"Did you hear about Lucy?"
"What did she do?
"She saved the city of Greenhold!"
"She defeated a Wyvern!"
"I heard it was a Dragon."
"Who is Lucy?"
Before midday, the news of Lucy's heroism had spread all over the school like wildfire.
Everywhere I went, even in the cafeteria, only one na could be heard on everyone's lips.
Lucy Daevalia.
The girl who singlehandedly fought a Wyvern, and won.
Singlehandedly.
Call selfish, but I had hoped my na would sohow make it into that story.
Regardless, I was glad that Lucy's na had found its way to a positive light.
"Hi Rin," A voice chirped behind . It was my forr classmate in 1C, the elven girl who almost set herself on fire in magic practical class.
"Xira," I greeted with a smile. I was hardly approached by anyone, partly due to my association with Lucy, and partly because I walked around with a blank expression on my face.
Soone approaching in the cafeteria was a pretty rare occurrence. Maybe my na also made it into that story.
"Is Lucy with you?" she asked.
Of course. What was I thinking?
"She's not here," I replied, trying to conceal my disappointnt. In any case, Lucy hardly ca to the cafeteria.
"Well," Xira blushed, pointing her fingers together. "Can you introduce to her?
Lucy hadn't been popular for a day yet and I was already relegated to sidekick duties. Not that I minded but, it did feel awkward.
"Sure. Why not?" I said, wearing a smile that could convince anyone I was easy to talk to.
Xira's cheeks flushed a bright pink. "Thank you," she replied, giggling like I had given her a flower. Then walked back to her table, where she delivered the good news to her friends.
For the sake of my sanity, I hoped interactions like this wouldn't be the norm.
*****
I waltzed into the tutors' building, notebook in arm, straight to Fumiko's office.
As I reached for the door, I noticed a figure to the left, silently watching .
It was Professor Varyn, stroking his short, dark beard. He made a silent wave at , before disappearing back into his office.
I ignored him, pushing the door open.
Miss Fumiko sat at her desk, reading another book. She looked at for a sec, before averting her gaze downward.
"Good afternoon," I greeted, walking over to her desk. "I learned you gave an assignnt. Here's mine."
I placed the notebook on her desk, shifting it closer to another pile on the table.
"How was your... trip?" she asked, her voice a dull monotonous pitch, her eyes locked onto her book.
On other days, a faint glimr appeared in her eyes whenever she saw . Today, she didn't even bother to raise her head.
Our last encounter might have ended awkwardly, but I had hoped she'd let it go. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case.
"She has a wand now," I replied, trying to emulate the sa tone. "Though the circumstances by which we obtained it were far from normal."
"I heard. A dragon, was it?"
"A Wyvern."
"Oh..."
"She's sothing of a hero now."
"Good for her. How did she manage to do it?"
"She sealed it with her summon..."
My voice broke as I realised sothing I should have sooner.
Lucy's plan to defeat the Wyvern was basically to send it back to the netherrealm where it belonged.
But to do so, she first had to tether it with the shadow energy she used in her summoning.
In other words, Lucy just added a Wyvern to her summoning collection.
And she just inherited a wand that belonged to an ancestor.
"What is it?" Miss Fumiko asked, noticing my silence.
"Nothing," I replied. "Have you learned more about the history of House Daevalia?"
"Not really," Miss Fumiko sighed. "The only existing records are accounts from other houses. None of them provides details about their magic or their origins."
"Are there no records from Valhaven?"
She shook her head. "Everything originating from the House of Daevalia was completely destroyed. It's almost as if they never existed."
Or soone was desperately trying to erase knowledge of them from existence.
"Is there sothing wrong?" Fumiko asked again.
"Not entirely," I replied. "But I need so information to figure out my next move."
"Alright," she replied, her deanor returning to nonchalance. She lowered her head again, returning her gaze back to her book.
I paused, silently debating my next words.
"Fumiko..."
She raised her head. "What is it, Rin?"
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"About the other day... About our kiss."
"There's nothing to talk about, Rin," she said, her lips curling. "It was a mistake, right?"
That wasn't how I would describe it.
"Yeah," I replied. "A mistake."
"Besides," she continued, lowering her voice. "I'm your tutor, and you're my student. A relationship between us wouldn't be proper."
"It wouldn't."
