Knights & Magic Vol 1 Chapter 3

One day, Ernesti sat with his arms crossed in the living room at home, thinking with a serious expression. The reason was the letter spread on the table before him, with 'Laihiala Pilot Academy student prospectus' written on the top. At the age of eight and a half years, he finally received an offer to attend Laihiala Pilot Academy.

Even though Laihiala Academy had the term 'pilot’ in its name, not everyone enroled had the goal of being a Knight or a Knight runner. One reason was the sponsors.h.i.+p from the kingdom for primary and middle school education, so children from all social standings studied there. Fremmevira's education system differed from modern compulsory education, a result of the special circ.u.mstances of the nation.

The Knights existed to protect the citizens, but there were lapses in their defence due to the large area under their protection. The Knights were usually deployed after the discovery of a Demon beast, which was a pa.s.sive strategy. This meant that the citizens would be under threat before the Knights moved in, to intercept. With this historical background, at some point the farmers hoped to possess skills to protect themselves, which was fulfiled by the nation in short order, by setting up a ministry and related facilities to teach them the minimum combat techniques, and magic knowledge needed for defence. In the end, Fremmevira was not a peaceful nation; even the farmers needed to pick up weapons to defend themselves.

With this back-story, a trend of setting up education facilities was started all over the country. Laihiala Pilot Academy took advantage of its geographic location near the Capital and enroled students who were peasants, merchants, and even n.o.bles. The academy was thus divided into an agricultural faculty, a business faculty, a pilot faculty, etc. All majors included cla.s.ses on combat techniques, but most of the curriculum was tailored to make the students employable. The school holds many different cla.s.ses to accommodate the family circ.u.mstances of its students, as well. Students need to attend at least 3 years of cla.s.s and achieve a certain level of proficiency to graduate.

"Hey, what's troubling you? You wanted to be a Knight, right? Just take the Knighthood major."

"Bothering you? Is it something like, 'the Knighthood major is too easy'?"

Knights certified to ride on Silhouette Knights are known as Knight runners. Eru's family knew about his ambition, and Chid and Ady had heard about it several times, too.

It is not easy to become a Knight runner; Silhouette Knights are 'weapons', something created to protect the nation. That's why, it requires years of training before it is possible to pilot one.

"Father, I have a question, does the Knighthood major allow the skipping of grades?"

"With the efforts you put in, and your magical capabilities, that is certainly possible... but the Knighthood major is different. Not only are you tested on your sword and magic abilities, you will also go through ethics lessons, and you have never learned about ethics officially, correct?"

"Silhouette Knight pilot training is the final cla.s.s before you enter pilot school. Students usually enroll at age 15... But for you... eh, if you are not tall enough, there won't be a suitable machine for you to pilot."

Eru looked down in utter disappointment. He would need to wait 7 more years to pilot the giant robots of his dreams. He didn't mind waiting, but no one would blame him for thinking the process would take too long. But not everything will go your way. Eru wanted to change the mood in the room, when he felt a shadow loom over him. He lifted his head and saw Tina standing before him.

Seeing his mother rubbing his head with an apologetic face, Eru opened his eyes wide and shook his head.

Eru stopped suddenly as he remembered something, surprised by his own words and closed his mouth slowly. This inspiration gave birth to a new possibility.

Tina tilted her head in confusion, as she watched Eru slowly raise his head with resolve.

"Make what?"

"A Silhouette Knight. I will make one myself."

"...E...Eru? Are you serious?"

"Wait... Wait a minute, what do you mean... by making?"

Everyone was stunned, was Eru thinking of hogging a Silhouette Knight for himself? Aside from a handful of powerful n.o.bles and merchants, no one owned a personal Silhouette Knight. Creating and maintaining one would require enormous funds and manpower, going the pilot route is a short cut compared to this. That is the common sense of this world, but for the robot nerd from an alternate world, Eru didn't care about all that.

