Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route-Chapter 153: Please Come, Be the Village Teacher

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Please Come, Be the Village Teacher

By the time Sett jogged through the woods and reached the workshop, he spotted the black-haired young man dozing in a wicker lounge chair, a blue hat with cat ears pulled down over his face.

The shop owner’s wife sat inside the shop. Over her head, a leafy plant had grown into a wide fan shape to shade her from the sun. She lounged on a green bench with a backrest, happily eating a wrap in each hand.

A table in front of her was scattered with all kinds of odd parts. Inside the cabinets were even more things—some looked like toys, and some... looked like weapons.

Hearing the movement, the man lifted a hand, tugged the hat off his face, and stretched both arms wide as he rose from the chair with a long, lazy yawn.

Standing in the sunlight, he revealed a clean-cut face—soft features, pale skin, a slightly delicate air—paired with a lean frame and a presence that was hard to put into words.

Sett looked at him and felt like the man had blended into Ionia’s nature itself, like the "spirit-forms" Ionian people liked to talk about.

That was Mr. Logan—the workshop owner, and the husband of the blue-haired lunatic.

Sett truly couldn’t understand why someone as great as Logan would marry someone like Jinx... but then again, Sett also didn’t understand why his mother had chosen his father.

Love was a word far too deep for a kid barely past ten.

"Mmm..." Logan let out a satisfied sound, yawned again, then turned toward Sett outside the shop and waved with a smile. "Come in, Sett."

"Thanks for bringing Jinx her wraps again."

Seeing Logan’s smile, Sett hurriedly shook his head and trotted into the shop. He looked up and said, "It’s not hard. It’s not far. And besides—I came to learn."

"I came to learn~" a mocking, sing-song voice echoed from the side. Jinx, chewing her wrap, slurred the words and mimicked Sett perfectly.

Sett’s face went red. He’d literally just told Jinx he didn’t like learning her weird nonsense, but the moment he was in front of Logan, he’d changed his tune.

And honestly... Sett didn’t even know why he did that.

With Logan and with Jinx, he somehow ended up wearing two different faces. Worse—he caught himself wanting Logan to praise him.

If Sett ever voiced that confusion, Logan would probably just laugh and ruffle Sett’s ears.

Ahri’s Charm.

That passive pull could work even on adults—people with complicated thoughts and hungry eyes—making them feel goodwill toward Logan and hesitate to harm him. So with kids, whose choices were often ruled by simple likes and dislikes, it hit even harder.

Wasn’t that how Isha had been too? The moment she met Logan, she’d latched onto him—always calling for him in her little babble, always demanding he pick her up.

Proof enough: Ahri’s Charm was basically a cheat code against children.

When Sett glanced at her, Jinx immediately glared back. "What? Turtle. You can’t take your temper out on anyone else, so you want to take it out on me?"

She lifted her arm like she was showing off a medal and bragged, "Go ahead, try it. I love beating up kids. One punch, one cry. If you don’t believe me, ask Logan. I’m not like you—tough only when it’s safe. When I get serious, I’ll hit anyone except Logan!"

Sett shrank his neck.

Right. She really was insane.

And if he had to learn under her roof—and if his mom still dreamed of him studying in Piltover—then the last person he could afford to provoke was her.

"She’s not lying," Logan said with an amused sigh. "So you’d better behave."

Then he planted his hands on his hips, looked Sett over, and asked, "Got beaten up again?"

"Yeah," Sett admitted. "But... next time they probably won’t dare."

"Why?" Logan asked.

Sett answered honestly, "Because the shop owner’s wife scared them half to death. A few of them even peed their pants."

Logan: "..."

Logan slowly looked at Jinx, who blinked innocently.

"You went and terrorized those kids again?" Logan asked, laughing helplessly.

Jinx blinked and nodded. "We just played a game. That’s not ’terrorizing’ them, right? Nobody got hurt. And they hit Turtle first."

