The day ended in a boring and silent hour of prayer, where Nem noticed a large number of devout believers, including Lana, although one may say she was in the wrong church.
'I wonder why she is here... As for the others, I wonder if it's because they want to become blessed. No, I can't think like that, it's normal for people to worship a higher power, even in my world, where there is no sign of it.'
In fact, it would be extremely weird to be an atheist in this world, even if science was more advanced. Almost irrational. Nem wasn't exactly an atheist in the first place, although he didn't believe in a particular god, so he had no problems adapting. Also, he had proclaimed himself to be a casual believer of Mother Earth, so all was good on this side.
The next day, Nem made the acquaintance of a new instructor, Mr. James. Seriously wondering if there were no adult women in the monastery, he observed the man with his red eyes. He was tall, thin, dressed in a loose black outfit and he seemed a bit tired or bored.
"Alright, you can play hide and seek now." He turned to a Nem whose expression had become strange at those words. "You'll only observe this time. Make sure to watch carefully, because the first one to be seen won't get dessert today."
Mr. James gave the names of the ones playing the 'demons' -which was the word used in this world for the seekers- and didn't speak anymore. Although Nem was confused at first, he quickly understood that this was a real exercise and not a simple game.
'The point of doing this is obviously to learn how to hide and find people. This education seems quite complete.'
The game took place outside and inside the monastery, although it was only limited to certain parts. It was a large area with a very large number of hiding spots and complicated terrain. However, there were only five demons and a lot more hidden children. The kids were amazingly good at the game and they seemed to have fun playing it as well.
Some could balance themselves up a ceiling, others found planks to move and hide under. There were all sorts of techniques, even using others as a distraction.
'The instructor must give some advice sometimes.'
The 'demons' were generally on the older side and seemed to know the hiding spots relatively well, but they still missed some of the children.
Nem observed attentively, as this was a very important skill for survival, and resisted the urge to tap on the shoulder of an orphan by the name of Joe who was hiding behind a trapdoor to scare him. Pranking someone a day after learning his name was a bit too much. He originally enjoyed doing harmless jokes and his current face seemed particularly adapted for the activity.
'Having fun is a very important part of life.' Nem nodded, satisfied at his own wisdom, before scarring the kid anyway.
***
Time passed and soon another day passed. The mathematics teacher, Mr. Haynes, also taught writing and languages, those moments being the rare ones when one was able to speak outside of sharing hour. Nem was about to classify rename him Mr. Boring until he started talking about the different cultures of the world.
Nem was fascinated as he learned that the Holy Kingdom of Clouds, Ondario, was originally based on the Church of the Flood's religion and that to this day, they still heavily worshiped this Goddess. While that was the case, the Red Empire, Alario, was composed of a combination of all the Churches believers, with the Church of the Glorious Sun being the most popular.
The lesson was quite long and interesting but was ultimately still made for children. Nem even suspected that most orphans had already heard it at least once. Also, it was mostly focused on religion and its influence through the continent which wasn't complete enough of a viewpoint.
For example, Nem knew that Ondario and Alario were at war with each other but he didn't know any details regarding it. Mr. Haynes didn't mention any battles or conflicts, nor did he explain anything about their armies or went into details with their governments.
He only got to memorize that the Holy Kingdom possessed a similar nobility to Earth's old kingdoms and that the Red Empire was "more complicated".
'I should really find a way to remember which name correspond to which country. Ondario, Church of the Flood, water ? Sigh, it doesn't work... Guess I'll use their full names.'
The rest of the day was spent doing exercises to improve the orphan's memory and their attention to detail. It took a long time as everyone had to take their separate tests. Mostly, one needed to all the items a room how it was in the other. Another time, everyone needed to write a summary of a long monologue five minutes after hearing it.
This lesson was handled by Mr. James, the 'hide and seek' teacher who seemed even more tired than last time. Nem decided to not purposely fail them, and even took them relatively seriously. There was no need to act dumb to this extent and improving oneself was important.
'Strange, it feels like my memory has improved a bit since my 'reincarnation'. I thought I was just being nostalgic, but it seems I got an unexpected benefit for this. Maybe it's because my mind was almost shattered that time. I'd still prefer if it didn't happen thought.'
Just thinking about this gave him a headache, this was truly an awful feeling to have one's all self collapse under one's own eyes.
The next day started a bit differently.
The first instructor of the day was in a new spot outside the monastery, close to animal fences. There, a woman was waiting in a tight brown dress, which seemed to be more leather than fabric. She had long, curly straw-colored hair and a certain vibrant feeling originated from her youthful face.
