“Excuse me? You want me to take charge of guiding education from now on?”
“I’d appreciate it, Teacher. Haha.”
“……”
Alexander’s brows furrowed.
At St. Sophia, there exists a system called guided education.
Teachers who are experts in their fields provide professional guidance to help students utilize their talents or specialties.
However, it was a complete surprise that Alexander was among the teachers assigned to this guided education role.
As Alexander continued to scowl and glare, the principal broke out in a cold sweat.
“I will refuse. It is not within my jurisdiction.”
“Oh come on. Isn’t it typical for everyone to take on tasks they didn’t usually do after joining? There’s a severe shortage of personnel, so it can’t be helped. Please understand.”
“I cannot comply with work instructions that are not specified in the contract.”
“You’re mentioning the contract… Do you know that there is a clause in the contract stating that the duties of the priestess can change as needed?”
“Excuse me? That can’t be true.”
“Look here.”
“……”
The principal rummaged through a drawer and opened the contract.
Then, after holding it up with a magnifying glass, a clause with letters too small to be seen by the naked eye was discovered hidden in one corner.
Alexander ground his teeth and glared at the principal.
“Haha. I apologize. There’s a student who absolutely cannot be handled by anyone but the priestess…”
“Who is that?”
“It’s Tiamat.”
“……”
In an instant, Alexander felt a throbbing pain in his head.
To have to deal with that troublesome student who had tamed a phoenix since the entrance ceremony and made Chairwoman Lara her pet fairy.
By the way, Tia was also Julia’s daughter.
What exactly was the issue with that mother and daughter pair that they kept getting tangled up with him?
“Is there a problem?”
“There are many problems…”
“Hahaha. Good luck. She may be a bit of a burden, but I have no doubt you’ll handle it well, Priestess!”
“That’s enough. Why me? You know well enough that both magic and miracles are my downfall. Are you telling me to teach Tia martial arts?”
Alexander couldn’t understand the principal’s decision.
He was merely a temporary teacher hastily dispatched because the regular history teacher couldn’t come due to circumstances.
Compared to other teachers who were top experts in their fields, Alexander felt utterly insignificant.
He didn’t even have a doctorate, let alone a common master’s degree.
The only thing he could teach someone would be martial arts, but this wasn’t a military academy or combat school, and such things couldn’t be taught at a school level.
“Isn’t there a field of expertise you have? A field where you’ve reached the pinnacle in the world.”
“Are you referring to assassination?”
“No. I’m talking about anti-magic. Weren’t you called a magic killer in the past? No one can compare to you when it comes to dispelling magic and miracles. That’s why I’m shamelessly requesting your help. Please guide Miss Tia in mastering anti-magic techniques. Otherwise, the school might experience another large-scale blackout.”
“……”
The principal’s playful gaze turned serious.
Although it sounded somewhat lighthearted, it was a quite serious matter.
If Tia lost control of her power again, not only Lara but all the spirits of the school would perish.
Teaching Tia to control her power was undoubtedly the most important task facing St. Sophia.
Alexander confirmed that gaze and let out a deep sigh.
“Alright. I’ll give it a try. But I must tell you in advance, I have no idea if I’ll succeed. Tia’s power is completely different from the methods I use to dispel magic… It’ll mainly be help in terms of mental training.”
“That’s sufficient. No one in this school can match you in mental training either.”
“Ha…”
He thought he had simply been given a leisurely position due to demotion.
But he had been assigned a task far more significant than he imagined.
To guide the first dragon-born since the mythical era, while helping her to bloom her talents and control her powers.
“You don’t need to feel too pressured! If you fail, we can just expel Tiamat!”
“What do you mean by that…?!”
Alexander’s face turned pale.
How could one even think of expelling a dragon-born?
She already possessed immense combat power on her own, and with Dragania backing her, she was practically unstoppable.
If Tia, discouraged by being expelled, developed resentment towards humans, they could end up facing the worst enemy since the Human-Demon War.
Humanity would face extinction that day.
Expulsion was absolutely unacceptable.
No matter what, he had to enable Tia to control her powers.
Alexander clenched his fists and resolved himself.
