Kikanshita Yuusha no Gojitsudan : Chapter 47

Chapter 47 The Hero’s Teacher Internship 1

“Eh~, that’s why, I hope you all take care of yourselves during this season. ……”

　I’m trying my best to suppress a yawn as I listen to the voice that sounds like background music lulling me to sleep.

　Why is it that all principals like to give a long speech with little substance?

　I can’t even remember a single thing our principal said to us in elementary, junior high, and high school, you know.

　Though I do remember one time in junior high school when the principal talked so long that several students collapsed, and that principal had to be stopped by another teacher.

“…… And so, from today, for the next three weeks, you will be under the guidance of the intern teachers. Now, let’s have each of the intern teachers give a speech.”

　With those words, six people, including me, went up to the stage.

　I remembered with disgust how it had come to this while receiving the attention of the students gathered in the gymnasium.

　As I was resuming my university life after my long vacation, I received a summon from my economic history professor.

　I don’t remember causing any particular problems, though I did have some problems with my exams last semester, but I still properly submitted my assignments during the break without any problems. Frankly, I’ve never experienced being summoned by a professor before, so I headed to the professor’s lab while twisting my head.

　In the first place, a student has no right to refuse a summon from a professor.

　When I entered the lab, I found Professor Miyazaki of Economic History seated behind a desk containing a large stack of books and a bookshelf, also filled with numerous books.

“Oh. There you are. You can sit wherever you like.”

　He said to me in a casual manner.

　This professor, even though he looked to be in his early forties, was quite popular with the students because of his frank and easy to talk personality.

　 The professor moved from his desk and sat in front of me when I sat down on the chair next to the long desk in the room.

“Sorry for calling you out of the blue.”

“No problem, so, why did you call me?”

　I asked him the reason in a straightforward manner.

“About that, Kashiwagi-kun, would you like to start an internship on the 17th of next month?”

“Ha?!”

　It was so sudden that I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“You’ll be in charge of mathematics at Chuo Daiichi Junior High School in K-city for three weeks.”

“Wait, wait, wait, but why? I don’t take a teacher-training curriculum, you know?”

　What’s this guy saying all of a sudden? Is he already getting senile?

“Were you thinking of something rude just now?”

　I hurriedly shook my head. Isn’t his guy intuition too good?

“It’s understandable that you’re surprised, there’s a reason for that, you see.”

　The professor began to explain the reason with that as a preamble.

　It all started with a scandal at the event circle that I was involved in.

　Although I was unaware of it, apparently that incident was picked up by the media and became quite a problem within our university.

　Due to the privacy of the female students, the assault committed by the circle was not reported, but the drugs case was. Shishido had reported the incident to the media and managed to avoid any criticism toward the university, but the four members of the circle who surrendered to the police, told them that in addition to the four students who had caused the problem, there were several other students who were close to being accomplices and who regularly bought drugs. As a result of the investigation, they punished a large percentage of the students in some way.

　Shishido himself was not punished because he had been forced to take the drugs, and not of his own volition, and because he prevented the spread of drugs by purchasing them with his own money, and reporting them to the university as soon as they were no longer a danger to others.

　In addition, most of the students in the event circle had no involvement in the incident, and in light of their past performance, the circle was allowed to continue. However, it was decided that in the future, the students would have to report their activities to the university at the planning stage and ask for permission.

　However, the problem this time is that several of the students who were punished were in the Education Department, and those students had apparently applied for teaching internships through the university. However, because of the disciplinary action (most of the students were expelled or suspended), there were not enough interns for all the schools that accepted them.

　It is said that in principle, students who wish to take part in teaching internship must apply directly to the school in question, and if permission is granted, they can begin their internship, but in reality, the university side applies to neighboring elementary and junior high schools to conduct the internship.

　Therefore, I heard that reducing the number of interns for unilateral reasons would be very bad for the future.

　Moreover, the students who wanted to take the internship were applying for it early on, so it was quite difficult to prepare replacements at this stage.

　Even so, they managed to fill most of the slots, but there was only one slot that they couldn’t find the replacement for.

“Okay, I understand the situation, but why me?”

“In other departments, only students with a certain amount of credits are allowed to apply. For that matter, Kashiwagi-kun seems to have sufficient credits, and your math skills seem to be fine.”

“Even so, I’m quite busy with various things, so I can’t do it.”

　There’ s nothing but disadvantages for me.

