Richie thought it was a good time, so he asked his father:
"Dad, I'd like to finish school as an external student. Can that be arranged?"
- Richie, how do you imagine this?
"Well..." the boy scratched his head. "I know the elementary school curriculum pretty well. I just need to brush up on English and computer science. I think I can pass the high school curriculum too if I put in the effort."
- Well, I don't see any obstacles.
The father was delighted by his child's thirst for knowledge. Like any parent, he believed his child was smarter than he actually was. The Duke had no doubt that Richie was a genius and would graduate from school much earlier than other children. He was willing to spend any amount of money on his son. In fact, the boy might have been a genius, but it was hard to call a transmigrator one. His genius lay in the fact that he had once been to school and knew a lot. Plus, he had the more organized mind of an adult.
What's the difference between an adult and a child? It's mostly just life experience, and adults have different toys. They're also better able to manage their time.
Children waste a lot of time on trivial matters, are often distracted, make mistakes, and don't understand the point of learning. They want to play, not study. Adults, however, understand that they need knowledge for the future. Or, as in the case of the transmigrator, they need not knowledge, but a high school diploma.
Richie wanted to get the required portion of his education over with as quickly as possible. He knew perfectly well that he'd have to get at least a high school education one way or another. Instead of wasting years going to school, he decided to spend a few years so that he could have the best of his youth in reserve, which he could use as he saw fit. After all, he was incredibly rich and could afford everything: traveling the world, enjoying all sorts of fun, and having casual affairs with young girls when he was old enough.
"I'll tell John to take care of this: make arrangements with the school and hire you tutors. But, Richie, if you can't cope, you'll go back to school. Besides, that doesn't mean you have to stop taking fencing and economics."
"Okay," Richie said happily. "Thanks, Dad!"
After dinner, Richie was glad he wouldn't have to attend school any more. He was also mentally prepared for the extra classes.
But in the end, he still had to go to school the next day.
It wasn't until a day later that a tutor for the junior classes showed up at the house. She turned out to be an elderly and stern woman, Jane Stevenson. She was at least fifty years old. Thin as a rail, she dressed in strict, high-necked dresses in dark colors, and her gray-tinged dark hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. Large horn-rimmed glasses and perpetually pursed lips gave her an air of severity.
On the very first day, Richie's elementary school tutor tested him on all his lessons. She was initially skeptical about the wealthy student, but when she checked the tests, she was stunned. She couldn't believe an eight-year-old possessed such a broad knowledge base, as the test was designed for first-grade students, meaning twelve-year-olds.
After the new tutor left, Richie had a trip to the fencing section.
Upon returning home, the boy began exploring the house. A strange situation had arisen: the names of his grandfather, sisters, mother, and ex-wife of the sixth Duke of Westminster were already known, but the name of the man Richie addressed as "father" or "daddy" was unknown. This was precisely the information the transmigrator was trying to find.
Richie settled into his father's office, waited until his valet left him alone, and then began examining the documents. This tactic proved effective almost immediately. In the very first letter, the boy discovered the following address:
Mr Gerald Cavendish Rich
"So, Gerald," thought Richie. "Well, at least now I know the father's name. I think I'm getting pretty good at slipping into Richard Rich's shoes. At least no one has noticed the boy's changed much yet. Then again, how often do people notice changes in children's behavior? Perhaps loving parents would quickly spot the substitution, but Gerald has distanced himself from his son; he doesn't know what Richie should be like, seeing him for breakfast and dinner. And for John, raising a child is just a job. Even when he was caught, he mistook my strange behavior for pretending to avoid school. The valet only cares that I'm healthy, washed, dressed, attending classes on time, and doing my homework; otherwise, he could get a painful blow to his bonus."