Chapter 20: Schedule.
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A good meal is a moment that can bring everyone together, right?
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"~~~"
The music had started, coming out of the speakers on the couch.
'That surprised me!...'
The music had no lyrics, but Liu's attention wasn't really on the sound, even though it was the first time she heard it.
'... the drawing changed, what is that thing...'
The screen? of the... TV was no longer on the desk, now there was a drawing of a circle spinning and rippling to the rhythm of the music.
"What did you put on?"
Lumian asked, continuing to prepare the meal.
"I don't know, I put on the first one... it's: Infinity, by Bellen, I don't know it."
Milo answered, looking at the text written beneath the drawing of the rippling circle.
"~~~"
'... is that the name of the music?... and the one who made it?'
After hearing Milo's answer, Lumian nodded and completely changed the subject.
"I'm done. Well, while the quiche is cooking, I'll quickly explain how your training is going to work."
He put the... quiche to cook in something hidden behind the bar, quickly washed his hands, then came to sit at the table, across from Liu.
'By the way, what is a quiche?... never heard of it...'
Milo kept eating chips, when Lumian took the bag out of his hands and took his place.
"Hey! Give me back my chips!"
"Your chips? Watch what you say."
"~~~"
As usual, Lumian's warnings and threats had an immediate effect, the music in the background bringing a strange contrast.
'... how can they like something that salty?...'
"Well, anyway, I thought about it quickly, and for now, we're going to alternate theoretical training one day and practical training the next. It'll be like that until we leave the citizen zone, so roughly half a year."
Crack.
He ate a chip to pause in his explanation. It seemed Liu no longer really had a problem with crunching and chewing sounds, at least in this situation.
'... we're going to take half a year to leave?...'
"We're going to take half a year to leave?"
Milo put Liu's thoughts into words, to which Lumian nodded.
"We're going to take our time, and besides the chevarbre needs to rest. So we'll have one day on the road where we do theoretical things, and one rest day where we do practical things."
Crack.
'... it's true, there is a chevarbre...'
He ate another chip and continued.
"After that, we'll see how things go outside the citizen zone when we get there. Mm... oh right, I'm not going to train you alone, I have a female friend we're going to meet in a few days, who will come with us."
Since Lumian seemed to have finished speaking, Milo immediately asked a bunch of questions.
"A female friend? How old is she? Is she as old as you?"
'... I won't be the only girl...'
"~~~"
Liu was rather relieved to know that someone of the same gender as her would be joining them. From reading so many books, she had developed an imagination a little removed from reality, it was the main reason for all her wariness.
"I'm not answering stupid questions. If you have any other questions, now's the time, otherwise I'm putting on the TV."
Hearing that, Milo went quiet, not being against the idea of watching TV. But Liu had other plans.
"Uh... what exactly are the theoretical things going to be? And the practical things? And what are we doing today?"
Milo turned his head to look at Liu and sighed. He looked at her with a gaze filled with pity.
'... why is he looking at me like that?... my questions are perfectly fine.'
"Today, mm... you're going to read the guide, that should take up the rest of the day. And tomorrow we'll start the practical training."
Lumian extended his hand toward the piece of furniture where the TV was sitting, and... suddenly a book that had been resting there flew quickly over into Lumian's hand.
'Hh... what is that now...'
"Whoa! Cool."
Liu had already had her fill of surprises and new things for a good while. She only half-reacted at seeing something that could have come straight out of one of the fantasy books she read.
'... telekinesis?... and that's the guide?'
"~~~"
Lumian held the book out to her...
"Here, it's the guide, I think there are about five hundred pages. And you have time, I'll give you a week to read it... that should be fine."
... which she took without paying it much mind, then set down on the table beside her.
'... is that really telekinesis?...'
Liu was about to ask him if it was telekinesis, and Milo also wanted to ask a question. But Lumian finished his answer without leaving them the time.
"And to answer your question. Basically, practical training is going to be everything related to energy, the basics and all that... until you're good enough to grow stronger on your own. And then, I'll give you missions that can help you progress, or things like that..."
Crack.
He crunched into another chip before continuing his explanation while Milo tried to grab the bag.
"... for theoretical... well, we're going to watch films, play video games and play board games. Yeah... I think that's perfect."
'... films?... and we're going to play games?... how is that training?!'
Milo didn't seem the least bit surprised by that answer. Liu stared at him intensely, trying to figure out if they were both messing with her or not.
"... he already told me. That's why I didn't react."
Milo justified himself, seeing Liu's gaze. And Liu, feeling once again the uselessness of Milo, asked Lumian directly.
"How is that training, playing games and watching... films or whatever?"
She spoke aggressively, feeling bad about playing games when she wanted to become stronger to find her grandparents as quickly as possible.
"~~~"
"Hhaa... yeah, you know, becoming stronger isn't just a matter of energy, physical things, visible and concrete things... To become stronger, the most important thing is imagination. The diversity of your thoughts, your ideas... without being mentally strong, all other strength is just another type of illusion..."
This answer surprised Liu, despite the fact that she was starting to build up an immunity to surprises, Lumian's explanations were genuinely surprising to her.
'... I read something like that in: "Think differently, live differently."... "the mental is the backbone of everything that makes strength"...'
She had already accepted Lumian's answer, but she was still trying to understand what he really meant.
