Chapter 14: The First Lessons and a Grim Discovery

Chapter 14

“The reason I asked where you bought him was precisely for that. I wondered if you might have acquired him from a noble. Despite his apparent leg discomfort, he consciously corrects his posture, pulls his chin in, and keeps his chest straight. If his previous owner was indeed a noble, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to have received such training.”

“I didn’t buy him from a noble, but…”

Hay’s expression registered a slight surprise.

“Renki, was your previous owner perhaps a noble?”

Hay asked. Renki hesitated, stammering.

“Yes… my previous master did teach me various things. But I don’t know how to read or write. He didn’t teach me that.”

He avoided their gaze, looking visibly distressed. His expression was troubled.

‘He seemed utterly uncomfortable discussing his previous owner. I’ve never asked about them, so I don’t know much, but it likely has something to do with the burns he sustained.’

‘Perhaps that noble was the scoundrel who sold an injured Renki to a s*ave trader instead of treating him.’

“So it seems.”

“I see.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to discuss the reading and writing lessons.”

Feeling displeased, Hay composed his stiff expression and changed the subject. Fortunately, Briana readily nodded.

“Very well. Shall we first set the study schedule, then negotiate the fees?”

“What amount are you considering?”

“It depends on how many hours we’ll study each day, doesn’t it?”

“Half a day.”

“That would be about three turns of the hourglass, then.”

‘Half a day, three turns of the hourglass… that’s three hours. Would that be enough?’

After a moment’s thought, Hay revised the lesson duration.

“Let’s make it four turns. The period is short, after all. Is that agreeable to you?”

“That suits me perfectly. And the duration, will it be fifteen days as planned?”

“Yes. If Ms. Lamperche’s stay in Nudan is extended, I’d like to extend the lessons accordingly.”

“Let’s decide that based on the circumstances. Can we start right away tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Since there are two of you, five silver coins. How does that price sound?”

“That’s fine.”

‘For two people to learn how to read and write, five silver coins for a start wasn’t too expensive. Over two weeks, that would be seventy silver coins—roughly seven hundred thousand won. Even considering the rarity of such lessons, with so few people learning, it seemed reasonable.’

“It would be best if you prepared enough ink and parchment yourselves. I trust I won’t need to procure those for you as well?”

“I suppose we’ll have to stop by the general store.”

“Mr. Styles, how many words do you know how to write?”

“I know my name and a few important words for writing contracts.”

“Do you know all of the Maten script?”

‘Maten is the script of Materian. In other words, an alphabet.’

“Not all of it.”

“Learning to read and write will primarily involve memorizing words, after all. Hmm, just a moment.”

Briana rose from her seat and walked to the counter. She returned with a quill, ink, and some cheap parchment from the owner.

Just then, Meggy brought over the tea they had ordered.

“I’ll teach you the Maten script today. It would be best if you memorized it as quickly as possible.”

With practiced ease, she held the quill, dipped it in ink, and began writing down the Maten characters.

Although he already knew, the Maten script bore a strong resemblance to the alphabet, despite its more geometric forms.

“The Maten script consists of a total of twenty-seven characters.”

‘Compared to the alphabet, it had one more character. There was no distinction between uppercase and lowercase.’

“It might be faster to memorize them by sounding them out, but for today, just focus on the shapes of the characters. We’ll start with proper instruction tomorrow.”

“Could you tell us the pronunciation once?”

Following Hay’s request, Briana pointed to each character and taught them its sound.

She even diligently wrote down the phonetic symbols next to them.

‘But Briana seemed to have forgotten that Hay couldn’t read. She just left it at that.’

‘It didn’t matter, since he wouldn’t forget anything he saw or heard once.’

‘In fact, it was better because he could teach Renki what he’d memorized first. Meanwhile, their teacups were gradually emptied.’

“Let’s stop here for today.”

Briana set down the quill.

“Should the tuition be paid in a lump sum on the final day, or would you prefer daily payments?”

“Daily payments would be better.”

“How about we hold the lessons at the inn where I’m staying? They have a table there. If that’s inconvenient, we can continue at this teahouse.”

“No, that would incur double expenses. I’ll come to your inn. Was it Torres Inn?”

“Yes. How about we keep the time the same as today, after the noon bell?”

“Anytime is fine.”

“Then we’ll do that. I’ll cover the tea expenses today.”

“Thank you. It was delicious.”

“Then, I look forward to working with you for the time being, Ms. Lamperche.”

“The pleasure is mine. And… was your name Renki?”

Briana’s gaze fell upon Renki.

Renki had remained silent since sitting down, not uttering a single word.

Suddenly called by name, he looked at Briana with wide, startled eyes like a rabbit’s.

“I look forward to working with you.”

Renki hesitated, not replying.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave first. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, safe travels.”

Briana was the first to leave the teahouse.

Hay sat idly with Renki for a moment before gathering the parchment with the Maten characters and rising from his seat.

“Shall we go too?”

“Yes.”

Renki followed Hay out.

The two stopped by the general store, bought plenty of quills, ink, and cheap parchment, then returned to the inn.

They arranged the supplies conveniently, then sat head-to-head at the table with Renki, studying the Maten characters.

Using his brain for the first time in a while made him hungry quickly, so they bought bread from a bakery and ate it.

Perhaps because he knew English, the Maten script wasn’t difficult.

Moreover, thanks to his improved memory from recalling his past life, he was able to quickly memorize all twenty-seven characters after writing them down only a few times.

Now, he could even write them with his eyes closed.

“You’re memorizing them so quickly.”

“Of course, I’m an adult.”

Hay grinned confidently.

“How about you? Is it manageable?”

Renki gave an awkward smile and shook his head.

