A breeze blew.
In the courtyard, leaves swirled through the air.
Luo Ge led Roxy through the gate. The moment they entered the courtyard, they saw Paul and Zenith standing beneath the veranda, anxiously looking around.
As soon as Zenith spotted Luo Ge, she practically ran over and pulled her son into her arms, her voice full of worry. "Honestly... Luo Ge, where did you go? You went out without even telling us. You're such a handful."
"Can't you stay home like Rudeus?"
Luo Ge blinked and casually made up an excuse to brush it off.
Fortunately, Zenith was too busy checking that he was safe to press the matter.
Roxy pursed her lips beside him but did not expose his lie.
Luo Ge secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If Roxy revealed that he had sneaked out to eat pufferfish and nearly died of poisoning...
Never mind whether it would become an embarrassing stain on his life; going out alone again would probably be harder than reaching heaven.
Fortunately... Roxy had not stabbed him in the back. Not only that, she had even helped him make his lie convincing.
After the family gathered around Luo Ge and fussed over him, Paul finally noticed the small figure beside him.
"You are...?"
Paul looked her up and down, his gaze appraising.
Roxy cleared her throat, stepped forward, and spoke with neither servility nor arrogance. "My name is Roxy Migurdia. I saw the recruitment notice posted in town and came to apply for the tutor position."
"Hmm... oh."
"I see."
Paul nodded thoughtfully, though his eyes continued to roam over her.
Roxy was already accustomed to such skeptical scrutiny.
Members of the Migurd Tribe naturally retained the appearance of girls around fourteen for a long time, so others often treated her like a child.
Still, she had complete confidence in her magical abilities.
"Then, may I meet the two children I'll be teaching?"
"Teacher Roxy..."
Luo Ge stepped forward on his own and grinned. "I'm the one you'll be teaching-along with my good-for-nothing older brother, Rudeus, of course."
Although Luo Ge had already told her about this on the way, and she had long since decided to become their tutor...
The corner of Roxy's mouth still could not help twitching slightly.
Sure enough... the very thing she feared had happened.
Just as she sighed inwardly, Paul carried another boy, about Luo Ge's age, out of the house.
It was Rudeus.
The moment Rudeus saw Roxy, his eyes went fixed, and he blurted out, "A loli-and a wild one, too?"
"Idiot!"
Luo Ge smacked the back of his older brother's head without hesitation. "Show our teacher some respect, would you? Don't disgrace the Greyrat family."
"Ow! Oh, oh, oh!"
Rudeus clutched his head in pain and sheepishly shut his mouth.
Ignoring the two children's antics, Roxy turned to Paul and Zenith to confirm. "Excuse me, are these two... the students I'll be teaching?"
"That's right!"
Zenith puffed out her chest, her voice brimming with pride. "Our children are amazing. They're both magical geniuses."
"Heh, geniuses?"
Roxy gave a quiet, derisive chuckle.
She had seen far too many parents with unrealistic expectations of their children.
She could more or less understand parents wanting their children to succeed, but these two looked no older than three or four. Calling them geniuses... was rather too much of an exaggeration.
However, everyone present heard her quiet muttering perfectly clearly.
Her blunt words left even Paul and Zenith embarrassed, struggling to save face.
Though Luo Ge did not think much of it...
He still formed the opinion that this girl probably did not have particularly high emotional intelligence.
Fortunately... having come all this way, Roxy ultimately decided she might as well give it a try. She suggested taking the two children to the center of the courtyard to show them a simple spell first.
Originally, Roxy had intended to show off a little in front of everyone.
The result...
Luo Ge and Rudeus's performance nearly made her jaw drop.
She had barely finished demonstrating a beginner water spell, creating a water ball, before both children effortlessly reproduced the same spell.
And!!!
Neither had uttered a single word of incantation?!!
"Wait!!!"
"Just now... you two... didn't chant, did you?" Roxy exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh... Teacher, neither my brother nor I need to chant. My brother Rudeus can already use intermediate water magic, and it's all voiceless," Luo Ge said, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"???"
Roxy.
This has to be fake, right?
Had she not seen it herself, Roxy would never have believed that two three-year-olds could accomplish such a thing.
After hearing both brothers describe their experiences, Roxy froze in place, completely dumbfounded.
They taught themselves magic at two and a half?
One of them has even mastered intermediate magic?
And... most importantly, both can cast without chanting?
How is that possible??!
Roxy's brain crashed on the spot.
She crouched on the ground with her back to the two children, unconsciously tracing circles in the dirt, looking as though her entire worldview had collapsed.
"Did we go a little too far?"
Rudeus leaned toward Luo Ge's ear and lowered his voice. "What if we upset our teacher so much she leaves?"
"She won't."
Luo Ge shook his head with complete certainty.
Sure enough, before long...
Roxy took a deep breath and readjusted her mindset. She stood up and turned to face the two children.
The shock had completely vanished from her face, replaced by a serious expression.
And her earlier dismissiveness was gone for good.
She extended her hand toward Luo Ge and Rudeus, her tone solemn. "From now on, I'll be your tutor. I'm Roxy Migurdia. I look forward to working with you."
"Rudeus Greyrat."
"Rog Greyrat."
The two children gave their names in turn as well.
