Chapter 5: The Twins' Lesson

Once Bess managed to gather herself, she and Krell went to get Leah, then walked back to the garden. "Welcome back! Our most esteemed and magnanimous master!" Rue said.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Salia said. "Oh, Rue! How wonderful it is to be able to teach two students!" Salia spoke gloriously.

"Yes, indeed, Salia! How exciting such a chance is!" Rue exclaimed.

'God! This is awful!' Krell said as he blushed from embarrassment.

"Now!" Rue said.

"It's time to get serious!" Salia finished as both Rue and Salia sat at a table. They grandiosely motioned for Leah and Krell to sit across from them. They did so.

"First!" Salia spoke.

"We will teach you basic table etiquette!" Rue finished.

"Quite possibly the most important form of manners!" Salia added. Salia grabbed two plates of a small sweet, seemingly from nowhere, and placed them in front of Leah and Krell.

"Go ahead and eat!" Rue said with a gracious smile. Krell looked at them confusedly, then at the sweet. Leah and Krell hesitantly picked up the sweet and went to take a bite.

"Oh my~!" Salia said condescendingly as she opened a hand fan that she produced out of thin air and began to fan herself.

"Oh my indeed, Salia!" Rue said with a similar tone. "How barbaric!" He added frivolously.

"To eat with your hands!" Salia exclaimed. "Oh! How bizarre, I'd never!" She said as she exaggerated her fanning. and Rue began to fan himself with his hands. Krell put the sweet down while Leah finished hers and looked at the twins annoyedly.

"Why tell us to eat and then say that!?" She asked with annoyance. Krell shook his head.

"Oh my! Did Krell realize something?" Rue asked as he narrowed his vision towards Krell.

Krell looked at the sweet and then considered the twins' words. He picked up the small fork next to his plate and began to use it to eat the sweet.

"Oh! How civilized!" Salia said as she closed her fan and gave a smile.

"Passing grade for Krell!" Rue exclaimed as he stood up with excitement.

"Indeed! Though, only barely! Be more careful in the future, I could've gotten heatstroke!" Salia exaggerated.

"And Leah!" Rue said.

"Yes, Leah!" Salia said.

"It's bad manners to eat with your hands! Be sure to check for utensils first, and if you don't have any, request or find some!" Rue explained.

"Else you may find your head on the wrong side of a blade!" Salia added as she mimicked the action of losing your head.

'Oh yeah... I forgot... This is why I made them act this way...' Krell thought to himself. 'Since I planned them to be teachers for this specific subject, I made them exhibit exaggerated social cues to make it easier to pick up on what was being done wrong and what was right.' Krell recalled. "Leah," Krell whispered. "Pay attention to the way they react to things. If it's negative, you're doing something wrong, if it's positive, you're doing something right." He continued. She considered his words, then nodded.

Around an hour later, Salia and Rue deemed them to have done enough and released them from the lesson. Upon the release, Bess walked up to Krell from behind and stood behind him. "As I said, they're great teachers." She said with a gentle tone. Krell nodded.

"Agreed. Though their earlier behavior created room for doubt, it was ultimately that behavior that lends them the ability to teach the way they do." Krell said. 'It also has another practical layer. People's reactions won't always be obvious, so their teaching style gets you used to interpreting social cues, even if they're obvious, if you manage to abstract the principles behind the reaction, you should be able to understand the smaller form of the exaggerated cue.' Krell thought.

"So tiring!" Leah exclaimed as she sat back in her seat.

"I have to agree, though this is going to be useful in the future." Krell said. Bess pet them both on their heads.

"You two did well. That being said, you still have more lessons." Bess said.

"Ah! Already!?" Leah asked in surprise.

"Of course! It's your first day, you need to understand what all you'll be learning and create a schedule!" Bess said. Krell nodded.

'So much work...' He thought to himself. After a moment, the group made their way to the fifth floor. Upon their arrival, a seemingly young elven girl walked up to them.

"There's two." She said.

"It was by Master Krell's orders." Bess said. The girl sighed.

"Yeah, alright. My name's Frion. Do as you're told and we'll get along swell. Fail to do that, and you may have issues. Understood?" She asked. Krell nodded. Leah raised her hand. Frion sighed again. "What?" She asked.

"Who says swell?" She asked. Bess and Krell chuckled a bit as Frion blushed.

"Sh-shut up! You try living for over a hundred years and adapting to all the new fads in dialect!" She said as she crossed her arms and looked away. Leah looked at Frion with confusion. "Wh-what?" She asked sheepishly.

"You didn't answer my question." Leah said with a discerning look.

"H-huh?" Frion mumbled as she looked at Leah in confusion.

'Ah, right... Leah is very literal... She actually meant that as a question, not a jab at her choice of words.' Krell thought with a chuckle.

"What are you laughing at!?" She asked.

"Leah's literal. She really meant that as a question." Krell said. She looked at Leah as if trying to ascertain whether or not Krell was right. Leah nodded. Frion blushed again as she crossed her arms and cleared her throat.

"I... Um... I haven't been able to catch up on the latest vocal trends, so people like me still use words like swell often." She said. "A-anyway!" She said as she forcefully changed the subject. "I'll be your teacher for the intellectual pursuits." She said as she changed her posture to be more prideful as if she hadn't completely embarrassed herself moments prior. "That is to say, magic, arithmetic, history, alchemy, and so on." She explained.

"We'll..." Leah paused. "Be in your care." Leah said

"Y-you hesitated!" Frion exclaimed in dejection.

"No! I just had to remember how to say it! I only just learned it!" Leah yelled.

"O-oh... Is that... So?" She asked as she looked at the ground and blushed embarrassedly.

'As cringe as she is, it's kind of adorable...' Krell thought as he smiled lightly watching her blush.