The Second Lesson (1)
"Hehehe."
"Why are you laughing like some demon army executive plotting an evil scheme?"
"Look at this. Charlotte's massage coupons. Fifteen of them. I bought ten and got five more as a bonus."
"Wow. Yeah. That's... impressive."
"And?"
"Hmm. Well. I'm jealous."
"Right? You should be."
Holding up the gleaming massage coupons, I basked in Silvia's envious gaze. Now, when and how should I use these? Just imagining it already lifted my mood. I hadn't even received a massage yet, but the fatigue seemed to melt away already.
"Julia seemed to be preparing something too. Don't you have one from her?"
"Ah. That."
A chuckle escaped me. Charlotte had brought over those precious massage coupons that made me envious, but what Julia had confidently presented was none other than a lesson coupon. She was selling coupons that supposedly granted access to her excellent teaching.
"She got sulky and refused to sell them."
"What exactly did you say to her?"
"That there probably wouldn't be much demand."
"..."
Kali strongly rebukes you!
I know. I know. I messed up. I was too honest. I should've at least said something nice there.
"Wouldn't it be better to soothe her? I could try... Hmm. No, it wouldn't work coming from me."
Silvia started to step forward, then cleared her throat and slunk back into the shadows. Charlotte followed Silvia well, but Julia didn't. Of course, Julia seemed to trust and rely on Silvia as a reliable powerhouse, but that was as far as it went. She didn't see her as a mental pillar the way she did in the original story.
'I guess I'll have to comfort her myself.'
Unlike Charlotte, Julia was so delicate that it was tricky to handle situations like this. But if I were to comfort her, what would I even say? I wouldn't know unless I'd raised a child myself.
"I'll deal with cheering Julia up later. For now, how about I get a massage while I think?"
"The way you say that makes it sound like a scumbag abandoning his angry lover to go to an entertainment district."
"Hey, you."
I almost flicked her forehead but held back. When the body was tired and creaky, the mind didn't work well either. First priority was getting refreshed.
"So where's Charlotte right now?"
"She's at the temporary training ground preparing a demonstration of the Super Strong Sword."
"Ah. Today's the day for the Super Strong Sword performance test."
I'd completely forgotten. Until now, I'd been estimating the Super Strong Sword's specs by rough guesswork, but I did remember suggesting we set aside a day for a proper quantitative test. And that day was already today.
"Get ready to go out. Bring Julia too."
I'd heard quite a few residents from the Arient and Belmont territories were coming to witness the mountain-splitting magic sword's majesty. I might as well go take a look myself.
"Julia says she's not going and is holed up in the study."
"...Tsk."
Kali is furious with you!
She was really sulking hard. What to do. After a moment of thought, I took out the lesson coupon I'd carefully stored in the drawer. It was the coupon Julia had left behind.
"Go ahead first and tell them I'll be late. Have them proceed with the performance test on their own."
"Yes. I will do so, my lord."
Silvia bowed with a bright smile. It was a smile dripping with satisfaction.
...
Tick, tock. The only sound was the clock, quiet enough to remind us that time hadn't stopped in this place. Breaking the peaceful silence, I strode forward. In one corner of the study, the sofa Julia liked was already occupied as usual. The only difference was that Julia was holding a book high enough to hide her face. Didn't her arms hurt?
"Move over a bit."
"..."
At my words, she silently shifted aside to make space without a word. Her hands remained raised, still holding the book so her face couldn't be seen. I plopped down beside her and opened a book. They were volumes I'd borrowed from the Imperial Magic Academy library. I gave no hint of glancing at Julia or reading her mood. I simply acted as if I were minding my own business.
Let's see how long she could keep sulking without reacting. Her arms must be getting tired. She must want to put it down.
"It's cramped..."
After a while, Julia was the first to react. Though no body parts were touching, she made an excuse about it being cramped and tried to leave the sofa. Where did she think she was going? I slipped the lesson coupon out of my pocket and spoke.
"Don't go. I'm going to use the coupon now."
"That thing! Why haven't you thrown it away yet!?"
Her face flushed red as she snapped at me. Good. Now she was finally looking at me. Watching the irritated Julia somehow improved my mood. It felt like regressing to a young boy's innocence, teasing a girl he liked for no reason.
"I never sold that to you! So it has no effect!"
"A coupon's effect activates at the time of issuance. Therefore, this is a valid coupon. Trying to nullify its effect would severely damage the personal credibility of Julia herself. Are you sure about that?"