And so, Roxy settled into the Greyrat household as their tutor.
With another person in the house, the atmosphere grew considerably livelier.
Their daytime lessons were neatly arranged-Roxy usually set aside time in the morning or afternoon to teach the two children.
Since Luo Ge and Rudeus were already quite proficient in the basic application of magic, she focused her teaching on strengthening their theoretical foundations.
Beyond that, she also taught miscellaneous subjects such as the customs of the continent's various races and its geography, which benefited Luo Ge greatly.
In fact, Luo Ge listened more attentively to these subjects than to the magic lessons.
In his view, sooner or later, he would leave this home and venture out into the world.
Learning more about the outside world could only be beneficial.
At dusk.
Both Rudeus and Luo Ge listened very attentively, but unlike Luo Ge, who sat upright and genuinely treated Roxy with respect and affection...
Rudeus always liked getting handsy, and he especially liked lying on the ground to peek up at her. It was incredibly creepy and sleazy... It would have been one thing if he were just a child, but Luo Ge knew perfectly well that an adult soul inhabited his body.
Ugh, all he could say was that it was utterly embarrassing.
It was as if he had never seen a woman in his previous life.
Yeah, all he could say was that Japanese people were far too perverted.
Whenever Rudeus tried something like that, Luo Ge naturally stopped him firmly.
Whenever Luo Ge caught him, he would undoubtedly give Rudeus a thorough beating and teach him to be a decent person again. As the younger brother, he had a duty to guide his older brother onto the right path.
"Teacher."
"In this world, who's stronger, mages or swordsmen?" Puzzled, Luo Ge asked the question.
Roxy, who was in the room, seemed not to have expected such a question. She thought for a moment, then explained at an unhurried pace. "There are far fewer mages in this world than swordsmen. The reason is simple: learning magic requires literacy, along with a substantial investment of money and effort. For commoners, those are almost insurmountable barriers."
"By comparison, getting started with swordsmanship is much easier."
She turned a page and continued. "Besides, training a mage is extremely expensive, and in actual combat, a mage may not necessarily be a match for a swordsman."
"That's precisely why mages are so rare in this world. So-you two must work hard and become outstanding mages in the future."
She had phrased it very tactfully.
But Luo Ge had already understood.
Mages in this world weren't worth shit. Being a mage was a profession for the rich, while swordsmanship was more accessible to ordinary people-and swordsmen were good at fighting, too.
Suddenly, Luo Ge cleared his throat softly and raised his hand. "Um... sorry to interrupt, Teacher Roxy."
"My dream is actually to become a swordsman."
"What?"
Roxy almost thought she had misheard.
Standing before her was a genius who could cast magic without chanting, whose magical talent was second only to Rudeus's, yet his greatest dream was to become a swordsman?
Nobody would believe it if they heard that.
But Roxy believed him. She immediately put down her book and corrected him seriously. "Are you kidding? You need to abandon that dangerous idea. With your magical talent, you're certain to become an incredible mage someday!"
"Voiceless casting is a talent countless people could only dream of."
"If you don't devote yourself to magic, who knows how many people in this world will cry themselves unconscious in the bathroom?"
"Can I beat Rudeus?"
"..."
With a single question, Luo Ge silenced Roxy.
Although Luo Ge was outstanding too...
Roxy simply could not give him a definite answer.
Images of Rudeus casting combined magic kept surfacing in her mind. She sighed and could only offer reassurance. "Although Rudeus has an enormous total amount of mana, if you keep working hard..."
"Can I beat Rudeus?"
Luo Ge interrupted Roxy.
"..."
Roxy.
Left speechless by his retort, Roxy could not help wondering whether the child before her was really three years old.
"Although there can be considerable differences even between geniuses, battles aren't decided by total mana alone. If you want to surpass Rudeus, you must work far harder than ordinary people."
Huh?
Wait, what?
Isn't Teacher Roxy giving me way too much credit?
She did not know that her words made Rudeus's expression turn strange beside them.
Surpass this monster with a talent like Transparent World?
What a joke. When this guy fought, even their old man Paul got beaten so badly he started questioning his life.
Ever since they were little, he had always been the poor sap bullied by his younger brother.
Rudeus wondered to himself what expression this tutor would make if she learned that his younger brother's talent for swordsmanship was even more outrageous than his talent for magic.
In the end, Rudeus said nothing. He understood, but did not point it out.
Luo Ge could not be bothered to explain either.
He merely smiled and changed the subject.
After Roxy arrived, Rudeus's magic improved rapidly. He had already mastered intermediate magic, begun dabbling in advanced magic, and even learned healing magic.
Although Luo Ge had improved as well, he remained at the level of beginner magic.
Partly, that was because his magical talent truly was inferior to Rudeus's.
But more than anything... Luo Ge spent more of his time practicing swordsmanship.
Whenever Luo Ge practiced swordsmanship, he would forget the magic homework Roxy had assigned. He would notice Teacher Roxy behind him, wearing an immensely resentful expression as she urged him to study seriously.
How should he put it?
As a teacher, Roxy truly was very responsible.
Whenever Luo Ge slacked off, she would not scold him. She could only stand beside him and glare at him with the sort of resentful expression worn by an abandoned consort whom the emperor had banished to the cold palace.