Chapter 5 : I’m… going to study hard!

Well, several months passed since I learned about magic’s existence.
The day after this discovery, okā-san, otō-san and the three maids were waiting for me in the living room, chatting noisily.

“Do they already know about my Skill and Titles?” is what I was asking myself.

Everybody went silent once I entered the room.

Yup, they knew.
Well, that much was expected.

Lets pass the thorough investigation my parents put me through… Everybody looked very… astonished, to say the least, about my [Logical Thinking (Lv7)].
Did Julie not told them in details? Or maybe they didn’t believe her?
I asked them why they were surprised like this, and it seems that the people who had this level of skill numbered less than a thousand. They said that in a case out of two, people will die without even obtaining the skill.
And the level seems to be pretty hight too, considering that level ten is the highest possible.
So yeah, I’m actually pretty clever it seems.
According to this world scale at least.

Well, from what I learned, one is able to learn a Skill and to level it up by practicing an activity associated to it.
So for “Logical Thinking”, you just need to think logically.
But, if one person out of two don’t even have the skill, does it mean that half the population is dumb? Do they not have any school?
This idea was quickly dismissed. [Logical Thinking(Lv2)] is high level enough for a teacher. And they do have schools, but not many poor children goes there because they have to help their parents with their work.
Well, truth is, if commoners goes to school, nobles children bullies them until they stop going.
…
I want to make a school! For poor, homeless and orphan children !
I’ll have to win lots of money though, ’cause it’s gonna be pricey. And homeless children wouldn’t go unless I can give them food and a roof for the night.
I always wanted to be a teacher, but in this world? Maybe I could aim higher!
I’ll have to think seriously about it. It’s nothing but a project for now.

That aside.
It’s Titles’ turn now.
Titles are supposed to be rewards given by the Spirits to someone who has accomplished several linked actions. For example, to obtain [Genius], one has to show exceptional aptitudes in a specific field and has to be recognized has such. For example, if people told me my discovery was wrong, then I would have gained [Misunderstood Genius] instead of [Acknowledged Genius].
I wonder what’s the difference between those two?
Oh, and if someone gains the Title [Acknowledged Genius] before being ten years old, then [Genius] change into [Child Prodigy].
Those Titles seems to give several bonuses. In my case for example, [Child Prodigy] is known to make a child learn everything twice as fast as normal.
Quite handy, isn’t it?

But…
Doesn’t it looks like a game a bit too much? I asked them where this [Status] magic came from, and it seems that a man from a foreign world invented it sixty years ago.
Ufufu, I see. It looks like a game because it was made by a gamer! This guy must have come from Earth too! But it doesn’t make it useless in the least! It is quite practical, if I was to say so! Thank you, fellow “World Traveler”!
But, in his case, he didn’t reincarnated, he was apparently accidentally warped here, because of a natural magic phenomenon.
Ah, and before he invented that Spell, the Skills’ and Spells’ evolution didn’t appear through blue boxes, but were announced by a “Voice from Heaven”.

Hun?
Wait a moment…
“Accidentally warped here?”.
Then, can it be that I could be warped back to my first world?
I’ll have to do some research on that!
Aaah, don’t get me wrong. It’s not to return to my world.
It’s to not to.
If I know how to come back, I’ll just have to avoid it by all means.
I love this world.
I love my family.
I didn’t have anyone, except friends, in my old world.
And well, even if I’d want to come back, I’m not John Smith anymore.
I’m Abigaelle Lovecraft Redtear.
A resident of this world.
Problem solved.

Well, that aside, it seems like I won’t be able to do any magic, and thus see my Status, before I turn three. And even then, I won’t be allowed to do any Elemental Magic before I turn seven.
I asked why, and it seems that Mana isn’t stable, and thus safely usable, before one’s third birthday, and most children die while experimenting with Elemental Magic, so they are forbidden to use it until seven. Well, it’s true that it wouldn’t be safe to give children the power to make everything burn or explode!
And I won’t even talk about [Unholy Magic]. This one is pretty nasty! There is even a Spell based on a torture device.
Yuk!
Well, I’ll just have to wait patiently and have fun in the meantime then.

