Chapter 222 – The Student Alliance"s Current StatusIn the end, Paula found herself a place to stay. When Hikaru and Lavia returned home, she told them about it and quickly left. They couldn"t even stop her.
The next day, Hikaru and Lavia headed to the academy, which was just around the corner from their apartment. Lavia wore the winter clothes that they ordered to be made last summer; a skirt as blue as her eyes with a belt around her waist. The fabric itself was of high-quality, the kind n.o.bles used, but overall it looked simple and subdued.
「Aren"t you glad you get to wear that?」
「I sure am! Unfortunately, the coat covers it.」
The cold weather required one to wear a coat, therefore concealing her attire. Still, Lavia was excited to wear her new clothes.
「I guess Paula"s working.」
「Yeah…」
Paula said she"d get a job to pay for the place she"d be staying at. She probably didn"t want to completely rely on Hikaru. 2.5 million gilans had already been deposited to Hikaru"s account as payment for delivering Princess Kudyastoria"s letter to Bios. While it was a designated request for Hikaru, to him the money was for the whole team.
「Paula"s quite stubborn, huh?」
「You didn"t know that? We"re actually similar.」Lavia said.
Now that she mentioned it, she can be stubborn too, Hikaru thought. He was a little worried leaving Paula alone, so he left Drake with her. It could be seen as being overprotective, but better safe than sorry.
Drake needed to absorb mana to regain his powers, but Paula"s six points on Mana was plenty enough, so it shouldn"t be a problem. In fact, Lavia"s fifteen was just too much.
Somehow feels nostalgic…
The gate to the academy was open, though only very few students entered. Hikaru looked up at the buildings, wondering if there were professors around. Beyond the falling snow, he spotted a few windows with lights on.
It was quiet. There was no one in the training grounds. Just a blanket of white snow. Only Hikaru and Lavia"s footsteps echoed in the dimly-lit halls. Rooms where light spilled from seemed awfully warm to the eyes.
They arrived at Katy"s laboratory and knocked at the door.
「It"s open.」Katy"s voice came from inside.
There used to be a lot of researchers here, but Hikaru could only detect one person. He opened the door to find Katy alone. Her lab coat was creased. Her dashing look was nowhere to be seen. The lab had always been messy, but it was worse this time. Reports and materials were strewn about.
Katy didn"t look in their direction. She was too focused on the material on her hand.
「You can keep on coming back, but my answer will always be the same. I"ll be here all throughout winter working. I don"t mind if there"s fewer people in the admin building. Heck, I don"t care if it"s empty. Now you say you can"t do that cause rules and whatnot and complain that you can"t go home. But in the first place, this is a research inst.i.tution—」
「It"s me, Professor. Not an admin staff.」
「Hmm?」Katy raised her head, her face blank.「H-Hikaru…? Oh…」
She got up, staggering towards Hikaru. Kicking the piles of books aside, she slipped on some papers and fell flat on the floor.
「Professor?!」
Hikaru approached Katy and grabbed her hand to help her up.
「Hikaru! What was that huge dragon stone?!」
「I knew you"d ask that.」
「It keeps on popping in my head! What are you gonna do about it?! I"ve been doing my studies to distract myself, and I"m making so much progress!」
「That sounds like a good thing, though.」Hikaru said, looking around the room.「Where are the others anyway?」
「They"re either home, or at the capital. Winter in Forestia is the political season, after all…」There was sadness in her voice.
Hikaru had this impression that the researchers didn"t come here because they respected Katy. They wanted to get close to her for personal reasons. If they liked her as a woman, they"d be here even during winter. In fact, it would be an opportunity to spend time with her. It would then make sense that perhaps they were after her status.
「You sure have it rough.」Hikaru said.
「Can"t say I expected sympathy from you. The moment I got this tattoo, I was destined to only get men from Kotobi.」
Katy had a flame tattoo on her face, just like her brother in Pond"s Thieves Guild, Kelbeck. It was a symbol of her family and anyone who recognized it would know that she came from a notable family of Magic Item Specialists.
「I think you"re pretty even with your tattoo.」Hikaru said.「It"s just a shame you"re too focused on research to actually have the time to look around you.」
「I"ll take the compliment, but that second part was unnecessary. Now, how about some tea? Come in, Lavia.」
「O-Okay.」
Lavia casually skimmed through the reports—showing just how much of a bookworm she was—as she closed the door behind her.
It was warm inside. Seeing Katy dump a bunch of tea leaves into the teapot, Lavia opted instead to make the tea herself. In the meantime, Hikaru and the professor cleared some s.p.a.ce for them so sit.
「Can you tell me what"s going on with the rest of the Student Alliance members?」Hikaru asked as he removed his coat.
「Hmm, let"s see. To put it simply, Claude and Luka are living under the same roof in Jarazack.」
Claude and Luka, hailing from Kirihal and Ludancia, respectively, were the main stars of the ma.s.s wedding. They stayed in Jarazack for the time being in fear of being killed if they remained in their homelands.
「How are they?」
「From what I heard, Jarazack"s king, Alexei von Jarzard Jarazack, has taken a liking to Claude and asks him to spar every single day. The king is overjoyed since he couldn"t find someone who could match him before.」
「I-I see.」
It was all because Hikaru configured Claude"s Soul Board to improve his swordsmanship. What happened afterwards, he couldn"t be bothered. Claude had to take care of himself.
「Apparently, he"s called the Master Swordsman of the North now.」
「Ohh… A Master Swordsman, eh?」
Hikaru let out a groan. Claude had just gotten a little stronger, but compared to Ponsonia"s Lawrence D. Falcon, he was just above average. He had nothing on the captain who had raised his Great Sword level to 6 through sheer hard work and even had a point on Heaven Sword.
「You"re not happy about your friend getting famous?」Katy asked.
「That"s not it.」
Unhappy? No. Worried? Yes. Becoming famous meant more people would pick fights with him. Claude would have a hard time with just his mediocre skills.
Overall, Forestia"s weak as it is. I might have to show him some time that there would always be someone better than him.
There were many skilled fighters in Ponsonia as a result of continuous clashes with Quinbland. Forestia, on the other hand, had not seen war in a long time. That could explain the power struggle within the Allied Nations.
Because of this, adventurers in Forestia were also weaker overall. They considered Claude, who only had four points on Sword, to be one of the strongest. Yet in among Ponsonia"s knights, he would only be on the same level as the commanding officers.
「How"s Luka?」Hikaru asked.
「She"s looking ahead and making personal connections in Jarazack.」
Impressive. I guess I didn"t have to worry about a thing.
「As for Ivan… I"m sure he"s fine.」Hikaru said.
「That"s just mean.」
He"s probably sparring alongside Claude, Alexei, and Professor Mikhail anyway.
「What about Catherine?」Lavia cut in. She was worried about her reading companion.
「She"s back in Euroba. It"s the same as when the Student Alliance was brought up. They"re just waiting to see how things would turn out. I think she"s trying her best not to stand out.」
「Silvester is also back in Zubura, right?」Hikaru asked.
Katy nodded.
「It"s been proclaimed that Silvester will take over as head of the family after graduation. He makes his official debut into the world of politics and high society this winter. Oh, and League was also named as successor to the Green Ogre clan. He already made his debut too.」
「I see…」
League seemed to be aimlessly wandering about, his mind unreadable, but deep inside he had a vision of Forestia a hundred years from now.
He would have to fight Silvester on the surface, but this is League we"re talking about. I"m sure they"ll work together behind the scenes and achieve something grand.
「Now it"s my turn to ask questions.」Katy said.