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4 # Private Yehwa Kindergarten
Apparently, a five-year-old who had never even held a violin had improvised and performed an entire piece on the spot.
Anyone would dismiss such a claim as a lie.
After all, the sensible assumption would be that the child must have secretly taken private lessons or something.
But mothers' thought processes work a little differently.
Unless their child is doing something harmful to society, they will somehow end up believing that their child is a
genius...!
Kim Jin-ah's way of thinking wasn't all that different from that of ordinary mothers.
‘No wonder! He was always watching television so intently...!’
The evaluation of the kindergarten that had dared to reject her son changed in an instant.
It went from a wicked and atrocious kindergarten that had failed her son to a true educational institution capable of
recognizing her son's genius at a glance.
Even Rian's habit of watching public music broadcasts since before he could properly walk was reinterpreted as another
manifestation of his extraordinary abilities from an early age.
The moment the storm-like ten-minute phone call ended, Kim Jin-ah grabbed both of her son's chubby cheeks.
“Oh, my goodness! My baby!”
“Bwek.”
“When did you learn the violin? Hmm? Were you hiding it because you wanted to surprise Mommy?”
Rian blinked for a moment before shaking his head.
Then he selected the answer his mother would probably like best while still remaining technically truthful.
“I saw it on TV.”
“What!”
And so Rian became trapped in an endless cycle of head pats and being lifted up into the air.
‘Thank goodness I passed.’
He couldn't tell whether his ears were simply exceptionally sensitive because he'd been an elf in his previous life, or
whether his mother had turned the volume up so loudly that it was practically on speakerphone.
Either way, the result was that he'd passed.
‘...Well, I have more than a hundred years of experience playing music.’
It had been over a hundred years since he'd devoted himself to performing.
Common sense dictated that there was no way all those years of experience could be inferior to the basic level of a
five-year-old human child.
If he'd failed, it would mean either that his previous self had been a hopeless idiot who didn't even understand the
fundamentals, or that the average intelligence of the elven race was lower than that of human preschoolers.
Either possibility would have been unbearably depressing.
Anyway.
‘Maybe my name really was just chosen because it was trendy.’
For some reason, Rian felt a little disappointed.
---
Wake up early in the morning and fold his bedding.
Stand on tiptoe in front of the ridiculously high sink and wash his face.
Eat the breakfast his mother prepared.
That had been Rian's usual morning routine.
But starting today, one more thing would be added.
Putting on several layers of expensive kindergarten clothes.
Brown checkered pants, a stiff white shirt, and a beige vest worn over it.
Rian wondered why children's clothes had to be so formal, almost like the ceremonial attire of aristocratic young
masters attending a ball.
But he decided to accept it.
‘I’m still a student, after all.’
He had been reborn as a human, so following human customs was only natural.
It seemed even more foolish to cling to the habits of his previous life after being reincarnated.
The memories of his previous life were enough if he simply held on to his music and his connection with Lucy.
The moment he thought of Lucy, the mysterious lyrics of the song she'd drunkenly mumbled once came drifting through his
mind.
A strange language that wasn't the common continental language used by humans, nor the ancient tongue of the Holy
Empire, nor even the Korean language of his current life.
—I’m just walking by...
Yes.
It was exactly the same melody that was playing on the radio right now...
‘Hmm?’
His thoughts stopped dead.
Rian blinked and immediately turned toward his mother, who was behind the wheel.
“Mom, what country is this song from?”
“This one? It's an American song.”
America.
A huge country that took a long plane ride to reach.
The country printed on the alphabet worksheet stuck to the refrigerator.
“Then do only Americans speak English?”
“Hmm, no. Other countries use it too. Britain, Australia, Canada...”
Kim Jin-ah began enthusiastically unpacking her memories from her university days as though she'd been waiting for the
question, but none of her words reached Rian.
That wasn't what mattered right now.
Hadn't Lucy possibly been an American in her previous life?
Once that thought occurred to him, Rian cautiously asked another question.
“W-what do Americans look like?”
“Since they eat a lot of hamburgers, I guess they're fat?”
“...!”
While Rian was being swept away by the horrifying possibility that the adorable little hero he'd known might not have
been a little girl at all, the car had already come to a stop in front of the kindergarten.
Even after walking inside while holding his mother's hand, Rian continued staring blankly with his mouth slightly open.
