An Unexpected Genius
Before night fell, Edward sent off a single email and began digging into the Rheinland family. A search for “Idel von Rheinland” on the network unleashed a torrent of articles that made him wrinkle his nose in disgust.
Idel’s most recent outrage had been the riot at the Harkus casino. Not only had he lost a staggering fortune—one Edward couldn’t even imagine—but it turned out he had spent the money without his family’s permission. When the other party demanded repayment, he had beaten the man with a billiard cue, only to be knocked unconscious by security. The report spared no humiliating detail.
He’s even crazier than the rumors claimed.
That wasn’t the end of it. Five months earlier he had thrown a tantrum outside a bar, demanding entry as a minor, then tried to set the place on fire when refused. Six months earlier he had slipped into a hospital run by the Rheinland patriarch and hurled insults at the patients—“you worthless bastards” and worse—before strolling out again. Eight months earlier he had ordered mountains of food through a delivery app, then spammed refund requests and one-star reviews until the owner sued him for interfering with business. A year and one month ago he had groped a passing woman; when the space police arrested him, he had proudly declared, “I’m a protected juvenile, so you can’t punish me,” and nearly landed in juvenile detention.
The further Edward scrolled, the more revolting the stories became.
“Ugh.”
He nearly lost his dinner.
“How is this guy not in prison?”
Amazingly, the boy named Idel had escaped with nothing but fines, all thanks to his family’s influence. He had never once seen the inside of a cell. Edward’s eyes reddened with rage.
The rich are never guilty; the poor are never innocent.
Those with money could commit any crime and walk away clean. The federation that had stretched its reach across tens of thousands of light-years was rotten with corruption. Police and prosecutors were a dime a dozen—ready to bend over backward and declare innocence the moment their palms were greased.
Even so, the fact that a piece of trash this notorious had never been locked up left a foul taste in Edward’s mouth. And now he was supposed to become the private tutor for the very boy in those articles.
The job would last only a short while, but even that brief period made his stomach turn. If it weren’t for the tuition fees, I would never have accepted.
Edward packed his bag with an angry huff.
At first light he set out for the Rheinland family’s private vessel. The reply to his email had said he could arrive at any convenient time the following day.
With a heavy clunk, his outdated personal craft docked against the main ship. A dreary gray dock greeted him. The sheer overwhelming scale of the place made Edward feel suddenly small.
“Oh! Teacher, welcome!”
A black-haired young man with golden eyes came running, bowing deeply. The greeting was impeccably polite.
“You’re…”
“I am Idel. I look forward to your guidance for the next month.”
“Y-you… Wait, you’re telling me you’re the student Idel?”
He looked far more composed than Edward had expected. His eyes shone with sharp intelligence, his clothes were perfectly neat, and his bangs had been carefully trimmed. It was hard to reconcile the sight with the word “good-for-nothing.”
“Yes, I am Idel von Rheinland. The friend beside me is my personal android, Sonia.”
The android with hair a deeper blue than indigo gave a small nod. She wore a frilly headband and a black apron dripping with ribbons.
“…A maid?”
The outfit was outdated—something no one would wear except for cosplay. Edward thought for a moment, then frowned faintly. Why dress her like that? Don’t tell me he has some twisted hobby involving androids?
The thought refused to leave him. The articles he had read yesterday, combined with the fact that the android was unreasonably beautiful, only fueled his suspicion. At that point she might as well have been a pleasure robot. Edward shook his head. He reminded himself that first impressions could be deceiving. No matter how decent Idel looked now, the boy would surely reveal his true nature at the critical moment and make Edward’s life miserable.
There was no need to say more than necessary. He would keep things strictly professional. With that resolve, Edward followed.
Idel led him to his own room. The space was roughly fifty pyeong—vast compared to the five-pyeong rooms Edward had known his entire life. A wave of relative deprivation washed over him.
Yet the room itself was modest and spotless. There wasn’t a single playing card in sight despite the boy’s reputed gambling addiction. The bookshelf was crammed with entrance-exam workbooks and college-level texts. On the electronic board facing the window, physics formulas were written here and there.
What on earth is going on…?
Edward asked while unpacking, “Is this the room you usually use, student?”
“That is correct. This is the young master’s personal quarters,” Sonia answered instead. She adjusted her katyusha with a deadpan expression. “Contrary to public perception, the young master is far more academically inclined than he appears. This Sonia observes that he devotes himself daily in preparation for admission to Stellarium Academy.”
“…I see.”
Of course he didn’t believe a word. Idel might have ordered the android to parrot the story, or this could be someone else’s room entirely. Still, that raised another question. Out of all the available tutors, why pick me?
