1

When my father said he wanted to send a tutor to our house, I thought it would be an intelligent-looking middle-aged man. But when the said tutor showed his face, I could only stare at my mother with a look that meant “Are you serious?”

Why? Because the one who bowed to us is a boy who was probably only around twelve or thirteen like Erwin. In other words, just a kid.

"My name is Haruki Youta, I came here as a substitute for my father who has other more important duties to attend”

Though he is still inexperienced, he assures us that he is more than competent enough to teach a child like me.

After that, the boy gave two documents to my mother. One was a personal letter from his father who could not accept the job from my father because he had duty elsewhere just like his son said. And the second one was some kind of certificate that proved his son is not nobody.

I also took a peek at the documents and found out that his father was quite an important person who was on a diplomatic trip from the kingdom of Yamato located far southwest of this continent.

No wonder he couldn't come here. I should ask why my father even asked such an important person to become my teacher in the first place.

The certificate? I can't read it as it is in a different language. I bet my mother can't read it it too.

For Haruki himself, it seems he followed his father so that he could learn about the world outside his country. This job too, is one of his assignments to make him learn things or two about the wider world.

"Welcome Haruki, my name is Anneliese and this is my daughter Amelie please be her friend."

"With pleasure"

With pleasure huh? His mouth may say that. But that fake ass smile. It doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to be my friend. Not to mention, for some reason, he is looking at me like he has some kind of grudge.

We just met, what did I ever do to him to earn such ire?

"What should I teach your daughter?"

"I leave it to you."

For better or worse, my mother is uneducated. She is just a commoner who received the favor of the prince by luck after all. So the only formal education she ever received is the one she got before marrying Dad. And even that only covers the basics. That's why she doesn't know what I need to study.

I'm sure she is embarrassed to admit that even though she is the oldest among us. She is also the most uneducated. But for my sake, she did it anyway. And I'm grateful for it.

Throwing problems to an expert is always the better choice.

"But please don't forget to teach her common knowledge."

"Common knowledge? Like the hierarchy of the kingd . ."

"Ah, not like that! I think 'common sense' might be more appropriate."

"Teach her . . .Common sense?"

Excuse me!! Miss Anneliese, but I think I have plenty of common sense already. And those common sense are still in a very pristine condition too.

Don't make other people think I have some problematic personality.

"Well. . You'll know soon."

Mom, stop. Haruki even began to look at me with pity. I'm healthy in both body and mind. There's nothing wrong with me.

". . . . . ."

I tried to express my disagreement with the most intimidating look I could make. But the only reaction I got from my mother was just a smile and a gentle pat on my head.

"Amelie, can you take Haruki to his room?"

". . . . . mnnghh. . Okay."

I thought about showing a little bit of my anger by throwing a tantrum in front of her, considering that I rarely did it. But I managed to resist that temptation at the last moment. My mother did say that occasionally being playful and naughty is not a problem. However, she just recovered from her illness and is now under a lot of work. That's why I canceled the petty plan.

"Good girl!"

"Mmm..."

My mother tried to pat my head again, but this time I didn't let her and avoided her hand. But once again, that act of defiance only met with a smile and a small laugh. Before my annoyance began to rise again, I decided to grab the hand of the boy in front of me and. .

"Big brother, let me show you your room."

"Don't just casually touch me!"

Unexpectedly, he immediately brushed my hand aside and stared at me with a look that seemed to say 'Don't act too familiar'. It seems that I have become too accustomed to Erwin that I forgot that normally, you wouldn't invade someone's personal space whom you just met.

Even with Erwin, our meeting is literally us arguing. Though, the situation is a lot different.

"I'm sorry."

I looked at him with a pleading face, fully utilizing my cuteness to make him feel guilty. Ha? Did you just say I'm sly? Yes, I'm. So what? I say it's not good if I don't use my cuteness for something.

". . . Just show me the way."

And so, I escorted Haruki to his room. Since our journey couldn't be called short, I tried to talk to him. But all my efforts were in vain. Not only did he not want to answer, but during the journey, he kept looking at me with a look that seemed to say 'Can you be quiet?' and 'You're really annoying' when I tried to ask him about this and that.

It was a reaction that really made me want to punch him in the face. But since I'm the adult here, of course, I managed to restrain myself. Making our trip to his room filled with silence.

