Kyle entered the Orphanage Director’s Office and sat down with the man.
“You were in the south. How did you let your body deteriorate this badly?”
“…I was originally a slave.”
At those words, Kyle could immediately picture how the situation had unfolded.
People suffering from Mana Sclerosis, which was difficult to cure completely, normally tried to at least slow the progression of the disease. However, most of the medicines used for that purpose were expensive.
For a former slave, they would have been entirely beyond his reach.
“Even so, how could you leave it untreated until it became this severe?”
Kyle stared at Maron in disbelief before clicking his tongue.
“You probably already know this, but if your Mana had awakened when you were very young, it might not have come to this.”
The man gave him a bitter smile.
By the time the former slave discovered that he had a talent for Mana, he had already grown considerably.
At that point, Mana had already hardened throughout various parts of his body.
There had been nothing he could do.
“Even so, there should have been plenty of places willing to accept someone capable of controlling external Mana.”
“…I drew the wrong people’s ire.”
That single sentence was enough to explain everything.
What happened when someone born a commoner, without even a single useful connection, possessed an extraordinary talent?
He became an object of envy.
Then, somehow, people discovered that he had once been a slave, and his life became a living hell once again.
As a result, the progression of his Mana Sclerosis, which already required the utmost caution, accelerated even further.
“At the time, I was too busy trying to survive to worry about anything else. Besides… there were several people who hated me, so….”
Kyle could tell at a glance how the man had ended up in such a state.
“Your Mana Sclerosis might have been deliberately worsened by someone.”
“….”
Kyle sighed quietly as the man remained silent.
There were several southern nations with extremely rigid social hierarchies.
In a place like that, someone could easily have committed a crime out of intense jealousy.
The strict social system would also have made it simple to fabricate evidence and conceal the truth.
“Is that why you came here?”
“Yes. But… this place was the same.”
The only thing it lacked was a ‘status system.’ Otherwise, it was no different from the south.
Wealth had become another form of status, creating networks of personal and academic connections that thoroughly excluded outsiders.
Under such circumstances, his Mana Sclerosis had only grown worse.
“The real hell began after the Mana Sclerosis had fully progressed.”
Slander, conspiracies, and every other manner of scheme had completely destroyed his life.
“I know that it will be difficult for you if you incur the academy’s displeasure. So please… just allow me to teach until you find another teacher.”
The man spoke as though he were asking for nothing more.
Kyle quietly asked him a question.
“Did you enter the Rehabilitation Center because you hoped to cure your Mana Sclerosis?”
“Not to that extent… I was merely curious.”
The Rehabilitation Center had produced an unusually large number of Mana Awakened.
He had not entered with any great hope.
He had simply been curious.
Perhaps there was some special reason why so many Mana Awakened had emerged from that place.
He wanted to experience, even for a brief moment, the feeling he had known during the days when he had been a Mage and conducted countless studies.
“…Once you find another teacher, I will leave the city.”
The man was saying that he would leave so that he would not cause trouble for the orphanage.
Kyle let out a quiet sigh.
A few exchanged words were not enough to tell him everything about a person, but the sincerity in the man’s eyes appeared genuine.
“Your name.”
“Ke….”
“Your real name.”
Kyle was demanding his true name, not an alias.
After hesitating for a moment, the man finally answered.
“My name is Maron.”
“This will not be a formal appointment.”
Maron silently nodded.
“First, I need to see what you can do. I’ll decide whether to make you a teacher after that.”
“Yes!”
Maron smiled, seemingly delighted simply to have the chance to teach again.
Kyle wrote down the proposed salary.
It was less than what even a Private Tutor earned, let alone an instructor at an ordinary academy.
However, Maron nodded as though that amount alone was more than enough.
Kyle clicked his tongue at him.
“The pay will be somewhat low. In exchange, I’ll provide room and board, along with compensation in another form.”
“Another form of compensation?”
“Treatment for your Mana Sclerosis.”
Maron’s eyes trembled.
“It might be difficult to believe, but I treated several people with the condition in the north.”
Kyle had indeed treated quite a few patients with mild cases.
He had even treated cases as severe as Maron’s.
