NOVEL NEXT Chapter 46
Teaching Anastasia felt like reading scripture to a deaf cow.
I understood that learning and teaching are completely different things.
Even during tutoring sessions, there were times I froze up, not knowing how to explain what was in my head. The lack of motivation from the student played a significant role, but I couldn’t deny my part in it as well.
I’d say about 30% of it was my fault. I should have taught her in a way that was easier to understand. Of course, even if I spoon-fed them the answers, they’d still manage to mess it up, so I wasn’t too upset about it.
Still, I thought I might be able to help her get at least one question right on the entrance exam.
Given that these kids were the offspring of wealthy families who could afford tutoring, they’d surely be fine.
Anyway, back to the main point. Anastasia’s situation was serious. I dreaded the thought of having to teach her multiplication and division, but thankfully, it wasn’t that dire.
However, her knowledge level was just about that limited. Basic arithmetic.
I could handle simple things like powers, variables, common factors, and multiples in a day, but the problem arose beyond that.
It took me a week to get her to understand the concept of roots, and I almost gave up to go hang out with Dokan instead, but I couldn’t just abandon her after I promised to teach her.
Looking back, I think I sprinted here, deciding that I had to teach her at least during the three short weeks left before the exam.
“…(x+2)² – 5 = 3, what is the value of x?”
Was this the kind of problem that required this much tension? But I couldn’t help but clench my fists involuntarily.
Having heard her say she didn’t even know the order of multiplication and addition, I was afraid that my efforts and time might just be pouring water into a bottomless well.
“Uh, so… after isolating x, you flip the signs and calculate what’s in the parentheses first…”
Seeing her already stuttering made me anxious. But then her answer filled me with joy.
“x is… -2±2√2… I think…? Is that right, Hoyeon…?”
Correct, it was correct. My time and effort were not wasted at all.
“Hoyeon?!”
Overwhelmed with emotion, I hugged Anastasia tightly. It was both a compliment to her and a reward for myself after all the hard work.
Those two soft cushions felt distinctly against my chest, even through my clothes.
Indeed, they were big and soft. There was a reason I kept grabbing them every time we had our 19+ sessions.
Having volunteered to be a slave in a space occupied solely by unfortunate upperclassmen who had also volunteered to teach, there was no need to worry about people watching me.
There was no concern over noise either. They had several layers of mana barriers around them.
It must be similar to soundproof walls or something. If it weren’t, I would have been told to shut up since the very first class after arriving on this floor.
After a long embrace and some light rubbing, I finally let her go. As for Dokan, I hoped he’d at least manage his expressions a bit better.
Although he pretended to be calm, his eyes were already glued to my chest. I could understand he was a guy, but it still made me feel a bit off.
Speaking of Dokan, after all the lessons, he had also managed to achieve some results.
While the time spent making study guides had reduced my time hanging out with him, as long as he scored well, that was what mattered.
He was off doing his thing every weekend, only showing up for lunch and dinner, which made me wonder if he was playing around with some other girl.
Could it be that while I was making study guides for him, he was off having fun with some other girl?
“That’s the correct answer. Really… you worked hard. Truly, you did great…”
The first part was directed at her, and the latter was a self-pat on the back.
I really couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been to teach someone as animalistic in strength and intellect as her. Sure, she had the looks, but that only got in the way of studying.
“Hoyeon, I’ve been doing all the homework you give me… I worked really hard! Will I do well on the math exam?!”
“That’s a stretch.”
I felt bad telling her that while she was curled up in my arms like a puppy hoping for praise, but it wasn’t likely.
To genuinely aim for significant grade improvement, she’d likely need to think ahead to the second year. For now, I was merely trying to catch her up to a somewhat attainable level.
“…Is it impossible?”
“I can say with certainty it’s not gonna happen.”
If she had a tail, it would likely be drooping in disappointment. I couldn’t hug her forever, so I seized the moment of her distraction to let her go.
“Well then, let’s part ways here for today. Since the exam is tomorrow, make sure to rest well today.”
The atmosphere was just right for saying goodbye, so I concluded the lesson. I felt a little uneasy since I just dumped similar to curses on Anastasia, but facts are facts.
Considering she might even struggle with the questions on page one.
Anastasia’s back looked lonely as she left.
“Then, Dokan… shall we head out too…?”
“Sure.”
I silently wished for Anastasia to make friends like Dokan soon.
“Did you prepare well for the exam…?”
“Thanks to your help, I think I’ll do well in math. What about you?”
