READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 30
Chapter: 30
“Young Lady, the magic teacher mentioned by the head of the household has arrived. She is currently waiting in the reception room.”
“…Now?”
It was evening, or rather, it should be called night by this time. After all, we had already finished dinner.
Thus, it was only natural for me to feel flustered. Since it was already late, I expected her to come tomorrow, and I was just getting ready for bed. But now she had arrived.
It was a rather ridiculous situation, but… I decided not to worry too much about it.
“…Rize, get my cardigan for me.”
“Understood.”
Even if she was late, I still needed to greet her.
I put on my cardigan over my pajamas and stepped out of my room. It didn’t seem polite to come out in just pajamas.
Even though it was late, it was the first meeting with the magic teacher, so I had to make an effort.
“Oh, you’re here…”
“I’m sorry. I was lying in my room… I took a little longer to prepare.”
“No problem. I was just having a snack anyway.”
“Is that so…?”
Thus, I entered the reception room and met the magic teacher for the first time.
I sat across the table from her, looking directly at her face.
She had a somewhat tired expression, but objectively, she was a beauty—pale blue eyes and pretty sky-blue short hair.
She was simply beautiful in an objective way. Tired as she appeared.
“………”
“Um… Teacher?”
“Oh, yes.”
“May I ask your name? I didn’t get to ask my father.”
“Um… my name… yes…”
“………”
She seemed a little odd. Not clumsy, but she had a feeling of being bothered…? That’s the impression I got.
Her expression conveyed annoyance and fatigue, which only added to the feeling.
“Ashley. That’s my name.”
“Ah, then I can call you teacher…?”
“Sure. Call me that.”
“Haha…”
…Yeah, that could work.
I’ve heard that there are plenty of strange people among magicians. I decided to just let it slide.
“Um, Teacher?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask why you arrived so late today?”
I hadn’t expected her to come at such a late hour after dinner.
I thought it was only reasonable to ask such a question, especially since William had also been absent today, so I had to conduct something like an interview with Teacher Ashley in his stead.
Of course, it was already confirmed that she would be my magic teacher, but still, I thought we should have some conversation.
“Ah…”
“?”
“I was asleep.”
“Pardon?”
“…The sunlight was really warm today, and the mana in the air felt cozy… I fell asleep.”
“……..”
“Anyway, I was told I could come anytime within this week. So I woke up and came right away.”
“Is that so…?”
…Hmm.
I had a lot to say, but I decided not to say it out loud.
“…Where should I sleep?”
“Excuse me?”
“The room… Baron said I could use a room. To sleep.”
“Ah… I’ll let you know about that a bit later. But first… I have a question regarding the lessons. Is that okay?”
“Hmm… If it’s within 10 minutes…”
“……..Okay.”
Alright, that works.
Hmm.
Still… as long as she did well in the lessons, as long as she taught magic well, that’s what mattered.
There are all sorts of people in the world, including those who are quite strange. As long as she did her job well… it should be fine.
Honestly, her first impression wasn’t great, but since she was pretty, I was tolerating it for now.
“…Ahem.”
Today, I realized once again how much I really liked pretty and cute things, but I had a task to accomplish.
“How many times a week do you plan to have classes?”
“Classes… a week? Hmm.”
“Currently, other tutors have classes once or twice a week, covering subjects like history or literature and economics?”
“I see.”
“Um, how much magic class do you think you’ll cover? I believe that just theory wouldn’t suffice for practical lessons, so I think once or twice a week might be too few…”
“Hmm… then… um…”
“………”
If only Ashley’s face weren’t so pretty, I might have found the situation rather frustrating.
I clearly had a bias towards looks. Otherwise, I would have been upset at this awkward situation.
“Three times.”
“Three times?”
“At least for now. Of course, it could change as we go along. Maybe.”
“I see…”
Three times… Well, that was an acceptable number.
That’s about half the week, so I felt it was reasonable, and it seemed like Ashley thought the same.
“So, how will the classes be conducted? I’ve never learned magic before…”
“Well, first, the mana. You’ll learn how to feel mana and how to use it… um…”
As our conversation went on, I noticed her tiredness was transforming into drowsiness.
Wow… hmm… pretty girls look cute even when they’re sleepy.
“Then will the first lesson start tomorrow?”
“Yes. Let’s do that. Since all I have to do is… sleep…”
“…Then shall we discuss other matters tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
…This time, her response came quickly.
Well, to be honest, it was better to talk tomorrow rather than keep chatting while feeling drowsy.
Of course, Ashley had just woken up after sleeping during the day, but I decided to end the conversation that way.
…She seems a bit odd, but according to William, she is quite famous for magic in the capital.
Her skills are guaranteed, so I parted ways with her for now.
I instructed Rize to guide Ashley to her room and returned to my room.
“…Rize.”
“Yes, Young Lady.”
“…Um. Never mind. I’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“…What is the matter?”
“Uh… it’s just… well… it’s nothing major. I really think it would be better to talk about it tomorrow.”
First, I will properly try out the classes.
Then I’ll judge and gossip afterward.
