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「That thing you asked Fii about earlier, what was it? What was it about!」

Ciel excitedly inquired.
From her tone, she seems to expect something out of this, but I don’t exactly know what.
The idea of “naming” in this case came from my old-world memories… or rather, story tropes. I don’t understand it much either, so even if asked to explain it, I don’t really know how to give a good answer.

All I know is that there is a trope in which carelessly naming a monster would grant it a portion of your power, strengthening the said monster.
It was a relatively popular trope, so it caught my attention.
That’s basically all I can say, and I don’t think it’s enough to satisfy Ciel’s curiosity. Well, I’ll still explain, though.

『There were a number of stories with such topics in my previous world, you see.』
「So it does connect to your past. Were there a lot of stories in your world, Ain?」
『There were. I suspect that even if you limit it to only stories recorded on physical medium, one person wouldn’t be able to read all of them in their lifetime.
No, in the first place, reading isn’t the only way to engage with stories; meaning even more time would be necessary. And even limiting it to only books, by the time you finish one read, there will already be several new stories brought into the world.』

I don’t know the exact numbers, but on a global scale, I’m sure the rate at which books are being published should be much faster than the rate at which they can be read.
Even if you spend one whole day only eating, reading, and sleeping, would that even be enough to finish all the releases that day? There might be someone in the world who could do it, but 10 books are probably the most I can finish.

Adding to that, there’s also anime, manga, movies, dramas, and more.

「There’s that many stories? Books should be pretty expensive, but is it different in your world?」
『It’s cheap in comparison, yes. I think it’s around the price of one meal?』

From my experience of eating out as a college student, it should be about the same.
For a working adult, I don’t know.
1000 yen and beyond is when food starts feeling expensive for me, and I even found some places with prices around 10,000 yen and above.

「What did you mean when you said reading isn’t the only way to engage with stories?」
『Umm, can I borrow your body for a short while?』
「Sure, I don’t mind.」

It’s difficult to explain verbally, so I tried asking, and she quickly obliged.
After that, I asked Mohsa for some paper and a pen.
Since it won’t be anything complicated, two sheets are enough. Paper in this world don’t come cheap.

I think it could be because large-scale forest logging can’t be done due to spirits existing, but I don’t know if that’s actually the case.
Maybe the elves are against logging and the like as well.

I drew Ciel on the paper Mohsa brought. I’m by no means good at drawing, but I shouldn’t be too I’m terrible at it either.
resulted in an amateurish doodle with identifiable characteristics, but this is good enough, so I push myself to continue.

“That’s a cute drawing. Is it me?” Ciel commented on my drawing, and it made me feel somewhat embarrassed. Even so, I managed to finish. I then repeatedly flipped between the two sheets of paper. Yup, it’s not very smooth, but it should look like a person walking.

『Is it walking, perhaps?』
「Yes. In this way, if we add even more drawings, you can make something that looks like it’s actually in motion.
Add voices and sounds to the finished result, and that’s one method of relaying stories.」
『That sounds like a lot of work. So is the result of that shown at somewhere like a theater?』
「Right, there are some that take that route.
However, it’s more common to relay it to a large number of people through a mechanism that functions like a more developed version of the sorceric item used to send information instantly to a faraway recipient.」
『There are some amazing things in your world. If I remember correctly, sorcery and magic don’t exist there, right?』
「There weren’t any monsters either; the foundation of the two worlds are completely different. If our two worlds fought, this world will probably come out victorious.」

I can’t think of any weapons that can pierce through my barrier, and weapons that can defeat monsters of A-rank would likely come with great environmental damage.
And when it comes to S-rank monsters—of which Tur is the only one I can use as a reference—there’s probably nothing they can do to win.
Considering all this, rather than one world being unilaterally better than the other, it’s more of a difference in the conditions they developed under.

『While that might be true, there seem to be a lot more fun things there.
In this world, outside dancing, reading is pretty much the only form of entertainment.』
「Jobs of that field seem to be treated poorly in this world, after all.」
『That’s true. I wonder why?』
「I think the church has some involvement in this, but there’s no knowing for sure.」
『Why do you think the church is involved?』
「We’ve had little interaction with them up until now, but they seem to have some problems with the Disappointing Jobs.」

The Song Princess Job in particular has abilities that clearly overlap with the church’s expertise, and I don’t think they like that.
I have no clue about the church’s inner workings, so I can’t really speak with certainty, but that sums up my suspicion.

『I see. Incidentally, were there places like the church back in your world, Ain?』
「For healing injuries and curing illnesses, we would go to a place called the ‘hospital’.」
『They can even cure illnesses!』
「Not all illnesses can be cured quickly or with certainty, though. And for injuries in particular, this world is much better in the way of treatment.
After all, while it does come at an expensive price, even the loss of limbs is possible to heal here.」
『In that case, what about school? There are also schools in your world, right?』
「There is an education system, yes. It differs depending on the country, but in the country I lived in, every citizen is required to receive education for a minimum of 9 seasonal cycles, and many even go for 3 to 7 more cycles, I believe.」
『How many cycles was it in your case, Ain?』
「I died on my 14th cycle, but mine was originally supposed to last for 16.」

It’s even longer if you consider higher post-graduate education, but I don’t need to explain that far.

And that’s it for this half! Ain explaining Earth things to Ciel, my favorite kind of chapter, to be honest. Maybe because it isn’t as overdone as it is in other isekai?

On that note, I like how it shows how Ain is living in the moment. She doesn’t have much attachment to her previous world (as we have already seen many times) and only talks about it when asked or when she needs interesting topics to talk about. Much of her not speaking about the past is probably so that Ciel doesn’t find anything out about her weird, but a disembodied soul is plenty weird enough, Ain. But I do relate wanting to explain as little as possible, lol.

It’s always fun to see Ciel act like the curious child (which she is) she is whenever something catches her attention. Cute Ciel. What else can I say? Cute is cute. Still, showing Ciel how animation works wasn’t on my bingo list when reading this, lol.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!