Carpenter's timely awakening had not escaped Hill's notice, of course. But he also knew that the girl had never truly touched his heart—or rather, she simply was not suited to being taught by him.
How should he put it...? He was actually a very self-centered person, and some of his ways of thinking would probably seem a little strange from a human perspective.
Even though he occasionally remembered to put himself in others' shoes and consider matters from a lower vantage point than his own, that was only occasional. Besides, his idea of low did not seem to be truly low.
That was also why he had never denied the Earth Bear within him.
Hill truly could not bring himself to consider whether there might be some little sapling in the places he passed that would collapse with a single bump, much less whether he had stepped on some tiny stone beneath his feet that might have been uncomfortable... because such things would naturally avoid him.
He did not even need to force his way through them.
Therefore, only someone like Russell, with extremely strong self-control and sufficiently outstanding self-learning ability, was barely suited to Hill's style of teaching.
Moreover, his lack of patience from having spent so many years away from ordinary people was also crucial... he was deeply unsuited to dealing with people who needed repeated reminders and still could not grasp the situation.
Just like during that period: it was not as though he had never reminded Carpenter, but the girl could only ever understand part of what he said.
If Russell had not watched over her constantly and reminded her everywhere, Carpenter could not have embarked upon the path to becoming an Official Mage so easily.
Hill was fairly satisfied with the girl's personality, but... she