Chapter 10
"– Well, that is the reason why it is called as the Demon Forest." (Camilla)
In an unnecessarily s.p.a.cious room, the voice of Camilla was echoing.
As Soma was listening, he nodded.
There were only two people inside his room.
It was the first lesson that Camilla took as a private tutor.
With respect to time, it was two hours, after seeing Aina again, and meeting Camilla in the forest.
He didn't do anything else in particular.
He immediately parted with Aina and returned home, but it took some time for Camilla to finish the preparation.
Well, they didn't decide a specific time in the first place, and judging from his position to be taught by her, Soma didn't make any complaint.
Regarding the remaining time, since there was no task given to Soma since he was struggling with pain, there was no problem at all.
Anyhow, as the lesson started like that, but it was probably rude if he unexpectedly said something. However, it was his true feeling since the lesson was easy to understand.
They had a match earlier, and even though they both were combatants, her profession in the first place was a skill appraiser.
If she was really a muscle brain, he didn't think that the lesson could start immediately as expected, but it was probably because she was good at contradicting her own recognition.
Now, let's return to the main subject.
"Aah… I see." (Soma)
When returning to the present thought, it was natural to be occupied with the talk he heard now.
It was a talk about the forest ahead of the backyard, and why was it called as the Demon Forest…
"It was called the Demon Forest because it is at the boundary with the area where the Demon lives…" (Soma)
"Well, in the past there were time when the Demon was wondering around, but instead of several years, I haven't seen them in ten years." (Camilla)
"Hmm… by the way, do you know the reason?" (Soma)
"Hmm? Well, maybe." (Camilla)
"May I ask why?" (Soma)
"There is no problem in particular, but is it that easy for you?" (Camilla)
Even though Camilla asked such a thing, it was an easy matter.
Since she was beaten, she was probably gave up being asked by him.
There was more reasons if it could be.
Incidentally, when she said that, there was one other thing that could be understood.
"I see… is that the reason why my house is a uselessly big mansion?" (Soma)
"Hooh? You mean?" (Camilla)
"The size of the house is perfect for showing the stature of my family, right? And the fact is the territory of Demon is right there, which is at the border. Is it decided whether the mansion of the family is near the border of the country?" (Soma)
Soma was still didn't know the house he belongs to.
However, when he listened to such a talk, he understood to a certain extent.
"Well, I'm not sure how far the border goes, but the house is around here." (Camilla)
If that was the case, he could understand many things.
First, it was a way to deal with Soma after knowing that he couldn't learn any skills.
Strictly speaking, since he thought that he would stay mainly in this area, it was to reinforce that decision.
"Ooh?" (Camilla)
As expected, it seemed that his guess was almost right while looking at Camilla who pleasantly narrowed her eyes.
"We haven't reach the part about aristocracy… so how did you get there? You are really interesting…" (Camilla)
Since he couldn't say anything about the knowledge about the previous life, he shrugged his shoulders.
Even if he had no knowledge of the previous life, he could have guessed to a certain extent.
Soma had learned various knowledge from the tutors before Camilla, but he didn’t learn anything of such kind at all.
At that point of time, it was reasonable to think that the information deprived was something intended.
Whether he could guessed it to a certain point, that was another story.
"Well, leaving that aside… there is one unclear thing." (Soma)
"Hmm… what is it?" (Camilla)
"I don't understand the meaning of setting up a mansion so close to the border." (Soma)
There were surely some advantages, but whenever he thought about it, the drawback far exceeded it.
It was already out of question especially at a most dangerous time.
If someone ordered the mansion to be build here, he could feel nothing but ill intention.
"Aah, even if the mansion is setup here, originally it was planned to built more away from here, you know?" (Camilla)
"Hmm… well, of course." (Soma)
"However, the correspondence will be delayed when the Demon attack. Therefore, it was forcibly decided to setup the mansion here." (Camilla)
"…Who did that?" (Soma)
"Your parents." (Camilla)
"…Are my parents fools?" (Soma)
"I won't deny that." (Camilla)
That made him wanted to hold his head, but for her to have confidence to say that, there must be
But, nope…?
"Are they too overconfident because the Demon weren't seen in ten years?" (Soma)
"No, although it may be foolish, it is a certain that it is not because of overconfidence. Anyhow, the Demons were defeated." (Camilla)
"…That was a story of ten years ago, right?" (Soma)
"Well, the permission to build the mansion here is not because of showing off." (Camilla)
"Hmm…" (Soma)
Although Soma felt confidence if he was at the peak like in the previous life, he couldn't say anything because he didn't know how strong the Demon were.
There were too few samples in order to verify that fact.
When he thought about it…
"Now, since you don't know about them to a certain extent, shall I tell you a bit about Demons from now on?" (Camilla)
"Oh, as expected, the time has come, huh?" (Soma)
"What do you mean by 'as expected', did you know that I was going to ask that?" (Camilla)
"Well, when I listen to the story until this far, I can pretty much guess it. That is the way Sensei is going to tell the story, right?" (Soma)
Anyway, it was quite simple.
