Volume 1: Chapter 030: Makia Spies on the Church
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
The city centre church in Karted is a pretty tranquil place, contrary to the busy and bustling [1] merchant town.
There is a beautiful stained glass window overlooking the church centre from the building.
It depicts the nine gods in a row per the Maydea myths. However, whenever I see this stained glass window, I always wondered: Why is it that only the Ninth God faces forward while the rest look to the side.
The stained glass has a rather cold quality to it, with the main colours being green and blue that reflect their light from the sun into the more shadowy areas of the church.
“Eh, I don’t really care about that.”
My reason for being here is to observe the vacant lot by the window to the right of the church.
Tooru is in the vacant area and speaking to a group of children dressed in ragged and dirty clothing.
Just what is he saying to them?
“You know, by learning letters, you can change your life by directly taking [1] knowledge from books and making it your own.”
“But teacher, I don’t have money for books”
“Well, if you go to school, you’ll get to read lots of books. The library [1] lets you read their books for free, you know?”
“… Hmm”
The children are all looking up at Tooru with wide eyes and interested expressions.
“Having knowledge is like having a weapon. You guys can only be chimney sweeps for so long. You need to think about what comes next. Karted is a good place for opportunities. Have you thought of becoming a merchant? As a chimney sweeper, you can make money, but you will make more money if you can do business right? By having more knowledge, you can do business with all kinds of people from all over the continent.”
Tooru is speaking like a teacher here.
What he had said is true. However, I am not sure how much the kids could understand his message. There is really no easy way to explain those concepts.
[1] Apparently, Tooru realises this too. Instead of pressing on with his lecture, he takes out the sweets in his bag and begins testing the children on simple calculations. However, the results are quite unexpected.
“Woah, as expected of merchant town kids!!”
Even Tooru is surprised.
The children who could barely recognise the local letters are very proficient in mathematics!
If I take the time to think about it, these children had been working every day as soon as they are able and had been collecting a salary, buying and selling things as well as doing simple chores for money. It is no surprise that they are quite capable of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It is one of the most necessary parts of their life, after all.
“… …”
I have never seen Tooru work this hard or put in so much effort.
He does his best to answer the children’s questions, phrasing his answer in easy to understand words. He never gives up either when it looks like they did not understand his first explanation.
Is it possible that his starting life here as a poverty stricken child enabled him to see them as comrades?
Still, the sight is almost uncomfortable to look at.
The lesson is progressing at a steady pace. Soon, however, the children eventually got tired of studying. Some jump up and start running around.
“Hey, Antonio, Bruno!! Can’t you sit still for a little longer?”
“Don’t wanna~ Hey Teacher Tooru, you’re it!”
One of the bigger boys, presumably Antonio, gives the signal and suddenly, a game of tag happens. [1] Children who had been working on calculation with sweets as motivation run off with their treats.
“Wait- again?!! Hey, don’t run off!”
Tooru starts chasing them around.
“Hahaha, no way, no way~”
“Teacher Tooru is a lady killer!”
“A perv! A perv!”
Looks like they are really good at insulting people. They are quite accurate too. Tooru is now being led about in a chase as the children scatter away.
They are all pretty quick on their feet.
Tooru seems to be at a loss now that his students have scattered.
Aah, I see. So this is what he has been doing all this while. Well, I understand.
The noisy square had suddenly gone quiet. However, I am still staring at it. In truth, I am here to chase after Tooru. I should really be going now.
I wonder… I think I might have misunderstood what Tooru is doing in Karted.
“… What are you looking at, little lady?
“?!”
I am shocked.
Surely there is no one in the church now? Suddenly, the smell of smoke drifts from behind me.
Did I miss this person’s presence because I was too lost in thought?
I turn around and look up at a well-dressed young man. He has a thin-handled tobacco pipe in his mouth.
Who is it?
From the quietly rising smoke, I could feel a frisson of magical power thrumming in the air.
[Gumihou: Quite a few unclear texts in the chapter.]
[1] Filling in the ‘Unspoken’. Often, when it comes to Japanese novels, the translation might feel a bit lacking since the author deliberately choose to use fewer words and let the reader fill in the blanks through a preset cultural understanding.
If the missing info looks too sparse, Gumi will fill in some of the blanks. This is not to imply that the writer’s craft is lacking, but we do have a cultural gap. Gumi will try to fill in these gaps unobtrusively.
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