All-around teacher at the magic academy

"You're here so early? Have you been waiting for a long time?"

Leon walked up to Harvey and asked him a few simple questions.

"Professor Rhine!"

Upon seeing Leon's arrival, Harvey excitedly stood up.

"I just arrived too, I didn't wait long."

"Sit down and let's talk. It's been a long time. How have you been?"

Leon inquired about Harvey's recent situation.

"Not bad, life has become peaceful since we arrived in Barton City."

Harvey replied, "Professor Rhine, how have you been lately?"

“I’m doing pretty well too. Look, I’m a teacher at the academy now,” Leon said proudly.

"Has it already been ordered?"

Leon looked at the menu on the table, wondering if Harvey had already ordered, which might save him some money.

"Not yet, Professor Rein, is there anything you'd like to eat?"

"Let's order this one."

After seeing the prices on the menu, Leon ordered a main dish that wasn't too expensive and then asked Harvey about it.

What would you like to eat?

"I just want to be like Professor Rhine."

"Okay, waiter, please bring me two of these, thank you."

Leon handed the menu to the waiter and turned to pour himself a glass of water.

"By the way, my name is now Leon Gurn. I no longer use my previous name for some reason. You can call me Leon from now on."

"Professor Leon... has something happened to you? When I went to see you earlier, I found that your residence had been severely damaged. I thought something had happened to you," Harvey asked with concern.

"It's nothing important. The house was destroyed because I lost control while practicing a new spell and accidentally blew it up."

Leon concealed his true identity from Harvey and lied, claiming that the damage to the house was due to his own mistake.

“Since I don’t have the money to repair the house right now, I thought I’d find a job to earn some money. So when I saw that St. Peter’s College was recruiting teachers, I came here. And since they provide free room and board, I don’t want to go back for now.”

"As for the name change, it's because the original name of the house was Rhine."

If I continue to use that name, I think the landlord will definitely try every means to find me and make me pay compensation.

I don't have that much money right now, so I'll have to change my identity first and then go back to pay the landlord back once I've earned enough.

To make his lie seem more believable, Leon had to add some explanations.

"I'm sorry, Harvey, I left in a hurry and didn't have time to say goodbye. After I settled down and wanted to contact you, I forgot your home address, so I couldn't send the letter."

Leon originally did not intend to contact Harvey, as he did not want anyone else to be implicated because of his affairs.

Harvey has his own life, and he wasn't doing well to begin with, so I shouldn't bother him.

So Leon lied to Harvey, saying he had forgotten his home address, which is why he hadn't been able to contact him.

"It's alright, Rein, oh no, Professor Leon. I'm so glad you're alright. I was worried something had happened to you. I'm just so happy to see you safe and sound."

Harvey said with a sincere expression.

In fact, Harvey knew that Leon's house was definitely not destroyed due to his magical mistake, because Harvey had been to Leon's previous residence and carefully inspected it.

That widespread destruction was definitely caused by the battle. Besides, Harvey didn't think Leon was an irresponsible person.

In Harvey's eyes, Leon was a helpful, gentlemanly, and humble teacher.

He would never flee his city just because he couldn't afford to repair his house. If Leon knew how imposing he was in Harvey's eyes, he might protest that Harvey absolutely didn't understand him.

"Perhaps Professor Leon has some unspeakable reason. There must be a reason why he didn't tell me. He must not want me to be implicated because of his own affairs."

But I'm not afraid of being implicated. I want to help Professor Leon, even if my help might be insignificant to him. Harvey comforted himself.

"Ahem, by the way, how is your mother's health? Why did you come to St. Peter's College to study? Isn't Mrs. Maria worried about you being so far from home?"

Leon broke the temporary silence and inquired about Harvey's mother.

Harvey's mother, Maria, was an extremely virtuous and great woman. Although she herself did not possess great strength and always suffered the injustices of fate, she never complained and treated everyone with gentleness and kindness.

She always taught Harvey through her actions. In Harvey's heart, Maria was his role model and the person he wanted to protect throughout his life.

Leon recalled the past. During that time, Leon would teach Harvey magic every day, and Harvey would always leave home at the same time. Over time, Maria noticed Harvey's behavior and guessed that he must have made friends outside.

“Our Harvey has made some friends outside, and he goes out at this time every day. Could you take some time to invite him home for a meal?”