She grinned at Logan like she expected a reward.

Logan chuckled and held a hand out to Sett. Sett took it, and Logan led him into a side room.

What Sett studied right now was basic—reading and writing. Logan could teach that easily. If Jinx tried, she’d get impatient in five minutes.

She was a genius. Geniuses didn’t understand how slow normal people learned. The only reason she’d managed with Isha was because Isha was sharp too—her learning ability was ridiculous.

Or maybe kids from Zaun and Piltover just tended to be smarter than everywhere else.

Once they were inside, the wooden door closed on its own—not by any mechanism, but by Ionia’s strange nature spirits.

Logan hadn’t built this room. All he’d done was ask a tree for a favor, and the wood had grown itself into a room. The furniture was the same—like the wicker lounge chair outside, and the leafy "umbrella" shading Jinx.

The moment the door shut, Sett blurted out a question that had been burning in his head.

"Mr. Logan... why did you marry Jinx?"

Before, Sett could’ve believed it was because Jinx was pretty.

But after what happened today, Sett was genuinely shaken.

This was a woman who could fire a gun at kids without blinking.

Logan’s expression changed instantly. He lowered his voice and spoke seriously. "You call me ’Mr. Logan,’ but you talk to her like she’s old—if she hears that, she’ll run to your house tonight and burn it down. So don’t do that again."

"!" Sett stared at him, alarmed.

"I’m not kidding," Logan emphasized, completely serious. "She can absolutely do that."

Jinx really could.

She loved Ionia—the scenery, the food, the air, all the strange animals.

But she hated Ionian people.

Because in her eyes, everyone here was a turtle. Big turtles, little turtles—turtles everywhere.

They got hit and didn’t hit back. They had anger and didn’t dare show it. They swallowed everything.

It drove her crazy.

"I get it..." Sett nodded quickly, shoulders hunched.

"And I married her because I like her," Logan said, his tone softening into a laugh. "Also, Sett—stop imagining her as some kind of monster. She’s just... got a bit of a kid’s personality, and... she’s a little unhinged."

Sett’s mouth twitched.

A little?

A little unhinged meant firing at kids?

If it was any more than "a little," Sett didn’t even want to imagine it. Would she start throwing bombs at Link and the others?

"Did you know she actually stood up for you once before?" Logan said, smiling like he was remembering something funny. "That kid Link—do you remember his dad getting jumped while walking home at night?"

Sett’s eyes widened. "Wasn’t that Noxians?"

Link’s father had been gambling at a casino outside the village—a casino run by Noxians who’d been left behind in Ionia. On the way back, someone beat him up. Not fatal, but bad enough that it definitely hurt.

And Link’s father didn’t dare talk about it. He was scared of offending the Noxians—so he took it out on Link instead. Sett had heard Link got whipped plenty.

Sett had laughed about that for an entire night.

"There were no Noxians," Logan said. "Link’s dad lost money. No Noxian is going to go out of their way to beat up a gambler just because he lost."

"It was her."

"One night she snuck out with a sack, acting suspicious, so I followed her. I found her hiding in the grass, lying in wait for Link’s dad—then she jumped him and beat him down."

Sett frowned. "Why?"

Logan looked at him. "Do you think she hates you?"

Sett nodded immediately, very seriously. "She always calls me dumb. She says I’m annoying. She calls me a turtle. She calls me a coward. How is that not hate? And—and she keeps talking bad about my mom."

Logan nodded. "Okay. But that isn’t hate."

"Sett, remember the phrase I taught you? ’Tough love.’"

Sett answered, "It means... someone wants you to do better, so they get anxious and push you hard." Then he frowned again. "But that means she’s giving me tough love? I’m not her kid."

"You have to learn to use your brain," Logan said with a chuckle. "Knowledge isn’t dead. Words aren’t locked to one situation."

"And besides... in her eyes, you might already be part of this family."

Sett blinked. "Huh?"

