Tou No Madoushi

As per their usual routine, Lynn and Theo went to Renryll"s cheapest cafeteria to grab lunch with Elios and his friends.

When Lynn and Theo arrived and entered the cafeteria, they saw that Elios and co" had already saved them seats.

"Lynn, Theo, over here!" Shila called out, waving them over.

As the two drew closer to the table they realized that today there was one more person than usual at their table. It was Kruga.

Kruga greeted Lynn directly and warmly.

"It"s the master of Ring Magic cla.s.s. How are you doing man?"

"Kruga san! Why are you here?" Lynn replied, taken aback.

"Oh, you know who I am?"

"Well of course I know you are! You"re the consecutive champion of the academy wizard contest [1]. There isn"t a single academy apprentice who doesn"t know who you are".

"Lynn, Kruga came today to see you today", Elios said.

"Me? But why…"

"Why, in order to invite you to our guild, of course, before Magulheim get their hands on you. We"re the "Shining Arrow". [2]

Lynn felt the eyes of the other customers in the cafeteria watch them as they ate.

Of course, they were mainly interested in Kruga.

The powerful presence- or aur he gave off as someone famous was intense.

Anyone who happened to pa.s.s him couldn"t pa.s.s by without giving him a sidelong glance, irrespective of whether they knew him or not.

Naturally, Lynn and the rest of them were regarded with curious stares from the other customers, simply because of their apparent a.s.sociation with Kruga. Lynn couldn"t help but enjoy it the attention.

"So, you and Elios aren"t members of Magulheim then?"

"Of course not. Magulheim are an elite group. It"s not like we could join like Kruga here could", Shila said teasingly.

"Hey c"mon, cut that out" Kruga replied uncomfortably.

"Even we can"t just simply walk up to anyone and expect to be let in. Lynn, you stand out from the rest. That they"re interested in you is no small thing", Kruga said with seemingly genuine pleasure for Lynn.

Kruga, Elios, Agul and Shila were cla.s.smates. They were of different social cla.s.s from each other, but they all studied in the same cla.s.ses, and towards the same goals. They fed off of each others" hard work and drive.

"On the field, there"s no one who can match Kruga as a wizard among our generation of students, but when it comes to academics, Elios is ahead" Shila said.

Hearing that, Lynn felt a new found respect for Elios.

He also began to feel a familiarity with Kruga himself. From his photos he seemed to give off a cold persona, but he was more sociable and friendly in person.

In regards to the cheap food of Kitchen Gumorie, he had only positive things to say, and at no point did he put on the airs one would expect from a high cla.s.s aristocrat.

Elios began explaining the purpose of Kruga"s visit.

"Both myself and Kruga want to start a new, unique guild. We"re looking for people who want to explore the forest. This guy here is taking his sweet time asking me to introduce you, so I"ve taken the initiative and brought him here today".

"We can"t afford to lose promising students to Magulheim anymore. Anyway, to get back on track… Lynn, you haven"t responded to Magulheim"s invitation yet have you?" Kruga asked.

Lynn took a deep breath as he absorbed this new information.

"I was just about to go to the a.s.sociation to hand in my response".

"Then we"re just in time. How about it? Will you give us a chance? Let me just say something. Doing well in Magulheim is no simple task. The commitment is by no means half a.s.sed, and it"s… Strict. It"s an old guild, and the older members can be a pain in the a.s.s. In contrast, we"re only just beginning. We"re all close in age so it"s easy to get along" Kruga said, pitching the new guild to Lynn.

"The thing is I really was going to give my response today…" Lynn said awkwardly.

"I guess you want to try joining them at least once then huh".

"Yes. I know it won"t be easy, but…"

"Well, if that"s what you want. I would do the same thing if I were in your shoes" Kruga said, giving up.

After a brief pause, he fire a question at Theo.

"Theo, what about you?"

"Huh? Me?" Theo responded, caught off guard.

"Hold it right there. In exchange for introducing you to Lynn, you said you wouldn"t try recruiting Theo", Elios said, interrupting him.

"What now? C"mon, don"t be so stingy".

The two began to bicker amongst themselves. While it was true they were arguing, it was a relaxed kind of argument between two good friends.

Their friendship struck a chord in Lynn"s heart.

