The hero was just an ignorant child.

Well, it was only natural. There were no parents to teach this child various things, and no adults capable of teaching this child anything.

Moreover, in this era, schools for teaching children were extremely rare, perhaps only one in a large city at most.

Even for geniuses who could understand ten things after being taught one, it would be meaningless if there was no one to teach them that one thing.

For even when creating new knowledge, existing knowledge must support its foundation.

Therefore...

"Let's learn how to read and write."

"Huh?"

I made glasses without any prescription and wore them, created a blackboard on the wall, and held a piece of chalk in my hand. 

The hero sat at a desk and chair, looking at me with a completely clueless expression.

"You mean the writing that travelers inscribed on thin wooden boards?"

"Yes."

I had spread the Korean language worldwide, but not all humans could read and write.

To write, you need a surface. With no inexpensive paper, people had to write on papyrus, vellum, bamboo slips, or thin wooden boards...none of which were cheap items. Wooden boards were relatively inexpensive, but still.

As a result, commoners either inscribed clay tablets or wrote on the ground, but clay tablets were too heavy and writing on the ground didn't count as proper records.

I would have liked to distribute papyrus more cheaply, but the Lizardmen had their own circumstances.

The Lizardmen listened to me well, and they were making decent money from producing and selling papyrus... but they were already pushing papyrus production to the maximum. Increasing it further could cause problems in areas like food production or monster extermination.

Plus, the papyrus plant itself takes some time to grow. Even as an annual plant, it needs time to grow and disperse seeds, right?

The Lizardmen had at least started cultivating papyrus using the seeds, and there had been some success recently, which was fortunate.

Hmm, the story drifted a bit. Anyway, while paper as a recording medium was gradually spreading, the literacy rate was still quite low since not all commoners could access it yet.

Well, it did feel like the ruling class was intentionally obstructing the acquisition of literacy, but no comment on that part.

In any case, that's not the important thing.

I snapped my fingers and created a ballpoint pen and smooth paper that didn't fit this era.

Hmm. It's nice that I can create things from memory.

The ballpoint pen is of course Monami. Cheap and easy to write with, Monami.

And the paper that appeared with it... was covered in densely written Korean consonants and vowels, as well as several blank sheets.

I had to start with the basic letters first. After handing the hero the paper and pen, I picked up the chalk.

"Then let's begin with the most basic part. Since it's a language made by combining consonants and vowels, learning the basics won't be too difficult."

Easy to learn but difficult to master, so it shouldn't take too long to learn the fundamentals.

"Now, copy what I write onto the blank spaces on that paper."

The hero then awkwardly gripped the pen and looked at me.

But he was holding the pen incorrectly. You're supposed to hold it with your thumb, index, and middle fingers, not grip it like a dagger in reverse.

"You hold the pen like this."

I took the pen from the hero's hand and adjusted his right hand to hold it properly.

The hero tightly gripped the pen with his small hands. His face was quite flushed, perhaps embarrassed at holding the pen strangely.

To be embarrassed over something so trivial. Truly a child.

"Now, press the back end of the pen and the tip will come out from the front to write with. Don't grip the pen too tightly. Lightly holding it is enough."

As the flushed-faced hero watched me, I began writing the consonants one by one on the blackboard.

The language of this world, taught directly by the Creator Dragon God herself. It won't be difficult, so even an ignorant hero should be able to pick it up quickly!

...

At least, that's what I thought at the time.

"Hmm. Well, it's understandable if he can't write properly yet. No problem."

The consonants and vowels wriggling like worms. Watching the letters twisting and distorting their shapes, I realized intuitively.

This child is so lacking in talent that calling him dull would be an understatement.

Although he has no experience learning to write, I can't believe he's this bad at it.

He just needs to scribble with the pen. Not a single letter was properly shaped.

I'm not expecting perfection, but they should at least be somewhat recognizable. The positions were all over the place - parts that should be connected were separated, and parts that should be separate were connected.

It was hard to tell if it was Hangul or some similar ideographic script.

Ugh... This is going to be a tough battle...

Swallowing that thought, I forced an awkward smile and said,

"Well, you can't be good at everything just because you're the hero. It's enough if you can read and write adequately."

"Is that so...?"

A hero doesn't need to be a master calligrapher. Being able to read and write adequately is enough! The important thing is wielding the sword!!!

And if it's writing, I can just follow along and write and read for him if needed, right?

---------------------

The hero's sword slices through the air, passing my cheek by a paper's breadth.

And then...

Screech!

The hero's sword pierces through the solid rock wall, slicing in as easily as a kitchen knife through tofu.

A threatening strike. Well, I doubt his sword could even scratch my skin, but that recent strike was threatening because...

"Why did you trip over nothing...? There was nothing on the flat floor to trip over..."

The sight of the hero tripping on the completely flat floor and dropping his sword proved that raising this hero would not be a smooth path.

Well, I knew he was dull, but I didn't expect him to be such a klutz too.

A slight, very slight doubt crept into my mind about whether my choice was right, before receding again.

"This is troubling."

After a brief lament, I pulled the hero's sword out of the wall it was embedded in.

It's a large greatsword, and it went in quite deep, leaving a sizeable hole. Hmm... Fortunately there was no one on the other side. If someone was there, it would have been a disaster.

I lightly brushed the hole with my hand, and it sealed up as if time was rewinding. Good, that's taken care of.

I looked at the hero, still unmoving on the floor. Hmm... He didn't fall too hard, but did he pass out? Or is he injured somewhere?

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, I'm okay..."

A thin, creeping voice. He must be quite embarrassed about tripping over nothing.

"No one gets it right from the start. You'll improve if you keep practicing and training."

And...

"For now, you should wait until you've grown a bit more before wielding the hero's sword." 

I did have you try swinging it for demonstration, but I didn't expect this.

Let's have you wield this sword after you've grown taller and built up more muscle. Especially since the blade is no ordinary one - a small mistake could lead to a big accident.

"For training, let's use a wooden sword for now."

I quickly created a wooden sword in the same shape as the hero's blade. 

I made it with an iron core inside that can be adjusted, so the weight can be controlled as well.

It was a bit tricky making it with all the iron cores inserted to match the weight and balance of the real sword.

Well, it turned out quite decent. With all the cores in, the weight and center of balance are almost identical to the real sword.

Swordsmanship can come later. For now, I need to feed and raise him properly to grow his body first.

As I was thinking that, I heard a small sobbing voice.

"Hikd... sniff..."

"Are you crying over something so trivial, boy?"

"But... doesn't this mean there's something wrong with me? How can someone like me protect everyone?... There must be some mistake... Why would the Goddess of Life choose a weak orphan like me?"

Well, it's because you're a kind boy.

Strength can be resolved somehow. Whether I cast magic to make you grow, or train you diligently. As long as you have an unbreakable spirit that doesn't give up and can put in effort, anything is possible.

However, a kind heart cannot be created like that! If I create it, it would be no different from brainwashing!

Therefore.

"The Goddess did not choose you for your appearance or strength."

"Huh?"

"What the Goddess valued was not the exterior, but the interior. Your kind heart. And on top of that, your unwillingness to give up."

"A kind heart..."

"I can resolve everything else, but that is something I cannot do anything about. Anyway, enough with the weak talk."

I handed the hero a wooden sword with all the iron cores removed.

At least I've cast a durability enhancement spell on it, so it won't break easily.

"From now on, all you have to do is study diligently, train diligently, eat diligently, and grow diligently. Understood?"

"Yes...!"

The hero wiped away his flowing tears and stood up again. That's right. That's how it should be. That's the reward for my choice.

I smiled as I watched the hero recompose himself.