The concept of deal-making was always a fascination of mine; the art of getting a one-up on your proverbial opponent always bringing a surge of satisfaction to my self-fashioned intellectual needs. Having watched countless anime about outsmarting one's opponent's through sheer skill, perception, and wit, I had tried transforming myself into a logical monster; one capable of outsmarting or out dealing her opponent through sheer perception.Or, at least, I thought I had managed to do so.In the end, I was still the plain old girl with an above-average intelligence that managed to scrape by with little to no effort. It was cringe-worthy, being a massive weeb while also being a try-harding delusional idiot. But while I couldn't boast the frightening foresight of the Light Yagamis and Lelouches of the real world, I could at least say to myself that my ability to criticize work that
"If that is all, then I'll be on my way before I am discovered out of my post."The ensuing pause after my own confused deliberations didn't even last a whole ten seconds before our guest and benefactor finally decided to leave. She was probably aching to do so even earlier, but had only been trying to accommodate for my clueless ass in an effort to show sincerity. But still, I was left with more questions than answers as I watched the Prime leave her seat. And wasn't I only supposed to be out of prison temporarily?"And no, Lady Crimson. I already made arrangements for a.. 'fake paper trail', as your sister would've called it." I hadn't even managed to open my mouth before the Prime intercepted my unspoken question. "You are officially, if not legally, free from your incarceration."I was taken back. A well of happiness threatened to overwhe
She didn't know what to think.Olivia had thought that she was already over her sister being somewhat of a clueless idiot when it came to matters that weren't relating to her safety, but it would seem that a part of her was still touched that her sister was still trying despite the older woman's own lack of care for the well-being of others."Vaio is the neighboring kingdom to the east of the Empire," she found herself explaining dutifully, her hands running on autopilot as she rummaged through her chores. "They're a threat to this land, apparently. Often doing experiments on those that they manage to capture."That revelation was something that she learned a few months back during one Lady Love's earlier visits. The fact that a kingdom was kidnapping people only for the pursuit of science was repulsing, not to mention wasteful if she recalled her
Getting back into the swing of things was both a blessing and a curse for my bored mind and lazy soul. While I could feel my guilt easing with every productive task that I manage to complete, my chronic laziness borne from a year of doing nothing but boring fodder tasks kind of threatened to make me relapse into the complacent idiot that I was back in my first life. Doing chores for Livia's shop was fun, and I could have settled with living like this for the rest of my life if not for the pressing concerns still knocking at the back of my mind.Having had a few weeks to acclimatize myself back into a working schedule, my brain also returned to its overthinking and hyperactive state of paranoia. Love was still giving correspondence with us, sometimes offloading a few extra resources for Olivia and I to use while we shared a few more tidbits of basic modern techniques and sciences as recompense. The welcome
Pulling an all-nighter was, and will always never be a part of my plans, but I guess fate had something else in mind when I accidentally spilled ink over the last few pages of my book. As a result, someone who has never been fond of staying up late for work was forced to redo the last few pages of her handwritten book. And as one might think, it was a complete and utter pain in both her back and her wrist.Needless to say, that person was me."Fuck me..."I stared at the finished product with exasperation and relief. The ink-stained pages of a few hours ago laid strewn around behind my desk as their newly-written replacements shone in their white backgrounded splendor. The Art of War. Something that I'd never thought I'd actually write down, let alone even remember this well, to be honest. At least buying the damn thing was well worth the price of
"How?"I struggled against the urge to flash the biggest smirk of the century as I went about the usual daily chores around the shop. The sun was just beginning to rise when Livia forced both of us out of the bed. Ever since, I had been doing my usual share of smithing for tomorrow's wares while my sister simply watched me with the biggest gaping awe that I had ever seen her have on her face."Practice, Livia," I droned out, not trusting myself to stop the chuckle trying to escape from my throat if I ever gave off the usual smile. "Practice, and skill."While she was used to seeing me as the better craftsman between us, she had never seen me work at this rate of efficiency before, even during the time when we were rapidly cranking out armor and weapons during our Furnace breakout. My hands moved like a blur as I systematically popped out a decently
The Art of War. As far as I could recall, pop culture and genuine curiosity drove me to buy and read the small guidebook religiously for a few months. And while I didn't really participate much in real-time strategy games as I did before, the knowledge imparted within that orange hardback book wasn't lost to me. In fact, if one was able to skew their logic and preconceptions a bit, Sun Tzu's teachings and observations can be applied to almost everything that even remotely relates to competition and wargames. From business meetings to basic life-advice, the Chinese general must've been a tactical and strategical genius if he managed to codify what amounted to something akin to basic tactical instinct into something quantifiable and easily readable. The debates on whether the damn thing was actually written by the guy or if it was actually written by a bunch of generals were wholly irrelevant to me as its teachings were useful regardle
As a breakfast connoisseur, it was both within my pride and interests to learn and master various breakfast dishes like a wannabe foodie. What started out as an actual healthy curiosity, however, turned into a stupid bout of pride and whim when I managed to learn how to make omelet rice. Ever since, I'd made it my mission to at least know how to make every breakfast food imaginable. Granted, nothing was able to top my mastery over fried rice, but that was because it was the most basic of all the dishes that I knew."Is it to your liking?"Usually, I wouldn't ask such a question since I found it rude, but the burning curiosity inside me demanded an answer. Was it good? Was it bad? Did I put too much salt into it? Perhaps there were pockets of cold rice that I had neglected to mash into the heat of the wok?The anxiety as an amateur chef was killing