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delicatemusickingdom · 20 days

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Book 1 Part 2 Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1: Learning

“Pl… Please… fetch… my… Uh…”

“Book—?”

“Book for me.”

The voice stumbled over the words, but gently prompted by the hints given, they managed to finish the sentence without faltering.

“Okay, good job!”

Yuri sat down, looking not altogether unpleased with the praise he had received.

They were in a corner of Fountain Alley’s plaza. Around ten people sat on the open ground in front of an old-deserted house. Some sat directly on the ground, while others sat on reasonably-sized buckets or falling-apart wooden chairs that they had brought from somewhere else.

The people there were as diverse as their seats — there were both men and women, and old and young alike. All of them, however, were sitting facing the wall of the nearby building. Written on the wall were letters in black lines.

A woman stood alone next to the letters. Combined with the thinness of the letter’s lines, she exuded a refined elegance that didn’t suit the lower quarter. Her name was Norein Scifo. Occasionally she would cough weakly, and use the charcoal in her hand to write letters on the wall.

She was a teacher. All students were welcome. Anyone in the lower quarter could attend her classes if they wanted to. Whenever the residents were interested, had some free time from work, or just simply wanted to kill time, they would take a seat in a corner of the ‘classroom’ and listen in.

Her lessons mainly taught how to read and write simple words. There were never any schools in the poor lower quarter, and there were few families who could afford sending their children to school in the citizens' quarter on the ‘other side of the wall’. Most of the adults were unable to read or write, and even if they did, they had never thought of teaching it to anyone else.

Though often influenced by Norein’s condition — and the weather — her classes were usually held every day. While he couldn’t say he’d attended all of them, Yuri was a regular presence at her classes.

Him, and one more person — Norein’s son, Flynn. Despite not really needing them, he often showed up to her classes, though not as often as Yuri did. Those who came late could usually see the black-haired and golden-haired boys sitting nearly side by side in front of the teacher Norein.

“Okay, let’s all read it together again.”

As Norein pointed at the letters, everyone raised their voices in unison. Many of them were uncertain of the words, faltering in places like Yuri had, but even so, there was a certain sort of excitement seen in their expressions. The excitement of being able to touch something that had been inaccessible to them until now.

While everyone else paid attention to the wall, only Flynn watched his mother, with mixed feelings in his heart. He had already mastered the basics of reading and writing, and at this level of content, he could follow her lessons without much concentration needed.

Flynn looked at the expression on his mother’s face and acknowledged the gentle smile she now wore. It was something he hadn’t seen ever since they were driven out of the citizens' quarter, or more accurately, ever since the incident that had triggered it.

Ever since that day, the world had become a cold and cruel place to the mother and son. His mother had wilted like a flower suddenly thrown into winter. Flynn had witnessed it happen but couldn’t do anything to help, and had ended up feeling irritated and frustrated.

But then, like the sun shining through a gap in the thick clouds and illuminating the earth, a turning point occurred.

Flynn sneaked a glance at Yuri, who sat beside him reciting in a loud, stuttering voice. Every time he looked at this eccentric — That’s my line, he could almost hear the boy saying — boy, he would always feel a strange sensation wash over him.

There were still a lot of things Flynn didn’t know about Yuri, and occasionally, Yuri would do seemingly thoughtless things that made it hard to believe the person in question possessed any common sense.

Even so, Flynn couldn’t deny when they worked together, sometimes, that led to unexpected breakthroughs in situations. Though Flynn could say with absolute certainty that Yuri hadn’t meant to.

This time too, it was Flynn who had brought it up, but Yuri was the one who had served as the catalyst.

Who exactly are you? Flynn asked silently. But most likely, the person in question didn’t have an answer to that question either. He was sure of it. The moment he thought that, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of gratification.

Shaking his golden hair slightly, the boy concealed the smile starting to appear on his face.

****

——Going back to a few weeks ago.