Seriously? What did I ever do to him to be treated this way?

From my interactions with Haruki for a few minutes, my impression of him almost fell to the bottom of the sea. But because when I was about to leave, he took the time to thank me, my impression of him could somehow still float in the middle. Let's hope that he is not a child with acute personality problems.

Once my task was complete, I decided not to think about the boy anymore and to shift my attention to something else.

Now that my mother is healthy again, I am no longer bound to any work and am free to do my main job as a little child. That is, playing without worrying about anything and relaxing without helping anyone.

Unfortunately, after seeing the chronic economic condition of our territory, my desire to play just vanished. How could I play around when I knew that our territory could go bankrupt at any time? Saying that it was on the verge of collapse is not even an exaggeration.

There’s not much time before we run out of money and forced to let go of many people. The mismanagement of this territory is that bad. My mum already tried her hardest, but her lack of skill is really showing.

Erwin managed to create some products that we could sell, and those objects even had a relatively high value. But even so, the economic condition of our territory is still far from being healthy. That’s why, right now I’m going to meet Erwin. . again.

"Excuse. . . me?"

After a few minutes of walking, I finally arrived at my destination. A big building near the river. Then without hesitation, I pushed the door and go in.

For some reason, I heard the sound of a bell coming from above me. And when I looked up, I found an iron tube swaying back and forth above my head.

"I told you not to carelessly come in, didn't I? This place is dangerous"

We are currently inside the newly reconstructed workshop. Together with some of my slaves, our old blacksmith, and one or two men from the neighboring village, Erwin decided to expand his workshop so that he could produce parts for his inventions. And at the moment, it seems that they are making drill bits as spare parts for the manual drill that we are selling.

"I just saw this bell. . Who. ."

"Amelie!"

"Did you. ."

"Amelie!"

I want to divert Erwin's attention from my actions, but it seems like he already knows my trick.

"Sorry. I will try not to do it again."

Today is not the first time I casually entered this place. And today is also not the first time I've been warned by Erwin. There are many dangerous objects in this place, so I understand why he doesn't want me to enter randomly. The bell that rang earlier may also be something he created to notify him if someone come in.

"Really?"

"Of course... I'll try."

Logically, I understand. But all I can do is try. There’s this weird thing that made me for one reason or another become quite forgetful.

Usually, the more you grow up the more you forget stuff from your past. But in my case, the more I grow, the more I remember about my past. And at times, these memories were kinda overwhelming and made me forget about things.

And yes, I haven’t talked about this with Erwin. I’m kinda. . . scared of the implication.

"Fine. . . everyone, let’s take a break"

“Hey. . . why are you dismissing them? I want to see”

"There's nothing to see, we are just doing the usual… I also want to talk about something"

After that, Erwin took me to a wooden bench not far from his workshop, and because he seemed to want some privacy. He signaled everyone to take a break elsewhere. There are not many good places to rest aside from this spot around us, so I apologize to everyone before they go.

As soon as we are alone, Erwin immediately opened the conversation with a topic I didn't want to hear.

"Amelie, I think we need to take drastic action."

Currently, almost all the profits we get are used to subsidize the expansion of our agricultural land. Making the income from our new business, in general, has little impact on our economic situation.

Actually, just like any infrastructure projects, the costs we estimate always end up over budget. It makes the money we have to pour into the project increase and increase at every step.

And that still holds true even if I don't pay anyone working on the project. We still need to spend money on equipment, seeds, and of course, their daily consumption.

"I understand that we need more money, but what kind drastic actions you are talking about?"

If we run out of money, I plan to just postpone the project. I understand that everything would become a big waste of time and money, considering we have already invested a lot. But it's better we cut our losses quickly rather than fall into the sunk cost fallacy trap.

"I think it's time we increase our productivity, unfortunately. . . ."

Because the machines in our workshop depend on Erwin. Our production of lighters and drills cannot be increased. And even if by some miracle we could do it, our distribution channel that depends only on Jonas also limits how many items we can sell.

"I think we need another partner and a way to increase productivity without adding more people."

He wants to say that he needs to make power tools.

"So, what's your opinion? Amelie."

Stopping the agricultural expansion project, adding to unemployment, and returning to dependence on imported foodstuffs from another territory.

