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Two important notes:
First, an administrative change. The series will be moved to another server (somewhat slower but with another benefecial trait in exchange). And I’m using the new volume to make the switch. The blog post releases will occur on the previous server, just as before, so you don’t need to switch the following of blogs or anything.
Second, I’ll adjust my translation a bit, or rather the editing thereof. The author has this retarded way of letting his characters react to what the protagonist thinks. That makes no sense, whatsoever. It’s borderline dumb. I ignored it so far since we all got used to this author’s antics anyway, but recently it’s started to increasingly grate my nerves since it’s plain bad writing. So I’ll try to decrease the instances where this mix of narrative and direct speech occurs.
“What is all of this, Roderich? That’s a ridiculously high amount…”
A large amount of documents was stacked up on the table in the study. I’m an Earl and I also fathered children, so if it’s documents related to territorial management, I won’t say anything even if there’s a few of them. It’s all for the sake of my children, after all.
But, once I took a peek at the documents, they listed name, personal history, special skills, and strengths. It’s not like anything I’ve seen so far…no, wait, I do recall such documents. They’re just like resumes, and make me remember the time when I was job hunting before graduating from university… That was a really tough time, and I never want to experience anything like that again.
Even after completing the job hunt successfully and starting my job…no, this is something I don’t want to remember either.
“What might you be talking about…? These are the application documents of those wishing to become the private tutor of Friedrich-sama and the other children.”
“Private tutor? My children just recently managed to hold their head steady, not to mention that they aren’t even a year old yet. Isn’t it way too early to choose a private tutor?”
“For Friedrich-sama and the other babies, it might be too quick, but in their eyes, it is not early at all. This much is normal.”
“I see…”
Although it’s going to take my children at least three years to become aware of what’s going on around them, and that’s already assuming a quick growth…
“Are you saying that we’re going to decide on a private tutor right now…?”
“Of course. Friedrich-sama is destined to inherit the Earl Baumeister House. Your other children also bear the crucial duty of strengthening the Baumeister House’s relationship with other nobility and royalty by marrying into their houses, so they require a superb education by an excellent private tutor. Therefore it is necessary to select the tutor early on.” Roderich declared powerfully.
Certainly, if Friedrich acts questionably as next family head, it might cause a decline of the Baumeister House. The same can be said about my other children. It’d have a negative impact on the Baumeister House, if they were to be evaluated badly after marrying into other families. Considering it like that, it’s maybe not that bad an idea to decide on private tutors in the near future.
“Okay, I got it.”
Friedrich really has it tough since the moment he was born. As for me, I never had a private tutor. At most I went to cram school.
The Baumeister Knightdom, you ask? Didn’t they consider private tutors as urban legends? Over there, they used an extreme version of learn-it-yourself.
“Under normal circumstances, it would be my duty to take care of their education, but…”
“Yeah, let’s not.”
Roderich is everyday busy as our family’s house manager. If we added the task of tutoring my children on top of that, he’d die from overwork for real. I’m not the president of some exploitative company.
Exactly because I was a prime example for a corporate slave in my previous life, I must build a work environment that does away with such exploitive practices now that I’m in charge of an earldom.
“I am very well aware that it would be difficult for me to become the private tutor of your children with my current workload, so please do not worry. The people, who have sent these documents, are desperate as well. There is no way that I would steal their opportunity away from them.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Private tutoring is a part-time job where they’re going to come to the mansion for a pre-established period of time, teach the kids what they need to know, and then leave for the day…or not? At least that’s how it was in my previous life. Some of my classmates during my university days did that kind of part-time job.
Well, the popularity of private tutors from the university I visited was low, though.
“Are they going to commute?”
“That would apply for the education of children belonging to lower nobility or merchant families, but it is different for us. We will have them live at the mansion and properly teach your children everything they need to know until they come of age. They will require lecturers who are specialists in different subjects such as manners, horse riding, swordsmanship, music instruments, and so on, but choosing those lecturers and guiding them while staying in close touch with their curriculum is part of a private tutor’s job.”
Ah, that means a private tutor over here is similar to a class teacher. They also choose lecturers for special subjects, huh? If they’re also responsible for managing all the special lecturers, they really bear a heavy responsibility, I guess.
“My children are in for a hard life, aren’t they?”
Man, I’m really lucky to be an upstart noble. My manners are questionable at best, my swordsmanship is a lost case, and my horse riding skills barely get a passing grade. Musical instruments? Do triangles and castanets also count?
It looks like the eldest son of a high-ranking noble is kept busy in various ways.
“We cannot hire someone of unknown origin. The same also applies to the special lecturers.”
Now that he mentions it, all of the resumes come with letters of recommendation.
“Everyone has recommendations from nobles of baron rank and higher, eh…?”
“They were not allowed to apply if they did not have a letter of recommendation.”
The shady ones are all sent packing at the application stage…if you look at the careers of the applicants, they’re either distant relatives of high nobility or children of their chief retainers…nobility is through and through a society based on connections in the end…
“Everyone has graduated from the academy…?”
The academy is an educational institute comparable to a combination of graduate school and university on modern Earth. I guess it’s difficult for someone to even apply if they haven’t at least graduated from there. It’s something like being required to have a 『university degree』 during recruitment.
“Still what’s with this number of applicants? Isn’t that a bit too much?”
The competitive rate is several hundredfold, meaning, the acceptance rate will be much worse than the chance the Lost Generation had in finding a job. 1
“They’re all desperate, so it’s only understandable. After all, they could become the 『teacher』 of the Baumeister House’s future patriarch.”
According to Roderich, being the teacher of a noble’s eldest son is a very desired post.
