It was the start of a new day and Tibaut began his morning by reading through the defensive magic book.

"..."

"..."

"..."

He put it down on a dresser that looked like it had been used to test the sharpness of various blades.

"This must have been a joke." He said while chuckling.

After reading the book he came to a single conclusion. It wasn't possible. Not to learn defense magic but put the information the book was giving him to use. Of the ten pages he read he realized this book was a supplement to describe the ways it could be used, the way you improve it in a certain climate or with certain levels of mana. To put it another way, it'd be like reading a book on the history, improvements and structure of a car with painstaking detail on what each part does to improve your driving and the car's longevity without ever knowing how to drive in the first place and not owning a car.

This book would be useful if he ever learned defensive magic but at the moment it was useless.

"Ugh, this was a waste of time."

He stretched after going through that slog of a book and laid back in bed.

"I need a mental health break after what that bastard did to me yesterday."

Though the lack of reaction he got from the others worried him. Was this something they just chalked up as "Yup, that sounds about right for a noble."

"I can only pray we don't work for another one." He said as he stared at the ceiling.

He lay there staring at it until he got back up.

"It's no use, I'm not tired anymore."

He walked over to the book and picked it up.

"I guess I'll complain to Elizabeth about this unreasonable book."

He left his room and noticed a change in the hallway. It was obvious but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Everything looked the same and it still had as many permanent scars as a sexual assault victim but something was different. As he took another step he realized what it was. He crouched down and rubbed his hand against the floor. The wood floor was clean. Something he ignored a few minutes after noticing was that the floor in some parts of the building felt either grippy or tacky. As he walked around he realized it was gone. He also rubbed the walls and noticed nothing off with them either. Even an odd smell he wouldn't describe as good or bad was now gone. The only reason he didn't notice how clean the place was was that the wood used had been very dark, though if he looked closer he'd realize they were a slightly lighter colour now.

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"Are they actually able to clean for themselves?" Tibaut asked.

He went to the living room area and soon found the reason for the place being cleaner. Lying on the couch asleep was Grace. She was dirty but she looked peaceful.

On the adjacent couch was Elizabeth. Upon seeing Tibaut she walked over to him and grabbed his hair. She pulled out her sword and within an instant cut something. Now instead of Tibaut's hair nearly touching the ground, it was back to a nice shoulder length.

"Are you incapable of cutting your own hair?"

Tibaut didn't seem fazed by this.

"I usually burn it if it becomes a hindrance."

"How is that not a hindrance (and why would you burn it!?)?"

"As long as it's not dragging on the floor it's fine in my book."

They're bickering caused Grace to wake up and start groaning.

"Ugghh."

"I see our hard-working maid has woken up. Good work around the house." Elizabeth said.

She wore a smile on her face.

"Haha, don't mention it. (As if bitch, you're the one who forced me to do this.)"

"Anyway, what are you still doing here?" Tibaut asked.

She got up and hugged him around his stomach, though it wasn't out of any intimacy.

"Don't be like that, Tibaut, why do you want your guide to leave you guys?"

"Oh, you're staying here to skip work."

She stood up and patted him on his back with a beaming smile.

"Haha, we really are on the same wavelength, though," she looked at Elizabeth and brought her face closer to his "Could you keep this on the downlow."

He lowered his voice as well.

"Just give me one of those drawings now and again and we're good."

"Hoho, I guess getting to laze around for a bit isn't too bad in exchange for those. What? You want me to use those two girls as references?"

Tibaut looked conflicted for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, just let it be random girls."

"Your loss."

Elizabeth was starting to look at them with suspicion and they quickly moved their faces away from each other. Grace went back to the couch and Tibaut remembered the reason he left the room in the first place.

"Elizabeth, what the hell's up with this book?"

Elizabeth blankly stared at him for a few moments.

"Are you… just now reading it?"

"Yup. (I can't be arsed to lie today)"

She took the book back.

"Oh, my bad, I gave you the wrong one. I meant to give you "Basics of Defensive Magic" not "Fundamentals of Defensive Magic." "

Tibaut breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god, I guess I'll learn it when I go back."

"By the way," Elizabeth asked as she looked at the book. "How far did you reach?"

"I'd say I understood up to Page 10."

"How long have you been reading it?"

"I used two mornings, is that a lot?"

"I suppose someone of your level can only do so much."

"Well, it's not like I had formal education in magic so I guess you're right."

As Elizabeth spoke she looked at the book in thought.

("Well it is disappointing he wasn't able to absorb this material as quickly as he did with the others but I suppose this was a bit unreasonable. Even I can't make most of what this book is putting out to good use.")

"Though I wish I could read again after I learn Defense Magic."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up.

"Oh, right I suppose I can show you what it is."

Tibaut looked at her interest before she left for an unknown destination.