There had been the Hero of the North, who suffered from Mana Sclerosis caused by devastating internal injuries.
There had also been the current Hero of the East, who had been born with an extremely severe congenital case.
Kyle had treated both of them.
“R-Really?”
“I cannot guarantee a complete cure. The method will also be rather brutal.”
Perhaps Maron had seen the sincerity in Kyle’s eyes.
He stood there in a daze, staring at him with astonishment.
This was something he had never expected.
“Start by teaching the lesson. We’ll discuss the rest afterward.”
After saying that, Kyle immediately rose from his seat.
If Maron’s claims were true, he should be capable of conducting a lesson completely different from Kyle’s.
Kyle headed downstairs with a look that seemed to say he wanted to see exactly how skilled Maron was.
“Kids, gather around!”
At Kyle’s call, the children came scurrying toward him.
They knew that it was time for another lesson, but this situation was different from usual.
Normally, they had outdoor lessons after their basic classes ended.
Unfortunately for the children, who were brimming with anticipation, they were about to receive another theoretical lesson instead.
“Today’s outdoor lesson is canceled!”
The children’s eyes shook in horror.
Even the normally composed Sarah was among them.
It was obvious that she had secretly been looking forward to the Mana lesson.
“Instead, today’s lesson will be a little special.”
Kyle gestured toward Maron, who had followed him downstairs.
“This is your new teacher. He will be conducting the lesson.”
The children’s eyes widened.
However, their surprise lasted only a moment.
Even with a new teacher, a theoretical lesson was still a theoretical lesson.
Their faces filled with disappointment, as though nothing could possibly compare to an outdoor lesson.
“All right! If everyone listens carefully today, we’ll spend the entire day outside tomorrow. So pay close attention!”
“Yes!!”
The children shouted their response, excitement returning to them all at once.
After restoring their anticipation, Kyle nodded for Maron to begin and stepped backward.
He crossed his arms and watched Maron with an expression that made it clear he intended to judge exactly how well the man could teach.
‘There’s a limit to theoretical lessons.’
No matter how skilled the teacher was, children could only tolerate so much theory.
Kyle watched without expecting anything extraordinary.
It took less than five minutes for him to become dumbfounded.
After ten minutes, he had realized why his own lessons had been so boring.
The difference between his lessons and Maron’s was overwhelming.
Kyle attempted to force knowledge into the children’s minds.
Maron, on the other hand, repeatedly taught them small amounts of information, ensuring that each lesson firmly settled into their minds.
That was not all.
Kyle knew absolutely nothing about using comparisons or examples.
Maron, however, could explain anything through analogies that the children immediately understood.
He taught entirely from the children’s perspective, proving that his claim of having worked as a Private Tutor had not been a lie.
Kyle keenly felt the difference in their natural talent.
It was as though an invisible wall stood between them.
‘Is this what a difference in talent looks like?’
The difference was so great that even such a pointless thought crossed his mind.
Kyle sighed deeply with a gloomy expression.
He stood there blankly for a moment, overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness that made the thought of ever catching up seem impossible.
Before he knew it, Maron had concluded the lesson amid the children’s cheers and given them free time.
He then approached Kyle.
“How was it?”
“…It was acceptable.”
Kyle answered with a sour expression before clicking his tongue.
“You pass!”
Maron let out a cheer at the announcement.
Kyle then corrected the misunderstanding Maron had been under earlier.
“I’ll officially hire you as a teacher. For the record, you can remain here until you decide to leave of your own accord.”
“…Pardon? But the other academies….”
“Would they really bother themselves with an old orphanage like this? Even if they did, what could they possibly do to a place in the old district?”
Maron fell silent at Kyle’s words.
“Even if they decide to pick a fight, it doesn’t matter. It will only make things slightly more troublesome.”
After saying that, Kyle headed back toward the Orphanage Director’s Office.
“Oh, right! Your treatment starts tomorrow. Keep in mind that even if you want to run away halfway through, I won’t let you.”
Despite the ominous warning, Maron clenched both fists with a determined expression.
As long as he could receive treatment, he did not care what it involved.
However, that determination could not help but crumble the following day.
Maron and Kyle came outside slightly before the Rehabilitation Center’s usual training time.
