Hello, ITalkToSky here.
Unlike in FoZ, Charlotte's and Kirche's relationship started off unequally. They were both triangle mages, but one caught on to the scheme while the other one got taken for a ride. Their personalities complimented each other still. They could become fast friends, but trust might be harder to earn. Charlotte had much to hide. As she continues to be proactive, more opportunities to rat herself out will pop up.
yokai1235: The only truth she said was that her name was Charlotte. As for the beans that she spilled on Lunaire, for all intents and purposes, she was just talking to herself. It was established that communication was undetectable. Joseph couldn't be tipped off.
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Barely two days passed and nary a speck of soot remained. From the lack of scuff marks on her dresser, it seemed that the groundskeepers opted to replace everything from the furniture to floorboard. They worked impressively fast. It looked almost as fresh as when she first arrived. The only point of difference was the bookcase. Instead of the standard found in every dorm, this one occupied almost half the length of her room. The golden leaf relief carved onto every surface made her eyebrows rise. It screamed of garish wealth. Either Lorraine and Charente had poor taste or were trying to insult her. Charlotte did not care which.
The expanded capacity was entirely unused. The offenders offered to replace the content in full, but Charlotte declined. She remembered every title in her collection. It was that dear to her heart. There was no doubt that if she provided the list, the families would bend over backward to find them. Not a chance. She had a better idea.
It was not her collection of novels and novellas that went up to ashes. No, it was instead her precious collection of academic manuscripts and grimoires, copied with special permission from Gallian national archives. It was a rather convincing lie. Charlotte was a triangle mage and a chevalier. To be so accomplish at such young age, it was perfectly reasonable for her to amass a sizeable personal collection. And of course, since the national archive was restricted, Tristainian aristocrats could not possibly get their hands on them. Monetary compensation could not possibly cover the value of these precious writings, but Charlotte oh so graciously decided to let them off the hook with just that.
Despite trading her childhood collection for a bookcase and a lockbox brimming with coins, Charlotte found herself more sanguine than expected. A stab of pain lingered, of course. She loved those books. But replacing them would not amount to much. They would not be the ones that had accompanied her through the ups and downs. Better to make the most of their loss than struggling to replace the irreplaceable.
An amount to feed a peasant family for three years. More money than she had ever held at once. Far less than she would ever need.
It was a start. But the question was always where to go next.
A series of clicks interrupted her thoughts, causing a flinch. She was getting better at that. Before, a mere whisper next to her ears would have her scrambling for her staff. Her self-preservation was strong and didn't want to let anything slip.
"Lunaire."
"Oh, did I wake you?"
"Haven't slept."
"Should I keep it down?"
"It is okay."
Lunaire sounded relieved at that. The clicks and clacks in the background intensified. Then suddenly, he clapped his hands.
"Did anything come from that mess the night before?"
"…"
"I heard you fighting someone. I am not senile enough to miss the sound of a fight. A minor one."
Oh, did she have a story to tell.
Charlotte acquired her near muteness from her upbringing. When every word could and would be used against her, silence was golden. But here in the heart of her sanctuary, there were no spies and no listening words. She could speak her part here. And it felt good.
"The one who disliked me and the girls who disliked Kirche conspired to pit us against each other." Charlotte paused to collect her thoughts and then added helpfully. "The girl who was stripped."
"Kirche?"
"Yes."
"Kirche as in Kirche." Charlotte noted the flawless Germanian pronunciation. "What about Temperence, Faith, Grace, and Constance? Nah, let's go with an entire Church! Ha! Doesn't matter. Continue."
"Striped Kirche, and then framed me. Burned my books, and then framed her."
"And then you two fought?"
"I figured it out and convinced Kirche. Bait them out."
Silence stretched. Charlotte searched her memory for anything that she missed. Nothing came to mind. She already supplied all the pertinent information. It was hardly impressive.
"Will this come back to bite you later?"
"Meaning?"
"The enmity doesn't just disappear. Anything stopping them from trying again?"
Charlotte looked down, thoughtful. When she crushed de Lorraine in that duel, she expected him not to bother her again. But he did. Now that she played a part in their humiliation in front of the entire academy, his grudge probably burned hotter than ever.
"Kirche's family is powerful."
"But will she protect you if they only target you?"
"Owed me a favor."
"Hmm. I suppose that will do."
Hopefully, it would not come to that. A personal favor from an archducal family member was nothing something to be squandered in a petty squabble. There were better ways to use it. The lockbox drew her eyes.
"Lunaire."
"Hmm?"
"How to make money?"
Charlotte squired in her seat. As the silence stretched on, she wondered if she committed a faux pas. The Germanian way of discussing money frankly and boldly was considered crass by most, but the topic itself was not forbidden. The peasants needed to eat. The nobles, despite pretending to be above working for money, needed it to fund their vanity. Was discussing money making rude on his side, she thought.
"Figured you would ask. Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer for it. I have only ever worked for my earnings."
Her eyebrows scrunched. Her tone took on a little edge. "I also worked." She got paid pittance, but she worked to live.
"Do you have any passive income source to grow?"
"Passive income?"