Or.

Letting Erwin make power tools and expand production while hoping they don't attract the attention of greedy people with bad intentions toward us.

"Aaaaa. . . this is dizzying, what do you think Erwin?"

"Hey, I'm asking for your opinion."

"Ugh. . . ."

2

Yesterday, Erwin and I discussed our future plans almost all day. But until the night came, we still hadn't found a way to make money safely and comfortably without having to use too many of Erwin's cheats. Or at least, without attracting too much attention and questions.

However, even though we had worked overtime and scribbled so much in my notebook until midnight. Good ideas still refused to come.

Hence, in the morning. My eyes were still sticky and my body felt heavy. Staying up late and a young child's body is very incompatible. But even though it wasn't a good idea, I think I'll be staying up late again tonight.

I yawned widely, a sign that my body was still lacking rest. But I couldn’t just lazying around because today we had a lot to do. Erwin and I planned to go to the nearest city for market research by hitching a ride on Jonas's horse-drawn carriage in the noon.

"Aaaaanghhmmmm. . ."

While yawning widely, I walked toward the back of my house to wash my face. A few weeks ago, Erwin and his team made a water tub at the well in the back of the house. So even without a servant, I could get water without having to fill and carry the wooden buckets first.

Not long after, I arrived at the area near the well, and as I moved closer towards it, I found a neatly dressed Haruki . . . also washing his face.

". . . . ."

". . . . ."

Our eyes met.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Aaa. . . .mm. . ."

I thought he was going to comment on my appearance and say something that made me want to slap his face, but he didn't. He just moved slightly to the side and lifted his chin towards me, indicating for me to wash my face in the spot next to him.

"Thank you."

I stood next to him and took water from the half-filled tube, which was difficult because of my height. And then, as if wanting to make a joke out of my misery, the handle of the dipper I used suddenly broke and fell into the water.

". . . ."

I want to try taking it, but Haruki lightly kicked my leg.

"Hah...hmm..."

Haruki handed me his water-filled dipper.

"Thank you."

I tried to reach for it, but once again, it seemed that someone had a hobby of watching me struggle. I accidentally bumped into it and . Haruki immediately gave me a look that seemed to say “Are you picking a fight?”

"Sorry."

"Mnghh, just stay there!"

He said it so seriously that I reflexively just nodded at his command. Then, as he saw that I’m not resisting, he took back the dipper and filled it to the brim. After that, he began washing my face with his hands.

"Mmm...I can do it myself."

"I said stay still!"

Having someone else wash my face wasn't a new experience, but it was usually either my servant or my mother doing it. And they did it carefully, unlike this boy. My nose and cheeks really hurt. He was literally kneading my face like someone making bread dough. Of course, I tried to resist and push him away, but alas I’m so weak my struggle is futile.

"Okay, done!"

As soon as he released my face, I immediately backed away from him. Then I didn't forget to show my anger towards him, but because there were a few tears that came out. All I could show him was the face of a little child who looked like she was about to cry.

"..."

Aghhh...

Now he's looking at me with pity.

I don't care anymore, I want to leave. What he squeeze was not just my cheek, but also my dignity.

"Wait!"

I tried to run, but he easily caught up to me. To be on guard, I placed my hand on my cheek ready in case he would squeeze them again.

". .What?"

"We are starting today, be ready at the second bell in the living room."

". . . . fine."

"Good."

After that, he left.

But after he left. . .

“Wait. . .”

I remember that I already have a prior arrangement with Erwin.

“What should I do?. .”

3

"I challenge you to a duel."

"Huh?"

No, that’s not me asking for a duel. But Haruki. And everything started a few minutes ago.

Initially, I asked Erwin to inform Haruki that I already had prior plans with him in my place. I thought that if he talked with someone his age, he would at least listen and not just dismissed our plan as just wanting to go out and play.

Erwin even goes as far as explaining our economic situation in detail to convince him to let me go with him. He explained that we need to do something and that if we didn’t go today, our next chance is half a month later when Jonas come again. Which we can’t do because we are literally running out of time.

But the only reply Erwin gets is.

“Just leave it to the adults, her job is to study”

Which is very logical advice.

“Not to mention, what can you two even do? Being a nuisance?”

