A request.

The room was silent and so was I... I mean the request was way too out there!

But I should still ask her, right? This could just be an elaborate prank.

"Eh, why are you asking me to teach yo-"

"Please, help me study." Her Japanese instincts almost kicked in as she tried to bow to me. But she remembered who I was and straightened right up.

She really did mean business.

BUT THAT MADE EVEN LESS SENSE!

"This-what? Aren't they teaching elementary level stuff? You're already an adult. You shouldn't need help with that?" Now I knew she didn't study unless forced to, but the stuff she was getting taught right now was on baby mode.

You should be able to get through it without ever needing to boggle your brain while studying. The fact that she couldn't do that was baffling.

"Everything is just so different. I can't help it." Yuu-chan swiftly walked up and went to a shelf, slid her finger through the sections and picked a book out.

"These people are saying that the Earth revolves around the sun… and that it's round. If they said something that stupid in our era, they would be hanging upside down somewhere. Why do I have to learn something wrong?" She complained.

"What's wrong with that claim? It's absolutely correct."

"No, it's not. Back in our previous era, the Shrine taught me that the Earth was the centre of the universe and was flat. Anything who believed otherwise participated in heresy. That was dug into our brain."

"They were clearly wrong and were spreading wrong religious beliefs. What's actually shocking about this is how you never heard about this is in the 9 years that you've been reincarnated."

"I did hear it but didn't believe it." She mumbled.

"Did you not watch any documentaries or see any memes mocking the flat earthers?"

"I didn't."

"Then what were you doing all this time?! How did you manage to not only turn into a flat earther but also someone who didn't know jack shit about the modern society?!"

"I was busy training." She said with a straight face.

"Gullible dumbass."

"Says the one who believed in Santa."

"I didn't know the facts, you did and still chose to look the other way! We're not the same."

God damn it! It was one mishap! How much longer will these people hold it over me?!

That aside, I almost forgot she was a muscle head. Her body probably converted all the brain neurons into motor neurons too. This nitwit. The situation was annoying.

No, actually... Wait a minute.

A foreign thought flew into my head. Hmmm.... Hmmmm! HMMM!!!

I could totally exploit her in this situation.

She was asking me for a favour. That would ultimately place her in quite the debt. She had to retain her image and failing the tests would be a pretty harsh screwup. She was practically begging to be at my disposal.

Hehehe~

I leaned back and started to enjoy my supremacy a little.

"Is that how you talk to someone you're asking a favour to?" Time to be the bad negotiator.

"N-no."

"I'll let this pass... So are you only having problems unlearning your previous knowledge?~" My reflection would probably reveal an evil smirk right around now.

"Umm… actually…" Wait, there was actually more?

"What now?"

"There's this thing called arithmetics and geometry that I'm having trouble in too. Only the practical application though!" She pulled another book behind her back.

I flipped through it.

And I won't even pretend to know what that crap meant.

It was filled with an alien language. I knew numbers, those we were taught in kindergarten. But the other glyphs were foreign to me. The patterns the shapes were used in resembled the statistics from our era. The thing we used for commerce.

So at the very least, I had somewhat of a semblance with this gibberish.

'Learning maths couldn't possibly be harder than running a country. Right?'

Huff... this was going to be tiring, but it meant that I wouldn't have to study for the rest of the year once I got this over with.

"Teach the symbols in the book to me. Once you do that I can teach you the rest." I stretched my back out a little, before placing the books to the side.

"I can do that." She nodded along.

"Anything else you need to study?"

"Actua-" Yep, this delinquent evidently didn't study a single thing throughout the year, did she? It was pointless to ask if she needed any more help. She needed all the help she could wring out of me.

Poor girl.

The more she asks of me the more indebted she'll become.

"Just give all your books to me and tonight. I'll teach you the entire thing from the start." All power to me.

"Thanks." She said all embarrassed. She wouldn't usually mind asking for help but the person she was asking was me, so of course, she'd be on the fence.

"How long do you have until the tests?"

"About a week."

"Oi...You're really pushing it. Couldn't you have asked me about this in the holiday we just had?" It was insane how well she hid her incompetence throughout the holiday. She didn't let how deep under the water she was through at all. It was absurd. What a pathological liar!

"You were depressed the entire holiday. I couldn't bring that up when you were holed in the entire time!" Eek! That stung.

"Let's not bring treachery into this. I'll work you to the bone until you get decent at this. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

I, at the very least, was now done with accepting her requests. What came next was fulfilling them... But before that-

Let's taste the power I just accumulated over her favours. Hehe.

"Now, Drudge number 1. Bring a futon out for me, I'll sleep for two hours and study your stuff after lunch."

"What did you just call me?"

"A Drudge... is there a problem with that?"

Her face twisted in anger and self-denial before she forced a smile.

"No. No problem at all."

Hahaha! Perfect!

All those years of getting pushed around. Now it was her turn!

