As a not very educated young man, Lorenzo, the ex-owner of the body I inhabited now, was not versed in the historically significant language that is Hermes. And since he was a resident of Loen, Loenese was what he knew best, and some broken Feysac by the stroke of fate that Stoen city often had half-giants. Travelling merchants coming and going from and over to the Sonia Island due to its proximity to East Chester County.
As it happened to be, the shortest men of these were quite sought after by the young women of Loen, where if they were to get together with one another, things would end in two ways: either the half giant young man leave with the bride, or he stay in Loen forever with her. There was no in between, the border relations were strictly for business between these two nations, thus only those with a statement of purpose could freely sail across the shared borders. Legally, that is.
Due to such occurances, the average height of the new generation in Stoen city saw a noticeable increase. Maybe restrictions do really breed rebellion.
As it happened to be, some parts of the female, and male demographic in any country would find the opposite of their customs more attractives. So was the case of Loenese young men finding more open, and less docile characters of Feysacian women attractive, and vice verse was true as well, for Feysacian women would have to search like a needle in a haystack among the boorish males of their country to find one even half as gentlemanly as a Loenese lad.
All of this cross-national bonding aside, the point I was iterating is that, courtesy of Lorenzo, I knew Loenese and some Feysac. Unfortunately, if I was born Italian, French, or Spanish, maybe I would have had an easier time understanding and learning Feysac; alas, born an american, my previous life's understanding of English did little to improve my situation, since the closest language to it in this world was Loenese, and I was already pretty good at it.
"Are you done?"
"H-huh? Ah... right, yeah..."
"Were you spacing out again, Lorenzo?"
Ugh... Learning languages man, it's boring.
"I was just reminded of something, it's that since I am from East Chester County, I'm somewhat familiar with Feysacian language, but I have no knowledge of Hermes. I was just wondering if knowing Feysac adds any benefits to learning Hermes?"
"As far as my knowledge goes, no. Hermes inherits itself from the older, more mystical Ancient Hermes language, which is suspected to have been designed in the Second Epoch. While Hermes carries non-significant similarities to Ancient Feysac, which comes from now lost Jotun, the simplification of two older languages led to the simplified modern versions being very different. As it happened to be, the changes made to the two ended up going in quite opposite directions."
Eleanor sat on a small sofa in her cabin, a book in hands, and patiently answered my queries.
"So, are you done copying?"
I nodded.
"Show me."
I handed my notebook to my teacher, and watched her as she scanned through the two pages I'd written on. Once done, she nodded, and handed the notebook back to me.
"It's quite close, make one more copy, do your best, and you'll get as close to it as you can on the first day. You Hermes is already good enough, so don't need to copy those characters, just do it for Ancient Hermes. Once you are done, you can go to your room, and keep practicing the characters. In the evening, at 5, go to Captain's cabin, and she will start teaching you the words and common mystical phrases."
I accepted the notebook, and watched as Eleanor went back to reading the book in her hands. While I wasn't familiar with the title "Romance Queen", the author's name written in large letters of Loenese was very familiar to me... Of course, it was a certain Salted Fish Without Dreams.
Seeing her so engrossed in the possibly rom-com drama novel, I couldn't help but wonder if that's how me of the past acted when reading webnovels.
It must be really entertaining.
After a moment of staring at her, and her not noticing, I decided to get back to doing my class work.
So far, Eleanor had given me alphabet letters of both the Hermes and Ancient Hermes. Since Feysac and Ancient Feysac all used the same writing system as Loenese, I didn't need to learn the letters for them. According to Eleanor, while learning Feysac was important, I was allowed to go slow with Ancient Feysac since the language was not longer very practical, in both the material and mystical world.
Taking a page from Mr Fool's playbook, I decided to focus my energy on learning languages earnestly. Maybe when I can read and recite Hermes, and Ancient Hermes, I might even pray to the Fool to get his attention. It might make my life easier in the future when I eventually renegade the Demoness sect.
While Hermes was relatively easy enough, the letters of Ancient Hermes were very unfamliar, so it took me some time to correctly copy them to the standard at which I could use them in the future for practice.
In the time it takes for the light from the sun to reach the earth, I was done writing the letters of Ancient Hermes. It was a boring task, and admit to no one, I hated it, but I did it diligently because this was knowledge I needed with more than a little desperation.
"I'm done."
"Mhm, wait a while, when I finish this chapter, I'll look at it."
Sigh.
This woman was too deep into this shit. I'll really have to read some of Fors' stuff myself, to see what kind of narratives she weaved that were entertaining enough to keep this lady so engrossed.
After several minutes, Eleanor finally put a tarot card I couldn't see between the pages of the book, and put it to the side. She beckoned, and I handed my notebook to her.
Taking a close look, she scanned through the page for about ten seconds, before nodding to herself, and returning the notebook to me.
"It's good enough," she said as she stood and stretched her body with a yawn. Unseen butterflies flew around my stomach, trying their best to escape, and falling to their death in vain.
From her free flowing fiery red hair falling on her shoulders, to her arms stretched high and her hips bent slightly to the side, the sight of her form was nothing short a painting that could be an instant legend.
So cute...
No words escaped my mouth. Following her, I stood up from my seat too.
"Tomorrow, same time. Just come over and knock on my door."
Eleanor told me matter of factly, now heading to the door of her cabin.
I followed behind her to escape the territory of this beautiful Demoness, and find my peace in the solitary walls of my own room. It might not be as luxurious as the first mate of the flagship, but it was mine, and had no enticingly beautiful lady right in front of my eyes.
As I exited now opened door, I heard my name being called out from behind by my teacher.
"Lorenzo..."
When I turned around, I found her hand had already reached my head. She ruffled my hair, the way I would do to a dog on the street.
"...grow out your hair. When they're long, they're easy to see, and for as long as you're not a Witch, it's better to scout foreign places, especially where you fought, and pick up parts of your body that might be dropped. Hair tend to do that quite a lot. When you become a Witch, you'll simply be able to burn them through your spiritual connection with them."
I took a moment to grasp her words, and quiclky nodded in understanding.
As I was about to turn around, and leave, something struck my mind.
"Can I ask you something?"
I questioned doubtfully. I wasn't certain if I will recieve any answer.
"Ask away."
"Why do you help me? From bringing me to the flagship, to helping me in Bayam, and now teaching me, and all this? I don't mean to offend you, I'm grateful, really grateful to have been helped so much, but I really don't understand why some so strong and above me would help, or let alone interact with me voluntarily."
A strange smile appeared on Eleanor face. It was the kind I'd never seen before. It was not teasing, it was not amused, it was a small smile, an innocent smile.
"That's a good question li'l Lorenzo, and it has a good answer. But you won't get the answer today, maybe someday later. I'll give you a clue though... I am originally from Feysac Empire."