It was very logical If we are not here, in this small territory called Tagave that only has my mum taking care of it. It was exactly because there was no adult we can depend on that we need to resort to doing things by ourselves.

“She needs to study, true.. . but what can you even teach her?”

Now it’s Erwin’s turn to flare up. As someone who knows my background, he is sure that even compared to adults. I’m academically better. That’s why he thinks that Haruki has nothing to teach me.

“I bet she’s smarter than you anyway”

Haruki flared up and pulled Erwin closed to him.

“What did you say?”

Being told that he is dumber than a 6-year-old girl immediately makes him explode. Which is very understandable. Imagine being told stupid by actual stupid people. I bet you will be angry too. But. .

"I'm not trying to belittle you brother Haruki, but honestly! you're no match for Erwin! Let's settle this peacefully"

“Amelie!. . . .”

“Aaa. . . . wops”

Even Erwin who is being emotional realized that I just screwed up. I can close my mouth, but I can’t take back the words I said. The words that just pour oil into the fire are called Haruki’s anger.

"You. . . I don’t want to be told that by you!"

Well, fair enough. I’m after all the weakest of the three. But seriously though, you are no match for Erwin. He may be the same age as you, but he has more fighting experience than you. He is, after all, a former soldier in his past life. Not to mention, he also has the blessing of god in the form of a special ability that gives him a literal superpower.

Looking at how confident you are, I’m sure you have learned martial arts or two. But so is Erwin.

I couldn’t see any future where you are winning against him.

“I know, but let’s not do this”

Your feeling may hurt, but that’s still better than your body hurting.

"Shut Up!"

“. . .”

“. . .”

I and Erwin looked at each other. Both of us feel that no matter what we say, nothing would come through. Should I call my mother? But I feel this guy would make just make some excuse to justify his duel. Not to mention, if an adult interferes it would only lead to a deeper grudge anyway.

I’m sure everyone has experienced being forced to apologize to someone even though you don’t feel you are doing something wrong at least once. If I involve my mother, this too would become like that.

"What do you think, Erwin?"

I don’t know what to do. He isn’t stupid, he has a competency to teach others. The documents show as much. So I’m sure he is smart, but for some reason, he just simply refuses to listen to us.

"Fine, I accept your challenge"

In noble culture, duels are not something we are unfamiliar with. If two parties can no longer use words to solve their problems and they can't compromise, they can settle it with a duel. Because duels cannot be represented by anyone, that method of problem-solving is rarely used. But even so, duels are even included in a part of Amteric's law.

"Great! Now to the back!"

Neither I nor Erwin wants to solve our problem with violence. But it seems like we really have no other choice. Let’s cool his head down with some fists.

"Are you ready?"

Not long after, we arrived at the back of my house. If it’s here, we wouldn’t disturb anyone.

"Of course."

Both of them take their position. After that, they assume stances with the opposite fundamentals. Showing a striking difference in the focus of fighting styles between Yamato and Amteric.

The standard fighting stance from Amteric is both hands ready in front of the chest and slightly under it, positioned as wide as the shoulder. This is to take advantage of Amteric people's natural posture that on average, is bigger than people from another place.

Punch fast, punch hard, and win.

It was simple, there’s no trick. Just pure raw power straight into the enemy's face.

On the other hand, Haruki put one of his hands in front of his body in a position level with his shoulder. While his other hand is put on the side ready to strike when there’s a chance. Showing that his focus is to parry the enemy attack, study it, and then strike back.

Well, at least according to Erwin. When we talk, sometimes the topic would wander around. That martial arts talk is just one of them.

"The duel ends when someone surrenders or can no longer continue, injuring the face, throat, solar plexus, and groin is prohibited”

With no other people besides us, I’m forced to become the referee.

“Do you understand?"

Both of them nod.

"Ready? . . . . . . . Start!!"

Erwin immediately threw a quick punch towards Haruki's shoulder, though his palm is open to form a claw to grab his opponent’s body. He wanted to end the duel by immobilizing Haruki's movements.

"..."

That attack surprised Haruki. At first, he tried to parry and redirect Erwin’s attack with his hand. But he decides to change course and just dodge Erwin’s punch, avoiding the attack in the nick of time.

"Not bad."

