The Scholar's Blunder
The next day. I entered the 1-A classroom like always and took my seat. The moment the people around me saw me, whispers broke out. It was probably because of yesterday’s “swordsmanship duel.” Still, releasing any footage of it to the outside world was strictly forbidden. I wasn’t sure why, but I’d heard the Dean had issued the order personally.
Ding-dong-dang-dong— The chime signaling the start of first period rang out.
“Hayeon’s not here today, huh?”
“Yeah. Wonder what’s up with her?”
The students all stared at Jeong Hayeon’s empty desk.
“I heard she called in sick.”
“For real? Maybe I should stop by her place. Visiting someone when they’re sick is a great way to score points.”
“I was going to, but she told me not to come.”
“Really? That’s a shame.”
Jeong Hayeon was turning down visits from her own classmates. Was something going on?
Creak— The front door slid open and the teacher walked in. He looked surprisingly young for an instructor.
“Hello, everyone.” He gave a crooked smile. “My name is Son In-hyeok. I’ll be teaching your ethics class from now on.”
To a hunter, the most important virtue is power, no matter what anyone says. But where that power is directed matters just as much. If it heads in the wrong direction, society falls into chaos—because their strength is simply too overwhelming. That’s why every academy makes “ethics” a required subject. They teach students how to use that power the right way.
“Well, since today is the first class, shall I start with a simple introduction? I come from the Gilead family.”
“He’s actually from the Gilead family?”
“No way, that’s huge.”
“As expected of Elphon Academy. The faculty really is on another level.”
The moment the students heard the name Gilead, the classroom buzzed with excitement. The Gilead family had produced countless scholars who held prominent positions across the world. In this society, outstanding scholars were treated with just as much respect as top hunters.
“.....”
Watching the students’ admiration, Son In-hyeok wore a smug expression. He looked immensely pleased with himself. I let out a small laugh.
The man had said he would introduce himself, yet all he talked about was his family. That was only natural. He had no real talent as a scholar. He had zero accomplishments to his name. Inside the Gilead family, he was treated as a mediocre failure. He’d only landed this position because a spot at Elphon Academy had conveniently opened up and his family had pulled strings—and paid a hefty bribe. Even then, all he’d managed to get was a temporary contract.
Because of that intense inferiority complex, he would later become quite the troublesome villain.
“Hehe. Well, that’s fine. Since this is our first class together, shall we start by gauging your level?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Professor Singer once said that when providing aid to countries other than our own, we must consider the welfare of all people equally.”
“...”
“So here’s my question. Did Professor Singer believe that the level of aid given to the poor in foreign countries should also be the same?”
“Yes.”
The students answered. Son In-hyeok shook his head.
“No. That’s incorrect. We must consider both the principle of equal benefit and the principle of utility.”
It wasn’t a question that could possibly be answered correctly from the information he’d given. There was no way to reach that conclusion. But he looked incredibly satisfied that the students were wrong and he was right.
“As expected, you students still have a long way to go. Of course, that might be partly because I’m simply too advanced. Haha—”
Son In-hyeok continued.
“Now then, students. Let’s begin the lesson. Shall we take a look at this?”
He projected something onto the TV screen. It was packed with Arabic script.
“This is taken directly from the original text of Peter Singer, as translated in the Arab world. Let’s read this section and have a discussion, shall we?”
“...”
But the students stayed silent. Of course they did. There was no way they could read Arabic.
“Oh? No one? How disappointing. Then I’ll translate it for you myself.”
As he spoke, Son In-hyeok wore a satisfied expression. He continued spouting a long string of incomprehensible words. Looking around, it was clear not a single student understood any of it.
“What the hell is he saying?”
“No idea.”
“Ah, this is truly unfortunate. I even translated it for you, yet you can’t understand.”
Son In-hyeok clicked his tongue.
“Then I’ll translate it again. This sentence is the part where Peter Singer says that citizens of wealthy nations can be targets of aid.”
