Over the course of the next week, Altair spent her days in study hell. Because she had been sick for several days the tutors had to rush her to learn things she should have learned by now. With nothing better to do, Altair threw herself completely into each lesson.
She absorbed the material at a rate that surprised the tutors. They were used to the nobles and other kids her age acting like they knew everything when they barely knew anything. They thought that Altair's case would be even worse, considering they had to do an accelerated study course for her. They were actually very pleased with how devoted she was being.
Because of how focused she was, the tutors actually got carried away and wound up teaching her more than they were supposed to during their lessons. Altair didn't mind though as she found several of the subjects to be interesting. She was especially interested in the health and science lessons.
The health lessons were for an obvious reason. The more she learned about how her body worked the more efficiently she could use her Magic to increase her power. The result would be obvious later when she needed to defend herself.
The science lessons were more about her understanding everything around her. She didn't know that lightning could be used as a power source for lighting, cooking, cleaning, and other things. It was like she was finally seeing the world for how everyone else saw it.
She felt like an incredible idiot.
Even though the tutors ramped up their pressure, Altair didn't seem to mind at all. It got to the point that they were starting to wonder if she was a learning android and not an actual person. It was like she had a photographic memory and could easily understand even the most complicated of theories with it just being explained to her once.
Of course, the truth was pretty close. With her expanding knowledge of how the body worked, Altair was experimenting with her Magic during some lessons. She found that by focusing her Mana on certain parts of her brain at a very slow rate she was able to understand what was being taught far more efficiently. As a result, she essentially did have a photographic memory and a genius understanding of what was being taught while she did so.
The cost was just all of her Mana over the course of a single day of studying.
The reward was well worth it though. During the entire week she didn't once think about what how she might die in less than six months due to the curse on her. Her days were spent body deep in studying. She knew that the knowledge she was learning here would be invaluable if the Coalition ever managed to win the war.
She also had another thought too. With all of the Human's convenience and discoveries in this world, did they have advanced weaponry? How useful was that weaponry? Could it turn the tide in their favor?
One week after she returned to her studies there was a schedule change. Normally she would move immediately to the next tutor but something different happened. She got scheduled visitors. They had scheduled their meeting with Altair when she was still unconscious so she had no idea it was today. Sarah and Noel didn't say anything about it earlier in the day either.
At that thought Altair's head tilted slightly. 'Noel is being very different from when I first met her. She talked so much then but I barely hear a word out of her a week now… How strange.'
"Young Miss," Stacey said with a bright smile on her face, "It's time to get ready. You should wear formal wear for the visitors as it is a formal visit."
Altair's entire body twitched briefly as she remembered the last time she was dressed up by Stacey. She didn't want to go through that again. She already had to do something for her later and she barely felt that the trade she made for that deal was only barely worth it. She looked towards Stacey from her chair and asked, "Who is coming?"
"It's the Ladrian siblings," Stacey said proudly as if she Altair knew who they were.
Altair didn't know who they were. Her face even said so as she looked at Stacey and asked, "Who?"
Stacey's smile didn't even twitch as she replied instantly, "Hadrian and his sister Celestine Ladrian."
Altair nodded slowly once before she asked, "Why are two adults here to see me?" It didn't make any sense to Altair. She was considered a child by everyone around her. Only Renald knew her real age and, maybe, the people who sent the imposter. She wasn't any important.
Stacey immediately corrected her, "The Ladrian siblings are not adults, Young Miss. They are teenagers at the academy. And their visit was scheduled by the Young Master, so I suppose it has something to do with him."
Altair's brow twitched and she let out a long sigh. She then rested her upper body on the table before her in an un-ladylike fashion before saying, "Not changing. Why should I change to formal wear for a bunch of bullies?"
Stacey's mouth twitched when she heard that. 'Didn't you bully the Young Master last time? Aren't you the bully here?' However, she didn't say anything else as she could tell from her time serving Altair that there would be no point in trying to convince her to change otherwise.