Ever since that day, Yuri and Flynn, who had unexpectedly ended up co-owning a sword, began dedicating their free time to training. That being said, it wasn’t like they had anyone to teach them. Rather than training, what the two of them did could better be described as self-taught.

In Yuri’s case, he had to start with the basics, so it was safe to say his teacher was Flynn to some extent. However, this teacher-student relationship was fraught with difficulties from the very beginning.

“You’re doing it again! The centre of your stance is off! Straighten your back!”

“I am doing it. It’s like this, right?!”

“That’s not it, your back!”

“And I’m telling you I know that!”

Determined to improve, he had bowed his head and begged Flynn to teach him, but if he was constantly receiving negative criticisms from someone his age, it’s not like he could remain calm forever. On the other hand, it wasn’t as if Flynn had any particular skill for teaching. Differences in personality and skill aside, at the end of the day, both of them were still children lacking in discipline.

“It’s over. I give up. I’m done for today.”

Out of patience, Yuri tossed away his sword. Making no attempt to conceal his irritation, Flynn yelled at him.

“Don’t handle it so roughly! The sword doesn’t only belong to you!”

The fed-up Yuri looked away without answering. Despite that, when Flynn picked up the sword and began to do practice swings, he slowly started to feel restless, until in the end, he spoke.

“Give it back. I still want to practise.”

“I thought you said you were done for the day?”

“I changed my mind, so give it back!”

Ownership of the sword changes every day. But if the person gives up their rights, the other person can use it on the same day. That was the deal the two of them made.

Naturally, just because they give up their rights to use the sword on that day doesn’t mean they can use it on the next. If they gave up the rights without using it until they were satisfied, then the next day they’d have to endure feeling pent-up and stifled for the whole day. Yuri had experienced that more than once. Each time, he would swear to himself that he would never again abandon his sword halfway through training, but after listening to Flynn’s nagging, he would repeat the incident all over again. Which led to their current exchange.

If Flynn had to say, Yuri lacked not only patience but obedience as well — to a devastating extent.

No matter how much he taught Yuri, for some reason, not only would Yuri not follow his exact teachings, but he would also try to add on his own interpretations. It was only after he had tested enough of this and that, and was satisfied with it, that he would follow the original teachings. It was unavoidable that the process took a lot of time. More than anything, his attitude of questioning every single detail of what their ancestors had built upon and passed down felt irrelevant to Flynn — but despite that, once he was satisfied with it, his speed at absorbing it was something Flynn was forced to admit was remarkable.

Even though he didn’t say it out aloud, that wasn’t the only problem Flynn had with the sword. He had no qualms about sharing a sword that was once solely his. In fact, he was even grateful for the help in pooling together what little money they had and spending it all for the sake of buying a single sword.

The problem was having time for his own training. When he didn’t have the rights to use the sword, he had to teach Yuri — at his request — swordsmanship. Though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel any regret every time they argued, it couldn’t be helped, because that was the promise he made when they bought the sword. Even when he did have the rights to use the sword, it didn’t mean he could necessarily do as he pleased.

That was because as soon as Flynn started training, Yuri would immediately come up to him and bombard him with questions like ‘Why did you move like that?’ and ‘Why is your grip like that?’.

At first, Flynn had been touched by his enthusiasm and answered him, but after a while he found it was getting in the way of his training.

Those thoughts only grew stronger. Even though he’d finally gotten back his sword, he couldn’t hope to improve if this continued.

Of course, Yuri had no ulterior motives. He simply wanted to catch up to Flynn as soon as possible. His single-minded pursuit meant that if he saw something he didn’t know or understand, he would greedily strive to master it.

Flynn knew that Yuri wasn’t doing it out of maliciousness, and thus couldn’t refuse him, and continued to nurture his progress. Of course, if actually doing it was as easy as the rationale behind it, then they wouldn’t be having so much trouble right now. Naturally his words became more and more harsh, and because of that now it was Yuri’s turn to be unamused. He didn’t think he was making any mistakes, and instead was being criticised more harshly than necessary, which made him feel even more dissatisfied.