“Given that they will be in charge of educating their lord for many years, their influence on their pupil, despite being in a lord-retainer relationship, will go well beyond their position.”
“Even a family head would find it hard to ignore the advice of their teacher, huh…?”
It also means that they’ll be able to change their job into becoming a chief retainer of the noble family. Historians and others have been referring to those in charge of teaching their lord as 『sensei』.
“But, if generations of family head teachers become chief retainers, it’d break the mold of chief vassals.”
“Noble houses with long histories have accordingly adopted countermeasures for that. They send excellent children of their house and retainer families to the academy to get them educated over there on the assumption that they will become tutors for the family afterwards. Or, once they finish their tutoring period, the noble house would prepare another place of employment…a lucrative job.
His Majesty’s teacher is currently working as the headmaster of the academy. Since he has been in charge of His Majesty’s education, his achievements and popularity are outstanding. As for the Baumeister House, our retainer ranks are still thin, so if we have the teacher of Friedrich-sama and the other children join their ranks after they are done with the education, it will stabilize the family. Even if that does not work out, your prestige is extraordinary, Milord, therefore the tutor of your heir will be able to freely choose his next employment.”
“Okay, that makes sense…”
That explains the huge amount of applications, I suppose…
“So, how are we going to select one of them?”
I think there’s simply too many applications. If we were to interview all of the applicants, we’d never finish.
“First we will screen them by their application documents. They have been told to present an education plan of how they are going to go about teaching your children, in addition to letters of recommendation.”
“I see.”
That’s indispensable. Even if they’re going to educate my children, it’d be bad to force my children to study too much by clogging up their schedule too much. I only studied seriously before exams and job interviews ── though I guess that counts as countermeasures and not education.
I think children also need some time to play. I’d really like the tutor to be flexible enough to allow my children to regularly take a breather.
“So we’re going to narrow down the candidates through an application review. That’s fine…huh?”
Who’s going to handle that troublesome task?
Aaahhh! Me!?
“Me?”
“Is there anyone else who could do it? It is the selection of the tutor for your children who are going to carry the future of the Baumeister Earldom!”
“Figures…”
“Of course I will also participate in the screening. After all, the children of us retainers will participate in the educational curriculum.”
In short, they’ll be what you’d call school friends.
“That means Erw’s boy as well?”
“Obviously.”
I see. So Erw’s son Leon is going to receive the same education as my children. Then I should get him to participate in the selection process.
It’s definitely not like I’m dragging Erw into this because it’s going to be such a pain! Even Erw should wish for his son to become a retainer who can support the Baumeister House’s next generation. Therefore it’s only normal to have Erw, Leon’s father, to help with the document screening! Yep!
“We’ll call Erw over as well.”
“That is a valid judgment.”
With Roderich agreeing on this, it was decided for Erw to participate in the screening.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Ugh…all I can see are letters…even when I close my eyes…”
“Good work, Erw.”
“Wend, you roped me into this, didn’t you?”
“No, no, not at all. That wasn’t the intention at all. Leon must receive a superb education as well. Making sure of that is the duty of his parents, isn’t it?”
“As expected of you, Milord.”
“(Haruka-san, it’s a bad idea to take Wend’s words at face value…)”
How rude! I really believe what I’ve been saying…it’s just that I won’t deny having had other motives, too.
At last, the document screening for the tutor has come to an end. Using the just cause of it being for the sake of his son’s education, I called over Erw to help out as well, but since he usually doesn’t come in contact with so many documents, it seems like the letters of the application documents have fully imprinted themselves in his mind.
Then again, the same applies for me as well.
“Still, this number of applicants is truly incredible.”
“There were also many bigshots among the nobles who wrote letters of recommendation.”
Since it’d affect the education of their daughters, Ina and Luise actively joined the conversation, too.
Having said that, such a number of applications, despite the restriction of the letters of recommendation to be above baron rank… Moreover, as it’d be pointless to present letters of recommendation from nobles I don’t know well, the majority was issued by acquainted, high-ranking nobles. Cardinal Hohenheim, Minister Edgar, Minister Rückner, Earl Armstrong (Doushi’s big brother), and so on…
On top of that, every noble has written several letters of recommendation.
“Wouldn’t you usually write only one letter of recommendation? I mean, it’s fine to be sympathetic all around, but wouldn’t you be later accused of lacking integrity?”
Cardinal Hohenheim signed an especially big number of letters. It looks like many priests have also graduated from the academy, but I think this matches with the old Japan where many Buddhist priests used to be intellectuals.
He’s probably thinking something along the lines of…it being beneficial for the future construction of churches in my earldom if a priest becomes the tutor of my children.
“A letter of recommendation is proof that they have the will and qualification to apply. There is a great number of people who would never receive a letter of recommendation, even if they begged my Grandfather.” Elise explained the reason why letters of recommendation were always demanded.
I suppose that’s why nobles write more letters the higher in ranking they are. High-ranking nobles sure have it tough with all the socializing they have to take care of.
“That means there were actually a lot more applicants?”
“Indeed. Easily more than ten times that…”
Several thousand applications for the post of my children’s tutor which is limited to one person… Moreover, the several hundred applicants who advanced to the document screening phase were all elites who had won over a tenfold competition…
All I could do was laugh feebly.
“It’s because a noble gets asked more the higher in rank they are… Forming personal connections while taking responsibility for those requests is what matters the most. After all, they never know when it might come in handy to have written a certain letter of recommendation.”
At this point, it’s being treated as luck if the person, for whom they wrote a letter, is employed. And it means they can ask to return the favor of having written a letter of recommendation as a pretext.
