The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 41

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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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Chapter 41
Morning arrived once more. Rachel, who had risen earlier than usual, stretched and opened the window.
The weather was absolutely beautiful. On a day like this, stepping out into the Field would feel like a picnic—it would certainly be wonderful.
She smiled brightly, letting the breeze wash over her. It seemed to carry the scent of flowers with it.
After changing into fresh clothes, she descended the stairs. Mealtime was approaching, and she needed to look after the children. And in her line of sight appeared none other than Theo.
“Good morning!”
Theo’s voice rang out. Rachel waved back at him.
“Morning, Theo. Sleep well?”
“We’re going outside today, right?”
“That’s right. We’ll do a fun experiment once we’re out there.”
Rachel laughed brightly and patted Theo’s shoulder. He was beaming—the prospect of going outside clearly delighted him.
“What about the other children?”
“They’re all changing clothes and getting ready for breakfast.”
Usually the masters of dawdling, these children were surprisingly quick when it suited them. Children will be children. Rachel smiled and made her way down to the Dining Hall.
Ordinarily they would joke around and delay their meal, but today was different. The children lined up in orderly fashion, collected their breakfast, and ate in thoughtful silence.
“Something’s different about today. Is something special happening?”
Rachel tilted her head, puzzled.
A outdoor lesson should make them eager, certainly, but not enough to be this well-behaved. Something about it felt suspicious, honestly.
‘Whenever these kids listen too well, trouble always follows.’
Her years as a teacher had taught her something. Rachel studied each of the children carefully. No matter how she looked at it, something seemed off.
‘No. I shouldn’t judge them through a lens of suspicion without any real reason.’
But she quickly reconsidered. It wasn’t fair to doubt the children based on mere intuition and nothing else.
“Once you’ve finished preparing, come outside. I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Rachel addressed the children. Theo and the others nodded in response.
The children soon gathered in the Garden. Rachel did a headcount, then picked up the bag containing her experimental tools.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes!”
The children answered in unison. Whenever they responded like this, energy surged through her. Rachel set off with enthusiasm.
The Field wasn’t far. Rachel stood in the middle of it and checked on the children.
Fortunately, none of them had run off somewhere else along the way. That alone was genuine progress.
‘I wish I’d brought Colo and Henry along.’
Colo was busy overseeing repairs to the room with the pedigree chart, while Henry was occupied purchasing Wooden Swords for Sword Lesson. That left only Rachel able to venture outdoors with the children, so she’d come alone—though truthfully, managing all these children by herself made her a little anxious.
She knew well enough how spirited they could be.
‘These children certainly have personality to spare.’
The moment anything captured their interest, they’d dash off toward it. Knowing their nature as she did, she couldn’t afford a moment’s rest.
“Alright, shall we start the experiment?”
Once she began, at least the children’s attention would converge on one thing. Rachel quickly unpacked her experimental tools.
When she pulled out a transparent Glass Bottle in place of a beaker, the children regarded it with curious eyes.
“We’re going to create a cloud inside this bottle.”
Rachel held up the bottle and gave it a gentle shake.
“And this—I went to considerable trouble to obtain.”
With that, she produced a handful of Ice.
“Wow! How did you get ice when it’s not even winter?!”
Chase’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“That’s a secret.”
The secret, of course, involved a rather substantial sum of money.
But she didn’t want to dwell on finances in front of the children. Rachel kept the source of the ice mysterious and continued unpacking her tools.
The experimental apparatus itself wasn’t complicated. There was the Glass Bottle, a bottle containing Warm Water, Ice, and Matches—that was all.
“Ready to begin?”
Rachel drew the children’s attention toward her. Her tone was like that of a magician, and the children burst into delighted laughter.
Regardless, Rachel poured Warm Water into the empty Glass Bottle and shook it. The inside of the bottle became moistened with the Warm Water.
Then she lit the Matches, quickly snuffed them out, and channeled the smoke into the bottle.
“Now watch carefully to see what happens next.”
Rachel closed the cap, then placed Ice on top of the lid. Warm Water lay at the bottom of the bottle, and cold Ice sat at the top.
“Now we observe.”
The water vapor inside the bottle rose upward and gathered near the Ice. Gradually, small water droplets accumulated at the top of the bottle, forming something that looked just like a cloud.
“Wow!”
“That’s amazing!”
The children each voiced their reactions. Rachel smiled warmly and tilted the Glass Bottle slightly forward for a better view.
“Why did you put smoke in the bottle?”
“Does warm air rise to the sky and turn into clouds?”
“You didn’t use Mana for this, did you?”
The children’s questions seemed endless—a sign, Rachel thought, of genuine curiosity taking root. She welcomed each one gladly, feeding their newfound interest.
“You’re all full of questions, aren’t you?”
“Yes!”
“There’s only one of me and seven of you, so why don’t you write down what you’re curious about? Then we can discuss your questions together.”
These children had grown less quick to jab at one another than before, more accustomed to real discussion. Still, she couldn’t let her guard down. She needed to create frequent opportunities for debate and stay alert for any conflicts that might flare up.
“Okay, we will.”
“I’m going to finish first.”
Fortunately, the children engaged with the lesson without resistance.
Time flowed smoothly. The children were gradually discovering that a world of science existed beyond magic—something obvious perhaps, but exactly what Rachel had hoped for.
“Teacher, why do insects have six legs? When you think about it, spiders have eight. Why is that?”
Once their eyes opened, things they’d once taken for granted—things that simply “were”—began to seem miraculous. The children wandered through the Field, their curiosity satisfied with each discovery.
Rachel answered their questions with genuine delight, her teaching more passionate than ever before.
“All right, I’ll give you some time for Insect Collection. Why don’t you explore out to the Stream over there and back?”
The moment Rachel made the suggestion—still glowing from their barrage of questions—the children let out a cheer and bolted toward the Stream.
‘Children really are just children, aren’t they.’
Rachel smiled warmly, watching their receding figures. Prince or not, Theo and Noah were nothing but children when you saw them like this.
‘I need to help them laugh more often. I’ll keep working at it.’
The children were thrilled by something as simple as a walk in the Field. Surely they deserved a bit more freedom than they were given.
Watching them disappear without a trace, Rachel considered the matter carefully. Perhaps it was time to loosen the somewhat rigid rules of Swan Knight Academy.
The children returned right on time—impressive, given how eager they’d been to keep playing. Rachel’s thoughts deepened as she realized she ought to reward them.
The truth was, rewarding these children proved difficult. They wanted for nothing material.
At schools in her previous world, she’d given simple rewards like chocolate or marshmallows, but these children showed little interest in such treats.
‘Perhaps it’s time to offer the greatest reward of all.’
These children wanted something money couldn’t buy—something they didn’t already possess.
For children who spent all day at the school, the deepest lack was freedom. Rachel knew this keenly, and so she could offer her proposal with perfect confidence, like a gift.
“Children, would you gather around for a moment?”
Rachel called them over with a bright smile, and they hurried to her at once, their eyes focused entirely on her. Their gaze was so lovely that she smiled back warmly.
“You did so well with today’s outdoor lesson, and you kept your promise about the time. So, shall we come out again tomorrow? As often as you’d like, if you want to.”
Rachel proposed the next outdoor lesson with genuine enthusiasm.
Yet she didn’t know that such a “next outdoor lesson” would never come to pass.

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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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