"You don't have any or you don't know what passive income is?" Lunaire tone took on an exasperated note toward the end.
Ask and be a fool once. "I do not know."
"Alright, it is understandable that you do not know. You grew up trying just to live. I will give you a quick digest. Work is trading your time for money. To earn more however, you need to put money to work…Never thought I need to give financial advice."
Ironically, as she learned about later, Lunaire was probably one of the more financially literate people where he was from. The denizens of fantasy land had tenuous grasp on money at the best of times.
"If you put a gun to my head and force me to say it, investing in electronics and internet seems the most promising."
"What are electronics and internet?"
"Come again."
"…"
"Have you been living under a rock?"
Enlightening as it was, Charlotte found the impact of the following explanation somewhat muted. Nothing surprised her anymore. Knowledge was power and Lunaire's people had them in spade. A quill moved by mere thought was considered a simple artifact. What was surprising about a magical bulletin board slash record that people all over the world could access and write on?
"Look, you live in the outside world. You are supposed to know all this. How insular is your territory to not have known about all this? Speaking of territory reminds me." His voice trailed off. "A few nights ago, you mentioned many unfamiliar names. Duchy of Orléans, Gallia, Halkeginia, et cetera. From the context clue, these were names of places, and they aren't small or obscure."
Something clicked in her mind. Charlotte always harbored a suspicion that Lunaire was from beyond Halkeginia, perhaps from beyond the Rub' al Khali. The most obvious points for this were the books. The knowledge contained within was far more advanced than anything conceived by scholars across the millennium. And that was merely the introductory level. There was also his lack of recognition for the names. When she told her story, he took everything as fresh information. Any noble would have known most of it just from hearing the name d' Orléans.
The puzzle would have been completed like that if not for a jarring gap. Lunaire spoke almost like a native Gallian. There were a few minor pronunciations, which could easily be chalked up to regional dialect. He also knew some Germanian, a tongue not many bothered to learn properly. It was possible that people from beyond the desert used the same language, but she found that highly unlikely.
"I searched through the archive in case I was wrong. But apart from Duchy of Orléans, there is no record of other places." A metallic clang rang out from the other side as Lunaire put down his tools.
Knowing of the Duchy of Orléans without knowing Gallia was recognizing a province but not the country that it belonged to. Charlotte found that beyond strange.
"It is about time we stop talking around the issue. Can we promise each other that what we are saying is true as far as we believe it? If it is something we can't say, we can simply refuse to answer."
"Alright"
"Where are you at right now? Just general area will do, then country, etcetera"
Tristain Academy of Magic, Tristain," Charlotte paused and corrected herself. "Kingdom of Tristain. Halkeginia."
"What is Halkeginia?"
"A continent…Yours?""
"Scarlet Devil Mansion, Gensokyo. It is a small piece of land partition from the country called Japan. Asia Continent. Recognizing any?"
"None." Charlotte took a moment to organize her thoughts and upon realizing that Lunaire technically asked his second question. She offered one of her own. "Are you from beyond the desert?"
"I do not know what desert you referred to, but I don't think it matters. Charlotte, we mapped our entire world. There is no corner that we do not know of. And as far as I know, there is no such thing as Kingdom of Tristain anywhere."
"The entire world?" Charlotte sounded skeptical.
The idea that the world and various celestial bodies were spherical became accepted sometimes about a few thousand years prior, supported by observation of the eclipses and navigation innovation made in Albion. It made sense in theory to be able to explore every landmass on the ball, Charlotte allowed. But then Lunaire would have known about Halkeginia.
"So, unless Halkeginia is like Gensokyo," Lunaire trailed off. "No, that is unlikely. A small country sure, but a continent? Urgh, let's ask anyway. By any chance, is Halkeginia surrounded by some kind of magical barrier?"
"No. Impossible." An entire battalion of mages would be needed to power defensive spells on the scale of city. There were not enough nobles alive to maintain something the size of a small country, let alone an entire continent. "What exactly is Gensokyo?"
There was a long pause. Lunaire started and stopped a couple of time before answering in earnest. "I can only provide basic details. Gensokyo is a land the size of a duchy, once part of the country called Japan. A little over a century ago, this area has been hidden behind a powerful magical barrier and practically erased from all records. People from outside Gensokyo has no idea of its existence."
"Why?"
"Cannot answer. Pick another question." The answer was instantaneous.
Hours passed by in a blink. Charlotte and Lunaire exchanged the names of famous families, rulers, countries. Each went into excruciating details, probing for any sign of fabrication. There were none. It was as if they were describing two distinct chronicled history with bizarre overlaps.
The languages and cultures of Halkeginia bore striking resemblance to those in Europe. One of the humorous examples was Kirche's name, differing slightly from a famous historical figure Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, better known as Catherine the Great. It was uncanny.
Before she knew it, dawn broke over the horizon. And she hardly felt sleepy.
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And there it is.
Throwing this thing out just to set the stage. It might be a little dry and boring, but I want to get this out of the way without just alluding to this vaguely. Like "they had this conversation earlier on that Halkeginia is similar but not Earth, blah blah."
Also, it sets up Charlotte's objective in the short term. Make Money.