Philotes Caters to the Blossom [Part 2]

No one had any other questions, so we all slowly got up and left. As I was getting up at the same time as Valaquendë. I remembered something she said when I had my first meal in this world. She said: ‘Now that you’re here I won’t have to do this anymore’. She knew about this. I couldn’t see her face when Vapula made his speech. Knowing what kind of facial expression she had would have revealed a lot. I have to be subtle about how I approach this, to find out if she has information the others don’t.

“Valaquendë, why does he call it a Consociation?”

“Oh, it's because he's kinda old fashioned, that's just the way he talks.”

“Really? Is he just a quirky person?”

“Mmm, you can say that. He’s always said things like Consociation and stuff… He's been that way for as long as I can remember.”

Her tone changed towards the end there. Wonder why? Nevertheless, she’s given me some good information.

“Well, I’m going to bed. Good night Valaquendë.”

“Um… R-Ryosuke?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Oh, um… Never mind!—Good night!”

Hmm… I wonder what she wanted to say? She ran off into her room kinda quick too. I think I can get more information out of her later. Maybe tomorrow night, after I’ve made a decent origin story. In any case, I think I can get some late night studying tonight. That way, I can get a head start tomorrow morning.

This was my second day in this world. Not as productive as I wanted it to be. Nonetheless, the day met the bear minimum of what I can consider productivity.

Now, I can finally study.

⧫⧫⧫

I awoke early in the morning. A common thing for me. I was always an early bird. A phrase that my Stanford friends like to use. I wasn’t exactly sure if it was early, it was still dark out, but I knew I got about seven to eight hours of sleep. Not only that, I felt refreshed and well rested; ready for the day. To prepare for this day, I emptied my backpack last night to see what things would be useful: nothing very useful unfortunately, mostly school supplies, pens and paper. The best item I had in my backpack was a gift one of my dear friends gave me. A cute pocket watch. She told me that it suited me. ‘A Brilliant Oddity.’ She said, I strangely agreed with that opinion of hers.

With that pocket watch I was able to keep track of time in this world to some extent, because the clocks in this world were shockingly unhelpful. So, I’ll need to do more tests. So far, I’ve determined that the days are longer than 24 hours and I think one day in this world is roughly 31 hours. This alone is going to change the way I think about the future. However, this is only assuming that most of the living creatures in this world sleep about one third to half of the day. It’s going to be a bit challenging to form a sleep schedule that will be the most beneficial for me. I may have to stay up for 20 hours or longer in the future, and simply sleeping every 16 hours isn’t really probable.

“Hehe. I remembered the way to the library.” I grinned when the thought popped in my head.

The moment I stepped into the library. It felt as if a jagged stone was forced down my throat. Grabbing onto my neck in mild irritation, surrounded by this early morning darkness. I was not about to have frivolous sensations prevent my study. This library is now mine, just like the ones at Stanford. I will judge the value of this tool. This world’s knowledge is now at my mercy. I am in control.

My first priority was to learn the written language, and thanks to my head start from last night, I learned what I’m fairly certain is this world’s alphabet. I just needed a dictionary and the rest was quite easy. I memorized a few hundred words as well.

I also want to clarify something. I am bilingual but that does not mean I can learn any language overnight. I just enjoy learning about the written component of them. Because every language has patterns; when I could translate a sentence of an unfamiliar language, it always gave me satisfaction. I think why I always had an interest in the written component; is because of the languages I’m fluent in. I enjoy writing in both Japanese and English, so much so that I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, N5 to N1, and got perfect scores on each test. To then write, in English, a review essay about it for fun. Or a weird form of spite, one would say.

Speaking of writing, I'm going to write all of my notes in Japanese and splash a little English in too. Why Japanese? Because it has three written languages and it would take a genius of sorts to decipher my notes. The random bits of English won’t make it any easier. Then if anyone were to ask why I write in this I’ll use the simple story of my cousin and I created it. No one will take the time to investigate if that is a true story.

I then thought to myself. “This morning has been quite productive so far. That makes me happy—”

“Lady Ryosuke.”

“Oh, yes, hello?”

It’s just Vahaemarr. What does he want?

“Pardon the intrusion.”

“It’s fine. Do you need something?”

“Yes, since you are now officially a member of Vapula. You must partake in household responsibilities.”

“Oh, kay… What would those be?”

“When you are ready, I shall coach you. Just meet me in the pantry.”

“Alright, will do. Thanks, Vahaemarr.”

He bowed and exited the library. I wonder what kind of responsibilities he’s talking about? Probably just stuff along the lines of chores. Well, so much for productivity. Oh well. Not that big of a deal. Maybe I’ll get some information out of Vahaemarr.

⧫⧫⧫

“Is it really necessary for me to wear this?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes, how else is anyone going to know that you are working today?”

“Alright… If you insist.”

Vahaemarr definitely likes playing the role of housekeeper. He put me in a damn maid outfit. Sigh. I guess it’s kinda cute, at least.

“Is this why you asked for my measurements yesterday before dinner?" I then asked.

“Correct. Luckily, your measurements are quite similar to Lady Írui. I only had to make a few adjustments in the chest area. So I was able to make it quicker than expected.”

In my flustered mind I expressed. “W-What are you saying old man? Írui and I are, like, the same size.”

“Additionally, your uniform will be finished before the evening is over.” Vahaemarr mentioned.

“Great. Let’s, uh, just get this over with.”

“Wonderful. I shall take you to your first task.”

Well. I’m doing house work in a maid outfit. This is ridiculous. Fortunately, the work wasn’t anything difficult. Dusting and cleaning an endless number of random things. This part was pretty useful. I was able to see more of the mansion, as well as see tons of strange objects. I, of course, had no idea if they were art or some type of magical item. Which reminds me, I need to find out if there is magic that I can learn. Anyway…

We then went to the large vegetable and herb garden, at least that is what I assumed they were. We picked several plants that will be used to prepare food for this evening’s meal. Once we finished tending to the garden and gathering the food. I had an idea. Since we’ll both be standing in the kitchen for a while. I figured this would be a good opportunity to bring about the conversation I prepared while I was working.

“So, Vahaemarr. You are pretty good at all of this. Have you been doing this for a while?”

“Yes, I just had my 59th anniversary just a few weeks ago.”

“Oh wow, that long? Just here? Or other places?”

“Just The Guild of Vapula.”

“Why is that?” I asked too quickly.

“Duke Vapula found me jobless. And made me an offer.”

Hah, I doubt it’s that simple. Not with the head scars you have. You have a story and I want to know what it is… But I can wait.

“Even though he looks kinda scary. Vapula is a pretty nice person, huh?” I smiled.

“Nice… That is one way to put it.” Vahaemarr hesitated.

Oh yeah. Vapula did something for you, and he’s gotten something out of this offer.

“Alright Lady Ryosuke. I can finish up here. Thank you for a hard day's work.”

“Yeah, no problem. When is the next time I’ll have to work?”

“Sometime next week. This will depend on everyone’s personal schedules.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He doesn't show much emotion, but I can tell he got a little uncomfortable. The conversation went pretty much exactly as I expected it to. So it didn’t matter much how perfect my word choice was. Until next time Vahaemarr. Now, let’s see what the rest of the day will be like.