Translator: Manga0205
The eastern courtyard at lunch time was a popular gathering spot for the students of the Edius Adventurer School.
It had a verdant carpet of gra.s.s, and was dotted with many trees.
They would have lunch or take a nap in the shade of those trees.
Compared to the western courtyard where there would be frequent uproars about duels, it was truly a tranquil and peaceful s.p.a.ce.
Even to Quelia Lewistale, who held a sweetly bundled bento, and her friends, that wasn"t an exception……but, Quelia noticed a strangeness at that place, and stopped her feet.
For some reason, it was noisier than usual……That was her first impression.
When she tried surveying the courtyard, people were gathered at one place, and she could tell that they were murmuring.
「Could it be……Is it, a duel?」
At the friend that looked up at her with a worried look, Quelia showed a slightly hesitant look, but she shook her head sideways and denied it.
「It doesn"t have that sort of impression……」
There wasn"t an aspect of wild enthusiasm characteristic of duels, and the ambiance itself was calm.
Despite all that, it was a fact that an atmosphere that wasn"t normal was wafting about for some reason.
That"s right, for example.
It was similar to the gaze that the friend next to Quelia always sent to Quelia.
It was a gaze due to her being the daughter of the Head Priest of the Great Altlis Temple.
It was an ambiance where feelings of something like having vague admiration, and something like finding it hard to approach, and yet wanting to be friendly despite all that were all mixed together.
Quelia had become sensitive to that air of mixed self-interest.
And then, right now, she could sense something similar to that.
「Could it be, a new student?」
Quelia remembered that a lecturer said a rumor that this year"s new students were excellent across the board.
The problem child of the Albania Duke House, and the Spear Princess of the Necros Duke House, and furthermore, the prided prodigy of the Stagius Baron House, truly a variety of great members were gathered.
Thinking that it was already about time that for the school entrance ceremony to have ended, Quelia guessed that one of those rumored person was there.
Gaining a bit of interest, Quelia approached that crowd of people.
Leading her friends……the ones that other Humans would call her followers, when the people gathered noticed that Quelia was approaching, together with a stir, they expressed smiles that could be seen as being servile, and opened up a path.
While lamenting over that aspect, Quelia turned her eyes towards the heart of the disturbance.
It was, underneath a single tree.
There, what was sleeping as if rolled into a ball, was a single young girl.
She had light green, very short hair, a maid outfit that had a deep green like that of a deep forest as the basic tone, and then, armor that covered her chest.
Without a doubt, that was a feature of the Maid Knights that she had heard about in stories.
「Come to think of it, if I remember correctly, there was a rumor of a Maid Knight among the new students. Could it be, this girl?」
A young girl among the followers muttered that, and Quelia thought about it.
Called the best attendants, it is said that although Maid Knights are desired by numerous powerful or influential people, they are not swayed by that sort of power or authority itself.
It is said that those who are chosen by those women who chose their own master usually possess some sort of talent.
To be chosen by a Maid Knight just like the stories left behind about how the former Hero Ryuuya and other great men were chosen by Maid Knights was a great honor, and n.o.bles and knights with a lot of pride desperately wanted information on Maid Knights.
For these reasons, she was surprised by the young Maid Knight woman that was before her eyes.
「Mu……muu……」
The young Maid Knight woman was sound asleep looking very comfortable.
An appearance that looked like she was full of openings at first glance.
However, Quelia was immediately able to understand that that was in fact not the case.
A distance of three steps──she had confidence that if she were to approach to that distance, then that girl would jump to her feet.
No, she wasn"t sure as to whether or not she was sleeping to begin with.
As for why, it was because the young girl reacted to Quelia who had stepped into that distance despite all of that, and had opened her half-open eyes.
Her opened green eyes.
Seeing those, Quelia was a bit surprised.
They were an excessively beautiful green.
Reminiscent of the magnificence of the Great Jiol Forest, with a brilliance like that of a gem.
Those eyes opened up, and gazed at Quelia.
「H, h.e.l.lo. Have you awoken?」
While shaking off a pulling in sensation, Quelia said that and smiled.
However, maybe because she had just woken up, the young lady didn"t answer.
After slowly raising her body up, she made a small stretch.
Her appearance of muttering *munya munya* and looking sleepy was reminiscent of an unfettered cat.
「U, um?」
Quelia once again called out to her.
She would reply back if she called out to her.
When Quelia felt confusion from the situation that greatly differed from that which was commonplace to her, Nino surveyed the area with a displeased-looking expression.
Noticing that all of the gazes of the people in the surrounding area were turned towards herself, Nino deepened her displeasure, and it was then that she noticed Quelia who had called out to her.
「What?」
「N, no, it wasn"t like I had any particular business with you.」
Quelia was surprised by the response that she had never received up until now.
To her, the act of her calling out to someone was an act that would delight the other party.
That, was caused by Quelia"s position, but there shouldn"t be anyone that would point that out, and all of the people that were called out to by Quelia were delighted to have a connection with her.
Because of that, Quelia called out to her even without any sort of business with her.
However, looking at Nino, she wasn"t happy or anything.
「……Is that so. Bye bye.」
After saying that, Nino got up, and made a stern glare at the surroundings.
With just that, the crowd ran away like dispersing spiderlings.
Humans that wanted to learn the face of a Maid Knight whose displeasure was incurred, there weren"t any here.
Like that, Nino stood up.
Thinking that it was about to to return to Shion"s side, she noticed the small roar of her stomach growling.
After sleeping well, she got hungry.
While nodding at that desire that was reasonable to herself, Nino tried to head to where Shion was when──
A voice that sounded a bit fl.u.s.tered was made.
「U, um……!」
「What?」
As if to ask if she still had some kind of business with her, Nino turned around to Quelia.
While her long, cherry blossom colored hair swayed, Quelia held out and showed the bundle that she was carrying.
「If you don"t mind, would you like to have lunch together with us?」
「Nino, doesn"t have anything, you know?」
While implicitly demanding her own portion for lunch, Nino stared at Quelia.