“I kind of feel like Arius is treating Noelle differently from the rest of us,” Milia observed.
“I agree. He’s gentler with her,” concurred Sophia.
They were both staring at us.
“Th-That’s not true!” Noelle yelled, jumping to deny the claim.
“I’m sorry, Noelle! I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Milia said.
“I’m sorry as well. Would you like to join us over here for some tea?” Sophia asked as she poured black tea into several cups while Milia passed out sandwiches to everyone, which they brought as pick-me-ups.
“You probably ate breakfast before coming, but do you still want one, Arius?” Milia offered.
“Yeah, I’d like one. Thanks,” I said, then took a bite. “Mm, it’s good.”
“If you like them, I’m glad I made them. I made loads thinking people could have them for lunch too if there were leftovers, so feel free to eat as much as you like.” She started eating her own sandwich then, as if remembering something, asked, “Hey, Arius. Now that I think about it, you need a magic crystal to cast Special Barrier, don’t you?”
There were magic circles drawn on the floor of the practice room, making the floor itself a magic item. It activated Special Barriers by burning mana from magic crystals.
“Since magic crystals are consumable items, I imagine the Academy didn’t lend them to you,” Sophia thought out loud. “Activating a high-powered Special Barrier like you did today would require a significant amount of mana. It would be expensive to prepare the magic crystals we’d need for that. Arius, please be honest. How much did you spend?”
Sophia might have been the daughter of Duke Victorino, one of the Three Great Dukes, but House Victorino wasn’t exactly rolling in cash, meaning her idea of what was expensive wasn’t that far off from the rest of us.
“I’m an adventurer,” I explained. “I got the crystals in dungeons, so I didn’t spend anything. Besides, you and Milia made food for us. You don’t have to worry about the crystals.”
“That’s nice of you to say that, but still…” murmured Milia.
“Thank you, Arius, though I have a feeling you’re evading the issue,” relented Sophia.
At least the two of them seemed to accept it for now.
“If that’s the case, I’ll pay you some for the magic crystals,” Vern offered.
“And I haven’t done anything to help, even though I’m here participating in practice. I’ll pay too,” Zeke seconded.
“Uh…w-well, I’ll pay too!” chirped Noelle. She probably felt like she had no choice but to say that, considering the way things were going.
“Guys, it’s not like I’m short on money,” I argued. “What I want more than money is for you to try hard. I believe you all can accomplish a lot.”
“Well then, my good friend, leave it to me!” Vern cheered happily.
“If that’s what you want…all right, Arius,” Zeke muttered.
“S-Sure, Arius. I-I’ll do my best…”
While we chatted, it was getting closer to the time for class to start.
“All right, so same time tomorrow,” I announced, wrapping practice up so everyone could change. “We can probably meet here in the training room. I have it booked from six o’clock, so you can start practice early if you get here before me. I’ll give the magic crystal to Milia.” I took the crystal out of the fixture and handed it to her.
“Hey, wait, Arius! This magic crystal is huge!” she exclaimed.
The crystal was a drop from the Ancient Dragon, which spawned on the final floor of the Dragon’s Palace, a hard-difficulty dungeon. It was as big as a grown man’s fist.
“There’s nothing wrong with erring on the side of bigger,” I countered. “This one crystal can supply the mana for the whole training room.”
“That’s not the issue…”
I knew what she was trying to say, but pretended I didn’t. I hadn’t gone to any dungeons lately other than the Citadel of Ancient Gods. Using a crystal from an extreme-difficulty dungeon would probably cause an uproar, so I was using ones I had in storage. It was also the smallest one I had.