They had finally obtained a sword, and in truth, due to their training, they had gotten better than they thought they had. But at this rate, they would be hastening not just the destruction of their sword, but also their relationship and everything in between.

What changed all that, was thanks to a single book.

****

On that day, Flynn had ownership of the sword. For once, there was no sign of Yuri, and Flynn could swing his sword to his heart’s content in front of his house. He would reflect upon the instructions he had once been given, and repeat them over and over again, to confirm that his body had really memorised them.

For him, this was akin to a ritual of sorts, that allowed him to regain the bond he had lost, or perhaps to prevent him from forgetting those memories.

His mother hadn’t been feeling well lately, and even now was in the house, resting. When he had confessed to her about getting back his sword, Norein had said nothing, only showing an expression that he couldn’t tell was sad or smiling.

She knew. As he swung his sword, Flynn thought. That there was no way her son could have gotten back the sword on his own. Flynn had only told her that he had properly paid money to buy it back, and his mother had accepted it without prying any further.

Flynn continued swinging his sword single-mindedly.

Eventually, when he was convinced that the fundamentals were firmly ingrained within him, Flynn picked up a book from on top of the barrel next to him that served as a makeshift table.

The simple binding was dirty and worn, but not to the point that the text was unreadable. Rather than being treated poorly, it was the result of many hands having flipped through the pages for a long time.

Flynn also handled the book with much more care than with his sword. Careful not to let the sweat dripping down his face fall onto the pages, he slowly opened it and searched for the page he was looking for.

Many of the pages had illustrations drawn on them in addition to text — illustrations of a person in armour holding a sword in different stances.

Flynn’s finger stopped on a certain page. He traced the words with his fingertips as he read them. He stared at the numerous illustrations on the page until his gaze could almost bore a hole into them. Then, with that page open, he put the book back on the barrel and picked up the sword again.

He closed his eyes and pictured in his mind the illustration he had just seen. He slowly changed his posture until it overlapped with the image in his mind. If not the same, then as similar as possible. Once he was satisfied, for a while he would stand still in that position, before moving onto the stance shown in the next illustration.

Try out the stance, memorise it in mind and body, and once satisfied, swiftly repeat them as a series of movements. Over and over again.

The feedback from his body was good. He could feel the movements becoming ingrained into his body. If he continued this for a few more rounds, he felt like he might be able to grasp something—

“Is that the basis for your swordsmanship?”

The sudden voice interrupted his thoughts. The light almost within his reach faded away.

He was so close. He had almost reached it, but it had slipped away at the last moment. The opportunity was lost. Panting and drenched in sweat, Flynn turned and shot Yuri a glare.

At some point during his training, Yuri had arrived. Completely oblivious to what was going through Flynn’s mind, without even looking at Flynn, the black-haired boy’s gaze was fixed on the book on top of the barrel.

“……It’s a training manual for swordsmanship.”

There were so many things he wanted to say, but Flynn only managed to get out that much, shoulders heaving as he gasped for air.

Yuri got closer and peered at the book. Flynn felt the pit of his stomach grow hot. Though he knew Yuri didn’t mean any harm, even now, he couldn’t quite get used to how the residents of the lower quarter could occasionally act bluntly and tactlessly.

“That’s important to me.”

Flynn murmured, and Yuri must have sensed something, because he pulled back his outstretched hand. But his eyes remained glued to the book, refusing to look away, like a hungry beast staring down a feast placed in front of it.

“Hey, does that mean if I read this, I’ll be able to master swordsmanship like you? And learn even more amazing techniques—”

“It doesn't do something as convenient as that.”

Feeling as if his pride had been hurt, Flynn couldn’t help but raise his voice and say.

“Well, I guess that’s true.”

Yuri readily shrugged his shoulders.

“Just listening to you talk doesn’t help me at all. But if I practise according to what’s written here, I’ll be able to get by somehow, right?”