　And I don’t have any intention of being a teacher at a school.

“…… Your exams were pretty bad last semester, weren’t they?”

“Urgh.”

“I had high expectations for you because you had good grades until then, you know?”

　He hit me where it hurt.

“While you certainly properly submitted your assignments. I wonder if your evaluation will still be lowered with that kind of grade?”

“…………”

“I won’t say you’ll work for free, you know. You have permission from me, Professor Sumida of Economic Theory, and the professor of the first foreign language, so that we will treat your internship period as attendance. Besides, Professor Sumida and I are planning to raise your grade for the next semester by one grade.”

　Adults are so dirty.

　That’s why I gave in to the professor’s carrot and stick approach and agreed to participate in the teaching internship.

　Of all places, I never thought I’d end up working at the same middle school I went to.

　Moreover, Ayumi was currently attending the same school.

　The only consolation was that one of the interns is Akane who’s from the education department.

　In any case, I finished my greetings on the stage without any problems, and the morning assembly for all the students was over.

“You seem to be quite calm. Aren’t you nervous or anything?”

　asked another intern, who was sitting next to me in a whisper.

“Ah, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t show it even when I’m nervous, you see.”

　It will be strange if I say “I’m used to it,” so I cover it up appropriately.

　I mean, I’ve experienced giving speeches in front of ten thousand soldiers, several hundred Japanese middle school students wouldn’t even make me nervous. Different from when I was in the other world, there are no adventurers who will try to kill me.

　The teachers and interns moved to the staff room after the students left.

　We already did the self-introductions last week, so today we will start our internship with our assigned teachers.

　There were six interns.

　Me, Akane, and one other person are from the same university, and the others are from different universities.

　To be honest, it was reassuring to find Akane with me. It was Akane’s first time doing practical training as well, but since she was taking a teacher-training curriculum, she knew more about school education compared to me, who was a complete amateur.

　Besides, I’m honestly happy to be doing an internship together with my girlfriend.

　Oh, our eyes met, so I smiled a little. Yeah. It’s kinda embarrassing, but I’m a little happy.

“Nice to meet you, My name is Matsuyama Shigezou, I’m the homeroom teacher of class 2-C, and I’m in charge of mathematics!” (1)

“Ah, yes. My name is Kashiwagi Yuuya. Once again, I look forward to working with you.”

　My instructor introduced himself in a loud voice for no reason.

　With his tanned, refreshing smile and white teeth that look like they’ve been painted with fluorescent paint, it’s hard to believe he’s in charge of mathematics. If I had to compare it, he looks like a combination of Matsuzaki Shigeru and Matsuoka Shuzo, but without dividing by two. His name is also a kind of mixture of the two. In other words, it’s sweltering.

　And why is he wearing a jersey even though he’s in charge of mathematics? Besides, it’s not the school’s designated jersey, but his own.

　Nevertheless, I am relieved to know that he doesn’t seem to be a bad person.

　In addition, I heard that at this school; the intern is guided by the teacher, who is in charge of the same subject as the intern’s desired subject.

　According to what I heard at the university, at some schools, the teacher and the subject you want to study are not always the same, so I guess it’s good in that respect.

　The other interns also seemed to have finished greeting their respective instructors.

　Akane’s instructor seemed to be a woman in her mid-20s. Her breasts were quite large. Crap, Akane glared at me.

　It had been five years since we had graduated, but about half of the teachers were still there.

　The other half of the teachers must have been transferred or newly assigned.

　By the way, the principal was a stranger to me, but the vice principal, a woman in her fifties, was the same person from when we were there. She seemed stern, but I remember she was kind to the students.

　We move to our assigned classrooms after the vice principal gives us interns another warning.

　But~… Class 2-C huh… isn’t that Ayumi’s class?

　This is going to be hard~

　We arrive at the 2-C classroom.

　Mr. Matsuyama opened the door and went inside.

　Since I wasn’t a transfer student, I also followed him into the classroom.

“Alright, everyone, take your seats!”

　The students who had been scattered around, chatting with each other, took their seats.

　This atmosphere is still the same, isn’t it?

　Ah, I met Ayumi’s gaze. She’s waving her hand.

“As we mentioned at the school assembly, from today onwards, there will be an intern teacher working with us for three weeks. There may be some confusion, but please remain calm. Today’s first period is math, so first, Mr. Kashiwagi, the intern teacher, will introduce himself. After that, it’s time for Q&A. I don’t mind if it takes up a little of the class time.”