“I really had my fill of this…”
Even though we haven’t even eaten anything!
“So, about whom we’re going to let advance to the next stage of the interviews…”
“Since the number of potential applicants is simply too large, we will pool the opinions of you, milord, me, your family, and the other retainers. I do not think that it will be much of a problem if we take some time to make a decision”
“Got it.”
One of Roderich’s wives is Minister Rückner’s granddaughter, and there are also many relatives of high-ranking nobles among my retainers. It might become troublesome if we decide too readily as there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
Just like me, my retainers have it tough since the number of fetters shackling them down has increased drastically.
I think it’s no problem to let Roderich and the others narrow down the number of applicants some more first.
“So, how long do you actually plan to need for the screening?”
“It will take around half a year…we have to coordinate the opinions, too…”
Hearing that, it obviously means that the Baumeister House has clearly gained in scale. As the number of people involved grows large, it becomes increasingly more difficult to balance the interests, I think.
Then again, we don’t need to hurry yet since my children are still babies.
“Also, there is one more problem…”
“What kind of problem?”
“It is about these applications here…”
“They have no letters of recommendation, right?”
Several people handed in applications without letters of recommendation. But why is Roderich showing them to me although it’d be fine to just reject them outright?
“They come from people belonging to the 『Witenagemot』…”
“Witenagemot?”
“It’s an assembly consisting of sages.” 2
“In the first place…what’s a sage?”
I swallow the comment 『So this world had sages as well, huh?』, and ask Roderich to give me more details on sages.
The sage I’d think of first is an almighty person who can use the magic of magicians and priests alike, just like in some RPGs. Am I actually a sage as well, seeing how I can use water-based healing magic? Then again, I guess I’m not wise enough to be called a sage.
“Sages are amazing people, right?”
“How to answer this…? It is understandable that you do not know of them, Milord. The answer to the question whether they are amazing depends on who you ask.”
I didn’t know about sages because I’m young? But, since they are going in and out of the sorcery guild in the capital, I should have heard at least some rumors about them, no?
“Katharina-sama and Lisa-sama might know more about them. I am no magician myself, so the information I possess is limited to the rumors I have heard so far. Thus I cannot tell whether my information is actually true…”
“I got it. Call the two and we’ll ask them.”
I have Roderich go to Katharina and Lisa who are currently taking care of the babies.
“Sages, you ask…? So far as it goes I know about them, but I think Lisa-san has more details. I have only heard rumors about the existence of people calling themselves sages…”
Figures. Katharina is only one year older than me. I suppose it’s not strange for her to not know much about the sages either.
“Lisa?”
“It’s difficult to explain, you see. They’re more or less magicians of sorts. Their mana is below the elementary level though… Also, all of them either come from good families or are rich.”
“Lineage and financial standing can be related to sages?”
“They have enough funds to build their own association. That’s why they can call themselves sages.”
“I don’t get it, really.”
“If I go into details, it’s going to turn into slander…”
When I asked her to proceed anyway, Lisa told me, albeit hesitatingly. In short, it sounds like people with money and families that are nobility or wealthy merchants simply call themselves sages of their own accord.
“Nobles and merchants usually rejoice if a child with mana is born into their family. However, this joy quickly changes into disappointment once it becomes clear that the child can’t do much more than elementary magic like causing sparks, filling a cup with water, causing a small whirlwind, or letting pebbles fly… Of course, those children won’t be accepted by the sorcery guild, and if they don’t have some talent in creating magic tools either, the magic tools guild remains out of reach for them as well.”
“Won’t such people become staff members? Mostly through the connections of their families.”
“People who accept such jobs, don’t call themselves sages. They’re simply staff members of the sorcery or magic tool guild.”
It sounds like some people have too much pride because they can use some half-assed amount of mana and deny reality by claiming that they can’t work as lowly staff members since they regard themselves as magicians. Those people arbitrarily call themselves wisemen or 『sages』, have established their own association, and spend their days over there.
“How’s that any different from a noble’s salon?”
As far as I can tell from what Lisa has told me, all of this reminds me of a salon where young nobles and wealthy merchants with a somewhat special condition gather.
“…Because they simply called themselves like that on their own accord to begin with. They possess no popularity whatsoever. Even many among us magicians don’t know of their existence.”
They’re embarrassing folks who can call themselves 『wisemen』 for the sole reason of being slightly smarter than the average person because they’ve received a proper education, so many people probably shirk away from having anything to do with them, I suppose.
“So, why did those sages apply for the post of our children’s tutor?”
“I guess because they’re bored.”
“Pardon?”
“Well, they’re basically people with too much time on their hands, so…”
If they’re unable to use any significant magic anyway, the noble youths could help with the management of their family’s territory, the young merchants could help with their family’s business, or they could simply take responsibility for the preservation of culture or some such…
Though I guess they’d end up making things worse because of their conceit over their half-assed mana anyway.
“This is something I only heard through gossip, but it looks like they meet every day, repeatedly having pointless arguments about this or that while discussing questions about the truth of magic, how they can improve this world as sages, or how to pass on their teachings to others.”
“…”
Yeah, now I’ve got it somehow. Folks like them are commonly called the 『highly self-conscious types』. So they existed in this world as well, huh?
“And that’s why they applied to become the tutor of Friedrich and the other babies, huh…?”
Yet, they don’t have any letters of recommendation, and according to Lisa, most of them haven’t graduated from the academy either. That means they’re below university or graduate school, despite calling themselves sages.
“They have declared, 『We sages are different of those with second-hand knowledge who only fuss about the crammed teachings taught at the academy! We are the ones understanding the truth of this world!』, and thus don’t join the academy.”
