Chapter 6: Relativity

One year later. (I know, sudden time skip, sorry.)

Astrid swung the small sword with perfect precision as her instructor monitored her motions. She swung with simple movements, swinging the sword with a fair amount of control to the left, then bringing it up and striking downwards with a slight angle, tilting the sword and preparing it for an upwards strike.

'And what does the mortal think of my performance?' Astrid thought as she finished her last swing and looked at her instructor, Kelvin.

"Well done. Your brothers could definitely learn from your example." He said as he clapped softly.

"Speaking of which, will I train with them at any point in time?" Astrid asked as she leaned on her sword a bit.

"At some point in the future, possibly, but as of now, you still need to learn much before you may match them in any way. After all, they have learned advanced level techniques." He said.

"I see." Astrid said. "Well, I suppose that does make sense." Astrid said as she stretched lightly. "If that is the case, I would like to kick my training up a level. Allow me to practice intermediate-level skills." Astrid said after a pause.

"Unfortunately, you would have to ask your father about that." Kelvin said as he took Astrid's sword. Astrid sighed.

"Yes, I suppose you are correct." Astrid said. After a bit of post-exercise stretching, Astrid walked around the garden with Nora. 'In this past year, there are various pieces of information I have gained about mortal culture and civilization.' Astrid thought as she viewed the flowers she had seen hundreds of times.

'Firstly, there are five primary kingdoms on this continent, two human kingdoms, a demon kingdom, a dwarven kingdom, and an elven kingdom. Although the dwarven kingdom is technically separated by a small stretch of sea.' She continued.

'The demons are in an area known as the great barrier zone. It is a sort of prison they were forced into after attempting to commit genocide on the other races. The elves are in the south. The forest down there is warm all year round and is very fertile, of course, they also have a bit of territory to the east as well, but, again, it is separated from the center by a bit of sea, though there is still a land path to get there, however, it would require one to traverse the barrier zone.' Astrid pondered as she continued her walk.

'The dwarves are up to the north-east. They have Northern Airsmir and Southern Airsmir. Northern Airsmir is a dry desert with plentiful gold. Lucky for them, the rest of the world wants that gold, so they trade it with the more fertile lands to get food. Obviously, living there is terrible. Southern Airsmir, however, is very lush and just over a mountain range. In fact, I lived in Southern Airsmir before, it was a nice few centuries. I say all of this, however, it still has its downfalls. It uses Northern Airsmir as a slave state, using them as a resource and not as an official territory that has people that have rights.' Astrid thought as she nodded lightly.

"Lady Coldblight, what are you thinking about?" Nora asked.

"I am just going over a few things I learned recently in my geography lessons." Astrid said.

"I see. It must be enjoyable to learn if you are going over it even now." Nora said with a smile. Astrid nodded lightly.

"Yes, I suppose it is rather fun to learn. There is a whole world of people that I was unaware of and ignored. It is rather strange, is it not?" Astrid asked.

"Well, everyone is oblivious to some things when young. Honestly, to be learning so much at your age, you must be some kind of prodigy." Nora said.

'Well, it is not as if I could say that I am actually an ancient dragon who has lived for thousands of years...' Astrid thought. "Yes, you may praise me more." Astrid said as she held her head high. Nora chuckled a bit.

'Now, the human kingdoms. The kingdom I reside in is at the center of the continent. It is commonly referred to as central, however, it is actually called Enthar. To the north is a vassal state of Enthar called Ulmat. Ulmat has been vying for independence for about a decade, however, it has yet to obtain it, and, honestly, I do not believe it is a good move. The only reason they can maintain themselves is due to central's support and economic prowess.' Astrid thought.

"My lady, I believe it is time to go inside for lunch." Nora said. Astrid nodded and Nora lead her inside. At the table sat thirteen children. Eight boys and five girls including Astrid.

They spoke as they ate, each of them seemingly forming their own groups and having their own conversations. Of course, Astrid was not excluded from the conversations and made her rounds in every conversation at the table, controlling the flow of the dialogues.

"Well, that is assuming that the weight of the sword is even. If it was unbalanced, then it would be hard to handle and could even lead to injury." Astrid said.

"What do you mean? All swords are even!" A young boy spoke.

"No. Not all swords are weighted evenly. Some swords have too much weight on the blade which makes them difficult- Are you even listening?" Astrid asked.

"Guys, Astrid's right, I have used an unbalanced sword before and sprained my wrist." Levin said.

"Well, if Nii-sama says so..." The young boy from before said.

'This insolent brat! Where does he get the idea that he can just disregard what I say, then suddenly agree to it when someone else says it!?' Astrid thought angrily.

"No, not just because I said it. Weigh the facts. Make sure that you are making the right decision based on all the information that you know and can gather." Levin said.

"I take it your lessons are starting to get into noble debates, Onii-sama." Astrid said. Levin chuckled nervously.

"That easy to tell?" He asked.

"You used the same line Isaac said to me when he started his lessons on debates. He is terrible at putting it into practice, though." Astrid said. Levin chuckled.

"Yeah, that is certainly true." Levin said.

"Well, it is sound advice at the very least." Astrid said lightly. Levin nodded.

"It is a bit strange though. Why are you starting lessons in debate when you are so much younger than I am?" Levin asked.

"That would be because I requested it. There is surprisingly little to do when all your siblings ignore your existence." Astrid said. Levin looked to the floor, seemingly feeling guilty.

"None of us want to, well, most of us do not want to." Levin said softly.

"I see. Well, not much I can do about that, at the very least the additional time allows me to study far more than I would otherwise." Astrid said.

"Yeah." Levin said quietly.

'I see. A sensitive topic for him. I take it the mistress and concubines wish for their children to avoid me.' Astrid thought.

"Well, I should get to my etiquette lessons." Levin said as he excused himself from the table. Astrid nodded lightly as he stood up.

"I will see you at dinner, Onii-sama." Astrid said. Levin nodded as he walked away. Astrid followed her usual routine of studying, then eating dinner, then going to her room.

Once in her room, she laid in her bed. 'Continuing my thought excursion from earlier, the current state of Enthar's internal politics is a bit precarious.' Astrid thought as she attempted to find a comfortable position.

'To start, the king is an idiot. Out of fear, he attempted to force a prominent mage adventurer to sign a magical contract forcing her to defend the country. Although she is the type to help where she can, she denied the contract as it would prevent her from being as free as she wanted to be.' Astrid thought.

'As of now, I am unsure as to how the king will respond, however, I am certain it will be in an idiotic way. Other than that, the three princes are vying for the title of crown prince. There have also been reports of them attempting to assassinate each other. Each of them are clearly very impulsive and power hungry individuals.' Astrid continued.

'Well, this is what I have overheard from the conversations of my father, Isaac, and Kelvin, anyway. Well, at the end of the day, they are each horrible candidates for the title of crown prince.' She added.

'My father is a rather influential individual and is currently attempting to groom the best of the candidates into being a more patient and well-mannered individual. I do not currently know how well that is going, however, I believe that my father is a charismatic man, so he should be able to help make this change.' Astrid thought.

'Anyway, I believe slumber will be required for my next morning, so I should attempt to sleep instead of attempting to cover the information I have gathered over the course of this last year. Why am I even doing that?' Astrid asked herself as she attempted to sleep.