Guide to the Education and Training of Girls with Mentally Abnormalities

Chapter 16 Using Sweetness to Scam Her

After saying goodbye to his former landlord, Kane, Edmund quietly closed the door.

New landlord?

A new landlord who can offer an "irresistible" price.

Moreover, he was one of the great nobles mentioned by Kane Holmes.

Among the neighbors in the community were many nobles like Sir Ortega, none of whom were ever referred to as "a very important nobleman" by their former landlord, Kane Holmes.

The last time I heard him use such a title was when he mentioned the family backgrounds of his students, Alicia and Eywen.

Edmund looked at Esther.

The girl sat on the sofa like a cat in a duck's pose, and as if noticing Edmund's gaze, she looked up at him.

Her eyes were clear and innocent, with long eyelashes framed by eyes as clear as a lake.

If we say that posing as a legendary adventurer to infiltrate the upper-middle class of Kalumbell City at the beginning of his transmigration was the most risky gamble he ever made in order to change his fate, then...

So.

To make Esther, a fool who has been wandering the streets and hasn't even slept on a soft bed for a full week, pretend to be a pure-blooded noble from a foreign land in front of real nobles.

Isn't this a bit too much...?

Edmund increasingly felt like a withered leaf adrift in the center of a whirlpool.

The conditions of the teaching system made the period for him to receive teaching points from Esther very long.

The long payback period also gave Edmund an excessive sense of crisis, driving him to constantly plan ahead and find a sufficiently stable anchor point for himself before the uncertain crisis arrives.

This idea, coupled with the fact that Alicia and Eyarwen had already reached the limit of Edmund's knowledge in teaching, led to this conclusion.

That's why Edmund chose to take in Esther, this "super big dummy," on that snowy night.

If all goes well, he should have ample time to nurture Esther into a "noble lady," revealing her existence at the opportune moment, binding this untapped gold mine to his side while using Esther as a shield so that Edmund can reject the "confessions and advances" of other ladies—things that would affect his earnings from training fees.

But who could have known that the change would come so quickly?

Edmund couldn't imagine the chain reaction that might occur if Esther were to expose him.

He only knew that those who dared to impersonate noblemen and gentlemen died horribly after being discovered, so horribly that no one would doubt that Edmund dared to impersonate a gentleman himself while having Esther impersonate a nobleman.

"Mr. Clemens, don't worry."

"I will stay by your side as long as you don't send me away."

Esther tilted her head, and the tuft of hair on her head bounced.

"At worst... at worst, I'll wander the streets with you. I know plenty of safe havens. With me here, no one can beat us! And if someone does try to take our place..."

The girl glanced at the black sword on the wall: "I'll use your sword to stab them. Your sword is black and sharp, so it'll be easy to pull it out once it's in. If I kill them all, we'll have somewhere to shelter from the wind."

Edmund was furious. He slapped Esther on the head, and Esther made a "whoosh" sound like a squashed rubber duck in a bathtub.

"Hey, who told you we were going to end up homeless?"

"But I've seen many people, many decent people like you, who wander the streets and then freeze to death because they can't find shelter from the wind," Esther said earnestly.

"Even if things are really that bad, can't you say something cheerful and auspicious?"

"I owe you my life, so if you're cold, I'll hold you, so even if I die, I'll die before you." Esther looked at Edmund with great seriousness, puffing out her not-so-full chest as if to unbutton her blouse. "Although I don't have much money and haven't eaten anything good, and I'm thin and might be a little rough to the touch, I'll definitely warm you up after I'm 'happy'."

"..."

Edmund didn't know what to say.

"Sometimes, I really think you're more naive than those aristocrats who spend all their time in their ivory towers stargazing."

"Hmm." Esther couldn't tell whether Edmund was praising her or insulting her. She stared blankly at Edmund without blinking, leaving only her ahoge (cowlick) drawing circles in the still room.

and many more.

More naive than a noble lady living in an ivory tower?

Esther stared blankly at Edmund, who was trying to see through everything, his eyes reflecting her own image.

Edmund stroked his chin; his stubble was slightly prickly.

The girl's delicate and pretty face and her clear, innocent expression somewhat overlapped with my memory of Alicia from our first meeting.

Similarly, naiveté that has never experienced the harsh realities of society.

Yet such qualities appeared in Esther, a girl who had once lived on the streets.

Could she really be some kind of noblewoman who just happened to be picked up by me?

But recalling the first time the two met, when Esther took off her dirty clothes, there was a scabbard inside her clothes containing a short dagger and a small knife, but the dagger and knife were nowhere to be found, and only some dried reddish-brown liquid traces remained on the scabbard.

She has killed people.

The girl in front of him clearly harbored far more secrets than he had imagined.

Edmund had never seen anyone with blood on their hands who could retain such pure innocence.

Even he himself couldn't do it.

"Sir, you've been staring at me..." Edmund had just gleaned from Esther's face some confidence and ability to "deceive" the 'great nobles', but the girl's embarrassed voice instantly ruined the atmosphere.

"I have a solution."

"Wow?!" Esther exclaimed excitedly, as if she were happy to be of use to Edmund. "Is there anything I can do, Master?"

"Don't do anything."

"Eh?"

"In a little while, you just sit on the sofa and do nothing and say nothing."

Edmund pointed to the wall directly opposite the sofa, where fine ash wood was burning in the fireplace.

"Keep your eyes fixed on the fireplace and don't look away. Pretend you don't hear or understand anything I say to her."

"hold head high?"

Edmund explained, "You can't learn the elegance and shrewdness of aristocratic speech and gestures in a short time. No matter what you do or say, people will see through your act. The only solution is to do nothing. As long as you don't speak or move, you'll look quite convincing in terms of demeanor."

"So all I have to do is play dumb?"

"No need to pretend."

Edmund nodded encouragingly.

Esther said "Oh," and did as Edmund had instructed, leaning back on the sofa, hugging a pillow, facing the fireplace quietly.

The girl, absorbed in her role, sat silently. Her calm and serene demeanor made her seem like a noblewoman who had settled in a foreign land, filled with homesickness and unease, yet had nowhere to find peace of mind. The flames in the fireplace and her silver hair, tinged with sunlight and flames, were like the family that had been reduced to ashes in her tragic past and the long, arduous journey through the wilderness.

Knock, knock.

Two soft, neither too loud nor too soft, sounds came from the door.

coming.

Edmund glanced back at the silver-haired girl 'filled with nostalgia', then strode towards the door.