"...28th of Emberlain, 646 P.E. The tension between the Lee and Medici noble families began as a matter of territory. You see, after the War of Consolidation around the same date, both houses claimed ownership of the Iridescent Mines. The Lees argued about the mandate and the Medicis cited ancestral deeds. Petty, but most political wars are…"
It has been hours since Yuzuriha had reincarnated into this world and inhabited the body of a dead girl. She couldn't tell the specific time but it definitely was that long.
Funny enough, the same logic applied in this place as well. It had been a couple of hours ever since Yuzuriha arrived in Grace's apartment but she couldn't tell the specific hours that went by. All she knew was…
'Kill me now!'
She was extremely bored!
It turns out the lesson Grace wanted to teach her was a history lesson!
Yuzuriha tried, she really tried to focus, but it was just so difficult to keep up with what Grace was teaching her. So many concepts were triggering a ton of memories to overflow into her brain at once.
It was overwhelming, she wanted to scream but contained herself. The best she could do was scratch her head while pretending to be a student paying attentively in class.
Speaking of which. It turned out their dear neighbor wasn't babysitting her, although she was…technically babysitting, it still wasn't the reason why she was here.
Yor Drapes was a blind 13 year old with no special or privileged background. Her family were lower class citizens, so they were barely making ends meet. In fact, they were teetering on the edge of falling to the underbelly.
As such, sending a disabled child to a proper institution was ridiculously expensive, even more so than a regular one. That was because in this world, those with disabilities were looked down upon as…defects.
'Of course, just the kind of societal system I need. Don't they know about Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller or the brilliant military general Yamamoto Kansuke?!'
Yuzuriha didn't know much about international affairs, but she did know a bit of history from school. Unfortunately, just like back then, she also found it difficult to focus on this class too.
Since schools for the disabled were expensive as hell, Grace offered her assistance in the matter. And ever since then, Yor had been studying a number of subjects and languages under her.
'Ah, now I remember'
At first she couldn't recall who Grace was but after that flood of memories, it was clear. She was her homeschool teacher. Her lessons were free of charge. What a kind soul.
'But a difficult one to keep track of'
It had been a while since they began their lesson. Yuzuriha tried to follow, however…
'Iridescent Mines. Lee and Medici noble houses. War of Consolidation. A mandate? What the heck is all this?!'
There was no doubt that Grace was a great teacher. She spoke like someone reciting an old poem from memory, which was expected, but Yuzuriha's brain on the other hand was doing somersaults.
'W-wait, hold on, was the War of Consolidation before or after the race schism thing? No, wait. Was that what she said? Ok, religious allegory and a marriage pact. She mentioned those before and…Gods…focus, focus!'
Yep, it was a lot to keep up with. At this point, her brain might get overloaded and explode.
If such a thing was possible. Then again, they live in a world of magic so anything is possible.
Also, another thing that was making it difficult for her to keep up was…
'I smell something rotting'
After finishing their cookies and tea, the two took to the living room to begin the lesson. However, this place was anything but welcoming.
She couldn't really see it but the different smells and sounds were scattered everywhere, it made it easier for her to imagine what it might look like.
From her perspective, cups clinked dangerously on the edge of a table. Open books lay across armrests and pillows, their spines cracked and pages dotted with notes from the smell of fresh ink. And then there was that foul stench beneath the couch she sat on.
Rotting food or another failed potion? Either way, she was not having fun.
'She's such a slob! Makes me wonder how the hell does someone like her have a partner? A husband at that!'
In her old life, she had maids, but before that even she knew how to take care of herself. But that's not the focus here.
The focus was learning this boring history. She wasn't into politics but if she wanted to learn more about this world, then she had to bear with it.
As Grace droned on, Yuzuriha kept her mouth shut and seriously listened attentively this time. Kind of. It wasn't going very well, but she was still trying!
"—and after the Third Inquiry of 703 P.E, the Church of the Cruel Sun absolved the Lees of the incident at Bloodwater Hill, but the Medicis along with 3 other noble houses never accepted that ruling.
Their reasons were not clear. I honestly can't find anything that backs up their refusal but some say that's what led to the current generation practicing—"
"Wait!"
Yuzuriha blurted out as she went on her feet. It was too much for her to keep quiet any longer. If she didn't really want to learn she could have just pretended to listen until it was over, but at the end of the day she would be the fool.
With a new found spark of curiosity, she mustered up the courage to stop the woman.
"Aunt Grace, I—I can't keep up. You're going too fast"
After she said that, there was a pause. Probably because of surprise, but it took a moment before Grace said something again.
"...Too fast?"
Grace repeated and Yuzuriha winced.
"I'm sorry. You're not doing anything wrong, I just… There are too many big names. And dates. And concepts. And motives. I can't picture any of it, its overloading my brain"
She purposely left out the process of how her brain is being overloaded, for obvious reasons of course.
"It's all just words. I'm trying, really, but I just can't keep up with you"
Again, there was a momentary silence. And then, Grace let out a brief laugh.
"Oh my, some honesty. It's unusual but it's refreshing. I like it. That will serve you far better than pretending to understand. That's right, don't think I haven't been noticing that in all our lessons."
"Huh, really?"
Yuzuriha raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Indeed. But that's a story for another day, let's wrap this up. I only have forty-two minutes left before I must leave for work. So, let's try something else"
Her feet were audible as she stepped across the room, and then with the swoosh of her long dress, she sat down right next to Yuzuriha.
"Tell me my dear Yor. What do you know about the history of our world, or rather, the creation of it?"