49. A Kind of Drama
49. A Kind of Drama
"Noah, that part, the interpretation isn't that...."
"There's no big problem. It's not the part you pointed out, but the interpretation of the following part that's the issue. The first part can actually be seen as interpreted quite well and directly."
"...You need to do the first part well too, so it connects to the back part!"
"As long as the result works out, it's fine. There's no reason to scold me too much for the part I did well."
"......."
"......."
There were four people in the house; two were noisy, and two were quiet.
Though their positions were different.
What they were thinking was probably similar.
Teenage boys and girls.
Among them, if teenage boys just lived thoughtlessly according to instinct, teenage girls, on the contrary, were quite picky and troublesome.
It doesn't mean they're bad, just that it's like that.
The feeling that men live a bit more carelessly and women are a bit more complex... I had realized that too.
Having lived both a life as a man and a life as a woman, I understood it even better.
"......."
"......."
Noah was sitting between the two, and I was in the middle of bringing snacks.
We looked at each other and observed the girls on both sides.
The trivial argument was still ongoing, and Noah had a troubled look in his eyes.
After all, it was difficult for a boy to stop girls from acting like that.
"Now, everyone stop for a moment. Have some snacks and calm down. I understand your desire to help Noah study, but this is my house, okay?"
"Ah...."
"...Okay."
I stepped in to help.
Today, it wasn't just one person; Noah's childhood friend, Iris, was here too.
The house was noisier than usual.
The reason it turned out like this is that they are doing this to study for the midterm exam before having a serious talk about the kids' quest tomorrow.
As the expression goes, there wasn't much time left until the midterm exam.
Everyone had no choice but to be busy because of studying.
"Kids, how is the studying going?"
"I think I'll do better than last semester."
Somehow, it felt like I was watching a kind of drama right in front of my eyes.
Honestly, it feels like I've seen way too many interesting things in this life compared to my past life.
Is it really difficult to compare creative works with real-life situations?
I did watch dramas and movies, and read webtoons and web novels in my past life, though.
"Then that's a relief. The midterm exam is starting soon. Everyone needs to study while managing your condition, okay?"
"Since they are teaching me like this, I'll definitely do well."
"Noah has also studied much harder this semester than last time. He'll do well without any big problems."
Seeing it in person felt a bit different.
The fresh youth was so close that it was almost tiring.
It was such a lively sight.
I ended up taking care of the kids surrounding Noah, but personally, I liked it quite a bit because it wasn't boring.
Since I opened the convenience store at the academy, I had spent my time quite boringly.
Although the goal of this life was to live comfortably.
Still, living like this was at least a little better than just repeating working and getting off work.
"Katrina, but this part...."
"Noah, I'll teach you. What part are you curious about?"
"I'm enough to teach him, aren't I?"
"Young-ae-nim, you don't have to do that. You're busy filling in your own weak points this time, right?"
"I've already finished organizing that part, so it's fine."
...Although it's a situation where three kids have ended up in my house studying.
Compared to the days when I always spent time alone after getting off work.
Except for the times when Vivian came to visit, I always lived at home like an elderly person living alone.
"Ah, so that's it. Hmm... I understand."
"Hehe, see? It's better when I teach you, right? Iris, maybe it's because he's interested in magic, but he teaches it too difficultly, doesn't he?"
"Both are helpful."
"Hmph, is that so?"
The noisy time like now was also fun in its own way.
Of course, Noah, who was in the middle, looked a little tired every time the two girls acted enthusiastically.
What can you do?
It was practically something he brought upon himself.
In Katrina's case, I brought her, but Iris ended up here because Noah himself talked about it.
"Sajang-nim, by the way, why do you live alone?"
"Huh?"
"You're so pretty, and you have a house like this. I was wondering if you don't date or anything!"
"It's just that I'm not really interested in dating. There's nothing particularly inconvenient about it, and I don't have any thoughts of wanting to do it."
"Ehh... really? You must be super popular, though?"
"I don't pay much attention to that."
"Gasp... That's super cool."
"Iris, you who say that, aren't you popular too? You're cute and pretty. Why don't you date?"
"Hehehe... that is... Hehe."
