19 | Meeting and Peaceful Times(3)|
[Merlin's PoV]
Breakfast was great.
And now, it's my alone time to sightsee!
...Or so I thought...
"The carriage is waiting out front so just leave the dishes in the sink and let's head out!" Announced Tabitha.
Xyrus was an amazing city. I couldn't help but stare at the different sights that came into view as we travelled down the main road. I could see magic shops, armories, spell books, and even beast core shops! There was everything a mage could ask for. Adults and children were all dressed extravagantly while luxurious carriages passed alongside ours. Some buildings were several stories high, making this city seems big. I could also see children a couple years older than me all wearing similar uniforms, some black while some grey and red. I could only assume by their pretentious demeanor that they were students of Xyrus Academy. It seemed that the uniforms themselves worked as a sort of gold medallion that they could show off to the rest of the world.
We had eventually reached the fashion district of Xyrus. It was here I learned that shopping for clothes with females took a harder toll on my body than training with Grandpa Virion, and even the thought of his training regimen had left me in cold sweat.
I could easily tell that Art was having the same thought as me as soon as we made eye contact.
We were used as a mannequin for each of the girl's own preferences in style. Art's mother, Alice, wanted to dress us in simple clothes, while Tabitha wanted to transform us into some sort of princes. Even Lilia and Ellie made me try on some colorful and cute clothes.
Art and I ended up with five different sets of clothes, half from Art's mother and the other half from Tabitha. Both Art and I tried to stop Tabitha and Alice from buying us anything but she scolded us.
"...Art...I missed gramps training" I muttered.
"I feel you bro..." Art replied, in a similiar state as me.
"Kyu..." Sylvie who is connected to Art's emotion felt the same.
"I feel like replenishing my energy with grilled lizard..." I muttered.
"Kyu...KYU!" Sylvie got startled.
"...But I'm too tired." I reassured her.
"Kyuh~" She relaxed.
We looked around more after towing our bags of clothes into the carriage. I was excited to see the magic shop, as I wanted a see what a high grade wand looked like. Unlike me, Art is excited to see the armory...But...Our tiny dream were crushed as the girls didn't want that, though, and we were forced to go into different jewelry and gem stores instead. I guess I would have to the magic shop alone next time.
Eventually, we arrived back home, our physical and mental strength depleted by the time Art's father came back home soon after.
"How was your day, Son?" Reynold chuckled, taking a seat next to Art on the dining table.
"I never thought shopping could be so utterly tiring," Art groaned.
"Yeah, I wished sword training is at this level of difficulty" I stated.
As if hearing our complaints, Vincent and Tabitha sat down across from us.
"HAHA! I heard you got beat up by a bunch of women today, Arthur!" Vincent exclaimed.
Art just feebly nod while Tabitha smirked and looked at Alice,
"The little prodigy of yours isn't as big of a deal as I thought he was." Lilia and Ellie giggled at this.
"I will admit that a woman's endurance can not be matched when they're out shopping." Art just wryly refuted, while I took mental note.
Reynold and Vincent laughed harder at this and nodded their head in agreement.
>Ding~ Dong~<
The sound of a doorbell followed by a couple of knocks gets everyone's attention.
"Ah! Looks like she's here!" Vincent perked up.
The look on everyone else's face told me that Vincent was the only one who knew what was going on.
I am also by no means curious about it...
Vincent came back, leading an elderly woman into dining room.
"Rey, Alice, Arthur, I know you guys said that you want to put off school for later but I just couldn't hold it in. Everyone. Meet Cynthia Goodsky! She's the Director of Xyrus Academy."
'The director?! Can I just ask her for a recommendation enrollment?' I thought.
Noticing the slight twinge of annoyance on Art's face, Vincent immediately said,
"Don't worry, I didn't bring her here to make you go to school right away. I just wanted her to meet you."
The director is a very tall lady, standing around 1.7 meters, well above the average for the females here. She held herself in a very upright, poise manner. She wore a simple, yet elegant robe of navy blue, laced with gold threading. She sported a conjurer's hat, an accessory that looked like an oversized traffic cone that amplified the absorption rate of the surrounding mana but oftentimes came with other functions. Strapped to the side of her robe was a wand that was a crystalline white color with a fluorescent gem attached. Even I could tell that this wand is extremely valuable. Surprisingly, her face had very soft features that reminded me more of a friendly grandmother next door than an all-important figure of power, but the aura she had around her made her seem fairy-like; her wrinkles unable mask the attractive face that she had. The crow's feet etched on the outer ends of her brown eyes actually amplified the attractiveness of her smile when she introduced herself.
