Child Rearing Journal of the Strongest Wiseman~About My Daughter Being the Cutest in the World( Saikyou Kenja no Kosodate Nikki ~Uchi no Musume ga Sekaiichi Kawaii Ken ni Tsuite~) - Chapter 25
One day, when I came home, the maid doll, Chloe, spoke these words to me.
“Hot-headed teacher.”
“………..”
As I remained silent, she continued.
“The passionate teacher of Leangrad. The most popular teacher at the school. I’ve heard such a nickname is being circulated.”
“Incidentally, the teacher with that nickname, is me?”
”Are there any other teachers in this room?”
There’s no need to look around.
Unless, of course, my Shisō had been spatially transferred without my knowledge.
…No, my Shisō is supposed to be a professor, a higher position than a teacher, with a big lifetime honor on top of her head, so it would be rude to put her in the same category.
Anyway, it seems that I’m being called by such a nickname these days.
I scratched my head and said,
“Even if you call me a passionate teacher. I’m simply teaching a normal class.”
Fiona cheerfully denied it.
“No, that’s not true, Otou-san. Otou-san’s classes are known for being very easy to understand.”
My daughter emphasized this to me, but I didn’t want to be hailed as such for a class of that level.
To my bewilderment, the sharp-tongued maid came to my defense.
“It must be that. The person who was usually lazy suddenly became motivated, Which was probably why the evaluation was so lenient. You know what I mean. It’s the theory that when a delinquent does something good, he looks like a good person. The gap between the two usually leads people astray.”
Chloe asserted this, and it might be true.
I couldn’t argue with her, since I thought so myself.
“Otou-san’s classes are interesting, though.”
Fiona complained.
There are a total of ten classes in the first year, and my class is slightly below average in score.
The other day, I was singled out in the staff meeting.
Especially from a teacher in a neighboring class.
“Kite-sensei’s class is too noisy.”
I’ve been getting a lot of complaints like that.
The class was full of laughter, which was a sign that the students were not forced to study too much.
The class had little homework, and in that sense, it was no surprise that the class was very popular among the students.
“I talked to a girl in the next class, and she told me that if someone laughed in the middle of a lesson, the teacher would make them stand in the hallway with a bucket.”
Or, they would be forced to clean the creepy laboratory building, which is known as the “Ghost House” by the students.
“I would never use that kind of corporal punishment.”
“You’re a very kind teacher.”
“Well, it wasn’t like that when I was a student.”
I laugh.
“After all, it was a thousand years ago, and the ethics were completely different.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I’d get my fingernails ripped off if I tried to laugh in class.”
“F-fingernails….”
Fiona shivered.
I learned my lesson, I guess. Maybe that’s why I’m so strict about corporal punishment. I don’t want to become that kind of shitty teacher. Or perhaps I’m just trying to teach myself a lesson.
By the way, my homeroom teacher at the time is no longer with us.
He must have died in a horrible way, I thought, but perhaps it’s just the way the world is when people hate you.
It seems that he lived to the age of 90 and lived a long life.
His descendants also seem to be alive and well, and they seem to be working as court magicians in the empire for generations.
I say “seem” because that’s what I heard from my Shisō, not because I actually know his descendants.
As I thought about this, the face of my shisou came to mind.
It’s been a few months since we came to this school. For me, a wiseman of a thousand years, it was only a moment, but for my daughter, it must have been a long time.
After all, she is only a few months shy of two years old.
She hadn’t seen her aunt, who she had spent almost a year with, for three months.
She must be very lonely, or perhaps she has already forgotten my shisou’s face.
So I asked my daughter about it.
Sure enough, she appeared to be very lonely.
“I miss Iris oba-sama. Everyday too. But I heard that she’s busy with work, so I have to be patient.”
Said my daughter in a cheerful tone..
However, it seems she hasn’t forgotten her face.
“Iris oba-sama is very beautiful, after all”, she said smiling.
Then I said with a smile.
“Well, she’s certainly beautiful. Once you see her, it’s hard to forget her, or rather, it’s dangerous to forget her.”
It is a well-known story in the sorcerer’s world that the face of the《Senketsu no majo》is a disaster if not remembered.
There are many sorcerers who have been rewarded in the name of punishment for mistreating her.
In that sense, she is a person to watch out for.
That’s how I described my shisou, but that’s the story for sorcerers, not my daughter, who is her niece.
Even if she somehow had forgotten my Shisō’s face, there was no way she would punish her.
However, she will be sad.
In that sense, I guess it was time to take my daughter to see my Shisō.
“That’s right. I’m sure Orba misses you too.”
That’s what Chloe said.
“Yeah. We haven’t seen that female owl’s face for a while.”
Orba is the name of the owl that belonged to my Shisō.
The owl which Fiona constantly fawns over.
Fiona’s tension clearly rises when Chloe mentions Orba’s name.
“I want to see Orba! I want to get fluffed up again!”
She said, hopping up and down.
Fiona had always been an animal lover. One of them, the clever Orba, was her favorite, and she often read picture books together with her.
–Although, it was only a one-sided reading by Fiona.
“I can’t ever forget Shisō’s horrible smile, but Orba is one of those owls you see everywhere. Besides, there’s a term that says “birdbrain”. It’s not Fiona, but rather it’s Orba who might forget about Fiona.”
“Eee–! Even though we were so close, and yet she might forget my face?”
“I mean, to humans, owls are all the same, right? Likewise, from an owl’s point of view, all humans must look the same.”
“Isn’t that just you, Otou-san? Every owl is different, you know?”
“I can’t tell the difference between an owl and another.”
I assured her, but apparently that’s just for me.
This is where Chloe comes in.
“Although Chloe is not human, I remember the features of Orba’s feathers and the pattern of her beak so clearly that I am confident she could blend in with a hundred owls and I would still recognize her.”
Chloe said and turned to Fiona.
Fiona agreed with her,”Right?”
Then Fiona turned to me again and said,
“Daddy has too little love for animals. I ask you to reflect on that.”
She scolded me.
I was a little embarrassed to be scolded by my daughter, but I will honestly apologize to her.
I’m always unconditionally lenient with my daughter.
But, while I won’t make excuses, I will make a defense.
“I will remember the characteristics of Orba’s feathers next time, but I do know the characteristics of Orba’s behavior.”
“Are you sure~?”
Fiona looks at me with a fierce gaze.
“It’s true. I would never lie to Fiona.”
“I wonder~”
“Okay, I will not say it. Let me just show you the proof. When Orba comes on an errand, she taps on the window three times. “Kon, kon, kon.” with that kind of timing.”
I point to the window as I say this.
The girl and the maid look back at the tip of my finger.
There was a lone owl there.
If my intuition was correct, the whitish owl staring from out of the window should be the Orba in question.
In fact, the owl does seem to be Orba, though I couldn’t think of anything else in terms of timing.
Fiona called out, “It’s Orba!” and rushed over to the owl, causing the owl to be fluffed up at her mercy.
The only person allowed to do such a thing was my daughter Fiona.
That owl is the messenger of Iris Seymour, one of the Six Great Sages.
The usual Orba is too noble and dignified to let anyone else touch her directly.
And of course, the owl didn’t come all this way just to be fluffed by Fiona.
Just like when she appeared before, I guessed that she was on some urgent business.
Having figured it out, I approached the owl.
Now, what kind of request did my Shisō have for me?
I’ve known the witch, the owner of the messenger, for nearly a thousand years, but her urgent business was often foolish.
I caressed the owl’s chin with a sigh.