In the end, Leon came up with a good tutoring plan that worked for Noah.
In the books Head Maid Anna brought, there were some old test papers from St. Heath Academy. Leon quickly looked over the questions. They were all about dragon knowledge. Seeing this, Leon felt relieved. As one of the best dragon slayers in the empire, he believed he knew more about dragons than the dragons themselves. Even if his body was weaker now, he hadn't forgotten what he learned.
Leon decided to teach Noah using his own knowledge of dragons, the test questions, and the dragon books. He made the study plan very quickly. As a top graduate from the Dragon Slayer Academy, he was in his element.
"Okay, Noah, let's start officially. The first thing we're learning is how dragons use magic."
He pushed a basic magic book toward Noah. "This book is well-organized. The table of contents is clear and covers everything we need."
"Here is my plan."
"First, quickly look through the table of contents. Then, based on what is 'easy to understand,' 'a bit confusing,' and 'completely confusing,' use green, yellow, and red pens to mark the chapters."
"I checked the old tests. To pass the entrance exam for St. Heath Academy, students usually prepare for a whole year."
"But we only have one month."
"So we have to find every way to study more efficiently."
"I believe in you, Noah. You can do this."
"Once you're ready, we'll begin."
Leon pushed the three different colored pens and the magic book over to her.
Noah was very good at controlling her emotions. Even though she was surprised by how efficient this "homely dad" was, she didn't act like an excited little child. She took the book and pens and started marking the table of contents just as Leon said.
Watching his eldest daughter's serious face, Leon felt satisfied. There was no unnecessary talking, no pointless questions. Everything was about being efficient.
However, teaching a student as smart as Noah put pressure on Leon, the teacher. Noah's ability to learn was much stronger than Muen's. Leon had to always stay one step ahead to teach her properly.
"It's all marked."
Noah's voice brought him back to the present.
Leon gathered his thoughts, took the book, and checked the table of contents Noah had marked.
"Yeah, not bad. About seventy percent is green and yellow, and only a few chapters are too hard for you right now, right?"
Noah nodded.
"Okay, this is just a simple plan. Just because we marked something in yellow doesn't mean we don't understand it at all. And not everything in green is fully understood either. So, next, I'll focus on explaining the chapters you marked in yellow, and we can find any problems as we go. Sound good?"
"Okay."
Leon nodded and started explaining the yellow sections. The time for the lesson passed quickly, and three hours were gone before they knew it. Leon wrote and drew in the book, going over all the important points with Noah. The next step was to use the knowledge to really understand it.
He found a set of practice test questions. "Let's try some questions first. This way, we can see exactly where we need to improve."
"Let's begin."
Noah noticed that Leon often used words like "we" and "our" when he talked about what they needed to work on. And he rarely said things like, "Do you understand?" She didn't know if he did it on purpose, but this way of talking made it easy to follow his thinking.
Noah shook her head, deciding not to think about things outside of studying. She took the test paper, picked up a pen, and started answering the questions.
The questions were mostly about reading and understanding, with no math, so Noah finished them quickly. She bit the eraser on her pencil, frowned, and looked carefully at each question. It was hard to imagine a one-year-old child thinking so seriously.
After figuring out an answer, Noah's usually blank face unconsciously showed a small smile. But as soon as she noticed Leon watching her, she immediately went back to her expressionless look. It was actually quite cute. This cuteness was different from Muen's; it was more quiet and hidden.
Twenty minutes later, she handed the test paper to Leon.
Leon checked the answers and added up Noah's score.
"Out of 100 points, guess what you got?" Leon wanted to lighten the mood after all the hard studying.
"50?"
"62."
"Oh."
Leon put down the test paper and smiled. "Getting a 62 on your first try is really good."
"Thank you."
"What did you say?" Leon didn't hear her clearly.
"Nothing."
Noah nodded to show she heard and didn't ask anything else.
Leon stretched lazily, stood up to loosen his muscles, and then sat back down to get ready for the afternoon lesson.
As he thought, having a smart student wasn't easy. He had to keep his knowledge ahead of Noah's to teach her well. Of course, he probably guessed the other reason why Rossweise specifically asked him to teach Noah. It was also a chance for the eldest daughter to give Leon a hard time.
Muen naturally liked Leon, so they didn't need to work on their relationship much. But Noah was different.
Even though she was young, she had her own thoughts and ways of doing things. It was hard for her to accept a man who had been asleep for two years as her father.
Besides that, Leon had a feeling that Noah held some anger toward him, and there were likely other reasons for it.
With her intelligence, she had probably already noticed that the man she was supposed to call "father" didn't have a very good relationship with her mom, right?
So, in this tutoring session, Leon wouldn't just do a bad job on purpose, and he wouldn't think of the eldest daughter as a punishment.
He would take it seriously, hoping to change some of Noah's thoughts about him.
And then—he would win her over