Carpenter lowered her head and slowly pondered the deeper meaning of her teacher's words.
Of course, she knew that during the Mage Tower's early construction, Teacher Gilbert had no way to guarantee that his privacy would not be spied upon. So whenever he spoke, he always said only the most superficial layer. The rest had to be figured out by them.
Things they could not understand now could be brought up and asked about someday, when their teacher suddenly began mentioning information outsiders should not know... but Carpenter had never been the sort to simply wait for others to clear up her doubts.
Even if she guessed wrong, she still had to think for herself.
That was the most important lesson she had learned after following Gilbert for so long... and of course, she could be so confident because Gilbert had indeed given them grounds for confidence.
Gilbert would point out where they had gone wrong, but he never criticized or scolded them. He would even praise some of their more divergent thoughts... though he would explain why that particular angle was wrong, he would never say things like, "What nonsense are you thinking?" or "Just follow the rules," words that would make them afraid to let their thoughts roam freely next time.
So although Carpenter and Russell had made quite a few mistakes, the growth of both girls was plain to see.
Independent thought was the mark of a person's maturity, not how much housework they could do or how perfectly they could finish their assignments... this was the education Hill had received since childhood, and it was also the way he taught his students.
Before this, Hill had actually taught Alice, Aglaia, and even little Gold Dragon Telly in much the same way.
However, all three had their