When he heard the word "gentle," Batman turned it over in his mouth again. But this time, he said nothing. He could tell that as the conversation deepened, the professor's mood had worsened.
Still, if things really were as he said, then this had indeed been an undeserved disaster. The teacher at the freshman registration desk had chosen a terrible time to take leave, but ultimately, Batman had arrived at an even worse time.
After giving up on examining that word further, Batman began recalling how Schiller, as a teacher, had taught him.
Before considering that question, he first had to determine whether Schiller had truly been teaching him at all.
After thinking it over, Batman found that the answer was yes. But the word "teaching" was also worth examining.
During his first and second years, Schiller had not actually tutored Batman academically. Yet in every major case Batman investigated back then, Schiller's shadow always appeared.
The incident Batman remembered most vividly was when Fish, the female boss of Living Hell, died. Batman conducted a series of investigations, only to discover that it had all been because of Schiller's umbrella.
Later, Schiller and Jack dug The Laughing Egg out from the depths of his mind. Then the Yellow Lanterns invaded, Batman and the others fought in a dream, and Schiller ultimately brought forth Aisha.
After that, Schiller went to Metropolis, and Batman once again had to track down clues to a murder in the mayor's manor. Then came the trip to Cat City Gotham, which had still been caused by Schiller provoking Dream of a Thousand Cats.
The first half of the trip to the Slums had nothing to do with Schiller, but in the latter half, he dealt Bruce a fatal blow.
And this time, Batman had fallen into