I was glad to hear that my help had been beneficial.
“…Thank you for worrying about me. But you don’t need to. I’m teaching you because I have the spare time.”
In reality, I’d finished memorizing all my subjects a week ago.
There were quite a few things I didn’t understand in ethics, but I thought that since it’s a different continent, ethics might be different as well.
However, not offering sacrifices when meeting a God was something I couldn’t grasp at all.
For me, all the gods answered whenever I called, but others had to offer various tributes depending on the God’s preferences.
Money, food, dead animals, people, etc.
In any case, some offerings allowed you to meet the deities, but it seemed that wasn’t the case on this continent.
If someone with the talent to handle divine powers prayed, they simply provided assistance for free.
I glossed over that, thinking there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with depriving others of faith and earth veins.
“Oh, that’s relieving. By the way, I heard Professor Georg say this physical exam would be something special.”
“…Why is that professor’s name coming up?”
“We shouldn’t be talking about this, but the physical exam will be supervised by Professor Georg.”
I knew that devil was personally tutoring Dokan, but I had no idea he would mention things like that.
Still, it sounded like it would be special. After all, this was an academy story.
“…Can you tell me what it’s about?”
I suspected it might be something like a duel.
“See that mountain over there? You have to form teams and survive out there for five days.”
“Eh…?”
They were going to throw us on a mountain and tell us to survive for five days?
Were they just telling us to go die out there?
“Isn’t that dangerous…?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. They have all the safety measures ready. Even if you wanted to die, you wouldn’t be able to…”
Why was I already feeling anxious? I thought aristocratic academies would have something like competitive duels, but instead, it was this random survival test.
Though knowing wouldn’t change much…
“…Thanks for telling me.”
Gratitude is gratitude, after all. Isn’t that something friends say to each other in situations like this?
Having kept her behind after dinner to keep teaching, it was starting to get late.
“Well then… good night!”
“You too.”
After wishing her goodnight, I headed into my room.
– – – –
Once I parted ways with Hoyeon and entered my room, I found myself wondering what I had done during all this time.
For some reason, a thorn had lodged itself firmly in Anastasia’s dislike for me, and she avoided me at all costs.
I had run into Iris by pure chance, but we were just acquaintances at best.
Camilla hung around with Exipri, keeping her stubbornly away from me.
She was busy teaching Exipri that all boys who offered her snacks were bad people, and I could never shake the image of her looking at me with a glare filled with what could only be described as latent hostility.
Things were far too different from the original story.
It seemed she didn’t dislike me outright.
Could it be because of Hoyeon? It seemed that after Anya asked Hoyeon some inexplicable questions, she started looking at me with an unkind gaze.
There was a slight chance that it wasn’t impossible… but it didn’t seem like something I could solve.
Of course, I really didn’t need to be seeking any romantic favors right now.
In the end, once the main events kicked off, they would naturally flow my way.
However, it felt too wasteful to just spend time doing nothing, so I’d been toying around doing a bit of everything.
Ultimately, I yielded no results, so in terms of outcomes, it felt like a waste of time.
While I maintained a steadily close relationship with Hoyeon, something significantly decisive to change our dynamic hadn’t occurred.
It always felt like we were on the verge, yet each time she treated it as mere friendship, creating an inexplicable sense of distance, and thus we continued as close friends.
In reality, it shouldn’t be strange if things progressed from here.
The fact that I could even target her after less than a month was the truly bizarre part.
With that thought, I reflected on the first event that would occur in two days.
A survival test being held in the mountains.
An event that wouldn’t lead to anyone getting injured or killed, unlike typical academy tests.
That was purely a retrospective observation, of course.
The safety measures were high-level magical devices.
If the wearer’s life were in danger, they would be instantly transported to a field hospital nearby, which was manned by priests and Georg himself, ensuring that no matter the condition, dying would be out of the question.
Even if someone were mauled by wild animals to the point their spine was exposed, or if they tumbled down and broke a leg, they’d be restored before death kicked in.
I briefly recalled what had happened in the original story.
Camilla, who had missed her moment to leave the side of the commoner protagonist, ended up accompanying him and, thanks to him, overcame many dangers and even aced her practical exam.
Being completely clueless about which water was safe to drink or how to start a fire, her survival was purely thanks to the protagonist, leading to the beginnings of her fondness for him.
For some reason, it seemed she didn’t have a strong liking for me right now, but it was time to take the first step toward building my own harem through this event.
With that conviction, I finally went to bed.