One day, as Harvey was about to leave, Maria suddenly smiled and said something to him. As a mother, she was truly happy to see Harvey like this. She knew that Harvey had almost no friends, so when she sensed that he might have made a new friend, Maria hoped that Harvey could bring him home, treat him well, and thank him.

"Not a friend, but a teacher, a mother. Teacher Rhine is teaching me magic so that I can protect my mother in the future."

Harvey rubbed his head and replied, "Professor Rhine is a very young and great teacher. He taught me a lot."

"Ah, then we should thank them even more! My Harvey has grown up so much, he even said he'd protect me!" Maria was very happy.

“Mr. Leon is very busy, Mother. He has to teach me while also spending a lot of time studying himself. I invited Mr. Leon before, but he declined,” Harvey explained.

“Alright then. Could Mother come with you to see your wonderful teacher? I want to thank him in person and see what kind of teacher he is that my Harvey praises him so highly,” Maria teased.

Harvey had no reason to refuse, and he also really wanted to thank Professor Rhine properly.

...

Leon was quite surprised when he saw that Harvey had brought Maria with him.

The mother and son even bought some gifts to thank him for taking care of Harvey during this time. To be honest, Leon felt flattered. He had taught Harvey entirely out of his own free will and hadn't expected to be thanked at all.

Maria told Leon that Harvey had no friends growing up and rarely had the ability to communicate amicably with others.

Harvey was happy every day during this time, which made Maria very happy. She was very grateful to Leon and insisted on taking him home for dinner. Leon felt embarrassed to refuse a mother's request. In the end, he agreed to Maria's invitation, perhaps out of respect for her.

In fact, Leon felt that he hadn't done anything special, just spent a little time each day guiding Harvey's studies, but this might have been a salvation for the mother and son.

Through Maria, Leon saw his mother from a past life. At that time, he had no friends, and his mother was very sad to see Leon like this.

Leon didn't not want to make friends, but they always treated him differently and sometimes spoke ill of Leon's mother, so Leon didn't like playing with them.

Although her mother didn't say anything, she would do whatever she could to help Leon.

She would always visit Leon's classmates alone when she wasn't around. She would bring them gifts, hoping they would become friends with Leon, and often praise him as a very lovely child.

She thought that this would make them friends with Leon, but it was clear that wouldn't.

When he found out, he had a huge argument with his mother. Looking back now, Leon feels particularly bad; he feels he has let his mother down.

My mother just wanted me to be happy, but I didn't understand her when I was young.

As an adult, Leon has always felt resentful about this incident, wanting to apologize but not knowing how to begin. Now, he doesn't even have the chance to see his mother again.

...

“My mother and I moved to Barton. We didn’t miss our previous place, so we thought we’d move to a new place and start over.”

Harvey's answer shattered Leon's memory.

"I just happened to see that there was a magic academy in Barton City, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to study here. My mother rented a house near the academy, and the neighbors are very friendly. My mother often goes shopping with them."

"Yes, that's good." Leon said with emotion.

Harvey and Leon talked for a long time afterward, but Leon declined Harvey's invitation to dinner, saying that he was now a teacher and very wealthy.

Leon's pride wouldn't allow Harvey to pay; what teacher asks a student to pay? Besides, Harvey wasn't exactly a wealthy man.

After finishing dinner, it was already past nine o'clock, so the two decided to return to the college first, since they had plenty of time later.

"Study magic and knowledge diligently at the academy so that you can protect your mother in the future," Leon reminded Harvey as they parted.

"I will, Professor Leon. Please take good care of yourself too."

Harvey nodded to indicate that he understood.

"Alright, go back now, it's getting late. You'll be starting classes tomorrow."

"Professor Leon! I'm so happy to see you again."

Not far from where Leon turned to leave, Harvey waved loudly to him.

Leon didn't turn around, but waved to him with his back turned to indicate that he had heard him.

But the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

“I’m also very happy to see you again, Harvey.”

After they parted, Leon walked alone back to the teachers' dormitory.

Looking at the moon hanging high in the night sky, Leon thought that this kind of life was pretty good.

Although I sometimes feel lonely, at least there are people who care about me, and I believe that Leon will make more friends in the future.

“I’m really looking forward to it!”