As Soma thought, when Camilla talked about something, there surely would be matters that he didn't know about in detail.
Speaking about the current talk, it was about the Demon.
In that situation, it was normal to think about what Camilla would talk next.
If he continued skillfully handle it, he would be able to listen to the story.
Since he tried to understand an interesting talk, it made him able to easily understand it.
The story was unexpectedly easy to be understood.
"If you can understand the talk even with only one hour, it's good." (Camilla)
"Sensei's talk was interesting after all." (Soma)
"I also notice that your understanding is high." (Camilla)
By the way, the first talk was about the country where Soma and others lived.
As a matter of fact, that talk also was one of the information that was blocked.
That was why Soma didn't know where this country was.
For the first time today, he knew about the most prosper and oldest empire located in the middle of the continent, and to the northwest of it, it was the kingdom where they lived.
Of course, it was also a small country surrounded by rugged mountain ranges, and practically, there were only two routes for getting out of this place.
And the talk itself was related to the Demon Forest here.
Anyhow…
"Now, I suppose to talk about the Demon, but… anyway, how far do you know about Demon? It seems that you don't know about them at all." (Camilla)
"Hmm, well I somewhat know, but… maybe, I don't know that much, I think." (Soma)
"By the way, what kind of things do you know?" (Camilla)
"I know as much as they are generally the enemy of the humanity." (Soma)
Incidentally, this was something that even a normal child knew.
It was also used for threatening children, like being taken away if they did bad things.
"I see… you certainly don't know too much. By the way, that was a lie, right?" (Camilla)
"Aah, as expected, huh?" (Soma)
It seemed that Camilla was surprised when Soma openly admitted when she asked.
She had a face as if asking why he nodded while lightly opened her eyes.
"'As expected'… you understand that?" (Camilla)
"If there's really such a thing, people will try to destroy them first. Just because they are not seen for more than ten years, it's not impossible for this place to be invaded. The rest is based on my actual observation." (Soma)
"Actual observation?" (Camilla)
"You don't have to worry too much about it." (Soma)
"Hmm… well, as you said, that's for the time being. The reason why the Demon didn't attack us first because there was no need to proactively cause a disturbance. It was supposed to be like that, but… I wonder if the Demon is really an adversary to humanity. …Other than listening, what do you think that the Demon looks like?" (Camilla)
"Well… they are the descendants of those who oppose humanity for some reason. In addition, they are a kind who were hated and cast out. And when such people gathered, they are in a community altogether. Am I right?" (Soma)
He could smoothly say it because he was somehow thought about it, and then, he was directed with an amazed expression from Camilla.
"Hmm, what's the matter?" (Soma)
"No, I just thought that I have come to understand you in general." (Camilla)
He tilted his head since he didn't understand the meaning, but Camilla just shrugged his shoulders.
That made him somehow concerned, but if she were willing to reply, she would have properly said it by now.
If that was the case, there was no meaning to ask more than that, so he didn't really mind about it.
"Well, there is that kind of thing, but never say such a thing to the believers of Holy G.o.d's Doctrine, alright? As for them, that public recognition is supposed to be true." (Soma) (TLN: The name in raw is 聖神教)
"I got it." (Soma)
Holy G.o.d's Doctrine was the only religion that exists in this world.
Strictly speaking, various factions existed, but he didn't have to worry too much.
As long as they were not believers, there were people who wouldn't get involved.
Incidentally, looking the fact in general, there were more or less 80 percent of people in this world believed in that religion.
As for those who could be called true believers, it was probably around 10 percent from that 80 percent.
The remaining 20 percent were those who believed in indigenous things that couldn't be called religion. There were very few exceptions that were not even included in the proportion.
There were almost none who didn't believe in anything.
Camilla seemed to be an indigenous group, and Soma, if anything, also in the same group.
It was also related to the previous life, but it was strictly different.
"Now, such Demon are…" (Camilla)
As Camilla said so far, she suddenly stopped her words.
When she took out a pocket watch from her chest, she nodded in haphazard.
Although a pocket watch wasn't something popular in this world, it was the most popular goods because it carried the meaning of portable clock.
It was widely circulated because it was cheap.
For Camilla to have such a thing around, it seemed that she properly earned income.
As for now–
"What's wrong?" (Soma)
"No. I'm thinking about taking a break soon." (Camilla)
"I am still fine, you know?" (Soma)
"I was taking into consideration, but… it seems you are still fine. If it is so, would you mind if I continue?" (Camilla)
"Actually, I am the one who suppose to ask you that." (Soma)
It was an interesting talk, and that was why he didn't feel tired.
The more he heard the talk, the more he realized that there were many things he didn't know.
Of course, among them, the favorite part of the talk — magic was also included.
But first, Soma was listening to the resumed talk.
—
TLN: Another difficult chapter. So, I made some changes here and there from the raw version. Hopefully, I got it right. Please let me know if anything wrong. Thanks!