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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Serena Johaiden (2)
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The next day.
Although a month remained until the entrance ceremony, Serena made her way to Ramieli Academy in person.
Upon her arrival, she marched confidently and directly to the principal's office.
*Knock, knock.*
"Come in."
Inside, a white-haired old man wearing glasses sat at a wide desk.
Without preamble, Serena got straight to the point.
"Do you know of a swordsmanship instructor named Zeke Kleiman, who was recently appointed?"
"Hmm? Yes, I do…"
"I'd like to take charge of him for about a month."
The principal frowned.
The academy's new faculty members were meant to stay with the incoming students for all four years, from matriculation to graduation.
That meant they had to attend preparatory classes and begin getting ready to welcome the noble students.
After all, this was a gathering place for the children of the most distinguished families, not to mention royalty.
No amount of thoroughness was enough when preparing for the entrance ceremony, which would be their first meeting with the students.
*'And which noble family is this impudent little girl from, barging in without any prior notice…? The world is coming to an end.'*
"…And you are?"
"Ah, my apologies for not introducing myself sooner. I was in a hurry. My name is Serena Johaiden, and I will be enrolling this year."
"Gasp! J-Johaiden!"
The principal's eyes widened as if they would pop out of his head.
The scion of one of those most distinguished families was standing right before him!
And she had just declared her intention to abduct a swordsmanship instructor.
*Ugh.*
*'I was wondering who was backing that guy who got hired through a secret parachute appointment, and it was the Johaidens. Dammit. If only it had been a Marquis family at most…'*
The principal's mind raced.
*'He hasn't even received his letter of appointment yet… Should I just let her take him? No! Still, to have an instructor miss the entrance ceremony preparations!'*
*Haaa.*
The principal pressed his temples and let out a long sigh.
"Do you really have to take him?"
"Yes, I'm aware he hasn't received his letter of appointment yet. Since he's not officially part of the faculty, you can't force him to stay, can you?"
"…"
This brilliant, silver-haired girl had clearly done her homework.
She had a perfect grasp of the academy's situation.
Even if they were the ones who had placed him, he never imagined they would so openly advertise him as their man from the very beginning.
This was beyond his calculations.
The principal felt a deep wave of fatigue wash over him.
*'Tsk, I suppose I'll have to dump more work on Instructor Dios. I'm sorry, but it can't be helped. Unless you want to clash with the Johaidens yourself, you'll have to understand.'*
He offered a silent, brief apology to the other swordsmanship instructor.
His mind was made up.
In an instant, his expression changed completely.
"Zeke, was it?"
"Yes."
"Ha, of course, it's possible. Swordsmanship instructors don't have much to do at the entrance ceremony anyway."
"Pardon?"
"Just a month? You can even have him a little longer if you need. As long as he's back for the demonstration classes."
Stunned by his masterful shift in demeanor, Serena dazedly nodded her head.
"Th-Thank you. I won't forget this kindness. Still, he will be there for the entrance ceremony."
"I'm more grateful to hear you say that, Lady Serena Johaiden."
As Serena opened the door to leave, she turned back one last time.
"Ah, and one more thing."
"Hmm?"
"Things will get more complicated if my father finds out, and I'm sure you don't want that, Principal. I'd prefer it if this information didn't leak to other families."
It was an adorable threat, using her father's name as leverage.
But she might have considered the position of the person on the receiving end.
"My dear lady, do you even need to ask?"
The principal puffed out his chest with a solemn expression, projecting an air of pride.
"Our Ramieli Academy boasts ironclad security."
Serena bowed her head.
"I'll trust you."
"Hmm, have a safe trip back."
*Creak. Thud.*
"Dammit. Hah, she must mean she doesn't want anyone to know the Johaidens are backing him. And that things will get messy if her father finds out… Curses."
The swordsmanship instructor, whom he had yet to even meet, was already causing the principal a headache.
*Knock, knock.*
"Principal, someone from the Justia family is here."
"What! Why are they here now?!"
***
After returning to the mansion and writing a letter to her father, Serena decided to personally oversee Zeke's education.
Truthfully, it would have been better to ask the butler to arrange for a proper tutor, but she took on the role herself under the pretense that 'repaying a debt requires sincerity.'
The gazes of the butler and maids turned slightly suspicious, but Serena was unashamed!
*'Hmph! Of course I should be the one to teach him! Hiring someone is something anyone with money can do! That's not the proper Johaiden way! Right, Father?'*
It was a fantastic rationalization that would have made her father shake his head in disbelief.