“So basically……it just means that they didn’t pass the entrance exam for the academy, doesn’t it?”
I think they’re simply trying to cover things up with some bullshit theory about it being unnecessary for them to receive education at the academy because they’re sages (self-alleged) and because they got mana.
“Them not having any letters of recommendation stems from the fact that anyone recommending those clowns would damage their own reputation, right?”
“You’re undoubtedly correct about that.”
If someone were to recommend this group of selfish, dumb clowns as suitable for becoming tutors, they’d lose all credibility as recommender.
“The fact of them sending applications without any letters of recommendation is already reason enough to disqualify these people.”
“Right…”
Repelling applicants without letters of recommendation is discriminating. That’s something any Japanese variety show commentator would likely say, but it’s inevitable since we cannot afford to entrust the tutoring of the next family head of the Baumeister House to some nutcase.
If the education of Friedrich fails, it’s going to have a negative impact on the lives of many retainers, their families, and the residents. Even the nobles, who wrote letters of recommendation, would be accountable if they recommended someone with a terrible character.
A letter of recommendation is similar to a certificate approving that one has the qualification to apply. It’s impossible to allow applicants to pass the document check without any of these letters.
“We’ll ignore them. It’s going to be, 『We shall pray for your great contributions at another family』.”
Of course I failed all the self-alleged sages and tossed their applications into the trash bin.
◆◇◆
However, we hadn’t realized. That they, who had too much time on their hands, had taken actions going beyond our expectations…
＊ ＊ ＊
Today I have a day off for the first time in a long while. Accordingly, I’ve been enjoying a hunt in the outskirts of Baulburg with Erw, Burkhart-san, Doushi, and Takeomi-san.
We also hunted plenty of game. Just as we discussed getting all the meat cooked and treating Elise and the other women to a lavish feast, a weird quintet appeared in front of us.
All of them wore robes, but either way, their mana was so low that it made it hard to tell whether they actually could be regarded as magicians.
“I’m one of the Helmut Kingdom’s Witenagemot’s Big Four, 『Lute the Flame』!”
“Likewise, 『Water Dragon Baxel』!”
“Likewise, 『Circo of the Ground』!”
“Likewise, 『Sandez the Squall』!”
“I’m one of the Big Four! 『Bagdar of Nothingness』!”
“””””Together, the five of us are visiting as the Big Four Sages!”””””
“””””…”””””
We plainly draw back from them due to their high tension introduction as Big Four Sages or group that’s about to take over the world next.
“Earl-sama, did you finally get acquainted with these people…? It’s bad news to get involved with that…”
“It’s not like I got involved with them on my own volition. They simply sent in applications to become the tutor for my children without me having ever asked for it…”
“Once again they have nothing better to do! They are truly lost cases!”
“Doushi, why didn’t you tell us about them?”
“Then let me ask you in reverse, Erwin. Would there be any benefit in knowing about them?”
“…No, none…they’re obviously emitting the aura of being useless bums…”
“Figures that you would be able to immediately tell, Erwin.”
“Wait, I don’t want to be pigeonholed as being the same type as them…”
As for the case of choosing my children’s tutor, we’re not in any hurry, and because of that we’re still in the document screening phase. As for them…they were dropped because of lacking letters of recommendation, but they should only learn of that after we contact the applicants who have advanced to the interview phase, and yet…what did they come here for, although the application results haven’t been determined yet?
“(Burkhart-san, did you set up some countermeasures, seeing how you already knew about them?)”
“(Their babbling about being sages and so on is all in their head. Since they have the money and the free time, they can come here anytime. Do you truly believe I could have prevented their visit?)”
“(No, not really…)”
“(Certainly, they’re annoying in many respects, but it’s not like they’re harmful pests or anything. Drastic measures might result in us turning their families into our enemies. So, how about just ignoring them?)”
I didn’t even know about their existence until now. Judging by the fact that none of the high-ranking nobles has told me about those sages, they’re obviously being disregarded by noble society, implicitly telling them to stay among themselves and make sure to not cause any troubles to others.
“(Wend, these guys are magicians, right? Very cheap ones, however…)”
They introduced themselves as the Big Four of the Witenagemot, and exhibited their magic at the same time… At the point of doing something like that, they already qualified to be labeled as weirdos, but either way, their magic was shabby at best.
◆
The first, 『Lute the Flame』, could use fire magic, but since his mana was basically negligible, he could only make a pile of firewood, which he had prepared in advance, catch fire with a spark spell. The way the firewood was set up was obviously beneficial for it to catch fire as soon as it got ignited.
Wouldn’t it be better for him to teach kids in a camping school how to build a campfire?
◆
The second, 『Water Dragon Baxel』, introduced himself with an imposing nickname, but his magic only allowed him to fill water into a cup. The water, as it appeared in the air, took the shape of a dragon, but even the dragon’s shape was hard to distinguish unless you strained your eyes to the limit.
“Ohh, that fits perfectly. I was just getting thirsty. …Ugh, lukewarm!” Erw drained down the cup of water, but immediately complained about it being lukewarm.
I didn’t know what to think about him selfishly drinking the cup of water, but it’s necessary to invest more mana to cool water produced through magic, so it was inevitable for Baxel’s water to have been lukewarm. He must have used up all his mana to have it take the shape of a dragon.
◆
The third, 『Circo of the Ground』, had the ground’s earth rise up with magic, and used the pedestal to place a foot on it while acting all mighty.
Ground…is it really? 3
◆
The fourth, 『Sandez the Squall』, created a small tornado in front of himself with his magic.
Just when I thought what he was planning to do with that…it vanished as he apparently ran out of mana.