　Mr. Matsuyama said lightly.

　The students responded with laughter and chuckles.

　It seems that he is perceived as a refreshing and friendly teacher, just as his appearance suggests.

“My name is Kashiwagi Yuuya, and starting today, I will be working with you as an intern at this school for a three-week period. I am also a graduate of this school myself. Since I am still only a university student, and we are not that far apart in terms of age, please take it easy when interacting with me.”

　The bell rang for the start of the first period as soon as I finished my simple self-introduction.

　Normally, this would have been the start of class, but today it seemed to be question time.

“You can ask as many questions as you like! He’s your senior, and also an active university student. You can ask him for advice or anything else you want to know. Embarrassing question is all right too, if it’s only a little.”

　There’s no way it’s alright. Please don’t stir things up.

“Here!”

　A girl in the front row raises her hand.

　I take a look at the seating chart and pick her, taking care to remember her name and face.

“Yes, let’s see, Nagano-san.”

“Are you older brother of Kashiwagi-san’s from our class?”

　So that’s where you came from.

　Well, Ayumi had probably told them that one of the upcoming interns was her older brother, so I expected that question.

“That’s right. I’m siblings with Kashiwagi Ayumi from this class. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give her preferential treatment at school. On the contrary, I’m going to mercilessly release my grudge against her, so please don’t worry.”

　The girls laughed lightly at my answer, while Ayumi puffed out her cheeks.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

　This time, they asked me directly without raising their hands.

　There’s always someone who asks this kind of question, isn’t there?

“Well, Since I’ve been told not to answer that type of question, so it’s a secret.”

　They booed a little.

　I can’t help it. That’s what they really told me.

　After that, I started answering the standard questions about university life, tips for entrance exams, and circles.

“Here!”

　As I was thinking that they might have run out of questions, one of the boys raised his hand.

“Yes, Yamazaki-kun.”

“Well, I won’t have a chance to use mathematics when I go out into the world, so why do I have to study it?”

　From the way he asked with a smirk, I could tell he was trying to inconvenience me.

　However, this is an expected question, isn’t it?

　Or rather, it’s probably a question that everyone has thought about at least once. So, I have my own answer.

“I’ve thought about that question before, when I was your age. Before I answer that question, let me pose a question to everyone. Can you identify the three most important inventions of mankind?”

　Yamazaki-kun, who asked my question, as well as the other students, looked puzzled by my question.

“You can say whatever comes to your mind. Well then, Kashiwagi-san.”

　I dare to nominate Ayumi.

“…… Light Novel “Yes, wrong!” and ……”

　I ignored her glare.

　Is she stupid?

“Umm, is it fire or electricity?”

　The girl next to her answered confidently.

“Those two things are physical phenomena that exist in nature, so it would be more correct to call them discoveries than inventions. Of course, making them freely available is an important invention, but it’s not exactly the right answer for this question.”

　I looked around, but no student seemed to be able to answer.

　Actually, with how much invention out there, they’ll be troubled if asked what’s the “most important”, aren’t they?

“I’ll tell you the answer then. I know some of you may disagree, but I think the three most important inventions are ‘Writing’, ‘Currency’, and ‘The concept of zero’.

　’Writing’ made it possible to accumulate, pass on, and spread knowledge.

　’Currency’ has created a ‘Value’ for various goods and services. It does not matter if it is stone, paper, metal, or barter, the meaning is the same.

　Then, there is ‘The concept of zero’, which is the origin of mathematics. Originally, there were no zeroes in the natural numbers. Of course, there was mathematics before the concept of zero was born. But it did not go beyond so-called arithmetic or four arithmetic operations. In Japan, there was no concept of zero until the Edo period. Which makes it inconvenient for expressing large numbers. The concept of zero was born and invented in India in the 7th century. And they introduced the concept to Europe through Islamic culture. It was the driving force behind the development of mathematics in Europe. The number zero always appears in the equations that we all learn. It is especially essential in quadratic equations.

　Most man-made objects that we see around us today are always made using complex mathematical formulas. It’s a matter of course when making a design, but it’s also used when making materials. We use mathematical formulas to calculate which materials to mix with what and in what combinations.

　Mathematics plays an essential role in the development of civilization.

　Formulas and equations are indispensable in today’s society.

