After the big events of the Hartmann family of this year ended, I finally tried to get myself together to face the upcoming unknown challenge.
Yes, I no longer have the cheat called as my past life experiences and mories as I'm now off to Interdiate Level.
I was on denial the whole ti before Alt-nii's coming-of-age ceremony.
After his birthday though... The real deal has finally begun.
Ahem! Let's rewind ti a bit to before my birthday. I ntioned the thing about exams before I went off to describe my and Alt-nii's birthday parties, right?
Okay, ti to narrate that matter now that I have to face the bitter reality. No use in denying it forever.
--Flashback mode: Activated--
After Leticia's birthday party. A very important event was imminent and we had to prepare for it with all that we got.
Can anyone guess what it might be?
Ti for the answer to be revealed...
We have to study for our exit exams!
Yes, we've spent 4 years in Basic Level's special class. After this, we'd enroll in Interdiate Level.
I started to study more for the exit exams and for the sake of my bright Interdiate Level. Of course, and my friends studied together.
If we couldn't get a high score in the exit exams, we could still enroll in the Interdiate Level as long as we got a passing grade, but we wouldn't be in Special Class and the thing is... We all wanted to continue being in the Special Class.
Not only it would be beneficial for us in terms of our education and the ti length, it would also an... We'll be guaranteed being classmates!
Yup, we had to ace the exit exams at all cost!!
Furthermore, there was one very surprising (yet sohow I could expect it...) matter, too.
It was the fact that Ein tried to take accelerated exams so that he could finally enroll in the sa class as us.
"Eh, you're all going to graduate Basic Level and enter Interdiate Level, leaving all alone?! No, I can't accept this! If that's the case, then I will enter Interdiate Level at the sa ti!"
Ein once said with a firing spirit reflected in his eyes.
At that ti, we all only laughed it off and saw Ein as cute.
We all forgot. That he skipped a year before. Why couldn't he do the sa thing again this ti?
So, after we were so delighted to see our exit exams' results and the announcent to our Interdiate Level Special Class enrollnt, we were surprised to find Ein standing next to us with all smiles.
"Big Brothers and Big Sisters! I'm going to be in the sa class as you guys from now on! I'm so happy and excited! I can't wait for the next term to start already!"
...but we haven't even gotten our end-of-term break and manage the administration etc... Like, we needed new sets of uniforms then. So, little Ein, you had to wait patiently for that.
"Eh? W-wait a minute, what do you an, Eine?" Iris was caught off guard and asked.
Ein smiled like an angel as he pointed at board that displayed the exam results.
I shifted my gaze towards the end of his index finger and...
[Reinell Fyunez Kronychle Loera, Passed, Special Class Interdiate Year 1]
"..."
He... He really did it!
Ein's smile grew deeper as he said these words, "I'll see you in class soon, then, Big Brothers and Big Sisters!"
...monster!
You're really a monster, Ein.
...though I rembered that such things occured every now and then in the Loera clan. It had sothing to do with them being "more blessed" and such.
Now that I know their Oracle, I believe it ans that the probability of a Loera child skipping grades or being a prodigy increases with the stronger Oracle they inherit.
"Would it be okay, Ein?" I asked out of worry due to his very young age and to be honest, I was concerned about his psychology more than anything.
"? What could be the problem?" Ein obliviously asked.
"Hmmm... Like, you'd be away from children your age--from your friends of the sa age and..."
"Ah, that? I'm closer to Big Sis Lyra and the others here rather than friends my age! Mummy and Daddy understood that and allowed to try it--oh, to be more precise, they were the ones who went through the trouble of enabling take the exams," Ein casually answered.
"..."
Well, Nicole and Clyde shouldn't be too thoughtless as they were now parents, right? Furthermore, Ein is their only child. If they agreed, what else could I say?
"Okay then... I guess this is reality, huh?” I asked as I half-jokingly pinched my cheek (softly).
“Ah yeah, it really isn’t a dream,” I affird myself as I stole a glance to Ein and...
“Hey, Big Sis Lyra! That’s not niceee!”
Ein’s cheeks were puffed as he stomped his feet on the ground.
I giggled. Really, he was still a child, and yet he was going to enter Interdiate Level along with from now on?
“See? You’re still a child, little boy. Don’t you think that’s too early for you to enter Interdiate Level?” Carbuncle smirked as she teased Ein—but perhaps there was a hint of seriousness in her question. She seed to be thinking of the sa thing as I did.
“Well, I’m usually calm and more mature. It’s that this is different...”
Ein demonstrated his “calm and more mature” side as he took a deep breath and stopped being sulky.
But a second later...
“You’re one to talk about age, though, Big Sis Kuu! I bet you’re even much older than my parents, right? And yet you’re in Interdiate Level... Don’t you think that age doesn’t matter as well, then?”
“...Boy, I’m a dragon, you rember it yourself, right? We don’t have this kind of education system so it’s fun to learn. Besides, I’m an informal student here,” Carbuncle puffed her chest as if she was flaunting.