Altair did know that she would have to act like a noble in formal meetings with adults and special events and all that. But she found the idea of getting dressed up and acting like them for some children to be complete nonsense. She didn't like acting like a noble and the last group of kids that came with her fake brother she had beaten up. She was sure that, since the meeting was arranged by her brother, it would probably be more of the same.
Thus, she wore the same clothes she studied in, a regular shirt and a short skirt, no frills or lace. She really liked these clothes. They were far more comfortable than those long skirts and formal clothing that was a pain to put on and take off and restricting in ways she despised.
Stacey gave her a disapproving look in her mind when she noticed that Altair completely refused to listen to her and put on a dress. She found it to be a shame, since Noel had picked out quite the flowery choice that she thought would suit Altair so well.
Still, there was at least another thing that Stacey could do, "At least let me fix your hair first, Young Miss."
Altair waved her hand dismissively at her, "I'll take care of it. You don't need to bother." She then pulled her hair back into a sporty ponytail that she used often when she knew she was probably going to have to defend herself.
Stacey frowned at her but said nothing else.
Altair sat in the same position she did when Joshua brought his minions along with him. Stacey then went outside to wait for the kids to arrive. Noel also excused herself to prepare lunch as it was around six hours after Altair had started studying.
That left Altair alone in the room and she looked at the door with clear disinterest in her eyes. She wasn't even really looking at the door as she thought, 'I need to make sure the tutors leave their books here so I can read them during times like this. Who knows how long it will take for them to arrive here.'
Outside the room two adolescents arrived. . Their attire was the same, crisp and well kept military style uniforms. One was a young man who was at least four years older than Joshua and taller than Dornom at 178 cm. The other was a girl who was one year older than Joshua and, judging by her curves so far, had been developing faster than normal. The girl stood at 151 cm. They both had dark hair, stylized hairstyles, and black eyes. Both of them could turn heads with their looks and physiques alone.
Stacey let them in without a word, only giving them a bow, as was customary. They both entered without giving her a single glance. They were used to this kind of behavior given their own family.
They both walked in and caught sight of Altair staring at them in casual attire and sprawled out over the table. The neutral expression on the young man's face turned into a frown while the girl didn't appear to care. After the door closed behind them, they both walked toward Altair who hadn't blinked yet. After closing to within two meters of Altair, the young man's frown deepened even further and they both came to a stop.
It was customary to greet guests when they arrived, but Altair didn't bother with that because the cool table felt really nice on her skin. As a result, the two adolescents who arrived correctly thought she was being rude to them. There was no way that a child being taught noble mannerisms in the Marnithok family wouldn't know the basic etiquette involved in greeting another noble. Furthermore, Altair's attire clearly spoke about how she felt to meeting them.
To the two adolescents, although her attire was clean and without wrinkles, Altair appeared very slovenly.
It was at this point that Altair sighed heavily and blinked for the first time since the two had entered. She sat up in her chair and gave them both a clearly disinterested look. She then noticed that someone was missing. It caused her to tilt her head slightly at the two people she hadn't seen before and wondered where her fake brother was. Wasn't this another ploy to try and get revenge from him? She counted herself a little lucky that he didn't show up because she really didn't want to see him right now.
Thanks to how Stacey told her that they were scheduled to come by Joshua, Altair had a suspicion of why they were here. She spoke tonelessly as she asked, "So, have the two of you come to get beaten up as well?" She knew that her act had failed last time, so why bother acting at all? She didn't have the energy to put up a ploy with these people. She just wanted to get this over and done with so she could return to her studies.
Besides, the young man wasn't as big as Dornom and he went down easily. So Altair was estimating him to not be very dangerous. The girl didn't appear to be much older than Joshua either, but she was developed in a way that made her jealous just seeing her.
The youth's brow rose slightly as the girl replied in a flowery voice, "We came to meet you because we heard some interesting things."