"Ailey, let's go to the dressing room. There was something I saw in an issue of Étudiante Weekly…"
Before the lesson, Serena put on a pair of round, silver-rimmed glasses and a sophisticated, teacher-style suit.
"Ailey, you're quite skilled at this."
"Thank you, my lady."
And so, the Zeke Kleiman Common Knowledge Education Project officially began.
*Clack, clack.*
The sound of high heels echoed down the hallway as Serena headed for the library.
Zeke was waiting for her at a separately prepared desk.
*Hmph!*
Serena decided to first assess her student's basic knowledge.
"Instructor, let's start with a basic test."
"Mm."
Serena handed him papers filled with questions.
Zeke began to solve the problems with a quill pen.
The ink kept breaking as he wrote, which was incredibly annoying.
Still, he doggedly worked through the problems before him.
Surprisingly, he was able to easily solve the ones that weren't simple tests of rote memorization.
*'Oh, this feels a bit like one of those isekai stories where a modern person gets reincarnated.'*
Serena watched with a surprised expression as Zeke wrote down his answers.
*'His comprehension skills are excellent. Of course, his intuition is sharp, I saw that yesterday. But that problem… even I had trouble with it back in the day…'*
He simply lacked common knowledge and found memorization tedious.
Serena mentally adjusted the scope of his education.
*'Right, just learning common sense isn't enough. I need to cultivate the instructor to a point where he won't be looked down on anywhere he goes!'*
Serena's motivation began to flare, and Zeke's quick understanding only fanned the flames.
A short while later.
"Instructor, try solving this one too."
"…Understood."
A mountain of test papers that Zeke had completed was piling up on the desk.
Zeke shot Serena a slight glare.
But the bespectacled Serena simply nodded.
"As I thought…"
Serena muttered something about Northern Nobles, but Zeke was too busy struggling with the problems she gave him to listen.
The first few sets had been simple and easy to understand, but as she gradually ramped up the difficulty, there were no easy questions left.
*'Isekai stories… modern knowledge is so damn useless… Aren't they supposed to be amazed when you do multiplication or something?'*
Zeke's inner thoughts were now the complete opposite of what he had thought earlier.
After all, how much modern knowledge could Zeke, who had spent ten years in a dark fantasy world and only one year back in the modern world, have possibly accumulated?
Any modern knowledge he had before entering the dark fantasy world had been long forgotten during his decade of struggle.
"Alright. Let's stop here for now. I have a rough idea of your level, so I'll draw up a plan."
She had a maid bring a large sheet of paper and, with an elegant hand, began to sketch out a timetable.
Zeke's eyes trembled as he watched.
*'Thirteen hours a day…? No holidays…?'*
Serena filled in each blank space.
Etiquette, Socializing, Dancing, History, Logic, Theology, Mathematics, Science, Languages, Magic Studies…
The list of subjects seemed endless.
*'What kind of monster are they trying to turn me into…?'*
"Hmm, there really isn't enough time. For now, I suppose we'll have to cut back on some useless things like general manners. There's a separate lesson for formal etiquette anyway. That should be fine, right?"
From her perspective, general manners were tedious and overly complicated.
No one ever criticized her as long as she observed them moderately, and when she followed the formal rules she'd been taught, people would just plead with her to dispense with the formalities. She never had a chance to use what she learned.
However, Serena didn't know that for Zeke, who came from a world where might made right, it was precisely those trivial manners that he needed most.
***
*'Ugh, the physical strain is fine… but the mental fatigue is no joke…'*
Thus began a life of wringing out his brain like a dry rag.
As if Zeke had flipped some switch inside her, Serena became like an overzealous tutor, forcing a murderous schedule upon him.
Thirteen hours a day.
He would wake up at dawn, study for six hours, have lunch, and then study for another six hours.
After dinner, there was a one-hour test.
Serena roughly shoved knowledge into Zeke's head.
Repeating the same routine every day made Zeke feel a tiny, tiny, tiny bit nostalgic for the dark fantasy world.
*'No. Absolutely not!'*
Zeke shook his head vigorously.
"Focus, Instructor. You've stepped on my foot seventeen times already."
"Mm."
"Now, follow my lead. Let your body move to the music. One, two, one, two—ouch! That's eighteen!"
"Mm."
*'"Mm." My ass. Shit.'*
Zeke was improving in everything else, but his dancing showed no progress whatsoever.