“You have a point. But still, you being in Interdiate Level with children my age—Big Sis Lyra’s age—proves that to you, age doesn’t really matter, right?”
“I guess you could say so.”
“Then, support , Big Sis Kuu!”
“Sigh... Fine, you win, little boy,” Carbuncle shrugged her shoulders as she quietly muttered, “Really, I am not that great with children.”
Well, for one... You still look like a child—a teenager at most. Soon, we might even appear to be around at the sa age.
...And later on, in the future... We will appear older than you do.
And much much later... We might leave her behind in this world...
I wonder if Carbuncle has realized this and how does she feel about it?
I’m sure she’s struck by this realization upon encountering non-Draconis, especially the humans.
Even so, she still wanted to befriend us.
I think that just proves how she’s strong (ntally).
Not all would want to experience that.
***
With that being said, the first few weeks of us being in Interdiate Level passed by just like that. There was no problem whatsoever (so far), and Ein seed to be enjoying himself, too.
There was no need to worry about him in the first place, it seed.
However, our classmates (so were forr classmates and so were newly enrolled students) were all swarming around the youngest mber of our class—naly Ein—as they all praised him for being cute and smart.
Add that Ein was using his angelic smile, charming everyone.
Just wait and see Ein’s ‘wolf-in-a-sheep-costu’ side, won’t you?
Anyway, things were just getting real after Alt-nii’s birthday party.
I didn’t want to be left behind, so I also started to study every now and then—especially for the subjects I liked.
It seed like Alt-nii and Clavis were also studying hard. After all, they were already in Advanced Level.
Yep, Clavis wasn’t a noble, but he was still chosen as Alt-nii’s aide, so he got to have a good education. Furthermore, it seed that Clavis was really a good choice as he was able to keep it up without any problem!
I heard that Harvey also continued his education although he wanted to go to work and help his Pa already.
His Pa insisted that more knowledge would help Harvey improve his skills and livelihood in the long run. Harvey was an only child, so I guess that was why his parents would want the very very best for him, without any doubt.
I also heard sothing like them wanting Harvey to keep an eye for Iris. It really seed like they saw Iris as their own child, too.
That’s good for Iris. In the future, should anything happen with her paternal family, she should still have Harvey backing her up.
Oh, and another important thing!
The twins started going to school from this sester along with Leticia!
Since they were already tutored by the royal private tutors, they managed to enrol to the Special Class. All that was left was for them to maintain it.
Then again, Basic Level’s special class was easier to enrol to, compared to Interdiate Level’s. So mbers also fell to the regular classes at so point in Basic Level. That explained why there were so of my forr Basic Level classmates that were enrolling in the sa class as in Interdiate Level.
I just hoped Leticia, Freyr, and Freyja would be able to keep up with it.
If they couldn’t, it was also fine, too. As long as they were happy, it was enough.
Truth to be told, I was a bit reluctant in seeing them grow up, after all (haha)!
I really pray that everyone I love will be able to gain their happiness in the future.
But first, we got to try hard for our imminent future, which was... exams!
Exams and tasks kept coming and going, leaving with little room to play around.
I could see that Alt-nii and Clavis were pretty much more stressed than they were, as well, with the difficulty of Advanced Level.
Perhaps due to the stress or due to the fact that they were already 13 (biologically, it ant the average age for boys’ puberty), I could see that they were pretty irritable, much more than usual.
Ah, but since Alt-nii could still suppress his irritation with a smile and stayed patient, let correct my previous statent: it was apparent that Clavis seed pretty irritable these days.
Like, he snapped more often due to little things.
But when Niina scolded him, Clavis would imdiately turn silent, which was a good thing.
Still, there were tis when Niina had to apologize, and Clavis only remained silent upon seeing his mother apologize.
Luckily for them, we didn’t really mind it as we understood that it was a only a stage in his life.
Alt-nii and Clavis’ positions were quite reversed.
Alt-nii used to be the one being so naughty that Clavis had to hold him back and sotis give so advice to him.
But now, it was the opposite.
Alt-nii beca the one to hold Clavis back and gave him advice.
Perhaps Alt-nii’s rebellion stage ca early in his life, while Clavis’ ca late.
It was a good balance, though.
At that ti, I had no premonition at all.
Yes, until that ti arrived.
It happened during this year’s winter.
After we were so happy that we could pass our exams and the first sester to Interdiate Level (Advanced Level for Alt-nii and Clavis), the blissful period of sester break arrived once more.
Just as the employers took their vacation, leaving the Hartmann family alone (with a few employers taking shifts though—so took advantage of the holiday period to work so they could earn more money—clever!), an unprecedented event happened.
Yup, I ntioned that the employers were having holiday break too, right?
That included Niina and obviously her son, Clavis.
They would be spending their quality family ti together.
Or so we thought.
Until that day, when the snowstorm barely just started.
My family and I were relaxing in front of the fireplace, warming ourselves from the low temperature.
The twins were playing with Rurune, Alt-nii was talking with Dad.