“……At least, that’s what I believe.”

It might just be possible. Flynn’s voice lowered as he remembered he was on the verge of realising a part of that just a moments ago.

When he’d lost his previous way of life, he had lost many things, but this book was one of the few possessions he couldn’t bear to part with. It felt painful to let go of the sword, but he told himself that he’d be able to obtain one again someday. But the book was different. This book was the teaching itself. The sword was a vessel. But what was written in the book held a soul that must be kept within. Of the person who gave it to him, and then sacrificed himself.

If I have this, I can get closer to him. No matter how it looked to others, to Flynn, that was his truth.

“Hey, let’s make it so I can read this too.”

Not picking up on Flynn’s thoughts in the slightest, Yuri said.

He says it so easily. He doesn’t even know how much respect I have for the knowledge written in this book. He doesn’t even know how symbolic this book is to me. Even though he knew it was due to ignorance, Flynn couldn’t hold back his anger.

First of all, Yuri. He has both a strong interest and a lack of patience. No matter how much he reads, will he be able to continue practising patiently until he masters the techniques?

Recalling the arguments they had during training, and the interruptions during his own sword practice, and all the other numerous exchanges they’ve had until now, Flynn felt like he had been put in an incredibly unfair situation. Mix in the painful memories of the hardships he had gone through before he’d met Yuri, and he felt ready to explode.

Suddenly, something inside of him seized the reins within him. Like calming a rampaging horse or whispering to a restless spirit, it spoke. Calm down. Calm yourself. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. That, too, was a lesson Flynn had once been taught, a lesson almost as precious to him as his sword techniques.

Flynn took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. As if he was expelling his violent emotions with it. His irritation didn’t completely subside, so naturally his voice was filled with barbs as he spoke.

“You can read it if you want to,” the golden-haired boy said curtly. “But if you damage anything, I will never forgive you.”

“Um, even if you say that…”

Yuri said as he scratched the back of his black-haired head. The irritation came back. What? Are you saying that’s not enough for you?

“……I, can’t read.”

“Ah……”

The unexpected words left Flynn speechless. In the place where he used to live, it was only natural for even commoners to be able to read and write. In fact, if they couldn’t, you could say it would be a terrible hindrance to their daily life.

But here, in the lower quarter.

Flynn looked at the training manual just sitting there. Then he thought about the various books and texts he had come into contact with. To think that they couldn’t read any of that. To think that they had been kept from being able to access anything written in there.

Once again Flynn was shocked at the way of life in the lower quarter. As for Yuri, after seeing Flynn’s reaction, he started to look a little embarrassed.

Flynn suddenly felt ashamed of himself.

“But… I’ve never taught anyone to read or write.”

“You’re teaching me how to use a sword. It’s pretty much the same, right?”

Yuri said nonchalantly. That easygoing demeanour of his made Flynn feel like he had been rescued. That being said, what should he do?

“Hey, please?”

“I can’t do something like that so easily…”

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

“……Mother.”

“Mother? Yours?”

Flynn nodded slowly, as if confirming his own idea.

“She even teaches me from time to time. My mother might be able to teach you.”

Now it was Yuri’s turn to wince. It had been a long time since then, but the memory of Flynn’s mother’s attitude towards him on the day he had first confronted Flynn was still fresh in his memory. He still remembered how the atmosphere back then was by no means friendly.

The training manual on the barrel caught his eye. Hidden in there were the secret techniques for swordsmanship. If I can read it, I can catch up to Flynn that much quicker. If I can read it—

Yuri turned back to Flynn.

“I understand. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Okay, but not today. Mother isn’t feeling well, and right now she’s asleep.”

“Sure. As long as she can teach me, I have no complaints.”

As if feeling refreshed, Yuri smiled.

“I’ll go back for today. I hope your mother feels better soon.”

As if he could hurry up and master the contents of the training manual, Yuri waved his hand and left with an incredible lightness in his steps.