　If we abstain from using mathematics, we will be limiting our future.

　Of course, there are many jobs where you don’t need to be good at math. For example, retail sales clerks and factory workers are easy to understand. But you are still in the middle school. There are infinite possibilities of what kind of job you will do in the future. And almost every occupation, be it mining, construction, finance, medicine, academia, and many others, involves mathematics. If you want to earn a certain level of income, you will definitely be deeply involved with numbers. Even though it may seem irrelevant at first glance, in reality, most people are capable of doing middle school level math calculations, it’s just not in the form of exam questions.”

“But, nowadays, calculations are done mostly by computers, aren’t they?”

“Certainly, a computer will always give you the correct answer. However, these are answers to formulas entered by humans, and they all are not necessarily the ‘correct answers’. It is humans who input the equations, and if the humans don’t have the ability to come up with the answers themselves, they won’t even know if the answers given by the computer are correct or not.

　Also, the way you use your mind to solve equations and the way you use your mind to process work are very similar.

　Taking math seriously will definitely benefit you in the future.

　Besides, math is very ‘easy’ as a discipline.

　If you calculate a formula in the right way, the answer will always be the same no matter who does it. There is no other discipline like it. There are no individual differences in answers, even though there are individual differences in the speed of calculation. Everyone can solve the problem.

　I’m not saying that I want you to love mathematics. But I do want you to take it a little more seriously so that you can have a better future.”

　After I said that, I looked around at the students and saw a lot of satisfied faces and a few that still didn’t fully understand. Ayumi, by the way, was still puffing out her cheeks. She’s going to get a lecture later.

　I looked at the teacher in charge, Mr. Matsuyama.

　Mr. Matsuyama, whose eyes met mine, walked toward me with a silent and serious face.

　……Did I somehow screw something up?

　As soon as he was right in front of me, Mr. Matsuyama suddenly wrapped my hand in his.

“Wonderful!”

“…… Ha?”

　What is this all of a sudden?

　Furthermore, there are tears flowing from both of his eyes at an enormous rate.

“Yeah! That’s right! Mathematics is the greatest thing in the world! Just like you said, mathematics brings ‘beautiful life’ and ‘boundless joy’ into our lives! Oh! I’m really impressed right now. How can I express this feeling ‘this excitement in my heart to you’?”

　…… apparently he’s moved ……

　No, that’s fine and all, but this teacher is, well, annoying. Vehemently annoying.

　Aren’t you too passionate?

　Also, please stop mixing the lyrics of Matsuzaki Shigeru’s most famous songs into the dialogue every now and then. I’m afraid of copyrights and all that.(2)

　I looked around at the students, wondering what I should do, and they all looked at me with a resigned look on their faces.

　Judging by their reactions, it seems to be a regular occurrence.

　Anyway, I managed to calm Mr. Matsuyama down and let the class resume.

　Even if a man is holding my hand, I’ll feel nothing but troubled.. He’s too passionate and his hands are sweaty. I want to wash my hands~.

　Incidentally, Matsuyama-sensei’s class was thorough and easy to understand. It seems like he’s really into it.

　He must be a good teacher. Maybe. I’m sure.

　I was finally released from this indescribable atmosphere when the bell rang for the end of the first period.

　It’s the first day of my internship, and I’m supposed to observe the class I’m in charge of for the day.

　So I ignored Mr. Matsuyama, who was looking at me with regret.

　I don’t know why he looked at me with a bit of resentment for some reason, and then left the classroom for the next class.

　I was tired. Somehow I was really tired.

　Perhaps still unsure of how close they should be. The students in the class looked at me curiously, yet they didn’t approach me.

　I figured I’d be the one to start talking to them.

　Just when I thought that, and was about to walk towards the male students, a female student came in front of me.

　And then.

“U, um, do you remember me?”

　・・・・W h o a r e y o u ?

Translator’s Note:

I was planning to release this chapter today’s afternoon, but I had to help my sister (?), step sister (?), (Basically, she’s the daughter of my mother’s sisters) writing her thesis. And I finally finished editing the chapter just now.

Also, I’ve translated the next two chapters and they’re only about half the length of this chapter. And. even though I’m translating around 1 chapter/day, I’m planning to release only 2 chapters a week, Sunday and Wednesday (Monday and Thursday if late editing it) because I want to pile up the chapter in case of another burnout.

Translation Note: