The Mysterious Woman

Today, Manuel brought several scholars to Weissenburg to arrange teachers for Frederick.

By noble tradition, a family would appoint a tutor for a child between the ages of six and eight. The tutor would accompany the child as they grew up, provide their early education, and become a capable assistant once they reached adulthood.

Frederick's parents had passed away before they could arrange such a tutor for their son. Then Richard Nahl came along and arranged one for himself.

Everyone had their own specialty. Richard Nahl sought out Manuel and asked him to arrange teachers for Frederick in subjects other than martial arts.

In addition to magic, the current elementary subjects included the traditional "seven arts": grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Grammar, which taught precise expression; rhetoric, which taught vivid expression; and logic, which taught meaningful expression, belonged to the humanities. The other four were sciences.

Subjects such as physics and alchemy were specialized courses, to be studied when he was a little older.

According to Richard Nahl's arrangements, Frederick's studies ran on a ten-day cycle. With breaks on the fifth and tenth days, the remaining eight days gave him exactly one subject per day.

Miss Psyche taught Introduction to Magic. She looked only twenty, tall and slender, with long brown hair, light brown eyes, and a straight nose. She was a breathtaking beauty with Southern Style charm.

Worried that Frederick might look down on Psyche because of her youth, Manuel specifically explained, "Psyche is a genius. She excels at Composite Magic and has deeply studied the fundamental principles of every branch of magic. She is perfectly suited to teach the basics of magic."

Before Frederick could respond, Richard Nahl said, "It is Frederick's good fortune that Miss Psyche is willing to condescend to teach him magic."

Psyche merely smiled faintly and said calmly, "Frederick is a clever child. I believe he will achieve great things in the future."

Frederick felt that the two of them must know each other. Since Richard Nahl said there was no problem, there definitely was no problem. He immediately stood and bowed in greeting.

Walter, who taught Frederick grammar, rhetoric, and logic, was also a poet. His hometown lay in the mountains two or three hundred kilometers south of Weissenburg, and after traveling widely in his youth, he had eventually arrived in Constantinople.

Frederick could read, but being literate and being able to understand books and write articles were two entirely different matters. Naturally, he had to study obediently.

Frederick had not wanted to study arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, but once he thought of being able to slack off during class, he became a model student.

The scholars teaching those four subjects were not the very best in their fields, but they were still somewhat renowned within their circles.

After Frederick met all his teachers, today's lessons began.

There was a small garden beside the castle, with a well and a pool. Some aquatic plants floated on the water's surface, and small fish were kept within. A spiral waterwheel driven by a windmill pumped water in stages into a water tank, with some of it flowing into the pool.

Normally, the fish in the pool could be used to check whether the well had been poisoned. During wartime, the pool could water horses.

There was a Stone pavilion beside the pool. On the first day of class, Psyche chose this as their lesson site.

Magic lessons required demonstrations and practice from time to time, so teaching indoors was somewhat dangerous.

Frederick, Psyche, and Richard Nahl sat in the pavilion, and no one else was allowed to approach.

Richard Nahl said to Psyche with utmost respect, "Grandma Psyche..."

"Hm?!" Psyche's gaze seemed capable of killing. Even the Sword Saint was a little intimidated.

Richard Nahl immediately changed his words. "Has Miss Psyche been well lately?"

Frederick was stunned. Richard Nahl was already in his fifties, yet he had called Psyche Grandma. That was a staggering amount of information.

Psyche answered indifferently, "Same as always. I travel around and see the world. When I get tired, I find somewhere to rest for a while."

Richard Nahl respectfully said, "Frederick is a clever child. With your guidance, he will surely accomplish something in the future."

Psyche reached out and pinched Frederick's adorable cheek. Her brown eyes seemed to see through everything as she said calmly and without emotion, "Let's see if he survives first."

"I'm about to start class. Go attend to your own business."

Just as Richard Nahl was about to leave, Psyche suddenly said, "If you tell Frederick anything about me from before today... heh heh..."

The Sword Saint immediately patted his chest and swore that he would absolutely not say anything he should not.

Frederick was already dumbfounded. Richard Nahl was a Sword Saint famed across the world. Anyone who could frighten him this much had to be at least a Sword Saint, or perhaps a god of magic.

"Curious?" Psyche asked Frederick with a smile.

Frederick nodded.

Psyche pinched his nose and said, "You are not yet qualified to know the answer."

Then the corner of her lips curled slightly. "But I can tell you a little secret. The two of us have something in common."

Frederick's heart skipped a beat. If it were merely an ordinary similarity, she would not have deliberately mentioned it. And the most unusual thing about him was...

"Add me on WeChat and send me fifty percent?" Frederick suddenly asked in Mandarin.

Psyche showed no unusual reaction at all. Instead, she entered teaching mode and began by asking Frederick a question. "How is magic created?"

At that moment, no unusual reaction was the most obvious reaction. Frederick stopped thinking about anything else and answered the question first.

There had once been a knight in the Weissen Family who was also a mage. Frederick had learned a few tricks from him as a child, so he still understood some basic common sense.

"Large quantities of magical elements exist around us," he answered. "When those magical elements are controlled through Mental Power, or move according to certain patterns within magical conductors in a Magic Array due to differences in magical pressure, magic appears."

Psyche nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "What do you think is the most important thing in magical research? A relevant word appeared in your answer just now."

Frederick recalled what he had said, going over it word by word. Finally, he said, "Patterns."

"Correct." Psyche spoke solemnly. "Everything repeatable in this world follows patterns, but the path to discovering those patterns is extremely perilous. There may be bottomless abysses ahead, and pig-like teammates behind. Countless people fall on the road forward."

"You should understand what I mean."

Frederick nodded first. The history of technological development back home had not been smooth sailing either. Then he asked, "Then can patterns also be found in something like Richard Nahl's domain?"

Psyche reached out and stroked his head, smiling. "You are still far too distant from the laws of the world. Do not think so much. Start with the most basic things first."

"Do you know the four types of Fireball Spell?"