Chid and Ady put their hands on their foreheads when they saw Eru's evil smile, they knew that this was bad. The normal Eru would always act maturely with a casual air. But he had an unbelievably pa.s.sionate side to him too, erupting unexpectedly. Chid and Ady felt that they were looking at Eru's true obsessive nature.

"Yes! I am sure that I will be wasting my time if I carry on this way. Setting the goal of building one myself will be a good hobby, and is more practical than saving money and buying one, right?"

"Eru... I understand how you feel, but it is not as simple as you think."

"I see... alright, then. But, work hard on your Knight lessons, too."

Eru had no hesitation on his face. Ady started patting Eru's head for some reason, moving from being stunned to being impressed.

"... I am a bit concerned with the way you put it, but there is no reason to give up when there are choices for me to take."

Because of how I look, normal methods won't work on me.

"Well... I am looking forward to the day I go to school in Laihiala."

"... I don't want to lose, Eru is too amazing."

"Noth... Nothing. Okay, let's work hard to be Knights!"

Chid and Ady had decided to major in Knighthood, too. The three of them wanted to work hard on their goal together at Laihiala Pilot Academy, and looked forward to their campus life in the future.

== C.E. 1274

Laihiala Pilot Academy didn't only take in students from Laihiala city but also from the Capital, the neighbouring city, and all over the nation. Taking into account the possibility of a Demon beast attacks and traffic conditions, most of the students leave for academy city early, so new faces could be seen around the dormitory in recent days.

Laihiala Academy City was surrounded by a giant city wall, but Laihiala Pilot Academy had a wall of its own. Although its purpose was to demarcate the campus grounds, with the vast amount of land that makes up the academy, the continuous line of walls extended to the streets, becoming a well-known landmark.

"You can go in as much as you like from now on."

The group walked along the wall and reached the tall school gates shortly. This was the main entrance into the academy. Because the piloting students will ride on Silhouette Knights, the gates were adjusted to accommodate their height. The door was wide open for the entrance ceremony.

The most important part of the schedule was the entrance ceremony. The ceremony mostly consisted of listening to speeches given by the teachers. After lunch, the teachers would lead their students away, and give them a brief introduction to the content of the course. Although they were divided into various faculties, primary school focused more on the basics, with common modules across the whole school year. The division was very vague, and the contents only start to vary during middle school.

"It's great that we don't need others to lead us, but it is easy to lose track of Eru. He is really small."

"I didn't grow much either."

"I'm going to leave Chid and Ady behind."

"I'm not okay with that."

The ceremony began in the grand hall filled with tense freshmen.

It was lunch time, so the group headed for the school canteen. Some people bought food there; others took out their lunch boxes. Uppercla.s.smen, who were familiar with the place headed to the eateries outside the campus. Everyone settled down to eat their lunch in their own way, but the cafeteria remained crowded. In this chaos, a prominent group sat in a corner of the canteen.

The other two had unkempt black hair and wavy shoulder-length black hair, a boy and girl who shared a similar feeling.

From afar, the members of this group had nothing in common. Even though the group drew many curious glances, no one had the courage to approach them.

"But we found a place to sit immediately, which is great."

Eru chatted with Batson as he ate his crepe covered in pie crust. It was a mini crepe with pie crust that was easy to carry, and fitted nicely into Eru's small hand. Ady looked very pleased, as she watched Eru eat the biscuit in silence.

"Doesn't matter, you didn’t listen to them anyway Chid. Didn't you fall asleep?"

There were empty seats at their table. Eru felt embarra.s.sed that no one else was sitting with them. At this moment, a female student ignored all of this, and walked towards them.

She was obviously older than Eru and the others, an uppercla.s.sman. There was no standard uniform in Laihiala Pilot Academy. Her clothes seemed to be low profile but well made, with accessories that didn't hinder her movements. Eru guessed she must have come from a well off family, either a daughter of wealthy merchants or aristocrats.

