Elite Instructor at a Third-Rate Academy

34 – Process and Result are One☆

What started as a joke is turning into something serious.

Selena had approached her homeroom teacher because she wanted to break Oh Chia’s spirit. Since he was a man, she knew that he would do foolish things if she seduced him─ pretending not to know, she found it enjoyable. Temeulic Stein would not have been her type in terms of looks or personality, so she never thought she would genuinely develop feelings for him.

─ You said you didn’t think so.

His tone and actions were extremely rigid, but his sudden display of a soft, deep voice and warm touch melted her heart. She didn’t have any expectations, but he unexpectedly treated her so well that she felt an overwhelming gap, to the point of feeling physically ill.

“I guess you don’t like younger sisters?”

If Selena was his beautiful younger sister, he probably would have taken good care of her. Just by looking at her, it seemed like there would be a ten-year age difference between her and her homeroom teacher, so he would have definitely treated her with kindness. The casual kindness he showed to his fellow female students was surely due to that reason.

“I’m annoyed.”

If Oh Chia hadn’t interfered, she would have subdued him that day by rolling around in his room. Now she didn’t even want to go in secretly because Jeffrey was always there. It’s annoying to get involved with the wrong person for no reason.

─ You don’t like guys, right?

She didn’t have that feeling at all, but it’s strange that he doesn’t show any interest in her. But she’s not interested in Oh Chia either, and she feels like she’s distancing herself from the saint, Cennite. No matter how you look at it, these days her homeroom teacher, who is the most precious to her, seems to be the one he cares most about. However, even if she were a boy, she doesn’t think she would like him.

“There’s no charm at all.”

If there’s a person who embodies colorlessness, tastelessness, and odorlessness, it’s Jeffrey.

With neither strengths nor weaknesses, he belongs to the category that, even when together, fades into oblivion if he doesn’t speak—a type that, if ugly or with a dirty personality, would at least catch your attention. Yet, he silently concentrates only on his own affairs.

“Damn it, why do guys only like Ochia-like girls?”

If you peel off the layers, he’s quite mischievous and endlessly cunning. Watching him pondering and judging everything with his eyes while dragging out words is enough to make your patience run thin. There were quite a few male students who disliked him. Confess to him, and even though he says it’s too much for him, his eyes don’t show it at all.

“You and I are on different levels; that’s how I see it!”

These are the complaints of those who were skillfully rejected. How can a girl boast about herself if she’s really outstanding? Being academically excellent, especially in a place like Lailand Academy, is nothing to brag about. I’d prefer the class teacher. Truly exceptional people treat everyone equally with disregard, yet sometimes they genuinely care.

—Damn.

“Why have I been thinking about the class teacher since earlier?”

When your thoughts are overwhelming, using your body is the solution. Anyway, if it’s studying, it’s futile, and he’s not confident in that direction either. His father supports him wholeheartedly, thinking he will succeed, but it’s just burdensome. Going to Lailand was a despair, and oddly, his mother, who sees it as hope, is a burden just by watching.

“Let’s run.”

Selena casually put on clothes and went outside. When Jeffrey started running on the track he ran every day, scattered thoughts were dispersed. As expected, that’s right. There’s no way he fell for the class teacher like an old man.

Continuously thinking, it was just a momentary confusion. Temulic Stind is nothing more than a handsome, competent, occasionally annoying old man compared to others. He doesn’t communicate well, always ending conversations with a joking tone.

“What is it?”

Around the time he turned at the turning point, that is, when Jeffrey, who was also struggling, felt pathetic.

“Who was that girl?”

He only knows she’s Diana’s unfortunate friend. Selena was about to call her when she stopped for a moment and stared quietly. Putting down a water bottle and slipping a note underneath, she quickly left.

「Meow.」

Reading the contents, I don’t know what it means. Is it some kind of code? After thinking for a while, Selena opened the water bottle and started drinking without thinking about it. It was good because I was thirsty anyway. Reluctant to drink it all, I left half of it and put it back in place. As she left, she thought only one thing.

—Jeffrey, will Diana see you as a man weaker than herself?

Stupid, even if you try hard, your love life is over, she firmly said.

[#34 – Love Stories]

Kennis was convinced that his judgment was not wrong. The experience of handling personnel while serving as an operations officer shone even here at the academy. The Saint, Saint Caelin, has returned. At the same time, the atmosphere in the class has completely changed. Whether it’s because he re-enrolled her or just because she’s back, I don’t know.

“Ochia, nice to meet you.”

“Jeffrey is quite the talk of the town these days, right?”

“Sellana, everyone is in an uproar because Temulic is bothering Sir.”

Saint knew the current situation of all her classmates. As she naturally started a conversation, Ochia and Selena, who were opposites, also chatted nearby. As a class leader, she was a perfect figure. It’s rare to get along well with everyone without offending anyone. That was a fact that became more evident as he tried to make connections.

“Let’s start the ceremony.”

With a lighter heart, everyone who had been disrespectful to Saint took their seats.

—I can’t have a harmonious atmosphere like Frede Bendelin’s class, but.

Kenneth simply continued to think and express the words he had prepared today. Sensing Selena fidgeting again, he gave her a nod and muttered that she was a diligent lady, then pulled up his knee blanket. It was about time he made some concessions. They were not people who could simply be followed no matter how much pressure they exerted.

“Today, let me make a request to all of you.”

“Oh, you changed your tone!”

“Selena, your knee blanket is slipping off.”

“Oh, he’s back to being Denar again!”

“Hey, can I also bring a knee blanket like this?”