It’s what I was thinking, but it seems that regarding my Title and the Skill I have, my parents decided to begin my classes earlier than what was intended.

Thus, the week following those events, my lessons began.

Wait! That’s a too soon… is what I would say, but… I’m the one to blame here.
And even though, I would have started them next year anyway, it seems.
Isn’t that too quick? Well, that’s another world common sense for you.
Maybe humans grow faster here? Is it because of magic?

Well…
My father taught me how to read in three weeks while he began to teach me history. Well, I didn’t show I could read though. Let’s take it slowly.
I wonder if I’m not going too fast? I mean, even though I played a lot with children, I have absolutely no idea how fast they’re supposed to grow. And do I even have to worry about that? I’m in another world after all, humans may grow differently here…
At least my parents aren’t that surprised by my growth rate.
Let’s take it slowly anyway.

And…
Yes! Finally! This long-awaited event finally came!

Well, you may not know it, but I’m quite fond of history! And this world’s history is particularly exceptional!

For example, it seems that we are in the year 822.
But then, what is the starting point, you ask? What happened 822 years ago here? Did a bearded Saviour-san appeared in this world too you ask?
Nay, it’s not that. It’s something much more gruesome.
They call it “The Event”.

That’s… pretty generic…

Well, it seems that a religious order, whose name has now been erased from every books and stories, decided that magical beings were Evil, and that they needed to be purged. They conducted huge hunts and collected a lot of magical beings, even humans, and they took advantage of some special event to conduct a ritual and expel every magical being from this world, but it seems that it misfired, and the exact opposite happened, and every non-magical beings were wiped out without leaving a single trace.
The remaining cultists were then judged and executed, and the religious order disappeared.
The following century was then plunged into chaos. Massive immigration from the East took place because of dragons rampaging, wars to seize empty territory broke out,…

Oh yeah, Dragons exist here. As well as Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Beastmens, Therianthropes,… Heck, even Brownies! The fairy kind, not the edible one. Chocolate brownie doesn’t exist here…
Why? Why is this world so cruel? Did I ever do something wrong? Give me some brownies! Or cookies, at least! Is there a [Cookie Maker] Skill?
If there is, I’ll have it!

Hum, that aside, as I was about to say, after one century, the situation settled, and apart from few skirmishes, only two big wars took place.
I asked if I could see some maps, but it seems that the accurate ones are considered kind of national secret, and it will be a bit difficult to buy some, even the non accurate type, since they’re only sold by Merchant Guilds.
Otō-san said he could have tried to make one by memory, but since it would be very inaccurate and he doesn’t want me to start learning with false basis, he won’t.
I guess I’ll have to wait for that too.

And I’m currently learning each races main history and believes, since otō-san told me it will be useful if I were to deal with them. We’re doing it in alphabetical order, but we’re only at Elves at the moment.
Heck, those lucky bast… hum, guys, have a thousand-year lifespan!
I want that too!
Well, that’s about everything I learned for now, apart from useless information.
Well, useless, but not uninteresting.

Enough talking about History. Next is Mathematics.
Well, this one’s gonna be short. I was planning to do things smoothly, but I got annoyed, and so I finished my lessons in three months. Well, the “hardest” thing was divisions, so it was nothing if you were to compare it with what I was doing back in the university.
Yeah, piece of cake. But I have to say that okā-san’s face was quite a sight when I resolved four digits divisions by myself. That is, it shouldn’t be possible. It’s hard even for maths teachers of this world.
I’m evil, ufufu.
But no [Evil Genius] Title was acquired though.