It’s not saracsm, Erwin is honestly impressed. Even among his peers in the school, upperclassmen included. Not many people can avoid his first attack. The basic teaching of Amteric’s martial art is to subdue your opponent in a single attack. So the first attack is always the strongest and fastest. It was his all-out attack, and Haruki manage to dodge it.

"..."

Haruki put on a calm face, but even I can understand from that one attack alone he only barely managed to avoid it.

That should show that Erwin is above him. But, even after realizing the gap between their skill. Haruki is still not giving up.

"Haaa!!"

Haruki countered, but his desperate attack achieve nothing.

"Too obvious."

And as I suspected, Erwin easily dodged the attack.

But Haruki's attack wasn't over yet. Using the momentum from his punch, Haruki quickly turned his body and unleashed another punch toward Erwin's waist. But once again, it achieve nothing because it was easily blocked. But even that didn’t dissuade Haruki from trying to attack again, he lowered his body trying to sweep Erwin's legs with his kick.

But. . .

"I told you it was too obvious!"

Erwin leaned back and used his left foot as an anchor before pivoting his body to deliver a kick to Haruki's leg. Both of them ended up hitting each other’s shin. Making me flinch.

That looks hurt.

"Tricks from books won't work on me."

What Haruki was attempting to do was a basic martial arts trick - distract with a flashy attack, sweep the opponent's legs, and then deliver a heavy blow. However, even if you know what to do, countering at the right time is not something an ordinary person can easily accomplish.

After that, they attack and defend back and forth. Haruki still holds his ground, but once again. Even I who doesn’t know martial arts can see that the boy is being dominated on both fronts, physically and technique-wise.

"Besides, haven't you been breaking the rules this whole time?"

"Which rule?"

Answer Haruki.

"Don't play me! Amelie!"

He stared straight at me looking for confirmation.

"I’m sorry Erwin, but Haruki didn’t break any rule"

Or more precisely, he hadn't broken any rules yet.

"Huh?"

You are immediately disqualified if you attack any part that I mentioned before the match. But as long as someone isn’t actually hurt, no one can be disqualified.

"Did you hear that? I haven't broken any rules."

What Haruki does is use his own head as a shield. If Erwin’s fist ever connected to Haruki’s face, he may win the battle but he will lose the duel by disqualification.

"Heh… you're clever."

Finding out that he can’t fight Erwin fairly. Haruki is using the loophole to resist Erwin’s domination. It’s dirty and unfair, but just like Erwin says. It was clever.

And so, Erwin's toughest battle began that day.

Erwin accepts the duel to teach the boy a lesson. But right now, we are the ones being taught a lesson.

The reason for the duel may be petty. But the duel itself is far from it. I underestimated Haruki too much. Not only he is not giving up the fight, but he is also using every clever trick to even the fight with a clearly superior opponent. That spirit, even makes me want to honestly cheer for him.

Not to mention, he is actually pretty strong. In terms of raw power or technique. He isn’t that far behind Erwin. His strength, reflexes, and movements show that he is clearly working hard for it and even now he is still learning on the fly. Not to mention, the fact that he can hold out this long told us that . . . .

"You also have magic, huh?"

Erwin wanted to end their duel fast, but attacking Haruki was almost the same as walking into a minefield because the boy literally used his head and body as a shield. If Erwin made a wrong move, he would knock down the boy. Resulting in his loss.

Erwin realized that his weakness was being exploited. His desire not to hurt Haruki was used as a weapon. He realized that their duel was already tainted by Haruki's trickery. But even so, he couldn't hate his opponent because he had to admit it. The fight was fun.

For the longest time, every fight is either he getting pummeled by a far stronger opponent from his father’s personal guard or he steamrolled his fight with his schoolmate. Never he is in a close match like this.

I couldn’t read his mind, but his expression showed all his emotion. I mean, he was blatantly smiling.

Haruki's strategy was valid and effective. In a real fight, you have to be able to use everything you have. Especially if your opponent is better than you in everything. Making Erwin realize that he needed to be more flexible in his fighting.

Not to mention. Not everyone can imitate Haruki's strategy. To do so, you need to have the courage to literally sacrifice your face to be hit by the enemy. One mistake and you could get seriously injured. And Erwin admired that courage.

Also, besides courage, Haruki also needed one other important thing to make his strategy work.

