The pair walked into the mansion and were greeted by Elizabeth descending the stairs.

"By the way, Lily, you seem pretty cheery," Tina stated.

"What, you want me to be locked in my room doing nothing? Besides, I'd like to be ready in case anything happens."

They left it at that and Elizabeth approached the pair with a book.

"Tina, could you put him down?" Elizabeth asked.

She laid him on the floor and he sighed, still unhappy about what happened to him earlier.

"So what'd you go for?" Tibaut asked as he looked at her while making sure to lay on his knees.

"Hohoho, you're more observant than I'd expected." She remarked in a haughty tone. She chuckled as she presented the book forward, looking proud of it. Tina and Lily looked on in confusion as this was the first time they had seen her like this.

Elizabeth cleared her throat as she saw Tina and Lily's reaction and straightened her face.

"The book I have in front of me will be the key to you regaining your strength Tibaut."

"What is it?" He questioned.

"It's not what it is in but rather, what is inside it."

She opened the book and turned it to a certain page. Tina and Lily stared in awe at the book and it seemingly captured their attention.

Tibaut looked on but wasn't sure what grabbed their attention. Other than the page containing some instructions he wasn't sure what was special about it.

"What's so special about it?" He asked.

"Don't you see the strange text on it?" Tina asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's an ancient language, isn't it? Then that means-"

("Ancient language?") Tibaut thought. ("Well, the text is written in a strange font and the wording of some sentences did sound kind of awkward, so I guess it could be the old version of the language we speak.")

"That's right, it's a ritual guide."

"You own one? That's amazing. I haven't seen one since I visited the capital a few years ago. The only place I remember that had any was that big library in the capital."

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"Ugh, that place. The lines are awful" Tina remarked instinctively. "Don't tell me you actually paid to go inside?" Tina asked.

"So what if I did, huh!?" Lily responded aggressively.

"Must have enjoyed wasting your money."

Lily blew raspberries at her and Tina seemed ready to rip her tongue off. Elizabeth closed the book to gather their attention.

"Yes that's right, there are few and far between."

"So how'd you get it?" Tibaut asked.

"Well, this isn't anything the average person would find useful. In fact, this book contains nothing but rituals most people would wonder about the purpose of."

"Uh, so it must have been cheap. That's why you have one." Lily commented.

"...Right," Elizabeth responded. ("Well, I didn't pay for it per se, but I can't imagine it was cheap.)

Two of those in the room knew better than to question her, though Tibaut's reason was different from the others.

("How much money does she spend on useless shit like this?") Tibaut wondered.

("Please keep your mouth shut Tina, you know how she gets with that princess talk.") Lily thought as she stared at Tina.

Unfortunately, the third wasn't as versed in the art of knowing when to shut up.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. After all, who would want a useless ritual book? It'd be nothing more than a paperweight for most people."

Thankfully she was far off the money and they continued their discussion.

"So you say it's useless. How's it gonna help me then?" Tibaut asked.

"Well, as long as it all goes well you should regain your muscle mass back in a week."

Tibaut jumped off the floor and began standing. He walked up to her and grabbed her free hand with both of his. "Really?"

"Hopefully." She responded less convincingly.

"Huh? Really, how's it gonna do that?" Lily asked.

"She's right, you said yourself it's pretty useless," Tina added.

"To the average person, it is. However, for Tibaut it should be useful."

"So what does it do?" Tibaut asked.

"It allows you to constantly eat."

"..."

"..."

"..."

They stood in silence at what she had said with a singular thought.

("Wow, that does sound useless.")

She sighed at their silence. "Now, I would appreciate it if one of you used your heads to realise what this could be useful for."

Almost immediately Tibaut had something. "(Is nutrition known about in this world?) Uh, it'll help me regain some muscles?" He threw it out...

"Not exactly but close enough. It will allow you to consume more than you are capable of and in turn, we should be able to get you in fighting shape with increased exercise."

Lily and Tina looked on in amazement that he knew where this was going.

"Increased? By how much exactly?"

"Just know you will have to bear it for only a week."

Tibaut started sweating after hearing that non-answer.

"Come on Elizabeth, so what, will I be doing twice the exercise I usually do?"

"After I cast the ritual we start tomorrow. By the time you finish your sessions with Lily and Tina, you will train with me."

"We're involved in this?" Lily asked.

"Heh, I would spar with him even without her saying anything," Tina commented as she cracked her knuckles.

"Yeah, that's great and all but can't you tell me how much training we'll be doing?" Tibaut asked.

She waved her hand and walked away.

"Tch, bitch." he commented before making his way back to his room.

He very quickly went back to his room and was soon engulfed in a good night's rest. Until someone woke him up.

Slap Slap

Slap

He woke up to Elizabeth lightly smacking his face.

"Ugh, what is it?" he asked.

"It's time to start it," She commented as she went to lift him out of the bed. He didn't even fight it and stood on his own when she got him out.

"Fine let's get this over with."