World Teacher

Chapter 2-1

When I was born, I already had three servants there to care for me.

First, there was Erina. She was my maid, but—most importantly—she loved and cared for me like a mother. Next, there was Noel. She was full of life, and always made everyone else in the room smile. Finally, there was Dii. He was quiet and a bit awkward, but always supported everyone quietly from the sidelines.

They were originally my mother’s servants; but, when she’d died, they were there to care for me instead. Even after Mom had been stripped of her title and wealth and sent off, the servants insisted on joining her in this house. She wasn’t able to pay them, but they stayed. They were incredibly loyal, which was also why they wanted to serve me after Mom had passed away.

Erina had been struck by a terrible disease called mana pollution, though I had managed to cure her. Day by day, the servants grew more attached to me, and I to them.

One day, as we were drinking tea together after lunch, I asked them all a question.

“How did you all meet Mom?”

They all looked a bit torn at first. They probably didn’t want to hurt me by talking about Mom. I made it clear that I’d be fine, so Erina spoke up.

“I met Miss Arya the day I had been thrown out of the noble house I was serving at the time.”

Apparently, Erina had served a different noble family when she was younger. When she fell ill, though, she was thrown out of the house. Even after she’d recovered, she hadn’t been taken back. The illness had taken a toll on her body, and there were some permanent effects. As a result, she couldn’t work as well as before.

With nothing but a small suitcase and some pocket change, she was thrown out. She wandered aimlessly through the nearest town, weak from the aftereffects of illness. Eventually, she had collapsed in an alley.

“Not only had I grown weaker from the illness, but I would also never be able to have children of my own. But, as I was lost in despair, a girl came up to me.”

That girl had been Mom. At that time, Mom had been the daughter of a noble family—for her to address a mere commoner like that was unheard of.

“Hey, are you okay? What are you doing?”

Mom was 10 at the time—old enough to know that speaking to strangers could be dangerous. Yet she didn’t hesitate at all when she called out to Erina.

“She told me later that it was fate that led her to talk to me. I don’t know if she was just kidding, but it really did feel like fate to me.”

Erina quickly noticed that Mom was a noble, and warned her not to talk to her. She had tried to leave, but Mom spoke up.

“Now I’m even more sure that you’re not going to hurt me, so there’s no problem! I want to know what happened to you—how did you end up here all alone? Could you please tell me?”

The girl had refused to back down, so Erina told her everything. After she’d heard Erina’s story, Mom clapped her hands together, then put her hand on Erina’s shoulder.

“Hmm, I see. Got it. Be my servant, then!”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve served nobles in the past, so you must be skilled. Become my servant!”

“B-But like I said, I’m not able to work like I used to...”

“You’re not sick anymore, so it shouldn’t get any worse. Just work as hard as possible; that should be enough!! Besides... for some reason, I really want you as my servant!”

Mom continued to try to convince Erina to come home with her. She kept at it until her bodyguards caught up with her.

“She was a strange and strong-willed girl, but hearing her say she needed me really saved me that day.”

Of course, her family was against bringing in a commoner off the street. At the same time, they didn’t want to go against their cute daughter’s wishes, so they accepted her as their servant.

“Arya was still just a young, vulnerable girl, but she would run off whenever she had the chance to. I really had my hands full chasing after her when she did. But, I must admit, it was a lot of fun.”

The way she’d found Erina made Mom seem like a really reckless girl, but she apparently also had a careful side. She could spot anyone who seemed fishy in an instant and ignored them.

She was great at recognizing who her allies and her enemies would be with a single glance.

“A few years after that, as I’d grown used to Miss Arya’s sporadic behavior, we went out to a nearby town together. As we walked down the main street of the shopping district, she spotted Dii setting up a small camp by himself a little ways away.”

“She really surprised me that day.”

Apparently, Dii’s adventuring partner at the time had just retired due to an injury, and Dii had been contemplating whether to continue solo, or retire as well.

He had a dream of becoming a chef, but he had no connections who could help him get started. He had given up on it and spent time practicing and experimenting with cooking at his own camp, instead.

“Something smells good!”

“Who are you?”

Few people came up to him because of the look in his eyes, apparently. He was even more awkward back then than he was now, so that wasn’t too surprising. Despite that, Mom had happily walked up to him and wanted to try his cooking.

“I’m Arya! Something smells really good. Can I try some, please?”

