The Charlatan's Lie-flat Style Teaching

In the afternoon at Norland Castle, the lazy sunlight spilled across the meticulously manicured lawn.

A gentle breeze blew past, bringing with it the fragrance of roses, as well as an incredibly speechless-inducing sound of snoring.

"Snore... munch... delicious..."

At the best spot in the castle garden, beside a round table covered with a white lace tablecloth, the newly appointed theology teacher Lokina was sprawled across the table without any regard for her image, sleeping soundly.

A trail of crystal-clear drool hung from the corner of her mouth, and she tightly clutched a half-eaten cream cake in her hand. The sunlight shone on her messy golden hair; if one ignored her completely unguarded sleeping posture, she actually had a somewhat sacred and inviolable aura.

And five meters away from her.

Poor Miss Aria Norland was standing stiffly like a wooden stake under the scorching sun, eyes closed, sweating profusely, while holding up a copy of the Radiant Moon Holy Tome that was as thick as a brick.

"...Teacher Lokina."

Aria finally couldn't bear it anymore. She opened her eyes, glared at the bubbling sleeper, and shouted through gritted teeth, "I've been standing here for an hour! Is this what you call the training to 'perceive the temperature of the Radiant Moon'?!"

"Huh? Ah?"

Lokina was jolted awake. She groggily wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, her eyes still a bit vacant, but that charlatan temperament carved into her bones instantly came online.

"Ahem... Aria, you must put your heart into it."

Lokina spouted nonsense with a straight face, "The light of the Radiant Moon is equal, but only a still mind can capture that warmth. Did you feel it? That... that peaceful feeling of wanting to sleep?"

"I only felt hot! And my legs are numb!"

Aria threw the book on the ground, "I'm not practicing anymore! I'm going to complain to Brother Lynch! You're nothing but a fraud! You do nothing but eat and sleep, and you haven't even taught me a single spell!"

Over the past few days, she had completely seen through this new teacher.

She demanded three portions for breakfast, extra meat for lunch, and pastries for afternoon tea.

Once full, she would find a spot to bask in the sun, euphemistically calling it "photosynthetic meditation."

As for teaching? Aside from making her stand as punishment and memorize books, there was absolutely no real content!

"A fraud?"

Lokina raised an eyebrow, picked up the piece of cake, and stuffed it into her mouth. "Young girl, your misunderstanding of theology is too deep. True faith does not require incantations."

"I won't listen! I want a refund!"

Aria turned around in a huff and walked away, "I'm going to have my father deduct your salary! And kick you out to beg for food!"

Hearing the two keywords "deduct salary" and "beg for food," Lokina instantly sobered up.

Those were her fatal weaknesses!

"Hold on!"

Lokina dashed forward (with a speed as fast as a rogue) and grabbed Aria. "Young girl, give me a chance! Your master will now show you her true skills!"

...

Ten minutes later.

Lynch, having received the complaint, brought Felsy, who loved watching a good show, and the elusive old butler Sebas to the garden.

"Brother Lynch! Look at her!"

Aria pointed at Lokina, who had sat back down in her chair to drink tea, and complained, "She doesn't teach me anything at all! All she knows is how to eat! How can someone like this be a teacher?"

Lynch sized up Lokina.

Indeed, this girl looked... a bit too relaxed. She completely lacked the demeanor of a strict teacher and instead looked like a salted fish on vacation.

"Teacher Lokina."

Lynch spoke, his tone relatively polite, "Although I also advocate for joyful education, but... there should be some teaching results, right? Otherwise, it'll be hard for me to explain to the Earl."

"Mr. Lynch, education is not cramming."

Lokina put down her teacup and slowly stood up.

At this moment, in order to keep her job, the former Holy Son had to show some real skills.

She took a deep breath and adjusted the resonance frequency of her vocal cords. That was her ultimate skill, practiced for ten years in the church choir—Holy Word: Mental Soothe (Passive Version).

"Aria thinks I don't teach incantations because her vision is constrained by the secular magic system."

Lokina's voice became ethereal and divine, as if descending from the clouds. "Incantations are merely tools, crutches. Theology, however, cultivates the heart. When there is light in the heart, what need is there for words?"

As she spoke, she extended a finger and gently tapped Aria's forehead.

Buzz—

There were no dazzling holy light special effects.

But in that instant, Aria felt her magic power, which had been boiling with irritation, suddenly calm down. The mental fatigue caused by practicing the High-Pressure Wind Blade also vanished under that single touch.

Even Lynch, standing to the side, felt an inexplicable sense of comfort, as if he were soaking in warm water.

"This..."

Lynch looked at Lokina in surprise.

An expert knows the ropes. Although this looked ordinary, to instantly soothe a irritable young girl's mental power without chanting or drawing an array, this mental control... was definitely master-class!