The pretty girl who came uninvited smiled as she looked at the tense twins, then faced Eru and Batson. Her smile became gentler as she introduced herself.

Eru was lost for a moment, but he put down his half bitten biscuit, sat properly and replied:

"It's fine, I'm already acquainted with them. Archid, Adeltrud, long time no see, I'm glad you are both healthy."

"Long time no see, Stefania onee-sama."

"... Both of you are at the age where you are attending school at Laihiala. Since we have the opportunity to study at the same school, why don't you visit me?"

"Right, he is majoring in Knighthood, 2nd year of primary school, you will have the chance to meet him soon."

"Alright, we have finished our food. The cafeteria is too crowded, and it's not considerate to hog the table, let's go somewhere else. What do you think?"

Stefania, who had a regrettable expression, patted Eru's head for some reason before leaving. The four baffled children were left behind. Batson wanted to clarify things, but Eru said that lunch break was over, and they should head for the cla.s.sroom. He forcefully left his seat and left. Batson wasn't satisfied, but he still went towards the crafting faculty, while the trio moved towards the Knighthood department with an awkward atmosphere.

There was nothing worth mentioning about the afternoon’s freshmen welcome activities. They were simply briefed on the schedule for the future, and the contents for lessons tomorrow. After orientation, everyone was dismissed, and the students prepared to leave.

"I don't know the details, but don't be depressed. Cla.s.s is starting tomorrow, so training will be cancelled for today, take a break."

"What is it?"

"If you feel the need to share, I will listen."

"Eru, we have something we need tell you."

And so, the trio left campus and headed for Eru's place, to his room. As this is the place where they hold their magic lessons, the two were familiar with it. They sat on the table and bed as usual, but the difference was that they were quiet. After a while, Chid began:

After being silent for so long, those words were too direct. Eru blinked and asked:

"It's complicated... actually not. Our mother is not the n.o.ble's wife but a mistress."

"Father's wife... well, is very jealous and conscious of others."

Even Eru wasn't sure how to react, so he simply nodded.

"And, we were given a place to live, that's why we moved here. The living expenses are handled by father."

"Tiffa-nee is alright, but the problem is with the other two brothers. The younger brother is very irritating."

The two of them complained nonstop and ended with a big sigh. Their expressions twisted when they mentioned the brother, making it easy to imagine all of the things that happened between them.

"Correct. He is one year older than us, so he is in the second year of primary school."

Chid nodded firmly. It's not a premonition; Chid knew that there would definitely be trouble. The life at the main house flashed in his mind. He had to bear with the oppression and the hards.h.i.+ps back then, so he didn't spend too much time reminiscing.

"If they leave us alone, we won't trouble them either. But they like to mess with us and can't stand us."

"Since Tiffa-nee knows... That guy will probably come soon. If you are with us, you might get caught up in this too..."

"I understand the gist of it. So what's next?"

"... What do you... mean by next?"

"Oh, should be attack... Hey!"

"What is with you all of a sudden? I am glad you are my friend, you would be terrifying as an enemy."

"That's right. I have no idea how much I can interfere, but I don't plan to seeing my friends so troubled. Just call me whenever you need me, I will be there."

Chid and Ady nodded confidently, they were smiling once again. Eru looked at them and thought:

Eru thought about it from an outsider's point of view, keeping this matter to heart. The upcoming school days will be more chaotic than he imagined.

After the tumultuous entrance ceremony, they started their school life the next day.

There… There is such a course...

...There is a... 'Silhouette Knight Design Basics' course...!? But the timetable he was holding with his trembling hands did not belong to the Knighthood major for primary school. You can infer from the name that this course is meant for Knightsmith students, who are aiming to build and maintain Silhouette Knights. It is catered for students in their 2nd year of middle school (around 13 years old), and this course had nothing to do with Eru who was majoring in Knighthood.

