Broken Faith

Lesson 10: To disrespect a World Noble is to declare war on the government

"Right then!" Sabo tapped his pipe against a tree, "I hope you are listening carefully young student. Professor Sabo will begin the lesson."

Ace's brow twitched, "Why are we doing this again?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because you're dumb."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!"

You sighed. It had just been a passing comment. A slight offhand remark on why Ace hadn't been taught basic reading and writing. And Sabo had snatched it up gleefully, suggesting the idea that he would teach him.

You, like an idiot, had encouraged it. You just wanted Ace to be literate. It was a useful skill to have after all, and being taken in by a family of bandits meant that his education was limited. There were too many times where you had been forced to repeat yourself since he didn't understand a word that you'd said, and many more when he lacked the proper vocabulary to express his own thoughts.

Not to mention the disaster that was the 'Phreeck' incident. That was what had prompted Ace himself to agree to this madness.

You had had your suspicions, but you ignored them. You had wanted to believe that Sabo was doing this out of the kindness of his heart. But...

"Okay Ace. How do you spell pronunciation?"

"Pony-sea-what?!"

"Oh come on. It's really easy."

You really shouldn't have thought of Sabo so highly. Even you with your limited knowledge of society knew that word was difficult to spell, judging by how few times Mother could get it right. Sighing, you fired your hand-tarpoon to punch him in the face, "It is P-R-O-N-U-N-C-I-A-T-I-O-N. Pronunciation. And it means the way a word is said, Ace."

Groaning, he thumped his head against the ground, "Am I really supposed to know all this crazy stuff?"

"No, you are not." You glared at Sabo as he slowly got back to his feet, "Do you know how to spell pronunciation?"

"P... uh...R-O-N...O...?"

You hid your face in your oversized hand.

"You don't!" Ace roared, rushing at him, "You were just trying to make me look dumb!"

"I...I wasn't I swear!" But he was already making a quick getaway into the undergrowth.

"Yeah right! GET BACK HERE YOU ASSHOLE!"

~0O0~

"And that was how you ended up in this situation?" Tobias asked.

"Yes," you dipped your head, taking a sip of your coffee. "Ace won't let Sabo teach him anymore, but he still wants to know how to read and write. So he asked me."

"And? What exactly is the problem with that?"

Sighing, you drew idle circles on your arm, "It has come to my attention that my upbringing is...was...very different than everyone else's. Books were my teacher, I never had anyone properly teach me how to read and write. I was just expected to do that on my own."

As soon as you had been able to talk, Mother automatically expected for you to become fluent immediately. Which in hindsight was ridiculous, especially since her english was far from perfect herself. Judging by the state of the library in Mary Geoise, you weren't sure that the World Nobles could read at all.

Or perhaps you just had an extensive vocabulary. Ace had often whined at your 'fancy way of speaking', and even Makino had found your language surprising for your age. You didn't want to make Ace feel inadequate by springing overly complex words on him like Sabo had earlier, but neither did you want to patronise him by starting out too easy. You wanted him to learn, and want to learn. But that meant you had to know what you were doing. So you went to the only person you always went to for help.