Scholar Kleeb watched as Adam read through the list he had made. It wasn’t as comprehensive as he could have created, but it would hopefully answer many of the simpler questions the boy had. Admittedly, the answers to those questions would bring even more in return, but he was looking forward to how many the nanny came up with. The number, direction, and content of the questions the boy returned with would tell him much about what he was specifically looking for, as well as how interested he was in the topics.
In spite of his current circumstances, Davis Kleeb was actually a brilliant man. His gambling addiction was his only true vice, and he was well aware of the weakness it showed of his character. In hindsight, it was more of a weakness than he had believed it to be. He had shown the properly respectful attitudes to the duke when he had been instructed by the man, but he had a great deal of suspicion regarding his current situation. The absence of proof didn’t mean that the duke hadn’t been responsible for his fall from grace, and subsequent enslavement. Debt slavery wasn’t the worst that could happen, but it was certainly many steps down on the ladder for his life.
That being said, teaching was the purpose of his life, so he would have to dedicate himself to doing the best that he could. That didn’t mean that he was going to ignore the possibility of having been tricked into slavery instead of hired for the job. For the near future he would limit his vengeance to doing better for the nanny than he would for the duke’s actual children. As for the time to come? Well, he would certainly learn many things of interest in the years ahead of him. Teaching skills were surprisingly effective at helping him to learn as well.
His reminiscing on his new lifestyle was interrupted by Adam raising his head. Before the boy could ask the questions he saw on his face, Davis went ahead and answered them. “The books on the top half of that list can be found over there on the shelves,” he said, gesturing to where they resided, “and should be read during class. As for the rest, they can be found in the library. I won’t be assigning those particular books to anyone else for quite some time, so you should be able to get access to them whenever it is convenient for you outside of class time. The rest of your lesson plan should be fairly simple to follow. Questions?”
Shaking his head, Adam answered. “Uh, no. Thank you. I’ll get started tonight.” He made to get up, but was stopped by the tutor raising a hand.
“Before you go, we need to talk about the kids.”
Adam settled himself back in his seat, a slightly irritated look on his face while he rubbed at his eyes. He took a deep breath, letting it go after a moment. His eyes opened again, focusing on the Scholar. “OK. What about the kids?”
Kleeb was writing in his little book again, but he was looking at Adam. Apparently he could write without needing to look at things, a useful skill for a Scholar the boy thought, although he was uncertain if it was a system skill, or just something the man had learned how to do over the years. The man smiled, saying, “I’ve been told that they will be under your care, so I presume you know them well.” It was a question phrased as a statement.
“Not really. I have only met them on two occasions, neither of which lasted long.”
A slight widening of the man’s eyes showed his surprise, enhanced by the writing stopping. Silence reigned for a moment, before the man caused the book and pen to vanish. He leaned back in his chair, one hand stroking his chin. Adam thought that was a gesture reserved for those with beards, but it still fit the scholar. When the man spoke his voice was quiet, as though he was speaking to himself. “Really? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. The man didn’t strike me as caring about anything but results.” He continued speaking, but his voice was too quiet to be heard.
Eventually, Scholar Kleeb focused on Adam once again, restarting their conversation. “Well, you will have your work cut out for you there.”
Adam smirked. “With the one attempting to starve himself to death, or the one who keeps stabbing me?”
The man chuckled. “Both I should imagine. And while neither of those things is good, there is far worse to both of them.” His entire demeanor changed in a moment, from jovial, kindly, old man to that of a fierce protector. His words came stronger, faster, but with a lower volume that made Adam strain to hear them. “Classes like yours often come with skills that influence the children in more positive ways. If or when you get one of those skills you should notice a number of things that are wrong with those two, and, more importantly, why they have the issues they do.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Adam simply nodded. While Mother didn’t fit into the class types the man believed he had, it most likely was even more influential on children than the man assumed. Certainly the skills he already had would tell him far more than he really wanted to know about the duke’s children. He shuddered briefly, remembering the dream that wasn’t. Jay’s life was horrible, but he also had the feeling that the lives of Marcus and Abigail weren’t much better in terms of emotional pain and turmoil. If his skills took him on those journeys like it did with Jay he was uncertain how he would react. Even now, he was constantly fighting against the need to chase down the street boy and hug him until everything was better.
“I’ve worked with a lot of noble children over the years, and those two are the farthest gone that I have ever seen. They’ve all had problems, things wrong with how they thought or behaved. Every time I attempted to figure out why, the answer was found in the same place: the parents. That’s not to say that all nobles, or their children, are monsters, but significantly more than is acceptable. It’s not the fault of the children, they are too young to know the difference. None of them are well behaved, but these two…?” His voice trailed off as he shook his head. He took his time focusing again, as he contemplated the people he had worked with, the children he had helped.
“Anyways, unlike all of those other jobs, I am likely to be here for some time. Normally I am only employed for a year or so with a particular child, enough to get them on the right track, and then a few checkups over the next couple years.” He rubbed a thumb against his chest, the same spot Adam also periodically scratched at. The center point of the slave branding, where you could actually feel the connection. The scholar’s voice was back to being contemplative when he next spoke.
“Being a debt slave, I don’t imagine that I will be leaving here until at least Marcus has completed his education. In the coming years, you and I will have to work together if we want to put those two on the right path forward. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we’ll be left to our own devices soon enough, so at least we’ll have the chance.” The fierceness returned, his eyes shining almost as much as Abigail’s often did. “There’s a lot to be done, and I know my skills alone won’t be enough. It will take both of us to make any reasonable progress. Can I count on you to help me with them, Adam?”
It was the boy’s turn to contemplate things. He had just been considering how much he could trust the scholar, and the man was already attempting to make him dedicate himself to something he didn’t want to do. Well, he didn’t want to do it, but he knew he would end up trying to, no matter what he wanted at the moment. Either system assistance, his skills, or his own growing pity for the two children would force him onto that path eventually.
Copying Scholar Kleeb’s earlier gesture, he started rubbing his chin, missing the man’s small smile as he watched the boy think.
Having acknowledged that he would be helping the children, he also gave up on lying to himself about not wanting to. With those out of the way the decision didn’t necessarily get easier. The sticking point wasn’t the kids, it was the scholar. Adam wasn’t certain he could trust the man. It was an irritating thing to have to keep coming back to, but there hadn’t been many adults in his life that he had trusted without the inevitable betrayal.
Despite his growing closeness with Martin, he was still wary of the man. They were on friendly terms, and he knew a number of Adam’s secrets, but he, in turn, knew many of the things Martin had done that could endanger him with the duke if they became known. Mutual destruction wasn’t the best choice for a friendship, but it was all he had at the moment. That wasn’t to say that he was unaware that Martin cared for his wellbeing, but that Adam was attempting to make the best of a bad situation. He’d let the man get closer than he would have had he not been so energetic upon discovering Harold was dead and that he had a class. By the time he calmed back down, and thought things through, the damage had been done. He respected the man, and the way he treated both himself and Jay, but old fears took time to prove wrong. There was even those things Szellem had spoken about that threw his emotions into disarray that could be responsible for his varying feelings towards the man. It was a difficult, and rapidly changing situation, and he needed more time to understand it.
Thinking of Martin did present a similar solution to the current problem, however. If the scholar’s unexplained boost proved to be both effective and better than what Marcus received, he would have the same evidence over the scholar that he did for Martin. With that solution in mind, he agreed to assist Kleeb with the other children.
However, even as he shook the man’s hand again, Adam couldn’t help but worry about his own development. He wasn’t so sure that looking for a way to destroy someone was the correct way to form a friendship.