I must attend this course no matter what... this cla.s.s is in the way...!

He overlooked the fired up, pet.i.te student hidden in the crowd.

Generally speaking, human magic is cla.s.sified into elementary, intermediate, and advanced according to its power and ease of control.
As most citizens know elementary magic, they are also known as 'common spells'. Hence, intermediate and advanced spells are recognised as real magic. Faculties aside from Knighthood majors strive to be at the intermediate level. Since advanced magic is also dependent on the depth of one's mana pool, only Knighthood majors learn it. Ernesti knew through experience that increasing the mana pool requires plenty of effort. Hence, joining combat related careers such as Knights requires a lot of effort in mana training. Allocating more time on mana training than other courses is the unique feature of the Knighthood faculty.

And so, the day to attend Fundamental Magic cla.s.s arrived.

Eru's trio had already learned magic before enrolment, so their foundations were strong. Apart from them, there were some who had learned the basics, too, so they would be in a different cla.s.s from those without any magical training. The newbies were placed in the 'general cla.s.s', while the experienced ones were placed in the 'advanced cla.s.s'. Advanced cla.s.s might sound impressive, but the only difference with the general cla.s.s is the experience. Regardless, advanced cla.s.s students were viewed as elites anyway.

The chattering students followed the teacher to the sports arena. The fastest method to test magic capabilities was for the students to use them, and to cast destructive spells, they need to move to a specialised training ground surrounded by walls. The cla.s.smates gathered in groups of twos or threes, surveying the straw man targets wearing old armour, rearing to go.

One of the students casted a Fireball, an intermediate level fire spell. An orange magical sphere appeared from the staff, hitting the target with blazes trailing behind it. True to its name, the magic exploded in a ball of flames upon impact . The armour retained its shape but was scorched black, showing the explosive power of the blast. The students were in an uproar after witnessing this scene, very few freshmen knew intermediate spells before starting school and have mastery over the powerful Fireball. But Fireball was an impressive spell and drains a lot of mana, the boy was already at his limits after casting it. He was panting roughly, almost to the point of mana exhaustion, but he still looked very pleased.

"Everyone seems used to Fireball, should we do something like that, too?"

Archid folded his arms lazily, standing some distance away from the area that was filled with excitement. Adeltrud hugged Eru as usual, as she conversed with him. She realised Eru was not being himself. Eru always gave off a gentle air, now he had a stern expression as if he was going to a battlefield. Ady tilted her head in confusion, her past experience tells her that Eru will only make such a serious face when Silhouette Knights are involved, but she had no idea how it is related to the magic test that is going on right now.

"Teacher, I have a selfish request."

The sudden question surprised the teacher.

"... What are you talking about?"

"...Ernesti Echevarria? What do you mean? Refusing to attend lessons? This joke is not funny..."

The teacher was dumbstruck. He had been a teacher for quite some time, but he had never seen a student so confident before. It might be okay for a middle schooler, but a freshman in primary school? The teacher wouldn't allow this request easily.

"So it will dependent on my results? I heard that very clearly..."

The teacher was also hinting that punishment will follow if Eru failed, and deliberately made things difficult for Eru. But the teacher did not realise that he was facing a demon who wanted to give his whole life to Silhouette Knight designing; Eru would give his all without hesitation.
Eru started to construct the magical script in the virtual region in his brain... the magius circuit. He pushed his amazing calculation abilities, starting the processing sequence. He drew out Winchester from his waist, casting spells along the wake of his staff... Piercing Lance. This was a type of compressed fire spell, focusing the explosion on impact in one direction, increasing the piercing power of Fireball. And, he did not just activate one, there were ten Piercing Lances appearing one after another in the air.

After completing the deployment of the Piercing Lances in short order, he took aim at the target, firing them off simultaneously. The long and thin flaming spears were right on target, and the armoured target was. .h.i.t repeatedly. The narrow interior of the armour was heated intensely after being pierced on impact, the straw man was instantly torn apart. The armour could not withstand the devastating heat and melted in a red glow before finally exploding.

