NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 282: The Current State of the Academy (2)
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Still, summoners had managed to be placed sixth, thanks to the other two students there with Emilia, who had summoned Gryphons and Red Foot Ponies, showing they could be used for transport as well as to charge into battle.
They were still in a pretty low place, but it was an improvement from being dead last for so many years. That was all thanks to the efforts of Creos, the instructor Hinata, and the dedication of the students.
「Still, it must be a bit frustrating…」
The scoring criteria and reasoning behind the scoring was given to each student individually, so Emilia would know how little she had contributed to their overall score.
Mira began to wonder how Emilia was feeling as she headed with Creos to the backstage room where the students were, wanting to congratulate them for their showcase. She knew how much Emilia had worked, but those efforts had not paid off, so Mira could only imagine how disappointed she had to feel about herself.
「I was so stupid! Careless! Just because I could do simultaneous summoning like Danbulf…! I did so bad! Even Danbulf would make fun of me for thinking this was enough!」
When they reached the room, they heard someone crying on the other side of the door. Considering those words, it was likely Emilia.
「That would never happen. You did really well!」
Mira opened the door and announced that as she walked imposingly towards Emilia. Entering the women’s backstage room uninvited and like she owned the place was not very respectful, but Mira’s desire to say those words to Emilia was so powerful she did not even hesitate.「Huh? Ah…! It’s you…!」
Emilia twitched and turned around startled by the sudden entrance, looking at Mira in confusion until she seemed to notice something.
「I’m really sorry for intruding like this, Emilia. This girl here is Mira, the pupil of Danbulf’s I told you about before.」
「Ahh… I thought that was the case…」
Emilia seemed to also recognize Mira from the time she arrived in the spirit ship, and Creos confirmed that, who entered the room after asking if he could come in. Hearing that, Emilia seemed slightly happier, but then frowned and looked away awkwardly.
Mira believed that Emilia was still beating herself up for her performance earlier, so Mira decided to tell her that her simultaneous summoning had been impressive.
「You…think so? Thank you very much.」
Still with some apprehension, Emilia thanked Mira for her compliment. Hearing those words directly from the mouth of Danbulf’s pupil was comforting, making some of the regret clouding her countenance vanish as she regained some energy.
But the awkwardness remained even after that, and the source of it was Mira herself.
「Umm…err… I’m so sorry for what happened that time!」
After taking a deep breath, Emilia lowered her head and apologized, which then made Mira the confused one.
(…What happened…what time?)
When Mira arrived, Emilia had been far away in a classroom, so that could not be it. She tried to think about it a bit more, but could not remember anything, making her stare at Emilia attentively.
This reminded her of her initial impression upon arrival; Emilia had looked familiar. As Mira continued to stare, Emilia began to feel embarrassed, yet Mira did not stop. Despite the prolonged scrutiny, Mira still could not recall anything specific.
Eventually, Emilia could not bear it anymore and mumbled, 「At the station…」
「Oh…Ohhh! Now I remember. You’re that girl who was next to that dashing gentleman!」
The hint Emilia gave finally cleared things up for Mira, as she finally recalled that encounter.
Mira had been at Silverside Station’s first class platform when she ran into a young girl and an older gentleman descending from the train. Mira had been taken aback by how close to her ideal that gentleman was, so she had only glanced at the girl for a short moment, but now that she thought about it again, that had been Emilia.
That train had also arrived from Ozstein, so that probably meant that Emilia was just arriving at Arkite at that time.
「Now that’s quite a strange coincidence.」
Mira thought back to that short encounter and was surprised that they had met again like this. But Emilia still looked around nervously, avoiding direct eye contact.
「Hmm, so I remember now…but what was there to apologize for?」
Even while recalling their first meeting, Mira could not remember anything worth apologizing for. She only recalled that it was a very short encounter, so not much could have happened.
That prompted Emilia to explain a bit more, despite her obvious regret for the incident. Back then, Emilia had thought Mira was staring at her, and so Emilia had lashed out.
That finally made everything click for Mira, and she just laughed it off. It had been something that bothered her so little she completely forgot, so she told Emilia to stop worrying about it.
「Th-Thank you…」
Hearing that, Emilia let out a sigh of relief. She greatly admired and respected Danbulf, so she also held a similar respect for Mira who was his pupil. But she had acted in such a disrespectful manner in the past, and when she saw Mira descending from the ship, she realized what she had done and the guilt had been gnawing at her. Now, Mira had blown all her worries away.
「I watched your performance earlier, your simultaneous summoning was splendidly done.」
Their conversation had diverted for a bit, but Mira reeled it back and praised Emilia. But she had more to say.
「With a little bit of help, I believe you could do it even better though. And that’s why…! Emilia, do you have time now?」
Mira was more than willing to give her a few tips if Emilia wanted.
And for Emilia, receiving a personal lesson from Danbulf’s pupil was something she had only dreamt of, so hearing the suggestion, she looked stunned with excitement, only to remember something a moment later and lowering her head in dejection.
「I have… swordsmanship training later…」
Sadly, Emilia had something scheduled for later. Creos quickly stepped in to explain that an instructor who also trained the knights at the castle would come once a week to help the summoners train their Dark and Holy Knights.
Before, Creos used his own Dark Knights to help them train, but there was a limit to how much he could do. But now that an actual expert in swordsmanship was teaching, even Creos could attend and learn.
「Ohh, that sounds fun!」
Mira gleaned that the instructor was stronger than Creos’ Dark Knight hearing that, making her curious to watch that class as well. Maybe even she would be able to improve her Dark and Holy Knights.
On top of that, her recent research had revealed that her Armor Spirits, which she believed had reached their peak, had gained quite a lot of room to grow, either because of her connection with the Spirit King or another unknown reason. In simple terms, it was like their level cap had been removed.
And now she had the perfect chance to witness new moves she could implement herself.
「We’ll have to postpone our little session then.」
Mira told Emilia that, and then turned to Creos, telling him that she also wanted to attend that lesson. Her priority would always be to improve her own summoning skills.
「Alright. We still have some time, but let’s head to the training area.」
Creos had already assumed Mira would want that, seeing her initial reaction, so he gave a quick reply and headed out of the room. Emilia lagged behind a bit, as she was still processing everything and muttered to herself, 「Postpone…then…does that mean…」
She had been under the impression that the offer for a personal lesson with the pupil of a Wiseman was a one time thing, and she had lost that chance. But Mira would always give special treatment to up and coming summoners, especially if they happened to be big fans of Danbulf like Emilia.
In Mira’s mind, teaching Emilia was something she had decided to do no matter what, only that Emilia had no idea about Mira’s thoughts, and believed that Mira was saying that merely out of courtesy. So she was unsure of what to think as she followed Creos and Mira.
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