episode_0180

How many times in my life have I felt the gaze of so many people?

The teacher, who was in the middle of teaching, turned his gaze to us.

A calm-looking impression, neatly swept platinum hair.

A man who looks intellectual because he wears glasses.

He noticed Shandroy and bowed his head in silence.

Shandroy raised his hand in response to the teacher’s greeting.

“What did those kids say last time?”

“That’s right. Carmel.”

The gaze of the man called Carmel scans me, Shine, and Rain.

For a moment, his pupils grew large.

A look of surprise, eyes wide open, as if one had seen something wrong.

He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and looked at us again.

Why are you looking at me like that?

I turned my head to follow his gaze, and it connected to Rain, who was hiding next to me.

Why is she hiding behind me?

“Hey, Rain. Why are you hiding?”

“Shhh!”

No matter how hard I tried to hide my body, I couldn’t hide the entire lane because I’m not that big.

“Okay. Go ahead.”

Shandroy gave us a gentle push on the back and left the classroom.

As if that was the end of his work, he left so cleanly that he couldn’t say anything.

Shine, Rain, and I approached Carmel with hesitant steps.

Carmel’s gaze, which seemed as if it would never leave Rain, moved forward again.

He spoke to the students with a sharp expression different from before.

“Everyone, please focus. As I said before, new friends have arrived. Please welcome them.”

No one opened their mouth to hear Carmel’s words.

He just watched us silently.

The arrogance and pride felt between the sparkling gazes, the gazes that look down on the other person.

The atmosphere was not good.

Of course, there were some children who gave me favorable looks, but they were not the ones leading the atmosphere in this classroom right now.

It’s a familiar feeling.

I thought this was more comfortable.

“Jeff, Shine, and Lane… Please introduce yourselves to your friends. ”

Carmel said so and took a step back.

I suddenly felt like I was thrown in front of people.

I swallowed and stepped forward first.

Because neither Rain nor Shine seemed to have any intention of coming forward.

The gazes that had been spread evenly among the three of us began to turn solely toward me.

Introducing myself to other people is surprisingly difficult.

Thinking like that, I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“Hello.”

This time there was no response either.

There was a child who tried to answer naturally, but then he kept his mouth shut with a look of realization on his face.

“My name is Jeff.”

Even though I told my name, no one welcomed me.

I turned my head and examined Carmel’s expression.

He nodded as if he was used to this reaction.

It was when I was sighing and about to step back.

“I have a question.”

The voice of a strange girl.

I turned my gaze in the direction where the sound came from.

The gaze of a girl looking at me while sitting quietly and raising her hand.

She had long blonde hair tied into pigtails, giving her a cute look, but for some reason she looked grumpy.

The girl continued, her brown eyes shining.

“Where are you from?”

There was no malicious intent.

It’s just a question to find out the other person’s identity, and the girl’s attitude will change depending on my answer.

It was an expected question.

Before coming here, Amy gave us some answers to some questions.

Instead of answering, I raised my hand.

So that others can clearly see the silver lion ring on my finger.

He shows off the ring and thinks back to the conversation he had with Amy.

‘If anyone asks you about your origins, show them that ring. Then they won’t be able to say anything. They won’t even dare look you in the eye.’

‘Is this ring so great?’

‘That’s really great.’

Maybe it was because the distance was far.

The girl didn’t show any special reaction even after seeing the ring I showed her.

But the kids sitting in the front row could clearly see the shape of my ring.

“Does that answer your question now?”

The children began to get agitated by my words.

The small voice soon begins to spread to the rear.

The children looked at the ring on my hand with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

Their voices quickly spread to the back row.

“You, you. No, you… What is your relationship with Mr. Ferman?”

The girl’s voice was trembling greatly.

She still seemed incredulous, but asked about my identity more cautiously than before.

“My grandfather.”

The girl’s eyes began to tremble greatly at my answer.

The sight of her small body trembling seemed somehow pitiful.

“Oh, forgive me for my rudeness…”

I opened my mouth in a daze at the unexpected words of an unknown girl.

I just showed them the ring, and no one here dared make eye contact with me.

“Hey, Rain. Is this the place it’s supposed to be?”

I turned around and whispered a question to Lane.

Rain, who had been squirming at my question, nodded and answered.

“Yeah… It’s been like this since Amy went there. But it seems to have gotten a little worse since then.”

I nodded at Rain’s answer.

Anyway, I don’t like this kind of stiff atmosphere.

“I wasn’t rude.”

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise at my words.

“I didn’t feel bad. So don’t look at me like that.”

He spoke to the children, who could not even make eye contact, as if he were seeing something scary.

But still, the children refused to make eye contact with me.

My introduction is over.