He tapped the sentence with a pointer as he spoke.
“That’s not right.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“What did you say?”
Son In-hyeok’s face twisted. He looked around at the students. To be told in front of everyone that his translation was wrong was an enormous humiliation for him.
“Can you really take responsibility for those words?”
“Of course.”
“Haha— What an interesting student. Then could you tell me which part of my translation is wrong?”
I had studied Arabic quite deeply in the past, so I could read every sentence on the screen. Many of his interpretations were off. He was probably working from a published translation of the book and pretending he had translated it himself to show off his knowledge. The problem was that even that translation contained errors.
Mail has arrived.
Son In-hyeok smirked. Every sentence he had “translated” came straight from the published version. And that version had been released by the Gilead family. There was no way it could contain errors.
He looked at Nam Doyun. I need to put this kid in his place right from the start. There was no chance a student could read Arabic. After all, there weren’t any proper places to learn it in Korea. On top of that, Arabic was practically a dead language these days. Who would bother learning it?
Son In-hyeok looked back at the sentence he had pointed out. Even he only knew basic Arabic, yet this particular sentence was too difficult for him to parse. There was no way an ordinary student could interpret it.
“Student Nam Doyun. Then what do you believe the correct translation is?”
Nam Doyun looked at the TV screen.
“Hmm… The accurate translation of this sentence would be: ‘Peter Singer believes that not all citizens living in wealthy nations are included as targets of aid.’”
“Pfft—”
Son In-hyeok barely held back the laughter threatening to burst out. Peter Singer had said that citizens of wealthy countries could be targets of aid. That was textbook knowledge. There was no need to even check whether the translation was wrong.
“Unfortunately, that is incorrect,” Son In-hyeok said.
“How do you know it’s wrong?”
“Pardon?”
“Wouldn’t you need to look at the actual Arabic to know that?”
“Well, fine. How shall we verify it then?”
“Wouldn’t sending this sentence to a professional Arabic translator solve the problem?”
“Yes. Very well. Shall we do it right now?”
Son In-hyeok quickly wrote an email and sent it. The content asked for an interpretation of the sentence.
“Then shall we wait for the reply?”
Son In-hyeok looked at Nam Doyun. Kids like this always existed—the ones who constantly challenged the teacher. You had to crush them early so they wouldn’t cause trouble later. Soon the professional translator’s interpretation would arrive, and he would use it to thoroughly crush the boy. He even planned to treat the act of contradicting a teacher as insubordination and bring it to a disciplinary committee. That way, no one would dare question his lessons again. He would make an example of the boy and stomp him thoroughly.
Ding—
Mail has arrived.
“Look, the mail is here. Shall we all read it together?”
Son In-hyeok displayed the email on the TV. It contained the professional Arabic translator’s response.
This sentence is not the section where Peter Singer stated that citizens of wealthy nations can be targets of aid. The correct interpretation is that Peter Singer believed citizens of wealthy nations are not included as targets of aid.
The reply clearly stated that Son In-hyeok’s translation was wrong and Nam Doyun’s was correct.
“T-this can’t be…”
Son In-hyeok’s face filled with shock. Had that brat’s interpretation actually been right? The translation even the Gilead family had gotten wrong—this kid had corrected it?
“What? Nam Doyun was actually right?”
“Wait, so the teacher was wrong?”
The students began murmuring among themselves. In an instant, Son In-hyeok’s face turned bright red. He quickly spoke up.
“Arabic interpretations can often be dual-natured. Of course, the interpretation Student Nam Doyun suggested is valid, but so is mine.”
He tried to salvage the situation.
“You learned today that Arabic can produce multiple interpretations, didn’t you? That was exactly what I wanted to teach you in today’s lesson. That there can be several possible translations. You learned well, yes?”
He forced a smile. But the students’ eyes were already filled with distrust.
***
After school. Ding-dong— Cha Jiyun pressed the doorbell in front of the house. It was Jeong Hayeon’s home.