"This is 'Silent Prayer'."

Lokina retracted her hand and revealed a compassionate smile. "Aria, when you learn to control your anger and calm your heart, your wind blade... will be twice as fast as it is now."

"Because the wind is never irritable. It is free."

These words, combined with the actual sensation of that touch just now, completely stunned Aria.

"S-So amazing..."

Aria's eyes sparkled. "Casting spells without incantations? Is this the highest level of divine arts?"

"You could say that."

Lokina nodded mysteriously. "So, making you bask in the sun just now was to teach you 'stillness'. Do you understand?"

"I understand! Teacher Lokina, I was wrong!"

Aria lowered her head in shame. "I'll go back to basking in the sun right now!"

Watching his silly apprentice run back to stand as punishment, Lynch couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"Brilliant."

Lynch sighed. "Teacher Lokina's theory has quite a bit of the Zen philosophy of 'formlessness prevailing over form'. It seems I was too shallow."

"Not at all, just making a living... oh no, merely imparting knowledge." Lokina waved her hand modestly.

Only Felsy, standing behind Lynch, curled her lips into a cold sneer.

Pretend. Keep pretending. You're obviously just lazy, yet you spout nonsense about Zen. This set of 'Holy Word Bluffs' hasn't changed in all these years. And...

Felsy glanced at the empty pastry plate on the table.

That was my favorite strawberry tart! The last piece! And it was eaten by this wretched girl!

This is absolutely intolerable.

And in the corner, the old butler Sebas's pen tip was frantically recording:

[Observation Log: Theology teacher Lokina (suspected Holy Son) is conducting deeper psychological brainwashing on Miss Aria.] [Through 'deprivation of mobility' (making her stand as punishment) and 'hunger control' (snatching her food), she is breaking down the willpower of the human noble!] [This is an extremely brilliant 'depravity therapy'! She is teaching humans to give up resistance, learn to obey, and just lie flat!] [How terrifying... This castle is simply a devil's boot camp!]

...

Deep in the quiet of the night.

Norland Castle had fallen into a deep slumber.

Only in a guest room in the west tower did a faint candlelight still flicker.

Lokina was wrapped in a blanket, shivering as she huddled in the corner of the bed.

Even though she was a Holy Son at the peak of the fifth tier, even though she had single-handedly purified an army of the undead, and even though she had slain her fair share of abyssal demons.

However... she had a fatal weakness.

She was afraid of ghosts.

The kind of fear that was absolutely paralyzing.

This stemmed from the psychological trauma of getting lost in the Church's underground catacombs when she was a child. Demons had physical bodies and could be hacked to death, but ghosts were ethereal, chilling things that she fundamentally, physically rejected.

"This broken-down castle... why is it so creepy at night?"

Lokina stared at the oil painting of the Norland ancestors on the wall, feeling as if the old man's eyes in the painting were moving.

"It's fine, it's fine. I am a Holy Son, I have the Holy Light protecting me..."

She comforted herself and was just about to blow out the lamp and go to sleep.

Suddenly.

Drip.

A drop of thick, red liquid dripped down from the ceiling, landing right next to her pillow.

"...Eh?"

Lokina stiffly raised her head.

On the once pristine white ceiling, a twisted dark shadow had appeared at some unknown point. The shadow slowly writhed, gradually forming a hideous human face.

"Give... back... my... strawberry... tart..."

The face let out a shrill, mournful whisper, sounding like a curse straight from hell.

"Kyaaa!!!!"

A high-decibel scream that could pierce eardrums instantly echoed throughout the entire tower.

Lokina completely forgot that she knew divine arts, and she forgot that she was a powerhouse.

In this moment, she was nothing more than a terrified little girl.

She tumbled and crawled out of bed, not even bothering to put on her shoes, and bolted out the door with her eyes squeezed shut.

"There's a ghost! Help! It's haunted!"

...

Meanwhile, in the second-floor hallway.

Lynch was wearing his pajamas, yawning as he walked out of the study. He had just spent some time studying system blueprints regarding spatial folding, and was now getting ready to head back to his room to sleep.

"What was that noise?"

Lynch's ears twitched.

Before he could even react.

A white shadow, accompanied by a fragrant breeze, crashed into his arms like a cannonball.

"Thud!"

"Oof!"

Lynch was knocked back two steps, instinctively reaching out to catch the person.

Looking down.

He saw Lokina wearing a cute little bear pajama set (her taste was truly something else), barefoot, trembling all over, and teary-eyed.

"L-Lynch?! Help! There's a ghost! There's a ghost in my room!"

Lokina clung to him like a drowning person clutching at a straw, crying out incoherently, "It wants to eat a strawberry tart! It's going to eat me!"

Lynch: "..."

A ghost? A ghost that eats strawberry tarts?