◆
And for some mysterious reason, the fifth, 『Bagdar of Nothingness』, although they were supposed to be the Big Four.
Just what the hell is nothingness anyway? Did such a magic system exist?
As I wondered about that, he retrieved a copper coin out of thin air and erased it in the next moment.
That’s obviously a sleight of hand, no?
◆
“(Umm…Burkhart-san, it’s not like he retrieved and stored the coin in another dimension, or something like that, right?)”
“(As if such magic would exist!)”
“(If he could do something like that despite not having a magic bag, it would become a sensation!)”
That makes sense.
Even in this world, it’s impossible to store a copper coin in a different dimension, unless you use a magic bag. It’d cause a huge ruckus at the sorcery guild if such a thing was possible. In short, it’s no more than a sleight of hand.
“(Five people despite calling themselves the Big Four, showing off some shabby magic with triumphant looks, and on top of that, the fifth hasn’t even used magic, damnit!)”
Since his amount of mana is the same as the other four’s, he must be one of those people who can’t cast any spells despite having mana. And since it’d be embarrassing to not be able to demonstrate any kind of magic during their introduction, he’s using a sleight of hand to make a copper coin appear and disappear.
“Did you witness our Big Four’s true might?” Bagdar of Nothingness asks while keeping up his smug face.
No, honestly dude, yours wasn’t even magic to begin with.
“Bagdar of Nothingness, they must be unable to speak up after getting stunned by our awesome magic,” says Lute the Flame next.
Certainly, I truly believe you guys are awesome…considering how you’re able to talk down on others with a condescending attitude and naming yourselves sages after pulling off such a trashy demonstration. Though, this probably stems from their lineage as well.
“(These guys use their aliases even when talking to each other…?)”
Erw, that part is completely irrelevant…
“I’m hunting with Earl Baumeister-sama, the lord of this land, the Royal Head Magician Viscount Armstrong-sama, the magician Burkhart-dono who works as employed chief magician of Margrave Breithilde-sama, and one more person while also serving as their guard. This their private time, so if you have any business with them, wouldn’t it be proper etiquette to make an appointment by inquiring in advance?”
Takeomi-san criticizes their sudden appearance in front of us during our private hunting time. This guy is quite sensible as long as it doesn’t concern his younger sister. Him mentioning Erw as 『one more person』 is no different from usual, though.
“Ah, in that case it’s no problem. We’re sages, after all.”
“Quite so. We’re beings endowed with the highest pedigree, mana, and brains.”
“Under normal circumstances, it’s only proper for any person to visit our place and beg us to teach them, but we deliberately came all the way out here for the sake of this place’s future, and even more so, for the Kingdom’s future.”
“”””””…””””””
We end up speechless after the series of nonsensical remarks by Water Dragon Baxel, Circo of the Ground, and Sandez the Squall. At this point, these guys fully qualify to be labeled as darkness of the noble society.
They’re overflowing with groundless confidence. Their lineage…well, they somehow don’t seem to be the successors of their houses, but they’ve probably been pampered by their parents as neets. Their magic…should be completely useless. Moreover, it’s pretty clear that they’ve completely run out of mana.
Kinda makes you wonder what to think about a magician who runs out of mana by only introducing themselves.
Their intelligence…can be guessed by the fact of them not having been accepted into the academy. Given that the people allowed to enroll at the academy are serious geniuses or prodigies, it should be laughable knowledge in their eyes.
“(Are they allowed to freely act like this?)”
“(As a matter of fact, their parents have simply given up on them!)”
According to Doushi, the thing they call Witenagemot is just a structure to gather all these misguided folks at one place for easier control.
“(The definition of sage is currently taking a heavy blow within me…)”
I can only laugh hollowly at this ridiculously huge difference to the sages you’d find in RPGs.
“By the way, what kind of business do you have with us?”
Erw asks about their purpose in being here in my stead.
“Hmm? Earl Baumeister-dono’s retainer, huh…? How seedy-looking you are.”
“His bloodline seems to be just as bad as his brain.”
“He cannot beat us at anything. What a pathetic excuse of a man…”
“You’re a rude fellow, but we’re sages. Since we also possess generous hearts, let’s answer his question.”
“Indeed. We’re sages because we’re also kind to those below us.”
Just from where do these morons draw their baseless confidence? To be honest, it goes beyond mysterious.
“(Wend, is it okay for me to beat up these idiots?)”
“(You should stop. Even though they might be idiots, they’re still the children of high-ranking nobles…)”
Even so, they sure got some nerves to spout such terrible things… I think it’s a good idea to separate them from the rest of the world, but their parents should have tied down their freedom a lot more…
“Earl Baumeister-dono, you’re a great magician who was entrusted with the development of the most southern area of the Kingdom, but…you have a big flaw.”
“Your birthplace, I dare say… This doesn’t matter to you since you do possess great abilities, but it’ll become a problem for your successor.”
“After all, the development won’t be finished within one generation.”
“The responsibility of your son Friedrich-dono will be heavy, but since he’s unfortunately not blessed with a noble family owning a longstanding history, he’ll be looked down upon, no matter what he does.”
“He’s lacking what you could call the inborn aura of a great noble. Accordingly, we’ve decided to serve as his tutors. This is yet another duty of us sages.”
“You should feel grateful in light of this honor. If taught by us five, Friedrich-dono will become an outstanding, high noble.”
“”””””…””””””
On top of arbitrarily having sent in resumes without letters of recommendation, they suddenly showed up in person, and now they’re smugly blathering about becoming Friedrich’s tutors because they’re sages?
