The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 24
The children’s attention snapped to Lucas at once.
“Who wants to know who I’ve fought?”
“Me!”
“Me, me!!”
The children raised their voices in a chorus.
“Then listen carefully to today’s lesson. I’ll only tell the story to those who pay attention.”
Lucas brought the children to heel without effort. As if his word were law, they filed back to their seats.
“I’ll find out later who was actually listening.”
With that, Lucas left the room. It took him less than three minutes to control the children and vanish.
It was remarkable how uniformly they’d moved, as though enchanted.
‘Must be from leading an army.’
She had cared for children, but Lucas had commanded soldiers. As a military commander, directing them would have been infinitely harder.
She found herself seeing Lucas in a new light.
‘But what if the children lose respect for Henry?’
If they stopped listening to him, that could be troublesome. Rachel glanced quietly at the children’s faces.
“Henry! How were you able to hold your own against the Crown Prince like that?”
“It was amazing! The Crown Prince is incredibly strong!”
“Could you do another Sparring match with us sometime?”
Fortunately, the children hadn’t lost their admiration for Henry. If anything, they seemed to think him even more remarkable for having faced the great Crown Prince himself.
‘Thank goodness it turned out well.’
Rachel watched the children with a gentle smile. This lesson had been education at its most alive.
* * *
Night came as it always did. Rachel rubbed her tired eyes while writing in the children’s study logs, gazing out the window.
‘I miss computers. I miss the internet. I miss them so much it makes me want to cry.’
She was growing accustomed to writing by hand now, but the ease of typing on a keyboard hadn’t faded from memory.
‘You never appreciate things until they’re gone.’
Rachel sighed and finished the final entry—Noah’s log. She knew she should rest after this.
She rose from her chair and opened a book, pulling out the bookmark from yesterday’s reading and resuming where she’d left off.
‘With the internet, I could find answers to these things instantly.’
One question had been nagging at her. Apart from the Mana Stone that Theo had used to ignite Kana’s invention, there was the light that the Gem embedded in the school wall had emitted.
Without electricity in this world, such brightness was hardly ordinary.
‘If the book is right, the most likely explanation is that the Gem was a Mana Stone.’
When she’d asked Colo, she’d said it was a decoration that Swan had installed during the family’s prosperous days—which meant it could have been a middle or low-grade Mana Stone.
If a person had no Mana within them, touching a Mana Stone would do nothing.
But if someone with Mana touched one, it typically reacted—light, heat, that sort of thing.
‘Could I have Mana in me…?’
In the original work, Rachel Swan was a peripheral character, a glorified extra. It seemed unlikely such a minor role would possess significant Mana.
Rachel sank into thought. Could she really have Mana?
‘Whether I have Mana or not doesn’t change anything.’
Having Mana wouldn’t suddenly provide a way to repay her debts faster.
Besides, she’d heard that properly learning the Mana Operation Technique required admission to the Imperial Academy—at an astronomical cost.
‘How many people must there be like me, with Mana but unable to use it properly?’
She didn’t know how much Mana she might possess, but the situation seemed far from rare. There must be many commoners without money who carried Mana within them.
‘It’s tragic that they must waste such talent.’
The Empire was a rigid Class Society. Even someone like Mare, obscenely wealthy, struggled to gain a title.
And if money was lacking, education for the poor was nothing short of a luxury.
‘If only the written language were simple.’
The Empire’s script wasn’t as easy to learn as Hangul. She’d been fortunate to be reincarnated here; had she needed to learn the written language from scratch, it would have been difficult.
What of ordinary commoners? Struggling with such a complex script, they could hardly study on their own.
‘Why should education here require such enormous expense?’
In the Republic of Korea, where she’d lived before, there was Mandatory Education.
Every citizen had to attend school for a certain period. That simple fact meant nothing here. Rachel felt her chest tighten.
‘If I had power…’
If she possessed authority, she could change this unreasonable situation.
But reality was harsh. She was merely a worthless supporting character drowning in debt.
“Sigh…”
Rachel exhaled deeply and stared blankly out the window, doubting she’d sleep well tonight.
Knock, knock.
Someone was tapping at her door.
“Yes, please come in.”
Occasionally students would visit late for counseling. If they did, she ought to receive them graciously. Rachel rose from her seat at once, waiting for the figure that stood beyond the door.
“…Huh?”
Rachel had expected perhaps Kana or Roca, but found herself blinking. The one who entered was none other than Lucas.
“Your Highness.”
Rachel offered a respectful greeting. Lucas stepped into the room.
“Did I interrupt you? Were you trying to sleep?”
“Not at all. I wasn’t tired, so I was simply passing the time.”
Rachel gestured toward a seat. He settled onto the sofa while she took the chair across from him, studying his face and trying to discern what had brought him here.
“The thing is, there’s a problem I wanted to discuss with you.”
“A problem?”
What could this mean? Was there something uncomfortable about staying at the Manor? Or something else entirely?
Rachel’s mind began to race through the possibilities.
“After the sparring session this afternoon, my hand has been hurting.”
“Oh?”
“I wondered if your family’s ancient texts might contain a remedy.”
Rachel paused, trying to recall what those family texts could be—and then remembered the thoughtless words she had once spoken to him.
“Ah… that ancient text…?”
Rachel’s smile turned awkward as she looked at the Crown Prince.
“I’m afraid I haven’t seen any methods for treating hand pain in there…”
She silently prayed he would simply leave. Those books didn’t exist in the first place.
Rachel offered up a desperate prayer.
“Then I suppose I’ll have to consult the Imperial Family’s ancient texts instead.”
“Pardon?”
“The Imperial Family has texts passed down through generations, just as your family does.”
She couldn’t tell where the truth ended and the jest began. Yet she couldn’t dismiss his words, so Rachel studied him with growing seriousness.
“According to the Imperial texts, a close companion need only touch and soothe the injured hand.”
“Touch and…”
“I thought we were close enough for that, so I came here.”
Rachel couldn’t help but be startled by his words. Her eyes widened as she stared at him.
“I’m curious what you think.”
“I… I don’t…”
She didn’t think their distance was particularly vast. Yet when he threw such a direct question at her, she had no choice but to be flustered.
Rachel chose her words carefully, selecting each one, trying to hide how unsettled she felt.
“Close…”
“Do you think we’re friends?”
The moment the word left her lips, Lucas completed the thought she’d begun. Rachel, startled, pressed her hand over her mouth.
“N-no! Friends? Your Highness, you are someone who will lead this nation—someone of such high standing!”
“Then we are something other than friends?”
Rachel’s body went rigid. It felt equally strange to claim they were anything other than friends.
Unsure how to escape this situation, she turned her gaze away awkwardly. That’s when she caught the hint of a smile on Lucas’s face.
“I suppose I should stop tormenting you,”
he said, as if settling the matter. Then he rose to his feet.
Why was he standing up?
Rachel blinked, watching him. He moved with perfect ease, sitting down beside her.
“Won’t you heal my hand? You, Rachel, who is so close to me.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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