"Then what are you waiting for? Are you gonna get me a futon before I pass out or not?"

"Yes, I will." Her mask didn't wear off. I wondered how far I could push her before she retaliated.

She dragged a futon out of the cupboard disdainfully. But as soon as our eyes met she put on a smile again.

"Be a darling and open it for me too."

Her bottom lip was tucked under the top one and she was one little gesture away from clicking her tongue.

"Eh? Do you not like helping a tired traveller out?"

"No... I don't mind. Here you go." She rolled the futon out parallel to the window.

I lied down on the open futon.

"The window. Open it."

"Yes."

"Pch... there's too much light. Close the curtains."

"Okay."

"My back hurts, step on it. No wait... you're probably too heavy. Just massage it for me."

"YE- yes." She was about to snap.

I turned around and her strong hands started to press down on my back. It was only natural it would hurt after sitting on the bus for so long.

Her hands were hesitant and filled with rage. But the touch was soft.

This was the best revenge I could have asked for.

The evening was a pleasing one. Giving commands and receiving suitable results, I faded to sleep.

And then night dawned.

The cold wind from the window woke me up.

"You slept for a while." There was a girl sitting next to me practising mana installation. Which was basically meditation. Meditation I bet she did to quell her anger instead of actually progressing in strength.

Hehe~... I pissed her off so much. I count that as an absolute win.

"How long exactly?"

"It's 9." She got up and pulled the curtains. The sky was dark blue.

"Woah!" I shot back up. "I'm hungry. Drudge, get me fo-"

"I guessed as much. The others already had dinner and already went to sleep. Your dinner portion is on the study table."

I got up and turned the lights on.

"Why're you so sweaty?" I looked at her bouncy kid skin reflect off basically every ray of light circulating around the room.

"I was getting rid of the impurities in my body." She said while wiping her skin.

"Ew... go do that on a toilet or something. That's disgusting."

"You little-!" Ooh, she cracked!

"Little what?" I sat down on the table and looked over a tray of good stuff. Red rice? What were they celebrating?

"Little cute dumpling who will help me out for the tests." Another fake smile where only the mouth extended sideways. Her eyes were out for blood.

"That was cringy. Stop." I put my hand up to show my distaste towards her words. "Itadakimasuuu!" Then dug into my dinner.

On the other side, she continued to aggressively expel waste(lodged in her mana pores) from her body. It wasn't the most pleasant thing to experience while eating. But at least it smelled like lavender.

I finished my meal as quickly as I could. I wanted to finish studying and get a good night's sleep.

"Okay so teach me the symbols." I had an arithmetic textbook open in front of me.

"This is an addition symbol." She pointed at two lines crossing each other. (+)

"This is a subtraction symbol." She pointed at a horizontal line. (-)

"This is a division symbol." She pointed at a horizontal line with a dot on either side. (÷)

"This is a multiplication symbol." She pointed at a cross with diagonal lines. (×)

"Yeah, so what do these do?"

"Why're you asking me? If I knew I wouldn't be in this mess. So she actually only knew the name. Well, screw this.

.

.

.

The next second, my knuckles were digging into the drudge's temples.

"What were you actually doing during the classes? How did no one notice your stupidity? Urghhh!"

"OWW STOP! I flunked the classes. The teachers just assumed I knew everything."

That was concerning.

"If you skip one more class next year, I will tell everyone that you were a failure in the first year!"

"As if you could! You don't even have proof!"

"Ooh, nice suggestion." What an idiot.

"Record yourself saying that you were a failure until you met me."

"Why would I do that?"

"If you don't I won't teach you."

"KUK!"

More blackmail material was obtained right after that. This whole thing felt like some sort of humiliation play. I swear I wasn't going to do something questionable by blackmailing her. I just assumed that sometime in the future this might come in handy.

"Go to sleep." I said after throwing the phone with the recording on the futon.

"Are you going to stay awake?"

"Of course I am... Or you'll fail."

"Then I'll stay awake too."

"Oh! Where did all this sincerity go when you had to study?"

"Uuuu."

"Just sleep you won't be of any help even if you stay awake." I flicked my fingers.

"Uuuu."

She took off into her futon with a regretful look on her face.

As long as she reflected.

I took to google and youtube and studied from the people who actually knew what they were doing. As I expected, it was all elementary stuff when we got down to it.

Maths was basically something we had in our era as well. It was just better defined now.

Geography was a little different.

I already had a grasp of the language so that was easy.

History needed rote memorisation but I could remember everything I had read even once.

Management and Politics were extensive as expected. This was a school for nobles and higher society. They would go into ruling right after graduation. So they decided to stick everything you would need to rule your estate by the time you turned 16. Respectable, but it was a little much for the average Joe.

Add to that the fact that nobles make everything a dick measuring contest, and it would be a problem for the kids who fall behind.

Oh, well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure the three of us can get through this phase just fine.