Would he and Theo also reach a point in their friendship where they would be able to say whatever they wanted to each other, and argue in such a relaxed manner?

Just as Lynn was thinking along these lines, Kruga suddenly addressed Theo again, cutting to the chase.

"Theo, what do you think?"

"Well the thing is… I haven"t had time to give it any thought" Theo replied, evading the question.

"What", Kruga said in a big expulsion of air, which was tinged with disappointment, "I"ve come all the way down to Renryll, but it looks like it was for nothing".

"Well, sometimes in life these things do happen. Not everything goes to plan", Elios said.

This is crazy… Kruga"s disappointed. At this rate he"s actually going to go home like this.

Lynn"s mind started racing. He still had things he wanted to ask him.

"So… Kruga san. There"s something that, for a while now, I"ve been wanting to ask you if I ever got the chance to meet you".

"Hm? What is it?"

"What should I do in order to become popular with the girls, the way you are?"

Kruga erupted in convulsing laughter, and had to place both hands on his stomach as he got his breathing back under control.

"Lynn, you are funny!"

He"s something else, Theo thought to himself in equal parts astonishment and admiration.

Lynn had a tendency to be liked by the older students. This was why Theo kept him close.

Lynn had Kruga explain how to become popular with the girls. He spoke about things such as taking care with personal grooming, being aware of your positive traits in order to use them effectively, and becoming the kind of man who"s reliable and can provide stability.

After that they talked about all kinds of things. Kruga had a knack for telling good jokes, and so there was never a dull moment. Lynn found himself liking Kruga as a person, and Kruga himself approved of Lynn.

Before long, the light from the light stones began to dim as the day drew to a close. The time to go home had arrived and the customers gradually began leaving one by one.

"The bill"s on me. It was because of me after all, that you all gathered here today".

Kruga paid the tab for the whole table.

Just before Kruga left, he offered Lynn some kind words.

"Lynn, if you ever get tired of Magulheim, you"re always welcome with us".

When Lynn went to the academy the next day, news of him being invited to a guild by Kruga was already circulating.

The rumours going around were a mixed bag of truths, half truths, and flat out mistruths. Lynn was surprised at the inaccuracy and speed at which gossip can travel within an exclusive society like the academy.

Countless other students came up to him asking questions about what had transpired the previous day, and Lynn had to correct each mistruth one by one.

However this didn"t put him in a bad mood.

He had never in his whole life been made a fuss of like this, but this giddy mood wasn"t to last long, because he had another encounter with Yuven.

"Lynn, I heard that you were invited to a guild by Kruga, and that you turned down his offer… And also that he invited you to dinner, just the two of you, and that he treated you…".

Her facial expression was stiff, but as she spoke Lynn could swear he saw her expression twitch a couple of times.

"Actually it wasn"t just the two of us. Theo, Elios and his friends were there too".

"So it"s true then- that you were invited to be a member of his guild, and that you refused the offer. And it"s also true that he treated you to dinner".

"Huh? Well, yes, I guess so…"

"Oh, how nice that must have been. To be treated to dinner by Kruga… There"s not a girl in this academy who doesn"t yearn to be in that kind of situation, or who wouldn"t cry with tears of joy at such a chance".

Lynn didn"t know what to say, so he chose silence. While the core facts were indeed correct, the reality was quite a bit different than the romantic situation Yuven was imagining in her mind.

"It appears that I"ll have to be even more vigilant about keeping an eye on you, Lynn. Leaving you to your own devices is just too dangerous".

Next time… Chapter 25, "Growing Irritation".

[1] The author hasn"t revealed much information about this tournament yet. I"m not sure if it has something to do with the battle between factions (such as Lados and Spiruna), or if it"s something else. I"ll update this at some point. Either way I"m sure its combatant.

[2] In j.a.panese there"s something called ‘furigana", which is small text placed above or below a word. Usually furigana is used to provide the ‘kana" reading for a word written in kanji which is deemed either obscure or too difficult for the target audience.

Anyway, what I really want to say here is that above the guild name, ‘Shining Arrow", there was a furigana which read ‘ブリリアス・フレジア". I would literally translate this as ‘Buririasu Frejia", which isn"t j.a.panese as far as I know. I"m guessing it"s a name, although why this was above the guild name ‘Shining Arrow" I have no clue. Perhaps we"ll find out in a future chapter…