With a loud thud, Eris stood up from her desk, glaring angrily.
"Why do we even need to learn subtraction, multiplication, or division?! When would we ever use them?!"
Rudeus took a deep breath and calmly explained:
"Subtraction is useful when getting change while shopping."
"You get change when you shop?"
"…"
"Multiplication helps calculate total quantities. For example, if everyone wants two pieces of bread and there are six people—"
"You can just grab bread from the kitchen!"
"…"
"Division is useful when five people want to split a hundred silver coins evenly—"
Eris slammed her palm on the desk.
"That's what I'm saying! Why split it?! Just give everyone a hundred silver each!"
Rudeus felt his throat dry out.
That's right. Kids who don't want to learn always find ridiculous excuses.
He looked up at the ojō-sama of the Boreas family and was just about to refute her, when he paused.
Her glare—
That was the look of a predator.
It reminded him of the crimson eyes of monsters during the snowy valley hunt last winter.
Reflexively, Rudeus turned to Allen with a pleading look.
He was out of options. He couldn't fight her, couldn't scold her, and saying the wrong thing meant risking being hunted down by Eris later that night.
Time to call in backup.
Allen—the "trouble fixer"—was currently watching the drama with his hands in his sleeves. But as all eyes turned to him, he blinked and looked over to Ghislaine, who was smiling as she proudly admired her test results.
In the original story, it was Ghislaine who played a crucial role in convincing Eris to study arithmetic. Rudeus had sought her help back then too—even resorting to fake crying using water magic to win her sympathy. Effective, though embarrassing.
But now—
Allen glanced at Rudeus, whose face was a mess of frustration and disheveled hair.
There's no way this version of Rudeus would cry again to avoid confrontation. That tactic was off the table.
Still, Ghislaine's speech from the original story had a powerful effect—and even if Allen couldn't recall every word, the gist was enough. Plus, it'd be weird if he gave that speech.
So better to coax Ghislaine into doing it herself.
Some verbal bait should do it…
Perfect.
"Ghislaine, your arithmetic looks way better than Eris's. Do you have a special trick? Would you mind sharing it?"
Ghislaine seemed very pleased by Allen's praise. Though her face remained stern, her tail swishing behind her was making audible whooshing sounds in the air, betraying her joy.
She glanced at Allen and fell into thoughtful recollection, starting with a powerful opener:
"In the past, all I saw was the sword."
As expected, Eris instantly turned toward her, eyes shining with admiration.
"When I became an adventurer, others handled everything else. All I had to do was grip my sword."
"And then…"
"Draw it."
"Swing it."
"Slay monsters."
"No thinking required."
"So simple."
Allen raised an eyebrow. These weren't lines from the original—but for a swordsman who'd trained in Silent Sword Style, the sentiment carried the weight of Sword God Style wisdom.
It made the world of Mushoku Tensei feel even more vivid.
Ghislaine glanced at Rudeus.
"Even when I joined Black Wolf Fang, it didn't change. Paul, Zenith, and Ghis handled all the buying, selling, contracts, maps, gear, supplies, even tracking water weight and fire preservation. I paid no mind.
But seven years ago, when Paul and Zenith retired, and Black Wolf Fang disbanded—problems began to surface."
"…Maybe for a swordsman, it really is that simple to swing a blade. But when I tackled a labyrinth alone, I discovered…"
"As an adventurer, a sword alone is not enough."
She looked down at her hand, face solemn.
"What is enough?!" Eris shouted, fully enthralled.
Everyone leaned in, captivated by her tone and presence.
Ghislaine looked around, paused…
"…Uhh."
Everyone tilted forward.
"I can't explain it exactly. But…arithmetic is really important."
SMACK.
Allen facepalmed. The three kids looked confused, while Edna, ever expressionless, didn't even flinch—as if she knew Ghislaine far too well.
Ghislaine glanced puzzledly at Allen, then continued:
"I might not explain it well, but I can give an example.
Like Rudeus said, evenly splitting supplies is dangerous in labyrinths. Gear breaks, items are lost—you have to divide what's left based on days left in the journey to survive."
Her expression grew darker, clearly remembering something painful.
"That task should've gone to someone else. But when I was alone… I made a foolish mistake because I didn't know math. I ate all my rations in the first two days."
"And then?!" Eris leaned forward again, even more excited.
"For three whole days, I had no food. No water. I was about to starve…"
"And then I smelled something."
"Something?" Eris and Rudeus asked in unison.
Allen quietly buried his face in his hands again.
Ghislaine's voice dropped into a solemn whisper.
"That's when I learned…
…when you're starving…
Even a monster's feces smells good."
Silence.
Sylphy and Rudeus's faces turned green.
But Eris's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Why?!"
Ghislaine looked straight at her.
"Because…"
"They eat human meat."
"And the undigested meat, after being stepped on…"
Her voice was calm. Unshaken.
But it made Eris's smile vanish instantly.
"…smells good."
"Tastes…"
"…good too."
(End of Chapter)
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