Over the course of the next week, Altair spent her days in study hell. Because she had been sick for several days the tutors had to rush her to learn things she should have learned by now. With nothing better to do, Altair threw herself completely into each lesson.
She absorbed the material at a rate that surprised the tutors. They were used to the nobles and other kids her age acting like they knew everything when they barely knew anything. They thought that Altair's case would be even worse, considering they had to do an accelerated study course for her. They were actually very pleased with how devoted she was being.
Because of how focused she was, the tutors actually got carried away and wound up teaching her more than they were supposed to during their lessons. Altair didn't mind though as she found several of the subjects to be interesting. She was especially interested in the health and science lessons.
The health lessons were for an obvious reason. The more she learned about how her body worked the more efficiently she could use her Magic to increase her power. The result would be obvious later when she needed to defend herself.
The science lessons were more about her understanding everything around her. She didn't know that lightning could be used as a power source for lighting, cooking, cleaning, and other things. It was like she was finally seeing the world for how everyone else saw it.
She felt like an incredible idiot.
Even though the tutors ramped up their pressure, Altair didn't seem to mind at all. It got to the point that they were starting to wonder if she was a learning android and not an actual person. It was like she had a photographic memory and could easily understand even the most complicated of theories with it just being explained to her once.
Of course, the truth was pretty close. With her expanding knowledge of how the body worked, Altair was experimenting with her Magic during some lessons. She found that by focusing her Mana on certain parts of her brain at a very slow rate she was able to understand what was being taught far more efficiently. As a result, she essentially did have a photographic memory and a genius understanding of what was being taught while she did so.
The cost was just all of her Mana over the course of a single day of studying.
The reward was well worth it though. During the entire week she didn't once think about what how she might die in less than six months due to the curse on her. Her days were spent body deep in studying. She knew that the knowledge she was learning here would be invaluable if the Coalition ever managed to win the war.
She also had another thought too. With all of the Human's convenience and discoveries in this world, did they have advanced weaponry? How useful was that weaponry? Could it turn the tide in their favor?
One week after she returned to her studies there was a schedule change. Normally she would move immediately to the next tutor but something different happened. She got scheduled visitors. They had scheduled their meeting with Altair when she was still unconscious so she had no idea it was today. Sarah and Noel didn't say anything about it earlier in the day either.
At that thought Altair's head tilted slightly. 'Noel is being very different from when I first met her. She talked so much then but I barely hear a word out of her a week now… How strange.'
"Young Miss," Stacey said with a bright smile on her face, "It's time to get ready. You should wear formal wear for the visitors as it is a formal visit."
Altair's entire body twitched briefly as she remembered the last time she was dressed up by Stacey. She didn't want to go through that again. She already had to do something for her later and she barely felt that the trade she made for that deal was only barely worth it. She looked towards Stacey from her chair and asked, "Who is coming?"
"It's the Ladrian siblings," Stacey said proudly as if she Altair knew who they were.
Altair didn't know who they were. Her face even said so as she looked at Stacey and asked, "Who?"
Stacey's smile didn't even twitch as she replied instantly, "Hadrian and his sister Celestine Ladrian."
Altair nodded slowly once before she asked, "Why are two adults here to see me?" It didn't make any sense to Altair. She was considered a child by everyone around her. Only Renald knew her real age and, maybe, the people who sent the imposter. She wasn't any important.
Stacey immediately corrected her, "The Ladrian siblings are not adults, Young Miss. They are teenagers at the academy. And their visit was scheduled by the Young Master, so I suppose it has something to do with him."
Altair's brow twitched and she let out a long sigh. She then rested her upper body on the table before her in an un-ladylike fashion before saying, "Not changing. Why should I change to formal wear for a bunch of bullies?"
Stacey's mouth twitched when she heard that. 'Didn't you bully the Young Master last time? Aren't you the bully here?' However, she didn't say anything else as she could tell from her time serving Altair that there would be no point in trying to convince her to change otherwise.
