Guide to the Education and Training of Girls with Mentally Abnormalities

Chapter 2 Calgary's Rainy Night

Utumno, the Demon King's last legacy.

Its deep, winding, and intricate underground city, like an ant's nest, holds countless ancient treasures and riches.

Lost ancient scrolls, precious treasures from the age of gods, sealed and buried wealth and magic—all of these things, like the gold rush that once swept across America, drew people from the entire Holy Kingdom like moths to a flame, chasing after the elusive legend of instant wealth.

As the city closest to the front line and also the closest to the entrance to Utumno in the Holy Kingdom, countless people arrive in Kalenbel every day by land or airship.

Among them were wandering poets; noble gentlemen who sought only to escape the hustle and bustle of the capital and experience the so-called "spirit of adventure" and "atmosphere of war"; ambitious young men who were eager to prove themselves to their fathers; and of course, many more were impoverished people seeking an opportunity to change their fate and seize their future.

The magic crystal lamps hanging in the shop windows are dazzling and colorful, their seven-colored rays shimmering like scattered candies on the snow-covered road.

Everywhere along the streets, one could see makeshift sleeping bags and homeless people huddled inside them, some displaced by the ongoing wars, others low-class adventurers who would rather endure the cold and hunger to save the few coins they had left to buy life-saving recovery potions than rent a bed in the cheapest tavern.

Edmund was lucky.

He could walk through the snow, his footsteps rustling, back to the warm little house that temporarily belonged to him.

But at the same time, he was also unfortunate.

If he fails to find students to generate new income, on the day he can't pay his rent, he will shiver on the snow-covered streets like the people sleeping like cocoons before him.

Edmund sighed.

The rent he paid in advance was enough for two months, and he had enough money on hand for a month and a half of normal expenses. However, to reach the minimum return rate for a course, it would take at least a month: this did not include the time he would spend looking for students and getting them to willingly accept him as their teacher.

Time is running out.

He took the pocket watch out of his pocket; the hands were only a short distance from the number twelve in the center.

Let's get some rest today.

Crossing the street to the intersection, I watched the carriage speed past, whipping up snow and leaving deep ruts on the stone pavement, before turning into a brightly lit alley under a streetlamp and continuing down another parallel street. I took out my key and opened the gate that I had closed when I left that morning…

strangeness.

When did a clump of bushes appear in the corner of the lawn?

He picked up a shovel and broom from the fence, walked over, and carefully brushed away the snow covering it. Underneath the snow was an "unknown creature" wrapped in a heavy cloak.

"Hey." He gave it a light kick with his foot.

"..." The "unknown creature" let out a soft whimper like a small animal. There was a rustling sound under the heavy hood, and a head with long, tangled, silvery-white hair like weeds peeked out from under the hood. The clear, ruby-like eyes blinked and looked around at everything. When it saw Edmund's snow-stained leather boots, it suddenly froze. Then, like a puppet, it stiffly raised its head to look down at Edmund, who was holding a shovel and looking down at it.

Do you think this is a place for you?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to trespass into your courtyard. I couldn't find anywhere else to stay, so I accidentally climbed over the wall. I... I'll leave now..."

Her voice was soft and sweet, and her whole body began to tremble like a tuft of dough.

Her long, silvery hair fell onto the snow, shimmering in the starlight.

"According to the laws of the Holy Kingdom, when faced with an intruder who trespasses on a residence or territory, the landowner or user has the right to exercise the right of self-defense and kill the intruder."

"In other words, if I were to shovel down on your head right now, and then dig a hole where you were lying just now and bury you there."

Edmund held the shovel in his hand, its sharp edges gleaming coldly.

The girl was terrified by Edmund's threat, and her body, wrapped in a cloak and hood, trembled even more violently.

"Sir, please, please don't kill me, I... I'll leave right away."

Edmund stood in front of the fence, blocking her way. "Come and go as you please? What do you take this place for? A ditch for dumping excrement or a stinking garbage dump? Huh?"

"I...I didn't mean that..."

"If you need anything from me, I'll do anything, just don't kill me or hand me over to the military police... I, I'll do anything." The girl lay prone on the ground, her slightly messy silver hair draped over her neck and back, making her look like an innocent kitten begging for forgiveness. "I really, I really have nowhere else to go..."

"So, you'd do anything just to have a place to stay?"

"Sir...I..." The girl realized the hidden meaning in her words. Her eyes filled with tears, and a drop of crimson slowly dripped from beneath her tightly clenched lips. "But I can't do anything...Everyone thinks I'm a useless idiot who can't do anything...I really have nothing to repay your kindness with."

Edmund's eyes lit up instantly, as if he had detected a target on radar.

"A good-for-nothing idiot who can't do anything?"

"Hmm." The girl hesitated for a long time before cautiously nodding.

"Is he really a useless piece of trash who can't do anything?"

"Yes, sir, I am a piece of trash."

"You swear you're not lying to me."

"I swear to the Holy Light, I am truly a useless piece of trash who can't do anything." Perhaps thinking Edmund was deliberately humiliating her, the girl lowered her head, her tone noticeably dejected. "I'm a useless piece of trash who can't protect anything..."

Edmund crouched down, planted the shovel in the ground, and looked straight at the silver-haired girl in front of him.

"Would you like to be my student?"

"So you made me say all that just to get rid of me...?" The silver-haired girl bit her lip.

"I only said I was going to kill you with a shovel, when did I say I was going to kick you out?"

"Eh..."

"You just said you'd do anything if I just gave you a place to stay, right?"

"Yes, I have nothing... Hey? Take me in?"

Edmund pushed open the door, his gaze toward the girl growing increasingly kind and ardent. If the cultivation strategy of the "underdog's rise to power" was like a pickaxe, then the girl before him was clearly a towering gold mine waiting to be unearthed.

"From now on, you are my student."

"So, come inside quickly."

"Okay, okay..." The girl bit her lip, looking at the warm yellow glow of the fireplace in the small house, and then at the snow-covered street.

"By the way, what's your name?"

You can just call me Esther.