had been possessed.

I had stolen my father’s sword to practice a few swings, only to give up soon after.

The sword was heavier than I had anticipated.

As I reminisced about that incident, I observed Deron intently, even though I was sticking my tongue out.

As if the brief rest had ended, Deron called out to someone and assumed a stance with his sword.

Now at the age of 10, he looked very natural holding the sword.

“Is Prince’s opponent…Fran…?”

Come to think of it, was he also a swordsman?

Despite Deron showing signs of exhaustion, Fran maintained a calm expression without a single drop of sweat, clearly holding the upper hand.

“Ugh…”

I didn’t particularly have positive feelings towards Fran.

How could I like someone who treated me like a flower snake out of the blue?

On the other hand, I harbored good feelings towards Deron.

Not love, of course, but a friendship.

Despite his harsh treatment towards me, I knew he also took good care of me.

In other words, if the two were to duel, it was clear which side I should support.

I raised both hands and cheered for Deron.

“Prince, you have to win!”

Just before the duel began, Deron looked at me with a bewildered expression, and not only Deron but all the swordsmen’s attention turned towards me.

“Should I not have cheered…?”

It was quite a bustling atmosphere, so I thought cheering wouldn’t be a big deal.

Did I make a mistake?

Glancing around, I discreetly hid behind Astel’s back, only revealing my face.

“Please pretend you didn’t see me. I’m sorry.”

Even though I asked them to pretend they didn’t see me, for some reason, the gazes that clung to me didn’t seem to let go.

It felt unfair.