‘It’s time to retire.’
Once he finished this task safely, he would retire.
He felt that if he stayed at the church any longer, more significant challenges would be thrown at him.
*
“Mmm, I’m hungry…”
During the afternoon break.
Tia slumped over her desk and muttered weakly.
It had only been an hour since she devoured ten bowls of food during lunch, yet she felt empty again.
At home, she could just head to the kitchen and grab whatever she wanted whenever she was hungry, but that was impossible here.
Suddenly, Tia turned her head sharply to look at Turi.
Turi, startled by the sudden gaze, hiccuped.
“Turi.”
“Hic…! W-What?”
“I’m so hungry. If you have something to eat, could you share it with me?”
“Something to eat…? Well, I have bread…”
“Bread?! You have bread? Really? Please share!”
“Aw, aah…”
Tia’s eyes sparkled as she clung to Turi, begging.
This left Turi at a loss for words.
She was about to suggest that Tia could buy bread from the snack bar, but it got interrupted, and it seemed Tia thought she had bread.
“W-Well, uh… the truth is…”
“Please! I’m really starving!”
“Uhh…”
Turi ended up looking pitiful.
She needed to speak up, but her timid personality made it hard to do so.
Eventually, Turi decided that it would be much easier to just go buy the bread herself rather than attempt to explain that she didn’t have any.
“Bread… I’ll go buy it…”
“Is it somewhere else? You’re going to get it now?!”
“N-No, not that… Ugh. Yeah…”
“Mmm! Thank you!”
“……”
Turi hurriedly stood up and rushed towards the snack bar.
Break time was almost over.
Seeing the crowd gathered around the snack bar’s cash register made her feel choked, but since she had already said it, she had no choice.
As the heir to the Demon King, she must never go back on her word.
Eventually, she managed to squeeze into the middle of the crowd and successfully purchased the bread.
Now, she had to hurry back to the classroom before class began.
Turi ran back to the classroom completely exhausted.
“Here, here…”
“Whoa! Is it really okay for Tia to eat this?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Mmm, thank you! Turi, you’re the best!”
“Hehe…”
Turi felt tired, but seeing Tia’s smile energized her.
She felt a sense of fulfillment.
“Isn’t that a bread delivery service?”
“You’re right, it is.”
“I knew you were kind of a punk…”
“Shh! They’ll hear you!”
The gazes from those around them were slightly different.
Of course, whatever others were saying wouldn’t reach Tia, who was fully focused on eating the bread.
Watching this, Turi smiled gently.
‘It feels like I have a younger sister now.’
Was this how it felt to have a younger sister?
Wanting to keep bringing her food and take care of her.
Just watching Tia eat filled her with warmth.
‘Of course, she’s only younger than me in appearance; she’s actually much older than I am…’
At the age of six, Turi had no way of knowing.
That Tia was not even a year old yet.
At that moment, Tia suddenly made a loud sound, causing Turi to hiccup again.
“Ah, right! I was going to give you a bite too! I totally forgot and ate it all!”
“It’s class time, Tia! Be quiet!”
“Mmm…”
Even though the bell had rung and class time had long since started, Tia, completely absorbed in the bread, didn’t notice at all.
After being pointed out by Yuli, Tia pouted and shrank back.
Then, noticing Turi beside her, she burst out laughing.
The two leaned over their desks, hiding behind the back of the kid in front of them, giggling quietly.
“By the way, I’ve been curious about something.”
“Mmm? What is it?”
Turi cupped her hands around her mouth to whisper.
Tia leaned closer and tilted her head.
“Why do you say ‘mm’ instead of ‘yes’?”
“……?”
For a moment, Tia’s mouth dropped open.
It was a question she’d never thought of nor had anyone ever asked her.
Like a machine that had received a wrong input signal, Tia’s thought process came to a halt.
“Try saying it after me. Yes.”
“Mmm.”
“Ah, so it’s just that you can’t pronounce it properly. I thought you were trying to be cute.”
“……?!”
Turi nodded in understanding.
That calm reaction was even more shocking.
So, it seemed she appeared to be trying to act cute.
That day, Tia’s world came crashing down.
