CH 4

When I returned from Mark's room, I prepared to teach him how to study. There was nothing special to prepare for...... just a careful examination of what I was going to teach Mark.

However, a thought came to my mind, 'Is this really the right thing to do?' Teaching people requires a kind of talent. That was why even on Earth, in order to became a teacher, you had to attend a university and get a teaching license.

Even though I had often taught others in my previous life, passing on the knowledge I had gained in the past few months to others was probably one of the most difficult things to do.

“Hmmm, maybe I should make some teaching tools?"

While smiling inwardly at the thought that a child of only six years old could have imagined something so unthinkable, I immediately start making teaching materials for my little brother Mark.

I didn't have to make something difficult, just a small blackboard to write on and a wooden board.

Both of them wouldn't be difficult to make if I used the basic wind and earth magic I had mastered. When I actually tried to make them, I was surprised at how easy it was to make them.

Now that I was ready to teach Mark, all I had to do was wait for the time to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, after breakfast, I waited for Mark in the library as I had promised. Mark came alone, just as I had told him to do.

“Brother!”

He smiled a warm, friendly smile and ran toward me. I'm sure he'll be incredibly handsome in the future. ...... Damn it.

I shook my head and blew away those rambling thoughts and started my lesson. There was not much I could teach a four-year-old brother, so I started by helping him learn the letters of this world.

“What is this, brother?”

"These are the letters that are commonly used in this country. There are 46 letters in total. Let's start by learning them.”

As I explained this to my younger brother, I took out the wooden board I had prepared the day before. The letters of this world are based on the hiragana of my previous world, and in some cases, there was a mixture of katakana and kanji, but once you learned the hiragana, you could easily cope with it.

I decided to show Mark the wooden board and had him actually write the letters on the blackboard. In addition to teaching knowledge, it was also important to have students study through repetition, which in simple terms meant practicing writing hiragana.

Mark continued to write some letters on the blackboard as if he enjoyed learning new things. After he had written some of them, I decided to test his reading and writing skills.

“How do you read this?"

"Hmm, it's [mu]"

“Then what is this?”

“It's a  [ya]."

“All right, now it's time for some writing practice.”

I let him write the letters on the mark as well as read them, and he got ten out of ten correct. He answered all ten questions correctly. ...... Is he a genius?

I couldn't deny that I have colored glasses* as an older brother, but wasn't it amazing that he mastered all the reading and writing of the letters he came in contact with for the first time in less than a few hours, even if I didn't favor him?

He was so good that I couldn't help but put my hand on Mark's head and stroke it. Mark's eyes narrowed and he looked happy.

"Good job, Mark. You've done well. I'll continue to teach you, so do your best to learn.”

"I understand, brother. I promise I'll be useful to you.”

Mark replied with a sparkle in his eyes, as if he was happy to be able to help me, his brother.

I was a little worried that if I wasn't careful, he would catch up with me soon, but since this was originally intended to let people know that Mark was better than me, I guess it wasn't a problem.

In this way, I continued to deepen my own knowledge while taking on talented students.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day, a year after I had taught Mark for the first time, I was suddenly summoned by my father Randall.

When I stepped into the room that my father always used, I found him absorbed in his work, not looking at me.

When my father noticed my arrival, he looked up and his grim face broke into a smile.

"You've come, Roland. I called you here today to talk to you.”

Did he find out that I'm teaching Mark how to study?

Over the past year, I had succeeded in imparting my knowledge to Mark without anyone noticing, and now he was almost as educated as I was. So, just when I was about to announce Mark's excellence to my family, I was summoned by my father, and I wondered what he wanted from me.

"I'm taking you with me today to inspect the Rogue Village. As the next lord, it will be a good learning experience for you to see how the people live.”

I looked at my father who nodded his head as if it was a good idea, and inwardly I felt as if I were biting down on a bitter pill.

(Are you kidding me? I'm not going to be the lord of this poor estate. No, I won't be!)

While the thoughts of father and son were at odds, I ended up going with my father to the Rogue Village.

Note:

色眼鏡(いろめがね, “iro megane”) is a Japanese idiomatic expression that literally means “coloured glasses”. It is usually used as “….を色眼鏡で見(み)る” (look at… through coloured glasses) and that figuratively means “have a prejudiced and specific view about someone (due to their nationality, educational background, etc)”.