"Ugh... It's fine, so hand it over..."
"I'm not fine with it. I intend to use it no matter what."
"What are you even going to use it for... You don't even listen to my lessons with half an ear... All your compliments were just empty words..."
Sniffle, sniffle. Her eyes trembled as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment. Then she turned away, her shoulders shaking. Yet she didn't run away completely, as if her back was saying "hold me back" or "tell me it's not true."
She got all smug when I praised her, but now she'd noticed something and was digging herself a tunnel straight to the core. What a troublesome kid.
"I'll be honest. Back then, I wasn't particularly interested in the content of basic magic lessons."
"I knew it...!"
Kali stares at you with wide, piercing eyes!
Just listen to the end, you two. They were both equally lacking in patience.
"You were just trying to tease me even though you already knew all that basic magic...!"
"What I wasn't interested in was the content."
"...!"
"What mattered wasn't the content, but the process. Anyone can memorize the content and recite it as is. But in the process of explaining it, each person's level of understanding and thinking ability is revealed."
"You were evaluating my tutoring ability?"
"That too. But the biggest reason was that my knowledge of basic magic was severely lacking, so I genuinely wanted to learn from you."
"Liar! Who would fall for that! This level of basic magic is something you learn by age seven...!"
"..."
Shiver. Julia trembled, still thinking I'd been teasing her. This was so unfair. It was true. I had really just been burning with academic enthusiasm to learn basic magic. Was it really this face that was the problem? Or my tone? Either way, it was clear that my honest sincerity wasn't reaching Julia at all.
I'd gradually earned Silvia's trust and met the unbiased Charlotte, momentarily forgetting the debuff of this wretched face. But it seemed it was still 100% effective on Julia. It was a little disheartening, but even so, I wanted to take one more step forward. To make Julia believe my sincerity, this was probably the only way.
"If you think it's a lie, then you get no dinner today."
"Huh!?"
Kali looks at you with disdain, calling you childish!
What's so childish about it. Even I have a human heart. No matter how much of a contempt-type character Julia was, if she only got the whip without any carrot, even my heart would break. What kind of tsundere was that? It was just tsun. Ah. Just not a tsundere to me? Then it couldn't be helped.
"How petty! Resorting to that!?"
"What are you going to do? Are you going to starve completely just to have a meaningless battle of wills? You know it too. I'm not a soft person. If I declare I won't feed you, I won't even let you have a drop of water until you give in first."
"Ugh..."
Flutter, flutter. I waved the lesson coupon and smiled leisurely. A hunger strike? Go ahead and try. Let's see if it works. I was the guy who squeezed the Arient Count dry like a rag—did she really think something like that would work on me? Julia seemed to know full well that I wasn't an easy opponent. She couldn't easily say she'd just starve.
"Sit down. Let's continue from volume two of basic magic where we left off last time."
"Really, what a nasty hobby. Is this fun for you? Watching me get smug while secretly laughing inside?"
"Think whatever you want. But let me say one thing—if I were enjoying myself by laughing at you, that kind of pleasure would be one-time only. Once you've already noticed, what kind of pleasure would be left?"
"That's..."
"And I plan to receive all ten volumes to the end, so keep that in mind."
"..."
Julia's protruding lips softened a little. Her shoulders, which had been raised as if to show she was excited, drooped down. Her gaze also gradually lowered until it fell to the floor.
"...It'll be boring. It's really long."
"I don't mind."
"Tch. You're weird. The book is..."
"Right here."
"Hehe. What a prepared student. If you're going to be that persistent, I guess I have no choice! Ahem!"
Plop. Julia sat beside me and opened the book. The irritation hadn't completely left her face, but it was quite different from before. It was more like passive irritation. Not real annoyance, but the kind of grumbling tick that Julia unconsciously wore on the surface.
"But what's that book?"
"This is a book about black magic."
"Ugh. Is that okay? It hasn't even been that long since His Majesty the Emperor visited."
"It's purely for research. If it's for academic purposes, what would I have to hide? Ah. The content is quite difficult, so how about we research it together? I need your help."
"I don't know anything about black magic..."
"Neither do I. That's why I'm suggesting we research it together. Not your knowledge, but your brain is what I need."
"Hmph. Hmph. If you say it like that..."
Julia let out a nasal sound, as if her mood had improved in an instant. Had she finally accepted my sincerity? Before I knew it, Julia's body, with the book open, had leaned considerably toward me. She smelled nice.