“Lowell, is it true that in mystic-jockeying, you won a duel against a bear?!” Lanmia said sans greeting.
After school that day, I was about to head back to the dorm, when she caught me on the stairs.
“Mia, that’s an unflattering way of putting it.”
Luchirs was trying to stop her, but there was no holding back Lanmia’s excitement.
“Huh? But she won against a bear, didn’t she? You don’t hear things like that every day.”
“Uh, it wasn’t even a duel,” I said. It was more like discipline.
“Huh? Really? Oh. Well, that’s a letdown.”
What’s a letdown? I’d really like to know.
“Goodness, Mia...”
“C’mon, Lulu, the whole academy’s talking about it. Since we’ve got the girl herself right here, how could I not ask for details?”
Wait. The heck? The whole academy’s talking about it? Do you mean that stuff about the duel?!
Mystic-jockeying started in the afternoon. After that, I had changed out of my riding clothes back into my uniform, heard a few announcements during general education (homeroom essentially), then classes were done for the day. In what couldn’t have been more than an hour, the whole academy had heard what happened?
“How did that get out when classes only just ended?”
“I believe you can see the mystic-jockeying arena from some of the other elective rooms. Some people saw your classes and started spreading rumors of some crazy girl.”
Now that she mentioned it, the mystic-jockeying arena was indeed roofless. I could see how maybe some of the classrooms might have a line of sight. Noticing my shock, Luchirs began to awkwardly prod Lanmia with her elbow.
“Uh, well, I don’t think they mean it in a bad way. I mean, they’re just saying you did some crazy thing nobody else can do—”
“Mia, perhaps you should stop talking.”
“Okay...”
Very smooth, Luchirs, keeping a smile while you’re angry.
Lanmia, meanwhile, had wilted, knowing well the anger behind Luchirs’s smile. With them calm at last, I was able to tell them what had actually happened during mystic-jockeying. By the time I finished, Lanmia’s eyes were sparkling with excitement.
“Incredible! You won without even leaving a scratch! So can you ride this bear?”
“Huh? Yeah, I can. He’s for my personal use, for what that’s worth.”
“Umm, that’s good to hear? I suppose? But black greatbears are awfully large, aren’t they? I hear they’re also quite ferocious. Though I suppose I would like to see him for myself...”
Hey, Luchirs, I’m not sure about that last part? Gonsuke might be cute, but I still think bears should be handled like wild beasts.
“Of course it’s good!” Lanmia cried while I was still puzzling over what Luchirs said. “Lowell’s had a terrible time with mystic-jockeying since she hasn’t had a mount. I’m sure tests aren’t any fun at all for her. But this bear solves all that. So I think it’s very good.”
She was a strange girl. When she said it was a good thing I found myself agreeing with her before I knew it. Still, she was right. With this bear, I could finally start properly taking lessons, and I was happy about that.
Well, I could do without those rumors though.
On another note, these two childhood friends were calling each other by nicknames. Lanmia was “Mia” and Luchirs was “Lulu”. Must be nice, that sort of friendship. Colny and I called each other by nicknames, but we were more like relatives than friends. I hoped that I could one day make a friend who would call me by some sort of nickname.
Anyways, now I was able to partake in mystic-jockeying thanks to Gonsuke. Back in Peylon I had learned to ride horses, but bears were a different beast. He struck me as a smart bear, the sort that would intuit a rider’s thoughts. He might’ve been smarter than most black greatbears. Maybe he was a mutant or something.
For some reason, the story of me besting a bear spread beyond the confines of the academy.
“Lera! Is it true you gave Bear a beatdown?!”
Nielle, you’re talking about the chief, aren’t you?
How did the story get all the way to Peylon’s research institute? And was she really allowed to use the transmitter for something like this? Oh, whatever.
“I did not give Bear a beatdown. All I did was tame the black greatbear I’m supposed to ride for my mystic-jockeying class.”
“Huh? A black greatbear. Ohhh. I was sure you gave our Bear a pummeling.”
“Wait, wait, wait, Nielle. Would you have been happy if I did pummel your chief?!”
“Mmm, I don’t know if I’d be happy, but I’d say he had it coming.”
Bear, my friend. What did you do to Nielle?
“Nielle, did you call me just to ask me that?”
“Hm? No? I was just thinking maybe you’ve thought up some new spell or something.”
Just what I’d expect to hear from the woman whose only love was magic. She never changed.
But do I have anything? Ah.
“Well, I found a pretty old spell. It obstructs a target’s casting. Do you think you could convert that into a magic tool?”
“Oh? That’s interesting! Tell me more!”
I’ve got you now, Nielle. Except if this gets converted into a magic tool, it’s definitely gonna interfere with your experiments. Ah, you might use it to stop my hypnosis beam. I’ll have to start upgrading it.
“Well then, I’ll send you the details later, so give it your all.”
“Leave it to me!”
Now we didn’t have to worry about her doing any dangerous experiments for the time being. She had a baffling habit of thinking up dangerous spells and putting them to the test whenever she had any free time. A number of researchers considered her a nuisance because of this. At the same time, however, all the most accomplished researchers looked forward to seeing whatever she tried next. That place was full of weirdos, after all.
Now that Gonsuke the black greatbear was at the academy, I could fully participate in mystic-jockeying classes. The only issue was that the others understandably gave me a wide berth. Black greatbears were carnivores, and stronger than any of the other mysticstock in the class. They might get scared and freeze up if they got too close.
“But they’re moving just fine. In fact, they’re behaving better than usual.”
The instructor was right. Last year, the mounts would lash out from time to time, yet now they were doing just as the students told them. The mysticstock used as mounts were selected only by their affability to people, so it was no surprise that they sometimes disobeyed orders.
“Oh, well this is really something. The black greatbear is dominating the other mysticstock!”
Instructor, is that something to laugh about? It looks like Gonsuke is overwhelming the others.
Probably because of their monster origins, mysticstock had a tendency to obey stronger creatures. Out here, Gonsuke was the strongest mysticstock, resulting in all the other mounts watching his every movement so they could follow his orders. Gonsuke, meanwhile, was a smart bear who could intuit and convey that I wanted the mysticstock to obey the humans. That was the instructor’s interpretation of events, anyway.
At first, this all seemed like a good arrangement, but it meant we couldn’t really learn what we were here to learn. Classes were good environments to get all sorts of different experiences. To put it another way, these classes were here so we could learn to deal with problems, a very valuable sort of experience.