“Have you never studied before at all?”

“No.”

Renki scratched the nape of his neck and lowered his gaze.

‘Despite that, he seemed to be memorizing them quite well. Was his memory that good?’

“Let’s stop for today. It’s boring.”

Hay put down the quill and threw himself onto the bed.

“Then I’ll tidy up. Should I discard the used parchment?”

“No, let’s leave a trace that we worked hard. When you study, it’s customary to leave a mark, as if to say, ‘I studied!’”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Hay stretched his arms and legs on the bed, yawning. Perhaps due to the mental exertion, drowsiness began to creep in. Renki, having mostly finished tidying, pulled a blanket over him.

“The weather’s chilly. Cover up and sleep.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll keep studying.”

“Diligent, aren’t you?”

Renki chuckled softly and returned to the table, poring over the Maten characters Briana had written.

Watching him quietly, Hay curled up on his side and drifted off to sleep.

****

The fourth day in Nudan.

“Let’s call it a day here.”

The reading and writing lessons had begun. Four turns of the hourglass passed more quickly than expected.

“Your memory and concentration are excellent. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to memorize all of Maten in just one day. Renki is also learning quickly for someone new to reading and writing. Now, here’s your homework: Renki, fifty words; Mr. Styles, one hundred words by tomorrow.”

As they had studied, she had created a vocabulary list for them. Now, she extended a piece of parchment densely filled with one hundred words. Hay was utterly aghast.

“Isn’t that too many? I feel like I’ve memorized at least fifty words today alone, and now a hundred by tomorrow?”

“Fifty words? I only taught you thirty. And what’s more, they were only the easiest ones.”

‘That was true. Words like mother, father, brother, sister, apple, strawberry—they were easy to pick up quickly.’

“And what you learned today is included in that, so you only really need to memorize seventy more.”

Briana warned him not to exaggerate.

‘Seventy words from another world—that’s no small feat.’

“It’s still a lot.”

“If you want to learn to read and write in fifteen days, shouldn’t you put in that much effort?”

Briana shrugged, her expression unenthusiastic.

“Could you reduce it a little?”

Hay pleaded.

“No. Just try to memorize as many as you can for now.”

Briana firmly refused. Hay sighed. In truth, he was confident he could memorize them all.

‘Honestly, he had finished memorizing the thirty words today in less than an hour.’

‘A hundred words would be no problem either, but he simply didn’t want to boast about his astonishing memory to others, so he was feigning difficulty.’

“Renki, what about you? Can you do it?”

Briana asked. Renki nodded resolutely. Briana smiled.

“Since it includes the words you couldn’t memorize today, review diligently and try to commit them to memory.”

“I’ll memorize all of them, just like Master.”

Renki’s eyes were full of enthusiasm.

“You’re quite ambitious. Do your best. There’ll be a pop quiz tomorrow.”

Briana said. When she spoke like that, she truly sounded like a teacher.

“Well, class is over for today, so I’ll be taking my leave.”

She then extended her hand toward Hay. Hay clasped it, shaking it as if in a handshake. Briana shook her head.

“No, I mean, for the payment.”

“Oh, right.”

‘He’d agreed to pay her daily after the lessons. Hay took out five silver coins and handed them over.’

“Then, I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

Once Briana had left, Hay collapsed onto the bed.

“Ugh—”

“You must be tired, Master?”

“Using my brain made me hungry.”

Renki burst into laughter at his words.

“Shall I peel some fruit for you?”

‘They did have fruit bought after lunch. But fruit wasn’t what he craved.’

“I want meat.”

“Beef? You really do love beef.”

“Not that kind of meat.”

“Then what kind of meat? Pork?”

“Chicken. Half spicy, half fried, with lots of pickled radish.”

“Is that some kind of spell?”

“Crunchy peanut chicken…”

“Master, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Renki looked perplexed.

‘Of course, because he was speaking in Korean, not Materian.’

“I also want spicy whelk salad.”

“If you’re hungry, it might be a bit early, but how about we go eat?”

“It is indeed early.”

‘It hadn’t even been five hours since they last ate.’

“Ah, I don’t care. Let’s just eat.”

Hay shot up. He needed to shove something into his stomach immediately.

Anticipating late-night hunger, the two ate their fill that evening.

They were out for a stroll, patting their full bellies to aid digestion.

From a distance, the sound of horse hooves approached, accompanied by urgent shouts to clear the way.

Hay grabbed Renki and pressed them against the building wall. In a flash, a soldier on horseback galloped past.

People murmured. Renki, tracing the retreating figure of the soldier with his eyes, asked,

“What do you suppose happened?”

“Beats me. But something certainly seems to have occurred.”

Hay shrugged, speaking indifferently.

The reason for the soldier’s hurried ride would only become clear the following day.

****

Ten days later.

It was the fifth day of their journey from Nudan towards Harvenia.

George Cambern was speechless at the gruesome sight of the encampment before him.

It had been known among mercenaries and merchants as a relatively safe campsite, but it was no longer so.

Hooch Edmond, who had been at the very front, dismounted his horse and ran a hand over his face. He, too, seemed to have lost his words at the blood-soaked scene of the camp.

“What in the world…”

It was an old caravan leader who broke the silence.

“Don’t come out.”

Captain Cambern gestured for the old caravan leader to quickly get back into the carriage. The caravan leader shivered, his face pale.

Captain Cambern’s eyes took in the corpses strewn across the encampment floor.

Even by a rough visual estimate, the number of dead exceeded one hundred.

Through the letters carved into the broken carriages, he could discern that they belonged to the Tutella merchant guild and that their escort was the Mancenon mercenary company.

Who they were was not important.

What had annihilated them was what truly mattered.