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I used the Norn super express service on my way back from my overnight stay full of freedom, but in the end, Norn ran with the same speed as when we went to the forest. I thought I was going to die.

…While riding her, I thought of a good idea of putting up a protective wall using wind magic. As a result, the ride became extremely comfortable. Thanks to that, I didn’t wet myself. Ah, sorry, I was lying. I also didn’t pee before. Seriously.

With that, I could move comfortably starting in the middle of our way back, and I even made it in time for the lesson. …I really didn’t pee, believe me.

By the way, it seemed like Norn was teasing me a bit before. Please give me some slack…

Also, I was supposed to teach them tomorrow. Originally, I was planning to stay in the forest three nights instead of two. But… Everyone in Arnold’s workshop opposed me going on an expedition for too long.

Since I was doing things solo, I had the experience of going out for nights, and Norn and Bell were also with me, I told them that I would be fine. Yet they firmly opposed that, telling me that a child going out alone was dangerous…

After persuading them somehow, they finally gave me permission to stay outside for two nights… I had to do my best to lengthen the number of nights. But if they were okay with two nights, three nights wouldn’t be that different, right?

Leaving that aside.

Well, things like that happened, but before Triela and the others came here, I washed myself with [Washing], prepared the desks, and repaired various things before starting the class. I also controlled my facial expression using my skills, so there shouldn’t be any problem. …I look fine, right? No, I didn’t wet my pants, okay?

This would be the fourth time I taught them, but… Ryuu’s foolishness made me feel a bit complicated. He was motivated, but he didn’t make any results. What a waste of time.

It’s clear that Boman lacked motivation as usual. And of course, he didn’t get any good results with that attitude. In that sense, he was worse than Ryuu.

Maricle and Cain were both motivated and did well.

Although Cain was a bit… you know… His good foundation was highlighted at this kind of time. His progress was outstanding. Well, he was still stuttering so much, though.

…Just speak properly already, or I’ll stop waiting for you, okay? I still have a lot of grudges, even until now. …I felt like he was going to ask me to compromise. But if that happened, I would just completely deny him and end it like that. What a b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲.

Maricle was excellent as usual. Since he knew the importance of the basics, he focuses on those points. He didn’t seem to hate the basic exercises, probably since he was very patient. I made him apply the basics to some extent, but I felt like he would be able to give good results even if I left him to study alone.

Among the female members, Rico was the one who stood out. She was outstandingly excellent. Be it reading, writing, or calculation, she did everything well. She could probably write letters using super polite speech without any problems. For calculations, I tried teaching her fractional numbers even though it didn’t go well. Even so, she was smart enough to remember formulas and solve questions. I would like to teach her more, but she wouldn’t be able to make a living as a mathematician unless she was a noble…

Triela was pretty ordinary, or maybe somewhat excellent? That being said, she was talented. She should be able to study on her own even if I stop teaching her. Eventually, she should be able to give great results.

Arle was normal. She could do addition and subtraction without problems. Maybe I should teach her multiplication and division soon?

Kuro was a little inferior to Arle. However, she wasn’t that bad.

With that kind of feeling, today’s lesson was over and I was in the midst of cleaning up… The students were preparing their meals before collecting herbs in the afternoon.

As I was thinking about how I wanted to go back early and do some blacksmithing…

“Hey, dwa… no, Ren. You’re not cooking anything today?”

Ryuu? He was going to call me ‘dwarf’ just now, right? I really wanted to punch his smiling face. But he didn’t say it and rephrased his words, so I’ll forgive him this time.

“I’m not. I was just doing it on a whim last time.”
“I see. Then is it okay if we pay you to cook something? We’re also paying you for helping our study after all.”

…Huh? What was he talking about?

“……”
“W-what? Don’t look at me like that. D-did I do something?”

I couldn’t believe it. I never expected Ryuu to come up with such a decent proposal. Reflexively, I took down my hood, took off my glasses, and stared at Ryuu’s face.

Huh? His face gradually turned red. What happened? …Oh, the other kids’ eyes were focusing on me. What is it?

“Triela, Teacher Ren is… very cute, isn’t she?”
“Ah, yeah. Keep it a secret, okay?”
“Eh? Why?”
“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain…”

…Ah, my face… I put on my glasses and put on my hood as if nothing had happened. Yeah, nothing happened. Cain was sending me a disgusting gaze, but nothing happened at all.

Also, Sheryl also called me ‘Teacher Ren’? Just call me ‘Ren’, please.

