One morning a few days later, after breakfast, Rudeus taught Eris and Ghislaine magic.
At Eris's insistence, Rudeus started by teaching them the most basic Fireball spell.
"Let the great blessing of flame appear where thou desirest, let the heat of a valiant flame manifest here-[Fireball]!"
Eris and Ghislaine chanted together, each extending a hand and trying to summon a fireball.
Tiny sparks began appearing in front of Eris's hand. Before long, flames formed and gathered into a ball!
"Yes!"
Eris jumped up in excitement, accidentally flinging the fireball away.
"Watch out!"
Ghislaine hurriedly called out to Radeus, who was practicing his swordsmanship nearby. His back was to Eris, and he stood motionless, seemingly unaware of the incoming fireball.
But just as the fireball drew close, a gust blew from behind Radeus and extinguished it.
"What exquisite mana control and spell precision!"
Ghislaine stared, dumbfounded. You could show off like that with Wind Magic?
Then Radeus turned to look at Eris and Ghislaine, his face smug.
"Sorry, I'm just too strong!"
What a show-off! Peak show-off, bro!
Rudeus couldn't bear to watch Radeus having his daily episode. The show-off energy was overwhelming. Couldn't he tone it down a little?
He could have simply dodged, but he just had to choose the approach that would get the most comments flying across the screen!
"All right, all right, tone it down. We're teaching Ghislaine and the others to read and write in a bit. Come help!"
Rudeus looked at Radeus, speechless.
"Huh?"
Radeus returned to normal in a second, his expression changing as fast as the first Sword God's basic attack.
Eris hated reading and writing, so getting her to study was no less difficult than getting Hawking to stand up and walk!
Ghislaine, on the other hand, had no objection and could sometimes talk Eris around. She was a huge help!
At the mention of reading and writing, Eris's happy expression vanished instantly. Her body tensed, ready to flee.
But before Eris could act, Ghislaine grabbed her.
"All right, Eris, stop making a fuss. Being able to read and write is important. I once ended up living on the streets because I couldn't read or write. I went days without food and finally had to eat monster poop to fill my stomach. Then I had diarrhea for days and nearly died there!"
Lingering fear showed on Ghislaine's face. She never wanted to live through those hellish days again.
"I-is that so?"
Eris's expression was complicated, impossible to describe. Everyone except Ghislaine wore exactly the same expression as Eris after hearing that story.
Words failed them!
Eris stopped making a fuss and obediently went with everyone to study.
Radeus couldn't keep his composure either. He pulled Rudeus aside and whispered in his ear.
"Does that sound right? A Sword King went through that?"
"Right, right. No, no!"
Rudeus nodded, then shook his head. The two arrived at the classroom with mixed feelings.
Eris and Ghislaine sat obediently in their seats while Rudeus taught them from an arithmetic book.
"So, 8 + 9 = 17. Got it?"
Rudeus asked the two of them, and Ghislaine nodded.
"I see. So that's how you calculate it!"
But Eris, seated beside her, looked as though she were listening to gibberish. Her expression was exactly like Radeus's back when he attended math class.
Why do I understand every word individually, but not when they're put together?
Didn't you say this was a math test? Why are you handing out an English paper?
Wow, this question is so short. It must be really easy!
Holy crap, who the hell invented math?!
Painful memories surfaced little by little, leaving Radeus looking constipated.
"What's wrong with you?"
Noticing something off about Radeus, Rudeus asked him.
"Nothing. Just remembered something painful!" Radeus waved a hand.
"Eris, this is for you. If you can't do it, spend more time memorizing this!"
Radeus handed Eris a sheet of paper covered in writing.
Eris glanced at it in confusion, then took the paper. Written on it was:
"1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 2 = 3, 1 + 3 = 4..."
"What's this?"
Eris asked, bewildered.
Rudeus and Ghislaine leaned in curiously too.
"This is an addition table. Memorize the equations on it, and you'll basically pass arithmetic! Look at the back too!"
Radeus pointed to the contents on the back.
"1 × 1 = 1, 2 × 2 = 4..."
"This is the nine-by-nine multiplication table. Learn it, and you won't have any problems in everyday life!"
"Holy shit, why didn't you bring out something this useful sooner?!"
"I almost forgot this thing even existed!"
Rudeus stared at Radeus in shock. Apparently, Eris's slap had knocked him so senseless that he'd even forgotten to bring out something like this.
"How incredible!"
Ghislaine also looked at the sheet in admiration.
"Well, Eris, does this make things a little easier?"
"Now tell me, what's 9 + 9?" Radeus asked Eris.
"Um, um..."
Eris kept scanning the paper, searching for that equation.
"Found it! It's 18!"
"Bingo! Correct!"
Radeus clapped, giving Eris plenty of encouragement.
Hearing that she'd answered correctly, Eris broke into a happy smile.
It had to be said that Eris only looked like a noble young lady when she smiled or kept quiet. The rest of the time, she was pure wandering warrior!
"Congratulations! Congratulations!"
Rudeus and Ghislaine offered cheers as well!
After arithmetic class ended, Radeus pulled Rudeus along to find Philip.
"Find Philip? Why?"
Rudeus looked at Radeus in confusion.
"You're as smart as Eris!"
Radeus looked at Rudeus as though he were an idiot.
"You aren't really planning to do nothing but teach here, are you?"
"This is a noble household. They have countless books of every kind, so there must be plenty on magic. Don't you want to improve?"
Hearing this, Rudeus finally understood.
"Holy shit, why didn't you say so sooner? I thought you were going to ask Philip for a beast-eared girl!"
"Oh, screw you! Though I really do want one!"
"..."
Before long, the two found Philip in a courtyard and asked him whether they could read the books in the mansion.
"Of course, no problem. Read whatever you like! If you need anything for your magic research, just ask. We don't have anything else here, but we have plenty of money!"
Awesome!
So this was what a filthy rich guy was like?
Love it, love it!
Radeus and Rudeus both looked at Philip in admiration.
"Oh, you're so cool, Uncle Philip!"
"How can anyone be as cool as you, our cool Uncle Philip!"
"Oh! Don't praise me like that, my two adorable nephews!"
Philip was so delighted by their flattery that he'd completely gotten carried away!
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