This was more than enough, but Eru kept his word. He lifted his other Winchester... different from the one he used to cast Piercing Lance. The next script had been completed in his mind, a complicated and orderly spell, conjuring a magic much stronger than Piercing Lance.

Thundering Gale... A melded magic using wind and lightning sigils, a real Advanced Spell.

"How was that teacher? Do you agree to exempt me from this course?"

No one protested or challenged his decision. And so, Eru earned the freedom to work towards a bright future.

"He made such a big scene, he was totally into it."

"He was willing to go this far... Anyone who gets in his way will be burnt to ashes..."

"That's wrong. He is not taking it easy because he has a goal, right? I will blow the target away too."

"Don't mind me, but is it okay for you to stand out? You have an irritating brother here, right? Do you plan to challenge him?"

"I think ... you are spot on, I can't deny that."

"Take care... Work hard!"

My tutor is amazing. It will be hard to catch up to him. I have to put on a good show, too!

Chid steadied himself, closed his eyes, and started to construct a script with his magius circuit. To be honest, he was more proficient in power type spells, so he chose to use one. He drew up the staff he favoured and held it high, then pointed it at the target. The mana and script streaming into the crystal catalyst made the red orb glow brightly. He chose to cast a single shot spell, an inntermediate spell more powerful than Piercing Lance... Flame Strike.

"... Wahhh!"

"You are still the same, only going for brute force... My turn!"

As depicted by its name , Riot Sparrow changes lightning into the form of a javelin before firing it at the target. Lightning spells are powerful, but it is hard for the caster to direct it accurately. Increasing the accuracy adds additional burden on the caster, and along with its difficult control makes people view it as a higher cla.s.s of magic compared to others. From the aftermath, the trio displayed incredible capabilities.

What are we going to do, if we take cla.s.ses with these three incredible people?
As priorly mentioned, the advanced cla.s.s had many scions of aristocrats and merchants, a bunch of children with large amounts of pride. Their childishness and immature pride angers others easily, but the scene before them was too amazing, shattering their young pride and compet.i.tiveness. They gave up and sighed deeply. Eru and the twins didn't care about their depressed cla.s.smates. Their cla.s.smates’ troubles were just beginning.

That fundamental magic cla.s.s was seen as a catastrophe. A few days later, Batson led his pet.i.te childhood friend and repeated for the one hundredth and first time.

Laihiala Pilot Academy had many grades and faculties, so it needs plenty of cla.s.srooms and facilities. Because the campus was divided by grades and faculties, a lot of students would only meet each other at the canteen during breaks.

"Yeah..."

"But this is the crafting faculty, and that is a middle school cla.s.sroom..."

"Quiet please, cla.s.s is beginning... It seems very quiet today."

For these students, this lecture based cla.s.s was unpopular. It was rare for his charges to be quiet before the teacher arrived. He might have felt moved, but instead, he felt that something was out of place. The 40 odd years old teacher surveyed the students in the room and noticed that they were staring at the same spot. He followed their line of sight and saw the culprit of this abnormal situation.

The teacher asked the student sitting in the middle of the front row, who did not belong here.

This scene was warming, but contrasted with the situation in reality. This was a cla.s.sroom in middle school, not a place for primary school students.

"I see, because the cla.s.s is about to begin. But that's not what I meant. You don't look like a middle schooler."

Their conversation was going in circles, but the teacher, who was firm, warned Eru calmly.

"It's okay. I knew all the contents of that cla.s.s. The teachers are fine with exempting me. You can confirm this with them."

All the students retorted in their heart: “How is that fine!", but the teacher decided that he would lose, if he felt bothered by Eru and carried on teaching adamantly.