The Director gave Art a smile that he couldn't quite understand the meaning of and held out her hand.
"Nice to finally meet you, Arthur," She said holding her hand out.
I could easily foresee what's about to happen as soon as she held her hand out like that.
'Tsk tsk, Art. You should've learn more about noble etiquette'
"Err… Nice to meet you too, Director."
Art shook the Director's hand as she seemed a little taken aback by his introduction.
"Pft-" I held in my laugh.
"Arthur! You're being rude! I'm so sorry for my son, Director Goodsky. He just returned home and is ignorant about formal customs." Alice pushed my head down with her hand while bowing herself, getting on one knee.
I saw Art giving me a glance from the distance, so I demonstrated a proper way to return the director's action by kneeling and kissed the air.
I hope this action of mine that made Lilia and Eleanor looked at me weirdly helped him...
'Kyeh...Getting that look from innocent kids is more hurtful than any physical pain I have experienced!' I dramatically clutched my chest, making Eleanor and Lilia giggled.
"Kukuku, no it is quite all right. No offense taken at all. And please, Arthur, call me Cynthia." The director let out a polite laugh with her free hand covering her mouth.
"I'm sorry to intrude on you at such a late time but unfortunately, the only free time I could make was after my meeting tonight. I hope you don't mind," she explained, looking at Art's parents before briefly looking at me.
'...She's weird...' I thought as our eyes met.
"Nonono, we're thankful that you'd be willing to take the time out just to visit our son." Reynold was the one to speak this time.
Director Cynthia nodded at this.
"True, it isn't very often that I take a house trip to visit a potential student. Otherwise, even with a hundred bodies, I wouldn't be able to fit the time."
"However, Vincent is a good friend and has contributed greatly to Xyrus Academy. So when he had excitedly come up to me about a prodigy that is living in his home, I couldn't help but get excited as well. I must say that my curiosity got the best of me. Do you mind leading me to an open space so I can see a demonstration?" She continued on, her gaze fixed at Art in an assessing manner.
"Can I at least eat din…Ouch!" Alice slapped Art in the butt before he could finish his sentence.
'Poor Art...Even abandoned by his own mother...As good friend of yours, I will always stay by your side' I internally thought jokingly.
"Of course! Please follow us, Director Cynthia." Alice ushered Art, leading Director Cynthia while the rest followed.
I felt quite hungry...but candy also counts as food right?
Sylvie, who had been hiding underneath the dinner table from the unfamiliar human, trotted behind Art, causing Director Cynthia to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh my… What a lovely mana beast. I assume it is your contracted beast, Arthur?" she asked me inquisitively while kneeling down to get a closer view at Sylvie.
"Yeah, she hatched a few months ago. Her name is Sylvie," Art simply responded, Alice's hand still grabbing onto the back of his shirt to keep him from escaping.
I found this quite entertaining...seeing Arthur suffer.
"I have to say, while it is common for nobles to buy beasts to contract, I have never seen a mana beast like yours."
Shrugging my shoulders, I explained, "I'm not exactly sure what she is either. Her mother seemed to be some sort of scaled wolf like creature. She was already gravely wounded when I stumbled into her nest. She was protecting her egg."
She reached to pet Sylvie but she scampered away and climbed on top of my head.
"You can buy beasts to make contract?!" I chimed in, surprised by the new information.
"Yes, most noble used that method." The director replied.
"Well, enough about her. Let us see if what Vincent said wasn't just exaggeration. He didn't tell me much except that you're an augmenter, saying the rest would be a surprise." She let out a wry smile, making Vincent blush.
We had arrived at the backyard and everyone took seats, giving Art and the director enough spaces.
"You're not going to use your wand?" Art started stretching.
"It isn't very fair of me to be using a weapon when you yourself are empty handed as well, right?" She gave Art a wink.
She made a solid point there...
Art stomped his right foot into the ground and a piece of the ground the size of his body thrusted up. His hands are lazily and coolly in his pocket before kicking the rock at Director Cynthia's direction.
A wind wall appeared instantly in front of her, knocking up the rock Art had just kicked high into the air.
'...Insta-casting' I thought only Art and I are a special case here who could use insta-casting technique.
I guess she wasn't just a director that sat in front of her desk signing papers.
***
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