Eris shot up from her seat, her chair scraping against the floor as she questioned him angrily.
"Do I really need to learn things like subtraction, multiplication, and division? When am I ever going to use them?!"
Rudeus took a deep breath and explained calmly.
"You use subtraction when you buy something and need to get change."
"Why would I need change?"
"…"
"You use multiplication to calculate a 'total amount,' like if everyone here wanted two pieces of bread, and there are six of us…"
"You just get bread from the kitchen!"
"…"
"You use division when five people want to split one hundred silver coins evenly…"
Eris slammed her hand on the table.
"That's what I'm asking! Why! Is it! Necessary! To split it evenly? Just give everyone a hundred silver coins!"
Rudeus felt his throat go dry. Yes, this was the kind of twisted logic kids use when they don't want to study.
He looked up at the young lady of House Boreas, about to offer a rebuttal, but he froze.
Her furious glare.
It was the gaze of a predator.
It reminded him of last winter… of the crimson eyes of the monsters that swarmed the snowy valley.
At that thought, Rudeus instinctively turned to Alan, his eyes pleading for help. He was at his wit's end. He couldn't hit her, he couldn't scold her, and if he spoke too harshly, he risked being hunted down by Eris in the middle of the night.
Time to call for backup. Alan the Doraemon would solve any problem.
Alan the Doraemon had his hands in his pockets, enjoying the show. When he saw everyone's eyes turn to him, he blinked, then looked towards Ghislaine, who was smiling with satisfaction as she looked down at her own 'test' results.
In the original story, Ghislaine played a crucial role in convincing the young lady to learn arithmetic. In that timeline, Rudeus had also turned to Ghislaine for help. Although faking tears with water magic to gain Ghislaine's sympathy was a bit much, it was undeniably effective.
So, what about now…
Alan glanced at Rudeus, who was running a hand through his hair in frustration. He definitely couldn't let Rudeus cry again just to get the detached Ghislaine to step in. Given his personality in this timeline, he probably wouldn't do something so embarrassing anyway.
Alan couldn't remember Ghislaine's exact words from that time, but he remembered the gist of it. It was too bizarre for him to say himself…
It would be best if Ghislaine said it herself…
Directly asking her to persuade Eris would be difficult. He would need to guide the conversation…
Yes, that could work.
Come on, Ghislaine. It's time to say something that will shock everyone!
"Ghislaine, your arithmetic seems better than Eris's. Do you have a secret? Would you mind sharing it?"
Ghislaine seemed pleased by Alan's praise. Though her face remained tense, the tail swishing behind her, tearing through the air, betrayed her true feelings.
She looked at Alan, a reminiscent look in her eyes, and began with a powerful statement.
"Once, my world consisted only of the sword."
As soon as she spoke, just as expected, Eris immediately turned to Ghislaine, her eyes shining.
"During my days as an adventurer, others handled everything. All I had to do was hold my sword."
"Then…"
"Raise my sword."
"And strike."
"Kill the monsters."
"No need for complicated thoughts."
"It was that simple."
Alan raised an eyebrow. These words, which hadn't appeared in the original story, resonated with him—a practitioner of the Silent Sword—with the 'essence' of the Sword God Style. He once again felt the 'realism' of the Mushoku Tensei world.
Ghislaine glanced at Rudeus as she continued.
"Even after I joined the Fangs of the Black Wolf, nothing changed. Paul, Zenith, and Gisu handled everything: buying and selling equipment, food, supplies, daily necessities; contracts, maps, signposts; even things like how heavy a full waterskin was and how to preserve an ember… I paid no mind to it then. But seven years ago, Paul and Zenith retired, and the Fangs of the Black Wolf disbanded. After that, I faced a serious problem…"
"…Perhaps for a swordswoman, the act of striking is that simple. But when I ventured into a labyrinth alone, I discovered that an adventurer's most basic asset isn't just the sword in their hand."
Ghislaine looked down at her hand, her expression grave.
"What is it?!" Eris shouted excitedly.
Everyone stared intently at Ghislaine. Her words, combined with her serious expression, held a certain charm that made you want to keep listening.
Ghislaine's gaze returned to the group. After a moment of silence, she spoke.
"Umm…"
Everyone leaned forward, waiting for her to finish.
"I can't quite put it into words… It's just that… uh… arithmetic is very important."
Slap. The sound of Alan facepalming echoed in the room. The three children looked bewildered. Only Edna, who had been quietly observing, watched Ghislaine with an unchanging expression, as if she knew her well.
Ghislaine glanced quizzically at Alan, who was now rubbing his face, and continued.
"I may not be able to explain it well, but I can give you an example."
"Take the problem of equal division that Rudeus mentioned. Labyrinths are extremely dangerous, and it's common for items to be lost or damaged during a fight. At that point, you need to divide the remaining supplies by the number of days left to return, ensuring you have the minimum amount needed to survive each day."
As she spoke, Ghislaine's face tensed, as if recalling a painful memory.
"This was a task someone else usually did. But when I was exploring a labyrinth by myself, because I couldn't do the math, I made a rash decision when dividing my food and ended up eating everything in the first two days."
"And then what?!" Eris was hooked again, fascinated by any topic related to adventurers.
"For the next three days, three whole days, I had no food and no water. Just when I was about to starve to death, I smelled something fragrant…"
"Fragrant??" This time, Rudeus and Eris asked in unison.
Alan covered his face again.
Ghislaine's voice cut through the silence.
"I learned then that when you are truly starving, even monster droppings smell fragrant."
The words hung in the air.
Sylphie and Rudeus's faces turned green.
But Eris's eyes shone with excitement.
"Why?!"
Ghislaine looked up at her.
"Because…"
"They eat human flesh."
"And when you step on the not-yet-fully-digested flesh…"
Ghislaine's low, steady voice made Eris's smile vanish instantly.
"It smells quite good."
"And it tastes…"
"Quite good, too."
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