The most difficult lesson was Etiquette. I had to learn how to talk, how to walk, how to behave properly, how to eat, how to speak… Even how to dance! I suck at dancing! I don’t really want to be a noble you know? I plan to travel the world a bit, have my share of adventure, and then be a teacher!
Well, I did won a few skill. [Dance(Lv1)], [Etiquette(Lv3)], [Horseback Riding(Lv3)],…
Well, Etiquette was already level 2 to begin with. And it seems level three is quite good for a noble. I’m lucky I’m no royalty then, because I would have to work until level 5, at least… But I don’t know how I even got it level two in the first place. I mean, “etiquette” isn’t something common folks learns on Earth, right? At least, not in France. If we’re talking about Japan, then I can’t say…

And the last lesson was Economic. I have to say I was genuinely surprised by that, as I didn’t think I would have to learn it. But mother said that, even as a noble, it was very important to learn things like currency change rate, tax management, and such.
I obtained some quite useful Skills there, I have to admit, such as [Bargain(Lv4)], [Appraisal(Lv4)] and [Tax Management (Lv3)]. I even had [Economy Understanding (Intermediate)] evolve into [Economy Understanding (Advanced)]. Well, even though I was well aware about my world economic system, aka Capitalism, this world’s system is quite different, so I actually learned new and interesting things.
Oh, yeah, I learned about the currency used in Taovania, this country.
I was really relieved when I learned that it was based on a decimal system.
What I mean is, if you’ve got ten cents, then it will make one Euro.
Even though, of course, they don’t use Euros. But I was worried it would work like Shillings or Deniers before… That would have been a real pain…
So yeah, as I said they don’t use Euros. Or Pounds.
Of course they don’t.
They use the “Taovar”.
Well, France used Franc, Europe use Euro, so Taovania use Taovar.
I can’t blame their naming sense.

Ugh. Digressing again!

So yeah, they use the Taovar.

The smallest coin is copper coin. Of course it is! Well, I say of course, but in my world, copper was quite pricey…

Then, equal to ten Copper Coins is a Brass Coin.

Then, Ten brass coin is a Silver Coin, and ten Silver Coins is a Gold Coin.

Well, I won’t compare them to Euros’ value. There would be no point. Comparing money from different time frames is nearly impossible, so imagine between different world…
Well, let’s just say that a farmer would have to work a month to win 3 Gold Coins, which will be sufficient to feed a big family and still have enough to continue living and pay taxes.
An average full plate armour cost 1 Gold Coin, an iron sword 1 Silver Coin, and a dagger, 3 Brass Coin.
I thought that it was quite cheap, and it seems it’s because magic does make metallurgy easier.
And those price are only Taovania’s average. They change depending of the country, the city, if there is a war,…

Well, most of the countries use this system, with slight differences, especially with the coin higher than the Gold Coin.
For example, in Taovania, there is the Magic Gold Coin. It is a pure Gold Coin, but a magic seal was implanted in it. It’s worth a hundred Gold Coin, and is nearly impossible to reproduce.
Ah, by the way, making false money is automatically sentenced by death, so not a lot of people tries to do it.
I won’t at least.

Well, this will be pretty useful in the future, I think.

Actually, I have more free time than I used to, thanks to my quick progress in Economy and Mathematics.
Thus I was able to begin crafting.
I needed materials, so I asked my parents if they could buy me wood planks, long wooden rods, black and white paint, bee wax and some nails.
I already saw something that looked like flax around our castle, and I asked my parents if it’s used to make something. I guess it’s the same thing than the one I knew, because they seem to make fabric and oil out of it, so I asked them if they could buy some. Linseed oil is quite useful for what I want to make, after all, and I do need linen. It seems it’s quite cheap too.
They all look pretty curious about it, but I forbid everyone to look at my work before I finished it. I just ask for one of the maids or okā-san’s help whenever I want to use the saw or any dangerous tool, because they would be worried otherwise.

Well, I know I’m being a bit selfish, but it would really be worth the cost!

Ufufufu, beware, World, for I am preparing your conquest!

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