Everyone in our group is flabbergasted by their selfish attitude of slighting the other applicants as not worthy of further consideration, although we haven’t finished the document screening yet. I’ve heard that their parents are high-ranking nobles and wealthy merchants, but just how much do they dote on their sons to allow them to go through with such absurdities?
“(Wend, are you going to turn these morons into our children’s tutors?)”
“(Are you kidding!? AS IF!)”
What should I do if Friedrich became like them?
A baby is pure and innocent. If it’s raised by wolves, it becomes a wolf. It’s clear as daylight that I won’t allow these retards to get anywhere near my children.
“Since we’re currently in the middle of the document screening…you’ll need to wait for a bit longer.”
“Well, I guess the folks, who sent in resumes, need a proper alibi as well. You’ve already made your selection, is what you’re saying, right?”
“Indeed. Compared to us sages, the other applicants are no more than common vagrants.”
“I guess we’re set to take over the duty of tutoring Friedrich-dono. The levels of the others are simply too low.”
“Allow us to wait for the good news in Baulburg. Excuse us then. I’m certain we’ll be soon seeing each other every day.”
The self-alleged sages return to their inn in Baulburg, but once again I was stuck dealing with idiotic nobles.
◆◇◆
Since things have become somewhat troublesome, we teleported to Breitburg, and consulted with Margrave Breithilde on how to deal with those self-alleged sages.
“Ah, those guys, huh? Those self-alleged…”
Margrave Breithilde apparently knew about them as well.
“I’m troubled by those sages as well. Those people have been isolated, if you put it in a nice way.”
“Isolated?”
“Yes. Even though they’ve been born into high-ranking noble houses, a fixed number in the low digits ends up being useless bums who don’t even know how to use fork and knife by themselves. Since those guys are special even among those misfits, they’ve been assembled in a salon while acting like they’re sages… In short, we’d like them to stay inside their salon.”
So the sages over here are what you’d have called a gathering of neets in my previous world, I guess…
If they’re allowed to waste their time by proudly bragging about their intelligence, their pedigree, and their magic amongst their little group of friends, it must be very satisfying to them… Of course anyone would hide their existence, I suppose.
“Their mana is half-baked, but with a magic that allows them to light a fire at most, they serve no purpose whatsoever. Then again, I think they’d come in handy at various work places, if they were commoners.”
Even without being able to do much more than lighting a fire, they’d still be very useful for certain jobs. When it comes to cooks, for example, being able to light a fire right away would definitely be an asset.
“However, they’re nobles, and moreover, children of fairly distinguished families. That’s their bad luck in this case. After all, it’d be unthinkable for them to work as cooks or craftsmen…”
At the start, their parents should have had quite big hopes for them. But, they were soon told that those hopes were in vain because of their little amount of mana. Having said that, it’s not like those sons had any drive to help out with their family’s business or go study like noble children without mana. If they had the scholarly ability to enter the academy, their parents probably wouldn’t be disappointed. If they had seriously studied to learn about the duties of their parents, their parents shouldn’t have said anything either.
“But, I feel like they’re also somewhat pitiable.”
“Usually, if someone helps their elder brother as successor or the family head, their parents wouldn’t treat them like this. It’s simply that they reap what they’ve sown.”
After all, they have a groundlessly condescending, arrogant way of treating others. I guess they’re the kind of people who only keep increasing the number of enemies if they meet with other people. They don’t seem to have any friends other than their sage buddies either.
“You said the sage part was self-alleged, right? Who came up with this to begin with?”
“Even with their level of mana, any normal person would still be able to work for the sorcery or magic tool guild. In other words, it’s like this because they’re being ignored.”
Even if they accepted a job at the sorcery guild and boasted about their magic over there, they’d only embarrass themselves since genuine magicians can be found in that guild. If they gather amongst each other, there won’t be any conflict since all of them have similar abilities, I suppose.
If they use some time to review each other’s magic, it won’t harm anyone else, at least.
“That’s a terrible story…”
“The sage salon itself looks back at a history of several hundred years. Given that it’s a secret institution of the Kingdom, many people don’t know about it.”
Certainly, others learning about the Kingdom having an unspecified number of people like them would be inconvenient for the Kingdom. No, I guess it’s because it’d become a disgrace for the Kingdom.
“Why have they applied to become the tutors of my children?”
“It’s because you’re an upstart noble, Earl Baumeister. The tutor selection of longstanding, high-ranking noble houses is heavily influenced by personal connections. On the other hand, something like that isn’t to be expected with you. At least it’s what they think. They believed that even newcomers like them would be able to easily worm their way in.
Though it’s not like anyone would choose incompetent people, even if they might possess personal connections. Having graduated from the academy is the lowest requirement, and the higher in peerage the noble, the more likely they have at least one such graduate among their own relatives, the relatives of their patron, or the relatives of their vassals. Also, given the existence of families of intellectuals who have been teaching at the academy for many generations, it looks like some noble houses rely on those families to provide tutors. In other words, longstanding tutor families.
If you request a tutor from such a family, you won’t need to worry about your children’s education since those families possess generations of knowledge on how to study. They don’t shirk any effort to protect their job as tutors of high-ranking nobles across many, many generations.”
It sounds like tutoring for nobles has its fair share of troubles.
“Having received a letter of recommendation from among this gathering of amazing people means that the person has been approved to have no flaws in their ability as tutor. After all, it’d just embarrass the writer of the letter, if they recommended some nutcase. They’d be called idiots who have no eye for judging people,” explained Margrave Breithilde.
“And that’s also the reason why those idiots didn’t have any letters of recommendation.”
“Even their parents would not write them any letters of recommendation!”
Burkhart-san and Doushi completely dissed the self-alleged sages.