"She won’t say it, but she does care about you," Logan said. "And today, she stood up for you too, right? If she truly disliked you, she could’ve ignored you getting bullied by Link’s group. But she didn’t."

At noon, Jinx realized Sett hadn’t shown up with the wraps like he usually did. She told Logan and ran out to look for him.

Logan honestly didn’t know whether she’d gone out looking for the wraps... or for Sett.

Sett lowered his head, thinking.

He still didn’t quite believe it.

Logan continued, "Jinx is protective—really protective. She used to fight with her adoptive father all the time because of me."

"And she has a sister named Isha. She adores her. If anyone bullied Isha, Jinx would flip the whole city, hunt them down, beat them senseless—maybe even kill them."

"But where I’m from, nobody dares bully Isha."

"Your mom makes her wraps. You come here every day. Jinx acts like she doesn’t like you, but that’s just her being sulky."

"Sulky? Why? I didn’t do anything..."

"Because you ruined her couple time," Logan said, laughing out loud. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"We came out here for a honeymoon—just the two of us. But you show up every day. I have to teach you reading and writing, which eats up the time she wants to cling to me. Do you think she’d be happy about that?"

Sett pictured Jinx in his mind, then nodded hard, eyes wide, voice full of lingering fear. "The fact she hasn’t hit me is already... a blessing."

"Right?" Logan grinned.

Then his expression turned serious again. "So change how you see her, Sett."

"I do like you. I’m willing to spend time helping you grow. If you and your mother want it in the future, I’ll bring both of you to Piltover and get you into Piltover University—give you a bigger stage."

"But there’s one condition."

"Don’t make Jinx angry."

"At my place... she matters most." Logan’s voice was steady and absolute.

Sett nodded quickly. "Understood, Logan—Teacher."

"Good." Logan nodded, satisfied. "Now, let’s start today’s work. Today, you’re learning at least fifty new words."

Training Sett meant Zaun would gain a valuable talent in the future—solid combat power, too.

Sett was Vastaya, and not just any kind. A wolverine-blooded fighter.

That kind of strength spoke for itself.

And what was a wolverine?

A wolverine was basically the apex brawler of the mustelid family. Mustelids had reaction speed comparable to cats, but with brutal defense and savage offense layered on top.

In that family, the big representatives were wolverines and honey badgers.

A lot of people didn’t get it, so put it this way: a wolverine was even nastier than a honey badger.

And honey badgers? They had that famous "honey badger don’t care" reputation—no fear, no hesitation. Lion, hyena, whatever—sometimes they’d charge in anyway. Sure, there were plenty of cases where they got killed...

But lions and hyenas still hated messing with them, because in the wild, getting injured could mean death. Not every animal had the honey badger’s defense and reckless temperament.

And wolverines, being close relatives, were bigger and smarter—while still having that same explosive rage.

That was why, when Logan met Sett’s mother, it was hard to imagine such a beautiful, gentle-looking woman being wolverine-blooded.

But her massive claws, her tail, and the round ears hidden in her hair made it undeniable.

Sett’s mother simply didn’t get angry.

If she ever did... her strength probably wouldn’t be any weaker than Vander’s.

Which made Logan intensely curious how Sett’s father had managed it.

How did that man make a "wolverine" turn so soft?

Logan had spent years and still hadn’t changed Jinx at all.

Well... not that he wanted to. Jinx being Jinx was great—he loved her that way.

But she couldn’t stay a little lunatic forever, could she?

Then again... thinking about it, Logan grew a little wistful.

Maybe she actually could.

If you looked at Riot’s current timeline, Jinx would already be in her thirties... and she’d still be obsessed with blowing up Piltover and pulling pranks.

Yeah.

That was Jinx—always true to herself.

So tell me—how is my Jinxie that devoted?

"What is it, Teacher?" Sett noticed Logan’s expression shift and looked up, thinking he’d written a character wrong.

"It’s nothing," Logan said. "Keep studying. I just... thought of something that made me happy."