“...Then, have a good day, Mother!”
“Please take good care of my son, Teacher.”
“Of course! Don't worry.”
Even as his mother waved goodbye and walked away, Rian remained completely dazed.
“I’m Teacher Lee Na-yeon, the teacher of the Study Abroad Class—no, the Haetsun Class! Can our little friend introduce
himself to everyone?”
“...Lee Rian.”
“Wow! Everyone, let's give him a round of applause!”
Only when the classroom erupted in noisy applause did Rian finally come back to his senses.
His mother had searched for Americans on her phone.
That had been the source of the problem.
That was when Rian first learned that a human could be physically larger than an ogre.
It had been the same kind of passenger car, but when an American got inside, the vehicle itself seemed to scream as its
body sank downward.
Perhaps America was actually a country founded by beastfolk hybrids.
Boar beastfolk, perhaps...
As Rian continued entertaining such horrifying thoughts, he soon scolded himself.
‘I’ve really become human.’
How could he judge someone based solely on their outward appearance?
He hadn't realized that his five years as a human had influenced him so deeply.
‘Right. No matter what I was in my previous life, Lucy is Lucy.’
Rian solemnly nodded after making up his own wild theories and reaching his own arbitrary conclusion.
That was when—
Tap.
Someone lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hiya.”
Rian turned his head and saw a tiny boy waving at him.
He was wearing the same kindergarten uniform as Rian, but unusually, his hair was reddish brown.
Rian had assumed Koreans all had black hair like dark elves.
Just as he widened his eyes in curiosity, the little boy boldly continued.
“My name is Eojin. Joo Eo-jin. I’m learning cello. Um, my mom is from Otteuria? Otteureusia? There, and my dad is
Korean.”
“Not Otteureusia. Austria.”
A girl sitting beside him chimed in with a scolding tone.
Come to think of it, she also had reddish hues scattered through her hair, just like Joo Eojin.
“What about you?”
“Lee Rian.”
“That’s my twin little sister, Joo Seo-ah. She’s learning violin. She’s also from Otteu, Ossteu—”
“Austria?”
“Right. Our mom is Austrian.”
They were siblings, so naturally they had the same parents.
Instead of pointing that out, Rian asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.
“Does Austria speak English too?”
“English? Hmm, I don't know. What Mom says is too difficult.”
After a brief silence, Joo Seo-ah, who had been quietly watching from the side, spoke again in a crisp tone.
“Austria speaks German.”
“Germany?”
“Germany is a country next to Austria. France is next to Germany, and Poland too, and, um... there are a lot. More than
twenty, probably.”
“More than twenty?”
Rian furrowed his brow.
Was there no empire in this world that ruled an entire continent?
Perhaps the countries here were divided into far smaller pieces than he'd imagined.
Just as Rian was counting on his fingers and trying to calculate the general geopolitical situation of this continent,
Joo Seo-ah pursed her lips and slipped into the seat beside him.
“You don't know much about geography, do you?”
“Because I haven't learned it?”
“Then I'll teach you!”
Rian didn't even have time to respond.
Joo Seo-ah pulled a tablet out of her bag and shoved it right in front of his face.
The tablet had a picture of a bitten apple on it.
Every time Joo Seo-ah touched the screen, it flashed brightly and produced a detailed map.
After struggling with the screen for a while, zooming in and out, Joo Seo-ah extended her stubby little finger and
tapped one particular spot.
“This is Daddy's country.”
“Oh.”
A small country surrounded by winding borders.
The Republic of Korea.
“Um, and this is Mommy's country.”
“Ooh.”
Austria, which was considerably smaller than Korea.
“This is Japan, China, Russia, America...”
The first thing Rian learned at the music kindergarten was, unexpectedly, world geography.
---
“Everyone who plays violin, why don't you come over here? Today, we're going to learn the Seitz Concerto.”
At Teacher Lee Na-yeon's call, the children began shuffling around.
At that moment, Joo Eojin raised his hand high.
“What about cello?”
“Cello students should go over there, where Teacher Kim Mi-yeon is.”
“Okaaay.”
There were ten children in the Haetsun Class, or rather, what the teachers called the ‘Study Abroad Class.’
Fortunately, there were no children with the same name.
If they'd been called things like ‘Kim Jin-seo 1’ and ‘Kim Jin-seo 2,’ like the children in the neighboring Dalnim
Class, it would have been rather miserable.
