CH 11

February 9, 2022Zathael

This is a story from the time I was in the Infinite Book Corridor.

“Fools will thoughtlessly believe only in their own experience, saints understand the hearts of others and share in their pain, and sages understand the significance of history and learn from it”

Master spoke to me as I was struggling through a history book.

I liked reading books on magic or physical chemistry as the basic theory was the same as science textbooks in my previous world so it wasn’t that difficult, plus I’ve always thought of history as a rote learning subject,

“Do I still lack understanding”

I had failed master’s comprehension level check many times before.

“Perhaps so, then let me tell you a story about the empires founding that you just read”

When the human race’s largest [Empire] was just formed, master was invited to a certain party.

There, a certain man told her.

“Killing nobles requires neither sword nor magic, even if it’s a lie, convincing everyone that they have a bad reputation is enough”

Hearing her words, I nodded as if I was interested and understood,

“That was this man”。

She pointed to the name of the short lived third emperor.

“After all, a schemer is one who wallows in schemes and there is nothing more difficult to deal with than to be treated as evil”

According to the book, that man put out many policies and became a cornerstone of the over 2000 year old empire.

Then master took out a nearby book on magic,

“Curse magic will, without fail, also curse the caster”

Was written on the page she pointed to.

“All fields of study are connected, people will repeatedly make the same mistakes over and over. That is what it means to learn from history”

And then with a somewhat sad expression,

“Resentment will eat into a person, malice permeates through a group and rots them. Because the most fearsome of curses is not magic but [human malice]. It is better to resolve it swiftly”

She rested her hand lightly on my cheek.

“Oh yeah just like how no matter how many times you try to be careful, when I walk up the stairs you peek at my skirt”

I was panicking as my intentions to sneakily peek were exposed once again,

“Ending the repetition of the same foolish actions and inviting others to a new path is also the duty of a sage”

Master stood up and waved the short dress skirt that she had been wearing a lot recently and, like a mischievous young girl, stuck out her tongue.

In doing so, in the corridors faint light, I caught a glimpse of her lovely pure white panties.

Yes, that was….. the first time I got knocked down by my master.

×　×　×　×　×

They lead me to a large tatami room where Maya-chan is sitting cross legged on a floor cushion with a disgruntled face,

“My lord, I have been expecting you”

Wrapped in white clothing, the beautiful gentle girl is sitting next to her.

“Earlier I showed you an unsightly scene…..”

Her cheeks turn red. That embarrassed appearance is something that’s fairly difficult to come by.

“No it was a sight for sore eyes. My creed is a strong style to not refuse anything that comes my way so don’t worry about it”1

However in the case of romance it’s never worked out so maybe in this instance a change in philosophy is required.

When I asked master about love she replied “I- Idiot, even I know about that!” and got mad but in the end she never taught me anything.

Even now, Chiyo is looking at me with a troubled smile.

I sit down on the cushion set opposite her and girls in red hakama place tea and snacks on a tray one after another.

The girls who were all around intermediate to upper primary school glanced repeatedly at me.

They all have bobbed hair to their shoulders and their cute faces were all somewhat similar.

“Please feel free to eat”

Chiyo-san clears her throat with a cough as if to suggest that I regain my composure so I pick up the teacup when,

“Ah”

Perhaps because my grip strength hasn’t returned yet, it slips out of my hand.

A great sound rings out as it hits the tray,

“Kya” “Eh” “Awawawa!”

The young girls’ screams chain together…..

Young foxes panic and run around the room

The young girls wearing red hakamas can no longer be seen.

“Now now, this is disgraceful. Calm down at once”

At Chiyo-san’s words, the young foxes huddle up in the corners of the room.

“What are you doing, scaring those kids”

Maya-chan is glaring at me but,

“These kids are the children of kitsune who live in the forest and still aren’t used to taking the form of a human. However after hearing the news, they said they really wanted to meet my lord”

Chiyo-san makes a gentle smile and tilts her head.

Translator’s Notes:

1: Strong style is a term that originates from japanese professional wrestling and as slang means something along the lines of ‘leaving out any excessive showiness and facing something head on’

2: Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the great unifiers of japan.

A more organised person would probably make sure they have some plan in case they are suddenly busy but instead you have me. Sorry I missed last week but there was a lot of work to do after returning from my trip.