“Ryuu, you’re having a fever? If you’re feeling sick, you need to rest properly, you know?”
“Haa? What are you saying? I’m not sick at all.”
“Eh? But there’s no way you can think of something as good as that. I wonder if you hit your head or something…”
“You…!? With how much everyone has been scolding me, I’m bound to start thinking a little right?!”
“What? That Ryuu is using his brain…? Right, that might be true.”
“Ugh…! I can’t get angry here, take a deep breath, deep breath… Fuu… Then, how about it?”

…Oh, he’s really growing up? Hmm…? Well, I had to deal with him properly, yeah?

“I’m good with that suggestion.”
“Really!? Yay! Sweet!”

Oh my, everyone around me also started to become excited. But I haven’t finished, okay?

“Yes, I’m fine with cooking, but… what about the ingredients?”
“Eh? Ingredients?”
“Yes, the ingredients. Without them, I can’t make anything, right?”

Yes, there were no ingredients.

“I don’t think you’re that greedy, but you’re not telling me to collect the ingredients like before, right? It’s normal for you to bring me the ingredients, isn’t it?”

Yup. Ryuu’s suggestion was, “we’ll pay, so cook us something.” Not “sell us your cooking.” If I didn’t have the ingredients, I wouldn’t be able to cook, right? I’m such a mean and nasty guy! Bwahahaha! No, it’s just that there were people around us… As the number of lessons increased, more and more people were looking at us from a distance. I didn’t like that.

“Umm, the ingredients are…”

As I thought, Ryuu was troubled. Everyone else hurriedly checked if they had anything with them. Did they want to eat my cooking that much?

Well, I had been pretending to take out various bags by pretending that my bag was a magic bag, but everyone other than the four girls and Maricle hadn’t seen me take out a tent, so I didn’t think they would carry ingredients with them… Also, Maricle had seen me taking a lot of food from my bag, but he was probably too confused to notice it?

…Ah, only Triela and Rico were looking at me with a troubled face. Well, I had been feeding them many times until now, so it would be strange if they didn’t notice. That being said, hmm… it can’t be helped. Out of respect to Ryuu’s growth, let’s sell him something appropriate?

But what should I give? I had to take out the pot if I wanted to give them soup. It’s a bit complicated. Even if I took out the empty pot, they might start to question what’s inside my bag…?

How about meat? Should I give them grilled meat? Fried meats didn’t seem like a good idea, and hamburger was… I didn’t know if it’s good or not. A lot of other elaborate things were no good… Hmm?

Hmm… ah, how about pasta? In the end, I had to make it from now on, but it’s quite simple.

“…If you have no ingredients, I’ll use what I have with me right now. Is that okay?”
“Eh? Where do you keep the materials?”
“In this bag.”
“…No way, that is a magic bag? Seriously?”
“Yes.”

That’s how I got away with this situation. Even if this bag was stolen, it was empty anyway, so it wouldn’t really trouble me. Ah, but if the robber found out that I had storage skill, it would be troublesome.

Anyway, I started preparing to cook. As usual, I made a stove using earth magic, took out the pot, poured hot water, and started a fire. I also minced the meat while waiting for the water to boil. Yeah, it’s troublesome, so I’m making meat sauce. They could also eat meat this way. I’m fine with making peperoncino and other pasta dishes, but I just thought using meat was a good idea. Now then, let’s make it.

And now it’s done. Meat sauce spaghetti. Each plate had a pretty big serving. Everyone ate a lot, so this was a little service.

“One person has to pay three small copper coins. No second servings.”

…Ah, everyone bought it. I’m fine with that, though.

“What is this… This smells really good!”
“Delicious! Ren, it’s delicious!”
“Chomp chomp chomp!”

Hmm, this situation was pretty similar to what happened before… ah, I have to eat it too.

“Haa… It was delicious.”
“Hey Ren, I can’t ask for more?”
“In the first place, I didn’t make any more than that. You still have the bread you bought, right? Please eat that.”
“Uh, damn it… It was so delicious, I want to eat it again…!”

…I feel like they’re going to make me cook again next time. Hmm…. maybe I should prepare first next time? Leaving aside the three fools, I want to feed Triela and my friends. Sheryl and her sister are cute as well.

After the meal was over, everyone disbanded. Triela and the others divided into two teams, one to hunt horned rabbits and another one to collect herbs. The Sheryl sisters’ went to collect herbs. By the way, the Sheryl sisters’ income had increased, so they moved to the same inn as Triela. Also, Cain was still stuttering. Just get over it already.

I walked back to the workshop. As I pulled the cart, I recalled the days when I was on my way home from the Comiket. I was young back then… Fufu, I also participated in a circle.

After returning to the workshop, I practiced blacksmithing after resting for a few days. The road to LV9 was so far… I’ll do my best.