I was sipping hot chocolate while reading a book with Mom. Mom and I really clicked in the way we loved reading.
It was a very tranquil mont, a mont of peace. Despite the snowstorm that was just starting outside.
Only Rurune and the twins’ laughter could be heard from ti to ti, along with Alt-nii and Dad’s voices.
And then there was suddenly a different voice.
We imdiately discovered the origin of the sound. Why, I an, it was quite an obvious sound.
It was the sound of the door being knocked from outside.
“Hmm? Who might it be, at this ti of the day?” Mom pondered.
I turned to look at the clock—well, it was almost dusk. Ti was of no matter when we were in holidays, furthermore when it was snowing like this, though.
“Are we expecting any guest?” Dad raised his eyebrows.
A maid that was on her shift quickly replied, “No, there shouldn’t be any guest on schedule... I’ll go check who it is!”
As the maid was about to go towards the front door to open it, Dad stopped her.
“Wait a minute. We shouldn’t be too careless. Let .”
The maid was taken aback and didn’t know what to do in that mont.
I could understand her train of thoughts. It was her master’s order, but then again, a maid’s job was to ensure the master’s safety and check on the visitor...
But then, Mom also stood up.
“Wait, I’ll go.”
Mom was about to leave for the front door when the twins stood up and followed her like a chicken.
“Freyr, Freyja, wait here,” Mom imdiately asked.
Freyr and Freyja tilted their heads as they looked at each other.
I guess they still couldn’t grasp the danger that might lie ahead... and they were curious on this unexpected visitor.
Perhaps we were taking too long, as the door was being knocked again. We could hear it properly as the fireplace was in the living room, near the front door.
“Kids, go inside and wait there, okay?” Dad asked.
And at that ti, a familiar voice could be heard from outside.
“Uhm... Cassie-sama...? Cyan-sama...? It’s , Niina...”
Her voice sounded different from her usual cheerful voice.
Mom and Dad looked at each other.
“Niina?!” Freyja exclaid.
“It’s Niina, what is she doing here?” Freyr pondered.
“It’s snowing outside, shouldn’t we let her in?” I asked in worry.
Mom then nodded at and said, “Okay, but let check outside first. Just in case. Right, Cyan?”
“You’re right, Cass.”
As I was about to ask what she ant by that, Mom closed her eyes and seed to be muttering a chant. I could see that magic gathered around her, as the magic glowed a bit at her circumference.
Then, she opened her eyes.
“Okay, she is really our Niina. I’ll go open the door for her.”
Obviously, to the event that suddenly happened in front of us just like that, the twins and I tilted our heads.
Alt-nii seed to understand what was going on as he was the one who provided us with answers.
“Mom was using her magic to check on Niina who’s outside. To check whether or not she’s a fake, to check whether or not she’s influenced by soone else or not. Just in case.”
“I... see...,” I answered in a low voice as I couldn’t imagine our beloved Niina would be used by the evil ones against our family.
It was good that it wasn’t the case.
When Mom opened the door, we imdiately could see Niina standing outside with her thick clothes. However, she wasn’t wearing any mufflers, gloves, or other extra clothing to defend herself from the snowstorm.
It was as if Niina left her house in a hurry, only wearing thick indoor clothes.
Though her hair was silver, the snow that stuck to her hair was quite apparent. Not to ntion the snow on her clothes.
Her wolf ears and tails were all curled, the air that she breathed turned white as she let it out from her mouth, straight to warm her hands that she lifted up. The area around her nose was a bit red.
As if her condition that I ntioned above wasn’t worrying already, I could sense a great anxiety building up in her eyes. She looked as if she could cry at any ti.
And it was Niina, the most cheerful and optimistic maid who had taken care of Alt-nii and I since we were babies.
“Niina! What’s the matter with you? Co inside first, warm yourself!” Mom urged Niina to co inside.
“Niina-san?! I’ll go get so towel and hot water!” The maid that offered to open the door just now imdiately moved to fetch so items to warm Niina’s body.
“Add so hot drinks, will you?” Alt-nii added.
“Understood, Altaire-sama!”
“Niina, what are you doing? Co inside already!” Mom was surprised to see Niina not bulging, despite the evidence pointing that she was feeling very cold.
After gasping for so air for a while, Niina finally spoke with a trembling voice.
“Cassie-sama... Is he not here...?”
“Eh? He? Who are you talking about?”
“He... Clavis... Has he co here at all?” Niina repeated her words.
“No... Wait, what’s the matter with Clavis?” Mom imdiately caught sothing wrong.
I turned to look at Alt-nii. Although his face seed to be calm, I could tell that he started to feel worried as well. From his eyes, and from the fact that his earlier smile slowly crumbled.
“Niina...?” Mom asked again since Niina was being so quiet.
“...Cassie-sama... What should I do?” Niina’s voice shook even further.
Tears seed to faintly fall from the corner of her eyes as she continued to speak.
“Clavis... He... he’s missing! He’s nowhere to be seen...!!”
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