"Before dabbling in the design of Silhouette Knights, you have to familiarise yourself with the structure, this is a simple rationale. But what needs to be done specifically? That is hard to answer. One of the reasons is the difficulty in constructing the Silhouette Knights. It requires crafting, magic, and alchemy, so there is a lot to learn, meaning the problem is with the amount of studying materials. That is why only people, who are going to make Silhouette Knights, Knightsmiths, will learn how to design them. Knight runners won't have the time to learn all of this knowledge."

"... Comparing the current military model Karrdator and the previous generation Salodrea..."

The elderly teacher scribbled on the blackboard with the clear sound of chalk, listing the basic structure of the Silhouette Knights. This includes the 5 main crucial elements... The 'magius engine' acting as the brain, the 'ether reactor' that serves as the heart, the 'crystal tissue' simulating muscles, the 'inner skeleton' reinforcing the structure, and the 'outer skin' as the armour.

The Silhouette Knights are powered by the mana produced from the ether reactor. The ether reactor converts the ether in the world into mana, simulating the organic functions of living things in the form of machines. As long as there is ether around it, this device can keep on running. Normally, the mana produced by the reactor will turn back to ether and spread it into the atmosphere. Hence, there is a need for ether to circulate within the crystal tissues to maintain its form as mana.

"The script in the magius engine has been refined, but the improvement is not significant. Because of its ruggedness, it has been used for over 300 years without major changes..."

The inner skeleton and outer skin are simply a metallic frame and armour. But current technology cannot create the skeletons of the gigantic humanoid robots as a single ent.i.ty. They have to be made from the combination of smaller parts, wielded together with physical boost magic and scripts to support its weight. This allows the Silhouette Knights to look tougher in its defence, but creates a flaw with the body being unable to support its own weight without a constant supply of magic.

"Please turn to the next page. This covers the Silhouette arms of the Silhouette Knights. Although it is not directly related to the design, but this is still important, so please study this part carefully."

Of course, casting magic at the level of Silhouette Knights... known as Overt spells... is impossible for humans. There are rare cases where an individual is able to process the magic, but constructing the script needs time and cannot be used in actual battle. For Silhouette Knights to use overt spells in the heat of a fight, the magic script has to be prepared in advance.

Emblem graph doesn't construct magic through the use of scripts, like the magius circuit of living beings. Emblems are drawn on the exterior of objects, which are then used to cast spells... It uses the theory that scripts can be visualised in the form of a pattern. When using emblem graph to cast magic, the mana can be channelled directly to the object the emblem is grafted on, in order to activate it. It appears to be a convenient technique so far, but because drawing the script needs a large physical area, it will run into the problem of the equipment being too c.u.mbersome. If you take into account the difficulty and the effort required to make them, the emblems are not really marketable to citizens.

A bell in the distance rang when the cla.s.s reached this point, announcing the end of the lesson.

Ernesti watched the teacher leave after uttering these words, he was uncertain what he did wrong. He took plenty of notes today as well. By the way, his progress has already exceeded normal students by months.

Eru learned a lot from the cla.s.s. Thanks to that, he gradually grasped the basics of Silhouette Knight designing. But the more he understood, the more questions he has for the parts beyond the basics. In the construction of Silhouette Knights, the crucial elements, such as crystal tissues, inner skeleton, and outer skin, are subjected to a lot of wear and tear. Because of this, the country invested heavily in the education of engineers and alchemists. This ensures that forts at the front lines, and towns with appropriate facilities can supply the Silhouette Knights with the necessary parts. A lot of crafting faculty students, apart from Eru had actual experience in crafting. But the details about the magius engine and the ether reactor... the heart and soul of Silhouette Knights are cla.s.sified. The lesson covered their functions, but their interior structure remained a mystery.

"...That might be the case, but I am not worried about the magius engine."

"But... without more clues, I will come to a bottleneck... After all, 'that world' doesn't have the concept of ether."

