小嫂子的味道

The next day I was taking the classes as usual. There wasn't anything unusual in particular, Ryfin taught us some new magic spells; mostly of elemental magic.

I still wasn't able to use the magic circle technique though, I don't know why. I was lucky that he was only teaching us elemental magic spells since I was able to use my elemental magic and make it look like I was using it with magic circles.

The reason for this error is still unknown, but right now I'm not that interested in finding that out anyway. I don't know if the same thing will work with custom magic but as long as we were on elemental magic, there was not a problem.

Elemental magic which is taught in this academy didn't have much of an appeal to me from the start, since it took time to both learn it and use it while it did the exact same thing as my magic.

What's the meaning of repeating a class even when you didn't fail? Sure you can hone your grasp on the concepts that way but it was a time waste to me. To me the thing I genuinely wanted to learn was custom magic, until we were on that topic, all is fine.

Also, Ryfin somewhat knew that I can already use magic and am relatively good at it, so he was ignoring me mostly. It seems as though he was being kind to me or that he was really scared by the threat I gave him I know that's not the case.

He was just pretending to be scared of me; I noticed that much these days. I don't know his reasons but probably it was an act to make me let my guard down and not see him as a threat. Then, when I will be most venerable, he will attack.

This is still a hypothesis on my side but enough to keep me on guard. As I've said before, I didn't know what this man was up to; he was unpredictable. He was pretending to be harmless, just like a cute little animal.

But as the last words of Balcha of Sidamo said before he entered the monastery, 'Do not underestimate the power of Tafari. He creeps like a mouse but he has jaws like a lion.'

I was aware of this, hence I was cautious and never took what he said or showed directly at face value.

As I was thinking about him, the class for today ended and the man in question left; followed by the students afterward. I was also stood up and took my leave.

I had to do some shopping first and then have to meet up with Anya. She was probably not in her best state due to that letter, that's why I decided to keep tabs on her.

Also, I had something to talk about.

***

Later that day, the time was around dusk and the sun was almost set. Three girls were waiting for someone behind the main building. The three girls were Seiren, Alada, and Wrena.

Their surroundings were deserted, the reason was that the dorms were at a distance from the main building. The chances of someone showing up were even slimmer at this time

But this place and time were specifically chosen due to the privilege of being alone.

Minutes passed by and the girls started getting irritated as there was no trace of the person who called them here.

"Tch! Where the heck are you?" Seiren cursed as she kicked the ground and clicked her tongue.

"I guess it really was a prank," Alada voiced her opinion.

"Should we go back then? It's been quite a long time since we came here; around 15 minutes I think," this time it was Wrena who spoke. She was getting sick of all this waiting and wanted to return to the dorms.

"No, let's wait a bit more."

"Huh? Why are you so fixated on this Seiren? Don't tell me you're actually serious about this?" Wrena bellowed.

"What do you mean by that?" Seiren turned her face toward Wrena. "Aren't you two taking this seriously too?! I mean, that's why you came here with me, didn't you?" she blurted.

"Well…"

"Hehe, someone's at a loss of words~" Alada whopped, putting her hand on her lips.

"Don't laugh! You're in as much water as us, that's why you're standing here with us."

"I know, I know." She folded her arms and looked straight toward the grounds forward.

A couple of minutes later, when their patience was at its peak, a figure appeared at a distance.

"Hey look, someone's there," Wrena pointed in the direction of that figure as she announced.

"Looks like a boy, you sure he's the one?"

"Can't say. Though I more or less expected them to be a boy," Seiren asserted as she waited in her place.

The humanoid figure—who was apparently a boy—approached the girls slowly. As he came close the girls were able to see him clearly.

He wore a cloak over the school uniform and his face was covered with a black cloth mask, his left hand was in his pocket, and with his right, he was clenching onto the cloak that was fluttering due to the gusts of wind.

"I am a little late I think," he mumbled as he stopped in front of Seiren.

"Are you the one who called us here?" she asked; her tone on the aggressive side.

"Sure I am," he replied; unfazed.

"You're late! You made us wait for around 20 minutes," she barked.

"That huh? Well, you can say this was meant to be a test of sorts. I wanted to see how much you all are willing to meet me and know. In short, I was intentionally late."

"And so?"

"You passed."

"Ah I see, should I be jumping with happiness right now? Because I'm clearly not in the mood for that. But first of all, tell me what's the meaning of this?" she asked loudly.

A second later she pulled out a piece of paper from the pocket for her skirt, unfolded it, and showed it to the boy.

"What do you mean by this letter?"

It was a letter in her hands, and this was written on it:

[If you want to attain your desires and if you want to crush Ellyn, the thorn in your path. Then come meet me behind the main academy building, today at dusk. I will provide you with a weapon by which you can control her however you want.]