Anyway.
All nine children except Rian were carrying instrument cases roughly the size of their own bodies.
Inside were probably violins or cellos sized specifically for each child.
That's right.
On the first day of class, Rian was the only one who had arrived empty-handed, without even an instrument.
Joo Seo-ah had immediately noticed that fact with uncanny precision and approached him with a subtle look.
“You don't have a violin?”
“No.”
At Rian's indifferent answer, Joo Seo-ah's lips twitched again.
Then she turned her head slightly to the side and casually muttered, just like one of the haughty young noble ladies
he'd encountered in his previous life.
“I could lend you mine.”
“There are plenty of violins here. I can borrow one from the teachers.”
“...!”
Perhaps she'd never imagined he would refuse.
Joo Seo-ah's eyes immediately widened.
“Mine is handmade!!”
“It's okay.”
It couldn't be helped.
If it was handmade, it had probably been made specifically to fit Joo Seo-ah's small body.
In that case, using a standard model designed for general use would be much more convenient.
‘There's also something satisfying about breaking an instrument in.’
Rather than using something that had already been handled by someone else, Rian wanted to experience the pleasure of
taming a new instrument to his own preferences after such a long time.
Faced with Rian's perfectly rational judgment, Joo Seo-ah reacted just like an ordinary five-year-old.
“I don't like you!”
Joo Seo-ah whipped her head around and huffed.
She even turned her back completely.
It was practically a declaration that she wouldn't speak to him for at least thirty minutes.
Of course, Rian had 230 years of life experience under his belt.
He didn't even blink.
Instead, he grabbed Joo Seo-ah by the shoulders and turned her around, preventing her from twisting away.
Then he gave her a very gentle smile.
“Are you angry?”
“...”
She tightly bit her lip without answering.
She seemed to be more thoroughly upset than he'd expected.
But who was Rian?
He was an elf who had spent decades traveling alongside a headstrong hero who did whatever she pleased.
Not only had he comforted Lucy countless times in his previous life, but he'd also had plenty of experience calming down
noble young ladies who barged onto the stage in the middle of his performances.
‘I'll have to handle this the elven way.’
Rian sat down directly in front of Joo Seo-ah.
Then he gently cupped her small face in both hands.
He held her face still so she couldn't turn away and immediately met her gaze head-on.
In his experience, this was the point when the other person would avoid eye contact without fail.
Sure enough—
“...”
Joo Seo-ah's eyes began darting around, desperately searching for somewhere else to look.
Rian went a step further and pressed his forehead against hers.
“Look at me.”
“Ahh... uh...”
Perhaps the pressure was too much.
She even started hiccupping.
He needed to finish this quickly.
“Do you really hate me?”
Joo Seo-ah rolled her eyes around, clearly conflicted.
Then she answered in a tiny, barely audible voice.
“N-no...”
“If you don't hate someone, you shouldn't say things like that so carelessly. Okay?”
“...Mm-hm.”
Just as expected, it worked perfectly.
It was a technique that had instantly calmed even the unruly noble young ladies who used to storm onto his stage during
performances.
Why would a five-year-old girl be any different?
The strange drawback was that, for some reason, it only worked on women...
‘Thankfully, it still works after reincarnation.’
Having instantly calmed the storm that had swept through the classroom, Rian nodded in satisfaction.
Then he received a standard violin from the teacher in charge.
‘How are they going to teach us to play?’
Distinguishing between a concerto and an ensemble was simple.
If there were multiple instruments and one of them was the main character, it was a concerto.
If there wasn't a main character, it was an ensemble.
Therefore, in the Seitz ‘Concerto’ they were learning today, the violin was the protagonist.
Naturally, Rian, who had been a bard, was deeply knowledgeable about both concertos and ensembles.
‘This is my specialty.’
He was confident about it.
Even more confident than the teacher sitting over there.
Just as Rian finished thinking that, the teacher in charge of the Haetsun Class, Lee Na-yeon, opened the keyboard cover
of the piano at the front of the classroom.
[Suzuki – Violin School 4]
She handed each child a book bearing mysterious alphabetic letters.
“Why don't we all open our sheet music first?”
“...?”
Rian stared blankly down at the book he'd been given.
Was this sheet music?
It was filled with neat rows of black bean sprouts.
Rian's vision went dark!