In fact, Emmeline had been the first person in a long time to get caught by the safety measures at the academy’s entrance examination. She’d been under the impression that magic reigned supreme and could never lose to swordsmanship. Her belief that a sword could never break through a magic barrier no matter what had been strongly influenced by her mentor. However, there were quite a few swordsmen in the world who could break through magic barriers, with the members of the Clovis School being a prime example, so Emmeline’s mentor’s teachings were more evidence of his prejudice than anything else. He was ignorant of the world, or at least he perhaps wished that his teachings were fact.
As a result, Emmeline’s knowledge had been imbalanced, leading to her hoping to use rather powerful magic during her entrance exam. Fortunately, since she’d asked in advance, rather than just using the spell, it was judged that she did have common sense, and she’d been allowed to enroll after all the necessary red tape. In other words, Emmeline was as odd an individual as the rest of her friend group. Then again, the strangest group in history was right next to theirs, so by comparison, the youths ran far closer to average.
“Perhaps I should look at some more common books as well,” Emmeline muttered to no one.
Thinking that she wanted to relax for a moment, she moved away from the noisy boys and sat on the bench that Sazaki and Lara had been on earlier, a sigh of relief escaping her lips.
The world is vast, and so very different from what I believed. I never realized that when I was at Master Udo’s place.
Emmeline had been mentored by Udo, an old mage who was well-known in his field for his expertise in alchemy and astrology, but completely lacked the ability to teach others. Within Udo’s atelier, which was filled with stacks of history books and papers etched with geometric patterns, she’d been taught that magic was truly magnificent, and that they were equally magnificent for being able to use it. He’d also skipped teaching her the basics, jumping straight to more powerful spells. For better or worse, Emmeline had the aptitude, so she’d taken well to this style of teaching. However, her odd mentor and teaching environment had made her believe that highly destructive magic was a basic skill, and she’d been on the verge of using such spells during her entrance examination.
I’m so glad I asked before the exam...
Emmeline still remembered that day, and how the awfully strict examiner had given her warning after warning: “Don’t use powerful magic, or even a spell that might harm a defenseless baby or an insect. Do you understand that using magic under the assumption that the examiner will block it since they can create a stronger magic barrier than you goes against the very premise of the exam?” and so on and so forth. Emmeline had found that very strange. She’d only been taught offensive magic, and she’d figured it was impossible to use it without even harming a defenseless insect, so she’d told the examiner everything about the magic she’d learned and the education she’d received from her mentor.
Fortunately, Emmeline had managed to enroll after undertaking a certain amount of reeducation, but the Academic City-State had subsequently concluded that Udo was a dangerous individual—too dangerous to be left alone, in fact. They’d then started negotiations with the country he resided in and considered arresting him. In a way, what Udo had done in sending Emmeline out into the world like this was the same as lighting the fuse on a bomb with no idea how it would explode, and in some countries, it was a criminal act punishable by law.
“May I sit next to you?” Elrica asked with a gentle smile.
“Huh? O-Of course. Go ahead,” Emmeline replied, coming back from thinking about the recent past.
“I was unable to tour it in its entirety, but the academy is an amazing place.” Elrica started making some small talk.
“I was also surprised when I first arrived.” Emmeline nodded deeply.
The two of them had been born and raised in isolation and had started out similarly ignorant of the world.
“Are you having fun at the academy?”
“I am. I get to learn heaps of things I never did before, and I’ve also made friends.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Elrica was happy for Emmeline from the bottom of her heart. Elrica, the killing machine, had once flown out of her birdcage into the unknown sky, and she had been blessed with friends. Though it had been right in the midst of an era of darkness, it had been an important time for her.
“But there’s so much I don’t know, it’s almost embarrassing,” Emmeline confessed.
“I used to be the same. I couldn’t even tell salt apart from sugar, so I just tried throwing everything in together when I cooked, but now that I think back on it...” Elrica knew the feeling all too well, so she couldn’t help but look up at the sky.
“You’re talking about seasoning? I believe a meal is appropriate as long as you get the necessary nutrition from it,” Emmeline said, looking a bit puzzled.
“Oho ho ho ho. I had the same opinion when I was young.” Elrica smiled with nostalgia and laughed elegantly. “But don’t you think it’s nice when your friends get to enjoy delicious food?”
“I...do.” Emmeline hesitated slightly but agreed. Although she wasn’t picky about her food, she found it wrong for her friends to have to eat something with barely any taste.
“Oho ho ho ho,” Elrica laughed again at that answer. Time flowed peacefully around them.
“How about we head for a little walk too?” Sazaki meanwhile suggested to his wife.
“Sure,” Lara agreed without asking why.
Even though it was just a walk, there would have been no end to the spectators coming to see the Blademaster and Witch who’d saved the world, but here, they were just an old couple visiting their family. They went outside with no issues and started walking leisurely.
“Being back here in this city really takes me back.”
“It really does. It was just as chaotic when we had our apprentices.”
The bustling of the students visiting the city from all over made them feel nostalgic. When Sazaki and Lara had taken on many apprentices sixty years ago, it always felt this way around.
“I’d decided to take on apprentices, but then I was troubled wondering what to feed them.”
“That’s right. You were fine as long as you had booze and snacks to go with it, and I wasn’t very picky about my food either.”
Sazaki and Lara both smiled a bit awkwardly. When they’d prepared to take on apprentices, the first obstacle they’d run into hadn’t been teaching methods, but nutrition. During the great war, all members of the Hero’s party had tended to make and eat all their meals in a hurry. Among them, Sazaki had thought that anything was fine as long as there was alcohol and his stomach was full, and Lara had been content with just getting the necessary nutrition, but they couldn’t have offered the same to their young wards, who had still been growing and had large appetites. As a result, Lara and Sazaki had been very busy preparing meals for Falke and their apprentices, who’d numbered about a dozen.
“Old Reynaud was a major help.”
“‘What? Lara had a child and even took apprentices of her own? This must be a dream. I need to wake up quickly.’ The old man couldn’t have been happier.”
Lara’s mentor, the old mage Reynaud, had been the biggest help to the couple when they’d taken on their apprentices. Reynaud had completely given up on his own apprentice ever getting married, so when Lara had told him about her marriage to Sazaki, he’d stopped in his tracks right in front of her to clean the wax from his ears, and had then gone immediately to sleep. When she’d later told him that she was also planning on taking on apprentices, he’d been moved to tears.
“I’m glad we managed to at least have him meet Falke,” Sazaki said.
“You say it as though we were short on time, but I never expected the man to live until he was 110. He didn’t just get to see Falke as a baby, but as a fully grown adult.” Lara shrugged her shoulders as much as she could.
Reynaud had lived quite a long life. He’d participated in the great war despite being in his seventies, and he’d died at the age of 110 as a lively old man. Then again, Reynaud himself hadn’t expected this, and while he’d been relieved to meet Falke, it was still a long time before he passed away, leaving even him wondering when his time would actually come.