Flynn was left alone again. He looked in the direction of the leaving Yuri, and then in the direction of the house where his mother was. Does Yuri really intend to study? Will Mother accept? He had no idea.

Did he make a hasty promise without considering the condition his mother was in? His mind was now filled with such concerns.

He caught sight of the still-open training manual. It was then he realised he had been gripping his sword the whole time. Its blade gleamed brightly, as if protesting that Flynn had forgotten all about its existence.

Flynn shook his head, also shaking off the thoughts swirling inside his heart. Let’s not think about that right now. Just for now. Recalling the illustration drawn in the training manual once again, the boy readied his sword and swung it fiercely, as if to sever away all of his doubts.

****

Hasty or not, once he gave it, Flynn had no intention of breaking his promise. It had taken a while for Norein to recover, but surprisingly Yuri hadn’t tried to rush him, and Flynn was grateful for that.

Eventually his mother managed to recover and Flynn asked her about the matter of reading and writing. At first, Norein had listened to him with a somewhat dubious look on her face, but after he was done and was nervously gauging her reaction, she spoke.

“Alright, let’s give it a try. I don’t know if it will go as well as when I taught you, but this if your first request since we came here. Besides…”

Norein paused, and smiled gently at her son.

“This is for the sake of the first friend you made here.”

Friend. He had thought it to himself, but hearing it so clearly from someone else’s mouth, and it was his mother’s, no less, made him feel embarrassed. Forgetting his surprise at his mother’s quick acceptance of his request, Flynn felt his cheeks grow hot.

In any case, it looked like he was going to be able to fulfil his promise. Now all Yuri has to do is — wait a minute. Will he be attending school here? On the days when he doesn’t have ownership rights to the sword? In other words, I’ll be seeing him not only during training but also at my house every day? That in itself was something to think about.

However, things unfolded in a manner even more unexpected than Flynn had anticipated.

A few days after Flynn told Yuri that his mother had agreed, there was a soft knock on his house’s front door, as gentle as a fallen leaf. When he opened it he saw an elderly man standing there alone, with a gentle face along with his hunched back.

“……Mister Hanks?”

“Oh, Flynn, you look well. I have something to discuss with your mother, is she free to talk right now?”

****

“Everyone… I, um…”

Holding a hand to her chest, Norein said, looking lost in thought. In front of her Hanks stood there, nodding his head.

“There are a lot of people in the lower quarter who can’t read or write, but there aren’t a lot of people who are good enough to teach it. It’d be a great help if you would teach them.”

Yuri was supposed to be her only student, but in a short period of time the conversation had taken an unexpected turn. Perhaps because Yuri looked unusually happy, or because he seemed so far from his usual composed self — Jiri and the other adults had thought he was up to his usual sinister schemes and grilled him until he confessed. At first Yuri had been evasive tried to avoid answering, but in the end he had cracked and told them everything.

Now knowing that this had all started because of the sword, Jiri had only frowned slightly and said nothing more. In fact, she was secretly surprised. She had never thought that Yuri of all people would say he wanted to study.

But Hanks, who had also been listening, had another idea. A teacher had appeared in the lower quarter. Why should she only have one student?

“Of course, I have no intention of asking you to do it for free. It’s a respected job, after all. I intend to keep that in mind.”

Thus, Norein became a teacher in the lower quarter, and taught all who desired to learn. She had no textbooks or formal training, but her experience in teaching her son proved to be useful.

Flynn had objected to it, worried it would worsen her health, but Norein had decided all on her own to step out of her house. The classroom was in a corner of the plaza in the centre of Fountain Alley. In place of a textbook, she would use charcoal to write letters on the building’s wall. After class, the students for the day would clean the walls. Tuition fees were paid in small change and food.

Most of the students were adults. Like Hanks said, it was rare for anyone in the lower quarter to be able to read and write. Flynn was once again made aware that this place was fundamentally different from the place he had lived before.