“I’ll warn you once again. This is going to hurt a great deal.”
“Yes!”
Kyle casually swung his cudgel as he told Maron to prepare himself.
Maron reflexively raised his guard, but the instant the cudgel struck him, a strangled ‘Ghk!’ escaped his lips and his eyes flew wide open.
It was said that when the pain became severe enough, a person could not even scream.
That was exactly what Maron was experiencing.
“Uuuugh….”
Despite the mind-numbing agony, Kyle mercilessly worked over every part of Maron’s body.
The Rehabilitation Center trainees who arrived later swallowed nervously as they watched.
The cudgel beating Maron was on an entirely different level from the one Kyle normally gave them.
Moreover, unlike during their training, the cudgel striking Maron was surrounded by a deep blue glow.
Even so, Kyle clicked his tongue as though he were unsatisfied.
“Tsk. It’s as serious as I expected.”
Kyle shook his head as he looked down at Maron, who had already lost consciousness.
Fortunately, his condition was not the absolute worst possible case.
Perhaps because the Mana he had once possessed had not reached an overwhelmingly exalted level, a faint trace of Mana had already begun to flow after only that small amount of beating.
“He’ll be surprised when he wakes up.”
Kyle muttered before turning toward the Rehabilitation Center trainees, who had gathered around him.
Perhaps they had just watched him beat Maron as though he were a dog.
The trainees flinched and shrank back in terror.
“Don’t look so frightened. This one… needs to be trained a little differently.”
The trainees followed Kyle’s pointing finger and looked at Maron.
Watching them swallow nervously at the sight of his unconscious body, Kyle realized that it was already too late to clear up their misunderstanding.
‘Explaining it would be troublesome….’
The instant that thought crossed his mind, a rather appealing idea followed it.
‘Why not use this opportunity to increase the intensity of their lessons?’
The corners of Kyle’s mouth rose as soon as the thought occurred to him.
“Consider yourselves dead.”
His cudgel began shining even more brightly as he walked toward the Rehabilitation Center trainees.
And so, another beating began.
Perhaps because their anguished cries sounded especially mournful that day, several elderly residents wandered over to peer into the orphanage.
“Good grief! You should take it easier on them.”
“You think those rascals will change if he goes easy on them?”
“That’s true!”
Even the elderly residents thought the beating looked somewhat excessive.
However, believing it to be guidance necessary for rehabilitation, they offered Kyle their encouragement before leaving.
Perhaps their support had inspired him.
Kyle’s cudgel grew steadily more vicious.
Its effectiveness, however, was undeniable.
“Whoa! I-I felt it too!”
“Me too!”
Thanks to Kyle’s intense affection, more of the trainees managed to sense a faint trace of Mana.
Of course, sensing Mana did not mean that they would immediately become Mana Awakened.
Still, the mere fact that they now had the possibility was more than enough reason to rejoice.
There was even someone who went beyond happiness and began to shed tears.
It was Maron, who had regained consciousness at some point.
“Did you feel it?”
Maron nodded as tears streamed down his face.
“That fissure will seal quickly. Even if I create another one, it is possible that you will never progress beyond this level for the rest of your life.”
Despite Kyle’s warning, Maron smiled brightly.
For him, merely seeing that a possibility existed was enough.
The tiny trace of Magic Power that had emerged within his body had already heightened his sensitivity to the surrounding Mana.
Kyle appeared to sense it as well and gave a faint grin.
‘He might recover sooner than I expected.’
Just as Kyle predicted, Maron recovered rapidly.
Even though the intensity of the treatment increased with each passing day, he endured it without giving in.
After two weeks had passed, another rumor began circulating about Haynes Orphanage.
「Haynes Orphanage Has a Magic Teacher!」
That was the rumor spreading throughout the city.
A new teacher had arrived at the orphanage.
Even more interestingly, he had come from the Rehabilitation Center and was capable of solving difficult Magic Formulas and operating complex Magic Tools.
Intrigued by the story, several people came to the orphanage to see him for themselves.
The children’s morning lesson was taking place as usual.
One man watching the class unconsciously muttered when he recognized the teacher’s familiar face.
“Isn’t that Maron?”