Altair did know that she would have to act like a noble in formal meetings with adults and special events and all that. But she found the idea of getting dressed up and acting like them for some children to be complete nonsense. She didn't like acting like a noble and the last group of kids that came with her fake brother she had beaten up. She was sure that, since the meeting was arranged by her brother, it would probably be more of the same.
Thus, she wore the same clothes she studied in, a regular shirt and a short skirt, no frills or lace. She really liked these clothes. They were far more comfortable than those long skirts and formal clothing that was a pain to put on and take off and restricting in ways she despised.
Stacey gave her a disapproving look in her mind when she noticed that Altair completely refused to listen to her and put on a dress. She found it to be a shame, since Noel had picked out quite the flowery choice that she thought would suit Altair so well.
Still, there was at least another thing that Stacey could do, "At least let me fix your hair first, Young Miss."
Altair waved her hand dismissively at her, "I'll take care of it. You don't need to bother." She then pulled her hair back into a sporty ponytail that she used often when she knew she was probably going to have to defend herself.
Stacey frowned at her but said nothing else.
Altair sat in the same position she did when Joshua brought his minions along with him. Stacey then went outside to wait for the kids to arrive. Noel also excused herself to prepare lunch as it was around six hours after Altair had started studying.
That left Altair alone in the room and she looked at the door with clear disinterest in her eyes. She wasn't even really looking at the door as she thought, 'I need to make sure the tutors leave their books here so I can read them during times like this. Who knows how long it will take for them to arrive here.'
Outside the room two adolescents arrived. . Their attire was the same, crisp and well kept military style uniforms. One was a young man who was at least four years older than Joshua and taller than Dornom at 178 cm. The other was a girl who was one year older than Joshua and, judging by her curves so far, had been developing faster than normal. The girl stood at 151 cm. They both had dark hair, stylized hairstyles, and black eyes. Both of them could turn heads with their looks and physiques alone.
Stacey let them in without a word, only giving them a bow, as was customary. They both entered without giving her a single glance. They were used to this kind of behavior given their own family.
They both walked in and caught sight of Altair staring at them in casual attire and sprawled out over the table. The neutral expression on the young man's face turned into a frown while the girl didn't appear to care. After the door closed behind them, they both walked toward Altair who hadn't blinked yet. After closing to within two meters of Altair, the young man's frown deepened even further and they both came to a stop.
It was customary to greet guests when they arrived, but Altair didn't bother with that because the cool table felt really nice on her skin. As a result, the two adolescents who arrived correctly thought she was being rude to them. There was no way that a child being taught noble mannerisms in the Marnithok family wouldn't know the basic etiquette involved in greeting another noble. Furthermore, Altair's attire clearly spoke about how she felt to meeting them.
To the two adolescents, although her attire was clean and without wrinkles, Altair appeared very slovenly.
It was at this point that Altair sighed heavily and blinked for the first time since the two had entered. She sat up in her chair and gave them both a clearly disinterested look. She then noticed that someone was missing. It caused her to tilt her head slightly at the two people she hadn't seen before and wondered where her fake brother was. Wasn't this another ploy to try and get revenge from him? She counted herself a little lucky that he didn't show up because she really didn't want to see him right now.
Thanks to how Stacey told her that they were scheduled to come by Joshua, Altair had a suspicion of why they were here. She spoke tonelessly as she asked, "So, have the two of you come to get beaten up as well?" She knew that her act had failed last time, so why bother acting at all? She didn't have the energy to put up a ploy with these people. She just wanted to get this over and done with so she could return to her studies.
Besides, the young man wasn't as big as Dornom and he went down easily. So Altair was estimating him to not be very dangerous. The girl didn't appear to be much older than Joshua either, but she was developed in a way that made her jealous just seeing her.
The youth's brow rose slightly as the girl replied in a flowery voice, "We came to meet you because we heard some interesting things."
