However, until he had mastered it, Teacher Hill allowed Russell and the others to temporarily borrow all the similar tools in the Mage Tower.
And as it happened, Joss's Dawn Tower could let them get some practice in... Of course, there was no need to tell Joss, who was still rather grateful that Russell and the others had chosen to help him first.
At least the outcome was good for him, right?
Of course, Russell had never hidden what he truly thought... It was just hard to say how much Joss understood.
But as far as Russell was concerned, he had truly done his best.
So much so that Carpenter would desperately tug at his sleeve, telling him to speak more politely.
Of course, it was not as though Russell had never suspected that Joss understood perfectly well and was merely pretending otherwise.
He truly did not believe anyone could live that many years and still fail to understand human speech.
But Russell knew people were unpredictable. Whether Joss was playing dumb or playing clever, Russell only needed to do what he should... No matter what happened afterward, at least he would not regret it, nor would he feel guilty.
His teacher had truly taught him a great deal about dealing with people.
Having grown up in this world, Russell understood for the first time what it meant to take the direct path rather than seek through twists and turns... When you handled something in a roundabout, hesitant way, whatever you obtained would always be something you had begged for, not something that was yours for the taking.
And things gained through crooked means were often seized first by those who reached out for them with perfect justification.
Hold your head high before anything, so that even when facing a