Maydare Volume 4 Chapter 3 - Magic is Tinged with Secrets (Part 1)

 

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The Spirit Magic Studies exams were over and we had completed our entire first year curriculum.

What a wonderful feeling of freedom. 

We returned to our usual atelier, more filled with a sense of accomplishment than fatigue. 

Frey was already there, lying on the sofa, looking very tired. 

“Haaa~~that exam was tough until the very end. I’m exhausted. Someone pamper me~~”

He was saying pathetic things while sluggishly lying on the couch. How old was this prince? 

“What kind of dumb things are you talking about? How many signatures did you get, anyways?”

“Hehe, don’t be surprised when you hear it, Leader. I got 13!”

It wasn’t very cool to say that proudly while lounging on the couch.

“Wow, you worked surprisingly hard.”

I was honestly surprised. He was standing in Rieracoton’s long line, so I thought it would be impossible to go anywhere else.

I was sure he made full use of his abilities as an【Earth】Blessed Child and searched all over the school. 

“So, how about you, Nero?”

I asked Nero, who was already at his atelier table, fiddling with something. To be honest, I was more interested in Nero's results than Frey’s.

However, he made a strange face and averted his gaze slightly.

“I got 4.”

“Gyahaha! So I won. This time, I won!”

Frey was laughing loudly, looking triumphant.

I was also a little surprised. I assumed Nero would find many more spirits. 

“But, I found Lighthouse Keeper Jean. The Great Spirit who equals Headmaster Pan.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Frey and I both froze with straight faces. That was a Great Spirit with a difficulty level of SS.

Wait a minute. Then there was no problem if he only had four signatures. The others, like the S-level ones, were possible to find if it was Nero.

“What kind of spirit is Lighthouse Keeper Jean?”

“Mmm, he’s really old.”

“...Oh.”

So basically, he was an old man, I guess.

“Then, what about you, Leader?”

“I-I…got 3.”

“Wow, so little.”

“For the record, I found Headmaster Pan.”

“...What?”

After making fun of others so much, Frey’s “What?” face was extremely enjoyable, but to be honest, this guy had nothing to do with the race for top student…

As expected, my rival was Nero.

His aloof face, which seemed uninterested in my results, riled me up even more.

But all the exams were already over. 

All we could do now was wait for the results of the overall score to be announced at the closing ceremony. 

We spent the afternoon in the atelier doing as we pleased. 

I returned my hard-working hamsters to their pen, and next to them, I opened the Scarlet Witch’s recipe book. 

I had been so busy lately that I hadn’t been able to find the diary hidden in this recipe book. 

I thought it was time to try to make some more dishes in order to find the Scarlet Witch’s diary. 

Now, I wonder which one I should make…

“Are all the members of Garnet Team 9 here?”

An unexpected visitor arrived at the atelier at the edge of the school island. 

“!? P-Professor Ulysses!?”

It was Professor Ulysses, the teacher in charge of Spirit Magic Studies.

I, as well as Nero and Frey, looked up in surprise.  

Frey turned pale and began acting suspiciously. Professor Ulysses was Frey's half-brother.  

“Here, sir.”

Nero quickly cleaned up the messy table and offered the professor a seat.

“I-I-I’ll make some tea!”

“Everyone, no need to go to any trouble over me.”

The professor said, but I went down to the kitchen to make my best black tea. I added some apple jam while I was at it and offered it to the professor.

Professor Ulysses looked around at our atelier, which had been extremely modified to suit our needs, and smiled.

“Fufu, my apologies. I used to use this atelier a long time ago, so I felt a sense of nostalgia.”

“You did, sir?”

“I was in the same team as the Potions teacher, Professor Urbanus Medite. Ah, he is Miss Makia’s uncle as well. Just like you all, we worked hard together here.”

Professor Ulysses took a sip of my black tea and let out a soundless breath.

“Eugene Batiste was in our team as well. It truly is nostalgic.”

His melancholic eyes made my heart ache.

Because I knew the true significance of Professor Batiste’s passing.

“So, what is your business here, Brother?”

In the midst of this mood, Frey, who had been silent up to now, asked bluntly.

“I'm sorry to bother you after the exam, but Miss Makia and Mr. Nero have been summoned by the royal knights for what occurred the other day.”

“From the palace?”

Nero and I looked at each other. We could imagine what we were summoned for.

It was probably about the incident with Airi going missing. Nero had found her here, so they wanted to ask him for the details.

“By the way, Frey, I have something I need to consult directly with you.”

“Geh!”

“No ‘Geh,’ my dear brother. Now, let us leave.”

The smiling Professor Ulysses grabbed his brother Frey by the hood and started to leave the studio.  

The professor was surprisingly strict with his younger brothers…

“Now then, let us meet at the palace later.”

Professor Ulysses bowed his head towards Nero and me, and then dragged Frey away.

“What are we going to do, Makia?”

“Well, we don’t really have any choice but to go. Since we were directly summoned by the palace.”

Mere students like us couldn’t ignore an order like that.

And so, Nero and I dragged our tired bodies to the capital.

“I'm sure Lapis will be surprised when she comes back to the atelier and no one’s there.”

“Lapis…is she at her job again today?”

“Yes, apparently so. I wonder what in the world she’s doing there.”

Oh, that's right. 

Maybe I should buy a lemon pie on the way home today to celebrate the completion of our exams.

I'm sure Lapis would have finished her job and be back at the atelier by the time we finish our business at the palace. And then we would all have a party to celebrate our hard work.

