Learning the Language

“Fine… cough cough, forget history for now. Give me a language lesson.”

“A-Are you still making me teach you?! Renee-chin’s Common Tongue is already better than mine, meow!”

“Don’t add ‘-chin’ to my name. Since I’ve mastered Common, start with your Nako tribal language… cough cough cough…”

Renee was a pseudonym I often used when disguised as a woman. Although I detested feminizing myself, concealing my true gender at this moment offered various advantages; at the very least, it removed the barrier between me and the girl before me during our exchanges.

Using a feminine silhouette to make opponents lower their guard had been incredibly effective during the Hero War—not just for assassinations, but for charm and counter-intelligence as well. I once felt grateful for the slender frame and deathly pale skin forged during my time in prison; now, even altering my vocal cords was a simple task.

But that is all in the past.

“O-Our Nako language too? I’m not very confident in it, meow…”

“Begin.”

“Y-Yes, meow!”

My words sounded more like a command—because, in reality, they were.

I intended to squeeze every drop of utility out of this girl; politeness was meaningless.

I wasn’t here to make friends. Every minute and every second was precious to me.

“Cough, cough cough!“

Especially now.

“Um, Renee, I really think you should rest today, meow—”

“Do you still want dinner?”

“…Understood, meow.”

She answered dejectedly and continued teaching me what she knew.

“Meow, miao, miao? Why are there so many ‘miao’ sounds?”

“E-Even if you ask me, I can’t help it, meow…”

“Also, your pronunciation of ‘miao’ in the word ‘usually’ wasn’t accurate.”

“Meow?!”

After quickly grasping the knowledge, I would even correct the girl’s mistakes. If someone were watching from the side, I would probably look more like the teacher.

However, the Nako language is truly… a single ‘meow’ can have several pronunciations like ‘miao’ and ‘nya.’ Since the linguistic system is completely different from the Common Tongue, learning it is exhausting. I suppose that’s to be expected from a “cat” race.

Relatively speaking, the language of the snake-men is much simpler, but because I have no one to teach me and can only learn by eavesdropping on the crew, my progress has lagged. Speaking of which, I shouldn’t call them snake-men anymore; they belong to the Siren branch of the Oceanic Tribe.

Twelve tribes, huh… and they have sub-branches. I can now easily recite names like Gaite, Winged, and Huiti, but without understanding their history, culture, or even what they look like, memorizing the names is useless. More. I need to know more… To return alive, I cannot allow a single piece of intelligence or information to be overlooked.

In other words, I must learn eleven more languages—perhaps even more, considering the sub-branches.

My head drooped.

For a fleeting second, I wanted to stop thinking. It was so tiring; I was in pain and craved rest… If I keep learning like this, I really will die.

But—I cannot stop thinking.

I warned myself.

I know. I know. So…

“Good morning, did you eat a delicious lunch today, meow? (Nako language)”

I had put all my effort into a simple morning greeting in the Nako tongue, but in reality, the only sound that came out of my mouth was “Meow, meow, meow.”