The Crow

I checked the desk near the window on Selena's side of the room. Hmm, no problem at all.

"...Ancient language?"

Selena asked from behind.

"Yes. It was something I had to do eventually."

"It was something you had to do?"

"You have to report to Manggot."

Selena stared at me quietly, then widened her eyes.

"...So, you're telling me to translate a sentence and report it?"

"You can do that later. But for now, I'll teach you the basics, and you can just pass it on to Manggot."

"Oh, you're going to teach me? For Manggot?"

"Yes. They'll believe it if you show them the real thing."

In fact, I plan to teach Manggot a 'little' bit of ancient language through Selena.

That way, Manggot will trust Selena, and also consider my ancient language interpretation skills useful.

"Tell Manggot exactly what I said. That I decided to teach you."

"For what reason?"

"It doesn't matter. Whether I came to trust your escorting skills, or I fell for your temptation and couldn't escape, any excuse is fine. After all, that's the result Manggot wants. Choose something appropriate and tell Manggot, they'll be pleased."

"......"

Selena made a subtle expression as if it was difficult to answer. Well, it was true that Selena was aiming for both the things, but she was asked to lie about it.

"......Um, Mr. Frondier. I have a question."

"What is it?"

"Do you not trust my escorting ability? Let's say the seduction was unnecessary."

Let's say it was unnecessary.

It was a rude but pleasing expression.

I pulled up the corners of my mouth.

"I trust you. Very much. That's why I have you as an escort."

"......When you smile, it would be more convincing if your eyes smiled too."

"I see."

I erased my smile.

But it wasn't a lie. I highly value Selena's combat ability. That's why, since Selena was with me, I was able to perform somewhat reckless tasks by trusting her.

"And you said 'let's say it was unnecessary,' but I don't think so."

"......Yes?"

"But rather than a fake seduction or body acting."

I looked at Selena.

While saying the following words, something was clearly contained in my face.

"What Im doing is better."

At my words, Selena's face became somewhat blank. Then she slightly raised one corner of her mouth. It feels somewhat forced.

"Enough with the small talk. Let's start right away. Sit down at the desk."

"Starting today?"

"Of course. Enough time has already passed. If you can't deliver any significant harvest to Manggot any longer, you'll be suspected."

At my words, Selena hesitated with her mouth and then walked over and sat down at the desk.

I took out a blank notebook on the desk and spread it out in front of Selena.

"I'll write down the words, so watch carefully."

"Words... Aren't you going to teach me the letters first?"

"It's impossible."

Selena tilted her head, but this is faster to see than to explain.

I picked up a pen and sent mana. It was an application of acquiring aura.

It is because this has become possible that I can now teach Selena.

I wrote two words in the same shape.

"How do the two words look?"

"They look the same?"

That's right. The words on both sides look exactly the same.

"Selena, can you use Aura?"

"Yes."

"Gather your energy at your fingertips and touch the writing."

Selena followed my words and brought her finger to the word on the left.

In an instant, Selena was surprised and recoiled her finger.

"I can hear a sound."

"Then try touching the word on the right."

Selena touched the word on the right this time.

"I can hear a sound here too."

"How do the two sounds compare? Do they sound the same?"

Selena shook her head.

"No. They were completely different sounds."

"That's the characteristic of the ancient language."

The ancient language is the language of ancient magicians. As such, the ancient language has magical properties. The pronunciation is contained within the characters. That's why, even though they look exactly the same, they can have different meanings.

"This is why the ancient language has remained recorded but has not been deciphered until now."

"......Because the 'voice' contained in the letters disappears."

I nodded my head.

Half-written characters with the sound gone. Of course, there's no way they could be interpreted.

However, only 'Frondier de Roach' could intuitively grasp the meaning just by looking at the letters.

He also figured out that the difference in sound completely changed the meaning within the same letters. After fully mastering it, Frondier was able to interpret the ancient language without even using Aura.

Of course, without Aura, he couldn't put a voice into the text, but he was able to read the existing text.

It was an incredible talent and effort, even if it was not a particularly constructive direction, driven by the desire for revenge against Elodie.

"So it's impossible to learn the letters first. Instead, you need to know the formula that combines them first."

"Formula......"

"Even if you capture the sound, you can't just attach any sound. The ancient language overlaps ambiguous images within the words themselves. You can only choose the sound from among those images."

So, in order to read ancient languages, one must first be able to separate the lines of the double or triple-layered characters.

"Look at this. It seems like a separate character, but the long straight lines are connected. In this way, an independent straight line signifies something that has been overlaid on top. And then..."

"Excuse me, Mr. Frondier."

Selena interrupted me during the lesson. How cheeky.

But Selena looked at me with a very serious expression.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it really okay for you to teach me this?"

Selena looked at me with a face that seemed to have made a deep resolution.

Even with such an expression, my answer has been decided long ago.

"If you really intend to betray me, it's better not to ask such a question."

Both Indus and Manggot are huge forces opposing the empire on both sides.

If Indus is the backside of the empire, Manggot is the empire's karma.

The fire of karma does not go out until the karma disappears.

However, Selena will be the flag that handles the endlessly burning flame of Manggot.

I will make it that way.