Jareth and the other children were not among the people who came to learn. Most of them showed up out of curiosity, but soon got bored and left, until Yuri was the only one that remained. The only time Yuri was generally only absent when his manual work coincided with the lesson timings.

Of course, even Yuri wasn’t able to maintain his concentration all of the time — just as Flynn had predicted. There were times where he felt like he couldn’t keep up with the lessons, or felt the lessons were becoming too monotonous, and would keep away for a while. But he would always come back to class — for two main reasons.

He still hadn’t gotten tired of sword training, which meant that whether he liked it or not, he would still see Flynn swinging his sword with the training manual by his side. Each time, a feeling similar to impatience would be revived in him.

Besides, when all was said and done, the reason Norein had come all the way to the plaza at the risk of her health was originally because of Yuri’s request. He couldn’t forget that and abandon her lessons.

With Yuri now fully devoted to his lessons, on the days when Flynn had the sword, he was able to swing his sword undisturbed and to his heart’s content. As he threw himself into his training all alone, more than once, he’d experience a large breakthrough and unthinkingly cry out in joy.

However, gradually, the thought that this result had only been possible because he had pushed Yuri onto his mother started to occupy his mind. Ever since the incident that had led them to move to the lower quarter, his mother had become incredibly frail in both mind and body. Yet day after day, she would go out to the plaza, saying it was her job.

Guilty and worried, Flynn headed towards the plaza.

But when he arrived, his eyes widened. He was his mother standing there, passionately delivering a lecture. She still looked thin and fragile as ever, but he could definitely feel the aura of determination and vigour emanating from her. It wasn’t comparable to before, but still, it was the first time since their move to the lower quarter that he had seen a light in her eyes.

This was something beyond comprehension to the young Flynn, but Norein’s change was not without reason.

Before coming to the lower quarter, she had lived a comfortable, not to say wealthy life. Then one day, she had been kicked out and left with almost nothing to her name, and no one around her willing to lend her a helping hand. Norein’s mind and body had suffered a huge blow, and poverty had taken an even bigger toll on her.

Poverty was only one of the factors. The people of the lower quarter had done all they could to help the mother and son who had nothing on them and no means of making a living. Housing and food became a source of inner conflict, and Norein was tormented by it. To put it simply, she had no choice but to rely on the charity of others around her to survive. Even though she had nothing to offer in return. If she was alone, she would have chosen to starve to death. But even as she argued that this was for her son’s sake, her miserable state remained unchanged, and that tormented her and drove her to illness.

But right now, even if it was a small thing, the people around her needed her, and even thanked her for it. Even though it was incredibly tiring for her to travel from her house to the plaza every day, she had regained her reason to live. And, a little bit of her pride, too.

Surprised and touched by his mother’s liveliness, and as if he had been guided to, Flynn joined in on the lessons. He could sense something else present in her lessons — something different from just learning how to read and write.

Noticing Flynn’s nosy presence, Yuri made space next to him. At first, Flynn had felt uncomfortable sitting right in front of his mother, but after a while he had gotten used to it.

His mother didn’t make any particular sign that she had noticed him, but she seemed somewhat happy.

****

And so, Flynn once again became his mother’s student. Since he had already learned most of the basic fundamentals of reading and writing, he rarely had the opportunity to learn anything new. But occasionally he would come to the plaza and read out aloud the words written on the wall with Yuri. Sometimes he would help his mother, writing the letters in charcoal while everyone watched.

Although her voice remained soft, his mother continued to conduct her lectures smoothly, and Yuri — for the most part — continued to learn enthusiastically.

It had been a completely unexpected turn of events, but maybe this was for the best. Thinking in a corner of his mind what kind of training he should do after this, Flynn returned his attention to the lesson in front of him.

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#Tales of Vesperia #Genealogy of the Condemned #Danzaisha no Keifu #Tales of Vesperia: Genealogy of the Condemned #delicate posts #delicate translations #so fun fact yuri is writing 'yuri lowell' on his slate #idk what norein is writing actually

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