Sett hesitated, staring at Logan’s face.

Because Logan didn’t really look like someone who’d thought of something happy.

— — —

At dusk, Logan took Sett home. He called out to Jinx—who was watching the shop—and then led Sett toward the village.

Jinx answered with a lazy "Mm," showing she’d heard him, and kept flipping through an Ionian biography without even looking up.

It was full of strange stories—exactly the kind Jinx liked. She’d seen Janna with her own eyes, so she was perfectly willing to believe the stories were real.

When Logan and Sett returned to the village, they met Sett’s mother.

She kept both hands tucked inside her sleeves, resting them in front of her legs as she bowed to Logan in thanks.

She wasn’t tall, but her figure was striking. Her white hair lay smooth against her cheeks, and her round ears were hidden in her hair.

Unlike Sett’s. Sett’s ears were longer, sharper, and bigger.

Maybe Sett’s bloodline wasn’t as pure.

Logan just waved it off, saying it was no trouble.

But as he was about to leave, Bondweave Village’s chief came over.

Logan didn’t go out much, and everyone was wary of the blue-haired little lunatic. So when the village chief finally caught Logan, he hurriedly explained why he’d come.

"Mr. Logan... could I ask you a favor?"

He spoke hesitantly, holding a small bag.

Logan glanced at it and saw it was probably coins.

"Chief, you’re too polite," Logan said. "Just tell me what you need. My wife and I came here, and everyone’s been warm to us—helped us a lot."

Bondweave Village’s chief—an old man named Babb—immediately said, "We want you to be the children’s teacher. Today... your wife disciplined them, didn’t she?"

Logan froze, thinking the chief was here to complain.

But Babb sighed.

"War changed everything. Before, even if children had tempers, they didn’t go around fighting. But now... they’re drawn to violence."

"That’s not good."

"Their parents want to control them, but they truly don’t have the time. So if possible... could you teach them?"

"They’re afraid of your wife, and they like you. If you speak, they’ll listen. And if they don’t study, don’t read, don’t learn to think... they’ll have no future."

Babb’s clear old eyes held Logan’s as he bowed deeply.

"So, Mr. Logan... please become our village teacher."

"Every household has gathered money for it. Even Link’s family. We’ll give you the best we can—what Bondweave Village can offer. I swear it."

Logan blinked.

Babb looked up at him, hope shining in his eyes.

Logan hesitated for a dozen seconds, then smiled.

"Alright. I’ll do it."

"Let’s build a schoolhouse. I’ll teach two hours a day."

"But Chief, I can only teach reading and writing, and some life lessons. Anything more advanced... you’ll have to ask my wife."

"She’s good at repairs, making tools and weapons, and anything mechanical. She has a lot of science knowledge."

Teaching one kid was teaching. Teaching a group was still teaching.

Logan and Jinx had come out here to enjoy themselves. After Orianna was revived, they might just keep traveling instead of returning to Zaun.

If you were out exploring, then going with the flow—accepting new things—wasn’t a bad way to live.

"But I won’t take the money," Logan added. "As tuition... just trade me food. I don’t need coins."

Babb nodded gratefully, voice rising with relief. "Good—good. Thank you. Thank you!"

The villagers nearby also thanked Logan.

Times had changed, and the Ionian people understood that.

In the past, they could live sunrise to sunset, tending fields and enjoying a peaceful country life.

Not anymore.

Noxus had pulled back Ionia’s "mist." This mysterious eastern archipelago was tied to the world now. Under the weight of the era’s great ship, refusing to adapt meant having no future.

As village chief, Babb wanted the children to grow well and find proper work someday.

And as parents, the villagers naturally wanted their children to have better lives.

As for Logan...

He headed home, ready to tell Jinx the news.

And it was honestly kind of funny.

In Zaun or Piltover, Logan was always the "dumbest" one.

But in Ionia?

He could be a teacher.

How wild was that?

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