Can You Learn It?

—Let's go along with her.

Miss Surtr thought to herself, and as she picked up her pen from the table, she clearly heard a soft, rapid heartbeat behind her. She raised her hand and drew a few deliberate lines on her algebra book. She remembered telling Rosemary before that maintaining a study of mathematics was beneficial to mental refinement. Yet her textbook, which had been sitting untouched for years, seemed to show no obvious signs of being frequently consulted.

That won't do.

She's a fourteen-year-old girl now, it's time for her to learn Higher Mathematics, especially Linear Algebra which is related to spatial perception.

A subtle smile played on the girl's lips, the exhilarating feeling of destroying the Terra saplings lingering in her mind. She gleefully sketched out rows of problems that would torment non-mathematics majors, then combined them into questions that would give even average math students a major headache. And then...

"I will do it." — She heard an unexpected voice.

It was soft and delicate, like cotton candy or soft feathers brushing against her ear canal—she felt two slender, even frail, little hands hugging her waist from behind. And a small chin rested on her shoulder.

The chairs in the room had no backrests.

Therefore, such an action is valid.

She could therefore clearly feel the girl's delicate body pressed against her back, and could clearly distinguish the warm blood flowing and the heartbeat containing a pleasant tremor from her senses.

Such a sudden attack... was somewhat unexpected.

She had expected a sudden scare by having her eyes covered, or a "guess who I am" game. Instead, she was surprised to receive such a soft hug and such an unexpected opening remark.

"You've been studying all this time?" Miss Surtr choked for a moment. After several seconds, she managed to squeeze out this rather inappropriate remark.

"Yes, because it was a task given to me by Sister Surtr." Feline's voice was soft, and several thin, invisible tentacles of will gathered some dust in the air and collected them into bundles, as perceived by Miss Surtr —the afternoon sun was bright, and the Tyndall effect was clear. The algebraic models related to three-dimensional spatial structures that Miss Surtr had previously sketched in the book were thus sculpted in the air by Rosemary's own will, and every parameter met the requirements indicated in the question.

Wow.

A subtle sense of relief welled up in the Sarkaz's heart. She could sense that Rosemary's total spiritual energy had not decreased but rather increased since their parting. However, in terms of operational precision, this little Feline had already reached a completely new level, incomparable to what it had been before.

Before she left, she had nurtured Rosemary to a level comparable to her in-game performance—capable of controlling four floating siege modules in annihilation battles—and thus judged that her care for Rosemary had reached a suitable limit, leaving the little Feline behind. But now...

Rosemary nowadays could probably use her siege module to embroider on silk.

"Very good." She couldn't help but exclaim sincerely. "Well done, Rosemary. Your growth has exceeded my expectations."

However, she received an unexpected answer once again.

"I haven't done well enough."

Surtr: "?"

Behind him, Little Feline's voice became even weaker.

"Amiya and I made a bet. I thought you, Sister Surtr, would just wake me up, or leave after seeing that I've taken your bed and wait for the next time we meet. But Amiya thought you wouldn't wake me up or leave. Instead, you stayed and prepared a gift for me."

"I lost. I..." Little Feline pursed her lips. From her tender throat, she uttered words of resentment.

"I... don't know you well enough, Sister Surtr."

The girl raised an eyebrow—her attention had shifted elsewhere.

"So, you and Amiya made a bet?"—As she said this, she sensed that Little Feline's skin tensed up all over her body behind her.

"Hmm..." She received a faint response.

Then she pressed on. "What's the stake?"

"...No stakes." Rosemary's voice grew even weaker. Even her ears drooped. "Sister Surtr, you taught me that gambling is bad. I...will abide by that."

She's lying.

Miss Surtr, upon hearing the voice, immediately discerned the flaw in the tone. Even more glaring than the tone itself was the fact that Rosemary's spirit seemed to wither at the mere sound of those words—the four invisible hands, visible only to Surtr, drooped weakly.

—There was definitely something going on between her and Amiya. But she wouldn't tell me.

—But why should I expose her? Ah... losing to someone her own age is already frustrating enough for her. Besides, if I don't intend to change my way of thinking, and instead return to Rhodes Island with the same mental state I had before Chernobog, then I'll most likely do exactly what she described.

—Give her some encouragement, and ignore some of the details. I have plenty of time to properly educate and guide her. After all, she's still so young, and I can now be a great tree, shielding her from all natural and man-made Catastrophe.

So Miss Surtr put down her pen, took her hand, and gently stroked Rosemary's little head. Her fingers glided lightly over the ends of her pale blue hair, and when they touched the drooping, feline-like pointed ears, a slight warmth and tremor reached her fingertips.

"Good girl," she praised softly. "Now that Amiya guessed correctly, what gift would you like?"

Rosemary didn't answer, but her gaze drifted to the algebra book on the table.

"That doesn't count." The Sarkaz with the flames shook his head. "You've already made it, so its effect remains in the past—gifts represent sentiment. And sentiment means being there for someone in need and thinking what they want—I can give you anything you want, little one."

The young Feline behind him suddenly took a short, rapid breath.

"Anything... is that okay?"

"Anything is fine." Miss Surtr glanced at Laevateinn's blade. "But greedy little brats will be punished, you know."

A silence fell behind the girl.

After a few seconds of silence, his response to her was filled with courage, trepidation, and eagerness.

"Um... Sister Surtr, can you look at me?"

The tone was uneasy, like walking on a tightrope, or dancing on a knife's edge.

Miss Surtr then turned around with a hint of confusion to look at Rosemary —she saw little Feline's tender cheeks flushed crimson. But she mustered her courage and, in the instant she turned around, pressed her soft lips to hers!

"Chirp—"

The sound was clear, the touch soft, and it carried a subtle fragrance. The scent of Rosemary was just like the flower of her name. And Miss Surtr felt a jolt of surprise!

—This, this is!?

She instinctively wanted to turn back time. However, at the same time, she felt it was unnecessary.

And in that very moment of hesitation, Rosemary's lips left her cheek.

"Is this kind of gift... okay?" Little Feline asked her anxiously, her head lowered and her skirt twitching.

I was so busy with the event that I forgot to update... Only one section today _(:з"∠)_

And Rosemary is absolutely amazing at fighting these split monsters OAO

Chapter 166: Can you learn it?

Miss Surtr instinctively raised her hand, wanting to touch her cheek, but then lowered it. Looking at the anxious little Feline before her, she felt both amused and exasperated.