Haruki had to believe in Erwin's skill. He had to believe that Erwin would be able to stop his attack at the last moment.

All of that makes this duel become something more. It was their way to communicate and deepen their bonds.

Goddam, isn’t this the very sample of the “rival becomes friend” plot?

"Time to end this."

If they were practicing, Erwin didn't mind fighting Haruki longer. But unfortunately, his schedule was tight today and he needed to finish their duel quickly.

"Have you given up?"

Asked Haruki.

“In a sense, yeah. . .”

Erwin looks at Haruki with a serious expression. Indicating that he didn't want to play around anymore. This time, he would make a straightforward tackle without any tricks or techniques. If he won, he would teach Haruki to be more flexible. But if he lost, he would be the one to start being flexible with his plan.

"Come!"

Said Haruki with an expression that was no less serious.

Haruki and Erwin took their positions, then quickly ran towards each other. If they collided head-on like that, Erwin would definitely win since he is both faster and bigger. But if I know such a simple thing, of course, Haruki would know about it too.

Which means, he got some trick to his sleeve.

As they got closer, Haruki stopped his movement and let Erwin push him. But at the same time, he hugged the other’s boy body. And with the help of the momentum from Erwin’s tackle. He jumped to his back while twisting his body, flipping their position.

"What the. . . ."

Even I don’t know what to say.

"I win, which means you have to follow my schedule! Got it?"

Yeh, he won. Haruki locked Erwin’s joint and made him unable to move. I’m supposed to be the referee, but I’m busy being awed by his move. I mean, that move is just so cool I can’t help smiling while clapping at him.

Come on, it was amazing. He is just like that ninja in a green tracksuit. How can I not be amazed? It was so cool.

"Okay"

Whether it was me or Erwin, we didn't like the fact that our plan had gone awry. But after seeing how hard Haruki had tried, we can’t help but accept his demand.

4

With both Amelie and even Erwing praising him to the moon. It was no wonder that his pride soared through the outer space. That sense of pride continued to soar until half an hour later, all of that pride came crashing down with a loud bang.

Haruki slammed the table in front of him hard. So hard that he felt a little pain in his hand. But instead of his hand, there was another part of him that felt even more painful.

His pride. Or more precisely, his self-worth.

From the time he could start remembering things. Everyone had called him a genius who was only born once every hundred years. And even though at first he didn't care too much about what others thought of him. Over time, the stigma that many people often attached to him began to take root inside his heart. Making him slowly believe that he was indeed a genius, great, and special.

Of course, the praises Haruki received from those around him were not entirely unfounded. And Haruki's somewhat inflated ego was a normal thing for someone his age. After all, he had worked hard to achieve his accomplishments, and receiving little praise here and there was nothing to be concerned about.

However, his father was someone with a rather troublesome personality. He was the type of person who enjoyed bullying people he liked or found interesting. If you acted smart in front of him, he would continuously give you problems that required you to use your brain to solve them. If you acted strong, he would create problems that could only be solved physically. And if you acted like someone who could do anything, he would throw all sorts of challenges at you, like a god testing the loyalty of his followers.

His life is full of trials.

"Ah... I'm such an idiot."

Haruki's father felt that his son's education in their own country was no longer adequate. It wasn't that the quality was poor, but Haruki needed to learn some other thing. Even with his spartan training, it was still not enough.

As long as he doesn't have a rival or friend to fight, his son’s growth would be stunted, he thought.

His son needed a broader perspective, which is why he brought Haruki to a lot of places. Amteric included. He even enrolled him in its most prestigious school. Which turned out to be a big disappointment.

Fortunately, he heard the news of two genius children being expelled from the school due to political reasons. And even more luckily, one of them is the child of his acquaintance.

Without hesitation, he decided to take the job and instructed his son to become their tutor with a little bit of provocation. That provocation was so effective that it even made Haruki dislike his disciples even before meeting them.

"Ahahaha...the world is truly vast."

Haruki said this with eyes that looked like dead fish.

"Are you okay, big brother?"

Amelie asked with a worried tone, feeling that something had just broken in the young man's head. Not only did his hostile aura suddenly disappear, but she also felt that his spirit is kinda deflated.

"Don't worry."