He understood one thing from cla.s.s; the ether reactor was made from a special mineral called 'Elven ore'. But the mining and methods used are unknown, all information regarding fairy stones are kept secret. Although Eru's goal was to build his own Silhouette Knight, the worst case scenario was to buy an ether reactor. But even so, the price of ether reactors made the plan impractical.

Eru mumbled and returned to his desk. The notes he took did not have any blank s.p.a.ce, so he took out another self-study notebook. He dipped his pen in ink and immersed himself in preparation, and revision, a time to research his hobby. Eru lived an incredibly busy life, but it was a blissful life according to him.

Eru's student life traversing between the Knighthood and crafting faculties continued for some time.

"Ara, you are..."

"You are Ernesti... right?"

"Ara, I remember, you are in the same grade as Archid right? Why are you here?"

"Eh, you are really smart, but why are you rus.h.i.+ng to learn this?"

"Because I'm interested."

Because there was another cla.s.s, the two chatted as they walked. Eru's actions were unpredictable. Stefania was surprised sometimes, patted his head sometimes, and was always smiling and in a great mood.

"Ah, Eru... found!"

"Ah, Onee... Onee-sama"

Ady alternated her eyes between the two, and seemed to be quizzing Eru about what was going on. Eru didn't give a direct answer and smiled awkwardly. Stefania smiled gently as she approached Ady. From their previous encounter, Ady seemed to be bad at dealing with her sister from a different mother, but Stefania didn't seem to be bothered.

"Yes..."

"But why is Eru together with Onee-sama?"

Stefania placed her hands on her hips and declared confidently. What a forceful way of putting it. Ady looked like she was frozen on the spot, convinced by Stefania. As expected of sisters, Eru thought.

Stefania became more excited as she spoke, finally giving in and hugging Eru.

"Wait... wait, no! Eru is my soft toy!"

The stiff Ady who was rooted on the spot because of the impact of the confession was now yelling, s.n.a.t.c.hing Eru back. She might have been too tense, but even her tone had reverted back to normal. Stefania was smiling coldly. Because she was beautiful, this made her even scarier. Eru saw her close her hands as she said quietly. "Ara, so that's how it is~". Eru decided to pretend that he didn't see anything.

Ady covered her mouth, her face seemed to be saying 'this is bad'. Stefania shook her head immediately. "It's okay. You don't need to try so hard at school. I am not like Baltsar who is petty about such things."

"Before that, Ady? Can you let go?"

Eru broke free from Ady, while Stefania looked at her longingly.

"That's right, Onee-sama, and his hair so soft and smooth..."

"Onee-sama..."

The sisters ignored Eru who was averting his gaze, and talked about how much they love cute things. Their discussion was so pa.s.sionate that you could see a pink aura around them. Eru felt like escaping reality, thinking 'just do what you girls want', and he suddenly remembered something important.

The bell signalling the start of the cla.s.s rang, as if on cue. The three of them rushed to their cla.s.srooms in a panic, but unfortunately, they arrived late and were lectured by their teachers.

"Oh, isn't that Archid? It's been a while." Just as Eru and the others were talking noisily, Chid and another person met by coincidence at another place. This was the number one person that Chid didn't want to meet... Chid and Ady's half-brother... Baltsar Serrati, someone who had always picked on them.

"Long time no see... Baltsar Onii-sama."

Baltsar said suddenly. He was probably trying to find a fault, since he usually ignores what Chid says. Even though Chid hated that att.i.tude, he didn't complain. Baltsar was taller than Chid, and seemed happy about something, as he looked down on him and continued:

"Really? I never heard anything about that..."

"Hey, is that the att.i.tude you should show your brother? Are you a brat that didn't learn manners?"

"Forget it. I am generous and will forgive a brat without manners like you."

The actual topic is coming, how can I get away from this...?
"I heard you guys weaseled into the advanced cla.s.s. That trash of a cla.s.s has grown so much, but, even so, I will praise you honestly. Eh,