Chapter 15
After spending the night at the lord's castle, we decided to leave first thing the next morning.
The lord seemed disappointed to see us go and asked us to stay a little longer,
but when we lied and said we had to hurry to Deus, he reluctantly let us go.
"Then if you ever find yourself in Eldor again, please come visit."
"Yes, I will."
The lord lent us a carriage, insisting that we take it, and we reached the Adventurers Guild again in no time.
As soon as it dropped us off, the carriage headed back to the lord's castle.
"Sis, if we have plenty of time, why did you lie just to leave?"
"Well, it was comfortable and nice, but I felt self-conscious. More than anything, I felt strange staying there so long."
"Strange?"
"Yeah. Something about it felt unpleasant. I think I've felt that way somewhere before, but I can't remember."
Chris seemed to have felt the same thing from my words and agreed.
"There was definitely something strange about it."
Even thinking about that strange feeling again sent a shiver through me.
"Let's turn in the orc materials quickly and get out of this city."
I left the settlement to the counter clerk, who was alone again today.
"I've confirmed the tusks from a total of fifty-five orcs."
"Oh, and could you take care of this too?"
I handed her the magic stone.
After receiving the payment for the request and the variant orc's magic stone, we left the guild. We still looked around just in case there was anything worth seeing,
but all we saw was the lifeless streets.
"I'd really wanted to visit after hearing all the rumors. How did it end up like this?"
Eah looked around the street and asked me with disappointment.
"Well... I can't say for sure, but maybe the lord's attitude changed? The hot springs are one thing, but I heard the lord himself was a big part of why this place became famous."
"The lord?"
I didn't know anything for sure, of course. It was just my guess.
I comforted the disappointed Eah as we left Eldor.
As Chris prepared a meal while we camped for the night, I unfolded the map.
"Let's see, next up... Wait, we're already at Delrock next? How much time do we have left?"
Chris tilted his head as he grilled meat in response to my question.
He's become quite the elf too. He used to be such a planner, always keeping strict track of dates.
"We still have forty-three days, Sis!"
I patted Eah's head as she raised her hand and answered my question like a student who knew the answer, then calculated the distance.
"Hehe~"
"Looks like we'll arrive in five days. What should we do if we get there early?"
"Hmm. First, how about we go report that we've completed the assignment from Mother's friend?"
That was a very diligent answer.
"Sure, well... Let's take care of the enrollment paperwork and have a look around this place called an academy."
The academy was famous for its excellent facilities, and apparently the buildings were beautiful, too.
Commoners and nobles were equal there, and there was no age limit, so anyone who wanted to learn and could pay the registration fee could enroll.
"Isn't it great, a place where commoners and nobles can get along without all those barriers?"
Eah had said she'd lived in Gir for twenty years, so how did she know so much?
"Girls our age are really interested in gossip, you know."
Well, if it was a place where everyone could learn equally, that would be revolutionary in a world with social classes.
But would they really be equal? Humans could never make that happen, could they?
"It's ready. Come on, everyone."
"Wow! Steak for dinner today? Thanks, Mom."
"Who's your mom, you little rascal?"
"But big brother's a much better cook than you, Sis."
I remembered Eah's horrified expression when she saw the food I'd cooked.
'Sis... did you make this with those ingredients from before? Sis, are you an alchemist?'
Hmm, Chris was definitely a 'little' better at cooking than I was.
It might not look great, but it tastes fine. Next time, I'll show her my secret technique.
Flinch.
Exactly five days later, we arrived safely in Delrock.
We headed straight for the academy, but now that I thought about it, wasn't it currently summer break? Would the headmaster even be at the academy?
"Wow! There are so many dessert shops that look delicious, and clothing stores that look so pretty! Can we grab something to eat there before we go?"
Just as Eah said, the street was lined with shops, and I couldn't take my eyes off its medieval-style university-town atmosphere.
Eah looked around in wonder, like a country bumpkin gawking at everything after coming to the big city. Maybe that was funny, because people smiled at her as they passed by.
It was an understandable sight, so that wasn't really a problem. The problem was elsewhere.
"Wow, I wonder what family that handsome young nobleman is from. He's so handsome."
"Right? Should we go ask him?"
Chris really was handsome. Girls squealed as they walked past, and a few particularly brave ones even asked him out.
Chris looked troubled and turned them down, but for some reason, it irritated me.
Damn it, you're like the natural enemy of every popular guy. What are you, the protagonist of some anime?
"Hey, pretty young lady, want some?"
"Wow! Thank you~ Sis, look! That man gave me this."
"Don't just eat things some strange man gives you."
"But, Sis, why do you look so grumpy?"
"I don't know. Let's hurry to the academy."
At my insistence that we hurry, Eah looked over at Chris, who was still being pestered by women.
"Aha."
I didn't know what she'd figured out, but Eah let out an exclamation and followed me, happily eating the tanghulu-like snack the strange man had given her, ignoring Chris.
We tried to enter the academy, but the guards at the entrance stopped us, saying no one who wasn't affiliated with it could enter right now.
There was no particular need to go in right then, but since I was already in a bad mood, I got irritated and demanded that they let us in somehow.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. Please come back another time."
Seeing the guards politely trying to dissuade me despite my making a scene, I found it hard to keep insisting.
"Why is she acting like that? She's not the kind of person to do something like that."