He helplessly patted Lokina's back (she felt so skinny, nothing but bones):

"Teacher Lokina, calm down first. Where would ghosts come from in this world? Ours is a proper, respectable castle."

"There really is! Right on the ceiling! And it was bleeding!"

Lokina pointed toward the end of the hallway, refusing to let go no matter what.

Just then.

Creak.

The door to the master bedroom opened.

Felsy, draped in a black silk dressing gown, walked out elegantly. Her silver hair cascaded down casually, her gaze languid, yet carrying an inexplicable chill.

"What's all this noise in the middle of the night?"

Felsy's gaze landed on the two of them, her eyebrows arching slightly.

"Oh, Teacher Lokina? So late at night, dressed like this... are you discussing theology with my husband?"

That voice was icy cold, even scarier than the ghost from earlier.

Lokina stiffened all over.

She suddenly realized... the woman standing before her was a genuine witch!

"I'm doomed! I've been caught red-handed!" "Does this witch think I'm trying to seduce her husband?" "I'm innocent! I'm just scared of ghosts!"

A strong will to survive made Lokina instantly snap to attention, pressing herself flat and straight against the wall.

"N-No! It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

Lokina's brain worked in overdrive. In this critical moment, she thought of a brilliant (not really) excuse:

"I... I actually sleepwalk!"

"Sleepwalk?" Lynch and Felsy looked at her at the same time.

"Yes! Sleepwalking!"

Lokina's eyes darted around as she started to spout nonsense. "When I was at the Church... oh no, at the monastery, I was under so much pressure that I would often get up in the middle of the night and run around. Just now... just now I was actually dreaming! I dreamt I was being chased by a monster!"

"And now... now I'm awake!"

After saying this, she even let out two awkward laughs. "Haha, I'm really sorry for disturbing your rest."

Lynch looked at her bare feet, which didn't even have shoes on, and sighed.

"It seems Teacher Lokina really is under a lot of pressure lately."

Lynch didn't expose her lie (after all, the excuse was terrible), and said gently, "Since it was just a dream, then everything is fine. Do you need me to walk you back to your room?"

"No! No need!"

Upon hearing the words "back to your room," Lokina's face instantly turned deathly pale.

That room was still haunted!

But when she saw Felsy's half-smiling purple eyes...

"If I don't go back, this witch will definitely think something is wrong with me." "Besides... that ghost just now, could she be the one who created it?"

Lokina glanced at Felsy. The other woman calmly licked her lips, her eyes full of teasing amusement.

"Confirmed! It was this damn witch's doing!"

Lokina felt an overwhelming sense of grief and indignation.

This was simply bullying an honest person!

"Since you're awake, hurry back and go to sleep."

Felsy walked over, took Lynch's arm, and said in a way that declared her sovereignty, "Teacher Lokina, it's cold at night, be careful not to catch a chill. Also... remember to wear shoes next time you sleepwalk."

"Yes... thank you for your concern, Madam."

Gritting her teeth and fighting back tears, Lokina shuffled back toward the terrifying tower, looking back with every step.

"Then I'll... head back now."

Watching Lokina's desolate back disappear into the dark end of the hallway, Lynch asked with some concern:

"Honey, will she be okay by herself? She looked like she was truly terrified."

"Don't worry."

Felsy turned her head, the chill on her face instantly melting away, replaced by the appearance of a sweet, clinging little bird.

"She's an adult, she can take care of herself."

"Besides..."

Felsy blew softly into Lynch's ear and chuckled softly, "Rather than worrying about others, shouldn't you worry about your wife? Seeing the two of you standing together just now made me... a little jealous."

She's even jealous of that?

Lynch cried out his innocence in his heart. Absolutely nothing had happened!

Feeling a flutter in his heart, Lynch reached back and pulled her in by the waist.

"I was wrong, honey! I'll go back and make it up to you right now! I'm going to make sure you are completely satisfied tonight!"

"Hmph, that depends on your performance."

The two of them closed the door, shutting out all the noise (and Lokina's miserable shrieks) outside.

...

Inside the tower guest room.

Lokina huddled under the covers, staring at the ceiling.

That human face and the bloodstains had vanished, as if they had never been there at all.

But a faint trace of shadow magic fluctuation still lingered in the air.

"Fel—sy—!!!"

Hugging her pillow, Lokina let out a silent roar of fury in her heart.

"We have a serious score to settle!"

"It's bad enough that you stole my food, but you even used a ghost to scare me!"

"Once I save up enough money, buy a top-tier magic crystal, and recover all my strength... I am definitely going to string you up and beat you! I'll make you taste what it's like to be blinded by the Holy Light!"

However.

Her stomach let out another disappointing rumble.

Lokina rubbed her flat belly, a deep wave of sorrow washing over her.