“So, what should I do about them?”
“About that… There actually exists a simple method to get rid of them.”
“Really?”
“In the past there have been times when those sages started to say weird things while full of confidence, and thus the nobles have adopted a method to deal with that. Please lend me your ear for a moment, Earl Baumeister.”
I brought my ear close to Margrave Breithilde.
“Oohhh! You’re right. This method is going to work!”
“It’ll be fine as long as you thrust the results at them.”
After having the margrave teach me the method how to deal with those sages, I decided to immediately put it into practice.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Ooohh! Did we pass the document screening!?”
“Figures.”
“After all, we’re sages.”
“It’s a logical conclusion.”
“It’s great that Earl Baumeister had the judgment of an ordinary man.”
Just as Margrave Breithilde taught me, I told the sages that they had passed the document screening in a first step. As usual they were brimming with baseless confidence, but next I explained to them what would happen after this.
“There’s a second test. If you pass that, you’ll reach the final interview.”
“A second test?”
“Yes, it’s nothing that difficult. I’d like you to take it with a light heart. I doubt anyone would fail this anyway. It’s more like a little confirmation.”
“I see.”
“Please come to my mansion tomorrow. I’ll have you take the second test over there.”
“As you wish.”
“It’ll be a breeze for us.”
“After all, we’re sages.”
It’s great that they immediately went along with my terms. Tomorrow I’ll have them panic to the utmost. I can’t wait for it.
◆◇◆
On the next day, the self-alleged sages sure enough flew into panic as soon as they saw the papers of the written exam we’ve prepared for them.
“Earl Baumeister? This is…”
“It’s a written exam. We’re screening you for becoming a tutor, so it’s only natural to demand basic scholar ability, isn’t it?”
That’s the point. They’re calling themselves sages on their own accord, but it’s not like they’re particularly good at studying. After all, they’d have probably enrolled at the academy if they were as smart as their title suggests. And precisely because they weren’t able to enroll, they’ve gathered at that salon of theirs while playing a game of pretending to be sages.
“The exam covers six subjects: literature and grammar, mathematics, nature, history, geography, and etiquette. You can get a maximum of 100 points for each subject. Please start.”
The self-alleged sages shriveled away in front of the exam papers like slugs that got sprinkled with salt. Since each subject has a time limit of one hour, they should be preoccupied for the next six hours.
Leaving them alone, I head over to the living room.
“How is it going with those people?”
“They’ve become very meek. But, I sure didn’t consider this method…”
“Holding a written exam during a high-ranking noble’s screening to decide on a tutor is anything but normal,” declares Burkhart-san.
“Why?”
“Say, Erwin, you were also surprised about the letters of recommendations and resumes sent over, weren’t you?”
“Yes, it was quite a huge number.”
“But, you see, if you let the guys, who sent those resumes, do the same exam, almost all of them would land a perfect score. Or at least to the extent of only making some occasional, careless mistake.”
“Is that so?”
“The academy is a place where prodigies and geniuses from all over the country gather.”
The Helmut Kingdom only has that one academy. The only ones able to enroll there are geniuses and prodigies that have been chosen without any relation to their social rank. If only graduates from that place can become tutors, a written exam would be pointless since everyone would pass anyway.
“Since those guys are self-alleged sages, they should have gotten cold feet after seeing the exam papers.”
“They have been grumbling about the negative effect of crammed education and such,” I report.
“Those guys have always been saying that whenever such a measure has been adopted against them.”
“I see…”
No matter the world, some people always use the same rectifications.
“Even us magicians are honestly putting in effort by training ourselves and researching as well as testing out older spells, right? And yet, those guys basically shirk any such work.”
If they had been able to do so, they wouldn’t have called themselves sages in the first place, though.
“So, how many points do they require to pass?”
“Given that any academy graduate would get an almost perfect score, they will pass if they reach above 90 points in average, I’d say?”
“That is impossible!”
If they could reach such a score, at least their parents would have written a letter of recommendation for them, so yeah…
Doushi’s prediction proved to be correct ─ though everyone except for the self-alleged sages had expected it to play out like that anyway ─ and they scored around 20 points on average across all subjects on the exam, resulting in them grandly failing the second exam.
◆◇◆
“This is the test, huuh…? I feel like it’s quite difficult.”
I had Roderich show me the exam the sages took, just to realize how I would have struggled with this as well. At this point, I don’t have the habit of studying anymore like during my test studying phases in my previous life, and since I’ve been always putting my magic training first, I kept postponing any normal studying. On top of that, I’m bad at stuff like history since I’m a reincarnator to begin with.
I suspect I wouldn’t have been able to pass this test either.
“Here, Wend.”
“Huh? What’s up, Ina?”
I got confused when I was handed the exam papers by Ina.
“Since it seemed to be fun, I was wondering how many points all of us would be able to score.”
“…I don’t really think that’s necessary…”
After all, we’re not in some variety show here. Besides, everyone would likely dislike the idea of Earl Baumeister being labeled as an idiot.
Besides, if I scored lower than those sages, I feel like I wouldn’t ever be able to recover from that shock.
“Aww, don’t be like that. It’s a little fun game.”
“Haah…”
As my other wives and Erwin would apparently join in as well, the former Japanese couldn’t refuse any longer. We sat down at the table in the study, and started to solve the exam questions.
And then the exams were collected and marked, before the results were announced to everyone…
◆◇◆
“The first is Elise with an average of 82 points.”
“For real!?”
Ina began to proclaim the results of everyone who participated in the exam game.
