I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!-Chapter 345 Arrangment

Boo, meanwhile, raised his little hand and whispered with dramatic pity, "Uncle, you look like a grumpy sea potato."

Koel froze.

Everyone else froze too.

Koel turned his head very slowly, his eight arms curling like offended cats, and stared at Boo with the expression of a general who had witnessed a thousand battles but never an insult like that.

"Sea potato?" he repeated, his voice dangerously calm.

Boo nodded bravely. "Round. Moody. Squishy."

Alina’s soul left her body. "BOO!"

Rocky clapped his hands softly. "I think he looks more like sea bread."

Kelpie sniffled into his mother’s neck. "No... he’s like grandpa mollusk..."

Koel’s eye twitched so hard it looked like it might crack the cave wall.

King Corvus cleared his throat loudly, trying to hide a smile. "Regardless, Elder Koel, your actions today caused serious alarm."

Koel let out a long, annoyed sigh, finally looking away from the babies. His voice softened just slightly.

"I did not mean harm," he said quietly. "I only wanted company. They helped me when I collapsed behind that stall. I wished to repay them in my own way."

Lady Maris exchanged a gentle look with King Corvus.

Alina felt her anger melt a little too, just a little. Enough to see that beneath the frightening eight arms and sharp tongue, Koel looked lonely. Deeply, painfully lonely.

"But how did you collapse?" Alina asked softly, her anger easing into concern, her voice gentler than before. "You look healthy, strong... even the way you fought just now was..." She paused, remembering Dante wrapped in darkness. "...very powerful."

Koel’s shoulders stiffened. For a long moment he did not answer. His golden eyes stared at the glowing patterns on the cave wall, as if searching for the right words.

Then one of his eight arms lifted and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I faint sometimes," he grumbled, clearly hating that he had to admit weakness in front of so many people. "Old injuries. Doesn’t matter."

King Corvus stepped forward immediately, his tone concerned. "Elder Koel, you should have informed us. You are a respected general of the old seas. Your health must be safeguarded."

Koel clicked his tongue and looked away. "I’m not helpless. I’ve lived alone for years. I manage."

Alina frowned, her eyebrows drawing together. "Living alone doesn’t mean you have to suffer alone."

Koel blinked at her, genuinely startled by her words.

Before he could react, Boo leaned toward her ear and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Teacher... I think uncle sea potato is shy."

Koel’s eyes widened in absolute offense.

"I am NOT a sea potato!"

Boo hid behind Alina’s hair, giggling. "Then why you blush purple purple?"

"Boo!" Alina hissed, mortified, while everyone else struggled not to laugh.

Even Dante’s expression twitched.

Koel exhaled sharply and continued, this time with more honesty. "I fainted because I used too much magic earlier. I protected the younger creatures at the festival with a barrier so nothing would harm them. I’m not as young as I once was."

Kelpie’s lip trembled as he hugged his mother. "Uncle was tired... Teacher, he really didn’t mean to scare us..."

Rocky nodded quietly, moving to stand even closer to Koel, almost protectively. "He was alone when we found him..." he murmured, his voice small and soft.

Alina’s heart tugged painfully at the sight.

Koel glanced at them, his sharp eyes softening just a little. Then he exhaled, long and low, and finally spoke, his tone carrying a quiet sadness he clearly did not show often.

"And I live alone," he said, one of his eight arms folding awkwardly across his chest while the others shifted restlessly. "I don’t have a mate. Or children. I just wanted to play with them." His voice dipped, rough with honesty. "They were cute... and they were not afraid of me."

The raw loneliness in his tone made the whole chamber fall silent.

King Corvus’s expression changed instantly, surprise first, then deep understanding. He had heard fragments of Koel’s past over the years: a powerful general who spent half his life protecting others, never resting, never forming a family, always sacrificing his own joy for duty. Now he was older, living alone in a quiet cave on the outskirts, and loneliness had become his only companion.

Lady Maris gazed at Koel gently, murmuring almost to herself, "He really has been alone for too long..."

King Corvus sighed softly, not sure what solution he could offer.

But Alina stepped forward.

"King Corvus," she said suddenly, addressing him directly.

He looked at her with alert curiosity. "Yes, Miss Alina?"

She glanced at Koel again, at the rough, dangerous-looking man with eight arms and lonely golden eyes, then at the children beside her, their hearts full of innocence and empathy.

"I wanted to ask... do you have babies who are orphan?" she asked gently.

King Corvus blinked, surprised. Then he slowly nodded. "Yes. Many. Some lost parents in the war years ago, some to sickness. We provide shelters, attendants, caretakers, but it isn’t the same as having someone of their own."

Alina’s voice softened with conviction. "Then why don’t you let Mr. Koel take care of them?" she suggested. "He can be their guardian, a protector. Someone who understands duty... and needs company too."

King Corvus’s eyes widened with delight, the idea blooming across his expression like sunlight.

"That is a wonderful suggestion."

Koel looked utterly stunned.

"General Koel," King Corvus said warmly, stepping closer, "what do you think? Are you willing to become a guardian to some of our orphaned young?"

Koel’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He stared at Alina and the children, his voice catching slightly.

"I... I..." he tried to speak, utterly overwhelmed. Then he inhaled sharply and straightened his back. "Of course. Of course I agree to the arrangement."

His eight arms curled inwards, almost like a flustered hug he didn’t know how to give.

Rocky brightened instantly. Kelpie clapped happily. Felix wagged his tail proudly.

And Boo whispered loudly into Alina’s ear, "Teacher... uncle sea potato is going to become papa potato now..."

"BOO!"

Koel choked on air.

King Corvus let out a booming laugh. Lady Maris covered her smile with her delicate fingers. Dante looked away, hiding the faint twitch at the corner of his lips, though he looked very proud as he watched Alina.