I asked back naturally, and she avoided answering with a laugh.
Even the way she subtly glanced at Noah.
She was a very easy-to-read girl.
If I had to compare, should I say she's a girl who feels much more innocent than Katrina?
Although the noble girl next to her also tended to reveal things easily.
This one was even worse at hiding things.
That was a sight fitting for her age, so it was heartwarming.
"Noona, since you're letting us use this space, is there anything you need us to do?"
"Something for you to do?"
"Yes, like moving heavy objects or something like that. Other than that, if there's anything else you need to ask... I thought it would be good to repay you that way."
Somehow the conversation drifted from studying, and they ended up talking to me.
It was definitely for Noah's studying.
Since they had already been studying for an hour or two.
It must be about time for everyone's concentration to break.
"I don't think there's anything in particular for you to do."
"...Is that so."
"Yeah, in the first place, there's no reason to have heavy things in the house, right? Even for food ingredients, I don't buy them by the box, so that's even more the case."
"Ah."
"And I do housework every day, right? In the first place, what kind of adult would make a kid like you do work? If you're grateful, just buy some stuff at the convenience store later."
I said that because there really wasn't anything in particular to make them do.
Actually, even if there was something I needed help with.
I probably wouldn't make the kids do that kind of work anyway.
In the first place, I wasn't really physically weak, and I was at an average level, right?
"Hmm.... Ah, speaking of work. Since everyone seems to be taking a break from studying anyway, shall we talk about the quest?"
"Ah, shall we?"
"That's good. It was getting a bit boring."
"...I think that would be good too."
Since the conversation had drifted anyway, I decided to just talk about something else entirely.
Because one of the reasons they gathered here today was about the quest.
It would be fine to put aside the midterm exam studying for a moment and move on to other topics.
"Last time, you caught a Kobold party. Let's talk about that time. Can everyone tell me the difficult points and easy points from then?"
"Maybe because I held the shield, it was comfortable to block in front and attack. And while I was blocking, it was comfortable because Iris cleaned up the enemies well with magic."
"Ah, like Noah said, thanks to the shield, there was something blocking, so I could cast spells comfortably!"
"Because they drew attention from both sides, I was able to attack other monsters comfortably."
"Hmm... Overall, you're talking about how others became comfortable while Noah drew attention. Then, in the end, can we think that Noah is at the center of the party? Actually, Noah supported the front firmly as the vanguard. And the other two attacked comfortably, right?"
A party of 3 people, basically there are two vanguards... but there was a difference between those vanguards.
One is Noah, who holds a sword and also doubles with a shield.
The other is Katrina, the spear wielder.
Actually, if they were active as a one-person party, both would be fine, but when based on a 3-person party, Noah, who held the shield, had no choice but to be focused on more.
From the enemies' perspective, he's the guy who blocks them from attacking properly.
From the allies' perspective, he's a good comrade who makes attacking comfortable.
However, this could simultaneously feel like it meant there was a problem with defense if you exclude Noah.
Because it means they can't attack comfortably when Noah isn't there.
There was a need to solve this part a little bit.
But it wasn't something immediately necessary.
"First of all, since you solved the last Kobold request simply. Let's go with catching Kobolds like last time."
"Isn't that too simple?"
"I don't think there will be a difference...."
"Instead, this time, it's not catching a Kobold party, but catching a Kobold colony."
Therefore, I recommended a slightly different quest to the little adventurers.
They were familiar enemies.
They were enemies they easily defeated last time.
But there would be a much larger number of enemies than then, and as the number increased, it would inevitably be trickier.
"A colony?"
"Yeah. A colony, let's aim to clear out a group of Kobolds that's several dozen strong. If you go to the guild, it will definitely be there."
Besides, since it's a party of only three.
They needed to get more used to quantity battles.
Kobolds might be easily solved, but someday they will meet guys much harder than Kobolds.
They also need to realize how to respond to numbers much larger than themselves.
Especially since they need to know how to respond when attention is drawn to them, not Noah?
Although they are aiming for Silver Rank, it's difficult to only do difficult quests from the start, so I thought it would be good to start teaching them one by one from the basics on purpose.