“Still…if Elise couldn’t enroll at the academy with such a score…”
“No, a score like this is too low for being accepted. If you don’t pass with more than 95 points on average, you will not be able to enroll. Besides, even if you pass this exam, the second exam is even harder and you will not be able to enroll unless you get more than 60 points in the second exam.”
Erm…in short, only hardcore geniuses and prodigies can enter the academy. Also, I was able to realize once more just how much of a superwoman Elise is.
“Second rank is Therese-san with an average of 80 points. Third rank goes to me with 73 points. Fourth rank is Lisa-san with 69 points. Fifth rank goes to Wend with 65 points.”
Around there…I see…I guess you could say it’s roughly where I expected to land. Therese has received a special education as former Duchess Philip, Ina reads many books, and Lisa has her experience as a mature woman? No, I guess it comes from her often reading books for her magic research.
Unexpectedly, Therese lost out to Elise in average points. Though the difference isn’t all that high, and both are far above me.
“Most heads of noble houses would rank around there, I think. They receive all kinds of education, but they also forget some of it over time. Since it is just fine to refresh the memory when the knowledge becomes necessary, this much suffices,” explained Therese.
Considering that, an average of 80 points is amazing, though.
“I suppose I’m normal then?”
“Sorry for being slightly rude, but for an eighth son of a knight peerage, your scores are remarkable.”
That’s mostly owed to the old man hiding inside me. I didn’t expect that having a habit to study to an extent would come in handy in such a way.
“Thou have completely bunked history, haven’t thou?”
“I mean, humans are creatures who don’t look back at their past.”
Or rather, it’d be different if it came to Japanese or world history, but I don’t give a damn about the history of the Lingaia Continent! What’s the point in me learning it anyway?
“Sixth rank goes to Katharina with 63 points on average.”
“I guess you’re as normal as I am, Katharina.”
“O───hohoho! For a noble like me it’s alright as long as I have the basics down. I’ll hire experts to cover the finer details. What matters most is to have the ability to put things into practice.”
I generally agree with her opinion, but looking as if she’s trying to gloss over things by laughing is Katharina’s usual modi operandi.
“Seventh rank is Wilma with 61 points. Your points in nature were outstanding.”
“Because it’s necessary.”
Wilma, who specializes in hunting and fishing, had a high score in nature. Since it’s necessary for her, she memorized things naturally.
“Following…Katia with 35 points on the eighth rank.”
“The values suddenly took a nosedive…”
“It’s not that I actually need it anyway. That’s commonplace for adventurers,” said Katia while not particularly minding it, but then again she might be right about adventurers not needing to study either way.
Right now Katia is nobility, but the one requiring education isn’t Katia herself, but her daughter.
“Ninth rank goes to Luise with…12 points.”
“I see. But people can survive even without studying.”
Luise mostly lives her life by instinct and mood, so she doesn’t care about her exam score being low. It’s not as if she needed to study up until now and I doubt that she’ll require to do so in the future either. Though I’m kinda jealous of her being able to bluntly declare so.
“Amalie-san, you didn’t participate?”
“I was busy so…”
“”””””””””Ah…””””””””””
She probably ran away…is what everyone thought, but no one actually voiced it out. Someone hailing from rural nobility like Amalie-san has the same educational level as the people of the Knight Baumeister House.
Moreover, Haruka hasn’t participated either. She’s been taking care of the babies. Or in other words, she’s allowed us to play around.
“The tenth rank…should I really say it?”
“For the time being?”
It was an exam we did on a whim, but Ina seems to be quite averse about announcing the last score. She’s probably considerate of the last-ranked person who hasn’t had his name called so far.
“Bah! We all know about me being last! So go ahead and announce the result!”
That person is, of course, Erw.
“I don’t care about the results of such an exam anyway!”
“Very well, then here it comes… Tenth rank is Erw with 5 points…”
“””””””””…”””””””””
“Eh? 5 points? Not 15?”
“Yep, 5 points…”
Right now I fully understand why Ina hesitated to announce Erw’s points. Speaking of 5 points…it’s not that far off from Luise’s 12 points, but those are still in the double digits. 5 points are quite embarrassing, even if you claim that he’s got nothing to do with studying anymore.
“Seriously 5 points? There’s no mistake in the marking?”
“I’ve checked it several times over. And yet, it always came out at 5 points.”
“I see…”
We’ve started this exam to have some light fun, but due to Erw’s disastrous result, the mood has immediately plummeted. If you consider that even those sages were above 20 points on average, the disaster that is Erw’s points becomes very clear.
“…5 points…”
“Erw-san, how about another cup of tea?”
“Erw, do you want to eat my share of cake?”
“It’s okay. I’m sure Leon takes after Haruka. I can tell.”
“That kind of comfort has the opposite effect, damnit!”
◆◇◆
But, it looks like adversity strengthens the foundations. Ever since then, Erw has occasionally been borrowing a book from Ina for reading.
You won’t get far with just studying in society, but lacking too much knowledge is, well…
This time I could actively observe the downside.
Moreover, after failing the written exam, the sages had apparently scooted, seeing how they were suddenly gone from Baulburg. Then again, what should anyone think about sages who are bad at written exams?
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Translation Notes:
- The raw talks about an ice age for job hunters in the public field, but I adopted it to a more commonly known effect in JP during the beginning of the 90s, which is also a major reason for the isekai boom in JP writing.
- The term 賢者 (kenja) commonly means sage or wiseman. Sage has a different implication than wiseman though. Both meanings are interchangeably used in this chapter. I’ll call them sage for reasons explained below, but you should always read wiseman into it as well.
- It’s a pun. Ground is 大地, read as dai-chi (“big/large” – earth/ground). So he’s doubting whether you can really call it “big/large”