“Miss Arya! You can’t eat that! What if it’s poisoned, or—”

“Who would put poison in their own food, silly?! Hey, you—is there poison in this?”

“No... of course not. That would be rude to the food.”

“See? He clearly sees the value in good food! We can trust him! So, can I please try some?”

“Suit yourself.”

Dii didn’t act like a commoner normally would around a noble—he treated Mom like any other stranger. She didn’t care at all, though, and eagerly dug in to Dii’s cooking. After tasting it, she furrowed her brow.

“Hmm... it’s not bad, but there’s something missing. You seem to know what you’re doing, so I expected this to taste better.”

“If I had more ingredients, it would.”

He was fairly poor, so he didn’t have much to work with. Obviously, Mom’s comments upset Dii a bit.

She simply smiled and responded, “So if you have more ingredients, you can make something really good?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay! Want to be my servant?”

“Miss Arya!”

“Huh?”

And that was how Dii became Mom’s cook. Her family was more guarded against letting Dii in, at first, but they eventually gave in after they’d tasted his cooking.

“I was a little wary of him myself at the start. But, as I got to know him, I realized how kind and honest he is. Miss Arya must have noticed it right away.”

“I can’t thank the mistress enough for taking a useless guy like me in, and letting me cook for her.”

Because he finally had a way of making his dream come true, Dii was excited to serve Mom. Mom and Erina also helped him a lot with his social anxiety, which he was grateful for.

“He truly has come a long way now. Back then, he was quite a mess.”

“I’m sorry.”

He bowed his head awkwardly, though I could tell his eyebrows were furrowed slightly. It was rare for him to visibly show any emotion, so that meant he was really serious. Mom continued to grow, although she still acted the same way.

A few years after they had taken Dii in, she snuck out of the house, and Erina went out to look for her.

“When I finally found her, she had gotten in a quarrel with a slave trader. She was shielding Noel behind her back.”

“Noel, you used to be a slave?”

“H-Haha... yeah, I did...”

She laughed like usual, but her eyes were different—I could see the pain behind them.

“I’m sorry, Noel. That must have brought up some painful memories.”

“It’s fine. I’m good now. Hey, Erina, remember how cool Miss Arya was that day?”

“Indeed. I really shouldn’t commend such reckless behavior, but she refused to back down when she talked with the slave trader.”

When Erina tried to get in between the two of them to understand what was going on, Mom just shouted, “Good, Erina! Go back home and get my coin purse!”

“Could you at least explain what’s going on?”

“I’m buying her!”

As soon as she saw the scared demi-human hiding behind Mom’s back, Erina knew what was going on. She also knew there was no use in talking her out of it, so she headed home to retrieve her purse. Mom threw her money at the slave trader.

“She shouted at the man to never show his face near her again, then threw in an extra gold piece. That’s how Noel joined us. At first, she was really frightened, and wouldn’t talk to anyone but the mistress.”

“You’d look at me, say I’m scary, then run away.”

“I-I couldn’t help it! Everything was scary to me back then. And you really were scary back then, you know Dii?! Now I like you, though! Y-You know...a-as a colleague...”

“I see.”

Noel frantically tried to cover her slip of the tongue, but I could see Dii’s lips curve up into a smile. The two of them seemed to be having a little moment, though Erina ignored it and recounted Mom’s next words.

“I bought you, so now you have to listen to what I say! So, here"s your first order—you’re my little sister now!”

“O-Okay...”

“You need to address her with more respect! Sister or not, you’ll be serving the mistress from now on. I’ll help teach you some proper manners.”

“Eeek!”

“It’s okay, Erina won’t hurt you. You don’t need to hide behind my back. Come on out!”

“Miss Arya, dinner is read—”

“Eeek!”

Even Erina scared her at the time; so, when Dii had first shown up, Noel had panicked and ran away. This had made him feel pretty sad, apparently.

“But after spending more time with Miss Arya, Noel slowly, but surely, opened up. That is how she became the handful that you see today.”

“Who are you calling a handful?! I helped with work, didn’t I?!”

“You seemed to be working hard.”

“True—you did try hard, and your love for Miss Arya was very clear. But you also broke more plates than I can count, for starters. The mistress might have laughed it off, but we were the ones who had to clean up after you. I have told you a thousand times already, you need to be collected and calm when working!”

“Uhh, when did this turn into a lecture...?”