"Let's just focus on protecting Lucy? Alright."
That was not how I imagined this conversation going, but she was right in a way. I had a mission to complete, and it was probably best to let other distractions fade.
"Sure," I smiled.
Without another word, I turned around and left the room.
*****
For the rest of the day, Lucy remained by my side.
She'd been surrounded by people the entire day, but for so reason, they seed to avoid her when she was with .
Sothing to do with my own reputation, I guess.
"I wish I wasn't popular," Lucy said, as we both headed to the library for a little afternoon reading. The final examinations were close, though no one seed to pay attention to it.
"It's only been a day..."
"I know," she sighed."I just didn't realise being liked by people would be so... Exhausting."
Oh... The burden of being popular.
For soone who didn't grow up with many friends, Lucy was handling her sudden fa pretty well.
Throughout the entire day, she'd been approached by students who all wanted to hear how she managed to defeat a Wyvern.
Students who, on any other day, wouldn't bat an eye in her direction.
Yet she spoke to them like she'd known them all for years.
"Don't let it get to your head," I cautioned. "It would be a sha if you ended up cocky and pompous... Like Freya Lillith."
"What do you take for?"
"A girl."
"Hmph," Lucy scoffed, "It'll take a lot more than fa to turn into Freya Lillith."
Speak of the devil.
Just as we turned the final corner which led to the library, we found Freya, coming from the opposite direction towards us, her sister Ginny walking beside her.
"Well, well," she sneered, "If it isn't Lucy, the most popular girl in school."
Lucy had been bold and outspoken the entire day, suddenly went quiet. Her gaze fell to her feet, and her fingers trembled slightly.
The last ti I'd seen Freya was at the tournant, when she was carried out on a stretcher. Since then, Freya had grown more healthy, more radiant...
More annoying.
"And here we have her loyal bodyguard," she gestured to .
"Nice to see you on your feet, Freya," I replied, swallowing hard. I thought her defeat at the tournant would make her more humble, but the opposite was the case.
Freya stepped forward in Lucy's direction, stopping just within arm's reach. "You really expect to believe that she defeated a Dragon?"
"A Wyvern," I corrected.
"I don't care." She returned her gaze to Lucy. "I don't know what trick you pulled, but you've definitely got them convinced that you're so sort of hero."
She closed the gap between them until her face was right in front of Lucy's.
"You may be able to fool everyone else, but you can't fool ."
Lucy lifted her chin until her eyes t Freya's.
"Back away from ," she threatened.
Freya folded her arms. "I see who you are Lucy. You're not a hero. You're just a darkblood princess, pretending to be one."
"Back away," Lucy repeated, clenching her fist, "or I'll remind you what happened the last ti we t."
"Oh, I'd love to see you try that again."
"That's enough, Freya," a voice bood from behind us.
I didn't have to turn around. The undetectable mana pressure told all I needed to.
"That's odd," said Freya, taking a step back. "I didn't realise the darkblood had another bodyguard."
Kyro, who appeared from apparently nowhere, walked toward the group, his right arm placed in his pocket.
"Leave her alone, Freya," he commanded, "If you can't respect her as a student, maybe you'd respect her as a Knight of Viridale."
Wow, word really travelled fast.
"My apologies," Freya said, her lips curling up. "If there was a Knight among us, I would have respected them."
Kyro, who I thought was a calm cheerful guy, suddenly frowned.
"One more word from you," he threatened, "and you'll be answering before the Tribunal."
Freya's smile grew wider.
"Pardon , class leader," she said with a smirk. "I'll try not to break any rules."
She made one last look at Lucy,
"Until next ti," she said, before darting away, her sister following soon after.
"Are you alright?" Kyro asked Lucy afterward.
I expected Lucy to quip back with a remark about being able to take care of herself, but her next words were unexpected.
"Yes, I am. Thank you,"
"You're welco," Kyro replied, his frown long gone. "If she ever bothers you again, feel free to let know."
"I will," Lucy replied, a slight pink appearing on her cheeks.
What was happening right now?
"Good. Take care, both of you." Kyro waved, before heading in the direction of the noble dorm.
I wasn't sure which was more concerning. Kyro's surprising chivalry, or Lucy's starry-eyed gaze as she watched him leave.
Either way, sothing was happening. And I didn't like it.
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