“Now, even if the child is clever, I don’t think he’s really engaged with this level of study itself. More likely, he admires his older brother’s serious attitude and wants to imitate him,” Bettina said.
“Ah, yes, that’s true. Small children often want to mimic adults or older kids.”
“I’ve never seen an example like that from a six-month-old baby, but given how bright your little brother is, it’s possible.”
“In that case, all the more reason, Wolf, to do your best and show him a good example.”
“…Alright.”
After smiling at my brother, Bettina paused for a moment and then turned back toward Sensei.
“Well then, Sensei, if it’s a ‘study game’ where little Lord Rudolf copies his older brother, maybe Lord Rudolf would like it.”
“That’s true.”
“Shall we give it a try? What kind of thing would be good, I wonder.”
“Hmmm… the calculation practice Lord Wolf is working on now probably isn’t suitable.”
I quietly looked away from Sensei’s pondering face.
There was no way I could say it was the other way around—that the difficulty was a mismatch.
“Oh, how about that? The basic character chart I gave Bettina last year. Do you still have it?”
“Oh!” Bettina clapped her hands.
“I still have it. It’s in my room. That’s perfect because it’s sturdy, safe, and it’s okay if it gets dirty.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll go get it now! Please watch Lord Rudolf for a moment.”
Leaving me in my chair, Bettina hurried off.
She returned quickly, carrying a wooden board about the size of a small child’s embrace.
Laid on the desk, the board had neatly arranged characters painted across its surface.
Peering closely, I widened my eyes.
‘! Could it be—’
“Alright, Lord Rudolf? With this, you can learn all the basic characters.”
The phrase ‘gojÅ«on table’ flashed through my mind.
I instinctively tapped the board’s surface with both hands.
Then, I pushed it toward Sensei.
“It looks like he wants Sensei to play the teacher role.”
“Well, well.”
With a wry smile, Sensei seemed somewhat willing to play along.
“Okay, Rudolf-kun, this is called the basic character chart. Our language today is represented almost entirely by these characters.”
Though this was a pretend game, Sensei, being a professional, tried to give an accurate explanation.
The lecture was captivating, but still—
It was too unusual for a baby to be genuinely interested.
I lightly tapped the board and let out cheerful squeals, keeping the play vibe while trying to absorb the explanation.
According to it, the characters of this world assign one basic character per syllable.
By linking these characters together, all words can be expressed.
‘It’s like the Japanese hiragana syllabary,’ my memory whispered.
Besides this, there are complex characters representing nouns or things with one or two symbols, but nowadays, these are mostly limited to classical studies or highly formal documents.
The majority of texts in circulation are written with basic characters mixed with a few simple complex ones.
Therefore, if you memorize all the basic characters, you can read most texts and understand the majority of their meaning.
Sensei paused his explanation there.
That was more than enough information for me.
Of course, I couldn’t monopolize my brother’s teacher forever.
I pulled the board back toward me and looked up at Bettina, who had scooped me into her lap.
Sensing my meaning, Bettina smiled.
“Ah, then I’ll be the teacher.”
Just as I hoped, she took over.
“Okay, this is the ‘ru’ for Lord Rudolf.”
Pointing at each character with her finger, she taught me how to read them—just as I expected.
Still tapping and squealing happily, I silently tried to imprint the lesson in my mind.
She seemed pleased with my good mood and ended up teaching me the pronunciation of every character.
Meanwhile, my brother had finished his calculation practice and moved on to another subject.
Sensei had spread out a different board covered with diagrams and writing.
It looked like a map.
That piqued my interest greatly, but I refrained from staring too obviously.
Listening, I caught the tone of their conversation—it was oddly serious.
“There really isn’t a good solution, huh?”
“Hmmm, the thing is, Kuroaosou is a summer to autumn vegetable. Using geothermal heat is a good idea, but…”
“Can’t we do something? If we don’t get it right now, it might be too late.”
“I understand the urgency, but even asking around, there’s no good literature on it.”
“I see…”
It felt less like study and more like a consultation.
They sounded like researchers debating a difficult problem.
They pointed to spots all over the map, muttered in frustration, then fell silent.
Finally, they let out a synchronized heavy sigh.
“Dead ends everywhere, huh? If the north’s no good, then the east remains. But this forest here too…”
“That Wild Rabbit is a real troublemaker. What’s going on with it, I wonder.”
I followed their fingers across the map.
So the top really was north—I felt strangely reassured.
Then I noticed large characters written on the map.
According to the letters I had just learned, it read: ‘Barony of Bershman.’
Apparently, they were discussing the current state of our territory.
Bettina noticed it too and glanced between the two of them.
“Wild Rabbit? The ones from the eastern forest?”
“Yes. Bettina, have you heard? The wild rabbits are multiplying abnormally fast.”
“Ah, yes. Some villagers mentioned that.”
“That’s the issue,” Sensei frowned.
“For his geography assignment, Wolf was asked to investigate our barony’s agriculture. A serious situation emerged. While it’s well known that recent harvests have been poor, this isn’t only due to climate. The damage from wild rabbits multiplying in the forest seems significant.”
“Really?”
“We don’t know the cause, but their numbers have definitely increased a lot. As you know, these wild rabbits are incredibly quick, and the village hunters who also farm can hardly hunt them with bows. Traps catch only a tiny fraction. At this rate, agricultural damage is expected to skyrocket next year.”
“That’s not all,” my brother interjected.
“Given this year’s poor harvest, it wouldn’t be surprising if people starve over the winter. To prepare, and for Mother’s sake, we want to use the wild rabbit meat as food, but we can’t find a good method.”
“Starvation… that sounds serious. But during bad harvests, don’t people usually go work elsewhere to get by?”
“Well, starting last year, for reasons unknown, almost none of the peasants are getting hired outside.”
“What? Why is that?”
“We don’t know. Father seems to have an idea but no solution. At least this winter, it looks like we won’t make it in time. So for now, we’re considering how to increase Kuroaosou production and improve wild rabbit hunting methods, but no good ideas have surfaced.”
“The villagers have probably thought of everything already.”
“Yeah.”
“Also, did you say ‘for Mother’s sake’ earlier?”
“Yes. Mother’s illness seems to come from a lack of blood. Meat and offal from wild animals reportedly help with treatment.”
“Is that so? Now that you mention it, Mother does say she can’t afford luxuries and hardly ever eats meat.”
“If I can find a way to hunt and get meat to the villagers, Mother might start eating it.”
“Definitely,” Sensei agreed.
Even sharing sighs, no good ideas came.
Ending the geography study, my brother stood up for sword training.
Sensei wasn’t skilled in martial arts but had some experience from the Academy, enough to instruct on forms.
For now, my brother arranged a training schedule focused on swinging practice.
He took a wooden sword and began swinging immediately.
Sensei and Bettina watched intently.
Seizing the chance, I quietly pulled the map closer and studied it carefully.