11 – Private Tutoring (2)
“…Excellent.”
Sonia opened her mouth calmly. She grasped and released her hand that held the wooden sword, shaking her head.
“If you’ve reached this level in three months, you’ve done well. At least, you would pass.”
Doing this much was enough. The original goal was to train just enough not to fail.
Almost reluctantly, Aidel laid down his wooden sword and sighed. His hand was numb, muscles screaming.
From calves to belly, every part of him was sore.
Aidel sucked on a peppermint candy and gulped down a sports drink. Seti watched him from a distance.
“How did he…”
Seti murmured involuntarily.
He knew a bit about swordsmanship. A few moments ago, Aidel showed an extraordinary movement. The realm of a master, or perhaps a maniac.
‘A mock fight, yet he won against Sonia.’
Sonia was a battle-specialized android. It had to be that way. To fight against an uncultured man like Aidel, she essentially had to be a fighter.
Aidel had beaten such a Sonia.
The thought didn’t last long.
‘He must have been lucky.’
Seti decided it must have been a fluke.
Not much time had passed since Aidel took up the sword— perhaps three months at most. His fundamentals were too lacking to show significant performance.
Even if it had been possible, there was no guarantee he would demonstrate such a physique in the examination.
After all, the student who had been studying steadily since way back would win. A moment’s wit didn’t work in the Stellarium entrance test. The admissions officers were no fools.
“Hey, little bro!”
Aidel approached with a swagger. His intense heat and sweaty smell made Seti step back scowling.
“Don’t come near me, you’re dirty.”
“This can be washed… but did you see? Wasn’t I pretty good just now?”
“No, not really?”
Seti responded brusquely. But Aidel didn’t mind. He appeared to be in a good mood.
“Sonia, you know what’s happening today, right? I’m ordering chicken.”
“Hah…Master.”
Sonia scratched her head, clutching a wooden sword. She then lightly struck Aidel’s head.
Whack!
The dull sound was like beating a drum. Aidel let out a groan and trembled.
“I didn’t hear anything about ordering chicken.”
“What? Hey, that’s not what we agreed on!”
“You don’t need to place an order, considering the high delivery fee.”
Sonia brushed off her hands as she spoke.
“Take your time and sort things out. Frying chicken takes quite a while.”
Sonia, who had just pushed back her hair, turned her back and walked away. Her expression was subtly human-like. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, almost imperceptible unless observed closely.
‘What, what happened….’
Seti’s face was confounded.
‘What in the world happened between those two…?’
She gazed blankly at Sonia, then turned her head.
Aidel was quietly sorting things out.
Who else but Aidel.
***
[– ‘The God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ has sent mild praise for your training.]
[– You’ve received a donation of 500 fron.]
The foreign god of wisdom, Cartesia, seems to want me to smash the forces of the other foreign gods as soon as possible.
Well, it’s not like all foreign gods get along very well.
Anyway, it’s a good thing from my point of view.
I invested about half of the fron I got into ‘accelerated thinking’. As a result, I possessed a processing speed comparable to a machine. It was like having a supercomputer in my head.
[– ‘Thought Acceleration (+790%)’]
Now I can think and make decisions almost nine times faster than the average person. The ability to block Sonia’s sword attack was greatly aided by this ability.
This should be enough for a while.
I mused on what was to come as I chewed on the chicken Sonia had deep-fried.
“That should suffice for practical skills. Now I should prepare for the interview. Would it be alright to hire a private tutor?”
Sonia nodded in agreement.
“The best way to prepare for an interview is to have it corrected by someone who has passed it. Do as you please, Master.”
Internally, I let out a cheer. I was satisfied that I had gained enough trust from Sonia over these few months.
I brushed off my greasy hand and picked up a tablet. I browsed a private tutor website. The interview content was confidential even in the novel. Therefore, I had to directly persuade a test taker to find out the gist.
“Wow.”
As I scrolled down, I discovered one fact.
“Tutoring is disgustingly expensive.”
“Well, it’s because the Academy guarantees a high tuition fee upon admission.”