As I stepped back, Shine stepped forward and introduced herself.

“Name is Shine. Don’t come near me. I don’t like you guys. Don’t come near Jeff either.”

The slightly relaxed atmosphere cooled down again to an icy coldness due to Shine’s words.

Even with Rain’s introduction, the mood didn’t lighten.

Is it because you came with us?

Rain also wasn’t asked any questions.

We went and sat down in the empty seat Carmel had mentioned.

Empty space all around.

Just a moment ago, there seemed to be some children sitting near here, but when we arrived, they had disappeared like ghosts.

Carmel continued the class she had stopped.

The rigid atmosphere of the class seemed very far from the school life I had imagined.

Carmel’s teaching style was very unusual.

Just give the kids a problem and explain how to solve it.

After telling them to solve a problem from the textbook, he asks them to wait a moment.

After that, we proceed further again.

They don’t even check to see if the kids solved the problem correctly.

But the kids around them acted as if they were used to it.

No questions, no announcements.

What will happen if the kids can’t keep up with the class progress and fall behind?

“Rain. Is this how classes here are usually done?”

“Yeah. Usually, these kids have private tutors at home. So there’s no chance that they won’t be able to keep up with the class progress.”

“Still. This seems a bit weird.”

“Actually, the purpose of coming to school is not to take classes.”

“Then? What on earth are you coming for?”

“Should I say I manage my network?”

“Connections…?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded to Rain’s answer and looked around.

Rain also looked around and spoke to me like me.

“They’re all kids who will take over the housework. They’re all usually like this because they were raised that way from a young age.”

I nodded to Rain’s words.

It wasn’t that difficult to keep up with the class progress.

I’ve been benefiting from studying with Amy all this time.

After moving the pen like that for a while, a loud bell rang indicating the end of class.

Why is there a bell ringing in this day and age?

I raised my head and looked out the window at the sound of a bell that I had only heard in movies.

A tall bell tower built outside the window.

A large paper hanging above it was slowly swinging and making a sound.

Dang-!

“Everyone, make sure not to be late until next time.”

With those words, Carmel left the classroom.

Even though the teacher left, no one got up from their seats.

They were watching closely.

Me, Shine, and Rain.

I was about to ask Lane a question, but then I closed my mouth.

In a quiet place like this, no matter how quietly you speak, others will hear your voice.

I sighed and got up from my seat.

A small gasp spread throughout the empty classroom.

The bodies of the children around me trembled and shook.

He doesn’t even try to approach me.

I never imagined that the power of the Silver Lion Ring would be this great.

I took Rain and Shine out of the classroom.

Only after we left the classroom did the children start to move.

We headed towards a place where there were no people, leaving behind the commotion we heard behind us.

“Rain. I have a question.”

“ㅁ, what?”

As they were walking down the hallway, the silent Shine asked Lane a question.

“Do Rain and Carmel know each other?”

“Huh? Huh? No? No way? ”

I nodded to Shine’s words and grabbed Rain’s hand.

I too was curious about the relationship between the two.

At first, Carmel’s reaction when she entered the classroom was that she definitely knew Rain.

“I’m curious too. Let me know.”

“Uh, uh. No. We don’t know each other…”

Lane pulled his hand away in surprise and stepped back, saying:

I squinted my eyes at her reaction.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Shine also narrowed her eyes at Rain’s answer.

Shine and I looked at Rain with our arms crossed, with the same expression and the same posture.

“Rain. I told you before. I’m coming back to this school. I graduated before.”

“That’s…”

“Couldn’t Carmel be like that too?”

“That, that!”

As she said that, Shine took out her cell phone.

“If you ask Amy who Carmel is, she’ll know right away, right?”

Rain trembled and cried at Shine’s words.

“That, that guy…”

Lane said slowly, taking a deep breath.

Judging by her blushing face, she seemed quite embarrassed about what she was about to say.

“My, my junior…”

“Junior? Someone below you?”

“Ah, one grade below…”

“When Lane was in 5th grade, Carmel was in 4th grade?”

“Yeah…”

Lane answered weakly, covering her face with both hands.

Her bright red face was so cute.

Without realizing it, I reached out and hugged Rain.

She didn’t reject my touch and came right into my arms.

“That’s why you reacted like that?”

“Yeah… Really, really, I can’t believe it… that my junior is my teacher… Amy never said anything like that…”

Tears began to form in Rain’s eyes.

She looked really sad.

“I was a dignified senior… He’s a teacher… I’m wearing my elementary school uniform again… Is he thinking I’m cosplaying or something? Don’t I look weird? That’s what he’s talking about. He looked at me weird when I came into the classroom…”

I looked at her appearance at Rain’s words.

The school uniform suited Lane so well.

No one ever found it strange.