「Alright, everyone. Did you submit your homework properly?」
「「Yeees～」」
「If you can’t talk to your parent, talk to the adults around you, okay?」
「「Yeees～」」
The children’s energetic replies naturally soften Frea’s cheeks into a warm smile.
Lately, the children’s eagerness to learn has grown so much. Teaching them has become even more enjoyable.
The “homework” assignments she introduced as a trial are producing wonderful results.
The tasks she gives are a bit challenging for the children.
But that is only a trigger.
It is simply a way to increase chances for them to speak with “adults”, family members or household staff, from an early age.
Adults find it hard to brush off a child’s earnest 「Please teach me」. Once they start listening, even grown-ups cannot answer immediately, so their explanations grow longer.
Longer words lead to longer conversations. Through talking, children learn to judge whether someone is 「scary or not scary」. If they decide the person is not scary, unless the child is extremely shy, they show no restraint at all. They cling so persistently that adults almost want to shoo them away.
When that happens, the attempt is a success.
In natural conversations with adults, they learn manners. Sometimes the adults even teach them directly.
Thanks to this, lately when Frea enters the room, the chatter stops instantly, and the children greet her politely.
「Then, for the question 『How can we reduce the number of dragons?』, I will look over everyone’s answers later. The child with the best answer will get a reward, sweets sent to their home. Sounds good?」
「「Yeees～」」
Such good replies.
But she is especially curious about the answer from the outstanding student who used to sit in the very back.
Moving naturally to the front row shows he has earned the children’s trust.
The homework idea was his suggestion too.
When she grumbled 『I want the children to feel comfortable talking to adults naturally…』, he shared it with her.
The day after the attempt succeeded and she thanked him with overflowing joy, his wife, her superior, began making so many careless mistakes it almost felt like 「harassment」. She will never forget that.
Maybe even her superior feels a little jealous sometimes. Being the one envied is tough, though.
By the way, his homework answer was 『Work even harder』.
When Frea saw it, she naturally clutched her head and trembled. No need to say it.
「Alright, everyone. Then today… we will learn about knowledge related to the ongoing wedding preparations. I will talk about teleportation transfer magic.」
「Teacher.」
「Yes, what is it?」
「How does that relate to onii-chan’s celebration?」
「……」
She feels a twinge of resistance at the boy calling a prince 「onii-chan」, but in this room, status means nothing.
Besides, the real issue is that the person himself does not mind at all. Right now, he sits there gripping his quill seriously, waiting.
「That is a good question. It might seem unrelated at first… but actually, it connects deeply. The wedding is just ten days away. Important people from major countries across the continent will visit our capital. But as you can see from the continent map you copied, this land is vast. So how do people from faraway countries come? Yes, you there.」
「Um… by walking?」
「That is true. It might be good for health, but it is a bit difficult, right?」
More than a bit, practically impossible.
The number of dragons on this continent is rising steadily.
If they traveled in groups, the dragons would see it as a perfect chance to attack and devour them.
「That is why we use teleportation transfer magic circles. Also known as 『gates』. Has anyone heard of them?」
Hands rise here and there.
From the looks, most are children of parents in diplomacy or commerce.
「These gates are located at eight spots on the continent, each managed by a major country. The closest one to us is on the north side of Mount Ulurmel in the north. That spot sits right on the border between the Empire and the Republic. Both countries manage it jointly, under a promise to 『not fight there』.」
A complete non-combat zone.
If the gate were accidentally destroyed, it could make enemies of every nation on the continent.
「To use the gate, you pay money at the management office run by both countries.」
「Yes, sensei.」
「…What is it?」
The oldest and most enthusiastic student raises his hand.
「If we use that gate, can we go to faraway countries too?」
「Yes. To any place that has a gate.」
「Can we choose where to go?」
「We can.」
「Then… we could do bad things as much as we want?」
It is a carefully worded question.
She glimpses the conflict between his learning curiosity and his position.
Casual child ideas like 『If I fight with nee-chan, I can escape far away? Nii-chan is awesome』 are still cute.
Frea knows questions like sending soldiers through would come eventually.
But please, no marital fights between that couple. A mistake could doom the entire Kingdom of Univance.
「That is true. You might escape after teasing a sibling, but only up to ten people can pass at once. For luggage, it is about two wagon loads. It requires around ten spellcasters to activate it once, so you cannot send a huge number. Long ago… there is a scary story where trying to send many people at once caused all the spellcasters in the country to die.」
The children murmur things like 『Scary』 and 『Amazing』.
But the example Frea gave is a true story.
In an attempt to send a thousand soldiers, every spellcaster pouring magic power into the gate died. And the soldiers who were supposed to be sent never emerged from any gate.
「That is why they say if you use the gate for bad things, the spellcasters who died that time will appear and drag you away to vanish. None of you have done anything bad enough to be taken, right?」
「「……」」
She wonders if she scared them too much, but the one looking most panicked is her superior’s husband.
What is he doing behind the scenes?
「Important people from various countries will pass through those gates to visit our land. So, at the 『wedding ceremony』, we must not do anything bad, okay? But since it is a rare festival, please enjoy it.」
‘I cannot enjoy it because of work, though.’
Lightly suppressing her feelings, Frea continues the lesson.
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