“But isn’t a million a month too much?”
“If you pass, you will attain such standing, sir.”
A society more heavily grade-oriented than Korea.
Still, it’s comforting that you’re the child of a wealthy family. I continued to scroll down.
[Edward Meyer]
[First-year student at Stellarium Academia]
The monthly remuneration is in tens of millions – still expensive, but half the price of other tutors.
[Working part-time at Ergos Comprehensive Academy]
[Can provide specialized consultation for written and oral exams]
Maybe it’s cheaper because he’s also working as a teaching assistant at a cram school.
Regardless, it didn’t matter.
I had already made up my mind.
“Are you planning to go with this person?”
“Yes.”
“The fee is too low. Even their surname is the kind used in the outlying planets. They must properly have a poor character or lack skill. The decision might be hasty – wouldn’t it be better to go with someone else?”
“It’s fine. I’m going with this person.”
I half-listened to Sonia’s words as I opened the account.
I daresay there was no chance of failure.
***
The Federation exists with an implicit caste system.
People living ‘within the Ether Belt’ are like royalty – this is because land (?) here is peculiarly expensive. Families like the Rhineland or Adler-vine all have their main residences within the Ether Belt.
On the other hand, people living in a change zone are treated poorly.
Monsters lurk in the change zones and the influence of the foreign press is strong. People who live here go mad easily. There are many undeveloped areas and public order is poor. Children cannot grow nicely in such an environment.
In other words, it’s like a slum in space.
Edward Meyer was born and raised in such a place. He was a freshman who had just passed the Stellarium last year.
‘Is this because I was born in a poor place? Really?’
Edward lamented his humble origins while looking at a tutoring website.
Though he was looking for tutoring work, he wasn’t getting any matches.
‘I can’t even afford next semester’s tuition with what I’m making as a teaching assistant…’
He was anxious.
But he couldn’t look for other work either.
There was no kind-hearted boss willing to hire a change zone boy who hadn’t even graduated from the academy yet.
So he continued to lower and lower his fees. 90 million, 80 million, 70 million… down to 50 million credits.
Still, no student seeking tutoring appeared.
It was because of the surname.
From noble mtl dot com
There is a surname given only to those from the change zone. You can’t easily change it due to Federation law. It sticks to you like a tag, blocking your way in matters big and small.
‘Maybe I should try to be someone’s foster child….’
As Edward was lamenting and scrolling through the tutoring requests, a message appeared.
[A student has requested tutoring!]
Edward’s eyes widened.
“Finally!”
He shouted with joy. Any student would do. He could pay his tuition for the next semester right away!
He quickly hit the consent button for the private lesson and clicked on the student’s profile.
[Aidel von Rheinhardt]
Edward’s once bright face crumpled like poorly made kimbap.
“Ra, Rheinhardt?”
It was surprising that they asked him to tutor someone from the prestigious family that made it into the top 10 in the galaxy.
But.
“Aidel Rheinhardt?”
The problem was that, of all people, their wayward child ‘Aidel Rheinhardt’ had been chosen.
Edward rubbed his eyes and stared at the screen fixedly. But the characters didn’t change.
“Ah, why …”
Edward sighed.
Who is Aidel von Rheinhardt?
A notorious wastrel known to everyone in the Milky Way galaxy. From a great family, but otherwise a worthless golden trash.
Boastful behavior he would encounter was clearly in sight.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
If he’d known this, he would have checked the name before clicking OK.
But full consent had already been given.
If he caused trouble here, he would have to pay compensation, and Edward did not have that amount of money.
“…Phew.”
Tuition fees.
The only goal was tuition fees.
‘Let’s not worry about anything else.’
Whatever insults are directed at him, even if a vase is thrown at his head, he will endure it all. Just until he secured 50 million credits in his bank account.
Edward organized his interview materials and packed his stuff. Because he also worked part-time at the academy, copying materials was easy.
‘Let’s see this guy’s face. If he really is trash, just give him a brief teaching, get the money, and get out.’
