“Ed, hey. You look as tired as always,” Raid mused.
“About thirty percent more exhausted than usual...” Ed yawned. “I had to serve as a punching bag for our cute little sister ’cause she was sulking about not being allowed to come along... But what can we do? She’s still a student...”
“Thanks for all your hard work... Once we get to the other side, you can take care of Alma instead.”
“And by that, you mean I have to start organizing her documents again... I can already imagine all the dust and clutter that’s accumulated around her in my absence... Argh, my urge to clean is acting up!” With slumped shoulders and a lifeless gait, Edward dragged himself to the assembly area.
Soon, Alicia and Galleon came over to fill his spot.
“Raid,” greeted Alicia. “It’s a pleasure to see you once more.”
“Greetings!” Galleon bellowed. “I look forward to seeing my son-in-law in action up close!!!”
Raid bowed his head. “Ms. Alicia, Mr. Galleon, thank you very much for coming to our aid again.”
Alicia and Galleon hadn’t come alone, though. Seeing their companion, Millis walked over with wide eyes. “Huh? Ms. Carille! You came with Lady Eluria’s parents... Do you know each other?”
“Oooh, Millis, long time no see...” Carille drawled with a lazy smile. “I’ve made magic gear for Lady Alicia and Lord Galleon before, sooo I’m coming along to help with maintenance...”
Alicia shot the woman a dubious look. “You fail to mention that you overslept and nearly didn’t make it. Of course, I had seen that coming, so I went to pick her up from her workshop—and lo and behold, I found her collapsed inside, as expected.”
Carille chuckled. “I’m honored you know me so well...”
“Oh!” Millis gasped, suddenly remembering something. “Ms. Carille, do you know anyone who calls himself ‘Lesi W. Ater’?”
“Mm... Lesi W. Ater...?”
Millis nodded. “In the First World, that was the name of a skilled technician who lived in Paradise a thousand years ago—which should be around this era we’re now living in. I figured you might know him if he’s famous.”
“Whaaat? He’s famous in the First World?” Carille giggled.
“Do you know him?!” Millis’s eyes flashed brightly as she grabbed Carille by her shoulders. “You see, he apparently had a very, er...fateful relationship with me, so please tell me whatever you can about him!”
“Well...” Carille drawled, her gaze wandering lazily. “Firstly, ‘ater’ is a word from a veeery ancient language that was used in the eastern region... It means ‘black,’ or something like that...”
“I see, I see! So it means ‘black’!”
“Aaand then, uh... Our surname ‘Blanche’ means ‘white’ in our old language, so we use ‘Ater’ as a fake surname when we’re going incognito... I mean, we’re pretty well-known, right? Buuut sometimes we wanna test our skills or new techniques without any of that bias...so yeah.”
“Oh hoh... So, you’ve used this fake surname too, Ms. Carille?”
“Uh-huh... My fake name is Ellira C. Ater. Just flipped my first name over, nothin’ much to it...”
“So you mean to say that...‘Lesi W. Ater’ is also a flipped name?!”
“Preeetty much...” Carille’s expression melted into a loose smile. “Aw, shucks... I knew he looked up to me and all, but I never thought he’d copy my fake name... My little brother’s too cute...”
“I see, I...” Millis froze. “Huh?”
“By the waaay, this is how you spell my brother’s name...” Carille grabbed Millis’s hand and trailed her finger over her palm, spelling each letter of a very familiar name.
“It’s... It’s...” Millis trembled like a leaf as realization slowly dawned upon her. “It’s Lesi W. Ater?!”
Norn gasped. “Have you finally uncovered his true identity?!”
“N-N-N-No! I most definitely absolutely indubitably have not!”
“Wow! You’re so easy to read when you’re flustered!”
Cradling her head, Millis crouched down and began to mumble under her breath. “Of course, as a classmate, I deeply respect his earnest and diligent work ethic...whenever he makes a new magic device or gear, he always takes its user and their preferences into consideration, and for that he always puts his all into his magic training...not to mention, he hails from a prominent household, yet unlike a certain young master, he’s never arrogant or condescending about it. In fact, he’s very friendly and so easy to get along with... It’s not as if I see him in a bad light; far from it, he’s actually very... Ack! A hurricane of love is suddenly breaking through my walls!!!”
Norn drew back, wincing. “Mr. Raid, I think my ancestor is broken...”
“She sure is. Humans break down when subjected to information overload,” Raid replied, gently patting Norn’s head. He had heard about this from Eluria, and he agreed with her that they had best watch over their friends from the sidelines.
Just then, Fareg jogged over toward him. “Freeden, the first batch is complete—the Caldwin couple was the last of them. The headmaster is also done with her preparations. We can initiate teleportation anytime.”
“All right. Thanks for the report, Fareg. We’ll head in first to give Eluria a heads-up. After that, you can leave the rest to Elise and just follow us in with everyone else.”
“Understood. We’ve arranged the personnel by their affiliated states, and I’ve told the headmaster everything she needs to know, so everything should proceed smoothly.”
“Roger that...” Raid gave the boy a curious look. “You do know you don’t have to be so uptight, right? I only appointed you as the record keeper; no need to take on all these miscellaneous tasks too.”
“Hmph... It’s no problem at all. I’m doing this because I want to. Besides...” Fareg smiled. “Since you finally stopped calling me a kid, I need to work my fair share to prove that you weren’t wrong to do so.”
Raid studied him for a while, then shrugged. “Well, you’re my subordinate now, so I can’t call you that kind of nickname. I need to speak precisely when working.”
“What?” Fareg’s jaw dropped. “That’s why you stopped calling me ‘kid’?!”
“What other reason is there?”
“Y-You acknowledged that...I’ve finally grown up...?”
Raid made a face. “What? Grown up? You?”
“Okay, you don’t have to look at me like that!” Fareg snapped, his face flushing a deep red.
Raid simply waved his hand with a sigh. He was glad to see the boy acting more like his usual self again, but the day his growth would be worth acknowledging was still very far off.
“Jokes aside, it’s time to depart. We’re already a month late, after all.” Raid tilted his head back, his gaze set firmly on the enormous tree looming over them. He grinned and said, “My bride is waiting for me back there. I need to hurry back and show her that I’m doing just fine.”