It was impossible to tell if the problem was with the body or its occupant.
His movements, creaking like a tin robot, were painful to watch.
*'He uses his body for a living, and his mind is sharp, so why is he so stiff when it comes to social dancing? Is this why Northern Nobles don't attend social gatherings?'*
By now, Serena was using the term "Northern Noble" like a cheat code to explain everything.
"Let's stop with the social dancing and study magic theory today."
"Fine. Understood."
"Hmm, this time, let's see…"
Serena selected a book from the library shelf that was nearly a handspan thick.
Zeke's pupils quivered at the sight of it.
*'Teacher! Something that big won't fit! It won't all fit in my head! My brain is getting stuffed full of common knowledge!'*
Serena was pleased, thinking Zeke was full of motivation.
She had actually worried this might be a bit too much, but Zeke never once said he couldn't do it, no matter what book she brought out.
He would only nod his head, as if showing his firm resolve.
*'Is this the joy of studying together?'*
Now, by teaching Zeke, Serena was also reviewing her own knowledge. It was no longer a one-sided relationship where she was just giving help.
"Alright, let's start with memorization. It seems to be most effective for you, Instructor, when your concentration is at its peak!"
"Is that so… I see. Right."
*'I can't do this. I really can't do this anymore…'*
With each passing day, the dark circles under Zeke's eyes deepened.
His once handsome face grew gaunt, his cheeks hollowing out.
It reached a point where maids passing him in the hallway would ask if he was alright.
"Eek! Your eyes! Sir Zeke Kleiman, are you okay…?"
"Nothing… happened…"
Zeke wanted to cry out every time, but this damn body of his had to put on a brave face in front of everyone.
*'Maybe I chose the wrong starter pack…'*
Like a high school senior a month before their college entrance exams, Zeke spent his days getting grilled by Teacher Serena in their 1-on-1 tutoring sessions.
Was there any sweet, budding romance during that time? Not a damn chance.
There was only an overly passionate teacher and an overly pretentious student.
"Are you a genius?"
"Mm."
*Nod.*
It was this bullshit every single day.
"That's correct!"
"This is nothing… no, never mind."
"That's all for today!"
"Hah. I see."
The only time he could heal his mind was after the post-dinner test, in the hours before he fell asleep.
During those moments, Zeke was too busy spacing out and resting to care about romance novels or anything else.
A month passed like that.
Finally, after the last lesson, he was resting in his room.
*Knock, knock.*
A short knock sounded. Zeke, who had been absentmindedly counting the patterns on the ceiling, got up to open the door.
"Serena."
"Yes, Instructor."
"What is it?"
*'Is there still more to learn?'*
He really felt he'd had enough, but what was he to do with this zealous teacher?
"Ah, since we're heading to the academy tomorrow, I wanted to talk for a bit."
"I see."
"You've got the basics down now."
Serena had taught him a great deal, and Zeke had diligently stored all that knowledge in his head.
She looked at him with the pride of a teacher watching a gifted student who had grown well, until her thoughts drifted to the two things that hadn't improved at all.
"Except for 'social dancing' and 'etiquette'…"
Strangely, his skills in 'etiquette' and 'social dancing' never improved.
*'It's not that he has no etiquette, but it doesn't seem like noble etiquette. Is it military style? It's strange. Should I have taught him simpler manners…?'*
A belated regret surfaced, but with the entrance ceremony the very next day, there was nothing to be done.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Serena remembered her purpose for coming.
"Ah, anyway, Instructor, you'll be staying here from now on. Would you like to continue studying with me?"
"…"
Zeke desperately clamped his mouth shut before an "Mm" could escape.
"I really enjoyed studying together. Teaching you helped me organize my own thoughts and review things!"
Zeke subtly averted his gaze from Serena's sparkling eyes.
"I… must train with the sword."
Faced with Serena's proposal to study together, the words that hastily left Zeke's lips were an excuse that contradicted his earlier vow to never wield a sword again.
"Ah…"
Serena let out a sigh of disappointment.
But she had no choice but to nod.
Come to think of it, she too had come to the academy to learn the sword.
She had just gotten so engrossed in teaching Zeke all sorts of things, fascinated by how he absorbed knowledge like a sponge.
"Uhm… Instructor."
"What is it?"
"Could you… possibly take a look at my swordsmanship right now?"
Zeke nodded.
*'As long as I'm just watching and not holding a sword myself… This could be good practice for how I'll handle things at the academy.'*
"Then change into your training clothes and come out."
***