Maybe it was because he came from the frontier, had low status, and charged cheap rates. In the worst case he might end up humiliated and unpaid. Naturally, Edward was not foolish enough to let that happen without insurance. He secretly switched on the recorder he had brought and spoke.
“So your goal is to enter Stellarium?”
“Yes.”
Edward snorted inwardly.
“The most critical part of Stellarium’s entrance exam is the interview. No matter how excellent your written and practical scores, the interview can overturn everything. Are you aware of that?”
“Yes, I am.”
“The interview splits into specialty and general portions. The general interview mostly covers motivation and future plans, so we’ll set that aside. I assume you’re more concerned with the specialty interview, student.”
“That is correct.”
Surprisingly, Idel listened to the entire explanation without a single rude remark. This is different from what I expected… Well, if it continues like this, I have no complaints.
Edward pulled out the interview question sheets. “The specialty interview is essentially a major-subject exam. However, the Academia course has no fixed major. You simply declare your field of interest, solve the problem the robot presents on the spot, then write your solution on the board. The AI will grade it automatically.”
He laid out several printed pages. “These are sample entrance problems generated by the AI last year.”
The topics varied widely—language, economics, history, philosophy, biology, military science. All were taken from the previous year’s actual exams.
“Let’s assess your current level. Which subject interests you?”
“…Hmm.”
Idel made a small sound and reached out. His finger landed on the physics paper.
Physics? He’s choosing physics?
Edward flinched. He reflexively glanced back at the bookshelf. Every title ended in “Physics” or “Mechanics.” The equations on the board—F=ma, d’Alembert’s principle, the Lagrange-Euler equations—suddenly looked far more intentional.
…No, it can’t be.
When his gaze returned to the desk, Idel had already set the physics sheet aside and picked up a different one. Mathematics. The very subject Edward intended to major in—and the one he himself had chosen for his own specialty interview.
He grabbed the exact same test I solved back then.
In that case there was no need to consult an answer key. Edward could simply watch the solution process and score it himself. The corner of his mouth curled into a sardonic smile.
“Will that one do?”
“It will.”
He would see exactly how good the boy was. Edward turned merciless when mathematics was involved, even if the student was the universe’s most infamous rascal. And if anything went wrong, he had two safeguards: Sonia, an android bound by the laws of robotics, and the recorder running in secret. If I get beaten, I’ll just sue for damages.
Edward watched with clenched teeth as Idel picked up the pen. The boy twirled it skillfully, thought for a moment, then lowered the tip to the paper.
Scratch. Scratch.
A pleasant sound like piano keys filled the room. Idel seemed to enter a trance, the mechanical pencil flying across the page. Every small groan, every auxiliary line, was a visible trace of intense concentration. Watching the serious expression, Edward swallowed hard.
The solution did not take long. Idel set the pen down.
“I have finished.”
“Then would you explain it?”
“Yes. But before that, Teacher, you may speak to me casually. Hearing formal speech actually feels uncomfortable.”
“No, I prefer to keep things polite…”
“……”
Idel nodded, stood, and carried the workbook to the electronic board.
“This problem tests understanding of function substitution through the concept of permutations. A student capable of solving it will later grasp the method for deriving generalized solutions to systems of linear equations with far greater ease.”
Having declared the content important, Idel launched into a full explanation. His delivery was clean, concise, and free of filler. He covered why a particular logic had to be applied, what the examiner likely intended, and what additional conditions would be required for a more rigorous proof. Not a single gap remained.
……This kid is no ordinary talent.
Heroes recognize heroes. Geniuses recognize geniuses. His skill is genuine.
It was the exact moment Edward’s opinion flipped completely.
“How was it? Acceptable?” Idel asked with calm courtesy.
Edward wet his dry, cracking palate and answered. “The solution itself was flawless. However, certain sections drag unnecessarily. Here, for example, and over here…”
There were many places where Idel had taken the long formal route when mathematical intuition could have shortened the work. Edward actually found those sparks of insight rather promising.
“Your approach is too classical. By using the decomposability of compatibility at this point, you can prove question three without stretching the equation out.”
“Wow.”
“The same applies to the section handling set S. When studying set theory one inevitably encounters equivalence classes. What that means is…”
Idel kept exclaiming in admiration as he listened.
“Teacher, you really are brilliant.”
There was an old saying that praise could make even a whale dance. Under Idel’s relentless stream of sincere compliments, Edward’s wariness melted away. Before he knew it, he was smiling like a fool.
“You yourself, student… are quite extraordinary.”
Edward felt a strange dissonance. Someone this intelligent and well-spoken could not possibly be the same person who groped random women or tried to burn down bars. He even began to wonder whether the Idel in the articles and the Idel standing before him were two entirely different people.
“At this level, passing is more than guaranteed. However…”