The first thing he did is give Erwin and Amelie a test to see how competent they are. The test given by Haruki was filled with questions from various categories and levels. From something basic to questions about things that were still abstract concepts to himself.

But what he got was the fact that it was his own competence that needed to be questioned.

His father had already told him that they were not ordinary kids, so he was not surprised at all when they could easily solve basic and medium-level questions. What surprised him was the fact that Erwin and Amelie had just casually created a new formula for this and that.

Erwin and Amelie could not answer all the questions Haruki gave them, but the one they could answer. All of them contained details that even Haruki could not imagine.

Haruki thought that Erwin was only a genius in martial arts, but the boy was far from being stupid. For some reason, he not only mastered physics, a category of science that had just been recognized by his country but also knew things that many researchers in his country had not even begun to think about, such as the relationship between magnetism and electricity.

Then there was Amelie. The child who had not even reached six years of age had, for some reason, not only mastered but also had the capacity to explain economic concepts that Haruki could not imagine before. If someone said that Amelie came from the future, Haruki would easily believe it.

"Erwin? What are you doing? Don't do anything strange."

"I should be the one saying that! What did you write on your answer sheet? You didn't write anything weird, did you?"

Haruki heard Erwin and Amelie blaming each other for causing his change of attitude. And that made him really angry, not because of the noise they were making, but because both of them were not aware that they were both not normal.

"Quiet!"

They both immediately went silent and turned their attention to Haruki.

"Good, now listen to me carefully."

"Yes."

"Yes."

They answered in unison. After that, Haruki took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then, after waiting for a few moments, he bowed his head and said...

"I'm sorry for everything. Please forgive me!"

Haruki is a smart kid, but his smarts are still around kids his age. If someone studies as hard as him, everyone can be as smart as him. That was his newly founded understanding.

He is someone who is good at many things, but not a genius whose special abilities are so great as he can be called a genius. He used to have the delusion that he was special, but once he saw what Amelie and Erwin could do. He realized that he was just an ordinary person, someone normal. Haruki doesn't have anything special, something that is only special to him.

In other words, he has no reason to feel arrogant, he has no right to be arrogant about his own abilities. Because his abilities are actually just ordinary.

"Of course, I forgive you, big brother!"

"Hm... after losing to you, I understand that I still have a lot to learn"

Erwin and Amelie were surprised by Haruki's change of heart. But if he is changing for the better. They have nothing to complain about. From the duel, both of them understand that Haruki is actually a good honest kid. In addition, after working on the quiz given by Haruki, they finally realized that they still needed to learn a lot about the world they were in.

For example, they didn't even know that most of the food they got was not locally produced in Amteric but imported from other countries and shipments from their farthest territories. They also learned that most of the Amteric nobles did not want to start agricultural businesses in their territories because the industry was considered a "lowly job" and much more.

Until now, they had been trying to build a business without knowing anything and just hoping that their shots would hit something and they could succeed. But if they had more knowledge, they could make more concrete plans, and their chances of success would be much greater.

They felt that Haruki's presence might be the key to solving their problems.

"Thank you, I still need a lot to learn too! But I will gladly help you both."

At first, he doesn’t know what Amelie’s mother means when she asks him to teach her daughter common sense. But now he understands what they needed. And yes, common sense is one of them.

"That’s why from now on, let me become your observer"

Amelie asked what Haruki meant.

"It means. . . I will follow your schedule and pla. . . "

Erwin interrupted before Haruki finished his words.

“Sigh, observer? Seriously? Let’s just be friends!”

Erwin and Amelie looked at each other and smiled. It seemed like they had just gained a new ally in their struggle. A powerful one at that. But the way he said it doesn’t sit well with them. Hence, the two of them said. . .

"Welcome to the family"

Haruki isn’t just a teacher someone hired, but also a friend and more importantly a family.

Haruki's father once said that when you teach someone, in turn, you will also be taught something by that person, whether intentionally or not. And Haruki was sure that the two people in front of him would give him lessons that he could not get anywhere else.

He didn't know what his gifts is. But, He will keep looking at it. Something that he can confidently say, he was the best at.

That day, the two of them decided to continue their initial plan to conduct market research while dragging Haruki along with them. And that day, Haruki realized that his hidden talent was far from academic matters.

It was a talent that would later earn him the nickname "Bleak Knight" in the future.