After all, today was the first time meeting her. It would make sense to see how the class goes tomorrow first… that’s the right approach.
*
The next day, classes began in the morning.
It was earlier than I expected, but Ashley herself had asked me if it was okay, and I said it was fine.
“First, as I mentioned yesterday, feeling the mana is important. Essentially, magic requires mana or holy power as materials.”
“Uh…”
“Now, let’s start with the task of feeling the mana. Hmm… just stay still.”
“Uh…….”
Unlike yesterday, she appeared more like a normal person.
In many ways, I was watching Ashley behave like an adult as she entered the classroom.
From the moment she came into the room, she was speaking more ordinarily than yesterday.
Her face was no longer in a state of extreme drowsiness but appeared fairly normal.
Of course, she had been sleeping earlier in both the day and night… so that made sense. Still, it was surprising.
“Hmmm…”
“Why do you look like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
“…?”
Ashley stood up from her seat and placed her hand on my shoulder and head, moving around a bit.
I didn’t know what she was doing, but… her changed demeanor from yesterday made me feel odd.
“Hmmm…”
“…?”
“Miss Camelia, I’m going to disperse the mana around you now, so if you can feel or see it, let me know.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t know what it meant, but I began to look around as Ashley instructed me.
There wasn’t anything noticeably visible, though.
“…I can’t see anything.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, I can’t see anything. I haven’t even seen what mana looks like.”
“Well, most people are like that. Very few can visually see the mana in the air.”
“…….?”
Then why did she ask me to look for it?
She really is a strange person.
“Alright, now I’m going to teach you how to really see mana. First, can I have your hand?”
“Okay.”
“Now that I’m holding your hand, I’m in the process of channeling mana to you through physical contact.”
“…Huh?”
“Children are usually unfamiliar with mana. Since their physical development is less than that of adults, they tend to have less mana in their bodies, resulting in unaccustomedness to it.”
Thus, Ashley explained why I couldn’t see the mana.
She was using the method of forcing mana into my body to help me see it.
All while continuously holding my hand. I felt a bit embarrassed, but since we were the same gender, it was just holding hands.
“No big deal.”
“Hmmm… Umm…”
“How does it feel?”
“Something… feels like it’s coming in…?”
It was hard to describe, but I could definitely feel something entering.
Starting from the tips of our joined hands, it traveled up my arm toward my heart…
“Is this mana?”
“That’s right.”
“Oh…”
“Basically, while I have some mana in me, it’s quite minimal for an 8-year-old. If I slowly inject mana like this… you’ll soon be able to see it.”
“……..”
As I felt more mana entering my body, I blinked repeatedly.
I wanted to see the mana.
Unlike the businesses and economics lessons that William assigned, this lesson had visible results right away.
Naturally, it was fun and I couldn’t help but become more intrigued.
“Oh…”
“Can you see it?”
“Yeah, I can see it…”
While holding Ashley’s hand, I focused again on my surroundings, and… I could see the mana.
There were those glimmering bits. Things I couldn’t see at first were now visible to my eyes.
While not overwhelmingly numerous, they were there.
“Um… Teacher?”
“Yes?”
“There’s so much… on my shoulder…”
“Oh, you can really see that, huh?”
“…Pardon?”
As I turned my head slightly to the side, I saw numerous sparkling mounds of mana on my shoulder, and Ashley responded nonchalantly.
She seemed entirely unfazed, almost acting as if she were the one responsible for it.
“There are kids who can’t see mana but claim they can, you know.”
“Oh….”
So that’s what it was.
Hmm.
While I was curious, I was relieved it wasn’t anything serious.
In any case, after that, our lessons regarding mana began.
What mana is, along with how to use it—truly, lessons related to mana.
Honestly, I kept attentively listening during Ashley’s class because it was genuinely enjoyable.
But… how long were we going to keep holding hands…?
“Hmm… I think today’s class is enough for now. We’ll have the next class… in two days…”
“…?”
Just as the atmosphere suggested the class was ending, Ashley’s face suddenly changed.
It was almost reminiscent of the expression she wore when we first met yesterday.
Her eyelids began to droop, her head swayed weakly back and forth, resembling someone who was sleepy.
It was puzzling to witness someone who had been conducting the lesson normally just moments ago suddenly act this way.
“…I’m going to sleep now.”
“…What?”
“…………”
“…Teacher?”
As soon as the lesson concluded, she simply… fell asleep.
Without even releasing my hand, which she’d been using to channel mana.
Thanks to that, Ashley’s head had plopped down onto my very small shoulder…
“…Sigh.”
I had no choice but to call for Rize.
Anyway… it seemed clear she was a fascinating and peculiar person.
But she seemed to be doing well in her teaching, so I decided to let go of the gossip I’d originally planned to share with Rize.
As long as the magic teacher taught the lessons properly, that was what mattered.
“Well, it’s probably okay because she’s pretty.”
Of course, the fact that the lessons themselves were good was the main reason I could overlook things.
As for her looks… they had less impact than the quality of the lessons. Still, her appearance had a significant effect nonetheless.