"Uhm, I didn't understand any of that. But like, the more you know the better, right?... that's exactly why I read mangas!"
Until Milo cut Liu off mid-reflection, pulling her toward another subject.
'... read... mangas?'
"Yeah, you could say that. Anyway, does that work for you as a reason? The quiche should be almost ready."
Seeing Liu nod softly out of reflex, Lumian stood up to go get the quiche.
"Works for me." Milo replied.
"Ok, well then go set the table."
Their conversation passed completely over Liu, who was lost in her thoughts.
'... I need to ask him what mangas are... but I still don't understand how playing games is going to... strengthen my mind?... or maybe we'll play things like: The Masquerade Ball?...'
Continuing her reflection, she grabbed a chip and ate it to try again.
"Bleh.."
'... too salty!... mm, what was that thing about watching... fil? fim or film? I can't remember... and I also need to see what's in this guide...'
"~~~"
She was about to reach for the guide beside her, when Milo placed a plate and cutlery in front of her, and Lumian set the meal in the middle of the table.
"There we go." They said at the same time.
'...that's... a quiche?...'
The dish in front of her wasn't entirely unknown to her, but the smell coming from it, on the contrary, was completely unknown to her.
'... it just looks like a pie... but it smells so good...'
"It's nice and hot, Patrick, cut it into six."
"Tss."
As always, Lumian gave an order to Patrick the servant, who once again complied.
'... is that a cutting thing?'
Patr... no, Milo used a kind of round blade that rolls like one of the carriage's wheels would, to cut the quiche into six.
"Is it still the same music? Seems like it's been a good half an hour, that one."
Lumian remarked while Milo was serving the slices of quiche.
"~~~"
'... it looks so good, but what are the ingredients?... I've never smelled anything like it...'
Liu looked at the slice of quiche that arrived in her plate. She didn't speak, not considering her questions more important than the quiche in front of her.
"Bon appétit." Lumian began.
"Bon appétit." Liu and Milo followed.
And so they ate, without much conversation, Liu lost in her thoughts, and the music still playing...
...
The meal had also been one of the many notable new experiences of the day for Liu.
'... it was quite salty, but so good... I'll have to get him to teach me how to make it.'
Liu was still sitting, reminiscing about the taste of the quiche while Milo cleared the table.
"It's already half past noon."
Lumian stood up and stretched quickly before throwing himself onto the couch.
"Liu, you should go read the guide in your room. We'll watch TV in the meantime."
'Right... the guide.'
She nodded, stood up and took the guide, then headed toward her room. But...
'... what's going on? Why do I feel like I'm being played?...'
... seeing Milo's smiling face in the kitchen, she doubted the situation for a moment, but it only lasted an instant.
'... either way I have to read it no matter what.'
"See you later."
She went straight out the door and headed quickly to her room, skipping with enthusiasm.
'Hha, finally alone!'
She wasn't particularly sociable, and today's interactions had been very exhausting for her.
Clack.
She quickly entered her room without going to the wrong door, and immediately closed the door behind her.
'.....'
She looked ahead to see nothing but the mess she had left.
'... too lazy, I'll tidy up after reading!...'
Moving her bag slightly over on the bed, she threw herself directly onto it with the guide in hand.
'So comfortable!'
She wriggled around a bit, looking for the most comfortable position to read, and... finally opened the guide to a random page.
'... Alberto?'
Was the first word she read. On page... 202.
'What a strange name...'
Reading quickly through the page, she noticed that what she had in front of her was a mini biography of a certain Alberto Mireno.
'... born in the year 567, originally from the village of Besta in the outer ring of the kingdom of Luryan... first manga animator in the world...'
Quickly remembering that Milo had said he read mangas, she wondered:
'... what do they mean by animator?... well, whatever!... no time to waste, there are five hundred pages...'
She closed the book and this time looked at the cover.
'... "Citizen's Guide"... "The shortcut to a seamless adaptation"... what kind of silly phrase is that?...'
She then opened the book, and this time found the table of contents, a table of contents very different from the ones she was used to.
'Huh... "Explanation of the table of contents."?...'
"What is this?"
'... it's not the table of contents... but an explanation of the table of contents?'
She turned the page two or three times to finally reach the actual table of contents.
'... History... Hierarchy... Current Events... no need for an explanation... Politics... what is Politics? I've heard of it before but I can't remember... it was Papi Mo and Mimie who kept talking about it during meals...'
Continuing to read the list of words with the page numbers beside them, she arrived at an... expected obstacle.
'... Religion?... Animosity?... Technologies?... what are these words?... am I even reading them right?...'
She went back three pages to the explanation of the table of contents, and began to read.
'... "the words that are unfamiliar to you are called: modern, their definition as well as description..." useless...'
Turning the page to continue reading the explanation of the table of contents, she noticed that there was ultimately no real explanation of the words written in it.
'... what page was it again?...'
She went back to the table of contents itself, and chose the word: Technologies, as the first word and subject to understand.
'... that's such a cool word...'
"Tech...technologies?..."
She said it out loud to try, but of course she mispronounced it, actually making the "sh" sound instead of the "k" sound.
'... it's page... 183...'
She made herself a little more comfortable on the bed while turning the pages.
Beginning one of the most incredible reads of her life.
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Or perhaps a good meal is only there to make you forget the disagreements...
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