"Why? It's because of you, big brother."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You'll have to ask the people involved. Hehe."
"?"
At the guard's instruction to come back in at least ten days, I turned around to go to Eah when a familiar voice reached my ears.
"What's going on?"
"Ah! Lady Aria, I was dealing with this troublemaker who wanted to enter the academy."
Aria?
A woman dressed as a maid looked at me.
"Didn't I tell you to deal with troublemakers properly? I'll take responsibility. Be thorough, Sir Gilbert."
"Yes! Understood. But my name is Karl."
What? Did she not recognize me?
"Um, Lady Aria?"
"We've never met. Who are you?"
Ah, did she not recognize me because of the hat?
I took off my hat.
"An elf?"
"Ah."
The guard was surprised, while Aria seemed to finally remember me; she tapped her fist against her open palm and exclaimed.
"Who?"
Come on, we met not that long ago, you old bat!
"I knew you were Lady Daphne's children. I was just joking."
Liar. She really looked like she had no idea who I was.
"And who is the woman behind you?"
"She's my younger sister."
Aria nodded as if she understood, then led us to the headmaster.
Wow, she really did put a lot of effort into this place.
The building was pure white, beautifully maintained without a speck of dirt on it.
The landscaping was beautiful, too. It made me think that if there were a palace somewhere, it would look like this.
Knock, knock.
"Master, Lady Daphne's children have arrived."
... ...
"Master?"
Since there was no answer, she must have stepped out, right?
Creak.
Aria simply opened the door.
In a room with a tasteful, classical design, someone was slumped asleep at a desk by the window.
Aria walked over to that person.
"Master?"
When there was no response, Aria crouched down, soon disappearing from view behind the desk.
Whack!
"Gah! Ugh!"
There was a sound like someone smacking leather, and the person who'd been asleep clutched her stomach and shot upright.
"Lady Daphne's children have arrived."
Aria calmly delivered only the message to the person who still hadn't come to her senses.
"Guh... Aria, please treat me like the Master..."
"I treat and respect you as the Master sufficiently."
"Forget it..."
I struggled to hold back my laughter at the very entertaining little comedy.
The headmaster seemed to have come to her senses and relaxed a little, then looked at us and spoke.
"Oh, are you the crazy woman's kids? Nice to meet you. Though I'm pretty sure I warned you."
Crazy woman? Warned us? The warning was probably not to come until we reached Gold rank in the Adventurers Guild. Crazy woman... surely she meant Mom?
"Right, Daphne. That crazy woman."
"Well, that's a bit much to say in front of her children, isn't it?"
The woman, still apparently in pain, rubbed her stomach as she sat back down.
Her purple hair swayed, and her gray eyes, contorted with pain, continued speaking.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I can only call her a crazy bitch. Don't tell me what to call her. More importantly, since you're standing before me, I take it you've completed the assignment I gave you?"
"Even so, she's the only mother we have. Please watch your words."
At Chris's polite rebuke, the headmaster frowned and stared at him.
"Ha... Fine, I'll be careful. Now, would you answer my question?"
Chris quickly drew his sword and held it in his hand.
Swish.
Before I knew it, Aria had appeared beside him, her eyes cold as she gripped Chris by the throat with one hand.
When did she...?
"Aria, let him go."
"But, Master..."
"It's fine. He doesn't have any killing intent, does he?"
"I cannot. I exist to obey your orders and protect you, Master."
"Since when have you ever followed my orders so well..."
Vwoom.
Chris's Aura Blade covered the length of his sword.
"Hmm? A Sword Master?"
"And we arrived after reaching Gold rank or higher. I believe that should be more than enough to complete the assignment."
"Huh. I never would've guessed. Why is that woman always so bad at explaining things...? And Aria, why didn't you tell me?"
Mom really was terrible at explaining things.
When Chris lowered his sword, Aria took her hand off his neck.
"You told me to go and pass along a message, so I only did that."
"No... I mean, they're that cra... that woman's children, and they're just little brats barely over eighty, right?"
"Yes, that's what I heard."
"I said I didn't want to teach lazy elves with no skill, so if they didn't have any 'skill,' at least tell them to come back as Gold rank."
"That's what I told them."
"No... I mean, you saw them in Gir, right?"
"Yes."
The woman pressed at her head with one hand, as if it hurt.
"But why didn't you tell me she was a Sword Master? And what happened to that woman's insignia I asked you to bring?"
"You told me to destroy it, so I did."
"When did I...? I told you to ask me again through the communication crystal if you couldn't remember my exact words."
At the headmaster's surprisingly reasonable words, Aria said,
"I lost the communication crystal."
At Aria's hesitant response, the headmaster seemed to figure something out and gestured toward her.
"Ah!! You sold it off somewhere again and bought snacks with the money!!"
"..."
When she'd called Mom a crazy bitch, I'd gotten angry, but seeing her getting pushed around by her own maid made me feel a little sorry for her.
"Why do you always twist my words however you want? And how much did you eat to sell even that expensive communication crystal for snacks, you pi—gah!"
"That's rude, Master."
I saw Aria, who'd somehow gotten over there again, punch her own master in the stomach.
How much does a communication crystal even cost...
Whisper, whisper.
Someone whispered the price of the crystal in my ear, satisfying my curiosity.
How does she even know things like that?
And she'd spent that much money on snacks?
Seriously, you pi—
"That's rude."