'Wow, the first woman I meet in this world is actually that pretty.'
She looked like she was in her early twenties, so Nem couldn't help but be a little shaken. Still, he quickly remembered he was now 10 and that there was no way he could have an actual relationship with another human being even if he was old enough due to his mental problems.
"Hi everybody ! Oh, we have a new face today. You know what that means..." She let her voice trail off in suspense with a cheerful smile on her face. Nem noticed that her clear brown eyes were shining with a strange light. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
She went behind a wooden case and came back with a chicken's neck in her hand. The chicken was alive and struggling to free itself. The woman didn't lose her smile as she loudly announced :
"I'm Jane Spencer, and what I teach is a little special. Little Nem, this is a bit of a tradition in the monastery. On their first class with me, everyone has to do it." She put the chicken towards Nem's hands and he grabbed it. "You need to kill it, or you won't get to eat any meat today." She made a twisting gesture with her hands, her smile had become smaller but her eyes were still shining.
Nem looked at the chicken and twisted its neck with a neutral expression. Not that he did anything like it in his previous life, but Tom had quite the experience with this. 'Be decisive.', that was the only advice the farmer gave to Tom. Besides, if he was so against the idea of killing an animal to eat it, he would have been a vegetarian. Nem's conscience was clear, although it did feel a little gross, he knew that chicken was going to die either way.
Jane grinned and seemed to think of something before continuing her lesson. She took out an iron dagger and said :
"Today, you'll learn how to stab with this. It is very important to know how to protect yourself in this world. This is a basic skill that you must master. Remember, practice makes perfect." The new instructor seemed to enjoy talking a bit too much. Especially about killing.
She kept monologing as the children practiced on sandbags with fake weapons.
'What exactly are we training for here ? We are already learning how to use weapons in Sunny's class. This seems a bit more... sinister.'
Last time, Nem had chosen a pair of short sticks as weapons in Sunny's class. He didn't want to learn the sword or something too complicated, so he just chose something he could use to beat people without much thought. He assumed that he would use a gun in the future if he intended to be lethal.
"Very good, little ones ! Next time, we'll learn how to follow people without being noticed !" She turned to Nem and told him : "Before you go, follow me for a few minutes."
'Uh, that can't be good.'
Jane led him to a large closet filled with brooms and other domestic tools and started to rummage through a corner. Nem watched her dirtying her dress with dust and even getting it in her hair, speechless.
'Her personality is really something, uh.'
"Ah that's it !" She got up with a strange device in her hands. Nem's brows jumped as he saw what was in it. This is... a mousetrap ? There was a large rat stuck in it, still alive but clearly stuck by the tail and one of his back legs.
She handed the real iron dagger to Nem with a firm hand and said without a hint of a smile :
"Kill it."
Nem glanced at the rat then at the sharp weapon in his hands. He knew he could do it. In fact, Nem really didn't have any problems with it at all. This was because he had once really wanted to kill someone. So much that he almost did it. No, in fact he really did kill that person... It was just a bit more indirect. The same could probably be said for a few other people, although he never bothered to check.
He was no stranger to this kind of thing, and when he snapped the chicken's neck earlier, he had confirmed that he could do the same to a human being, as long as the reason was good enough for him.
Still, he hesitated. 'If I do this, will they start training me as a ruthless assassin ? I feel like this is some kind of test. I also don't want the monastery to see me as someone dangerous.'
He had claimed to have experience as a farmer to the other orphans, so there was no problem with the chicken. But that was a bit different. Nem made a decision and spoke out loud, breaking the rules for the first time :
"Why ? Will someone eat it ?"
Jane's seemed a bit disappointed. She didn't answer immediately but didn't seem to care too much about the rules either.
"It's a rat, we kill it because it's a nuisance to us." Seeing that Nem was still hesitating, she sighed and took a pause before continuing. "If you kill it yourself, you will make it suffer a lot less than with the trap. It can be considered mercy." Jane's voice sounded a bit dull, as she had abandoned and lost some kind of game.
"Alright." That was Nem's answer as the dagger fell on the rat's throat, ending its suffering. There was a bit of twitching and an annoying amount of smelly blood.
The woman taught him how to clean the blood and left with a neutral expression on her face.
'Is she disappointed that I'm not cut out for being an assassin ? I can't understand her train of thought. Does she get money or something if I turn out to be a mindless killer ? Maybe she's just a psycho.'
Nem didn't find an answer to this question, and soon, a week had passed since he came to the orphanage. He wasn't bored, but he started having more time to think. And that's when he remembered that he had yet to even read the scroll Sarth gave him.
'Meditation, uh ?'