"If I may ask, could you please elaborate on what you said about the true nature of energy?"
Tesh looked at the infamous teacher with a mix of curiosity and dismissal.
What he said was puzzling, sparking her eagerness to learn more.
But it didn't nullify the fact that he was the known trash of the whole school.
And yet…
"You wouldn't get it," he firmly said as he shook his head.
The teacher's response was quick and lacked any form of hesitation.
"Excuse me?"
Tesh's eyes twitched, her face slightly tensed.
She was one of the few geniuses of the academy, she gracefully spared this trash of a human being a moment of her attention, and yet?
And yet this man dared to pretend he didn't care, nor did he consider her qualified to understand whatever idiocy he spouted?!
'Is this the hubris of the ignorant and naive?'
Pretending not to grit her teeth, she smiled.
"I dare to disagree." Locking her arms, Tesh stood her ground while slightly squinting her eyes. 'Here, you've asked for it yourself; rather than just casually asking, I will expose your stupidity in front of everyone!'
For Tesh, one of the academy elites, her standing was of prime concern.
Even if she didn't bother to waste her precious time on the squabbles between those beyond her… she could only take such a stance because there was hardly anyone who could challenge her, the lower cadre of the academy's teachers included!
And right now, someone whose standing was leagues below her while reflecting their achievements and ability… dared to act as if they knew something she wouldn't get?
Yet, right as she raised her prideful eyes to admonish this arrogant little man in front of everyone on the floor…
She met the man's lazy, relaxed gaze.
"Do you know arithmetic?"
//\//\//\//\//\
"Do you know arithmetic?"
Theo casually asked, at most amused by the prideful look on the girl's face.
'What does she think she is, some sort of an ojousama?'
The corners of Theo's eyes twitched as he held back from smiling as he looked at this slightly pouty kid in front of him.
Her moods were so in Theo's face, he would have to pretend to be dense not to figure out what was going through her head.
"I d…"
"Do you know geometry?"
Before the girl could even attempt to answer, Theo already moved on to the next question, unbothered by all the stares from the other students in the academy's hall or the few teachers who just happened to be nearby.
"A bit…"
"Do you know the set theory?" Theo slightly leaned his head over his shoulder. "The methodology of Neuman's numbers?"
'Oh…'
Theo's eyebrows moved up a bit, 'Shit, I shouldn't be using the names from Earth…'
Even if this girl was educated well enough to know the series of subjects that Theo had personally had the biggest gripe with. After all, what sense was there in defining number one… as a set consisting of zero as its only element?
The logic of this approach to mathematics eluded Theo's understanding for years before he finally found the right angle to bite and mentally digest it.
"How about vectors, then?" he still continued to ask, fully aware that the fields he was questioning this adorable student about were already far beyond what one needed to know to understand the context of Theo's definition of energy.
Even though Theo promised not to make trouble, this girl…
Her reactions were simply too adorable, too much in line with the characteristics Theo formerly only knew from the book scans for him not to tease her a bit.
And, by all means, shaking her worldview a little could only benefit someone with even an iota of narrow-mindedness in their mindset.
Then again, Theo did promise not to stir any trouble.
'It would be quite a dick move to go and create a mess right after the lesson ended, wouldn't it?'
Sighing a little, Theo pushed his amusement aside and gently shook his head.
"With that said, there's nothing wrong with not knowing all or even any of those," he added, putting a twist to his entire line of thought from before. "In fact, it would be foolish to expect you to be keen on a field so grossly removed from the discipline you seem to excel at. From what I've heard, Celeste only accepted the best, so I'm the one being unfair here, drowning you with all those unorthodox expectations."
In the end, it was but all a game of status.
'Lining up with her antics, she's quite likely to care for her status a whole lot. Meaning, the easiest way to de-escalate is to show some hubris.'
Theo couldn't care less for the value attached to his name in the minds of those who knew about him if, by all means, he was already planning to leave this academy behind and then take his time figuring out whether he wanted to enjoy a slow, comfortable life or if he leaned more towards exploiting his technological awareness to excel all around.
Either way, the moment he would leave this academy and his noble name behind, all that others thought, knew, or believed about him would be no longer of any significance.
So, if all it cost him to just leave the situation was a bit of his pride, then metaphorically lowering his head was simply too efficient not to perform.
"Ah, but…" the silver-haired girl finally interjected, rising up on her feet a bit as she spoke, only to then freeze and lower her heels back to the floor.
"With that said, the direction of your education means you merely lack the context necessary to see the world through the same lens as I do, meaning, due to no fault of your own and with no slight to your achievements," Theo leaned his head over his other shoulder as he cheered on the girl with a relaxed smile, "you wouldn't get it."