If I thought about that, it wasn’t at all difficult to get to the palace through the crowded streets of the city. 

It was the first time I had been in the palace since the incident with the High Consort’s mirror.

“Nero, you’ve never been in the palace before. It must be nerve-wracking, right?”

"...Not really. It’s not like I’m trespassing, so there’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“You’re as cool as ever. As for me, even now, I still get a little nervous when I enter the palace.”

I gave my handprint, but Nero only entered the palace after being subjected to various checks by the gatekeeper.

Professor Ulysses had given his authorization beforehand, so it didn’t take that long.

“Hey, Miss Makia. It’s been a while.”

“Sir Lionel!”

It was Sir Lionel, the vice commander of the royal knights, who came to greet us.

He took us to the royal knights’ office.

“The young man over there. I haven’t seen you since I helped you on the deserted island before. Nero Pachelbel, was it?”

“...Yes.”

“I'll be the one talking to you. Miss Makia, I want you to wait outside the room. The other person will come to get you.”

“Eh, we’re being separated!?”

“Ahaha, of course. We’re not going to interrogate you or anything. We’re just going to ask you a few questions, so don’t worry.”

And then, the office door was shut right in front of me. While Nero was with him.

I wondered if Nero would be okay on his own. He didn’t like to talk much.

I sat in a chair outside and waited, but a little later a young knight called me and moved me to another room. 

There, I found not a knight of the order, but the third prince of this country. 

It was Prince Gilbert, who was completely hostile to me in the past.

He said, “Sit down,” and I sat down in a chair in the center of the room with a tense expression on my face. 

“I am deeply sorry to disturb you after your exams at Lune Ruschia. I cannot thank you enough, Makia O’Drielle.”

“...Nnn?”

“Deeply sorry”??*

I just heard unexpected words from Prince Gilbert's mouth. His tone was somewhat softer as well.

“And, well. You helped me a lot the other day. With Mother’s hand mirror.”

Prince Gilbert, although he seemed to have difficulty saying it, thanked me.

“Oh, ah…no, not at all. Have you found all of the relics hidden by the High Consort since then?”

Yes. I had found the hand mirror of the High Consort, the mother of Prince Gilbert, a short time ago. 

In that mirror, there was a message that she had left before her death, as well as a map and hints as to the whereabouts of the relics that she had supposedly hidden in various places in the palace. 

Frey and I spent the whole day without sleeping searching for them, but there seemed to be many more. 

Prince Gilbert must have continued the search in the palace. 

“We found most of them, but there are some hidden in the villa, so I have to look for them there as well. …Mother truly was too mischievous.”

As I thought…the air around Prince Gilbert had changed.

Before, he was always on edge, but now, he seemed to have mellowed out just a little bit.

Or maybe I should say, the tension was let out of his shoulders.

“So, what did you summon me here for?”

“It’s about Airi. After she went missing some time ago, she talked a little with me, but…”

Prince Gilbert crossed his fingers in front of his mouth and asked me a question.

“What do you think of Airi?”

“Huh? Airi?”

It was an unexpected question. Not knowing his intention, I was a little puzzled.

“This was hard for me to believe, but you and Airi were, in fact, friends in another world. For you, it was your previous life.”

“...Y-Yes.”

“Airi didn’t realize you were her friend in her previous world, and she kept viewing you as an enemy. I don’t know what triggered it, but now Airi has understood that fact and accepted it. But, she is already convinced that she is hated by you.”

“...”

“I think it is reasonable. …There’s no need to lie. I want to hear your candid thoughts.”

I dropped my gaze, squeezed my hands into fists on my knees, and thought for a little bit.

What did I think of Airi?

“I…don’t hate her at all. I’m just angry.”

I came up with my answer surprisingly quickly. 

I looked up, stared straight at Prince Gilbert, and answered again. 

“It is the same as you and Frey. You fought with each other, but you didn’t actually hate each other, did you?”

Prince Gilbert got a blank expression on his face that was unlike him.

The wrinkles between his brows had relaxed a little. 

Then he snorted, as though to say, Indeed.

“Then, let's talk about your future.” 

He immediately switched to another topic. 

It seems that he was the type to quickly switch from one topic to another when he was in work mode. 

“After you complete your first year at Lune Ruschia, you will go to Frezier as a Guardian. The time frame is six months at minimum. It could be longer, depending on the circumstances. During that time, will you take a leave of absence from Lune Ruschia, or will you study abroad at the magic school over there?”

“...!?”

I was surprised to be shown a realistic future for something I had been trying to avoid thinking about as much as possible. 

Yes, that's right. I would soon leave Lune Ruschia.

“The Kingdom of Ruschia and the Frezier Empire have a robust exchange student program with each other. Therefore, it is easy to earn credits at each other's schools. But, you must study abroad for one year.”

“One year…?”

“I think it would be a good idea to study abroad for a year. Basically, you’ll be taking your second year at the Frezier school. …If I remember correctly, you have an exchange student in your team.”

Prince Gilbert flipped through the documents at his hand and narrowed his eyes.

“Lapis Twilight. The plan is that she will return to Frezier soon after she finishes her year of study here.”

“What…”

My eyes widened.

Prince Gilbert didn’t miss my expression, but he matter-of-factly continued to conversation.

“Well, this isn’t something that could be decided on your own. You should consult with Brother Ulysses as well.”

“...Y-Yes.”

There was nothing else I could do but nod. I was going to Frezier in any case. 

I was more upset by the fact that Lapis would soon be leaving Lune Ruschia Magic School and returning to her home country. 

She hadn’t said a single word about that to me.

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