It was Senith. With her saintly attire consisting of a skirt with ample room to cover the front, it didn’t seem necessary. If there was any exposure, it was only enough to reveal the lower body due to the side slit. However, even that was not visible as her bare skin was tightly covered by compression stockings.

“Since I got one for Selena, let the teacher try to get it for me.”

“Oh, I can get it.”

“Sam, wasn’t this a gift for me alone?”

“I also… no.”

The women each murmured their own complaints.

– You shouldn’t discriminate.

Fairness was a very important issue even in the military, and if someone was favored while others were not, it would inevitably become a topic of discussion.

“The teacher provides it for free, so those who need it should apply.”

“Oh great, then me too!”

“Can I also receive it?”

“Jeffry, do you think men need this too?”

“No, why pick on me?”

“Sam, he’s such a loser that he can’t even meet a woman!”

“I received a book, so honestly it would be too much to receive a blanket as well, right?”

After asking them to quiet down, he wrote down the list of applicants one by one. At some point, six out of eleven students had applied. At this point, it seemed better to just buy everything and distribute it out of charity, so he said that he would purchase them all and distribute them.

“Now that you have received gifts, it’s time for you all to repay.”

“Sam, I might get mad if you don’t give me something else.”

“There’s a student refusing to go to school, and if possible, I want all of them to be re-admitted.”

Selena grumbled but, clenching her fist, she looked at him with a mix of fear and excitement in her eyes, then averted her gaze.

“As for Galterius and Gresnok, who caused a disturbance last time, the teacher has confidence in dealing with them on his own.”

Just hit them. When you strike such people unilaterally, they will at least crawl out due to wounded pride.

“I’m not sure what to do with the rest, so I would like to hear your opinions.”

At Kenneth’s words, all the students became quiet.

“Did I make a mistake?”

“No.”

Seonite answered as the representative.

“Just… everyone was a little surprised.”

“Yeah, no one was interested in us.”

“Yeah, it was the first time Sam took care of kids like Jeffrey.”

Not knowing if it was a compliment or an insult towards herself, she just nodded.

“I think there must have been a reason why everyone refused to go to school.”

– Because if not, there would be no reason to pay expensive tuition fees and refuse to study.

However, Kennis overlooked one thing. That was that unlike her naturally diligent and sincere self, there were also people in Railland who didn’t come out simply because they didn’t want to study. There was a distinct difference in motivation for learning between the top-class academy that everyone voluntarily attended and the third-class academy that some attended without much choice.

“So I’m trying to listen carefully and persuade them.”

Quietly waiting, Jeffrey, who had recently become close, expressed his opinion first. Since then, the boys took the lead in the conversation and occasionally Selena interrupted. Merkady quickly lost interest and only talked about her close friends. As they continued to listen, they realized that there was a growing sense of doubt about whether they would succeed even if they graduated with good grades here.

It was a typical attitude of those who couldn’t do their work.

– What benefit will I gain from this?

Those who are only concerned about immediate gain and expect immediate rewards have no patience. So they cannot challenge long-term tasks and even if they start, they quickly drop out. These students in Railland were no different from monkeys who worked when given banana fruit and got angry when given banana trees.

“The process and the result are not separate.”

After thinking for a moment, Kennis gave an example that the students could accept.

“Let’s say you have someone you like.”

Jeffrey was surprised.

“Someone impulsive would definitely say that love is the result.”

“Sam, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah… I think so too.”

“Fools, it’s not love, it’s marriage that’s the result!”

– Be quiet if you don’t know, Mercady.

“To get closer to the person you like, you have to go through various stages.”

Kennis wrote ‘marriage’ on the blackboard and next to it, she wrote ‘final goal’.

“What do you have to do first to get married?”

When she asked that, Ohchia blushed red. Selena also looked strange, so Kennis pointed to Seonite.

“You have to hold hands.”

“No, there’s something to do before that.”

“Ssaem, are you really crazy?”

“Yeah… It’s unbelievable that we didn’t even hold hands.”

Only now did the students seem to understand the misunderstanding and looked at Jeffrey.

“Jeffrey.”

“First, we should have a conversation.”

Sure enough, after spending a few days together, he became more aware.

“That’s right, we need to have a conversation to be able to hold hands, right?”

Kenneth wrote down the conversation as the first step and holding hands as the second step, and filled in the procedures that the students should go through afterwards. He wrote that meeting is the third step, and kissing is the fourth step, but when he wrote that the atmosphere became gloomy, he cut off the imagination and set the fifth step as dating.

“All of these stages can be considered goals.”

Just like love, even the simplest matters were a combination of various processes and results when observed carefully.

“These stages should be seen as independent achievements.”

If, for example, they only held hands with the person they aimed to date, it was not a failure but partial success.

“Therefore, if we move on to a better stage next time, it will be enough.”

He said that by viewing the process and the results in this way, they could continue without getting tired in the middle. Kenneth looked at Jeffrey. When he nodded his head, Kenneth smiled brightly. When Selana made a strange sound, Kenneth looked at her and noticed that her eyes were trembling. Confused, he stared at her intently, but she just said it was nothing.

“Then since we shook hands with the teacher, it means we accomplished the second step in dating, right?”

Since he had successfully reached the third step, only the kiss was left, he declared the end of the ceremony.

“Ah, Temulic-nim!”

It was the saint. When asked if she had something to say, she hesitated for a moment before reaching out her hand.

“I haven’t completed the second step yet.”

Kenneth shook hands with Sennit. It felt slippery and moist, as if he had put his hand in a lukewarm jar of oil.