Chapter 1: An Ordinary Man Builds a Classroom
“This is… my classroom…”
I muttered, looking at the hut in front of me.
It goes without saying, but the small, one-story stone building with a bit of woodwork was sturdily built.
“As requested, it’s made out of stone that incorporates magic stone powder. It was expensive; are you sure you’re okay with this?”
The carpenter who built this wonderful classroom hit a sore spot.
“Pfft, it’s no big deal. A single small classroom doesn’t hurt or itch. More importantly, thanks for building it, Ittetsu-san.”
“…To buy out this classroom, a living residence, and even the whole plot of land around here, and say it doesn’t hurt or itch. …Well, I’ll let you have that one.”
After touching his beard with his fingers, Ittetsu-san let out a small sigh and turned on his heel, as if to say his business was done.
“If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to put in a request. The great Ittetsu will build it for you.”
“Really? In that case, maybe next time you could do it cheaper…”
“You know… Oh well, I’ll think about it.”
Without looking back, Ittetsu-san walked away, simply raising his hand and waving.
I was absolutely certain that he wouldn’t give me a discount next time either.
I turned back to the classroom, inspecting every corner of it. It looked like just any ordinary hut. But it was also a classroom that I had poured all the money I’d saved up from my adventuring career into.
Having obtained my so-called ‘own castle’, I nodded twice.
“…But still, it cost a ton. Is this really going to be okay? If I fail, I’ll seriously be out on the streets, you know? I made a really expensive purchase…”
But soon, waves of anxiety began to wash over me. I had put on a brave face for Ittetsu-san, but I’d spent a colossal amount of money. Enough that it genuinely hurt when I considered my savings from the past ten years.
Slapping my cheeks with both hands, I fired myself up again.
There was no use worrying about it. Now that I’d already built the classroom, my only option was to walk the path of my second life as a teacher.
“The environment is ready. Now all I have to do is bring in some students.”
I’ll make it a success, and grasp my dream. I will get it done.
“Guess I’ll go look for a student who can earn money in my stead.”
With that, I headed out into the town.
After walking for a while, I arrived at a town called Ester. Walking down the main street, I entered the Adventurer’s Guild. There were a few adventurers inside, but I just gave them a passing glance and sat down in my usual seat.
“Hello, Endy-san.”
Right after I sat down, a receptionist who had been staring at me ever since I walked in called out to me.
Without asking for permission, she sat in the seat next to mine and struck up a conversation.
“I haven’t seen you lately, so I was wondering what happened to you. Are you going to take a request?”
“…Satoria, I’m here for something else this time. Adventuring isn’t my goal today.”
I’d only known Satoria since I moved to the town of Ester, so it was a short acquaintance of about four months.
Despite that, she was awfully overly-familiar. Perhaps because I had taken on a lot of requests previously to earn some goodwill, Satoria often came to pester me like this.
“However, if you’ve got a high-rank, high-reward request, pass it my way. I might consider taking it for a twenty-percent markup.”
“…We don’t have any requests like that, and please spare me the price hike.”
“What, how boring.”
“In the first place, there’s no way a request like that would be available here in Ester. We’re in the countryside of the countryside, you know? Most of the adventurers here are just novices or beginners.”
Satoria sighed, looking at me with reproachful eyes.
She was certainly right; the quality of the adventurers in this town wasn’t high.
“I mean, if you want high-ranked requests, why don’t you just go to a large city? As a second-rank adventurer, Endy-san, you could join any party you wanted.”
“I decline. Acting in groups is a pain in the ass.”
“You really are… So? What is your business for today, then?”
Satoria was poking her finger at my crossed arms, which was slightly annoying, so I shifted my arms to brush her off and make her stop.
“I told you I was building a classroom before, right? It’s finished, so I came to look for a student.”
“…Eh? You were actually serious about that?”
“Hah? Obviously.”
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What is she talking about? I looked at Satoria, only to be met with a deeply suspicious gaze.
“Because it’s you, Endy-san. Endy-san, who only ever talks about money, money, money… a classroom?”
“Watch your words.”
Since I didn’t think she was entirely wrong, I kept it to a warning.
“Why though? If you’re a second-rank adventurer, you should be making a decent amount of money, right?”
“Like I’ve been saying, I basically got promoted to second-rank out of pity; my actual strength is only around sub-second-rank. …Besides, having adventuring as my only option gets boring, and it’s not something I can do forever. The pay isn’t as great as you think it is, either.”
“I see… So you felt anxious about your future, then.”
“…Something like that.”
Nodding as if she understood, Satoria then tilted her head.
“Even so, why a teacher?”
“You see, Satoria…”
“Y-Yes…?”
I deliberately cut my words short and stared intently into the receptionist’s eyes.
Perhaps sensing my extraordinary aura, Satoria swallowed hard.
“I want to guide and teach my students, and lead them down a path of glory.”
“…Nope, no way.”
Unfortunately, she saw right through it immediately. She glared at me and utterly rejected the notion, even waving a hand back and forth in front of her face.
“It’s entirely out of character for you, Endy-san, and in the first place, there aren’t any educators out there thinking like that. I’ve never heard of one.”
“…You’re right about that. When you think of teachers, it’s pretty much just cramming knowledge into people’s heads.”
Perhaps due to the constant threats of monsters overflowing on the land and disasters falling from the heavens, education was severely neglected in this world. Schools and classrooms were rare to begin with, but even in those few places of learning, the prevailing thought was that students grew on the battlefield rather than in the classroom.
Therefore, they shoved large numbers of students into a single classroom and gave everyone the exact same education. All to hastily pump them full of knowledge and send them out into places outside the classroom as adventurers or soldiers.
Naturally, not a single teacher ever thought about providing guidance tailored to each individual student.
“But you know… teaching is really something you should do for the sake of each individual student, don’t you think?”
I mumbled quietly, at a volume no one could hear.
“Eh? Did you say something?”
“Nothing.”
“Hmm… Ah, then what about me! How about someone like me?”
“Huh?”
“I’m saying you should teach me!”
Looking at Satoria repeatedly raising her hand straight up in the air, I scoffed.
“You’re no good.”
“W-Why not?!”
“My bad, but I have the right to choose too.”
“Muu… Then, what kind of person would be good?”
“Well, duh, you know.”
Someone who will eventually become stronger than me, earn tons of money, and then give me a return in the form of cash.
“Someone who’s eager to learn, ambitious, and spares no effort… no, someone who enjoys the effort. Yeah, yeah.”
“You absolutely don’t think that. You’ve got a face that says you’re thinking about something sketchy.”
That’s not true at all~, I replied in my head, and then scanned the inside of the guild once more to hunt for potential students.
Just then, a certain adventurer party caught my eye. It looked like they were receiving their reward at the counter from a receptionist who wasn’t Satoria. A party of four—three men and one woman. The woman was secretly handing a bag of gold coins to one of the men.
“…Even if they’re dating, I still think it’s better for each individual to manage their own rewards.”
The shallow idea of sharing a wallet just because a man and woman are deeply involved is common among novices and beginners.
(…Though the man looks like he’s been at this for quite a while.)
Leaving aside the woman who handed over the money, the man who received it had a rather seasoned air about him.
Honestly, he didn’t look like a novice or a beginner. If that was the case, a rather sickening thought crossed my mind.
“What are you talking about?”
Satoria asked.
I glanced at Satoria once, then returned my gaze to the adventurer party and gestured with my chin.
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